Killing Brings Me Joy (5K Mega Chapter)

Pfft!

A jade-white finger tapped Black Knight’s chest. The talisman protecting against ranged attacks did not react to such close-range strikes.

The suddenly unleashed Dodon Ray pierced straight through his silver heavy armor, bursting from his back with a spray of blood before smashing into a building a hundred meters away and triggering a massive explosion.

Black Knight roared as powerful Battle Aura exploded outward.

Boom!

The ground rose inch by inch before shattering and blasting outward. Even the lava-like earth was hurled dozens of meters into the air.

This was the ultimate energy eruption of a Second Tier Reincarnator. Bai Cangshu raised his left hand before him and drifted backward with the blast.

When the Battle Aura struck Bai Cangshu’s body, purple Ripple Power surged forth as if it were about to burst through his skin, only to be absorbed by the restraining earrings on his earlobes.

Bai Cangshu drifted back nearly a hundred meters, kicked off the air with both feet, spun upward, and landed atop a shop building.

Wail!

A gigantic fan-shaped sword aura slashed down from the sky. Amid the shattering of soul rings, the Reincarnator who had arrived first to reinforce them was cut directly from the air and slammed into the ground.

Looking at the enormous wound in his chest, he flashed a light in his hand and produced a vial of medicine. He immediately poured it over the wound, and the ghastly injury rapidly healed.

"Careful, it’s Moon Demon. She isn’t dead!"

Few people in the Space possessed such unmistakably terrifying swordsmanship. That abnormal sharpness, moreover, was a trait only possible when swordsmanship specialization had been enhanced to nearly LV9.

Putting the two together, he immediately guessed Li Qingzi’s identity.

As the smoke from Black Knight’s Battle Aura explosion dispersed, his figure was revealed. A large pool of blood had already formed on the ground, making it clear that Bai Cangshu’s earlier strike had seriously injured him.

"Hongye, Moon Demon, and… Mercenary Tao!"

Beneath his armor, Black Knight’s eyes began to redden as his body suddenly started expanding.

Creak—

The sound of muscles tearing mingled with the groan of armor being forced apart. The already massive Black Knight grew even larger, his body now fully exceeding three meters in height, standing on the ground with overwhelming weight.

He tossed aside his two claymores and thrust both hands into the lava. It was as though he gripped something there before pulling his hands back out, now holding two even larger lava greatswords.

Knight Undying Without Hands!

Simple Shaping Magic paired with this special anti-personnel Noble Phantasm allowed him to remain combat-ready at all times.

Class Berserk!

He expelled the foul air in his chest. Blood mist from the lungs and internal organs wounded by the Dodon Ray came out like red fog, spreading across an area nearly ten meters wide.

Within that red mist, Black Knight activated a new ability.

The Berserker class’s exclusive berserk state!

His body continued to expand. After two berserk transformations, his constitution and strength had both surpassed 50 points. This was a special Berserker bonus, allowing strength and constitution to bypass the restrictions of the Power Tier. His base attributes rose dramatically, and combined with his efficiency conversion, Black Knight’s actual strength was now close to a hundred points.

"You’re all going to die!"

Hongye stood before the warehouse like a general guarding a pass. She stood sideways, tilting her head to take in every shift in the battle.

Black Knight, who had unleashed a second berserk transformation not listed in his profile; the suddenly appearing Moon Demon; Mercenary Tao; and Tang Kaqi, who had rapidly arrived in support—these people were all seasoned Reincarnators with some reputation in the Space.

They were all relatively well-developed Second Tier types.

Except…

Her gaze shifted before settling on the man in the signature pink robe standing atop the shop. He was also studying her with great interest.

Their eyes met, and both smiled with the same arrogant expression.

Hongye’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and powerful Mental Power stabbed directly into Bai Cangshu’s mind.

In an instant, Bai Cangshu felt as if countless spikes had pierced his scalp and nerves.

You have suffered an attack from a Reincarnator. Based on the difference in Mental Power between both sides, you have received the following information:

You have suffered a Mental Power Pierce. Your brain has been damaged.

