Dimensional Codex System I m really not a cultist

Chapter 189: Chapter 188: The Activated Secret Technique
 

In some ways, the Followers of the Crimson Realm and Fire Mist Warriors were not significantly different. If there was any difference, it was that the Followers of the Crimson Realm needed a vast amount of Power of Existence to ensure their continued existence in this world. In contrast, Fire Mist Warriors formed a pact with the Demon King of the Crimson Realm. The Fire Mist Warriors would dedicate everything they owned from their “past, present, and future” to the Demon King of the Crimson Realm, who, in response, would imbue them with their mighty power, enabling them to wield the formidable strength originally belonging to the Demon King.

From a certain perspective, the relationship between the Fire Mist Warriors and the Demon King of the Crimson Realm was somewhat similar to that between the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beasts in Naruto, except that instead of a forced Seal, the Demon King voluntarily sealed itself and slumbered within the Fire Mist Warriors’ bodies. Their power was so overwhelming that if it were ever fully unleashed, the Fire Mist Warriors, unable to withstand this power, would instantly be reduced to ash.

And the gun in Faliagni’s hand was the Noble Phantasm used to break the Seal and forcibly awaken the Demon King.

He was certain that if he could hit the Fire Mist Warrior before him, then the mighty Demon King of the Crimson Realm—Aralastor—would appear in this world. And the girl before him would perish, unable to withstand that enormous power. Afterwards, to prevent his appearance from affecting the current world, Aralastor would also leave.

And all he needed was to seize this momentary gap to set his plan in motion and then bring Marianne back to life!!

But…

“Clang!!”

The bullet that was fired did not hit Shana as Faliagni had been sure it would. Instead, just as the bullet was about to strike the girl, a transparent barrier, resembling an eggshell, suddenly appeared and enveloped her. The bullet from the Noble Phantasm hit the barrier and then ricocheted off, completely shattering Faliagni’s last hope.

“Phew… I finally made it.”

At this moment, behind Shana, Fang Zheng also lowered his hand and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He didn’t know what that gun was, but Fang Zheng’s “Future Sight” saw it very clearly. In three seconds, Shana would be hit by that gun, followed by a huge explosion—although he didn’t know what it was, he was certain it wasn’t anything good.

Luckily, as a Paladin, Fang Zheng always had a good habit of keeping an invincible grip in hand. Seeing that things were going south, he naturally hurried to intervene, and fortunately, he arrived just in time…

Once he gathered enough Dimensional Points, he definitely needed to upgrade his Royal Cross Swordsmanship into a fixed Skill. Not to mention anything else, being invincible was really handy… at least it was a safety net.

“I’m not going to give up just like that!”

At that moment, Faliagni roared, then with his remaining right hand, he threw away the revolver he was holding and picked up the bell that had fallen to the ground, giving it a fierce swing.

“Clang!!”

At that moment, a series of bell sounds rang out, spreading around like sonic waves, and Fang Zheng and Shana both involuntarily changed their expressions and stopped in their tracks. For just a moment ago, they felt the atmosphere change abruptly around them!

It was a very strange feeling, indescribable, but very oppressive. It was like the forewarning of an earthquake, volcanic eruption, or tsunami; people might not notice anything peculiar, but they could instinctively sense an imminent crisis. And now, that was the sensation Fang Zheng and Shana were experiencing.

“Boom!!!”

Suddenly, centered on Faliagni, the pale blue flames erupted once again, forming a massive tornado that shot straight up into the sky. The powerful air currents coming head-on made it impossible even for Fang Zheng and Shana to stand their ground, forcing them to retreat in an embarrassed fashion. Meanwhile, everything else on the playground, including humans, had been swept up into the air and then mercilessly torn apart and blown away.

“What’s going on?”

“Faliagni is absorbing a huge amount of the Power of Existence!”

“That’s impossible; he’s absorbing it too quickly! Even the Demon King of the Crimson Realm couldn’t absorb the Power of Existence this fast!”

Upon hearing Aralastor’s response, Shana instantly widened her eyes in shock and screamed out loud. Followers of the Crimson Realm need to devour the Power of Existence, but this power also needs to be digested. It’s like taking a piece of ingredient, cooking and processing it before it can be eaten and digested. That’s why the Demon King of the Crimson Realm sends out Phosphorus to collect the Power of Existence for them; Phosphorus are like chefs, needing to absorb humans’ Power of Existence, then process it, so that they can take it back and the Demon King can absorb this power effectively.

But… there has to be a limit! Even the Demon King of the Crimson Realm couldn’t possibly absorb the Power of Existence at such a speed!

However, it wasn’t long before Aralastor provided the answer.

“He’s not drawing the Power of Existence from humans; he’s drawing it from the Torches!!”

“What?”

