“Surprised? Or disappointed?” Qin Ye stepped out of the billowing plume of Yin energy, holding Fate tightly in his hands as he looked at Rumyantsev in the eye.

Not a single person other than Ryu Changmin could sense anything amiss with Qin Ye. That said, the truth of the matter was that even speaking alone took almost every bit of energy and strength that Qin Ye could muster.

After all, he had drawn out every bit of reserves from his body to trigger another attack using Fate. His entire body was trembling in pain, and his bones clicked, almost as though they were ready to fall apart at any moment. Even his legs were shivering madly from overdrawing on his Yin energy reserves.

These injuries are terrible… In fact, they’re probably far worse than back then at the Strait of Tsushima. I’m afraid that several of my internal organs are already bleeding… is this… the price of holding out for another three minutes?

In that instant, Qin Ye couldn’t help but develop the urge to hold up the Second King Yanluo by the collar - What the hell do you mean by learning journey?! Do you think I’m a combat-type Yin spirit? I’m a knowledge-class Yin spirit, do you understand? Talent management and administration are my forte! We’re not the same! Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses!!!

“Lord Qin… Can… can you still hold on?” Ryu Changmin could sense something amiss with Qin Ye. After all, he knew that Qin Ye had mobilized his Dusk Legionnaire again earlier in order to fend off Liu Yu’s killer technique.

Even then, Ryu Changmin knew the limitations of his own technique. Sure, spells might be ineffective against him, but… impact and shockwaves type attacks could still breach his defenses.

“Three minutes are up.” Rumyantsev was just about to go on when a scarlet flame lit up in between his eyes. He paused for a moment, and then hurriedly crushed the scarlet flame with his hands.

Seconds later, the netherflames in his eyes pulsed wildly. Meanwhile, Liu Yu looked to him in consternation and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“The dean is dead…” Rumyantsev’s bones rattled softly, and he murmured softly with a grave expression in his eyes, “They’re… approaching Choi Tae-min’’s coffin…”

Silence.

Two seconds later, both men turned around and rushed frantically towards the swirling vortex in the distance.

“Who dares?!” Qin Ye roared as soon as they sprung into action. With what little remnant Yin energy he could muster, he poured everything he had into Fate once more, igniting it with a glorious resplendence once more! Meanwhile, he fervently suppressed the intention to cough up the blood from his internal injuries as he pushed on with his technique.

His hands trembled wildly, so much so that even his veins began to bulge on his skin.

With his maddened roar, Rumyantsev and Liu Yu both turned back with a fiery glower in their eyes. Qin Ye gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart under the false pretension of his calmness of expression.

Shut your trap! Shut your damn trap!!!

Stop calling out after them! Just let them go! You do know that you’re going to die if things went on like this, don’t you?!

Everything fell silent. Both Liu Yu and Rumyantsev could still recall how terrifying Fate’s earlier attack had been. If they were struck cleanly across their bodies without any form of defensive measures whatsoever…

“Three minutes are up.” Liu Yu’s teeth chattered slightly, “Lord Rumyantsev, please make your move.”

Rumyantsev gnashed his teeth as he fervently suppressed the urge to give Liu Yu a tight slap across the face, “And what are you going to do?!!”

“Believe me, he doesn’t possess the power to wield that brush.”

“A mere Earl dares to order a Marquis about?!”

Rumyantsev’s heart was filled with fury. He took several deep breaths, before uttering with trembling in his voice, “Leave now, and we’ll spare you for all your transgressions thus far! My promise remains unchanged. I’ll even send gifts of appreciation to Judge Zhong in future! What do you say?”

No response.

Qin Ye’s forehead was already percolating with sweat. He was treading on thin ice right now, desperately buying any time he can to recover what little bit of Yin energy he could. Then, just as Rumyantsev appeared to be on the verge of making his move, Qin Ye suddenly spoke up once more, “And if…”

“I said no?”

Time seemed to freeze in that very moment.

These words seemed to be the final straw that broke the camel’s back. The difficulties in their operations here in Daehan, the Tsar’s strict orders, and the threat of Fate… Rumyantsev’s eyes flickered wildly, and he revealed a menacing chortle, “Then, you leave me with no choice but to take your life.”

BOOM!!!!

Prefect-class Yin energy erupted in full force!

