CHAPTER 283: SOULFLAME AND THE COMMANDER'S THRONE

"Assist me. That halo fixed above his head is locking his spatial position—I can't distort space to remove him. But if I can buy a little time, the temporal seal should be able to pin him down."

His voice taut with tension, Five turned to Four, who still inhabited Mira's body. The black blade in Wang Yu's hand sent a deeper chill into his chest than he wanted to admit.

"Hurry," Four called out, eyes never leaving Wang Yu's monstrous form. Grotesque, blood-wrought limbs protruded from his torso. "I'll hold him off as long as I can using this human's body. He'll try to protect it—so I might just outlast you. Your power of corruption's still usable, isn't it? Use it all on him!"

Four didn't protest or hesitate. With a sweep of his arm, he summoned voig energy and sent it toward Wang Yu.

Behind Wang Yu, the sundered metallic serpent came back to life. Under the void's influence, its massive bulk defied gravity and surged back into the air, hurling itself once more toward the rampaging knight.

Meanwhile, Five remained silent, gathering strength as he unleashed the final remnants of his unique power of corruption toward Wang Yu in a slow, invisible tide.

A metallic screech pierced the air. Above, the titanic serpent twisted midair and coiled into a ring, crashing down upon Wang Yu with terrifying speed, its velocity utterly at odds with its enormous form.

Wang Yu's eyes flicked upward. He pushed off the ground and twisted, narrowly avoiding the serpent's crushing descent. It struck with a deafening crash, the ground trembling from the impact just inches behind him.

The power of the Chariot radiated outward from Wang Yu like a pulse, extending his awareness in all directions—his most basic ripple technique.

Instantly, the serpent's internal structure flooded his mind. This thing wasn't simply powered by void energy alone. That would have been inefficient for a construct of this scale.

He looked more closely, and there it was—a spine running through its frame, with many tendrils of energy branching out from it. That was its weakness.

With a heavy leap, Wang Yu vaulted atop the metallic serpent. His body crouched low as monstrous limbs of blood clawed onto the serpent's back, anchoring him as he ascended at breakneck speed.

His manifested starsteel blade sank into the serpent's hide like a knife into mist, cutting deep through enchanted metal and unraveling the structure node by node.

The Devastation Blade—that was how he would refer to his enhanced weapon.

The serpent, nimble and too colossal to ignore, was a threat Wang Yu could not afford to leave standing. As the blade carved downward, the serpent's body exploded into ruin.

The serpent recoiled, its body twisting with metallic clangs. Razor-edged blades sprouted along its flanks like steel thorns.

They whirred as they roamed across the serpent's body, swarming straight toward Wang Yu. The adamantium and mithril alloy would be able to cut up even a grand knight's body.

Unfazed, Wang Yu pressed forward. He didn't slow down; he even sped up.

Dozens of bloodforged longswords conjured through his bloodpool and Material Shaping surged around him and shot outward to meet the storm of metal.

Metal clashed with crimson in a relentless cacophony. The battlefield exploded with sparks and screeching collisions.

Wang Yu's bloodforged swords shattered, steel fragments and crossguard shards flung through the air like shrapnel. They liquefied into blood and returned in mid-air.

Strong as Material Shaping might be, it didn't confer absolute strength. Wang Yu's blood would hardly be as sharp or resilient as an alloy of precious metals like adamantium and mithril, but he could reforge his blades endlessly.

Blood Tempest gave him an endless arsenal of weaponry as long as his fighting spirit held out.

After dozens of seconds and hundreds of clashes, the metal blades were already starting to chip and dull.

Against dulled steel, Wang Yu's wrath could not be stopped. Blood surged around his arms and hardened into crimson armor under the command of Blood Tempest.

He withdrew the Devastation Blade from the body of the metallic serpent and charged into the weakened blades.

His armored shell burst in an explosion of metal and blood, with fragments of hardened blood and gleaming metal flying in every direction. The blades were ruined.

Wang Yu slowed down for an instant. Then, he crouched, driving his free hand—still radiating with the power of the Chariot—into the serpent's body. With a violent pull, he launched himself upward, dragging the Devastation Blade behind him in a wide arc of destruction.

More metal blades hurtled toward him. Wang Yu twisted slightly, avoiding the ones from the most dangerous angles. A few slashed across his shoulder, arm, and flank.

But no blood spilled. His living blood sealed those wounds in seconds.

His eyes faced directly ahead. The serpent's head loomed large. Atop it stood Mira—or rather, the devil Four—surrounded by a spinning storm of metallic blades. He was launching them down in volleys.

Upon noticing that Wang Yu was undeterred by the metal blades, Four immediately changed his angle of attck. Countless fireballs appeared around him, manifested by the void, and arced downward.

They were slow enough that Wang Yu would normally be able to avoid them all.

Of course, no devil would make such a low-level mistake. The fireballs erupted in mid-air, unleashing a sea of flames from high above. An inferno engulfed the entire serpent. There was nowhere for Wang Yu to run.

