Lowly Ascent

Cain backed away while coughing out blood. He was losing the confrontation.

"Shit! I have to breakthrough soon, but I still need six souls!" He gritted his teeth, "I'll use everything at my disposal then!"

He was close to Fusing the souls within his body but still needed to harness a soul for his head, but Cain didn't have time for such actions.

'It doesn't matter if I go all out, might as well when fighting an old accomplice!' His eyes glinted with bloodlust.

Throughout the fight, Fang Yuan was like a fly compared to the Beast Master who went into a rage. He had a tough time dodging such a fiendish person's attacks.

Cain spread out his arms in a grand manner, "Now, see your folly, and die in the process!"

But tides change, and the Beast Master no longer holds favor with the tides.

Red sprang from Cain like a caged monstrosity. Fang Yuan and Thomas backed away, the red waves of silk overwhelming the battlefield!

"Get away! Don't let the red touch you!" Thomas warned everyone in time before the waves could get anyone. Those still watching were elites of elites, with their disciples and students behind them.

Everyone was on edge, ready to run at a moment's notice. They stayed to witness this fight, but they wouldn't die for it.

"Hehehehe, die. die die die die!"

Madness was akin to an infection, one Cain was susceptible to. Unlike Fang Yuan who lost hope, and Thomas who regained his fear, Cain's madness was from his inherent self. His madness was like joy that overflowed, a euphoria that sent one into the depths of bliss.

Manically laughing, Cain lost his sense of self as bloodletter danced within his palm. He let all his seals go, everything stopping him from going all out was removed.

Fireballs that were once miniature became the size of buildings. Webs that were small and sharp became pillars that were flung without care. Blood-red sword energy, once flat and quick was now gushing like torrential waves, spurring everything into an ocean of red!

"Die, die! This is so fun!"

Joy was similar to taste, depending on the person, a steak cooked medium rare could be delicious or disgusting. Not to mention things like ingredients, emotions were like this too. Love, hate, greed, happiness, everyone had these emotions, but to everyone, these emotions were also different, even if only a slight difference.

Everyone was different, and Cain was an outlier among them, his emotions were like a tangled web; everything was connected and strings were mismatched.

His hatred was greed, his envy was happiness, and his joy was wrath!

Humans were complex, Cain was like a string in layers of knots, broken but not, mad but sane, human yet not!

"Rise!" Cain raised his palm.

From every corner of the city, red pillars rose and became giants!

"Children of my mist! Bloody warriors of despair! Kill, kill, and then kill some more!" Cain roared. He was running out of pure energy, to recover some he pitted his soldiers against the enemy.

As he wanted, everything became hell.

The onslaught of warriors of the past flooded the white marble city with their titanic bodies. No matter which cultivator tried to escape, their flesh and blood found themselves painting a nearby wall.

In less than ten minutes, a tenth of the city was made red, the dripping paint ever so wet and fueling the giants more.

"Bastard!" Thomas charged, his body gaining the projection of a Heavenly Boar fitted with armor made of jade!

One of the red titans tried to stop him, but its body was only mist, the boar tore straight through, causing the towering ghost to scream as red clouds exploded and returned to form the titan again.

The power of the boar was so strong the ghost still toppled over even after recovering, falling on a nearby tower, causing it to tilt but not collapse.

"Come here you disaster!"

Seeing the charging brute, Cain couldn't help but smile, "Let's see if this works, it's a stretch though!"

Snapping his fingers, Cain's sight split between multiple viewpoints. He suddenly appeared everywhere at once.

Thousands of Cain's filled the Beast Lord's sight.

"ARRRGGG! I'll destroy you!"

Not caring at all, Thomas charged for the closest Cain. This was the right approach.

Cain had no powers that dealt in illusions other than the Dream Core, but the core was damaged and even using its passive ability to reinforce his other abilities was stretching it. Although the core was powerful, it was from the Outer Zone and thus of a lower quality and more fragile than one would expect. With time it would heal, but Cain shouldn't use it until it did.

