Echoes of the Past

Chapter 36 The Rubik's Cube Has Finished Eating

The touch of fingertips on her cheek sent chills down Almahern's spine as Nan'an's hand slid straight toward her eye socket.

"dream!"

With a low shout, Almahern left a dark silhouette in place before his true form drifted backward like mist, narrowly escaping the control of the giant hand.

"Tsk."

Nan'an was somewhat agitated.

Like a continuation of the battle in the black mist, although the same moves were still being used, Suiyue's physical abilities had far surpassed those before due to the influence of magic.

It strikes directly at the face, creating a dizzying and jarring effect.

The abdominal strike deflects the force, disrupts the magician's ability to mobilize magic, and causes physical discomfort.

If the enemy is slightly stronger, after the abdominal strike, you can follow up with an uppercut to severely injure the chin. Even hybrids with strong resistance to blows will fall into a temporary coma.

This smooth combo can handle most close-range encounters.

The fact that Elmarhern could remain conscious after being attacked shows that she is clearly not a resilient race like trolls or golems.

Last time, the feeling wasn't obvious, but this time, Nan'an felt the sticky, slippery, sluggish sensation of a fist striking his body, like mud.

"Catfish? It coats itself in a layer of black mud to protect itself from harm."

He showed no regret or remorse for failing to gouge out the demonic eye of aging.

Almost at the same time that Elmar Hearn broke free, he moved with lightning speed, like a frame skipping in a video, and returned to Suiyue's side at a speed that left the other party astonished.

Almahern could see Nan'an's every move clearly, and her mind was clear enough to issue commands to her body to take corresponding countermeasures.

However, when it comes to actual implementation, it always seems to be a step behind Nan'an.

Before she could do anything to stop him, Almahern watched as Nanan returned to his place.

All around him were the Living Eclipses, who had just made their move, bursting out from the bushes, thinking they had gained the upper hand.

Their expressions were frozen and magnified in Almahern's eyes, all revealing horror and terror, as if they had seen a ghost—it was hard to say whether Nanan or the undead were more terrifying.

The Living Eclipses have long been aware of the power of the Eye of Aging.

Such immense power left them utterly helpless against Nan'an, forced to desperately defend themselves and flee. Now, facing his gloomy eyes, every living creature present was terrified.

In desperation, Morton ordered, "Knock out the bull and stop the summoning ritual."

"idiot!"

Mara, who was standing next to him, immediately cried out.

"Oh?"

Nan An's lips curled up. The moment he understood the meaning of "knock out," he abandoned Sui Yue and sped away.

A sudden gust of wind whipped up, carrying sand, pebbles, and withered leaves, forming a blurry dust wave.

Under the blazing sun, Nan'an's figure was like a runaway chariot of flesh and blood, smashing through a living erosion that blocked his path without any fancy moves.

The muffled crack of bones breaking and the spray of blood even blurred his own vision, but his momentum did not slow down in the slightest.

"Mara!"

Mara, now locked in place, had already raised a swirling cloud of black fly mist in her palm as she tried to activate her unique Nightmare power as quickly as possible to resist.

"Thump!"

A dull, heart-stopping bang exploded.

Only a ring of spreading dust remained where Nan'an had stood.

The other living Eclipses who rushed to provide support saw only a blur before their eyes: Nanan, his face splattered with blood and foam, his iron-like right hand gripping Mara's entire face. The immense force prevented her from even screaming; she was lifted up like a rag doll and slammed to the ground.

"You seem smarter than them," Nanan smiled, his voice filtering through his fingers into Mara's ears. "So, you're the only one who can die first."

"Click."

That was a cracking sound from the neck straining under the weight.

Mara, with her throat gripped and her feet off the ground, instantly lost all light in her eyes.

Her head slammed into the hard ground, the violent shock causing her to spurt blood from her mouth and nose, her eyes to bulge out, making her look like a monstrous demon.

Nan'an didn't even glance at her, and as if throwing away a piece of trash, he hurled Mara's still convulsing body at the few living erosions in the distance that were trying to pounce on Suiyue.

The sound of wind breaking was sharp and piercing.

The death threat from behind made the few living monsters instinctively turn around, and Mara's gruesome death, with her eyes wide open and blood flowing from her seven orifices, instantly filled their vision.

Fear seemed to have taken on a physical form, climbing into everyone's heart like the giant hand of Nan'an.

