That was the first time Jason Allen had ever faced life and death so profoundly—and in such a tragic, brutal way!!!

It was the clear sensation of his own soul, his very life, being stripped away bit by bit from the top of his head, being absorbed with a vicious grin!!

It was the humble sorrow of being food, and even more painful, the utter inability to resist in the face of the enemy! That sense of powerlessness and helplessness, combined with the ensuing maddening agony, was the nightmare Jason Allen least wanted to face.

“...No...!!”

“Don’t!!”

“Don’t!!”

In the midst of extreme fear and rage, staring at the elegant, beautiful youth before him—approaching step by step like a demon...

At that instant, with his face covered in tears, blood, and snot, Jason Allen suddenly felt something inside him break! And it broke with a crisp “crack,” cleanly and decisively, just like a wafer snapping in two, neat and sharp, even scattering a few dry crumbs at the break.

In that moment, a bizarre hallucination appeared before Jason Allen’s eyes. It was as if he was not in this haunted house under the moonlight, but thousands of meters above the ground, the wind howling fiercely, spinning headfirst at high speed toward the earth. What he saw through his eyes was the ground spinning rapidly and growing ever more distant!

The hallucination flashed by in an instant, and what reappeared before Jason Allen was his deadly enemy, now right in front of him.

Although Frank Easton kept his eyes tightly shut, the light from the sharp flute-sword in his hand flashed even more savagely. He suddenly struck at Jason Allen; to an outsider, it was just a flash of light, but in reality, it was four rapid, consecutive slashes—targeting Jason Allen’s left and right arms, left and right legs! The speed of this attack was completely beyond what the naked eye could follow.

Frank Easton’s intent was also very clear: having steeled himself, he feared any further complications, so he wanted to turn Jason Allen into a helpless cripple, eliminating any chance of resistance, then quickly drain him dry and leave.

But at this moment, a subtle change appeared in Jason Allen’s eyes. Though he was gasping for breath and seemed resigned to his fate, a strange light suddenly shone in his eyes!! Only those who met his gaze could sense that, within his eyes, countless incredibly resilient threads seemed to swirl and coil in the air, flexible and tenacious!

“How can I die here? How could I die here? Heaven chose me to come to this world—was it just to die in this damned haunted house?!!!” Jason Allen suddenly screamed in a burst of emotion, his eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the sharp blade slashing toward him.

At that moment, under the threat of death, the pride, defiance, and madness hidden deep within him erupted all at once!!!

“Even if I die! I want to see clearly how this blade cuts through my throat! Come on!”

However, just as the razor-sharp flute-sword was only half a meter from Jason Allen’s face, something strange happened.

Jason Allen suddenly felt that the flute-sword, which had been moving so fast it left countless afterimages, now seemed to plunge into extremely thick syrup, advancing as slowly as if it were moving centimeter by centimeter. He could even clearly see that its target was his left shoulder, coming down in a vertical chop from above.

“How can this be?” Jason Allen was so shocked he could hardly describe it, but his body instinctively reacted to dodge.

He quickly realized that although the enemy’s movements had slowed, his own movements had become even slower. If the enemy’s attack was advancing at a rate of one centimeter per second, then his own dodging speed could only be described as half a millimeter per second!

At this moment, Jason Allen could clearly feel that his mind was incredibly sharp and clear, free of distractions. With a single thought, it was as if every cell in his brain was revolving around what he was thinking about. Analyzing the situation, Jason Allen immediately reached a conclusion:

It wasn’t that Frank Easton’s attack had slowed down, but that, for some unknown reason, the flow of time itself had slowed in his perception! So his thinking and analysis could keep up, even far outpace the attack, but his body’s poor condition hadn’t improved at all, making it even harder to react.

With a soft “shhk,” a flash of blood appeared. Jason Allen grunted, pain shooting through his left shoulder as a large chunk of flesh was sliced off. But after the torture of having his life force sucked out earlier, this pain was nothing in comparison, so he was still able to dodge as quickly as his body allowed.

***

There will be an update at midnight tonight for the ranking rush. Starting next week, regular two updates per day will resume. If the story makes it onto the weekly recommendation list, there will be extra updates on Saturday and Sunday. Just like with The Ultimate Evolution, thank you all for your tremendous support.

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Chapter 7: Slightly Cool Blood