Demon Hunter Volume 5 Chapter 23 part2

Book 5 Chapter 23.2 - Treading on the Path of Return

The nucleus in Cirvanas' body was created by Su through the 'Heart of Darkness', while Madeline's nucleus and the Heart of Darkness had no relationship, nor was it a direct subordinate relationship. This meant that in this world, or in this universe, there might very well be an existence that grasped the fate of the young lady's life and death. It might be some ultra life form, or it could also purely be an organ. 

The hidden danger in Madeline's body already began to display itself. It was like an invisible crack, currently extending through her beautiful, porcelain exterior. The occasional weakness and dejectedness the young lady would occasionally inadvertently display might precisely be a result of her instinctive reactions. She didn't fear death, but she would be reluctant to part with the time she could live by Su's side. 

The Land of Rest's domain resonated with Su, the holy temple's energy resonated with Su, and the sacred scripture the young man carried also resonated with Su. Behind this resonance, was the secret code of an unknown existence above genes and energy, the core that explained the construction of the sacred temple, domain, and Place of Rest's energy system. It had a dark and deep relationship with the Heart of Darkness, perhaps coming from the same body. By obtaining the Land of Rest's deepest secret, he might perhaps be able to revise the nucleus in Madeline's body, or at the very least postpone her fate of disintegrating while at her most brilliant time of her life. 

Su didn't know if Madeline was aware of her own fate, but he decided to personally revise the ending of this narrative, just like seventeen years ago when he accepted the her who was still in swaddling clothes. 

Su's hands gripped the handrail, his body flipping over the protective railing in a rigid and strange manner, falling onto the other side of the spiral staircase with a thunk sound. He then continuously rolled down more than ten flights of steps before stopping. He slowly climbed up again, gripped the railing, climbed over, and then heavily fell again. Each time this process was repeated, it would bring him a few meters deeper underground. 

Su's movements were sluggish and heavy, as if he was a living corpse that had just regained consciousness. However, a strange scene suddenly appeared. When he stood up again again, he didn't continue downwards, instead walking up slowly, heading towards the exit on the surface. His legs seemed to have developed a will of their own, resolutely climbing upwards in spite of Su's will. Su's left eye flickered with radiance. His right hand hacked down like lightning, unexpectedly thrusting deep into his own right leg! His fingertips moved at a high frequency, destroying the last bit of muscle inside of his right leg that could still function. 

With a thunk sound, Su fell, rolling down the the flight of steps. His body was like a cloth sack filled with old goods, continuously smashing against the ice-cold, rigid walls and stairs, releasing muffled sounds. 

When Su finally stopped, he remained still for some time. His handsome face was already completely warped, the bit of skin that still had some vitality continuously producing large amounts of sweat. One could even see the threads of muscle fibers underneath the skin twisting about. The extreme pain already exceeded what words could describe, difficult even for Su to bear, his will on the verge of collapse from this great suffering! This was a war that raged inside Su's body, the retaliation of his own instincts. 

The stairs' final destination wasn't heaven, but hell. 

Su already displayed some characteristics of ultra life forms, for example, his inconceivably powerful recovery ability. He could survive in nearly any environment, at the very least, no lifespan restricting indications have been seen yet. In other words, Su's life was likely already long to the point of approaching immortality. However, the other characteristic of ultra life forms was the extreme importance of their survival instincts. No matter the situation, survival was always the number one choice. It was because for ultra life forms, as long as they continued living, they would have everything. 

If he followed the stairs down, Su knew that the life form sleeping in the underground depths wasn't someone his current self could face. In his current heavily injured, dyings state, even the chances of escape were next to nothing. 

The battle in the holy temple, even though the elder he faced was far stronger than him, the probability of victory his body's instincts under an overloaded state calculated was still comparatively high, while the chances of him successfully escaping was also greater than two-thirds. The life-and-death battle that followed went exactly as how Su calculated, without the slightest bit of deviation. It was to the extent where even the moment the elder collapsed and the method of death was within his forecast. The elder was extremely powerful, and he possessed abundant combat experience, but he was still human. To be human is to make mistakes, to have fluctuating emotions. Meanwhile, Su was a machine, a war machine that was precise to the extreme, able to deliver out fifty tons of power, yet wouldn't exhaust anywhere close to that amount of energy. However, for him to face the terrifying existence in the depths below, no amount of luck would give him the slightest chance of a fluke. 

Su understood this point well. The problem was that the currently waking instincts also understood this clearly. Su's will currently still occupied the highest limit of control over many parts of his body, while his instincts' method of retaliation was a suffering on the cellular level, hacking at Su's will to control the body and escape from the impending destruction. 

Thus, the first true battle between Su's will and his instincts erupted, the battlefield every single cell in his body that was still alive.

Su was fully aware of how powerful his instincts were, powerful to the point where he couldn't touch its brink. Meanwhile, he didn't know how powerful his own will was, nor was there any way for him to think about it right now. Under the attacks of millions of millions sources of pain, he couldn't even complete the process of thought.

If there was anyone else here, what they would see would be Su climbing over the railing, falling down, standing up, and then climbing over the railing again, thus repeating this process, again, and again. 

Chapter end