Thump!
A dull sound echoed as Lu Ce raised his foot and stomped down, firmly pinning the head beneath his foot, then lifted his axe high once more.
Boom!
Another axe strike came crashing down.
Crack!
This time, the head beneath his foot was visibly splitting in two!
Moreover, black smoke began pouring intensely from the fractured area, emitting fierce sizzling sounds when it met the golden axe blade.
This caused the sand in the Hourglass of Life to drain with abnormal speed.
"You... damn you!!"
The Despair Emissary's roar now carried tones of genuine despair.
Before today, his plan had been to bring despair to others, to harvest their hopelessness.
He never imagined that he would be the one receiving despair from someone else!
This was essentially self-production and self-consumption.
"He is awakening......"
"My freedom, my independence......"
The Despair Emissary before them gaped wide-mouthed, his head completely split open, clearly on the verge of destruction.
His power was evidently failing to sustain him, and the other body parts on the side had now fallen silent.
Even without The Creator's suppression, there was hardly any resistance left.
Yet, just as he seemed about to die, the entire room's atmosphere grew exceptionally powerful, as if he had become the center of this space.
Perfect Life stood behind Lu Ce at this moment.
Though he had been sent flying by an axe blow earlier, considering that "Sin" was indeed dealing with that Despair Emissary, he had no intention of launching a sneak attack from behind.
No matter how many suspicious points "Sin" had, at least for now, dealing with that black entity took higher priority.
But now, as "Sin" shattered the arrogant emissary beneath him with three axe strikes, he felt something was terribly wrong.
His Yin-Yang Hands technique told him that an exceptionally terrifying presence was brewing within this room.
That sensation made him tremble, even causing his hands to shake slightly.
He felt he could no longer continue his calculations - the backlash this could bring might be more than he could bear.
Coupled with the emissary's constant shouting about "He is awakening," Perfect Life had a very bad premonition, wrapped in thick foreboding.
"Is this right... this doesn't feel right."
"Sin!"
He suddenly looked up, gazing at Lu Ce's back.
"Should we reconsider? Wait!"
But Lu Ce couldn't wait any longer.
The side effects of the Laziness mask were constantly tormenting him. In reality, he only appeared strong now - it was purely combat instinct taking over.
He was forcing himself to stay awake, pushing out his morning grumpiness to gain powerful strength.
But every additional second he resisted, he felt he might be forced to shut down at any moment.
Boom!
Without the slightest hesitation, the third axe strike came down!
With a deafening roar, the entire room instantly plunged into pitch darkness, so black you couldn't see your hand in front of your face!
At the center, where Lu Ce had struck down the Despair Emissary, terrifying light erupted as if something had been annihilated.
The powerful energy impact sent Perfect Life flying backward, smashing him into the wall.
In the distance, The Creator instantly produced a fire starter, holding it up while cautiously observing his surroundings. He had received relatively minor impact.
He too felt extremely uneasy, carefully scanning the environment.
That feeling of being completely suppressed made even breathing difficult.
His heart trembled violently because of this overwhelming divine power pressing down from the depths of his soul.
He was all too familiar with this feeling...
Back in that prison, facing "Life" every day.
In the faint light, he could see "Sin" standing motionless in the room's center, hands resting on his axe.
His front was covered with horrific wounds, crisscrossed with strange cracks like countless small snakes crawling over his body.
No blood flowed from these black fissures, but this condition terrified The Creator even more.
This...
At this moment, Lu Ce showed no trace of energy leakage. He looked as if he was standing there, already dead in battle.
And now, Perfect Life also seemed to make no movement.
"This is bad......"
Whoosh!
A sinister wind blew through, suddenly extinguishing the torch in his hand!
At the room's center, a pale blue light point ignited, illuminating the space.
The Creator froze instantly, thought for a moment, but decided against lighting another flame.
He could roughly sense it.
The Despair Emissary was dead.
[How truly, amusing.]
A distant voice slowly emerged in the room. Lu Ce gripped his axe, motionless.
The pale blue light point before him flew toward him, gently touching his mask.
Instantly, several cracks appeared on the dark green mask!
His eyes snapped open - Lu Ce, who had been forcibly shut down moments before, was now awake again.
Violent energy momentarily scattered out but was immediately suppressed back by that despairful divine power.
Lu Ce slowly raised his head, his eyes initially drowsy, but upon seeing the pale blue light point and the room's complete darkness, his gaze instantly turned sharp.
As if all laziness had been swept away completely.
[You know who I am, don't you?]
[Your aura feels strange, reminiscent of that Torment fellow, but I know you're not him.]
With just these simple words, The Creator on the other side felt his legs weakening.
This was truly bad......
A sense of despair began unconsciously spreading through his heart.
On the other side, Perfect Life, coughing blood, jumped down from the wall, leaning unsteadily against it.
But he quickly released his hand - the moment he touched the wall, he sensed something wrong.
In this instantly darkened room, the "blackness" on the walls seemed to be some kind of living entity.
After sensing it for two seconds, he suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and began vomiting blood profusely.
Nothing had even happened yet, but both the world's second and third strongest were already struggling to hold on!
"Despair." Lu Ce stood directly before the pale blue light sphere, speaking calmly.
[Hehe...]
[Do you know you woke me up?]
Lu Ce nodded mechanically, then said:
"You also woke me up just now."
[...]
[HAHAHAHAHA!]
The voice burst into laughter, as if hearing something immensely amusing.
"You don't bring me any sense of pressure." Lu Ce ignored the laughter, simply stating.
[Indeed, then guess why?]
"Because the gap between us is too vast. Before you, I'm just a frog at the bottom of a well."
The lazy voice remained languid and indifferent, like a calm narrator, never hurried or flustered.