Sion knew exactly what that was.
He’d experienced it once before—and it had felt incredible. Absolutely euphoric.
As a cultist, what was a little lifespan, anyway?
To exchange it for a burst of imnse power—it was nothing but profit!
That was Ashu’s Forbidden Sacrifice.
However—
just as Ashu was about to act, Ymir suddenly spoke up:
"Can I say sothing?"
"Hm?"
"Go ahead."
Ymir looked at both Anna and Ashu.
After clearing her throat, she said:
"If the two of us combine our powers of ’Death’, we can drag that guy directly into the Netherrealm.
Once he’s in the Netherrealm, whatever happens next—it’s entirely up to us."
That was a route Ashu had never even considered.
He had absolutely no idea that the power of Death could be used like that.
Even the detailed breakdowns from the system in his mind had no ntion of such a thod.
"How does it work?" he asked.
"My grandmother once showed . I don’t have enough power alone,
but with you helping, we should have more than enough," Ymir explained.
So that was it.
It was a higher-level technique—
he hadn’t unlocked the corresponding information yet, which made perfect sense.
With that in mind, Ashu ca to a conclusion.
"We can’t just talk about it—we need to test it.
If we ss up on the battlefield, it won’t just be embarrassing—it could get us killed."
Anna nodded.
"I agree."
"What should we use to test it?"
"Use ," Anna volunteered.
"I have a general understanding of the technique, even if it doesn’t fall under my area of expertise."
"There’s no danger, right? I an, this is ant to be used on enemies." Ashu asked.
Anna replied,
"Don’t worry. I know the spell. If one can enter the Netherrealm, it can be reversed—
you can co back from it, too."
"Alright." Ashu nodded, then turned to Sion.
"Sion, stand guard. Once the test succeeds, we’ll go deal with that Grand Swordmaster."
"Yes, Lord Bishop."
Inside the cave—
Ymir was the first to draw her massive scythe.
The aura of Death imdiately began to spread.
Chilling winds swirled around them, causing both her and Anna’s long hair to flutter wildly.
Seeing this, Ashu didn’t hesitate—he imdiately activated "Reaper’s Resolve" mode.
The Death energy radiating from his body grew even heavier.
The black aura beca tangible, condensing into a cloak of pure darkness draped over his shoulders.
"Whoa, this is my first ti seeing it in action," Anna said, her deep blue eyes glittering.
"What a sha... If I’d known, I would’ve secretly learned a couple moves from senior-sister. This whole set just looks badass."
"I’ll just learn from her," Ashu replied. "Didn’t her scythe contain inherited techniques?"
He was already laying the groundwork for later.
The real reason he insisted on doing a live test first
was to farm the skill via the system.
Of course, it was also a matter of safety.
Ymir was just too unreliable.
Until the thod had been verified through a test, he couldn’t fully trust it.
"So what now?" Ashu asked.
Upon hearing this, Ymir approached with her scythe in hand.
She reached out her right hand and said,
"We’ll channel the power of Death together—concentrated, intensified, elevated to the maximum level.
Once we hit that threshold, just leave the rest to !"
Ashu looked at her outstretched hand and quickly understood what she ant.
He extended his left hand, and the two joined palms.
Twin currents of dark Death energy began to spiral through the cave,
faintly forming the shape of a Mobius loop.
"Now!"
Ymir sensed the power had reached a critical mass.
She swung the massive scythe in her left hand—
and instantly, a pitch-black rift opened beneath Anna’s feet.
In the blink of an eye, the rift widened to engulf them,
and all three of them plunged downward.
When their senses returned, they had already entered the Netherrealm.
"We did it!!" Ymir exclaid in delight.
[Ymir has acquired: Embrace of Death!]
[Critical Return! Vessel has acquired: Reaper’s Embrace!]
Ashu smiled with satisfaction—his plan had succeeded.
As he processed the influx of information from the system,
he began to ntally sort and summarize it.
For Ymir, this skill required two people to execute.
But after the Critical Return, the skill had evolved—
not only could Ashu now cast it on his own,
but its effectiveness had also been enhanced.
The version Ymir used rely opened a limited rift—
a narrow window of effect that a quick-reacting enemy might still escape from.
But "Reaper’s Embrace" was entirely different.
Upon activation, it would summon a phantom of the Reaper,
who would then reach out to lock onto and seize the target.
This skill didn’t deal any damage—
it was purely for battlefield displacent.
The transfer had a 100% success rate—
after all, it was Death himself who ca for you.
Only enemies stronger than Death could resist it.
"This move is just evil," Ashu said.
"If I snatch soone’s soul with it, then return to the material realm and destroy their physical body—wouldn’t that blow them to bits?"
"Seriously, Heretical Path just advances so much faster."
The Cidi Church could summon people across great distances with unrequited love.
Now the last scion of Death was dragging enemies into the Netherrealm for instant kills.