They disregarded the attack and hastily dodged to the sides.

Before they could react, Nan'an's figure was already upon them.

"Don't use the power of the Nightmare! It won't work on him!" someone shouted in terror.

Unfortunately, the habit of relying on the Nightmare God for combat over the years has long been ingrained in their bones.

The moment the warning reached their ears, most people's actions of activating the power of the Divine Nightmare were already unstoppable.

His movements were noticeably stiff, revealing a completely unguarded and open-minded nature, allowing Nan'an to take what he wanted.

A fist, leaping with flames, pierced through a living, eroding chest like a red-hot scalpel cutting through butter.

The heart, still pulsating slightly, on the fist's edge turned into a cloud of steaming blood mist the instant it came into contact with the flames.

Morton was stunned, a chill ran down his spine, and he almost instinctively looked at the motionless Almahern in the distance.

"What are you doing!" he roared hoarsely. "Why are you just standing there!"

Almahern seemed to be interrupted by this sudden question, and nodded blankly.

Then it transformed into a cloud of black mist, disappeared into the shadows under the trees.

"The Eye of Aging!"

Morton was nearly driven mad.

He could clearly sense that Almahern had not left, but had cunningly retreated to a more secluded and safer corner.

She was like an indifferent theater audience member, hiding behind the curtain, coldly observing the life-and-death struggle on stage.

Once she senses that the wind direction is wrong, she will leave without hesitation.

These "actors" who were pushed to the forefront had to face a madman who was nothing like a member of the Ellu group!

The unique nature of Ellu Agency's work dictates that its member selection mechanism is extremely rigorous.

The vast majority of the deer that the living had heard of or come into contact with were well-educated, respectable young men from Nora families.

Although they abhorred the living erosion, all they did was relentlessly exterminate them.

The Nan'an before us is completely different.

Morton was a fallen man who had struggled to crawl out of darkness and filth; he knew that aura all too well.

He could clearly detect an almost pleasurable bloodlust deep within Nan'an's seemingly clear eyes.

This guy... is enjoying the killing!

At that moment, he had just pulled out a still-warm, living spine with his bare hands.

The pale bones, covered in viscous liquid, were brutally used as makeshift weapons in his hands. With incredible precision and strength, they easily tore open the throat of another living corpse, then imbued it with fire attributes, inserted it into the chest cavity, and stirred it violently.

This guy is less of a mission and more of a butcher with a legal license to kill, slaughtering them like livestock!

The dying cries of livestock only bring him pleasure.

"Hehe, hahahahahahaha!" Nan An laughed and wiped his mouth with his blood-soaked hands. "What's wrong with you guys? Come on over here! Look, Sui Yue is right here. As long as we knock her out, the summoning ritual will be nullified."

He stepped over the corpses lying at his feet, then opened his arms to the remaining living erosions, as if he wanted to hug them.

Morton didn't hesitate and turned to run.

Having become living erosions, everyone present was aware that they were no longer considered normal people.

Compared to the blood-soaked figure before them, they even felt, in a daze, that they could still be considered...pure and innocent?

When Nan'an's gaze swept over them again, the palpable killing intent and madness finally crushed the Living Eclipses' last will to resist.

Fear, like a plague, spread rapidly after Morton's initial rout. The remaining Eclipses, terrified, disregarded all orders and fled in all directions like frightened birds.

"run?"

Nan'an turned back and instructed Suiyue, "Keep up."

Having said that, he went straight for one of the lucky ones who had their backs to him and pounced on them like a hungry tiger.

Before Suiyue could even take a step to catch up, a short, muffled sound of bones cracking came from afar.

When she arrived, panting, she saw Nan'an casually tossing the corpse, whose spine had been folded in half with brute force, onto the ground, his movements as practiced as if he were handling an extra piece of luggage.

"I..." Suiyue gasped for breath, her steps unsteady.

"I know."

Nan'an's voice was surprisingly calm, showing no trace of the violence he had displayed during the killing.

He wanted to pat Suiyue on the shoulder to comfort her, but noticing the still-wet bloodstains on his hands, he paused mid-air and withdrew his hand. "The Eye of Aging is still watching nearby, so stand up straight and don't show weakness..."

Upon hearing this, Suiyue stared at Nan'an, whose face showed no trace of madness, and was momentarily dazed.

Is this an act, or a genuine expression of emotion?