Upon hearing this, Shana was shocked. If it was indeed the Torches, then the fast absorption of the Power of Existence was understandable. After all, Torches are just parts left over from humans who have been drained of their Power of Existence by followers of the Crimson Realm to prevent Fire Mist Warriors from detecting their presence and to avoid causing too much distortion in the real world, they are essentially like willess zombies.

If it involved the Torches, then the Demon King of the Crimson Realm could easily absorb them at any time. But the problem was…

“How many Torches has he created? What does he want to do?!”

Sensing the huge Power of Existence converging around Faliagni, Shana clenched her teeth. The magnitude far exceeded a Demon King of the Crimson Realm’s “normal” consumption rate, meaning that the number of humans turned into “Torches” was probably in the thousands, if not more!

“This number… could it be that he’s planning to devour the city?!”

“What is that?”

Upon hearing Aralastor speak, Fang Zheng curiously turned his head to look at Shana. He had originally wanted to pull that bastard out of the tornado and kill him. But Fang Zheng soon helplessly realized that this storm, made up of the Power of Existence, was like a vortex in the ocean, entirely impervious. It was a barrier composed purely of power, and even using a spell like “Dispel Magic” was futile. Moreover, the power disrupted space, preventing Fang Zheng from using Teleportation… Now, they could only wait and see if the official Fire Mist Warrior had any good ideas.

“It’s a very evil Secret Technique!”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s question, Aralastor also hurriedly began to explain it to him.

“You should know that after being consumed by the Follower of the Crimson Realm, reality will become distorted. That’s why the Followers of the Crimson Realm set up ‘torches’ to offset and alleviate these distortions, so the world has time to repair these ‘loopholes’. But if the distortion at a certain place becomes too immense to the extent that the world cannot repair it, that area will be completely destroyed, transformed into pure Power of Existence. This means powerful strength for the Followers of the Crimson Realm…”

Basically, it’s just like too many bugs that can’t be fixed so we need to format and reinstall the system, right?”

“I understand, what do we do now?”

“Faliagni is initiating the consumption of the city, we must interrupt his initiation, but now, the vast Power of Existence has already enveloped him, and we simply can’t attack him. Moreover, even if we could attack him, unless we make him leave this world, we can’t cut off the Secret Technique…”

“Hmm…”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng furrowed his brow and pondered for a moment, then his eyes brightened.

“Aralastor, just to confirm again, whether it’s you or that Faliagni, you both come from that world called ‘Crimson Realm’, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Though Aralastor didn’t know why Fang Zheng was asking this question at such a critical moment, he still gave a positive response.

“So, this means, for this world, you are beings from another dimension, alien to this realm. Can I understand it this way?

“…Of course, you can.”

“Good.”

Upon hearing Aralastor’s answer, Fang Zheng nodded.

“I have a plan that might be able to fix this issue, but before that, I need your help. Cut open this damn barrier formed by the ‘Power of Existence,’ I need a little bit of time.”

“Cut open…”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Shana clenched the long sword in her hand, staring intensely at the tornado in front of her.

“… Can you do it?”

“The flames you unleashed during our first battle, I think they were almost as powerful as this force.”

“Ugh…”

Remembering that battle made Shana’s face change color. Fang Zheng, however, was unconcerned, merely gripping the Sky-Cleaving Sword in his hand, vigilantly watching in front of him.

“Then it’s up to you, Shana. Let me see the power of the Fire Mist Warrior.”

“You don’t need to tell me, I was going to do it anyway!”

Shana knew this wasn’t the time to argue with Fang Zheng, so she just responded coldly and immediately charged forward, raising her long sword and forcefully slashing at the tornado in front of her!

“Whoosh————!!”

The long sword collided with the spinning Flame Tornado, forcefully creating a gap, but before Shana could advance further, a huge impact came her way, pushing her back.

“Ugh…”

“Are you up to this or not? We don’t have time for your warm-up!”

“So annoying, you don’t need to say it!”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s complaint, Shana responded without looking back, then once again tightened her grip on the long sword, staring at the tornado in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she again raised her blade and forcefully swung forward!

“Swish!!”

As Shana’s sword swung down, the spinning tornado was momentarily cleaved open by a gap, but before Fang Zheng could act, the gap closed up again. Meanwhile, the aura of the powerful Power of Existence also grew denser, giving off a feeling that a storm was about to break.

“Look, if you can’t do it, let me try, though there might be a little short on time…”

“Aaaahhhhhhh!!”

At this, Shana also shouted out in anger.

“Annoying, annoying, annoying!! When I say it’s no problem, it’s no problem!!”

And with Shana’s furious roar, this time, her raised blade suddenly erupted in a hot, vivid flame. The flame quickly elongated and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a nearly thirty feet long great sword. Then, Shana raised this Flame Blade and forcefully swung it downward!