Sword of Salvation-Chapter 79: - Deceit and Sweet Lie (2)

Kukukuku. Lergen could not contain the excitement filling his chest. Ever since he had regained his footing, he had not stopped laughing. Even as his test subject re-entered the spirit unification mode and attacked at high speed, he was still laughing.

Lergen’s laughter only ceased when the ninja swung both of her sword-shaped hands at him. However, Lergen made no attempt to evade. He simply stood still, allowing those sharp hands to slash at him.

"...!"

Shock colored the ninja’s face. Her hands had failed to injure Lergen. She had not even made contact. Instead, her attacks passed through Lergen’s body as if he were merely an illusion. The ninja did not stop after one or two slashes—she continued attacking relentlessly.

On the fourteenth second since Lergen had made his body intangible, he released a gust of wind that sent the ninja flying.

"Kukuku. I have three demon hearts, so now I have three Devil Curses," Lergen said as he once again entered spirit unification mode. "I can control the wind, make my body intangible, and explode anything I touch."

Revealing his abilities to his opponent made Lergen seem foolish and arrogant. However, he had not spoken out of arrogance, nor did he care about the impression it left. He had told the ninja so she could fight him better. More than that, he needed her to know so she would do exactly what he wanted.

"This is the third round," he continued, stepping forward—his eyes locked intensely on the ninja. "You have destroyed my main heart, so I will replace it with yours. Do you have any last words?"

Celinee did not respond to Lergen’s words. Instead, she dashed to attack at full speed.

This time, Lergen did not remain idle. He also charged forward. Although the abilities he had just mentioned sounded impressive, they had a glaring weakness. Lergen could only maintain his intangibility for fifteen consecutive seconds. After that, his body would automatically return to normal, and he had to wait thirty seconds before using it again.

Since he had used his intangibility for fourteen seconds straight, he now had to wait twenty-eight seconds before he could activate it again.

Suddenly, Lergen found himself in a different position—his back slammed against a tree trunk. The ninja had used her time-framing ability. Not only that, but Lergen’s perception had slowed down exponentially. Time was moving even slower than before, almost as if it had stopped entirely.

In an instant, the ninja was in front of Lergen—so fast that it seemed like teleportation. Her eyes were filled with determination, ready to finish the doctor off.

There was nothing Lergen could do to escape this situation. Several seconds remained before he could turn intangible again. Yet, he neither panicked nor worried. He had anticipated this. This was precisely what he had wanted when he revealed his Devil Curse to the woman.

Both of the ninja’s hands successfully pierced the two hearts Lergen had hidden behind his lungs. However, before she could pull her hands back and destroy the last heart hidden behind his intestines, a tremendous explosion instantly engulfed Lergen and sent the ninja flying.

The explosion was so massive that its destructive effect extended to a radius of a thousand meters.

Lergen had, of course, known that his actions would obliterate his secret laboratory. Even Livera might die. But there was nothing he could do to save his assistant. He also did not think there was any other way to eliminate his opponent. He would consider Livera’s death an unfortunate consequence.

The assistant was indeed irreplaceable, but what could he do if she died due to misfortune?

When the explosion’s effects subsided, nothing remained of Lergen—except for his final heart.

That was the heart that granted him intangibility. It had remained untouched because it was always in an intangible state. It would only become tangible after being outside the body for more than fifteen seconds. So, if someone destroyed the heart at that moment, Lergen would truly die.

Unfortunately, no one noticed its presence. No one stopped the regeneration process from occurring. And after more than four minutes had passed, Lergen’s body was fully restored in his demon form.

Demon hearts could not regenerate clothing, so the doctor stood up completely bare.

However, Lergen paid no mind to that. His eyes scanned his surroundings, ensuring no one was left alive.

The area within a thousand-meter radius appeared utterly devastated. Realizing that he was at the center of a crater over a dozen meters deep, Lergen became certain that his opponent had perished. He was the only one still alive.

"Kukuku. Not only have I lost Livera, but now I’ve also become an enemy of Le—"

Lergen’s mouth suddenly stopped moving as a dimensional portal appeared a dozen meters ahead of him. The doctor had no idea who was coming, but his vigilance immediately rose to the maximum.

"Huh? Kukukukukukuku."

Lergen was more than pleased when he saw that the one emerging from the portal was the young man Levia had told him about. Since he was still alive, it meant Lergen didn’t have to worry about becoming an enemy of the demon. Levia would understand—she was the most tolerant of all demons.

"I didn’t think you are the type to rely on suicidal tactics, Doctor Lergen."

Lergen merely laughed at the remark. There was some truth to it, but also some falsehood. However, he didn’t feel the need to comment on it because he knew he would survive regardless.

"You have the perfect way to save yourself," the doctor said after his laughter subsided. "But you’re a terrible human. How could you let your comrade die? Or, perhaps you never considered my experiment subject as your comrade from the start? How cruel. Kukuku."

"I can say the same about you," the young man retorted as he closed the distance between them. "I deliberately didn’t kill your assistant, but she died because of your own action. She claimed to be your most trusted assistant—did you deceive her?"

"Livera’s death is unfortunate. There was nothing I could do to save her from the sheer misfortune. But you... you could have saved your comrade, yet you let her die."

Kukuku. Lergen was greatly amused by the shift in the young man’s expression. His delight grew even more when the young man coated his body with wind armor. However, that wind armor was different from any wind armor Lergen had ever seen—it was eerily calm and thin.

"Kukuku. Do you want to avenge the comrade you could have saved?" the doctor asked.

The young man gave no verbal response. In an instant, he was already in front of Lergen.

He’s fast, Lergen thought, slightly surprised. This reminded him of Shin. Perhaps this young man was just as fast as that arrogant brat. If not for his instinctive reaction to turn his body intangible, the young man’s punch would have landed squarely in Lergen’s solar plexus.

If Lergen still had his ability to predict movements, he could have kept up with him. But that power was gone. In his current state, he would lose this fight. That was why Lergen immediately entered his spirit unification mode without hesitation.

In this mode, he could use all elements and recreate attacks he had absorbed with even greater power—just as he had done earlier when he created hundreds of water bullets.

"That’s an interesting ability."

Lergen quickly turned around. The young man was staring at him seriously, but remained calm. They were only about three meters apart. Yet, even though Lergen had entered spirit unification mode, the young man didn’t seem worried in the slightest. Nor did he activate his own spirit unification mode.

"You don’t have any clothes, Doctor? Seeing you naked is disgusting."

"Kukuku. You should feel honored."

"If you were a woman, maybe you’d be right. But let’s ignore trivial matters."

Right after saying that, the young man lunged at Lergen once more. He was fully intent on crushing him.