Dragging the two escaped, rotting corpses back to their previous spot, Nan'an tallied up the spoils.

A total of 6 people were killed, among whom Mara, who was killed first, was the one who clearly showed some strength.

"Hearn".

"Hearn?"

He called out again, his tone as calm as if he were calling out to an acquaintance.

Finally, the shadows in the distance seemed to twitch slightly, and a soft voice, tinged with obvious displeasure, rang out: "My name is not 'Hearn'."

"The name was too long, so I shortened it."

Nan'an answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

He didn't have the energy to pursue an aging demon eye who was trying to hide. As long as he made the other party wary and dare not approach or attack Suiyue easily, his goal would be achieved.

He ignored the presence in the shadows and squatted down, drawing the short sword he carried from the leather sheath at Suiyue's waist.

The blade was pressed against Mara's neck, and the knife began to move precisely along the joint gaps.

Suiyue whispered a reminder: "Coulara and the others might prefer whole corpses?"

Nan'an was stunned. Looking at the masterpiece of the brutal battle, with its exploding heart and churning chest, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Hearn," he spoke again towards the shadows, his tone as if discussing what to eat for the day, "if your target is also these corpses, I advise you to leave now. I'm taking them all with me."

"Oh? So thoughtful of me to remind you?" came Alma Hern's slightly mocking voice from the shadows.

"I just don't want your head to get chopped off by some passing Mistbreaker or Radiant Owl." Nan An didn't look up, continuing his work with a calm tone. "After all, your head should fetch a pretty good price."

"snort."

After a cold snort, Nan'an could no longer sense the remaining magical energy.

The corpses of the Living Devourers retain traces of the Nightmare of Gods, which is why most Living Devourers have a penchant for collecting corpses, even the more powerful Aging Demon Eye is no exception.

With no one around, Suiyue looked at Nan'an with awe.

"Old hand...is this how you used to deal with enemies?"

"Do you find it rude and terrifying?"

Suiyue scratched her head gently: "It is a little scary."

"It's what Aslipan taught me; she calls it efficiency. This kind of execution-style killing terrifies other enemies, making them subconsciously fearful when they engage, giving you a psychological advantage," Nan'an reminded him. "Didn't you notice that I only killed a few people, yet I already drew everyone's attention to me, making them hesitant to attack you?"

He paused, then said earnestly, "Even if you can't learn it, remember that you can't handle complex combat environments by following the rules step by step."

Just then, Nan'an suddenly felt a very subtle yet clear tremor coming from the unique space deep within his consciousness, the mysterious area that contained the Rubik's Cube.

The source of the tremor seemed to be pointing directly at Mara's corpse at his feet.

Nan'an's thoughts stirred slightly.

He recalled the peculiar reaction of the little cube before the cat food was eaten.

Without hesitation, he turned his short knife and precisely severed Mara's right hand, which had attempted to unleash the black fly mist and contained obvious divine nightmare power, along her shoulder.

At the cross-section, one can faintly see several extremely faint, dark purple threads that seem to possess life, slowly wriggling.

"Is this the trace left by the fragment of the Divine Nightmare?"

As Nan'an was wondering, a familiar, gentle yet irresistible suction force quietly came from the depths of her consciousness.

Just like a child clamoring for a toy—the Rubik's Cube once again conveyed the same intense urge as when eating cat food.

The dark purple threads that were about to disappear at the cross-section seemed to be drawn by an invisible hand and suddenly became active.

With a thought, Nan An saw a small Rubik's Cube appear in his palm.

In an instant, the fragments of the Divine Nightmare began to struggle.

They twisted, yet could not resist that force, being peeled away from their flesh bit by bit, extracted and transformed into streams of light that were almost impossible to see with the naked eye. Some of them entered Nan'an's body, and some returned to the Rubik's Cube.

Before long, the cold and filthy remnant aura of the nightmare contained in the severed hand also rapidly diminished and dissipated like the receding tide, becoming no different from ordinary corpse parts in just a few breaths.

The entire process was silent and happened in the blink of an eye.

Only Nan'an himself could clearly feel that on the surface of the small Rubik's Cube that was quietly floating in his hand, there seemed to be extremely faint ripples that flashed by, like a satisfied sigh after a full meal.

"This is..." Suiyue murmured.

Nan'an closed his eyes and listened carefully: "I think I heard... the sound of flies."