Chapter 222: Cause of Death: Some Things Just Can't Be Held Back

A hand grabbed Rudolf's face, the lower half of his face.

Forcibly making Rudolf close his mouth, preventing any sound from escaping the palace.

Rudolf's eyes widened, his body trembling, from pain, from surprise, and from—fear!

"Battle?"

Tang Luo lifted the unresisting Rudolf bit by bit.

"Have you really fought before?" Tang Luo pulled him closer, watching his trembling eyes.

The flame named pride had vanished.

Instead, in Tang Luo's eyes, a strange amber firelight seemed to flicker.

"Uh—" Rudolf made an indistinct sound.

Facing Tang Luo's question, after a moment, the fear in his eyes turned to anger, his intact right hand rose, and he slapped toward Tang Luo's chest.

Answering with action!

Overturning mountains and seas, mountains surging forward!

The immense power caused Tang Luo's hair and clothes to flutter, the steps beneath his feet shattered, the throne before him, and the elevated platform above the ground instantly became low.

From all directions came invisible forces of strangulation, as if a thousand-ton boulder collided.

"Now that's more like it." Tang Luo remained unmoving, still holding Rudolf.

In terms of sheer power, what Rudolf displayed had already surpassed the earth spider in the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

Not to say it wasn't strong, but strength was the only thing he had.

As for actual ability, if that giant earth spider fought Rudolf, Rudolf would surely die.

As Tang Luo said, Rudolf simply did not understand combat.

His so-called battles before were merely relying on his own immense strength to crush others.

When facing a stronger opponent, he became no different from an ordinary person.

However, Rudolf was not wrong in saying that failure can lead to growth.

After shock, panic, and fear passed, Rudolf's pride once again occupied his mind, and his second strike was far more impressive than the first.

His growth speed was rapid; he could be said to be someone who can grow quickly in battle.

Not quite a genius, but sufficient to be called talent.

Talent Rudolf wielded power like a tide, wave after wave, continuously bombarding Tang Luo.

One strike had not yet subsided when another followed, eroding.

Streams of continuously stacking power, if even a portion leaked out, would be enough to turn this magnificent palace into a heap of utter ruins.

"Let me see how far you can go."

The amber flames in Tang Luo's eyes instantly flared intensely, and the five fingers gripping Rudolf burst into five sparks of fire.

Liuli Flame!

The flames danced at Tang Luo's fingertips, burning.

Rudolf's body shuddered, he struggled violently, and the force bombarding Tang Luo dissipated without a trace.

The flames at Tang Luo's fingertips did not ignite Rudolf like ordinary fire; instead, in an extremely strange manner, like a living thing, they burrowed into Rudolf's brain.

Leaving five charred holes on his face.

Although Liuli Flame possesses the "burning function" of normal fire, its greatest use is not burning.

Tang Luo released his grip, dropped Rudolf, and lightly leapt backward, leaving the pit.

Rudolf sat on the ground, his intact right hand supporting the ground, gasping heavily, with no blood flowing from the charred wounds.

"What did you do to me?"

He lifted his head, looked at Tang Luo, his voice hoarse beyond measure.

"I give you a chance." Tang Luo said, "A chance to defeat me—can you feel the flames leaping within your body? Come, combine them with your power, and release them together."

"You'll regret it!" Rudolf stared at Tang Luo.

"Hah, just like you did earlier?" Tang Luo laughed provocatively.

Rudolf suddenly stood up, reached out his hand toward Tang Luo—this time not a distant attack, he clenched his fist.

Amber flames erupted across his body, blazing fiercely, instantly condensing onto his right fist, then vanishing.

With this special flame, Rudolf gathered all his power into his fist; moreover, intense pain surged from his body, from the depths of his soul.

Rudolf felt himself like a jumping flame.

Power continuously leapt, strengthened, reached an unprecedented realm, burning himself, emitting scorching light.

"Die!"

Rudolf roared and charged toward Tang Luo.

His footsteps landed on the ground, each step leaving a charred footprint.

From his mouth and nose, amber flames already surged out.

Reaching Tang Luo, Rudolf raised his fist and slammed it hard toward him.

He felt that what he swung was not a fist, but a true mountain, the earth collapsing and smashing down!

The unnamed flames yet to arrive, the pain, made Rudolf feel unprecedentedly powerful.

Crush, destroy, the enemy before him!

Let him know what regret is!

The fist stopped before Tang Luo's face, less than five centimeters from his visage.

Rudolf's eyes remained wide, his ferocious expression still on his face, but his body stiffened, motionless, like a statue.

Tang Luo raised his hand, snapped his fingers, firelight flashed.

Rudolf's body burst into fierce flames, and within just a few seconds, he was burned into a pile of grayish-white ash.

"This is the 'enhancement' that costs one's life." Tang Luo whispered.