Wang Yu's gaze lingered on the serpent's body, two-thirds of which was already destroyed. Only its head remained, and the short protrusion on which Four stood. It was time to end this.

Blood exploded outward from Wang Yu's entire body and into the oncoming inferno. He abandoned control of the blood for now—he needed all his strength for something else.

With a sharp snap, Cursed Fire ignited, combusting the life force within Wang Yu's blood in bright, emerald-green flame. The airborne curtain of blood met the sea of flames in a blazing wall of green and red.

The flames clashed violently in midair, obscuring vision on either side. Behind that curtain, hidden from view, Wang Yu crouched low and pressed his hand to the serpent's hide.

Four scowled. "Isn't this guy a knight? Where the hell is he getting all these random powers from? Is this all part of his potential...?"

The wall of flame split open. A massive greatsword tore through the fire, its blade wreathed in red and green flame, cleaving through the serpent's neck. The sheer impact nearly hurled Four off his perch.

As the smoke cleared, Wang Yu stood revealed behind the weapon, both palms wrapped around the hilt of the colossal sword. The Devastation Blade hovered nearby, floating like a shadow.

Every vein in his body bulged. His skin was flush with surging blood, his fighting spirit humming at full capacity. He had commanded the sword with his Chariot, strengthening it beyond mortal limits.

The moment the sea of flames had clashed with his Cursed Fire, he had seized the opportunity to seize the shattered serpent's body and forge it anew with Material Shaping. There was plenty of mithril and adamantium just lying around.

The result: a monstrous blade not meant for human hands.

As the sword blooming with twin flames fell toward the serpent's head, the last intact portion of the serpent shattered.

Four tumbled from his perch.

The massive greatsword disintegrated as the Chariot relinquished it. Wang Yu grabbed his Devastation Blade and rushed toward the fallen devil.

"Damn it—this bastard!"

Four's expression twisted. This knight's strength had already far exceeded expectations. There was no doubt about it—this had to be the work of Roland's hidden legacy.

Still, he did not run. A black blade appeared in his hands, one identical in nature to Wang Yu's: a weapon forged of crystallized void.

Void energy surged into Mira's fragile body, empowering it far beyond its limits. Four charged to meet the blow.

"Will you really kill her? My soul is entangled with hers—strike me down, and you'll kill her as well. Would you truly not even try to save her?"

Their blades collided in a flash of black light. The two figures were locked in battle. Four's voice dripped with poison, his words hissing into Wang Yu's ears.

"..."

Wang Yu gave no answer. He simply pressed forward, his muscles surging with inhuman force. The Devastation Blade bore down with unstoppable pressure, pinning the void-forged weapon in place.

"I knew it. You're holding back," Four grinned coldly. "You could've killed me by now, but you're still trying to spare her. And that hesitation... will be your downfall."

Four's smirk widened as he activated his final trump card.

Five's power of corruption burst from within his soul and lanced straight into Wang Yu Corrosive void energy surged through Wang Yu's body, eating away at muscle, blood, and bone. His steps faltered.

In that single moment of hesitation, the devil's blade of crystallized void vanished into a sudden rift in space. It reappeared piercing into Wang Yu's chest.

A direct hit. Four's smile widened. Even though the corruption was but a fraction of what Five wielded at his peak, it was still far beyond what a mere knight could endure. In the split second that Wang Yu had been seized by the corruption, the black blade had pierced straight through his heart.

But just as the demon moved to follow through, to cleave Wang Yu in half, he found a burning hand pressed to what had once been Mira's head. That flame... it was one he knew all too well, one that struck fear into the very core of his being. The emotionless gaze before him pierced through flesh, through form, staring directly into his true self.

Yes, Wang Yu had been struck. Yes, his heart had been run through. But... did it matter?

The corruption ran rampant through his blood, and even his boosted blood could not drive it out. So what? He simply threw it all into his bloodpool and set it ablaze.

The corrupted blood was devoured in an instant, then consumed by his Cursed Fire.

All the blood in his bloodpool was burned away and cleansed by his Cursed Fire.

That fire, untethered from his physical form, would not harm him. His bloodpool existed in another dimension. Burning it would have no bearing on his body.

As for the heart, did it matter? His blood could now autonomously move on its own. In fact, apart from his brain, Wang Yu could no longer name a single organ he considered "vital."

Four's attack had failed despite his confidence. Now, it was Wang Yu's turn.

"This flame—it's Seven's! He's the one who killed Seven?! Impossible! Wasn't One responsible? Is he going to burn this woman's soul too? What is he thinking?!"

Pain, searing and absolute, shot through Four's consciousness. He let out a silent, disbelieving howl as the hand upon his—no, Mira's—head began to glow with the soulflame that had once belonged to the devil Seven.

Wang Yu had stolen Seven's power—its soulflame—after defeating it in the realm of Roland's vault and tossing its body through the doorframe that made up his mindscape. When Roland's Keys subsequently exploded, Wang Yu had lost the means of retrieving it.

