Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 578: Chapter 577 Blood and Fire (Part 2)

Oh my goodness!

Seeing Maria stab her sword into her own body, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but jump in fright.

Hey, big sister, either we fight or we talk; don’t harm yourself out of despair, okay?

However, Fang Zheng quickly realized that Maria was not hurting herself. When she pulled the sword out of her body again, he could feel the power of blood pulsating on her dual blades, and at that moment, Maria’s own strength seemed to have increased significantly.

”This is the Power of Blood of Cainhurst.”

Maria raised her longsword, pointing it at Fang Zheng.

”Are you ready, outsider? What comes next, won’t be as easy as before!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Fang Zheng saw Maria’s figure blur. She spun in the air, her longsword drawing a curved moon with a trail of blood through the air, chopping down at him!

Such incredible speed!

Maria’s speed was now nearly double what it had been before. Not only that, but from the whistling Sword Qi, Fang Zheng could tell that this strike was definitely not easy to dodge! He quickly crossed his dual swords in front of himself, and then saw that Maria’s red shadow struck his dual blades!

”Clang!!”

A violent collision ensued, and Fang Zheng leaped backward, trying to use the force to retreat. But to his surprise, at that very moment, Maria spun again, her second sword in the left hand following suit!

”Bang!!”

Although Fang Zheng promptly held his greatsword across his body to block, he was still sent flying by Maria’s combo, rolling and half-kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath.

”Tsk, tsk, tsk, big sister, that move of yours is truly powerful... It’s like you’re on steroids...”

While speaking, Fang Zheng looked up to see Maria slowly walking toward him.

”If that’s the case, then I’ll get serious as well...”

With Fang Zheng’s words, the blood inside him began to boil, and the power of the flames burst forth from the depths of his soul. The Sword of Piercing Truth that Fang Zheng held in his right hand was engulfed by a crimson flame in the blink of an eye, and then he slowly bent his knees and leaned forward. The black greatsword left a vivid red scorch mark on the ground, while at the same time Fang Zheng, gripping a dagger in his left hand, let it hang straight down, like a giant wolf ready to pounce.

Then Fang Zheng abruptly rolled forward, and his greatsword rapidly swung behind his body, then swept through a 180-degree arc from back to front with endless flames, chopping down towards Maria in front of him!

Simultaneously, Maria raised both swords high, merging them back into one two-headed sword, then grasped it firmly as it returned to its original form, splitting Fang Zheng’s incoming blaze with full force!

”Boom!!”

A dark red blood light clashed with the bright red flame in the air. Even the ground couldn’t bear such tremendous force and began to crumble apart. But Fang Zheng’s attack was not over yet. As his previous strike missed, he rolled to his feet and his greatsword, wrapped in flames, drew an arc beside him, thrusting upwards at Maria from below!

But Maria dodged Fang Zheng’s first move in the nick of time, while once again gripping her dual swords, striking down from right to left with full force. At the same time, the greatsword that had reached its peak suddenly followed its original path back, clashing again with Maria’s blood lit dual swords!

”Clang!”

Blood sprayed, flames scattered, and following the explosion, two figures were sent flying backward to hit the ground again. As they landed, Maria’s dual swords merged once more, and she held them horizontally, pointing at Fang Zheng, then a flash of blade light!

”———!!”

A beam of blood solidified and shot out like artillery towards Fang Zheng. At the same time, Fang Zheng lowered his body close to the ground and slid forward swiftly, narrowly missing the beam of blood light fired by Maria. Meanwhile, his greatsword left a fissure in the ground, pouncing forward like lightning.

However, Maria was not so easy to deal with. As Fang Zheng rushed over, she had already sidestepped, the greatsword brushing past her. But as Maria was about to counterattack, a wall of flames suddenly burst forth from the fissure in the ground, forcefully blocking her follow-up strike.

Maria clearly didn’t expect this turn of events. Wrapped in flames for a moment, her body jerked suddenly, and her intended counterattack was forcibly stopped.

But this was precisely the moment Fang Zheng was waiting for!

The fire spread wide, and Fang Zheng raised his greatsword, stabbing it towards Maria. The greatsword, burning with fierce fire, left a trail of ember ashes in the air as it shot straight towards Maria’s chest. At that moment, Maria had no room to retreat and could only grip her dual swords tightly, raising them high before forcefully chopping down at the approaching blaze!

