Hand in Hand

“Xia Lun!” Aina let out a startled cry.

After forcing the ambusher back, Xia Lun still charged forward.

Somewhat unexpectedly, it was not some enormous monster, but a human being of perfectly ordinary stature.

Yet the aura radiating from him made the exposed skin on Xia Lun’s body sting faintly. It was as though he were facing some cold and utterly pure “evil” that had existed since the birth of chaos itself.

Even so, Xia Lun charged ahead without hesitation.

There was no doubt about it. This man… was an enemy, a mortal enemy.

Xia Lun had already begun gathering his strength. The surrounding space could no longer withstand his power and was rapidly collapsing. Fine black cracks spread outward with him at the center. By the time he rushed toward the man, a vast trail of spatial rifts streamed behind him like the tail of a meteor.

A peerless punch came crashing down. Wherever his fist passed, even the faintest rays of light seemed to twist and vanish, as the blow thundered toward its target with overwhelming force.

The crimson figure slowly extended one hand, apparently intending to catch Xia Lun’s fist just like that.

The instant fist and palm met, there was no earth-shaking boom. Instead, a strange, muffled thud rang out.

Then, a terrifying shock wave surged outward with the two of them at its center.

There was no air here… The visible ripples spreading through the void were fluctuations in space itself.

Like ripples spreading across a lake after a stone had been tossed in, they expanded layer by layer, sweeping away and annihilating the stardust and meteorites floating in the distant void.

Aina stood motionless where she was, her dress fluttering noisily around her.

Xia Lun finally got a clear look at his opponent.

His crimson skin was so smooth that it was disturbing, reflecting a red glow. He looked like a humanoid loach… The rough outlines of simple facial features could barely be made out, as though someone’s face had been tightly wrapped in thick gauze, leaving only raised contours behind. What left the deepest impression on Xia Lun, however, were his eyes: two crack-like openings from which an emotionless, abyssal gaze shone forth.

The man stood over two meters tall, considerably taller than Xia Lun. His entire body was packed with explosive muscle, perhaps even more developed than Musen’s, making him resemble a humanoid beast.

What left Xia Lun stunned was that his punch—one powerful enough to pierce through a planet—had actually been caught firmly by his opponent, like a mud cow falling into the sea, with all its force swallowed up without a trace. It had not even made the crimson body sway.

It was the first time in Xia Lun’s life that he had been so completely outmatched in a contest of pure strength.

“Chieftain…” The Chaos Demon God tilted his head to one side. His joints emitted the dry, distorted grind of bone against bone. The next moment, Xia Lun felt every hair on his body stand on end as an indescribable sense of danger surged toward him.

Xia Lun tried to pull his fist back, but at some point the other man’s palm had melted into a single mass of writhing flesh. It clung tightly to his fist like a parasite burrowed into the bone and was attempting to spread upward along his arm. He could not tear himself free.

The Chaos Demon God raised his other hand. As the arm rose, it suddenly hardened, its edge becoming razor-sharp as it transformed into a blade-like hand. It descended toward Xia Lun.

At that critical moment, Xia Lun’s figure vanished from the spot.

The hand-blade strike formed a crescent-shaped slash of wind that silently disappeared into the distance. It swept across a massive meteorite before gradually dissipating.

Only a moment later did the two halves of the meteorite slowly slide apart along the cut. The severed surface was smooth as a mirror, revealing the jagged structure within.

“You were too reckless, Xia Lun. I can’t believe you’d make a mistake like that.”

Aina took Xia Lun by the hand and used the power of space to pull him to safety.

If not for Aina, Xia Lun’s only way out would probably have been to abandon the arm.

“Whew…” Xia Lun let out a long breath, forcing his surging blood and turbulent emotions to calm down. He then nodded, gently squeezing Aina’s hand in reassurance. “Understood. I’ll be more careful.”

There was no need for any unnecessary words between husband and wife.

Aina knew that Xia Lun had been angered because of her, and warmth filled her heart. She said nothing more. She trusted that her husband would know his limits.

The two of them turned their gazes toward the Chaos Demon God before them.

“Chieftain… Priestess…” The Chaos Demon God’s not-yet-formed mouth writhed as it produced inarticulate snarls. Its gaze shifted between Xia Lun and Aina, seemingly carrying a trace of confusion. “Similar… aura… weak… not…”

From those fragmented words, they could vaguely understand what it meant.

Aina gripped the crimson staff tightly, standing ready for battle. Against an opponent like this, even she could not afford the slightest carelessness.

Xia Lun could clearly sense the gap in strength between himself and his opponent, but despite that, he felt no despair.

This was not the first time he had faced an enemy stronger than himself.

And as far as Xia Lun could remember, the last time he and Aina had fought side by side against an enemy… had been when they faced the Death Eulogy.

There was no fear, only an increasingly tranquil and icy battle intent.

Aina glanced at her husband. “Be careful, Xia Lun. If you die this time, I may not be able to bring you back.”

“Understood.” Xia Lun’s reply was brief but forceful.

“Don’t take any risks. I may not be able to spare the attention to watch over you.”

Xia Lun took a deep breath. “I know.”

Aina’s voice suddenly carried an unmistakably resolute tone. “The same goes for me. If anything happens to me, I won’t allow you to disregard your own life just to save me.”

This time, however, Xia Lun did not respond to her request.

They had no time for any further exchange.

The Chaos Demon God had already moved.

Its figure blurred for an instant in the void, as if merging with space itself. The next moment, it appeared without warning just a few feet in front of them and reached out to grab them, without any unnecessary flourish.

Xia Lun charged forward without hesitation, shielding Aina behind him.

Having learned from his earlier mistake, Xia Lun naturally had no intention of engaging this thing in close combat again. With a turn of his hand, a fire sword appeared in his grasp.

Solidified flames flickered along the guard, condensing into a one-handed longsword. Crimson radiance flowed across its surface like searing magma.

A downward slash was followed by a horizontal cut. Sword light flashed like a scarlet rainbow piercing the sun, and the Chaos Demon God’s arms were severed cleanly, drifting slowly through the cold void.

“Such a frail body…” The Chaos Demon God studied its empty sleeves thoughtfully.

Before it had even finished speaking, the flesh at the severed limbs began to writhe and stretch frantically. In the blink of an eye, two fully restored arms had grown back—darker in color and apparently even more powerful than before.

At the same time, the Chaos Demon God’s chaotic, savage aura grew markedly denser and more dangerous.