Endless Debt-Chapter 877 - 27: The Only One

Just when Bologue thought his self-sacrificing strike had killed all the Silent Ones, one barely alive Silent One staggered up from the forest of corpses. He was near death, but not yet dead.

Thus, a vast and magnificent power was bestowed upon him.

Bologue, relying on his own undying nature and unexpectedly stable soul, managed to advance quickly in a short time, although it took several months.

In the mere moments of a few breaths, the etheric reaction intensity of the last remaining Silent One broke through the constraints of the Negative Power User and reached the Defender tier. As it approached the Seeker of Glory, the soaring ether became quiet.

The body began etherealizing, the charred and broken flesh healed, shedding the shattered armor, and the Silent One grasped a blinding lightning with one hand.

Wielding the Ethereal Blade, the ether’s concentration was so high that it began to materialize. Arcs danced on the blade’s surface, hitting the surrounding walls and leaving scorched marks.

The breath of death bloomed from that blazing white light. Bologue had no doubt about the blade’s sharpness; nothing could withstand its slash, not even Resentful Bite.

"Is this... his power?"

Bologue suddenly understood and said to Aimou, "These Silent Ones don’t just share vision; they’re sharing the same Alchemy Matrix."

It seemed impossible, but with the current information, Bologue could only think in this direction.

In the state of the Silent Legion, the Alchemy Matrix acted like a reservoir, dividing itself among all the Silent Ones. As they gradually fell in battle, fewer numbers were needed to share the power, concentrating more strength in the hands of fewer individuals. When only one Silent One remained, he obtained all the power.

Defender. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Then Bologue thought of another problem. The Silent One appearing here could not be the last one. Somewhere in this world, surely another Silent One existed to prevent being completely annihilated.

Could the true power of the Silent Ones be yet another Seeker of Glory?

There was no time for Bologue to ponder this question. The Silent One stepped forward, and in an instant, vanished. The ensuing shattering sound caused Bologue’s eardrums to ache intensely.

Almost simultaneously with the Silent One’s disappearance, he reappeared before Bologue. This time, Bologue didn’t even have time to raise Resentful Bite for defense. In the absolute power and speed, a heart-stopping wound traversed Bologue’s chest, with bones and flesh flying out, and in the mixed blood, even the membranes were visible.

"My God..."

Aimou gasped. This was their first direct confrontation with a full-force Defender, and it was an Origin School Defender at that.

The Silent One had no complex, flashy secrets, only absolute precise control over ether, wasting not a sliver of power, bursting forth force capable of shattering mountains and rocks.

Bologue’s body tilted backward, heart pounding violently, mind in intense focus. At this moment, the world in his eyes slowed down, and the Silent One once again raised the Ethereal Blade, this time targeting Bologue’s head.

The Canyin halo burst in Bologue’s eyes, Aimou poured all her ether at this moment, and the pain from ether exhaustion affected her, causing chaotic shadows to appear on Bologue’s outer body.

Aimou could barely maintain the Heart Overlapping Shadow.

"No..."

Bologue tried to stop Aimou; even if he died, she could maintain the secret power, hiding within his body. But once the ether was exhausted, she would detach from him.

A streak of blinding white light appeared in Bologue’s eyes. The Silent One’s other hand also gripped an Ethereal Blade, and this time his move was a thrust, targeting Bologue’s pupil.

He found out.

This thought formed in Bologue’s mind. The Silent One discovered Aimou’s presence. At the moment of ascending to Defender, with extremely keen ethereal perception, the Silent One detected the etheric response overlapping with Bologue.

"Interesting secret ability, what should be done?"

"Seal?"

"Seal."

Aimou might have realized this too. She handed all her ether to Bologue, choosing to fight to the death.

The slashing Ethereal Blade had just left Bologue’s chest, and the split wound regenerated as if time reversed. Bologue roared lowly, raising the Resentful Bite, attempting with this Contract Object’s power to cleave the ether storm before him.

Suddenly, the Ethereal Blade in the Silent One’s other hand dissipated. He adopted a fist-clenching gesture, and in the long silence, the first whisper finally echoed.

"Silence."

Bologue lost the ability to communicate with ether. The tumultuous Sea of Ether around him turned into a still pond, and Bologue felt a strange suffocating sensation, making him extremely uneasy.

"Prohibition."

Another syllable resonated, like a Word Spirit that could transform into reality. The etheric glow in Bologue’s eyes vanished, along with the Alchemy Matrix on his body surface.

