by Feng Yue
Inside the fog, a sudden harsh whistle came through the endless tornado, effortlessly punching a big hole in the silver wolf’s neck.
The silver wolf’s head was broken, hanging on its neck. It rolled on the ground in the rain, but then it was completely cut by something behind it.
Eventually, that silver wolf dissipated leaving small, deep holes in the ground.
In those holes, there were many long and thin iron pieces.
These iron pieces embedded into the earth, still with burning lights. But once out of the fog, the heat disappeared, as if the fog took it away, back to where it came from.
This was one of the reasons why the Demon of Rain was known as the music of massacre. Through many different combinations of notes, it could produce Exploding Iron, which contained a force of destruction so powerful, that it was nearly undefeatable.
The fog was alive. It was a living thing. It constantly absorbed light and heat from its surroundings, which was why the temperature had become so cold. Then the fog would explode as a “medium” along with the Iron.
No matter how heavy the armor, or how sturdy the walls, the impact of the fog could not be stopped.
If someone was hit, they would probably be ripped in half. With only a loud noise, the upper half of the body would have to say goodbye to the lower half. Or perhaps the whole body would become mincemeat.
This was the most dangerous aspect of the Rain Artist because killing was his talent.
The music continued, and the rain became denser. Shards of very thin iron shot in all directions. The iron easily cut through the wolves’ necks and the claws, killing them instantly.
But with Wolf Flute’s even more depressing notes, more wolves had appeared from all over the earth.
It seemed like it would never end. The summoning from Wolf Flute continued to bring more wolves from the void—almost a whole pack of wolves had shown up.
Those wolves, almost as tall as humans, were no ordinary creatures. They were born from the aether, with no weakness, no blood, no fatigue, and with no fear.
With the flute Nai playing, they expanded again, showing a strange ice blue. The bodies became mistier as if they would melt into the fog.
“Do not hide, Mr. Wolf Flute!” in the rain fog the Rain Artist suddenly growled. With a flashing light, the wall was split, the stones collapsed, dirt flew everywhere. In the dust, the shadow of Wolf Flute was finally revealed.
A piece of the iron cut through the wall and barely missed his throat, leaving him with a striking bloodstain.
“Wheelchair?” The Rain Artist took a big step forward. “When did this happen?”
Iron whistled past. Like a strong crossbow with bursting arrows, the iron converged into a tornado and charged ahead.
Wolf Flute’s body suddenly tilted. The two wheels of the wheelchair slid on the ground. It made a full circle then backed away. The iron rain went right past him and left a honeycomb-like hole on the wall, causing the shingles from the structure to fly away.
“Wow, you don’t say,” Wolf Flute cocked his eyebrow and patted the armrest of the wheelchair. “This thing is easy to use, and it is good for my laziness. It’s super convenient! I’m falling in love with it.”
“Keep your playful words and go to hell with them.” The Rain Artist lifted his withered face, in his dark eyes, his white pupils started to shrink. “No more nonsense!”
He lifted his clarinet to his lips, playing a sharp tune. The white fog suddenly trembled, boiling over, and the color turned scarlet, like blood.
Blood red?!
“Breath of Boiling Blood?” Wolf Flute opened his mouth like an animal and ground his teeth, “Music that requires blood as sacrifice really fits the style of your evil cult.”
A sharp and mournful performance suddenly turned to a higher pitch, with red fog swirling, countless rain drops colliding, and the sound of friction like a roar of thunder. With this thunder, suddenly there were six burning flashes.
It was a very thin and sharp iron piece. They had the speed of arrows in the rain, swung with a trill, like an evil spirit screaming.
This was the Exploding Iron that should have only been single shots. Mixed in with the rain, they could launch as one with a shape of a fan, and no one would be able to escape it in this narrow space.
But now there were six of them! Even Wolf Flute, who had seemed nonchalant, felt pins and needles in his scalp. The Breath of Boiling Blood, this evil technique, sometimes did make one… f*cking jealous!