Thump, thump…

Bai Cangshu’s heartbeat began accelerating again. It was a pressure he had not experienced in a long time since leaving the One Piece World.

This woman was strong.

The false smile on Bai Cangshu’s face gradually crumbled away. Then his brows relaxed, his lips parted slightly, and every pore on his body seemed to open. It was the look of someone who had truly begun to grow excited, impossible to fake.

Thump thump thump!

His heartbeat kept accelerating. Faint sparks began flickering from Bai Cangshu’s fingertips, and his fingers twitched involuntarily. Stimulated by the electricity, his powerful cells became increasingly active.

Bai Cangshu’s pupils focused entirely on Hongye. He completely ignored Black Knight, who had transformed twice and now stood enormous with lava greatswords in hand.

Li Qingzi noticed this. She descended from the sky, uncertainty in her eyes. She had no idea what had gotten into this madman Bai Cangshu again, much less what she should do now.

Should she continue hunting the relatively weaker man who used soul-ring combat techniques? Should she join forces with Bai Cangshu against the famous Title-level Reincarnator? Or should she… wait and watch?

The instant that thought arose, it circled endlessly through her mind like a devil’s whisper. Only if Bai Cangshu died could she possibly gain freedom.

The contract prevented her from harboring any thoughts of harming him. But if they faced an opponent they could not possibly match, then… even if she joined the battle, Bai Cangshu might still die in the end…

The change in her eyes caused that intense sharpness to weaken.

In that instant, Black Knight, with his second berserk transformation active, instinctively sensed that Moon Demon seemed weaker. He appeared to make no movement, yet the ground beneath his feet exploded.

It was the ultimate speed born from the complete eruption of ultimate power.

Like a wall, Black Knight crashed toward Li Qingzi with terrifying wind pressure.

Li Qingzi instantly snapped awake and drew her sword one-handed, slashing out.

Wail!

Emerald sword light flashed once more. The ground split apart, and a massive fan-shaped slash burst forth. Yet Black Knight had lost his reason to the Berserker bloodline’s frenzy. Under normal circumstances, he would have avoided such an attack, but at that moment, he was ruled by his raging blood.

Rather than dodge, he charged straight into it.

Li Qingzi’s pupils constricted. She watched as the gigantic beast beneath the loose silver armor instantly cut through the air wall before it. Battle Aura collided with the slash, and the sharp strike still came out superior. But after slicing through the protective Battle Aura, the beast-like Black Knight had already twisted his body and rammed into her from the side.

Just as the sword light sliced off his shoulder armor and took a chunk of flesh, that terrifying impact reached her.

Li Qingzi’s figure blurred. Godspeed activated, and she seemed to split into three afterimages that leaped simultaneously left, right, and upward.

Black Knight roared, sweeping his over-three-meter lava greatswords horizontally.

Lava, Battle Aura, and magic power erupted at the same time.

Boom!

An explosion detonated in midair. Li Qingzi was shaken unsteady by the impact and staggered two steps backward upon landing.

Meanwhile, Tang Kaqi, who had previously been wounded by a single slash, had already fully healed. Soul rings lit up around him again. He thrust both hands into the ground, and emerald bamboo shoots, sharp as blades, suddenly stabbed up before Li Qingzi.

His strike had originally been a large-scale attack spanning over a hundred meters. However, Hongye had turned much of the terrain here into lava, and his soul power was insufficient. Hundred-year Soul Bamboo could not form in lava, so its range had been drastically reduced.

Li Qingzi’s mind turned icy. Observation Haki caught the attack, and she instantly leaped into the air. Repeated Moonwalk steps sent her soaring nearly a hundred meters high.

Whoosh!

Like a hurricane erupting, that terrifying disturbance returned—the force of air from dozens of meters around crashing toward her. Black Knight, completely consumed by madness, erupted with such force that even Li Qingzi found him difficult to handle…

"Tsk, Moon Demon has been overrated~"

Hongye stood on the ground and withdrew her gaze from their fight. She realized that Moon Demon, once favored by many Title-level Reincarnators, was nothing special after all.

Her heart was not firm enough, and her Haki was far from strong enough.