Bologue should have thought of this. As a Defender, how could a Silent One not master the Ethereal Seal?

If it were an Ethereal Seal released by Yas, Bologue might still have some room to counterattack, but now he faced a Defender. The wound’s healing process stalled, and the blood that should have flowed back surged forward again, splattering on the Ethereal Blade with a sizzling sound as the liquid quickly evaporated.

The light of death infinitely magnified before Bologue’s eyes, while a sense of withdrawal rose from the depths of his heart. A dark figure emerged behind him, and Aimou was also affected by the Ethereal Seal, her Heart Overlapping Shadow was automatically lifted, forcing her to separate from Bologue.

The sound of crackling current echoed. Under an excess of ether pouring in, the Ethereal Blade soared a few degrees higher like a gigantic saber. The Silent Ones needed just one strike to jointly slay Bologue and Aimou.

Fragmented Steel Body.

Suddenly, such an image surfaced before Bologue’s eyes, followed immediately by an indescribable fear, lacking the horror of Face of Horror’s side effects, yet penetrating like icy water through the bones.

Fear, followed by anger.

The immense fury seemed intent on burning through Bologue’s shell, consuming even his rationality without mercy.

The Ethereal Blade descended rapidly, but it failed to slice through the two. After a chilling slicing sound, it cleaved open Bologue’s palm, all the way down the arm, entirely obliterating it before coming to a halt on Bologue’s shoulder.

Sacrificing an arm in exchange for blocking the Ethereal Blade, this left the Silent Ones puzzled, as logically, under the Ethereal Seal, Bologue should only be slain by this strike.

But he blocked it.

Bologue’s vision was stained red, crimson scenes rising, countless points of light becoming brighter, eventually ablaze like the Ethereal Blade into a dazzling bright white.

Soul Shards, wholly incinerated.

Bologue found himself gratified by this bout of morbid labor, countless demons’ deaths pooling together soul shards for his counterattack.

The nearly exhausted ether filled and overflowed at that moment, and Bologue spared no reserve in channeling it all into the Grudge Bite.

The dark blade greedily devoured Bologue’s ether until its edge was potent enough to cleave through Defender-level ether flows.

The freshly replenished ether again ran dry, as Bologue roared a strike at the Silent Ones, the shadow leaping into the brilliant light cluster. Two ether forces clashed, arcs of electricity spanning meters burst forth, easily piercing Bologue’s body, where the blood evaporated instantly, blinding flames erupting unstoppably.

The shadow split the light cluster in two, leaving behind a thin sword mark on the charred, flesh-mangled body.

This hit depleted all of Bologue’s strength, his fatigued, unconscious hand could no longer hold Grudge Bite, which slipped from his grasp, landing with a clatter on a nearby open space.

The ether arc pierced Bologue’s knee; he involuntarily knelt down but stubbornly supported his body, lifting his back upright.

The Silent Ones did not attack immediately, their movements slightly sluggish, eyes fixated on the empty hand. A few seconds later, the scattered ether regrouped, yet another Ethereal Blade grasped in hand.

Their demeanor changed somewhat, yet the hand continued unabated, various noises echoing in the dark world.

"Interesting power."

"Familiar power."

"He’ll be interested."

"He’ll fetch a good price."

"But first..."

"Powerlessness."

The Ethereal Blade was raised high, the ether contained within was shockingly abundant, even before contact, Bologue felt the needle-like prickling on his skin.

"No..." Bologue shook his head, "I can’t just surrender."

Under the stubborn notion, Bologue raised his body, actually stood up, clumsily swung a punch, striking the Silent Ones’ chest.

Merely a loser’s struggle, this strike did not even warrant the Silent Ones’ vigilance, yet they soon heard Bologue’s low murmur.

"I... refuse."

Refuse to die? Refuse to fail? Or refuse some inexplicable thing?

The Silent Ones had no interest in deciphering Bologue’s thoughts, they attempted to swing down the blade, but before the Ethereal Blade could cleave Bologue’s head, a strange suction emerged from the chest—the very spot Bologue had punched.

Countless blue points of light arose from the surface of the Silent Ones and Bologue could see these too, both fell into a brief stupor, then the Silent Ones sensed a small loophole forming in themselves.

This vast ether-laden pool developed a small leak, with unending ether pouring out, and Bologue devouring it to replenish himself.

"Soul Sucker."

Cold as ever, finally there’s a trace of emotion in the Silent Ones’ voice. An emotion of surprise.