NOVGO.NET Chapter 84: The Hand of Death (Part 2)
Chapter 84: The Hand of Death (Part 2)
The Hand of Death (Part 2)
"My... lifespan..."
"My..."
His voice grew weaker.
His Heavenly Genesis Realm-level vitality disappeared like flowing water leaking through broken fingers.
Every second...
Decades of life vanished.
His abundant true spiritual power dispersed into nothingness.
His powerful blood essence evaporated.
His soul dimmed.
Within only a few breaths...
The arrogant Great Perfection Celestial Gate Realm expert...
Had become nothing more than an ancient mummy.
A dried corpse.
An empty shell.
One touch.
That was all it had taken.
No battle.
No exchange of techniques.
No desperate struggle.
Only absolute suppression.
The horrifying contrast left everyone frozen.
Austin Salvatore stared blankly.
His fists slowly unclenched.
His breathing had completely stopped.
"So..."
"This..."
"This is the true strength of the main family..."
Even after awakening Akeno’s remnant soul...
Even after regaining hope...
Even after believing he had finally stepped onto the path toward greatness...
Austin suddenly realized.
Compared to the Sovereign Salvatore Family...
He was still standing at the foot of an immeasurable mountain.
Damien remained equally calm.
Although this wasn’t the first time he had witnessed Elder Black act...
Watching it a second time still sent chills down his spine.
His previous life’s experiences told him something very clearly.
There were experts.
And then...
There existed beings who stood beyond the understanding of experts.
Elder Black belonged to the latter.
No cultivation fluctuations.
No techniques.
No battle cries.
Death simply...
Arrived.
The surrounding Salvatore clansmen stood rooted to the ground.
Their mouths hung open.
Not a single person could speak.
The servants behind Nellie Whitecliff had gone pale.
Several collapsed onto the floor in terror.
One even wet himself without realizing it.
The hall was so silent that the sound of sweat dripping onto the floor could be heard.
Then something even stranger happened.
Everyone looked toward the old soldier.
They could clearly see him.
Yet...
The moment they blinked...
His face became blurred.
When they tried to remember his appearance...
Nothing came to mind.
His features slipped away like water through open fingers.
It was as though heaven itself refused to allow anyone to remember him.
The harder they tried...
The faster his image disappeared.
"What..."
"What does he look like...?"
"I..."
"I can’t remember..."
Even Austin frowned deeply.
He could clearly see the old man standing there.
Yet when he attempted to recall his face—
Blank.
Nothing.
Only an indescribable feeling of ancient majesty remained.
The next moment—
Thud.
Elder Wang’s dried corpse crashed onto the stone floor.
The crisp sound echoed throughout the silent hall.
Everyone instinctively looked downward.
Then looked back.
The place where Elder Black had stood...
Was empty.
He had disappeared without leaving behind the slightest trace.
No footsteps.
No ripple in space.
Nothing.
It was as though he had never existed at all.
Only the shriveled corpse lying on the cold floor silently proved that everything which had just happened...
Was terrifyingly real.
-----------
For several long moments...
No one spoke.
The grand hall was eerily silent.
Only the faint rustling of robes and the heavy breathing of frightened people broke the suffocating stillness.
Every pair of eyes remained fixed upon Elder Wang’s shriveled corpse.
The once overbearing elder of the Crimson Abyss Sect...
The Great Perfection Celestial Gate Realm expert who had treated the entire Salvatore Family like insects...
Now resembled nothing more than a dried piece of dead wood discarded upon the cold stone floor.
His eyes remained wide open.
They were filled with terror.
The terror of someone who had witnessed something beyond comprehension in the final moments of life.
Even after his death...
That fear refused to leave his face.
Austin Salvatore slowly lowered the hand that had instinctively reached toward Damien moments earlier.
His heartbeat was still racing.
He had believed Damien would be forced to retreat.
He had believed the battle would become a desperate struggle.
Instead...
It had ended before it had even begun.
One touch.
That ancient old man had merely placed a hand upon Elder Wang’s shoulder...
And everything was over.
Austin inhaled deeply.
The main family...
Just how terrifying had it become?
His father had spoken of the Patriarch with endless reverence.
Now...
Austin finally understood why.
The Patriarch’s subordinates alone possessed power that ordinary cultivators couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
A thirteen-year-old Sword Emperor.
An ancient guardian capable of casually reducing a Great Perfection Celestial Gate Realm expert to a dried corpse.
Just how unfathomable was the Clan Patriarch himself?
Damien quietly sheathed the Sovereign Star Blade.
His youthful face remained calm.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of pride.
Everything had unfolded exactly as Victor had predicted.
If Elder Wang chose to defend himself...
Elder Black would intervene.
If he fled...
Elder Black would still intervene.
There had never been another outcome.
Victor...
Never left loose ends.
Meanwhile...
Nellie Whitecliff’s elegant face had completely lost its color.
Her entire body trembled uncontrollably.
"N-No..."
"This..."
"This can’t be..."
She staggered backward several steps until her back struck a pillar.
Her beautiful eyes stared blankly at Elder Wang’s corpse.
She couldn’t accept it.
She absolutely couldn’t accept it.
In her eyes...
Elder Wang had been invincible.
A Great Perfection Celestial Gate Realm expert.
One of the Crimson Abyss Sect’s respected guest elders.
Even powerful families had to greet him respectfully.
Yet...
He hadn’t even exchanged a single move before dying.
"No..."
"No..."
"Elder Wang..."
"Wake up..."
"You... you’re just playing with them..."
"Right...?"
"RIGHT?!"
Her voice gradually became shrill.
"It’s impossible!"
"It’s impossible!"
"Elder Wang is a Great Perfection Celestial Gate Realm expert!"
"A GREAT PERFECTION CELESTIAL GATE REALM EXPERT!!"
She shook her head frantically.
Everything had gone wrong.
Completely wrong.
This wasn’t the future she had imagined.
Today...
The Salvatore Family should have been destroyed.
Austin should have crawled beneath her feet.
The entire family should have begged for mercy.
She should have stood proudly above everyone while watching them lose everything.
Instead...
The strongest person she had brought had died like an insignificant insect.
That overwhelming confidence she had relied upon...
Collapsed completely.
Her beautiful face twisted with disbelief.
Fear slowly replaced arrogance.
The remaining servants were even worse.
Several dropped to their knees.
Others desperately tried to crawl toward the exit.
Nobody dared remain near Elder Wang’s corpse.
At that moment—