144 The Death of the Professor

If the white-faced woman with the double swords had come as a quiet assassin, then the old man with scriptures tattooed on his face was there to demonstrate hard and true attacks!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Surrounded by dozens of fiery ifrits, the Sighing Sword slashed, creating a chilling wind.

The old man seemed to be over seventy-years-old, but the wild power within him was demonic. The steel mechanics implanted in him provided limitless strength. As the aether fire burned, the old man’s body expanded. His muscles swelled and his skin burned red as if his blood was boiling from the strength.

With a single strike, the Sighing Sword cut down two ifrits. The Chainsaw monk stepped into the flames, wielding his black sword. Where the wind from the sword blew, the ifrits began trembling and dimming.

The robin had prepared well in order to kill the Professor. The Sighing Sword was the natural predator of these formless spirits! It was a secret weapon of the Chainsaw Fraternity and tied with the Chainsaw of Punishment in terms of power.

The air around the sword wavered. If one looked carefully, one would see that the crude sword was constantly vibrating. The thousands of vibrations per second could tear apart the aether’s structure and turn these immortal spirits to dust! Within seconds, the dozens of ifrits were extinguished.

The flames were swallowed by Blue Teeth. His upper body was burnt to a crisp, but the vitality that he had stolen from his experiments helped him recover quickly. Under his charred clothing, hot air poured out from his pores, as if the were a giant stove.

"Stop fighting!" Blue Teeth roared. "Claude, where’s the Professor?"

"Behind the middle hall. He’s hiding in the prayer room forty meters away from you!" Before he could finish, the Chainsaw monk raised his sword and rushed toward the end of the large hall. As he ran, the hall shook with a thunderous roar, as if a giant steel puppet was stomping on the ground. Under the Sighing Sword, a row of saints’ statues shattered. He raised his fist and slammed it down. Boom!

A gaping hole appeared in the steel wall. Under the Chainsaw monk’s fist, the wall cracked as if it was made of paper. Something behind the wall rushed forward but was destroyed by the Sighing Sword.

The white-faced woman and Blue Teeth followed without waiting for a command. Since the sneak attack had failed, they decided to charge openly. They definitely had the upper hand!

The closer they got, the brighter the light in the Eyes of Aether. They could clearly feel the immensity of aether and the gentle singing in the air. The voice seemed to come from heaven, as if countless angels bathed in the sacred hymn.

"The rebirth ceremony?!" Hearing the melody, Claude’s expression changed. "The Professor is undergoing the rebirth ceremony. Without a doubt, he’s gravely wounded!"

The rebirth ceremony was an extremely high level healing ceremony from the School of Choir. As long as the head was still attached, even the most maimed body could be regenerated. Of course, there was a price to pay. The materials alone were enough to bankrupt a man. It seemed that the robin’s first attack had really hurt the Professor!

As the last wall shattered, the sacred and pure light flowed from the prayer room like water. Merely being within the light was enough for their small cuts and wounds to start recovering.

In the prayer room, countless runes were carved into the ground, set with numerous alchemy materials. Together, they created the angelic chant.

Pure white light fell from the sky, shining on the Professor. He knelt in the center of the room, purging his rotting blood and dead organs. He was in the most important step of the ceremony, but sensing their presence, the Professor looked up, fury appearing on his face. As he moved, a formless barrier appeared out of thin air, blocking the room from the outside world!

Under the holy light, his body continued to recover. The weak ripples of aether transformed into crashing waves, entering the field of the Resonance level. And there were still signs of further transformation! What level was this guy…before he had been hurt?! Resonance? Disturbance…or was it Distortion, the level second only to Scepter?!

"He can’t fight back right now. Hurry!" Claude’s face was pale as a sheet. "Stop the ceremony first! If he recovers fully, we’ll…" Before he could finish, the Snake Scales double swords slashed through the air, piercing the flowing mercury and cracking the runes. Ding!

Burning power radiated from the ceremonial cracks, scalding half of the woman’s face, but she did not retreat. Her muscles writhed like snakes, and her swords crossed, cutting through the bright light. The entire ceremony paused as the white light flickered unsteadily.

Boom! A burly figure crashed onto the barrier. He spun the Sighing Sword and smashed the enchantment with the hilt. The inlaid diamond at the end of the hilt was pulverized, but the terrifying vibrations sealed by it traveled into the barrier.

Boom! With a second crash, the barrier shattered.

"No!" At the center, the Professor’s head flew up, his eyes bloodshot. He moved his hands toward the front and a broken melody sounded. It stirred the frenzied aether. Hot flames appeared out of thin air, going from red to blue and blue to white. The extreme heat from the heart of the furnace gathered in his hands and swept toward the front.

The Chainsaw monk roared. Hoisting his sword up, he then brought it down! The obsidian sword trembled and shone with blinding light. The light cut through the flames, splitting the wave of fire into two.

Behind him, a figure sprang up and lept toward the Professor! In midair, six holes appeared in each of Blue Teeth’s arms. The twelve holes were like the openings of a flute. Furious winds swept into the holes and resonated inside the empty bones, whistling. He had turned his arms into alchemy equipment with Satan’s technology and various experiments. This was Blue Teeth’s instrument—Skeletal Flute!

Like the cry of a beast, the frantic melody sang in the air, performing the symphony of predestination by the musician, Saint-Saens, from centuries ago—Danse Macabre.

As the melody played, his body changed. Sharp bones protruded from his spine and scales replaced his skin. His features twisted as his entire body deformed. As if a young dragon had been forced inside his body, he cracked open from the expanding power. This was the fallen chant polluted by Satan—Dragonbone!

As he landed, the bones of his fingers expanded, and sharp blades pierced through his skin!

The Professor stumbled back, but the white-faced woman suddenly appeared behind him. She was still naked and as ugly as an evil spirit, but her swords pierced through the Professor’s shield, blocking his escape.

In the next moment, the blades of Dragonbone fell from the sky. In the beastly dance, the Professor’s limbs snapped in half. Wounds crisscrossed down his chest, and his organs were completely cut open!

Fresh blood spurted on Blue Teeth’s face, intoxicating him with the metallic scent.

The burnt Chainsaw monk strode forward and slashed down with his Sighing Sword. The blade split the Professor cleanly in half from his head down. Blood flew everywhere.

The Professor’s death seemed especially wretched under the moon.

--

For a moment, no one spoke.

"Is this real?" Blue Teeth asked quietly.

"Yes." Claude nodded slowly after analyzing the breath in the air. He stared at the puddle of blood flowing under the moonlight, leaving behind a ghastly red.

The proud Professor had just died in…Wait, moonlight?

Claude froze. It was a night of pouring rain and dark clouds. How could there be moonlight?

Using the thread connecting their souls, Claude saw the site. Mysterious moonlight shone on the corpse and the fresh blood…It felt as if he was struck by lightning.

"Illusion! Be careful! It’s an illusion!" Claude howled. "We were tricked!" He opened his Starry Eyes wide, vigorously searching for any sign or flaw, but he could not find anything. They had fallen into the illusion long ago.

He quickly looked at the broken resonance ring on the ground and his vision blurred. The markings of the Rebirth Ceremony changed suddenly. The ground, walls, and ceiling of the prayer room were covered in music scores, and had turned the entire place into a hallucination.

When they had been attracted by the rebirth ceremony, no one suspected what the sacred white light represented. It was not the healing light at all, but the medium to lull them into the illusion!

Boom! His vision went black as the starry sky suddenly cracked apart.

Claude’s face turned ghastly pale and blood seeped from his nose and mouth. His organs spasmed in immense pain as if he had experienced horrific trauma. His Starry Eyes shattered!