How come there were no such techniques for the musicians of religious disciples? Even if they were not allowed to use other people’s blood, they could at least use their own!
Wolf’s eyes were envious.
Six shots each time. The Rain Artist must have paid a hefty price for this. Unfortunately, whether he was insane, or was just trying to show a great respect for his enemy by displaying such elaborate combat, it would be extremely tough to fight back.
After all, when he was sneak-attacked from over one hundred feet away, Wolf Flute had been heavily wounded by only one piece of the iron!
And now, he was in a wheelchair with nowhere to escape. The humming in the air had given him chills. That was the sound of the hot iron ready to explode.
Under such pressure, he started playing his flute, his scalp still numb.
In an instant, the sound of the flute was crushed by the sharp noise of the wind and the sand blowing. Iron pieces flew out from the rain and the fog. The red hot iron was suddenly released, and the terror of the kinetic energy and heat destroyed their body in a moment. It had turned to iron sand—more dangerous than ever.
The iron sand burned through the fog, firing forward, and pulling the bloody fog along with it.
After what seemed like only a few seconds, hundreds of hot spikes flew out of the bloody fog into the slate and the walls, instantly turning them into pieces.
The remaining heat was spreading, setting off a pale water vapor.
In the water vapor, you could hear the scream of the silver wolves.
“I really am a genius! Hahahaha!!”
With six silver wolves pulling the wheelchair with all their strength, it broke out of the fog like a sleigh on the snow.
Wolf Flute, with blood covering half of his body, cackled. He sat firmly in the wheelchair that was about to completely break down. No one ever thought this psycho would be able to turn his wheelchair into a sleigh at the very last minute, allowing him to escape from the six fan-shaped iron fires.
In the speedy wheelchair, Wolf Flute sighed. He removed a pendant-shaped bottle hung around his neck. He removed the cork with his fingers and swallowed the whole bottle of liquid.
As soon as the ice blue liquid went inside him, he trembled. His skin turned pale. Blue and purple blood vessels expanded under his skin, intertwined with each other.
The blood was pulsing with a rhythm. As if it were a beast was digesting the blood then releasing the burning flame. Wolf Flute’s eyed flashed vaguely for a moment—there seemed to be electricity firing through his eyes, too bright to look straight into.
“Damn, this was a huge loss,” Wolf Flute whispered. He took a deep breath as husky as the sound of the iron piece and started playing the flute.
This time, there was a kind of power in the music, like an illusion entering reality, eroding through this fake world. It was an extremely cold night but now, it felt maddeningly hot.
Wind from the desert fell from the sky, destroying the cold rain.
The humidity and poison in the air had been swept away by the wind. The sound of the flute spread like a sandstorm, giving the illusion of being under the burning sunlight.
The sound of the stone’s friction overpowered the cry from the ‘Demon of Rain.’
A huge alpha wolf suddenly appeared beneath the moonlight. It was blurrier than his followers, but was also more strongly built. Like a reflection in water, it would soon disappear.
It really disappeared.
/> The Rain Artist paled and quickly retreated, but the alpha appeared again, right behind him.
The Rain Artist’s body trembled slightly. He looked down and saw a huge gap on his waist. It was a wound made by the alpha in what seemed like an instant.
Under the moonlight, the alpha spat out the blood and organs and slowly looked back at him. Its translucent body seemed misty in the fog.
“The Underworld messenger?” the Rain Artist murmured dazedly, the mournful scream cutting off.
The alpha returned and disappeared. When he re-appeared, its claws held a new piece of flesh and half a rib. It looked down arrogantly as if looking at its prey. The Rain Artist was defenseless!
With the next reemergence of the alpha wolf, the flesh tore again.
The Rain Artist grasped his exposed organs and knelt on the ground.
The war was over now.
14 Win or Lose
“Forcefully turning the wolf into a phantom beast… distortion of the rules…Scepter Level?”
Rain Artist covered his fatal wounds. He looked as if he was both crying and laughing. “You have already reached this level? How old are you? Twenty-four? Twenty-five?”