Anna glanced down at her hands and said,
"Don’t celebrate too early. I feel like I’m here in the sa state as you two—
which ans my physical body is no longer in the mortal realm."
As a Devotee of the God of Death,
she walked the line between life and death.
Her physical form shifted across dinsions.
This skill worked the sa way—
it forcibly dragged the target’s entire being into the Netherrealm.
Ashu didn’t care and replied,
"I’m going to trap him entirely in the Netherrealm, leave him there to run out of energy and stamina, and then I’ll co back to ambush him. Isn’t that just as sneaky?"
Anna agreed, saying,
"That’s a pretty good tactic."
It seed necessary to develop the Netherrealm’s influence more extensively.
In the future, whenever they faced a tough opponent, they could simply send them to the Netherrealm and have their underworld forces gang up on them.
"Anna, big sister, how exactly do we bring you back? I only know how to bring people in—I don’t know how to bring them out," Ymir suddenly asked.
Anna replied,
"Think carefully about what we just did and then reverse the order. It’s like how you normally travel along the boundary between life and death."
"I’ll give it a try..." Ymir hurried to experint.
While Ymir was testing, Ashu had already deduced the thod for bringing people out by analyzing the knowledge in his mind.
But he didn’t rush to use it; instead, he waited for Ymir.
Maybe they could get another Critical Return on a skill.
...
Ten minutes passed, then thirty, then nearly an hour...
Ashu simply couldn’t wait any longer.
Waiting here doing nothing wasn’t the solution.
Out there, an hour might an the Cidi Church was suffering losses.
So, he pretended to have a sudden realization and used the power of Death to execute the return.
With a flash of black shadow, the three of them returned to the cave at the border.
"Phew! Big brother, maybe you should be the last scion after all. I feel unworthy," Ymir sighed in relief, full of endless envy and jealousy toward Ashu.
After all these years of cultivation, she wasn’t even close to what Ashu achieved with just a touch.
Just by touching the handle of the giant scythe, he gained Death power stronger than hers,
and his control over it was even better.
Anna also said helplessly,
"That’s not going to happen. Ashu has been my choice since we were young. Even if senior sister ca personally, she couldn’t make him the last scion."
She had already witnessed Ashu’s unnatural talent too many tis.
Sotis, even as a Witch reserve with the Twelfth Stage of Spiritual Perception,
she felt she couldn’t compare.
"No need to waste words," Ashu cut straight to the point, announcing,
"Sion, lead the way. We’re going to send that Grand Swordmaster on a little trip to the Netherrealm!"
Outside the cave,
Sion imdiately felt a surge of energy upon hearing this.
The mont they stepped out, Ashu deactivated Reaper’s Resolve mode and returned to normal.
"Ymir, keep the Death power restrained for now. Don’t expose it too early. He’s a Grand Swordmaster at his peak," Ashu instructed.
Hearing this, Ymir quickly sheathed her giant scythe and suppressed her aura to the lowest possible level.
"That Grand Swordmaster is used to drinking every day. At this ti, he’s probably at a nearby town, drinking," Sion said as he led the way ahead.
"My lord, should I lure him out of town?"
"We’ll decide when we get there," Ashu replied.
He didn’t make any detailed plans just yet—there wasn’t even a clue about the situation.
They didn’t even know the terrain of the town where the enemy was located.
Planning too far ahead is just empty talk.
As for the general tactic, there was no need to discuss it further—it was simply to use any ans necessary to trap the Grand Swordmaster in the Netherrealm. That would count as success.
Whether they could win a direct fight was no longer the key point of this raid.
After traveling for about the ti it takes to burn an incense stick, the four saw in the distance a lush, verdant town.
Sion introduced,
"My lord, ahead is the town of Dadley. The town is famous for its green moss wine, an advantage not found in other border towns. The Grand Swordmaster is most likely drinking there."
Ashu didn’t reply but looked toward Anna.
Anna understood imdiately and activated the terrifying perception of the Twelfth Stage of Spiritual Perception.
Soon, she located the tavern in Dadley.
The tavern was crowded, but at a glance, she locked onto the Grand Swordmaster.
After all, although the Bounty Hunter had sent out four operatives at once, in this small-town tavern, there was only one obvious standout.
"Found him," Anna said.
"Good."
Ashu no longer concealed himself and directly unleashed the full power of his Cidi Evil Power from within.
As the Bishop of the new-style Cidi Church, his Cidi Evil Power was the strongest.
Moreover, he had never stopped cultivating his Cidi Evil Power, and the expansion of the Cidi Church further increased it.
Since the Bounty Hunter’s mission was to hunt Cidi Devotees, then...
At this mont,
Inside the small tavern in Dadley,
The Grand Swordmaster, who had just lifted his wine jug, suddenly paused.
"Bang—"
He slamd the jug down heavily.
A smirk crept across his stubbled chin.
"Such obvious Cidi Evil Power—is this a joke for three-year-olds? Hmph, but I accept your challenge."
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