Instinctively, he opened his mouth, wanting to spit it out.

But he raised his hand to cover his mouth, gritting his teeth tightly, suppressing the nausea rising from his chest.

It was the body instinctively rejecting.

But rejection was useless.

As beads of sweat poured down, Miss Huaizhi's face gradually became wet.

With another sharp decline in vitality, Huai Shi felt the alcohol content in his veins start to spike dramatically—unbelievable, incomprehensible. Even the initial transition phase was gone this time.

Without any warning, he directly entered a state of deep intoxication!

Only then did Huai Shi realize: the alcohol from the Bloody Mary hadn't been metabolized as he imagined. Instead, it still lingered, especially after the infusion of the Long Island Iced Tea.

He skipped the initial tipsy phase entirely, plunging into uncontrollable drunkenness.

He still underestimated the bartender's skill too much...

Elisa's alcohol proved to be undigestible!

Instead, like a stacking poison, the levels kept rising with each drink, until the swiftly declining endurance could no longer resist the alcohol's erosion, and then, it would all be over.

"I watched your previous matches, your resistance is indeed high, but this isn't something you can brush off that easily."

Elisa looked down at the disheveled state of Huai Zhisu, raising her eyebrows in delight: "After all, getting customers drunk quickly is the bartender's signature skill."

Huai Shi didn't respond.

He was fully resisting the alcohol's corrosiveness, battling against the urge to sleep and faint, leaving no room for conversation.

Elisa shook her head and sighed, pulling out a metal box from her pocket, skillfully rolling a cigarette from the tobacco and rolling paper inside, then licking the edge of the paper to seal it.

"Want a smoke?"

She asked casually, but Huai Shi didn't respond.

She shook her head, sighed again, lit it herself, and after taking a couple of puffs, she placed it at the corner of Huai Zhisu's mouth.

Amid the rich tobacco aroma, an unknown powder cleared Huai Shi's foggy consciousness.

But only temporarily.

"Surrender?" Elisa asked, "In your current state, forget about making it to the next round, you can't even continue mixing drinks, right?"

In a brief moment of clarity and haze, Huai Shi propped himself up, examining the opponent before him who was blurred in double vision.

He smiled slightly.

"It's not time to give up yet... Besides, who said I can't solve this?"

"I don't dislike girls who don't admit defeat."

Elisa smiled, and before she could finish speaking, she saw a Yingzhou short knife appearing in Huai Shi's hand, small like a rib, with scarlet light in the feather-overlapped blade pattern, so menacing.

In front of everyone, Huai Shi raised his knife, turning the handle towards his own neck.

At the location of the large artery, he thrust!

Elisa's expression changed abruptly, reaching out to stop him.

It was too sudden!

She couldn't understand why this opponent would opt for self-destruction when unable to win, but instinctively she didn't want bloodshed before her workstation, nor did she want this thrilling opponent to perish for such a reason.

But it was too late.

The blade sank into Huai Shi's neck.

It pierced in from the left, and out from the right.

There was no blood spraying as expected.

It seemed more like a scare tactic toy.

But now, Huai Shi was unharmed, raising his hand, his gaze gradually clearing, regaining consciousness.

Returning to normal.

Indeed, the alcohol in the blood couldn't be metabolized, so simply... just drain the blood and alcohol together!

Just like that, the sweet-scented alcohol-laden blood, infused with Grudge, flowed into the Dream Cage, bit by bit consumed by the Ravens.

This exaggerated amount of alcohol, enough to intoxicate hundreds to death, rapidly drained from Huai Shi's body. And then flowed into the unsuspecting Ravens...

Next, the Soloist's blood-regeneration function activated.

Drawing on the immense vitality from the Mountain Ghost, swiftly transforming into blood, allowing Huai Shi to take a deep, refreshing breath, removing the cigarette from his mouth, and flicking the ash.

"Thanks for the smoke."

Elisa's expression was unreadable: "Secretly inducing vomiting in the bathroom after getting drunk in a drinking contest... That's cheating, Miss Huaizhi."

"No, this is just me preparing materials for today's final mix," Huai Shi grinned slyly, "Besides, there's no rule against bloodletting in the competition, right?"

Indeed, this was the material for today's final mix.

After all, he said so, and whether the final mix would be made... can't he just change the recipe on the fly?

Casually, he pulled out the Grudge cleansed by the fine liquor, and the blood swing was retracted.

Huai Shi picked up the vacant porcelain bottle with his other hand, refilled it with sake, and directly placed it into the ice bucket. Then, the Forge Furnace reactivated!

This time, instead of emitting heat, the chill rapidly contracted inward.

The ice in the bucket melted visibly.

Because the heat was transferring outward from the porcelain bottle.

Still using the water refining method from Alchemy, applying the fluid transformation techniques of the Forgers, pouring the Disaster essence from Hell completely into it.