Within the void, Wang Yu discovered that he could once again sense the door of his mindscape. He had once used Roland's Key as a bridge to the void—but now, the void was right at his fingertips.

In the void, souls could almost materialize. Wang Yu could see two specters hovering within Mira's body—one was Mira herself, her eyes closed; the other belonged to a faceless devil.

He had realized long ago that only a devil's power could destroy another devil. This soulflame was perfect. His only concern was how to protect Mira's soul from the aftermath—and the solution he had come up with was simple.

All he needed was a mental shield. Wang Yu had created a cube out of mental energy while he was experimenting with his powers. It had been protecting Avia's soul ever since.

Now, with soulflame blazing from his hand, Wang Yu embedded that cube into Mira's body. It snapped into place around her half-materialized soul. Meanwhile, the soulflame engulfed the devil's soul.

"No! No—-!"

A shriek of unbearable agony tore from Four's throat as the hellish flame—his own brother's power—devoured him.

In less than a second, the devil was burned away entirely from Mira's body.

Her soul, shielded by the cube, was safely preserved. As the fire lost its fuel, it dwindled and faded.

Wang Yu gently steadied Mira's unconscious body. He reached up into the dark halo overhead and withdrew a golden radiance from it: Oath of Gold and Stone, a sixth-tier defensive spell conjured by Avia back in the material world.

He laid the spell upon Mira's body. The golden barrier would keep her safe until it was time to return. He had no intention of leaving just yet—not until Three and Five were dead.

Five stared at Wang Yu with a pounding heart. A surge of power had entered his body moments ago—an inheritance of void energy that should have been equally divided among the seven devils. His strength had suddenly increased.

But the surge brought no comfort, only dread. It meant that Four was dead. And worse, he recognized that power Wang Yu had just displayed. It was Seven's soulflame.

"He's the one who annihilated Seven?! Just what sort of monster have we provoked..."

For the first time in his long, wretched life, Five felt regret. The figure now approaching him, with sword in hand and eyes colder than death itself, was no longer human. He was a monster in a human's body.

"There's no other choice. I have to destroy him completely. The power I reclaimed from Four might be enough to cast something close to a true eighth-tier spell—something beyond even the likes of Time Lock and closer to Temporal Stasis."

Five narrowed his eyes, watching Wang Yu close the distance. The spell he had been saving all his energy for finally took form. He would only be able to seal Wang Yu for two minutes at best. During that time, while he couldn't resist, he would have to kill him for good.

500 meters, 300, 100, 50, 20, 10... Wang Yu's Devastation Blade mirrored the cold stare in his eyes. That impassive stare bore down on Five with crushing intensity.

A flash of fear flickered in the demon's mind.

A few more steps, and the blade would cleave him in two.

And then—time stopped. A ripple burst outward from Five, freezing everything it touched, including the mid-swing Wang Yu. This was the pseudo-eighth-tier Time Lock, empowered by Four's death.

"Got him... Now I just need to erase him completely. This monster—wait... what...?"

Everything had fallen silent. Five's surroundings had turned gray, as if he were in a black-and-white photograph.

Five smiled in relief at the frozen Wang Yu before him. Whatever this monster was, it would be no more.

But then, as he tried to raise his hand to summon void energy and finish off Wang Yu completely, he found to his shock that he couldn't move either.

Though he could think, his body seemed to be frozen in time. He couldn't summon any void energy. He couldn't even twitch. It was as if he had been sealed in ice—only his thoughts remained his own.

"Is it him...?!"

Five's intuition was correct. Wang Yu was responsible for his frozen body.

He and Avia had both experienced this spell before in the Grand Library, when the ancient horror Yule had used it against them.

Since then, Wang Yu had often wondered what he could if trapped in temporal stasis again. His original conclusion was, "Nothing."

Temporal Stasis froze all things within a certain range. It permitted no movement and no change; it froze time itself.

But not everything could be stopped. Gravity. Light. Fundamental forces at the atomic level. Wang Yu didn't yet fully understand them—but he knew these fundamental forces continued to function.

If gravity ceased, or light froze, the caster would be unable to perceive the world—and taking a single step would mean being shredded by suspended photons of energy.

And there was another force the spell couldn't affect—Wang Yu's own unique power, the Chariot.

Born from his body and mind, the Chariot created a force field much like gravity, which could command matter itself. And like gravity, it too was immune to Temporal Stasis.

Even if Wang Yu himself were frozen, the Chariot's force would still act upon his surroundings. He had once speculated that, if he could strengthen his power to a sufficient degree—if he could grasp all things within reach—could he, in effect, create a domain where time itself bowed to him?

Of course, he lacked that strength. He was far from that ideal. But now, within an already frozen world—what if he were to layer his field atop the stasis? What if his unstoppable will seized upon what was already still?

Under these restrictive conditions, he would, indeed, be able to command all that existed within reach, to make the world kneel at his feet.

This was the Chariot: Commander's Throne.