Arrogant words are a cover for one's weakness.

Incompetent rage is to hide one's cunning.

After a brief probing, Leyu and Bai Yu had already assigned their roles—he was the tank, Bai Yu the marksman.

Leyu had a way to deal with the Bandage Assassin's Corrosive Hands, which was simply to take it head-on; after all, he felt no pain. Worst case, it would just ruin Le Yin's beautiful face. But if an ordinary person were touched by the Bandage Assassin, the nerve searing caused by the absorbent dehydration alone would be agonizing.

Bai Yu's combat system was also quite unique; in his youth, he clearly wore the Heart of Nesser for a long time, having mastered both the Lingxu Battle Technique and the Harmony Technique, which gave him formidable combat power even in the dark.

He carried a short-range, multi-bullet revolver, indicating his preference for indoor combat. Generally speaking, gunmen prefer to kill enemies ten steps away, ultimately developing a Blossoming Flower Technique, killing enemies a kilometer away beyond sight; for a gunman, the vast, unshielded outdoor area is their true battlefield.

But with the aid of Harmony Technique, Bai Yu not only possessed a short-range Dizziness Skill (sonic wave) but also could determine positions by sound, finding enemies as if with clairvoyance even in complex indoor terrain. Even in darkness, he could avoid Leyu and accurately hit the Bandage Assassin, as if friendly fire were turned off.

Hunter's Technique · Wind Slash!

As the Bandage Assassin lunged forward, instead of dodging, Leyu grabbed the air, creating a brief vacuum, causing the distance between him and the Bandage Assassin to suddenly shorten. The Bandage Assassin didn't expect anyone to dare a direct clash and was directly tackled by Leyu!

Although Leyu had never fought someone with sulfuric acid hands before, he knew that the best way to overcome fear was to confront it. The more you avoid, the harder it is to escape—courage may be useless, you never suddenly solve complex math problems, nor do you beat unbeatable enemies, but at least, in that moment of charging forward, your soul sings praises for your fists!

Shock Technique · Sunflower Triple Strike!

However, they were indoors, with no light outside, and the moon seemed covered by dozens of dark clouds, leaving Leyu's Sunflower Light Explosion unable to produce a dizziness effect, only placing himself on the Bandage Assassin's chopping block!

"That's it!" The Bandage Assassin growled low, their hands like hot irons, branding burning marks of humiliation on Leyu!

Bang! Bang!

Bai Yu fired two shots, precisely piercing the Bandage Assassin's shoulders, instantly causing their hands to lose all strength and droop down. However, the Bandage Assassin's ferocity remained unabated, hooking Leyu's calf with their right foot and biting into Leyu's shoulder directly!

Even hearing the sizzle of grease vaporizing from his shoulder's flesh, feeling crushed by a vicious ghost, Leyu showed no retreat intent. He touched the iron bracelet on his left hand, drawing a sinister, bewildering long sword from the darkness!

Soul-cleansing Demonic Sword!

He was also waiting for this close contact opportunity!

From hearing the introduction of the Seven Emotions Technique, Leyu pondered on the 'miracle' the Bandage Assassin possessed. The most obvious miracle was none other than the ability of their hands to corrode flesh, along with their extraordinary regeneration ability.

Bai Yu's bullets should have severely damaged the Bandage Assassin's internal organs and nerves, and another person might even have died instantly at the scene. Yet the Bandage Assassin continued to fight lively, even leading Leyu to suspect they had the Ice Blood Physique.

But Ice Blood couldn't self-heal, so their other miracle should be an accelerated body regeneration ability at a frightening rate.

It is said that masters of the Scenic Battle Technique at Peak of Perfection can maintain eternal youth and heal instantly, and though the Bandage Assassin was hardly up to being a sword sheath, having such a skill could indeed be deemed a miracle.

Corrosion and self-healing both do not require light, hence the Bandage Assassin destroyed the light source upon arrival.

However, compared to the Hidden Sword Assassin, who was also adept at dark combat, the Bandage Assassin appeared much weaker—not to mention an Intermediate Assassin, even a Junior Assassin like Yin Yin could easily take on both Leyu and Bai Yu alone.

