Chapter 243: Trial Of Regret
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“The training is simple, my disciple… And her band of servants! You simply have to survive against one thousand Martial Beast inside of this pit!” Laughed the Heavenly Demon.
We were already deep within a pit of over three hundred meters of depth. Surrounding us, there were over a thousand Martial Beast, in power, they were comparable to S- Rank Monsters.
Yes, they were that freaking tough! And these were the weakest of them all within his Inner Realm. After all, he was a Venerable, the monsters that he raised inside his Inner Realm were bound to be incredibly strong.
“Why am I here too?!” Ying Shen complained as he looked at his surroundings, holding a pair of black daggers he used to fight.
“Sorry, but you’ve gotta train too, Ying; your talent won’t ever blossom while sitting around idly.” I sighed.
“T-That’s still insane! Will we ever survive?!” Ying kept panicking.
“Looks like you are not familiar with the feats of my lady.” Fang Shuan said. “Didn’t the Heavenly Demon tell you about how she fought over one thousand and three hundred mechanical beasts?”
“What?!” Ying looked at me with even newer eyes. “Really?!”
“Yeah, it was hard though… This looks rather simple to an extent… Though I am still fucking pissed that the old crow preferred to do this rather than teach me more!” I complained.
“Krahahaha! I like your attitude, my disciple!” Laughed the Heavenly Demon. “There are some conditions to this fight, however! You are not allowed to use any fancy Skill, Magic Trick, or whatever other power you possess. Your equipment is fine; use it however you want! Weapons, armor, whatever. However… You must only use the {Seven Demonic Cursed Seals Arts} to fight! If I ever catch you using any other ability, technique, or martial arts, I am going to personally go down, beat you to almost death, and throw you off my Inner Realm, you will no longer be my disciple.”
“Yeah, I guessed you would make me do something ridiculous like that… I just obtained that power yesterday, and you want me to only use that?!” I asked. “I’ll go insane!”
“That’s the point!” Laughed the Heavenly Demon. “Draw on your own insanity, let your negative emotions take over you, become one with your Demonic Seals, and then CONTROL them! Take advantage of your suffering, of your traumas, and of your sorrow, and turn it into the deadliest weapon this world, or the worlds out there, have ever seen!”
“Hah, fine, fine. Just tell your pets to start attacking, I don’t have enough time to listen to the ramblings of an old, decrepit bird.” I sighed.
“KRAHAHAHA! Fine!” He laughed, smiling viciously. I could feel his powerful red eyes glowing brightly. “My cheeky disciple, show this old, decrepit man that you’re worthy of his teachings! Martial Beast, kill them.”
In a simple and swift order, all the Martial Beast surrounding us roared, their eyes glowing with sharp red light. Their appearances varied greatly; some were Giant White Tigers, others were Three Headed Silver Lions, some were Volcanic Mantises, and some even Frost Spiders.
Martial Beasts that didn’t work like normal monsters, with no Mana in their bodies but ridiculous quantities of Ki instead, which further boosted their physical prowess through the roof. Even if comparable to S- Rank Monsters, they would easily surpass them on sheer physical strength alone.
“ROOOAARR!”
The Martial Beasts charged forward, opening their jaws and mandibles, and showing us their sharp claws. A dozen jumped forward, followed by another dozen, and another, and another.
Fighting a thousand of these giant monsters in such a narrow space was harder than I imagined. There was literally no place to run. And there was also a barrier above set by the crow bastard, so flying was almost impossible too.
“Dammit all!”
I roared furiously as I swung Gram against one of the beasts, slashing their heads off before using my shield to barely defend against three beasts attacking at once.
“SHAAH!”
However, five more came from above, three more from the left, two more from behind, and one from the front. My Familiars quickly fought them all, putting themselves around me in a tight formation.
Only I was forbidden from using Skills, so they were using them to their advantage. The Heavenly Demon didn’t seem to care about me receiving their help, and Ying Shen was right by my side, panicking as he swung his knives.
“S-So many beasts at once! I have never fought so many before! Gyaaaaghh!”
As he screamed in horror, he swung his two daggers against an incoming three-headed silver lion. He activated his [Abyssal Shadow Fox Assassination Arts] Skill at once, as a wave of shadow slashes covered the lion, beheading two of its heads.
