Wizard: Stronger through Marriage

Chapter 1240: Chapter 575: Vine Python Deathmatch (Part 2)

The surrounding space seemed to suddenly solidify, a suffocating dead silence pressing down on all sides—that was the ghastly breath born from Life Force being mercilessly stripped away, from existence slowly withering and decaying.

David’s body stiffened, and he reached out on instinct to support her, only to feel those hands were frighteningly cold, as if he had touched something fragile and transparent.

His pupils contracted sharply, a pain that almost tore his chest apart surging up from his heart.

He fell to his knees, taking Liliana into his arms. Her face was pale as paper, her breathing rapid yet feeble, every breath seeming to wrestle with death itself.

"Li... you..." His voice trembled, weak and full of sorrow. His eyes grew moist, yet the tears did not spill, only stayed heavily, oppressively at the rims—like the fury and self-reproach roiling in the depths of his heart with nowhere to pour out.

The vine that exuded poison and corrosive miasma was still tightly coiled around the remnants of her body, and those green glows were gradually dimming, fading away.

This power was different from ordinary poison; it seemed to possess the trait of extracting Life Essence, stripping away the vital spark at the core of existence, leaving one in unbearable agony and an irreversible weakening.

"Why... why did you..." His voice sank into a choking blend of grief and confusion. "I... I can protect you!"

Yet in this moment, he knew well this was not a problem that mere protection could solve, but a helpless Sacrifice woven into bloodline and fate on a deeper level.

Liliana’s face showed a hint of stubborn yet gentle smile. She raised a hand slightly, using the last of her strength to lightly touch his cheek. The sensation was warm and soft, yet so fragile it broke the heart.

"David..." she whispered, "you must be strong... this is part of the trial, the First Ring of guardianship."

Though her voice was faint, each word fell into his Soul like a chunk of heavy cast iron.

"I’m willing to endure all of this, so long as you can go further, no longer alone."

At last, the tears slid down. As their gazes met, endless sorrow and steadfast resolve blossomed together—an emotion that transcended the boundary of life and death, a bond of trust, of entrustment, and above all a flame of hope burning in the darkness.

David’s fists clenched around the Magic Staff, a fury unlike any he had felt before surging through his entire body.

He growled low, "I’ll make that monster pay! I will never let your Sacrifice be in vain!"

Surging Elemental Power rose from within him. Taking his rage as the ignition point, he unleashed a heaven-shaking roar. A brilliant Energy Wave formed by the Elemental Fusion of wood, water, and wind burst from the tip of the Magic Staff like a flood, sweeping through the space, engulfing the Jade Vine Python and slamming into it with ferocious force.

Yet the enemy still displayed astonishing regenerative ability. Even cracked and scarred all over, it stood stubbornly unbroken, whipping its venomous vines in relentless counterattack. Every clash was steeped in killing intent and the breath of destruction, plunging the entire projection space into the maelstrom of a brutal battle.

However, this battle was no longer simply a struggle against a giant Guard—it had become a mourning for the fallen Guardian, a burdening of the future with the will they left behind!

The air was thick with the scent of soil mingled with the sounds of shattering vegetation, every gust of wind seeming to turn into a hollow echo of prayer.

"This is the battle of the living, and also the crucial rite by which the Souls of the departed guide the road ahead." Liliana’s weakened voice lingered like aftersound, constantly urging David onward at his ears—

Within the projection’s core, the stench of corrosion grew ever more intense, the air itself seeming saturated with the omen of death.

The soil rotted and quivered as if devoured by poison, and the tangled briar-vines appeared to tremble faintly.

David clenched the Magic Staff tight, cradling Liliana’s frail body against his chest. The eyes that had once brimmed with light and hope were now gradually dimming.

He watched her chest rise and fall ever so slightly, her breathing broken and uneven—each inhalation looking as though it consumed all the strength in her body.

"No... we can’t... not like this..." His voice was hoarse and shaking, brows tightly knitted, as he unconsciously used his palm to gently wipe the crimson, sticky blood from her forehead.

The tears churned in his eyes but never fell, pressed down hard by the pain in his heart that words could never capture.

The corrosive fumes around them thickened steadily, growing so dense it was suffocating.