Compared to the inherited ancient skills of the Hidden Sword Assassins for millennia, the Bandage Assassin's technique was still too crude. Given the Bandage Assassin appeared bald, Leyu suggested cutting a kidney, offering a second half-price.

However, the Bandage Assassin's self-healing trait afforded considerable leniency, giving them countless opportunities to rally anew despite being heavily controlled and smashed by Leyu and Bai Yu earlier.

But his ability extended to just that.

In principle, he should be able to exercise his Combat Technique prowess in a lighted environment, so why insist on placing the battlefield in darkness?

The most crucial reason was naturally to prevent Leyu and Bai Yu from escaping. Without light, they could not even break through walls, running no more than twenty meters in a second, engaging in a struggle of entrapped beasts with the Bandage Assassin as ordinary people.

However, Leyu believed the Bandage Assassin's self-healing ability had a limit. With light, he could likely be overwhelmed by the duo's round of furious assault—after all, he couldn't self-heal his head, which was why he wore a helmet.

For example, Le Yin had a Blood-Drinking Eight Fields Sword Technique, which Leyu personally experienced, providing excellent service, moderate strength, with Le Yin's skilled technician capable of tearing Zhengwei's throat even in absolute darkness, causing Zhengwei to spew a lot of liquid, becoming weak all over, moaning incessantly, with enduring aftereffects, making Leyu decide not to choose this technician again.

In a lighted environment, Le Yin's ultimate move could slice Zhengwei into over twenty pieces, ensuring no one could recognize Zhengwei's corpse, representing the full outbreak of a Peak of Perfection Martial Artist.

But Leyu was not at Peak of Perfection yet, and lacked nearly complete lighting, making it impossible to execute that move.

Nevertheless, it also illustrated the Bandage Assassin's Corrosive Hands, while miraculous, paled in instantaneous output compared to the normal outburst at the realm of Integration and Mastery.

It's mostly treated as real damage bypassing armor, considered an additional trait of an ordinary attack?

And countering the Bandage Assassin's self-healing ability was simple: either wear him down beyond his self-repair limit, blow his head off, or...

Straightaway sever him with a sword!

Formless Battle Technique · Sword Testing, conceptually derived from 'Sword Combat Technique'.

I invite you to try.

Leyu abruptly stepped back, allowing the Bandage Assassin to bite off a large chunk of his flesh, leaving the Bandage Assassin within sword range, then slashed forward!

Perhaps the Soul-cleansing Demonic Sword, transfigured from the Saint's Relic, was overly sharp, or maybe the Bandage Assassin's body was excessively soft; he felt as if cutting through tofu, slicing cleanly through.

Cutting through both hands, then the waist.

He could sense that the Bandage Assassin was now divided into four pieces: hands, lower body, upper body.

Bang bang!

Bai Yu fired two more shots, hitting the chest of the bandaged assassin. In the darkness, they heard the bandaged assassin take a step back, then everything fell silent, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing.

Le Yu smacked his lips, feeling that his shoulder was healing very slowly, and a desire to drink blood arose naturally. However, he could restrain it, and wouldn't it be nice to find a medical officer to treat him later? Blood bottles are finite, and he couldn't find one now, nor did he want to drink Bai Yu's blood—middle-aged man's blood didn't seem appealing.

"Soul Purification Demonic Sword?"

The bandaged assassin suddenly spoke, his voice calm and clear. Bai Yu hurriedly reloaded, and Le Yu was slightly taken aback: "How did you know?"

"There's no other way I'd be speaking with you now, except because of the Soul Purification Demonic Sword."

Le Yu suddenly remembered, aside from absorbing life force, the Soul Purification Demonic Sword also had a 'dispel target's buffs' effect.

Though not knowing why he suddenly began talking, Le Yu planned to let him bleed out to death, who knew what other tricks he had up his sleeve. He asked in surprise: "Your madness counts as your buff state?"

"Madness? To you, perhaps." The bandaged assassin's voice started to wander, making it hard to pinpoint his location: "But for someone like me, what's left to sacrifice? For power's sake, just a smidge of madness, why would I refuse?"

"Power? Pardon me, but your power would be better used on the battlefield, but as an assassin... you're subpar."