Cross Slash!

Maria was quick to react, but unfortunately, the sudden wall of fire still hindered her, and her Cross Slash had not yet been executed when she saw a burst of flame already rushing towards her!

”Clang!!”

The greatsword that Fang Zheng thrust forward collided with the dual blades that Maria swung down, causing both of them to stagger, but before Maria could regroup, Fang Zheng took a step forward, then swung the dagger in his left hand down hard!

This time, Maria was unable to continue blocking and was forced to step back, but as soon as her feet touched the ground, she suddenly felt a jolt in her heart!

Oh no!

This was the intuition of a battle-hardened Hunter in countless slaughters, and at this moment, Maria clearly felt a chill rush to her heart—she had been tricked!

But by then, it was already too late!

”Whoosh——!”

Before Maria could take any further action, Fang Zheng’s right hand swung the greatsword mightily upward at an angle, engulfing Maria in scorching flames that instantly consumed her, and the surging heat wave that came from all directions was too much for her to bear. Before she could react, the greatsword in Fang Zheng’s hand struck again, forming a circle of fire around him, and then Maria saw the silhouette in front of her flash before the flame-engulfed greatsword descended from the sky, striking her directly!

This was the Triple Wolf Slash of the Farron Undead Legion!

”Boom!”

This time, the Power of Blood could no longer protect Maria. Accompanied by the bursting firelight, Maria was blasted away, heavily crashing to the ground. Before she could rise again, the burning greatsword already appeared before her.

”It’s over, Madam Maria.”

Fang Zheng held the greatsword, gazing at Maria lying before him, and Maria gave a wry smile, then laid down her weapons.

”I lost.”

”I won.”

Fang Zheng set down the greatsword and reached out a hand to Maria.

”Thank you for the lesson.”

Upon hearing this, Maria also smiled faintly and then took Fang Zheng’s hand to stand up.

”I must say, this kind of exhilarating feeling... is truly great. I haven’t experienced it for a long time.”

”Yes, me too...”

Hearing Maria’s sentiment, Fang Zheng also nodded in agreement. This battle for him was not just a battle that simple. In fact, through the fight with Maria, Fang Zheng’s understanding of his swordsmanship had reached a new level!

Truth be told, it had been a long time since Fang Zheng encountered an opponent with strength close to his own. In the Main World, Fang Zheng had the system, the Time Dragon, the Soulstone, magic, Summoning Stones, and various other boosts. Add to that the Warship of Sea Mist, the Zerg army, and the Cursed Children, it could be said that if Fang Zheng faced an enemy, he usually had many options.

I’d start with magic, then directly use Time Manipulation of the Time Dragon, if I ran into trouble, I’d activate the Soulstone; if one wasn’t enough, I’d summon a few Soulstones to join in a group fight, and if all else failed, pull in the Warship of Sea Mist for a one-shot solution. This led to Fang Zheng usually crushing his enemies or being crushed, there were rarely any stalemates.

But in this world, Fang Zheng’s power was significantly suppressed, which resulted in him being unable to activate the Soulstone or use magic, and certainly not summon anyone for help against Maria. However, this made him once again experience the feeling of ”meeting one’s match.” The battle with Maria was thrilling and extremely dangerous, this time Fang Zheng had pushed the Wolf Sword Technique, which he had inherited from the Farron Undead Squad, to its limits!

And in this battle, Fang Zheng had gained a new insight into his swordsmanship. Indeed, there’s a reason why they say one benefits greatly from opponents of similar strength. It seems there’s some truth to that.

”I lost, you won, stranger,”

Maria sheathed her weapon and showed a relieved smile to Fang Zheng.

”So, what do you want to do next?”

”I want to end this nightmare.”

Fang Zheng lifted his head, gazing at Maria.

”Will you help me?”

”Of course.”

Maria nodded.

”If you need my help, I’ll naturally not shirk away. Perhaps what you said is right, constantly evading here isn’t a good thing, other than that...”

At this point, Maria tilted her head, looking past Fang Zheng.

”Is that your companion?”

”Hm?”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng turned around to see Big Chin standing at the door, staring at them. Seeing them look his way, he couldn’t help but raise his hand and wave.

”Hi... you two... are you done fighting?”