“Twenty-three.” Wolf Flute wiped the blood off his face, coldly sneering. “So how about it? Are you feeling hopeless seeing the difference between geniuses and mortals?”
“Twenty-three? I am already forty-seven years old,” Rain Artist mumbled to himself in shock. “I have paid so much, and have even become a believer and follower of Hyakume. I’ve spent more than a decade to do so. But someone like you, why did you get to this level first? Why?!”
Rain Artist raised his head stiffly. He was screaming, ignoring his tragic injury, “I’ve given up so much! So much!”
“I’ve already said so,” Wolf Flute smiled fiercely like a wolf. “Because I am a genius.”
He hid his own flute where Rain Artist could not see. Wolf Flute’s face was blank. His fingers caressed the crack of the flute, but with twitching distress.
Sure enough, he had tried too hard.
“Are you?” Rain Artist stared at his eyes, then sneered suddenly as if he had seen the reflection of a man in his pupils. Then he realized and said, “What an honor! I thought the genius had no weakness.”
Wolf Flute frowned indifferently, his fingers gently tapping. The silver wolf shouted under the moonlight and suddenly disappeared! The silver wolf snuck into the air, biting at the enemy’s throat.
“Over there!” Rain Artist suddenly threw out an exploding iron. Blood aura mixed together with the iron in his hand so that the iron issued a terrible scream. Strong water vapor whistled out from the exploding iron but in the direction the opposite of Wolf Flute!
It was not trying to hit him, but in that moment, Wolf Flute felt rage burst from his brain.
The exploding iron was directed towards the white-haired teen who laid unconscious in the corner!
Rain Artist said he found Wolf Flute’s weakness. Indeed, he had found it.
Wolf Flute sighed with his eyes closed and waved.
The silver wolf appeared from the air in a flash, and stopped in front of the juvenile. Grains of iron sand instantly crashed into its body. Silver blood burst out as the wolf screamed in agony, its eyes becoming crazier.
Wolf Flute’s body shook a bit.
The wolf frantically rubbed its four claws, wanting to tear that damn enemy, but another burst of exploding iron hit its body like falling meteorites. Debris flew everywhere, scratching its eyes.
Wolf Flute’s body shook again.
“Mr. Genius, you should not look over there. You have looked so many times. You are very concerned about him, huh?” Rain Artist laughed hoarsely until he could not breathe.
He knelt down on the ground, coughing. He was in obvious pain but his voice remained condescending, “No one would believe that a Discipline musician who could kill anyone without blinking an eye would care about a child’s life? Haha, a genius like you should be a shame among Discipline musicians!”
“Are you afraid that your bet is wrong?” Wolf Flute’s face was gloomy.
“But what if I win? It is fate.” Rain Artist picked up the instrument in the pool of blood. After experiencing the overclocking load, the instrument which had accompanied him for years actually overheated.
Ignoring the burning temperature, he grasped it, releasing another burst of exploding iron.
Bam!
In the wheelchair, Wolf Flute’s body twitched, unable to move.
Rain Artist looked back at his enemy. “It’s also my luck to meet a fool who bound a consumable like a phantom beast to his life.”
Wolf Flute could no longer speak, and lowered his head. Thick blood dripped from his wheelchair, converging on the ground in a puddle.
“I won,” Rain Artist announced in a cold voice.
Sensing its master dying, the alpha wolf angrily got up from the ground. Despite the immense trauma to its body, it rushed toward Rain Artist.
“Three bursts of exploding iron could not solve the problem. Phantom wolves are really too troublesome.” Rain Artist frowned and put the clarinet to his lips.
The sharp, high-pitched voice caused the fog to spread out. Countless mournful roars synchronized with the terrible performance. The sound was like a long knife painfully scratching one’s eardrums.
In the madness of the fog, the blasting resulted in condensation again—one, two, three… six!
Six bursts of exploding iron released hot red, lethal light that could make anybody’s scalp go numb.
Then…Boom!