The sea of bones from the ravaged battlefield around them suddenly drifted up and swirled around him like a malevolent storm of bones. A split second later, tens of thousands of bones suddenly converged together on Rumyantsev’s body!

Since he’d decided to go down the path of no return, then there was simply no point in pulling any punches any longer!

Whoosh… Within three seconds, a massive figure standing at 30 meters tall rose from the horizon.

It was still Rumyantsev, but his entire body was covered with bones from top to toe. There were even bone spurs protruding from each of these bones like vicious barbs. Meanwhile, his cloak drifted up softly with the nethergale, revealing countless scarlet eyes hidden beneath in the shadows. Rumyantsev tightened his grip around the cross-hilted sword in his hand and finally unsheathed it!

This was the true form of an Abyssal Prefect!

Faced with the risk of another devastating blow from Fate, Rumyantsev had decided to go all out against Qin Ye!

“Oh… shit…” Qin Ye’s heart was filled with despair.

The abilities of an Abyssal Prefect were clearly on a whole other level. Rumyantsev could easily squash him to death!

“One Tail, Nobutada… if you guys can’t get things sorted out down under in the next minute or so… I might just have to trouble you to collect my corpse when you’re done…”

Fast.

Incredibly fast!

Palpable murderous intent filled the air. Rumyantsev didn’t show any signs of holding back at all. He moved well beyond the speed of sound, so much so that it didn’t even generate any sonic booms. In fact, he moved so quickly that it was even impossible to follow his movements with the human eye. A split second later, there was a startling bang, and Qin Ye found himself knocked tens of meters away into the distance!

Hack! He coughed up a mouthful of blood in an instant. Even then, he bit down hard on his lower lips and swallowed it back down.

30 seconds…

The Spirit of Avernus can hold on for 30 more seconds at best… After that, the domain of aversion would be shattered completely under the sheer pressure of an Abyssal Prefect’s abilities. This is the result of punching above my weight class. There’s no surprise here…

Crack, crack… A couple of Qin Ye’s ribs fractured as a result of the overwhelming impact of the blow. However, he still fought through the pain and stood up valiantly. The notion of turning tail and escaping didn’t even cross his mind.

A threat could do nothing more than act as a threat.

When one’s opponent called the bluff and decided to go all out, a simple threat would never be able to guarantee one’s survival.

What was needed was strength instead.

“I’ve given you a chance.” Rumyantsev glanced up at the pitch-black skies as dense Yin energy poured right out of his body. Even Liu Yu couldn’t help but retreat until there was a berth of at least a hundred meters between himself and Rumyantsev.

Rumyantsev held the cross-hilted sword vertically in front of him. Whoosh… The Yin energy from every part of Gwangju City-- No, in fact, from every part of Gyeonggi Province began to converge onto his sword! The temperature quickly dipped. Elsewhere, meteorologists were astonished to find that the temperature of the entire Gyeonggi Province had fallen abruptly from a cool 24 degrees to a startling 18 degrees in an instant!

And it was still going down!

“I’ve already killed more than my fair share of Emissaries of Hell! What does another one count for?!”

With an explosive roar, the Yin energy in the surroundings immediately collapsed onto the sword, forming an intense blade of darkness. A split second later, it cleaved down mercilessly, sundering the heavens and seas alike. Qin Ye drew a deep breath and shut his eyes.

In that instant, the entire world went blank.

His consciousness went blank. So did his auditory and visual senses.

Intense pain spread everywhere, pervading each and every cell in his body as though it were eating away at him from within. However, he gritted his teeth and fought back the pain with his sheer willpower.

“Sigh…” Rumyantsev heaved a long sigh and sheathed his sword. Then, just as he was about to turn back and link up with Liu Yu once more, he suddenly paused and stared agape in the distance.

He’s still standing…

He’s actually still standing?!

How is he not dead yet?!

To think that a mere Infernal Judge was able to receive two mighty blows from an Abyssal Prefect and still remain standing!

Qin Ye staggered about, desperately trying to maintain his balance as he leaned against his spear for support. That said… he was indubitably still standing!

“My Lord…” Ryu Changmin choked up slightly. Only he was aware of just how beat up Qin Ye’s body was right now.