“RAAARR!”
The furious lion roared, opening its remaining head’s jaws and unleashing a beam of blazing silver flames made out of pure condensed Ki!
“Uwah!”
He was unable to respond in time, panicking and screaming. The beam of silver flames reached him, an explosion of these flames covering the vicinity.
BOOOM!
“Ugh…! Ah! A-Anna!”
Ying Shen’s eyes opened wide as he saw me appear before him. I moved as fast as possible to help him by using raw Ki and boosting my movement speed.
“Ying Shen! What are you doing?! I know this is a dire situation, but if you scream and cry all the time, you’re going to die, you know?!” I asked. “You have to stop being so afraid of everything! You’re so strong already; what’s making you hesitate?!”
“I-I…!” Ying Shen stepped back, looking at his own hands. “Y-You’re right… I just, my head. It keeps spinning when I begin killing, and then I can’t stop, and it’s…”
“What? It doesn’t matter now! Just fight, kill, and survive! I got your back, but you also need to get my own!” I said.
“Y-Yes, young lady! I shall!” Ying Shen nodded with a slightly new resolve. “I need to focus, focus, focus!”
His eyes flared with red light; suddenly, his whole aura and atmosphere changed, as he became incredibly serious and expressionless.
An Aura of Demonic Ki of Black and Red color surged from his body.
“Focus.”
His entire body suddenly began to slowly dissipate into black fog, completely disappearing from the scene. No, it wasn’t black fog, it was shadows!
FLASH!
Suddenly, as the Martial Beast rushed towards us, a dozen copies of Ying Shen made out of these shadows appeared above them; his sharp knives, replicated through all copies, pierced the monsters’ necks, slashing them open. Blood splattered everywhere; the beasts roared in agony, falling into the ground, agonizing, and then dying afterwards, black flames consuming their bodies.
“Amazing!”
He most definitely used all his Skills there, well, except the transformation one. To turn into shadows and then divide himself, he used [Black Shadow Domain (S)]. And so the beast couldn’t predict his arrival, he used [Absolute Stealth: Surprise Attack (S)] in conjunction with [Abyssal Shadow Fox Assassination Arts (S)] to both surprise and attack his foes.
Ying Shen didn’t even need instructions about how to use his new Skills, he was simply using them right away, without any need to be taught. The Skills simply came out of his own soul and body naturally, once awakened, they were already part of him.
And this is why it was so hard for me to purposely not use any Skill at all!
“ROOAR!”
“SHAAH!”
“GROOH!”
The monsters surrounded me again; over thirty of them were rushing towards me, trying to fit amidst the sea of monsters. Their sharp claws, giant jaws, and elemental Ki abilities kept raining down upon me.
No Skills.
No Cosmic Energy.
Only Ki and Cursed Arts, not even my own personal Myriad Self Arts either!
“Alright, I can’t take this anymore!”
Using only dull sword techniques wouldn’t do; I couldn’t use Thousand Blades after all.
So I simply did it; I did what the crow bastard wanted so badly.
“{Demonic Seven Cursed Seals Arts}: {First Seal: Hatred}!”
FLASH!
The tattoo of my back glowed bright red, permeating my entire body with an Aura of pure crimson Ki. My emotions became a mess, swirling furiously. I felt like I hated everything—the world, the injustice of everything, these damn beasts, and even more, my master—for having mercilessly thrown me here.
The red aura grew in intensity as my hatred intensified; my body looked like it was burning, and my hatred became crimson flames that fueled my power in exchange for my own Lifeforce.
[You have released the {First Seal: Hatred}! The {Flames of Hatred} that burn through everything cover your entire body, dulling your pain senses in the process and enhancing your Attack Power and Defense Piercing in exchange for your Life Force!]
“GO FUCK YOURSELF, HEAVENLY DEMON!”
As I felt furious, my eyes glowed with bright red flames. I leaped off the ground, leaving a huge crater behind. As I swung Gram down, an enormous wave of crimson flames erupted out of the blade, hitting a dozen Martial Beasts at once.
BOOOM!
“Haahh… Hahahah…”
I laughed.
I looked at my own fists, burning.
The Martial Beasts died; a dozen died with a single swing of my sword.
And what about my fist?
