168 - To Kill a Beast

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Qin Yun’s body glowed incandescent, driving back the darkness permeating this underground chamber. Lightning crackled, causing Qin Yun to wince in pain, for his flesh could barely bear the strain of what he had unleashed.

As for the machine standing before him, Qin Yun could clearly see the indecision in its eyes, almost as if taken over by fear. A most preposterous notion, yet the evidence of it all was plain for all to see.

It hesitated, paws digging into the metallic floor, carving deep grooves as its laser claws sublimated the ground into darkened smoke. An opening came into being, a short moment of neglect, which Qin Yun took full advantage of.

He rushed forward, his hand tucked at his side in the shape of a claw. His powerful stomp left a dent in the ground and an echo so loud that he could swear he might lose his hearing, but in less than a single blink, when the creature's attention was diverted, Qin Yun arrived just below its head, near its exposed neck.

He could feel the transparent force field over the machine's body rejecting him. Although it was thin, just a light film barely over its metallic flesh, the power it exuded was immense, enough to casually stop Qin Yun's charge as if two magnets of similar polarity.

However, not all of his momentum was lost.

Qin Yun’s claw, clad in lightning, thrust forward, ripping the barrier apart bit by bit. Energies collided, sending sparks around the room, melting parts of the walls and ceiling. Qin Yun felt as if he was in the heart of a volcano, intense heat assaulting his flesh. A flash of brilliant light exploded, prompting him to close his eyes reflexively, unable to bear it. And yet, his hand never stopped advancing, always forward toward his goal, the creature's exposed neck.

Sadly, Qin Yun never reached it.

His glowing fingers stopped mere inches from their target.

It felt as if he were trying to move through a deep ocean. He felt intense pressure squeeze his bones, seeking to break them. The further he tried to reach, the higher the pressure became. Soon, he completely stopped, unable to go even a millimetre further. He was just out of reach. Just a little more, and the wolf-like machine's neck would be in his hands.

All this occurred in just an instant, in a gap before the creature could react. But now that Qin Yun had stopped, it would no doubt spell his doom. He noticed a grin on the creature’s face, showing sharp glowing teeth that added to the already intense atmosphere.

In a desperate act, Qin Yun funnelled even more power from his crystal heart to his hand, burning his qi channels. He was barely in the early Foundation Building realm. This onslaught of energy coursing through him was much more than he could handle, no matter how sturdy his body had become, but he had no choice. The only other potential outcome was death.

A surge occurred. Qin Yun’s lotus hovering over his head shone with golden light, spewing ethereal golden lightning throughout the room. This was only a manifestation of what was happening within his core as the energy rampaged throughout, but surprisingly, the wolf-like machine seemed unaware of it.

It winced as if in fear of it, giving Qin Yun slightly more time to achieve his goal, despite the lightning bolt spewing out of the lotus being just illusionary, passing harmlessly through the force field protecting the creature’s body.

With renewed power, Qin Yun finally broke through the barrier. He hadn’t shattered it, only made the slightest of cracks, just enough to allow his hand through.

It didn't come without cost, for Qin Yun's hand was bloody and battered. The lightning had been more than he could bear, rendering his flesh apart, even showing the white bone within.

Qin Yun briefly winced in pain, yet his suffering was swiftly discarded to the recesses of his mind, for his concentration was at its peak.

Everything had faded.

Nothing remained of what may be contained beyond those doors nor the crushing weight of his obligation towards this world. He had also forgotten about the wife he had left behind and all the countless lives neatly tucked away within the recessed of his mind. All that remained was the creature before him, and his hand now on its neck.

There was only a single caveat... Qin Yun could not feel that hand anymore.

His muscles were torn, and his nerves burned from the inside out. He had put everything on the line trying to breach that field, knowing full well the consequences were he to fail, only to falter at the last moment. In less than a second, the creature would regain its senses, and Qin Yun's opportunity would be gone. He would have nothing to show for it.

“The hell with the consequences, then...” Qin Yun muttered through gritted teeth.

Power bloomed within his mind. This time, it didn’t originate from his crystal heart, nor from the lotus in his core, but from his brain—his completely mortal brain.

Blood flowed from his eye sockets, blinding him in one eye while blurring the other. He felt a splitting headache assault him, but his mind had never been so sharp. He could see the world slow down to a crawl, even the minute particles of that thin barrier dancing upon his skin, holding his hand in place as he sought to reach for its neck.

He saw the creature glare his way, but surprisingly, its eyes weren’t as sluggish as they should have been within this throttled world. They felt sharp, just as sharp as he was, maybe even more.

For the first time since his charge, Qin Yun saw the wolf's head turn his way, maw now open, aimed at his head, seeking to tear it off in one bite. He couldn't help but shudder as he looked within the molten abyss that was the creature's mouth, feeling the heat emerging from its throat as it scalded his face. The blood beads falling from his eyes evaporated into dust from the inferno, yet Qin Yun didn't avert his gaze, for his victory was within reach.