Soon, the bone-chilling gray sake was poured into Elisa's glass.

"Special Sake · Mulberry Stain."

Huai Shi smiled: "A little spoiler, it's a different feeling than anger, so be careful."

Mulberry Stain.

Elisa looked down, staring at the gloomy, heavy color in the glass, her eyebrows slowly raising.

Indeed, it is the color of Sang Dye.

But, this color truly evokes Sorrow.

In a trance, suddenly, the Sorrow surged.

No matter how coarse the nerves, Elisa was still a woman; the gentler her nature, the more susceptible she was to hurt.

After the involuntary sigh passed, she finally realized, but the glass before her was already empty.

Only a thread of coldness slid down her throat in a moment of dazed drinking, accompanied by the sharp aroma of alcohol and a cold and loneliness that no flames in the world could extinguish.

The chill spreads.

Her movements stiffened in place.

As if frozen, she struggled with breath, helplessly Sorrowful beyond herself.

Once forgotten memories rose again with this chill, bringing with them piercing Sorrow and loneliness.

She struggled to lift her wrist, but the joints produced a sharp sound when they rubbed.

Difficult to move.

Even... difficult to breathe.

Because she was bound, from within... to outside.

In the shattered shrill sound, the projection within her Soul emerged, a dark and illusory chain broke through her interior, extending from her body.

It penetrated the joints, bound the muscles, wound around the lungs and organs, finally gathering at the heart which was struggling to beat.

Gradually drawing inward.

——Lock of Sorrow!

Not caring that Elisa could no longer continue drinking, Huai Shi, on his part, drank one cup after another, savoring the loneliness and Sorrow that once belonged to him.

This kind of thing, just a cup is enough.

More would not have any effect. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

But loneliness and Sorrow to this extent... truly unexpected.

Huai Shi lowered his gaze.

Behind the bar in front of him, countless chains had already pierced Elisa's shell, layer upon layer, binding her within, proliferating and spreading madly, almost encompassing the entire arena.

The Source Fluctuation, vast and violent, emerged, spread, pressing everyone, suffocating.

Huai Shi so close could not withstand the residual waves of Sorrow.

He could only be genuinely thankful that it was not a life-and-death duel with such an opponent but a Chef Demon duel... otherwise, the defeated and dead would most likely be himself?

Huai Shi always knew Elisa was strong.

But he never imagined she could be strong to this extent... even among the Fourth Stage, few could compare to her, right?

"No wonder she obtained the Lone Wolf Medal, an Explorer, Elisa Ms."

Huai Shi tilted his head back, drank the last drop of Sang Dye sake from the porcelain bottle, and sighed lightly: "This resolve and this strength, indeed, commands respect."

Crash!

The sound of breaking echoed.

It was the lament of Sorrow being shattered.

Numerous cracks appeared on the chains, the restraint of The Sorrow of Index was collapsing, before Elisa's raised gaze. Like a vast sea, the torrent roared from that emaciated shell.

The shadow of the gaunt Ferryman emerged from the torrent of Styx, indifferently spotting the world, and in an instant, vanished with the flowing Styx.

Caron!

Rome Genealogy·Fourth Stage - River Styx Ferryman · Caron!

Elisa raised her gaze, took a deep breath, clenched her fist slightly, and the net of chains instantly dissolved.

Now, Huai Shi finally understood... how she bore the Curse of the ruler.

Because this woman was unreasonably strong!

Merely with resolve, she could shatter her own Sorrow. With her own strength, she could bear the Curse of the ruler... with such power, couldn't you go steal and rob please!

Why bother to take on work?

Huai Shi ruefully shook his head, despairing over this overly fantastic world.

"I must admit, Miss Huaizhi—"

Elisa raised her gaze, solemnly sighed: "You are an opponent I can't defeat with alcohol, from this round, I will truly use the bartender's methods."

"Me too."

Huai Shi responded with a smile: "I have already found your weakness, Elisa Ms."

"Then let's decide the victor, Miss Huaizhi."

Elisa smiled, raised her hand, and removed the ring from her left index finger. At that moment, darkness more than a thousand times deeper surged from between her fingers.

The Curse of decline instantly covered the entire field, making it hard for everyone to breathe.

And in the ashes of illusion, the ruler already dead raised his gaze, staring at the world. It was the last Reflection left.

The mere existence of it was enough to freeze with terror.

Right in front of Elisa, in the beer keg, the valve opened, a cup of dark beer with pale foam appeared in the cup.

And in Elisa's left hand, within the small cup, the color of vodka revealed endless malice.

Mourning congealed into a Curse.

Together with that small cup, it fell into the dark beer.

Just a soft thud.

It was the heavy sound of death falling.

"Deep Water... no, this is a custom-made Abyss Bomb for you."

She gazed at the smiling woman before her, softly said: "Please enjoy, Miss Huaizhi, for an opponent like you, such honor is deserved."