Instead, Cain stretched the seams of Space for a bit, allowing him to be in multiple places at once. This was feasible with the help of Vampire core, another core that also helped strengthen his other powers, especially with so much blood spilled that his mist was having a hard time devouring all of it from the white walls.

"Die!" Spiritual Qi condensed and the form of a Dragon materialized along Thomas's fist.

The Cain being targeted teleported behind Thomas, along with the rest of the thousand Cain's. At that moment, they all swiped Bloodletter, red energy drenching the Beast Master's back in scarlet energy.

"Oh no you don't, you Demon!"

Fang Yuan's white sword energy condensed. Although Heaven wasn't present, the Ancient City was filled with such energy, it was how it could exist without collapsing for so long. In a few more millennia, the Heavenly Energy might even condense and form a Heavenly Spirit.

The milky white force of heaven drowned Cain's sword energy, dwindling it down to nothingness before going after the mastermind as well.

"Hehe, poor Fang Yuan, he lost his disciple and now he'll lose his head!"

Cain teleported again, warping behind the Heavenly Sword Saint. His blade slowed as it went for the Sword Saint's neck.

"You dare use my techniques against me!"

Fang Yuan's sword was slower than Cain's, when the two clashed, Fang Yuan's sword sped up and took Cain's head in an instant.

Spurts of deep red drenched Cain's white robes, and his head flew away. He was decapitated and lost to Fang Yuan.

"Haha! Look everyone, the Demon died!" A bystander announced.

Everyone began to cheer. While they did so, a few of the red titans snickered.

As the head of the Imperial Demon soared, it also gained more flesh from its wound. In the air, it paused. Red tendrils grew out of the wound, drilling into one another until the form of a body was achieved.

Bones, muscles, veins, and skin grew from the meaty strings and soon, a full body was constructed again.

"What?!" Fang Yuan's eyes grew wide but he didn't have time to gawk, the headless corpse of Cain continued to attack with bloodletter in hand!

Although much more rustic in attacks, the headless body didn't care for its life and attacked without stopping.

"Humff! A headless chicken!" Fang Yuan's sword beamed white as energy condensed around it.

A flash of white dyed the headless corpse, surrounding it in an instant. Before anyone knew it, the entirety of the corpse's right half of its torso was gone. It had just narrowly dodged, losing much of its body.

Cain was returning as fast as possible, like a comet.

"Hahaha! Good move!"

Cain's old corpse retreated to his side, its wound becoming worse. Cain giggled as he stepped into the body!

It was like fitting an anvil into a knapsack! Cain first put in his leg, moving aside the broken ribs and organs, blood and guts slipping out and drenching the corpse's clothes more! He then slid his arm inside, and the corpse's limbs began to bloat like an allergic reaction.

In light of this, Cain's own body began to open up! The sight of it wasn't human, it was grotesque and horrifying!

Opening up with flaps, Cain sunk into the body like he was entering a hot tub. The two bodies merged like otherworldly aliens and the excess was removed, a massive opening came from Cain's stomach, throwing up everything.

"What the hell are you?" Fang Yuan's madness lessened in light of Cain's, terror gripping his heart.

Cain's mouth slanted upward, "Nothing too interesting, just a human."

Fang Yuan didn't believe a word of it, frowning and tightening the grip on his sword.

Close by, Thomas shuddered, the scene he just witnessed was close to the memories of Cain he knew. He remembered how Cain's body was obliterated by multiple attacks from all directions, only for him to endlessly regenerate.

"Is that even his true form?! He's a monster wearing human flesh!"

Although throughout the Landfill, there were many abilities just as, if not more horrifying than Cain's, it didn't mean people used them. Humans were like programs, going off the program already existing. Anything not in line with the natural flow of how these programs existed was a horrifying thought.

People like Cain were akin to new programs with completely different operations and processes.

There was an underlying rigidness in humanity, it was not good or bad from certain objective standpoints. But this rigidness would come to hinder human advancement, technologically or psychologically, for better or worse.

Nevertheless, Cain was having fun, his body was ever closer to his once Immortal Form because of the Vampire Core.

"Come, fight me! I wish to see the full might of the so-called Living Legends of this Territory!"