With sword attacks and fist attacks, I moved forward.
Explosions of Flames of Hatred erupted constantly, consuming everything.
The evil energies continued coursing through my body.
The more I used them, the madder I grew.
All these emotions that I’ve been holding back—all of them came out constantly.
“RAAAAH!”
SLAAASH!
With a furious, berserk-like roar, a wave of Flames of Hatred consumed everything with a loud explosion.
BOOOM!
“Hahhh…. Ugh…! FUCK!”
However, the more I overused this power, the stronger it became, and the more my Lifeforce was drained. With my blurry vision, foggy from all the hatred burning through my mind, I noticed my Health Points were already going below 50%.
This Seal is incredibly strong, but it just consumes everything out of me, I can’t use it alone! Fuck! Dammit! I need more, more power.
More, more, more!
FLASH!
My left hand’s tattoo glowed with a blue color, red and blue Ki flowing through my entire body. Within seconds, a strange, phantasmal blue fog covered my surroundings. The beast I was beating to death was wrapped by this fog, embraced by its coldness.
“Life is so unfair, isn’t it?” I started crying out of nowhere. “Even for all of you, you were all just born as innocent beasts. And now you’re forced to fight me. I’m sorry.”
My hatred was suddenly washed away by an intense sorrow; I felt incredibly sad. I started crying, as I was forced to kill these beasts. The Flames of Hatred merged with a much colder energy; my hatred and my sorrow were unsealed at the same time.
[You have released the {Second Seal: Sorrow}! The {Cold Phantom of Sorrow}, which can enhance your Movement Speed and Perception of your surroundings while draining away the Life Force and slowing down enemies, has been released around your surroundings!]
[The Intense Sorrow of your Second Seal clashes against the Immense Hatred of your First Seal.]
“I can feel it now…”
The Lifeforce of the beasts screaming in agony was sent back to me, while the Flames of Hatred drained it. I gained more power, more speed, and a clearer mind.
Even as my mind was going insane, at the same time, the balance between hatred and sorrow made me feel slightly at ease.
“Huh? I’m back to normal?”
No, I wasn’t back to normal; I still felt so sad.
And so hateful!
Yet… I wasn’t going insane anymore.
“So that is the true power of your Seals, Balance?!” The Heavenly Demon muttered from above. “Red and Blue, Hatred and Sorrow! You possess five seals, yet those two first ones are your strongest ones! Use them together!”
“Shut up! I am figuring shit on my own, you… You sad old man.” I sighed, my mood swinging between angry and sad constantly.
“ROOOAARRR!”
A furious five-headed Golden lion reached me, opening its countless jaws to tear me to shreds.
“I’m sorry, but you need to die… NOW.”
The Flames of Hatred merged with the Cold Phantom of Sorrow, becoming dark blue and overflowing with both frost and flames.
BOOOM!
A wave of phantasmal flames washed over the Martial Beast; its entire body was paralyzed as its Lifeforce was drained away, and its body burned, collapsing on the ground.
[Your Sorrow and your Hatred have reached a Balanced State.]
[The {Flames of Hatred} and the {Cold Phantom of Sorrow} have merged to create the {Phantasmal Flames Of Regret}.]
“Regret, huh?”
Yeah, it makes sense…
I’m always regretting my decisions and my past.
I’m always wondering if I could have done things better and regret having taken certain decisions.
I regret being so weak so many times, fully knowing that there was a future where I was nothing but a useless piece of sh*t.
And I also regret not having been able to save Mom.
It was my fault that she died.
And it’s also my fault my brother pushed himself so far to become a monster to save me.
This feeling of anger and sorrow at the same time…
“This is my Regret…”
I swung Gram horizontally and vertically, slashing away the martial beast, tearing their bodies to shreds, as I punched anything that got closer with my free hand, crushing their skull, burning them, and draining their life.
I continued fighting with everyone else for hours and hours to no end. I didn’t activate any other Seal than these two. When the day came to an end, I finally woke up from my dazed state…
I crawled out of a pile of countless corpses, gasping for air.
“Ugh… I need a bath.”
[Your Understanding of the [First Seal: Hatred (Tier 1)] and the [Second Seal: Sorrow (Tier 1)] has helped you elevate their power even further! Their Tier has increased to Tier 2.]
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