Autophagy

Finishing off the last guard by stabbing him in his abdomen, Song Lei wiped the sweat that was rolling off of his head. Now that he had dealt with the enemy reinforcements, he could go back and help Aston. Turning his head, Song Lei saw a huge ball of light expanding from the middle of the garden.

As soon as he saw this, He braced himself and threw himself on the ground. The ball of light expanded and covered the whole Palace. Song Lei was also caught in it. Fortunately, it didn't seem to have a physical effect, rather, it was a spiritual wave of energy. Even with Song Lei's high amount of soul power, he wasn't unshaken.

He lifted his head from the ground. Unfortunately, his sight was hazy because of the soul damage he had taken. So he wasn't able to exactly figure out his surroundings.

"Ugh..."

Forcing his body to wake up, Song Lei pushed himself off the ground. Doing his best to focus, he managed to see Aston and Edward staring at each other. Both of them were injured heavily. The waves of energy they constantly radiated had dimmed heavily. Leaving a bare view of the garden.

'This is my chance...' Song Lei muttered inwardly. He used his finger to wipe away the blood that had accumulated on his sword. With The Banisher in his hand, Song Lei started running towards Edward.

"You'll never take me down, Aston!" Edward shouted in anger. Though not as much as before, his aura flared. Aston, on the other hand, didn't have the energy to do so. "Stay where you are so I can kill you!" Edward ordered. He infused his body once again with energy and dashed towards Aston. Just as his punch was about to connect with Aston's face, a shadow appeared in front of him.

*Ding!

"Not so fast..." Song Lei muttered with a wide smile on his face. He held The Banisher sideways in his hands and blocked Edward's punch. As the punch connected with the blade, Song Lei's whole body shook in its place. There was an incredible amount of strength behind Edward's punch, considering that he had been almost completely tired out.

Now that Song Lei had recovered from the shockwave, he was ready to fight with everything he got. His body could handle using the 'Adrenal Rush' for some more time. If he wanted to win the fight, he had to finish this before then.

Considering this, he pushed away Edward as best as he could.

'This is my last chance...' Song Lei muttered inwardly. He wasn't in that good of a situation too. He had spent some of his 'Adrenal Rush' time while fighting the guards. He had initially expected that he could beat Edward with the remaining amount of time he had. However, now that he had experienced the strength behind his attack by himself, he knew that he couldn't do it. Even with the 'Adrenal Rush' active, he was at a noticeable disadvantage.

As Edward backed off to gather his breath, Song Lei took off and opened his backpack. He rummaged through it to take out a piece of paper. This piece of paper was made of an awkward material. Although it had similar physical properties to paper, it was sparkling like a crystal.

On top of this paper was a weird letter that looked like a mix of the letters; I, U, T.

Song Lei didn't waste any time and pressed the paper on his sword. In an instant, the paper melted into the sword.

[You have used 1x Item Upgrade Talisman!]

[The Banisher has been upgraded!]

[The Excommunicator was initially a replica of an item that was cast in the heavens. However, after being upgraded by its master, it is now a genuine sword that can slay its foes with ease all the while enhancing its user's physical capabilities.

Special Effect: +2 Body while being used.]

Song Lei had received the item upgrade talisman after destroying Isabel's dream space. Initially, he didn't know where to find it. However, after going back to his room, he was able to find it lying on his bed. Although he didn't want to use it, he couldn't wait anymore.

After the sword was enhanced, its appearance changed drastically. Before, it looked like a traditional Chinese Jian that was subtly decorated by some carvings on its hilt. Now, it had grown ten centimeters longer. Its blade had become much whiter than what normal steel would look like. The carvings on its hilt had disappeared, leaving their place to a blue crystal that had been embedded on its guard.

As Song Lei held his new sword in his hands, he felt an incredible amount of energy running through his veins. Two more points in body weren't something that could be ignored. After all, the first time he had arrived in the New World, he had a single point on it. If he were to acquire this sword then, he would've instantly tripled his strength.

The aura of the sword had totally changed too. It looked sharp, not just in a physical sense. It looked like it was begging Song Lei to cut something. Luckily, Song Lei was just thinking of doing that too.

Swinging the sword a few times, Song Lei got used to its new weight. After he was ready, he raised The Excommunicator's tip towards Edward.

"Are you ready?" Song Lei asked calmly. He didn't wait for an answer and instantly dashed forward. Edward was dumbfounded by Song Lei's sword suddenly changing shape. However, being a main villain of the dream space, he was able to snap out of it quickly.

With his newly-enhanced physique, Song Lei was able to reach Edward in an instant. He raised his sword in the air and brought it down using all of his strength alongside his momentum.

Edward slightly moved and raised his arms to block the attack. However, this was an incredibly stupid decision. If The Banisher was its former self, it would probably leave a small cut on Edward's arm and that would be it. Now, however, it cut through Edward's arm as if it was butter, only stopping after it hit his other arm.

"AAHH!" Edward shouted in agony as he stepped backward. Song Lei didn't let him escape and kept on pushing forward. Swing after swing, he left gashing wounds on every part of Edward's body.

Edward managed to dodge a single attack. This caused Song Lei to stumble and lose his balance slightly. Seeing this as an opportunity, Edward swung his arm that had been cut in half and hit Song Lei's abdomen with his elbow.

Song Lei flew in the air for fifteen meters before rolling on the ground. He could feel that some of his bones had been broken. All the pain made him groan. Edward rushed ahead and jumped up to kick Song Lei one last time. If this attack were to connect, Song Lei would instantly die.

"Not so fast!" An angry voice filled Song Lei's ears. Aston appeared like a shadow and punched Edward, changing his direction mid-air, making him hit the ground like a round shot.

Aston got on top of him and started punching the hell out of Edward. Noises of bones being broken were heard in the garden of the palace were heard time after time. Finally, after taking Aston's beating for five minutes, Edward went completely still.

"Huff... Huff..." Aston was left gasping for air as he backed off. He had spent all of the energy he had gathered again.

'Shit! This isn't over yet!' Song Lei shouted in his mind. Although it looked like Edward was dead, the system still hadn't confirmed it.

"No! Aston escape!" Song Lei shouted. Hearing his words, Aston's body was shot backward. Suddenly, Edward's body dashed out of the crater that had been formed by Aston's punches like a lightning. He rushed towards Song Lei, giving him no time to react.

"I will take you with me, bastard!" He shouted. A big smile appeared on Song Lei's face. Although this made Edward feel that his doom was approaching, he couldn't stop himself.

"Go!" Song Lei shouted. A small magic circle appeared in his hand. In an instant, a shadow dashed out of it. Guyaa, the toilet demon, opened its lid wide. Its wet and black tongue came out of it, grabbing the Edward that was rushing towards them in one motion. Edward tried to break out, unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to do so.

Before Edward could finish Song Lei off, he was pulled and swallowed by Guyaa.

"*Burp"

After swallowing Edward whole, Guyaa burped loudly and licked its rim. After a few short seconds, it turned into a streak of blue light and went back into the magic circle that had appeared on Song Lei's hand in an instant.

[Guyaa has consumed a part of another being's power. It enters hibernation.]

[Guyaa has been forcibly recalled. Cooldown: ??:??:??]