### Chapter 159: Blade Edge (Part 1)
“Cough-hah—!”
The Old Man suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh bl**d mid-air, some inky black smoke swirling around it, only to be blown away by the wind a second later.
“Run!”
He shouted at everyone, the sword edge bracing against the frighteningly decayed hand, bending almost to a 45-degree angle under tremendous pressure. The Old Man’s hands shook violently, his frail body shuddering like it was caught in a mini earthquake.
This all happened in an instant. Carlos and the others didn’t dare to hesitate, nor did they have the luxury of time; before they could even think about it, they were swept up by the wind at their feet, hurtling upwards to higher grounds.
In their ears, they heard the earth-shattering roar of the Dead Body: “Aaaaah—!!”
The roar made everyone clutch their ears again. Below them, the small but fierce Old Man couldn’t hold on anymore; with a ‘poof,’ he spat out a second cloud of bl**d, the sword edge suddenly tilted, and the gale came to an eerie silence.
The Old Man’s figure began to retreat in the air, the black fire of the skeletal hand fast on his heels, moving towards him like a mountain about to flatten an ant!
Carlos witnessed this and felt his heart sink: “Ah—!”
Dead Smoke surged from all directions, the man’s eyes turned red as he screamed, not caring for his safety, desperate to turn back and save him. Just then, he saw the frail figure darting through the gaps of that corrupted hand, avoiding the raging black flames and, precariously riding the wind, staggered back toward them!
“Teacher…”
Carlos was stunned. He felt the gusts around him start to swirl again, and in an instant, his expression brightened with hope: “Teacher!”
But that hope quickly turned to shock.
When the Old Man reappeared in front of him, Carlos saw that wrinkled face, which had lost all its previous fortitude, now pale as a ghost, drained of color, starkly contrasting with the splatters of bl**d on his mouth and chest, reminding him of a dead man’s face.
“It… noticed us…” the Old Man said weakly, “Quick! While I can still… swing my sword…”
There was no time for hesitation, no moment for sorrow.
As the Old Man’s life force dwindled, he pushed harder, drawing on his last remaining strength. The wind surged around them, driving towards the only crimson spot in the black mist. In a matter of seconds, they flew directly above the terrifying skull of the Dead Body.
As the Dead Smoke was blown away, they saw the small figure of the Young Woman above the enormous skull, struggling valiantly, panting heavily. She was still in the same position, but the massive scythe that had pierced the skull’s fissure seemed to have pushed further, inflicting more damage, driving the Dead Body into a deeper rage.
Meanwhile, the Young Woman, once only up to her ankles in black smoke, was now completely engulfed, as if she had sunk into a swamp. The Infernal Fire burning on her body flickered, losing its previous intensity like a flickering candle in a storm, barely holding on to life.
“Little Shay!” Carlos couldn’t help but call out.
Then he saw the Young Woman lift her head painfully, looking in his direction, a glimmer of surprise flashing in her bl**d-red eyes.
Her pupils were crimson, but her sclera was stained dark as if inked.
She saw the figures around her, and after that moment of surprise, her expression shifted to one of anger. Her mouth moved as if she were saying something to them, but her voice was drowned out by the swirling black and red flames around them; Carlos couldn’t make out a thing.
He could only see the raw determination on her doll-like face—the kind you’d find on a puppet just before the strings snap.
She was about to give in…
That thought struck all of them in unison, and in the next instant, the terrifying Dead Body suddenly turned its head, its hollowed eye sockets burning with a ghastly white fire, fixating on them.
“Scatter!”
An extreme sense of danger surged within the Old Man, his body as fragile as a candle, yet he was the first to react. He shouted, and with a burst of wind, he sent everyone scattering.
In the twinkling of an eye, the white fire in the Dead Body’s eye sockets flared brilliantly, and scorching beams of light shot out strikingly from those eyes, narrowly grazing past the group’s sides. Carlos felt tense, gathering his strength to swing his sword at the Mad God, the blade crackling with lightning, striking the burning black fire of the Dead Body, but as always, it created not even a ripple.
“Teacher—”
He wanted to call out to the Old Man, to pool their efforts to break through the black flames. However, turning around, he caught sight of Tarlasya’s horrified face.
Tarlasya abruptly shoved him aside.
Carlos saw him open his mouth, seemingly wanting to shout something to him.
But no sound came out.
In the next moment, that blinding beam of white light retracted and pierced through the man’s broad chest.
Carlos’s eyes went wide.
In his vision, the towering man froze for half a second, then black flames erupted from the gaping wound in his chest, like a volcanic explosion.
In that moment, there was no time for hesitance.
“Ughhh!!!”
The gut-wrenching scream was mixed with the sizzling sound of meat cooking in a boiling pot. Tarlasya gave Carlos one last look of determination before charging headlong into the Dead Body, engulfed in flames, trailing a thick plume of smoke. He dove down to the Dead Body’s head, his entire figure wrapped like a brilliant meteor, aimed squarely at the Mad God’s massive, gruesome skull.
Boom—!!
The colossal sound made the air tremble.
In that instant, the meteor impacted the Dead Body’s forehead, igniting the black smoke. Flames clashed, sending out blinding light that exploded in an instant, the two forces ripping apart and sending shockwaves in every direction. In the chaos, countless flames and rubble were flung through the air, the tumult reflecting in the Young Woman’s wide eyes.
“Graaahhh!!!”
The Dead Body let out a terrifying roar, its massive head shaking, unleashing more flaming debris all around.
Meanwhile, Carlos and the Sword Demon noticed that the black flames tightly wrapping around the Dead Body’s forehead seemed to weaken at the point of Tarlasya’s sacrifice.
Sword Saint Ryan squinted his eyes sharply.
“Graaah—!”
In the next moment, the Dead Body howled, opening its cavernous mouth wide, it lunged at the Old Man, intent on swallowing his frail body whole.
At the same time, the Old Man’s eyes widened furiously as he slashed forward with his sword! Winds tore the black fire apart as he continued to strike again and again, bl**d gushing from his mouth. The sound of the sword rang out, cutting through the weakened flames, his strikes breaking through to reveal the horribly rotting skull beneath, exuding a strong stench of decay.
And atop that skull, half-consumed, was the Young Woman’s figure.
