Chapter 344: Heart of Fire
(Vessel of The Sun God POV)
I know that my body is being transformed.
I can feel my skin slowly turn to ash and dust as the fire of the one true God burns through my sinful flesh to create an opportunity for rebirth.
I have dedicated my life to his service. The memories of my past life fade away with every last breath that I take.
The divine strength of a primordial being is unfathomable.
I could have never dreamed of possessing this strength when I was just an ordinary man.
Talent, hard-work, opportunity and especially luck are necessary to enter the void stage. Every step of the cultivation process is a barrier that stops the unworthy.
My Lord has given me the strength to cross this barrier and I already feel the ravenous fire lurking in my veins.
It hungers to be free.
I hunger to cleanse this universe of sin.
There are many races which deserve salvation that only the holy baptism of fire can provide.
Those false gods and idols... must be destroyed.
My foe is one of those heretics. The divine stench of another primordial being surrounds her body.
It is an ancient darkness that makes my flames feel cold... blasphemous thoughts I must admit but behind those terrible golden eyes is a power that sends chills down my spine.
But this is nothing more than a simple trial.
I believe in my God and the power that he has granted me in order to slay his enemies.
I will sacrifice everything to serve him.
My human flesh is weak and hence I am prepared to abandon my mortal form and be reborn as a true warrior of the Sun God.
May the wise teachings of the Sun God guide me.
May my strength burn all those who oppose the will of the Sun God.
Glory to the Father!
Sophie narrowed her eyes and stared at the monstrous abomination whose flesh had begun to sizzle.
The scent of burning meat filled the air but this time Sophie did not feel any familiar pangs of hunger.
The divine power surrounding Captain Dawn's body was repulsive.
Sophie could not describe it fully, but it felt like being exposed to a harsh ray of sunlight that was combined with a strong acid.
"LORD I DEDICATE MY BODY TO YOUR HOLY CAUSE!" a fanatic roar echoed through the desert.
Captain Dawn's missing limbs and flesh begun to fill out with purplish-black flames replacing the missing body parts.
It was a sight that was both unnerving and unnatural.
Sophie observed carefully how these mysterious flames would seep into the areas around the wounds.
Spreading like a virus or an infection...
Some kind of transformation was happening to the captain and unfortunately it appeared that her poisons had little effect.
Cloud Treading Dragon!
Sophie's figure blurred and then vanished from the spot. She reappeared close to the captain but out of the reach of his longsword.
There was no need for honour in life-or-death struggles.
The perfect time to strike was now since his body was still in the process of conversion.
Sophie relaxed her mind and begun circulating her qi towards her fingertips. These thin threads of energy entered the nano-fibre whip in her right hand.
It had been a long time since she had fought using her favourite weapon.
Sophie unfurled the whip and lashed out a quick strike at her opponent.
Viper Whip Art- Serpent Strike!
The length of her whip transformed into the shadowy image of an enormous snake that opened its horrific jaws to swallow the captain's body whole.
Sophie swung with all her force and also used her other hand to throw a handful of needles at her foe.
Bang!
The captain flew back a few hundred meters as Sophie's whip made direct contact with the middle of his chest.
Sophie's needles had also managed to enter the areas of his skin not yet covered by the dark purplish flames.
Giving the captain no time to react, Sophie once again disappeared from the spot and begun to launch a series of attacks.
Black Whip Art- A Thousand Pierces!
The whip's shape in her hand contorted and twisted until it became an endless sea of blade-like strikes.
The whip penetrated the captain's body numerous times until the humanoid creature's figure resembled a block of Swiss cheese.
Sophie frowned as her attacks landed successfully but the captain made no attempt to retaliate or block her moves.
No.. was this another trap?
Sophie paused in the middle of her last attack and quickly retreated a further distance away to observe the situation cautiously.
The captain was now more similar to a corpse than to a living creature with his blood seeping into the desert and turning the sand red.
His facial features had already been ruined by the prior explosion but now there was nothing to see but a bloody sticky mass of flesh.
Sophie unleashed the full strength of her power at the captain so now all four of her opponent's limbs had been severed.
Just to be extra spiteful, she had also destroyed a decent portion of the captain's lower body which meant that the once fearsome warrior was little more than a lump of meat.
His sword had been dropped and even the dangerous fires burning on the surface of his skin seemed to flicker out as though the Sun God was ready to abandon his vessel.
The captain lay helplessly on the ground while the flames surrounding his body got dimer and dimer.
Sophie approached cautiously and could not help but feel a bit confused. Visually the captain looked like a defeated man.
His arms and legs had been sliced off and his mysterious power seemed to have abandoned him.
He looked just like an easy prey waiting to be slaughtered by the hunter....
And yet...
Sophie's danger sense remained active. The threat posed by the motionless lump of meat was making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
Boom!
A loud explosion erupted, and Sophie was forced to activate her movement technique immediately to flee.
She vanished and reappeared several feet away. Sophie turned around to look at the captain's body only to find a gigantic ball of fire that was pulsating regularly just like a heartbeat.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!