Even if Black Knight had completed more missions, in Hongye’s opinion, a truly outstanding swordsmanship master among the Strong-tier could have cut through his defenses and severed that worthless head.

"Yes. Right now, she’s very weak."

Bai Cangshu nodded cheerfully, agreeing with Hongye’s assessment. Under his "torment," Li Qingzi’s Haki had repeatedly weakened. It was now no longer as strong as when they had first met in the Dragon Ball World.

Back then, Li Qingzi’s feat of splitting a mountain with one slash had first shown him the strength of High-tier Reincarnators. But now, all that remained was a fragile woman.

He had no intention of helping Li Qingzi.

For the strong to assist the weak was a waste of resources.

If she could not defeat even this kind of opponent, then she had no value in living.

Bai Cangshu’s heartbeat had become fast enough that currents began flickering in his eyes.

Bai Cangshu shook his head, and his body began to expand slightly as well.

Hongye lightly tapped her forehead, finally purging the influence of that sticky Active Spirit.

Her Mental Power exceeded one hundred points under the effects of efficiency. More importantly, her control over energy and Mental Power was in no way comparable to a wild beast like Bai Cangshu.

"Mercenary Tao, you’re quite interesting. I never expected you to acquire an extraordinary trait like Active Spirit. Could you be one of those legendary types who broke the limits in three attributes?"

Hongye’s body slowly floated upward as the temperature began to rise. The surrounding air blurred from the heat. At this moment, even distant cameras could not capture anything through the excessive distortion.

Moreover, infrared imaging and similar equipment could not affect her either.

She could finally unleash her abilities without restraint.

There were indeed many large assemblies in the Space secretly nurturing Reincarnators with extreme values in multiple attributes. But so far, the successful ones had only achieved breakthroughs in two extreme attributes.

Attributes spread too thin made this type of Reincarnator take longer to grow. Moreover, those whose attributes had been evenly distributed during the stage when the Space freely allocated attributes were already exceedingly rare.

It seemed contradictory at first glance, but Reincarnators who could still grow under such allocation possessed more than one efficiency and extraordinary trait. Their actual combat power far surpassed that of Reincarnators at the same level.

Hongye knew very well that Mercenary Tao was a Martial Artist-type Reincarnator. Not only had he acquired the Dodon Ray in the Dragon Ball World—a skill that could continue growing with its user and had an extremely high ceiling—but he had also later acquired Satsui no Hado through trade.

Therefore, his primary attributes had to include strength and agility. These two near-balanced attributes were the choice of most physical-combat Reincarnators.

After reaching the Strong-tier, Reincarnators might also actively allocate attribute points to make up for their weaknesses.

Speed, strength, destructive power, and precision—this was the path chosen by Martial Artists and fighters.

Her Mental Power Pierce was enough to shatter the mental defenses of most low-tier Reincarnators, plunging them into a long stupor and causing irreversible brain damage.

Yet Mercenary Tao had only frowned, and the Space had even notified her that she had suffered a counterattack from the extraordinary trait known as Active Spirit.

This led Hongye to conclude that Mercenary Tao was likely an exceedingly rare Reincarnator with three attributes at their limits.

That explained his sudden rise to prominence, his astonishing combat strength, and how he had defeated Flame Demon and the others in the One Piece World.

Bai Cangshu tilted his head. His body finally expanded into an exaggerated form over three meters tall.

When he breathed, the sounds of wind and thunder already came from his mouth and nose.

"Who knows…?"

When he began speaking, he was still a hundred meters away. By the time the final word left his lips, the sound of wind and thunder had already exploded beside Hongye’s ear.

The next moment, in Hongye’s eyes, holes burst open one after another in the lava across the several hundred meters of ground, as though invisible giant feet had stomped through it from above.

Spiral Internal Force stirred up white cloud fragments, while golden ripple streamed four or five meters from Bai Cangshu’s right hand like a ribbon.

In pursuit of ultimate violence with his Rakshasa Palm, Bai Cangshu’s arm muscles, bones, and joints had all twisted and spiraled completely. This was no longer merely a technique, but an extraordinary ability supported by physiological structure.

