novelraw Chapter 103: Tentacles Entwined, First Battle with Ember's Touch, Pure Violence
Chapter 103: Tentacles Entwined, First Battle with Ember's Touch, Pure Violence
Under the dim light, the blue gem in Chen Qi’s hand seemed to sense the monster’s presence, causing a tattered hunter’s cloak inside to writhe incessantly.
"Ember's Touch."
Chen Qi murmured softly, pressing gently to concentrate his spiritual energy into the blue gem.
Bang! The sound of the gem shattering.
The blue gem instantly melted, transforming into a massive surge of tidal water that rushed toward his limbs, back, and heart, driving away the shadowy hands attacking him.
Then, these blue tides slowly condensed, turning into countless slender black tentacles that clung to his clothes and skin.
Finally, they formed a layer of ragged, dark-colored hunter’s clothing.
In a single instant, Chen Qi donned Ember's Touch.
From the outside, it looked like a full-body, rusty, tattered hunter’s cloak.
But inside, countless tentacles had already wrapped around key areas like his arms and thighs, providing him with an endless stream of strength and speed.Chen Qi felt the flow of power through his body.
Because of Ember's Touch’s dangerous nature, he had only worn it twice before, both times in White Tree Shallows.
“Something’s not right...”
Chen Qi raised his right hand.
His physique had reached 25 points, meeting Ember's Touch’s minimum usage requirement.
Normally, the moment he put on Ember's Touch, its equipment skill “Ember's Binding” would automatically activate, quickly generating a rage that consumed his stamina and massively boosted his strength!
However, this cloak only showed minimal consumption for now...
“Why? Could it be broken?”
Chen Qi wondered.
Thinking carefully, even a rare forbidden relic might develop problems after a hundred years.
But he was not given time to dwell on this.
“Human! Join me in stepping into eternity!”
The Rift Lost controlled twenty shadowy hands, smashing down from the rooftop.
These shadowy hands never ceased their assault, even as he equipped the armor.
Bang bang bang!
The shadowy hands stabbed down like heavy spears!
Chen Qi instinctively dodged backward with ease, narrowly avoiding the shadow spears.
“Not broken.”
Chen Qi clearly felt his speed increase under Ember's Touch’s enhancement.
At this moment, a thought struck him.
It was due to Deep Sea Affinity.
As a Flesh Armor, Ember's Touch had been fully contained and was a consciousness-free piece of equipment.
Yet, because of its residual traits, it still showed a degree of affinity when Chen Qi wore it.
Usually, a normal user would immediately enter Ember's Binding mode upon equipping Ember's Touch, consuming stamina rapidly.
But thanks to Chen Qi’s Deep Sea Affinity, Ember's Touch did not instantly enter Ember's Binding.
Simply put, he could wear Ember's Touch in a normal state, consuming only a slight amount of stamina while gaining some attribute bonuses.
Bang bang bang!
After a series of dodges, nearly a hundred shadowy hands surrounded Chen Qi’s train carriage dead zone.
“It’s over, human. You will spend these hundred years with me.”
Watching the scene before it, the Rift Lost smiled at the corner of its mouth, determined to turn Chen Qi into a corpse inside this carriage.
“This is trouble... I hope Ember's Binding can activate properly.”
With nowhere left to retreat, a fierce glint flashed in Chen Qi’s eyes as he spread his energy throughout his clothes.
Ember's Touch was a Blade affinity equipment, requiring a strong fighting desire to drive it.
With spiritual energy poured in and intense fighting will,
the tiny tentacles beneath the cloak suddenly grew, bursting out from under the clothes.
At the same time, more and more tentacles began wrapping around his limbs, continuously supplying power!
At a certain moment, blue embers surged explosively!
Ember's Binding, activate!
A manic fire flashed in Chen Qi’s eyes as a crazed smile curled on his lips.
At this moment, he only felt an endless surge of strength and unimaginable speed!
Along with a rage that wanted to smash everything in front of him to pieces!
What exactly was this... The Rift Lost instinctively accelerated its attack frequency and roared:
“Shadow Hand Bind!”
At this moment, the Rift Lost abandoned the idea of capturing Chen Qi alive.
At the same time, shadow hands erupted from the ground, the rooftop, and even the windows!
Chen Qi dropped the Black Blade and switched to a more primitive and exposed fighting style:
His fists!
