Chapter 2656

The main body of the shattered black giant was still underwater, but it appeared unable to support further combat. York Bronte, having absorbed too much life force, still largely maintained a human shape, but his head had turned pale and swollen, wing-like structures had sprouted from his back, his arms had withered, and his legs had become abnormally thick; he was gradually losing his human form.

His now-enormous face possessed four eyes, and as he looked up at the two in the air, he brayed with laughter, revealing a mouth filled with sharp canine teeth. Both Xia De and Miss Danister could hear his voice:

"I already know what kind of power you possess. Let us meet again in 67 years! At that time, I will let you know my power."

The white mist of the Time Gap seeped out to envelop his body; he was attempting to return to the 1787 of "Destined Death" to escape what was to come. Even though he had already discarded the coffin that served as his tree hole, returning to 1787 at least offered him a hope of survival.

Yet in Xia De's view, it seemed as if fate was actively luring him back to meet his death. Although there was no evidence, the Outlander had a strong premonition that once York Bronte actively returned to 1787 this time, he would surely never be able to leave that time again, nor would he ever cross 67 years to return to this battlefield.

But to welcome "death" so easily still seemed a bit too lenient for him; not only did Xia De think so, but many others did as well.

At the same time that Xia De and Miss Danister each threw wooden stakes at him, beneath the water surface where York Bronte stood, a dense mass of spiritual hands suddenly reached out and grabbed him the moment he tried to flee.

These souls, which he had absorbed while on the "edge of life and death," briefly regained their consciousness after that massive fleshly body collapsed. Countless souls who had died miserably because of York Bronte over the past sixty-plus years held onto its body, and clearly, the Dead Apostle's method of returning to the past could not take so many souls with him.

Thus, the two wooden stakes easily struck its throat and chest, while those massive numbers of souls piled up against each other from beneath the water, even causing the spirits to interfere with reality.

Hand after hand continuously tore at its flesh and soul, which had lost their ability to recover. Bronte exclaimed in shock, wanting to cast spells to drive them away, but as the Chocobo jumped into the deep pit carrying electric light, and under the illumination of the light from the scales held in Iluna's hands, it completely lost its ability to cast spells:

"You damn things, you were my food when you were alive; do you think I will be afraid of you after you are dead?"

The wooden stakes suppressed its talent for absorbing life force, and the Chosen of Balance restricted its spellcasting. Therefore, even as it cursed in terror, those souls continued to gather more and more, until they piled up like a small hill, pushing York Bronte out of the water.

Thus, its body became completely trapped in this "mountain of souls" within the water-filled pit, leaving only its head screaming and wailing at the "summit." Tens of thousands of souls overlapped, eroding its strange spiritual essence like ants.

This could not completely destroy it, but this torture was like a cruel punishment of slicing off flesh piece by piece with a knife.

The red-haired girl in the air only slightly lowered her altitude, bringing Xia De to a position level with that head. At the same time, she did not forget to cast an illusion, using thick fog to cover the scene at the bottom of the pit to prevent the following conversation from leaking out.

The fog sealed off the top, and at the same time, spirits flickered in the air. The soul of Mrs. Bronte, who had once been in the small chapel on the edge of life and death, appeared before Xia De and the other with pale green flames.

The lady held her husband's hand with her left hand and her daughter's hand with her right.

She did not look at her son, and after the family bowed slightly to Xia De, they disappeared. They would continue to move on; this was something that should have been completed in the last century.

"Woo woo woo~"

Xia De still wanted to say something to that head, but due to the chill in his mouth, he could not speak. Others might not understand, but Miss Danister, who was holding him from behind, fully felt the chill at his head, and that chill also just happened to suppress her body and soul, which had become feverish after she drank the essence just now.

But the screaming head seemed to understand what he wanted to say:

"I am not wrong! I have walked further on the path of longevity than any of you! Fearing death is our nature; I only obtained everything I have now according to my instincts as a human. Even if you defeated me, so what? The God of Death still sleeps in this forest, and that coffin still holds the power to silence all things.

If you destroy me, no one will ever know those secrets again! I know all of this; I understand everything you want to know!"

Although it spoke with a tough attitude, it still wanted Xia De to let it go. But Xia De was not actually asking if it "repented" or anything like that; he wanted to say that he could make its soul unable to go on.

"Woo!"

He took out the shriveled eyeball pierced by the wooden stake from his pocket, meaning that he could handle this thing without it. Thus, the Dead Apostle, being torn apart by the souls, had its expression freeze, and then it shouted loudly again:

"The secret of the tree hole, I still know the secret of the tree hole, I know the secret of this forest, I am a person who survived from the era of Creekwood Town, I know..."