For a short moment, Rain Artist could not hear anything. His vision turned dark in front of his eyes; only a vague ray of light could be seen.
He moaned in pain. Lowering his head, he looked at his hands—they had been broken by the clarinet’s explosion. Blood dripped from the broken wrist emerged.
He looked up at the moonlight, revealing his torn face, his jaw hanging on his neck, and blood dripping. Amongst the bloody flesh, only a withered eyeball remained, blinking in a daze.
The wolf which rushed to him earlier had disappeared without a trace. It had long been dying but had fought until the very last moment.
Rain Artist sharply screamed, “Wolf Flute!” He roared, “Wolf Flute!”
“The error of the instrument leads to the error of the control,” a husky voice whispered amidst Rain Artist’s roars. “And the error of the control makes the aether uncontrollable. When the aether is out of control, it will bring devastating consequences. What Wolf Flute said was correct.”
The white-haired teen who had been unconscious opened his eyes, quietly staring at Rain Artist with bloodshot eyes.
“You lost,” he said.
–
Feeling faint, it was difficult for Ye Qingxuan to open his eyes. His skull felt like it had been hammered and was buzzing.
The disturbance of any noise made him dizzy enough to kneel on the ground. The power of musicians was incredible. Even the aftershocks were enough to destroy a person’s sanity and resistance.
He felt that his body was about to break.
He had been at the brink of collapse when he was hit by a power strong enough to break a wall in the very beginning.
Then, again in the middle of the confrontation between the two musicians, he was hit by a bunch of aftershocks, practically knocking him out. Fortunately, the last shock woke him up. He felt like a nightmare. His internal organs crazily beating each other, but his body did not listen to his call.
He could not move.
“I lost?”
Rain Artist gaped at him with dismay. He looked down at the debris on the ground and vaguely mumbled, “You did something to my instrument! It’s supposed to be complete!”
“Yeah, but you did not notice that there was a part inside missing inside.” Ye Qingxuan raised his hand in difficulty. On his fingertip, a slender reed reflected the moonlight, illuminating his pupils like flowing water.
&
nbsp; “I always felt that it will be too dangerous to return the complete instrument to you, but Wolf Flute said that you would notice it if we destroyed it. So I thought I could give it to you but…” He coughed in a low voice and softly laughed, “Just needed to replace it with a needle spring.”
Ye Qingxuan dropped the reed to the ground. The simple movement had already caused him great pain. “We used your original spare part, soaked it in strong acid, then carved a very shallow incision.”
The juvenile gestured with two fingers. “It is simply a slight incision. In a rush, people will not notice the sound changes. The only flaw is that the high heat and intense vibrations make it easy to break.”
“From the beginning…” Rain Artist staggered, approaching him with his face convulsing. “You planned it from the beginning? No, I am the only person knows the defect of Demon of Rain. Only I should know it!”
“Maybe.” Ye Qingxuan lowered his eyelids, “I had almost forgotten. Demon of Rain truly is strong. Its offensive power and impact on the environment are both extraordinary but it does not mean that it doesn’t have flaws—it can force the extraction of all the heat from the fog as explosive power, which upgrades the small effect of throwing items with destructive lethality. But this means that the load of the instrument is ten times that of other music. Once out of control, all the heat will explode in an instant.”
Rain Artist roared, but his jaw finally fell to the ground. Blood dripped from his body nonstop. His body was quickly decaying. What had already been taken away by Satan now disappeared again. He fell to the ground, feeling his vitality quickly leaving him.
If the world was a table for the satanic god Hyakume, then the so-called believers were just the pepper and salt. Since the pepper on Hyakume’s table would soon expire, it only made sense to eat him now!
Eat it up, eat it up!
“No, it should not be like this. I came following your command. Why?” Rain Artist struggled in the pool of blood with his shattered body. He crawled forward with difficulty. His one-eyed vision fell on Ye Qingxuan’s body. His eyes glistened. “The body, yes. I need a new body! This is your promise. This is your promise of my reincarnation? I still have hope! I got the approval of God!”