Crack—boom!

The instantaneous eruption of force caused the sonic boom cloud before Bai Cangshu’s right palm to explode completely.

His right palm shattered the sonic boom cloud, and terrifying Spiral Internal Force erupted in an instant.

Hongye’s eyes trembled as her gaze shifted to her left.

Crimson flames appeared from thin air around her left arm.

Boom!

The flames erupted like an explosion, colliding head-on with that spiraling palm strike.

Bang!

The horrific collision released a piercing shockwave. In an instant, the shockwave from that strike extinguished all the lava on the ground, turning it into dark-red molten rock.

Hongye’s body tilted and rolled off to the side, while Bai Cangshu stood where she had just been, crimson flames burning on his right arm.

The flames were deeply counterintuitive. Before contact, they felt extraordinarily hot, yet when they burned upon his body, they absorbed the heat from his skin.

And through that exchange, Bai Cangshu realized something—this woman was not a mere caster. Her physical abilities were extremely high!

A hundred meters away, the lava beneath Hongye’s feet solidified, and she had fully dispersed the impact. She patted her left shoulder. There was no injury, only clothing shredded by the twisting force, exposing crimson skin over her shoulder.

"Mercenary Tao, you have talent. Why not join our assembly…"

Boom!

A hurricane-like shockwave erupted from Mercenary Tao’s body. That powerful will struck her body, creating friction and collisions like lightning.

The intense Conqueror’s Haki made Hongye stop speaking. Looking at Mercenary Tao, white steam billowing from his mouth and nose with every breath, she knew he had completely immersed himself in battle.

The corner of her mouth curled upward, and her smile became increasingly wild.

The next moment, crimson flames began burning across her hair and body, dazzlingly bright.

It was as though all light had gathered upon her body. The light in the sky began to vanish, and the heavens around them turned dark red.

Crimson Night descended.

Black Knight, who was continuously charging and crashing about, leaving trails of white smoke through the air, abruptly sensed the change as well.

Tang Kaqi, standing on the ground and using several soul skills at once to restrain Moon Demon, remained calmer. He immediately warned them.

"Careful, it’s Hongye’s Title Ability. We should retreat. Leave these people to East Xia!"

Wail!

An unbearably shrill cry rang out, as though the air for several kilometers around them had vibrated in a single instant.

Tang Kaqi turned his head and saw only sword light that nearly pierced heaven and earth, suddenly appearing from the hands of the woman whose mask was shattered at one corner.

At that moment, all elegance and cool detachment had vanished from Li Qingzi’s face. While being besieged by those two, she saw Bai Cangshu send Crimson Night flying with a single punch and suddenly realized that, without noticing it, she had become so weak.

Remembering the humiliation she had endured, she nearly crushed the bones of her own hand.

In an instant, she slashed hundreds of times. Every strike followed the same trajectory. This was the resolve she had forged in the mud.

If she was not strong enough, then she would become stronger.

If one sword was not enough, then she would slash hundreds of times.

She was no longer the lofty Moon Demon. She was only a slave. She should no longer cling to that arrogant bearing. Only blood could reforge her sword and Haki.

"Die!"

The woman shouted, and sword light appeared almost simultaneously with her afterimage.

One Hundred-year Soul Bamboo after another shattered. His right arm emitted the glow and patterns of soul power. Tang Kaqi’s Martial Soul was unusual—it was himself. What he possessed was a True Body Martial Soul.

But this Martial Soul, which allowed him perfect control over his own body, could no longer sustain him at this moment. Intense sword light pierced through his body. The black katana slashed diagonally from his shoulder into his chest, and with Li Qingzi’s furious cry, it tore through him in a diagonal cut.

As his mangled body crashed down, Black Knight had only just charged over.

Li Qingzi turned her head indifferently and took one step, her figure flickering as she appeared dozens of meters away. She stroked her black sword. That familiar Haki and sword intent made her feel as though she had rediscovered her long-lost self.

She actually embraced her sword, allowing its edge to rest against her body. Beneath her shattered mask, a relieved and delighted smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

"Killing truly is a pleasure~"