But this no longer mattered. Xia De adjusted the muscles of his mouth, which were somewhat numb from that cold, and rummaged through his pocket to find the remaining 0.9-mark ordinary-quality 【Cowardice】, which was the paper doll given by the doctor.

Now, this "Cowardice" had been kept by Xia De for too long, and the black human shape looked increasingly real. He then followed what Chloe said, placed the paper doll in front of his mouth, and then suddenly looked around; a strong feeling of being watched seemed to have appeared just now, but it disappeared in an instant:

"Things in this forest are indeed not over yet."

However, those were things that needed to be dealt with later. Xia De slowly opened his mouth and finally spat out that cold current.

The heavy snow in the sky became even denser at this moment, and the originally colorless cold current turned into a frost-white color.

The cold current rushed onto the head at the top of the "Soul Hill," and the screaming sound became even louder, but after a few seconds, it became faint again. Where the spirits touched the chill, amidst the rustling sound of freezing, the spirits were not only frozen, but fine, crystalline cracks even appeared on their surfaces.

Even the wriggling "hill" felt this extremely cold chill, so the spirits gradually retreated, and Bronte's soul also descended in height bit by bit during the freezing process.

The water surface at the bottom of the pit quickly froze, and the Chocobo standing on the water surface curiously raised one of its claws to observe the water surface that had turned into a solid.

The red-haired girl continued to hold Xia De and descended in height while Xia De continued to exhale that cold current. When Bronte's spirit, covered in cracks, completely turned into an ice sculpture standing on the ice, Xia De also covered his mouth and coughed violently several times; the cold air given by Chloe was finally used up.

【Outlander, you have gained insight into "cold" and "freezing."】

【Outlander, your spell "Galina's Ice Spell" has changed... please wait a moment.】

【The spell "Galina's Ice Spell" has been sublimated into the spell "Chloe's Cold Breath." The spell effect remains the same, but its coldness is enough to freeze souls.】

The dense mass of souls, whose power and resentment had been consumed, still stood on the ice in the pit, watching them, so Iluna had to ride the Chocobo and work very hard to squeeze into the center:

"Please make way, please make way... Is this considered the end? Miss Diviner saw that you didn't have a meeting this afternoon, so she asked me to come and see what the situation was on your side."

As she spoke, she jumped off the back of the Chocobo, which was curiously looking around, and this creature, known for its boldness and curiosity, was not afraid of the surrounding souls at all. However, it followed Iluna obediently, stretching its head from behind Iluna to look at Xia De's side.

"It is considered the end."

Xia De, feeling that his throat was better, said, stared at the mutated soul of the Dead Apostle, which was crystal clear, and then punched it—

Crack!

As the rustling sound gradually grew louder, the cracks on the surface of the spirit also spread rapidly and became fine. Until finally, with a crack, the spirit, which was emitting extreme cold, completely shattered.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to return to..."

There seemed to be a groaning sound in the cold wind, but that was just the final fear and not repentance. After the spirit shattered, some black air currents emerged uncontrollably from the soul residue frozen by sin, and after spinning in the air, they plunged toward Xia De.

Xia De originally thought this was an attack method after death, but under "her" reminder, he did not take action to stop it.

Thus, the destiny ring behind him emerged in the steam mist, and the black air current climbed onto the destiny ring and turned into pure whisper elements. The brand-new sin returned to Xia De, the "murderer," because of the shattering of a soul; York Bronte added a brand-new spirit rune to Xia De's destiny ring.

【Cowardly because of fear, cruel because of cowardice, murderous because of cruelty, and fearing death because of murder. Although the coward exhausted all means to crave longevity, he did not know that mortals would eventually die. When that destined death opens its arms to him, cowardice is the first sin that makes him unable to rest in peace.】

【Outlander, you have inscribed the Black Iron Whisper Spirit Rune - Cowardice.】

"Whisper? Is it because he used the power of the relic to keep his soul from being torn apart by other souls?"

Because Xia De had already come into contact with "Cowardice" twice when collecting sins before, he was not too surprised to actually obtain this spirit rune.

This Great Sin spirit rune could obviously also be connected to the "Chain of Great Sins," but this sin, like the previous "Sloth," was not the Outlander's own sin; he was not cowardly at all, so he still had to use the knowledge given by the Tree Father to make the "Chain of Great Sins" accept the eighth sin rune.