STG 26
Chapter 26: Vanishing Moonflash
Zhao Kongcheng was utterly baffled.
What the hell was this kid doing out in such heavy rain? And how did he even know Zhao Kongcheng was here when the [Boundless Void] was already active?
Worse still, why did he have to show up now, of all times—just when Zhao Kongcheng was getting his ass handed to him? If Lin Qiye saw him like this…
How humiliating!!
Besides, he’d just told Lin Qiye to leave protecting the world to him. If he turned around and dragged the kid into this mess, and something happened to him… Zhao Kongcheng would never forgive himself.
“None of your business why I’m out here. I know you’re fighting that Ghostface thing inside. Let me in—I can hold my own now,” Lin Qiye’s voice called from outside again.
“Hold your own, my ass!” Zhao Kongcheng snapped. “This isn’t a Ghostface Man—it’s the Ghostface King! ‘Chuan’-level! A full two major realms above a rookie like you who just stepped into ‘Zhan’! What are you gonna do, fight it with your high school textbooks?
“Besides, aren’t you the one who’s always scared of dying? Why the hell are you charging in like some hero now?
“Go the fuck home and eat! I’m putting my foot down today—as long as Zhao Kongcheng’s here, that thing won’t lay a finger on your family!”
“Times have changed. I may fear death, but I hate owing favors more!” Lin Qiye shouted back.
“My family’s sitting cozy at home enjoying a meal while you’re out here trading blows with the Ghostface King alone? You wanna play the unsung hero? Not on my watch!
“If we’re eating, it’s after we kill this thing—and you’re coming back with me!”
Lin Qiye threw his weight against the invisible barrier near the signboards, but it was like slamming into an immovable wall. No matter how hard he pushed, the boundary between inside and outside the domain remained unbroken.
Inside the domain, Zhao Kongcheng was sent flying again by the Ghostface King. It took him a long moment to prop himself up with his sword, coughing violently.
“Save your strength… cough… I may have no realm, but my [Boundless Void] can easily block anyone below ‘Chi’-level. There are only two ways to enter…
“Either I let you in willingly…
“Or you wait for me to die.
“If you can’t even break my barrier, what’s the point of coming in here? Suicide?”
Zhao Kongcheng’s eyes stayed locked on the Ghostface King, his voice growing weaker.
After his last words, the commotion outside ceased. No more impacts against the barrier, no more shouting.
One second. Two. Three…
A smile tugged at his lips.
“That’s more like it… Go home and eat. Leave the rest… to us Night Watch agents…”
Gritting his teeth, Zhao Kongcheng forced himself upright, breathing heavily. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and every inhale sent tremors of pain through his battered body.
He’d reached his limit.
Ahead of him, the Ghostface King loomed like a small mountain in the rain, its body crisscrossed with wounds—old and new.
Yet it showed no signs of slowing down. This was the monstrous resilience of a mythical creature.
With one hand gripping his sword, Zhao Kongcheng shakily reached into his pocket with the other. After a moment, he pulled out a badge.
Two crossed straight swords were engraved on its surface, with a name etched below:
Zhao Kongcheng.
For a fleeting second, his mind drifted back to his early days in the Night Watch—when he was still a green recruit.
“…This badge is a Night Watch agent’s life!
“Not just symbolically, but in combat too!
“Inside it is a concealed needle. Press the switch, and it’ll deploy. At its tip is a drug called ‘Ghostgod’s Gambit.’
“Injecting it will burn through all your latent potential in a short time. For those with Forbidden Ruins, it drastically amplifies their power!
“For those without? It forcibly stimulates the body, awakening the hidden Forbidden Ruin buried in one’s life essence. In other words… it gives the Ruinless a chance to wield one, if only briefly.
“This is a last resort. A desperate gamble. For agents without Ruins… it’s their one and only chance to experience their own power.
“Never use it unless there’s no other choice…”
Clutching the badge, Zhao Kongcheng swayed unsteadily. As the Ghostface King closed in, a faint smile crossed his lips.
“You know… how long I’ve waited for this day?”
The rain poured relentlessly.
Water mixed with blood dripped from his arm onto the badge’s surface.
Whether the Ghostface King could hear or understand him didn’t matter. Zhao Kongcheng murmured into the storm:
“Every man dreams of supernatural power. Imagines himself moving mountains with a punch, overturning clouds with a thought…
“All these years in the Night Watch, I kept waiting for my Ruin to awaken. But here I am, past forty, still Ruinless.
“Honestly? In this line of work, not having a Ruin sucks. Watching the Captain and others fight with theirs, looking so damn cool… it stings.”
“So I thought, if I ever faced an unbeatable enemy, I’d use ‘Ghostgod’s Gambit’ before dying. See my Ruin at least once. That way… I could die smiling.”
“Anyway… thanks for the opportunity.”
He opened his palm, letting the rain wash over the badge. His fingers brushed its side, and a slender silver needle sprang out.
Taking a deep breath,
he drove the needle into his own hand.
“Fuck… that stings…” Zhao Kongcheng grimaced.
The moment the needle pierced his skin, the pain wracking his body receded like a tide. In its place surged an overwhelming sense of power.
Every cell in his body seemed to roar to life, buzzing with unprecedented energy. His heart pounded like a war drum in the heat of battle—fast, fierce, unrelenting.
At the same time, a mysterious force field radiated outward from Zhao Kongcheng, rippling through the air.
His eyes blazed with newfound intensity.
The Ghostface King, sensing danger, let out a low growl before launching itself forward with terrifying speed, rainwater spraying in its wake!
Zhao Kongcheng straightened his back.
His grip on the sword tightened.
Raindrops struck the blade, producing a crisp, rhythmic chime.
Standing in the storm, sword in hand, his eyes burned with a brilliance never seen before.
Then—he raised his arm.
And toward the oncoming Ghostface King,
he swung.
A crescent of darkness—five meters tall—arced from the blade, slicing soundlessly through the rain. In an instant, it traversed the space between them.
It was too fast. Too fast for even the Ghostface King to dodge.
And so—a grotesque, severed arm spiraled through the air.
One strike. One arm severed.
Zhao Kongcheng stared at his sword, his lips curling into an uncontrollable grin…
Then he threw his head back and laughed—
“Forbidden Ruin No. 083, [Annihilating Lunar Flash]!
HAHAHAHA! I KNEW IT!
ZHAO KONGCHENG… IS A GODDAMN GENIUS!!!”
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