“Why are you mourning like this?” Qin Ye gasped for breath and forced a smile to his face, “I won’t die. I’m in tip-top condition right now. Heck, I might even be able to participate in a man hunt or the voice right now. Who knows… I might even be able to bag some sympathy votes with my current condition…”

“Lord Qin! Why are you still hanging on?!” Ryu Changmin’s voice was growing shrill, “You’ll die at this rate! The domain of the Spirit of Avernus doesn’t render you impervious to all attacks! Your opponent is just far too strong!”

Qin Ye leaned heavily on the spear and suddenly quipped, “How long has it been?”

Ryu Changmin grew taciturn.

“Everyone… has their bottom lines. If I leave right now, what’s going to happen to the ones who’ve entered Gonjiam Asylum before me? Besides… he might not really dare to kill me… After all, people… are all hypocrites…” He smiled bitterly and ardently straightened his body once more. A hundred meters away, Rumyantsev raised his weapon for the third time.

“This is why I always ask… what’s so good about being the King Yanluo of Hell?”

As he grumbled, the entire ground suddenly began to rumble violently.

Copious amounts of Yin energy was once again rising from the ground and pouring into Rumyantsev’s sword once more like the dance of a thunder of black dragons. As the Yin energy grew denser and denser, the sword slowly turned black, before a scarlet eye suddenly opened on the hilt of the sword.

“Thorn of the Rose Queen.”

“Be honored to have heard its name.”

With that, he swung his blade down at Qin Ye once more.

This time, it was a pure, unadulterated attack.

He saw countless roses blooming and withering away in the void around him.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, well beyond the speed of sound. Qin Ye’s mind went numb at once, and he called upon Ryu Changmin’s abilities without any hesitation at all.

BOOM!!!

However… the attack didn’t stop!

To his surprise, the attack actually penetrated the 10-meter absolute domain of the Spirit of Avernus! Rumyantsev wasn’t as strong as the Second King Yanluo, and he naturally wasn’t able to close the 10-meter gap in an instance. However, he still had an advantage because he wasn’t attacking the Spirit of Avernus from a different dimensional plane altogether!

Rumyantsev was actually able to breach the absolute domain!

“Lord Qin!!” Ryu Changmin screamed at the top of his voice, “RUN!!!”

The attack bore down on him at once. However, Qin Ye slowly raised his head, “There’s still 10 seconds of time - a second for each meter.”

Are you crazy?!

Ryu Changmin’s lips trembled wildly - How in the world did I end up with such a crazy master?!

Those words of yours took two seconds, and now you’re only left with eight seconds of time!

“Have you heard anything from them?”

Whoosh… Ryu Changmin’s resentment dissipated into thin air, and he engaged his senses for a moment, before promptly nodding his head.

“Sigh.. We’ve done all we could. Let’s leave everything to destiny.” Qin Ye sighed and turned back to retreat.

He had already done everything he could.

What a pity…

What a pity that we still weren’t able to succeed with all of our plans.

What a pity that the heart is willing, but the flesh is weak.

But, I suppose it’s only to be expected. Hastily thought up plans would rarely succeed… But so long as I can stay alive, we might still have the opportunity to negotiate for a prisoner swap in future… Hang on a minute!

Just then, Qin Ye suddenly turned back and stared at Ryu Changmin in consternation, “You…”

“Nodded?”

Rumyantsev’s sword had already penetrated more than half of the absolute domain. Yin energy roiled everywhere, while the billowing shockwaves generated by the devastating attack caused his hair to fly everywhere.

Ryu Changmin nodded in a daze once more.

Time seemed to freeze in that instant.

Qin Ye’s mind was so frazzled that it went blank at once.

A split second later, he threw his head back and laughed uproariously, but the only thing that came out was the mouthfuls of blood that he had so fervently repressed earlier.

There was no longer a need to hold back.

There was no longer a need to put up with his pretenses.

“Haha… HAHAHA!!!” He gently tugged at the thread of Yin energy tethered to Ryu Changmin’s head, causing him to shift to his side at once.

One second.

“Game over.”

I’m the one who has the last laugh!

BOOM!!!

With the removal of the 10-meter absolute domain, the Thorn of the Rose Queen struck the ground in an instant, causing a terrifying explosion that swept Yin energy everywhere across the entire Gyeonggi Province!