The poison spreading across the space was like invisible blades, slicing at his nerves—each breath scraping his throat, leaving him nearly unable to draw air.

Yet even such an environment could not block the flames of fury and resolve that had ignited in his heart.

"Why... why did you..." David cried out in a low voice, only to find despair and anger weaving together into a weight too heavy to bear; he was on the verge of losing control and collapsing to the ground.

But he knew this was not a moment in which he could fall—it was the moment in which he had to unleash every shred of his strength and strike back!

His gaze snapped toward the Jade Vine Python coiled at the center of the space, colossal and grotesque.

That Giant Beast was covered in fissures, its scales gleaming with a ghostly green luster. Yet it still brandished its venomous tendrils with undiminished might, continuously spraying droplets of destructive acid and seeds.

Those seeds were like flowers of Demons, breaking through the soil and rapidly proliferating into an impenetrable cage of barbed, highly toxic thorns that mercilessly enfolded the entire battlefield.

David drew in a deep breath. Sweat beaded on his brow and mingled with blood, dripping down his cheeks, yet his consciousness remained unnervingly clear.

He knew he had to disregard everything and rouse the Life Runes in his sea of awareness—those symbols that had always floated there, never fully awakened, but hiding unimaginable power!

As his will gathered, he suddenly raised the Magic Staff high. The green patterns upon it exploded into dazzling radiance, like ancient veins of life rousing from slumber, sending out sharp sigils that rippled through the black void.

These primordial marks contained not only the Life Power of heaven and Earth, but also the spiritual fury and resilience forged through the countless pains he had endured.

"Give my life—back to her!" he roared, his voice tearing the night sky like thunder. That cry shook the entire projection space, and it also jolted awake the long-dormant core Energy within the Jade Python!

Tongues of green Rune Flame blazed wildly, spewing forth from the tip of the Magic Staff like a cluster of naked blades, stabbing toward the Giant Serpent’s Energy Core.

This was not mere Elemental attack, but a force infused with the power of primal Curse Seals, a razor-edged Spiritual Power that cut at the very root of the enemy’s life!

The air turned instantly scorching and charged with a sense of being torn apart. Every Rune that carved its way through left behind a pain that seared the Soul itself—lines of vitality being stripped and broken. Countless sharp Soul-gouging strokes crossed and wove across the enemy’s body like inscriptions of life and death etched in blood.

The vine-serpent’s once indestructible scales began to show spiderweb-like fractures, some places even faintly revealing dark red, charred hues.

The projection domain shuddered violently in response, the Earth’s rumbling never ceasing. One by one, enormous emerald gas-roots thrust up from underground, twisting and rising, ceaselessly swaying to evade the backlash of Earth Power, yet at the same time being forced by the intense shockwaves to reveal fine fissures that hinted at approaching Limit.

The forest Maze had already been complex and entangled, but now, under the reversal brought by the primordial Curse Seal welling from David’s body, it slowly unraveled. Shackles once thought unbreakable began to crumble and loosen, quietly opening new paths for passage.

The muscles on his face were taut and distorted from the strain of his body’s intense exertion, yet in his eyes shone a steel-like resolve he had never possessed before—

This was not only the fiercest counterattack against the enemy, but also a stroke that carved, deep in his Soul, the chance to reverse fate!

Each swing of the Magic Staff felt as though it slashed a fresh crimson wound across his own flesh, yet in exchange it sent ripples of injury the enemy could not withstand—that was the blood-drenched price behind this final clash!

As he struck, his footwork shifted swiftly. He moved with agile precision through the chaotic, blinding lattice of thorny branches, weaving barriers from the mixed Elements of wood, water, and wind to ward off the remaining attacks. At the same time, he used the latent toughness of the Runes to bolster his physical recovery, so that despite his exhaustion he still stood unbowed, achieving a near-perfect interplay of offense and defense.

Suddenly, he felt an uncanny response traveling up through the Magic Staff—this was the World Tree’s true body sending an ancient resonance signal through its vast interwoven root system!

They were like the towering bones of a Giant Beast underpinning the entire ecological system, brimming with infinite potential waiting to be stirred.

At this critical juncture, the Earth shook all the more, and the turbulence in the air brought a fine rain of leaves cascading down. Nature’s pulse, awakened by his desperate struggle, was now fully roused...