Chapter 687: Death Duel

On the appointed day, the battlefield had already been cleared by officials; likely every angle of camera was already aimed at them, hoping to collect their combat data.

Chi Jinan had been waiting here early; this time he finally took off the mental hospital patient garb and put on a combat uniform, whose design resembled that of the Heresy Tribunal's attire before.

"Looks like they went to great trouble just to let you die with some dignity."

As soon as he got out of the car, before the official's off‑road vehicle could even drive off, he heard Yang Yixie already mocking Chi Jinan from over there.

"Heh, someone won't quit mid‑fight and run back to mom, will they?"

Chi Jinan refused to back down, firing back directly.

Even before the fight properly began, the tension between them was already uncontrollable.

The wind from the west swept across the wilderness, kicking up dry grass and tiny pebbles, yet it could not calm the two men whose smell of gunpowder grew ever stronger.

The tires pressed into the cracked mud, and the off‑road vehicle that had brought Yang Yixie sped away in a hurry, spinning on the open ground and vanishing quickly, truly leaving the battlefield to the two of them.

Ying Duo's hands still hung at his sides, but the forming energy lines already began to appear around him, and under the Special Division's monitoring, his energy output rose in an extremely short time to a visible threshold.

The Blood Crystal Scythe dragged a thin, long scorch mark across the ground; its blade sliced the air, opening a dark‑red arc whose edge shed continual flakes of dark‑red Blood Crystal fragments.

Yang Yixie did not retreat; the energy lines extending from his feet had already risen in height before that dark‑red arc arrived, the Blood Crystal Scythe struck head‑on and then both rebounded in opposite directions, leaving a circular shockwave in the air.

After the first clash, neither of them stopped moving.

While retracting his scythe, Chi Jinan had already shifted its angle, slashing sideways; the tip grazed the ground where Yang Yixie had just stood, leaving a shallow half‑inch groove.

Just before the scythe fell, Yang Yixie shifted his body, causing the Ying Guang Lu‑colored barrier to flare brightly; Chi Jinan was dazzled by the green light, and the shield he subsequently raised happened to block the path of his next swing.

The rhythm of the fight kept being stretched and tightened in the time that followed.

Every collision left a clear mark on this wilderness.

Dark‑red scorch marks and Ying Guang Lu‑colored energy residue accumulated as they moved, Blood Crystal fragments and Ying Guang Lu‑colored energy afterglow mixing together, occasionally floating briefly in the air above the battlefield before falling to the ground.

After being bounced off by the shield once more, Chi Jinan did not immediately straighten up; his body leaned back slightly, the scythe's hilt turned half a turn in his hand, and he braced the blade's back against the ground to barely stay on his feet.

Yang Yixie lifted his fingertips from the keyboard, watching Chi Jinan lean on his scythe; despite having blocked his attack, the opponent only reluctantly returned to combat after a brief pause.

The last time they fought, Chi Jinan was like a mad dog, his relentless attacks leaving Yang Yixie dizzy; any lapse let him seize the chance to add a few cuts.

Although this bout was more open than last time, Chi Jinan's physical condition indeed showed signs of decline, just as Qi Junyi had said.

But after only a brief moment, Chi Jinan raised his scythe again and slashed at Yang Yixie.

A reckless mad dog.

Yang Yixie's fingertips kept striking, the Ying Guang Lu‑linked firepower nodes behind him lighting up in sequence; following his orders they fired in batches, the shot coverage constantly shifting—sometimes dense as rain, sometimes sparse—deliberately exposing a gap before unleashing a direct blast.

In a barrage attack, Chi Jinan was hit simultaneously by two energy bolts—one striking his shoulder, the other grazing his left arm.

Those two wounds bled little, their edges fringed with Blood Crystal fragments; confirming the depth would not hinder his movement, he continued charging toward Yang Yixie.

Yang Yixie's levitation device beneath his feet instantly rose, letting the attack pass just under his soles; his finger tapped in mid‑air, and an energy bolt shot from a firepower node at his side, striking Chi Jinan precisely.

He did not take the opening to pull back; instead he deliberately lowered his height, as if teasing a cat.

After that blow, Chi Jinan did not rush to attack again; he withdrew his scythe and stepped back two paces.

"You intend to just drag this out?"

His expression was obscure yet seemed somewhat gloomy; his dark eyes fixed on Yang Yixie, as if he were constantly pondering how to swallow him whole like a beast.

Yang Yixie did not answer; a command he had just entered was not yet confirmed, and he canceled it when Chi Jinan suddenly ceased his attack.

Chi Jinan looked at him, raised his scythe again, tip pointing toward Yang Yixie; his voice rose a little, and even though annihilation torture had shaped him into this form, his edges remained utterly unblunted.

"You wouldn't be hesitating, would you? Afraid to kill? When are you going to switch jobs and become a Holy Father?"

His tone rose slightly at the end, yet every word he spoke was edged like a blade.

Chi Jinan would choose Ying Duo simply because he admired that madman who pursues his goals without regard for consequences; what he wanted was for the two of them to engage in mutual slaughter, meeting his end in such a battle.

But now he senses no killing intent from Ying Duo toward him.

"You wouldn't be regretting the people you killed before, would you? Are you some little brat fresh out of kindergarten? Do you even need Mommy to comfort you before bed each night?"

"Pfft, an unweaned baby."

His answer was the energy cannon that silently rose behind Yang Yixie.

That cannon finished charging in an extremely short time, emitted a low hum, and fired a beam that pierced straight through both of them, dragging a rapidly widening scorch mark across the ground.

Chi Jinan did not dodge; he lifted his scythe before him, but the instant the beam struck his face, the Blood Crystal surface cracked, the fissures spreading quickly across the blade and shattering into countless tiny dark‑red fragments that scattered in the air.

After passing through the scythe's defense, the attack's residual force had largely weakened, yet it still struck Chi Jinan's chest, blasting him a considerable distance; he landed on one knee, his scythe reduced to half a blade, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood with a "wah".