With the bandaged assassin's regeneration ability, given a greatsword, and clad in Swift Blade Boots, he'd become a monster no less than Blue Flame on the battlefield, even without reaching the Peak of Perfection, even unable to control his emotions—a never-falling giant sword butcher, tipping the scales of war.

Yet the bandaged assassin laughed.

Laughed wildly.

Laughed despairingly.

"I'm a Skyrim person," he said. "I escaped from the battlefield; you want me to flee back?"

Le Yu and Bai Yu were stunned.

If Shine was a battlefield, other than the borders, Skyrim surely was—before the rebellion, it was already chaotic, Revolutionary Army, Mountain King, local powers, Imperial troops... Just one administrative district dragged the Imperial Court troops into a quagmire and gave the Backlight Organization an opportunity to blossom on all fronts, showing how fierce a purgatory Skyrim was.

"So to survive in Yanjing, you're willing to become like this, just to sell your life for glory for your master behind you?" Bai Yu suddenly said: "With your abilities, going to any border army—"

"Do you know what's happened in Skyrim? Do you know how people are living there? Do you know what children face the moment they open their eyes?" The bandaged assassin growled in a low voice: "No, you know nothing, you Yanjing people only care about yourselves..."

"But I know, I know how to end all this."

Le Yu mocked: "Serve a royal court that wants to slaughter your people?"

"Serve the most ruthless and evil emperor." The bandaged assassin's voice gradually became higher-pitched: "Mercy? Kindness? Greatness? We Skyrim people don't believe in that! We just need the most ruthless and evil emperor, assist her in flattening the world, kill all the sinister! Using us? Doesn't matter, as long as a peaceful world is achieved, as long as there's a bright future, I'm willing to be a mad dog!"

"If you're so eager to kill, why not assist your Skyrim warlords in overthrowing the Imperial Court, since they wronged you first," Le Yu wasn't so easily moved: "Choosing to serve the Imperial Family, you're betraying your homeland for riches."

"Of course, I know Skyrim overthrowing the Imperial Court is just, I know supporting the court in suppression is betrayal, many think so, that's why Skyrim remains chaotic to this day..." the bandaged assassin said deeply: "But is sacrificing everyone for justice worth it?"

"How many years would it take for Skyrim to unify? How many years to overthrow the Imperial Court? As long as there are dreamers vying for the throne, Skyrim will never see peace."

"But supporting the most ruthless and evil emperor to suppress the world could swiftly bring peace to Skyrim. End wars that shouldn't happen, stop bloodshed that shouldn't flow, let the living who shouldn't die live... that's the justice I follow."

Bai Yu abruptly asked: "What if it's just another loop? Can you guarantee the new emperor will truly treat Skyrim well?"

"At least, she gave us hope. Even if it's just a sliver of light, it's enough for us moths to chase, even burning ourselves to illuminate the darkness... But you high society people wouldn't understand."

The bandaged assassin's voice grew more passionate: "You live in peaceful places, wearing elegant clothes, don't smell corpses, don't soak in bloodstains, who wouldn't want to live your lives!? But I can't, because I live on that battlefield, closing my eyes sees someone dying, sees their blood, their broken bodies, their unclosed eyes, they were people I knew, my family, comrades, companions!"

"You don't understand; being without an enemy to avenge, without a reason to gamble your life, it's so... infuriating!"

Why isn't he dead yet?

As this thought flashed through Le Yu's mind, Bai Yu suddenly struck a match and tossed it onto Le Yu's bed.

It wasn't that he didn't want to start a fire, it's just that this was his last match, and there weren't any books in Le Yu's bedroom, nothing flammable, but tossing it on the bed would...

Clap!

A hand snuffed out the match.

In the instant flame's light, Le Yu and Bai Yu saw the bandaged assassin was actually in complete human form—his limbs had reconnected, the broken junctions rapidly growing gruesome flesh to knit the wounds, even a fleeting glance was precious material for nightmares.

Soul Purification Demonic Sword... Dispel madness... Seven Emotions Combat Technique...

Dammit!

Le Yu thought they delayed time to bleed the bandaged assassin out, only to find he delayed time to reenter madness, activating the Seven Emotions Combat Technique to regain regeneration!

"If you have no reason to fight desperately, why not just die by my hand?"

"You've gone mad again?"

"It's this world that's mad."