After what seemed like an eternity for his accelerated senses, the power from his brain had finally travelled down his nerves, reaching the hand ready to grasp the wolf’s neck.

The world around his fingers began to shift. They became sharpened blades protruding from his flesh.

He squeezed, ripping the world apart at the seam.

He could feel the wolf resist him. The force field burst with power, trying to pry away from his grasp. Waves of power rippled along the translucent surface, all pooling into the same area, trying to deny him entry, yet Qin Yun refused to be denied.

He pushed forth, his hand now a collection of five sharpened fangs, severing everything that stood in their way. Despite the creature's best efforts, the force field surrounding its body couldn't stand against the sword intent wrapped around Qin Yun's hand.

It wasn’t as majestic as when he ripped a hole in the fabric of reality, nor when a single swing of his sword punched a hole through a mountain, but it was enough to break the power standing before him and sever it.

Qin Yun relied on more than mere brute force, for he knew the creature possessed intent of its own. Even now, it fought against him, prying away at his intent, nullifying it bit by bit.

It wasn't as cold and calculated as Qin Yun's intent was, severing only what needed to be. Instead, it was savage. Feral, even. It possessed all the hallmarks of a beast about to snap, a predator ready to close its maws onto one neck.

Faced with it all, Qin Yun could barely stand the oppression. The fear of death was overwhelming and all-consuming. No living being could truly be free from this terror, for death was the great equalizer. It came to all eventually; even immortals weren't spared. It was etched into his genes, his very existence, and the beast knew how to make use of it.

With but a single look, Qin Yun's knees buckled involuntarily as if a reflex born out of the depths of his being. Yet, his hand clad in sword intent remained steady, now wrapped around the creature's cold, metallic neck, ready to rip it in half at the slightest motion. Yet, that motion never came, for Qin Yun's fingers refused to budge.

His eyes widened as he saw a metallic paw rip through the air, which struck him straight in the chest. He felt his rib cage cave inwards, crushing his organs. A smouldering heat ripped through his stomach, prompting blood to flow ceaselessly and his intestines to peek out of the open wound.

A massive amount of energy was transferred to his body, whether in the form of heat, through the beast's laser claws ripping apart his flesh, or kinetic energy from the blow. His only saving grace was that the beast, in the heat of the moment, had struck him with the back of its paw instead of the front, lightening Qin Yun's injuries. Yet he was still sent flying from the difference in mass, only to end up with his back encased into the ceiling.

The blow cut his breath short, so much so that he doubted his lung hadn’t collapsed. Shards of metal pierced his skin from the deformed ceiling while red blood soaked the cold material as tiny beads fell from above.

However, Qin Yun wasn't the only one to suffer harm, for nestled within his hand was one of the wolf's incandescent fangs.

When the paw struck his chest, his hand laced with sword intent jerked just enough to reach the beast's hardened shell, fingers ripping through the exterior plating. When he was sent flying, parts of the wolf's neck broke apart, and half of its face shattered, exposing what lay underneath: layers of intertwined wired and micro-conduit, taking the place of flesh and blood arteries and nerves.

Divested of its protection, the molten heat within its body, serving as fuel for this apparatus, spilled outside, releasing waves of pressured heat as its insides pulsed with vigour. Yet, with each pulse came a drop in intensity, growing duller with seemingly every heartbeat.

The beast raised its head, facing Qin Yun, and with or without pain, howled as if to the moon. Its voice crackled as if filled with unending suffering but also frustration, seemingly saying its pride had never been wounded so.

Steam came out of its open maw, spilling a pungent smell throughout the chamber. This was no mere water vapour but a toxic mist born from coolant spilling from the broken conduit straight onto the incandescence of its innards but also through its mouth from the mere contact of its fangs.

The beast was broken, barely able to retain its balance, as its motor cortex had been damaged from Qin Yun's sword intent. As was the force field surrounding it, slowly flickering as if on the verge of extinction, a last act of desperate survival. And yet, Qin Yun didn't fare any better.

His chest had caved in, almost turning his organs into a paste, yet they were slowly healing thanks to his boundless vitality. But even for him, this wasn't an injury he could simply shrug off. A small part of the wolf's savage intent remained behind and still ravaged his body even as he healed.

He tried to cut off that intent and contain it in a cage made of his own sharp intent, yet the beast's ferociousness couldn't be restrained by man. It was meant to run wild and free, like a predator on the prowl, looking for just one definitive chance to reach its prey and take its life.

The beast also had its share of trouble to deal with, for Qin Yun's intent was much of the same. Everything he had cut would remain so, despite the beast's many attempts to reconnect the severed circuits and conduits through its own internal repair function.

There were only three methods to deal with intent. Overpower your opponent's intent with your own, yet the gap between the two's mastery wasn't enough to allow Qin Yun to do so. There was also the option of persuading his opponent to remove the intent; otherwise, the intent would remain faithful to its essence. Still, this machine's programming wasn't something that could be tampered with.

Qin Yun’s last option was the one he was forced to choose. If all else failed, all intent would disappear the moment vitality was cut off from it.

All he had to do to make it stop was kill the beast.

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