No techniques, no weapons needed. With pure strength alone, he could smash the monster before him to bits!
Shadow hands came like a sudden downpour from all directions!
“Not enough, not enough, not enough!”
Chen Qi threw dense punches like a storm!
Using the speed of his fists, he fought against a hundred shadow tentacles!
In an instant!
Combined with energy and power, every punch emitted an ear-piercing sonic boom.
In a flash, those shadow tentacles shattered into fragments.
“???”
The Rift Lost tilted its head, staring at the scene in disbelief.
It couldn’t even see the speed of those punches clearly!
But before it could react, a hand pressed firmly against its neck.
“Had enough, little guy?”
Like grasping a weak squirrel, Chen Qi grabbed the Rift Lost’s neck and slammed it against the hard train window—
A fierce impact!
The entire carriage shook violently!
The Rift Lost howled:
“You cannot...”
So many useless words. Chen Qi’s right hand pinned the Rift Lost against the wall while his right fist gathered energy again.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Three heavy punches echoed from the Rift Lost’s chest.
Before it finished speaking, bones shattered, and flesh splattered everywhere!
Blood sprayed from the Rift Lost’s entire body. It raised a hand but now had no strength left to resist!
Its roar weakened until it turned into a powerless whimper.
Pure overwhelming power suppression!
Its terrified gaze fixed on Chen Qi.
Under the deep black cloak, half-black tentacles kept emerging.
Beneath the cloak, all it saw were a pair of burning monster eyes.
Like the legendary deep-sea creatures of the ocean.
It was the monster of the carriage, having absorbed shadow affinity power from the Lightless Era and the train itself; its body had long since shed human form.
In this world, they were called monsters!
When the Rift reappeared in the mortal realm, it showed the strength of a monster, killing many powerful hunters with despair in their eyes.
Now, the Rift Lost felt despair itself, as if it were the weak human trapped in a snare.
[Rift Mutation increased by 3%. Rift Lost falls into despair! Shadow affinity power inside surges again!]
It unleashed its shadow power, howling in despair:
“Coffin Hand!”
On the rooftop behind Chen Qi, a gurgling sound emitted as a huge shadow hand emerged again.
Its size could firmly grasp a bear and crush it to pieces!
“Ember’s Bloom.”
Chen Qi did not look back, softly speaking.
From the cloak behind him, eight giant transparent tentacles burning with ember flames emerged.
With the flames igniting!
Like swatting flies, the shadow hands were casually slapped away by the tentacles spreading from the cloak.
Boom!
The massive impact turned the Rift Lost’s attack to dust.
“Is that all your strength...”
Chen Qi laughed maniacally.
It had been less than twenty seconds since he activated Ember's Binding.
Under the continuous barrage of punches, the Rift Lost’s core at its heart was revealed.
“The last punch!”
Chen Qi adjusted his breathing, feeling bone pain as he circulated energy through his body.
With his current physique, Ember's Binding could only last at most 30 seconds...
“I can’t... stay in this place... anymore... I want you...”
The Rift Lost tried to attack Chen Qi with the knife in its hand, struggling to break free.
But all its struggles were blocked by the eight tentacles of Ember’s Bloom.
Under absolute power, resistance was futile.
In this instant, Chen Qi sensed its despair.
A rash young man wanting to become a legend over the ocean by himself, who tragically ended up trapped in this narrow train, painfully awaiting death.
In the end, this despair resonated with the train, turning into the current monster.
Though it spoke human language, its essence was nothing but accumulated despair.
Under the Navy Admiral’s commission, Chen Qi had to bring this corpse back as intact as possible.
Defeating the core was the best way.
“It’s time to send you home!”
Chen Qi clenched his right fist filled with energy.
As his words fell, the Rift Lost’s struggle slowed unexpectedly.
At the end, it surprisingly gave up resisting.
Boom!
Without hesitation, a bursting punch shattered the Rift Lost’s heart, which stored the shadow affinity power.
With the Rift Lost’s heart broken, the once restless carriage quieted once more. The Rift Lost, trapped here for ten years, finally closed its weary eyes.
“It’s finally over...”
Chen Qi breathed deeply, feeling the pain of tentacles entwined around him.
[You have defeated the Rift Lost...]
Defeating the Rift Lost meant clearing the No. 8 Train.