This is the true purpose of Liuli Flame—when Liuli Flame burns, it can enhance everything—whether objects or living beings, under its combustion, all become extremely strong.

However, the cost of such enhancement is extremely great; Rudolf didn't even have time to throw his final punch before being completely consumed by the Liuli Flame.

It's like fireworks—only a fleeting moment of brilliance.

At the moment Rudolf died.

Greysi, still at Tang Luo's residence, suddenly heard the cold, emotionless voice of the "God-Demon" in her ear: "Mission failed."

"Mission failed?!"

Greysi, who had been slightly lowering her head, snapped her head up involuntarily and looked toward the direction of the palace.

What happened?

Why did her mission suddenly fail?

Including Tang Luo, all so-called "walking missions" are actually relatively difficult to fail.

The reason is that their missions are not limited to just one attempt, but allow multiple attempts.

Take Greysi's mission as an example: if she found someone to fight Rudolf, and Rudolf remained dissatisfied after the fight, the mission would not fail.

Mission failure occurs only under two conditions.

One, excessive delay—after a year and a half, the mission remains unfinished.

Two, the mission target is dead!

Although Greysi's mission did not include the protection option, it was because Rudolf was so strong that protection was basically unnecessary and didn't need to be mentioned.

In fact, the protection option is actually hidden within the mission.

If even the mission target dies, it certainly means mission failure.

As Greysi looked toward the palace, her face turned surprised.

She had only just arrived in the mission world—less than a week—and no matter how strict the mission, it was impossible for her to complete it within a week.

There is no possibility of mission failure due to excessive delay.

Therefore, only one possibility remains—Rudolf is dead!

After Tang Xuanzang entered the palace, that arrogant, invincible powerful ruler, died!

"What's wrong?" Li Huan opposite reacted quickly—so quickly that he became alert the instant Greysi lifted her head.

"I..."

At this moment, the time since Greysi heard the "mission failed" prompt was barely the duration of a head lift, yet in that instant, she thought of many things.

She opened her mouth, about to speak, but the surprised expression on her face suddenly turned to shock.

"You!"

Li Huan retreated several steps, a flying knife already in his hand; he saw Greysi before him, her body shattering like foam and vanishing into nothingness.

"Who!" Li Huan looked around—the house was silent, with no trace of any intruder.

Faint voices from outside reached his ears, along with the somewhat heavy breathing of the unconscious Luo Bu.

"No one..." Li Huan thought to himself, his face gradually darkening as he recalled what Yunxiao Huan had once told him.

It concerned the disappearance of God-Demon walkers after their mission failure count reached the limit.

At that time, Yunxiao Huan's description was: "Like foam shattering, ceasing to exist."

This is the disappearance of the God-Demon walker.

Li Huan realized that just now, he had witnessed for the first time—and with his own eyes—a God-Demon walker vanishing due to reaching the mission failure limit.

One could say he witnessed the entire process of disappearance, even though it was extremely brief, it left an indelible impression in his heart.

Such disappearance is more terrifying than visible death, causing heart palpitations.

"She probably failed her mission." Li Huan sheathed his flying knife and stood in place.

His mind raced as he considered the cause of Greysi's sudden mission failure, shifting his focus in hopes of quickly calming the shock and fear her disappearance had caused.

After a while, Li Huan thought of a possibility.

He likewise looked toward the palace, his eyes somewhat unfocused, muttering lowly: "Could it be that Tang Xuanzang really killed Rudolf? Will chaos follow?"

In the vast palace, it remained silent.

Only Tang Luo stood alone.

Two sunken pits were present, along with numerous dense cracks; besides these, there was no further battle damage.

The battle between Rudolf and Tang Luo actually lasted a very short time.

The sound produced was not significant—at least it did not travel far; the palace outer guards heard some movement and felt a brief, slight tremor, but did not enter.

Because Rudolf had ordered them not to approach, lest they disturb his leisurely first sip.

No one entered—naturally the best outcome. Tang Luo glanced at the ash on the ground, turned, and walked toward the tightly closed palace gate, opening it and stepping out.

Sunlight shone on his face, slightly dazzling.

The guards outside immediately turned toward Tang Luo, their hands unconsciously resting on their sword hilts.

Someone even glanced behind the door, but unfortunately Tang Luo blocked most of their view, and the palace's deep darkness prevented them from seeing inside.

After closing the heavy door, Tang Luo said: "His Majesty wishes to be alone—do not disturb him. I will go find the Queen Consort to comfort him."

The guards looked doubtful, yet did not obstruct.

They were uncertain about Rudolf's attitude toward this eccentric swordsman.

But at least they were not now overstepping to make decisions about retaining him or otherwise—forget not that he still has ties to the Queen Consort, making him, in a sense, one of her people.

These guards could never have imagined that Rudolf would die in such a short time at the hands of this white-haired man before their eyes.

And the cause of death was: he simply couldn't hold back.