Apocalypse Forecast Chapter 83: Did You Catch a Fever?

In fact, the 'Yin Soul' is a support-type Stigmata.
Truly.
To begin with, the manual explains it like this.
Its talent is to generously share all the Source Quality the user possesses with those around them. In short, it is self-sacrifice, but what is shared is not necessarily only good things.
When Huai Shi, a negative energy generator, is combined with that talent, what is diffused is the 'Ash of Calamity' and the breath of death that Huai Shi himself extracted from countless death records.
As the 'Crow' explained, this is the Collector's Edition 2.0 version!
Once the Yin Soul is activated, even without contact, just by entering within a three-meter radius of Huai Shi, the densely condensed negative energy generously embraces everyone.
Like the calculation method in a certain tabletop game, the effect is applied based on the base values of both parties.
For an Ascender four stages higher than Huai Shi, it is like a refreshing breeze brushing against their face, but for an Ascender two stages higher, it causes discomfort, and for an opponent at the same stage as Huai Shi, it is inescapable terror and a nightmare.
And now...
"The difference between us isn't that big."
Huai Shi whistled, lifted his foot, stomped on the corrosive creature that had fallen from the ceiling, looked it over, and asked out of curiosity.
"Did you catch a fever?"
The next moment, the Axe of Fury swung down!
Foul odor and blood scattered.
The sticky liquid inside the corpse let out a scream, rapidly solidified, looked like a hedgehog, and then collapsed into ash and dust.
Huai Shi nodded in admiration.
Dust to dust, earth to earth. That's a good thing.
Huai Shi looked up, stared at Jin Mu, who was holding a frontier relic and was furious, and asked out of curiosity.
"Can you use that thing?"
The answer was an iron whip swung down with rage.
Even if he couldn't release its power with incomprehensible words, the iron whip, forced to move by Source Quality, created a deep crack in the earth.
The wind blew, and the mist of Ash of Calamity around Huai Shi was almost blown away. But in an instant, the mist gathered again.
Huai Shi, who had slid backward, planted his feet firmly. Huai Shi couldn't help but whistle at the terrifying wind pressure he received. And he swung his axe down on the head of the corrosive creature that was about to attack.
Blood splattered, and a scream went up.
The hole in his chest pulsed for no reason. Huai Shi reached out and grabbed the air. The flames of the 'Hand of Confinement' flared up. Amidst the cracking sound of Source Quality condensing, a black 'Sacrificial Blade' extended from his hand.
The formless sacrificial blade changed from matter to Source Quality, and now, it appeared again from within the Source Quality by Huai Shi.
At the nostalgic sensation, Huai Shi swung the blade in his hand, pulled the axe out of the corrosive creature's head with his other hand, and clashed the sacrificial blade and the axe together. Source Quality and sparks scattered.
In the fire of the Ash of Calamity, the boy was smiling.
"Come on—"
He muttered.
"Let's start officially!"
In an instant, the Yin Soul came cutting through the wind!
As if gliding through the wind with wings spread, forgetting gravity in an instant, flying as he pleased, Huai Shi ran lightly and quickly through the wind, slashing at the iron whip that was trying to sweep horizontally.
Metal collided.
Huai Shi's body used the force of the iron whip to leap into the air, landing on top of the heavy iron whip. And he spun as if he were on a log bridge. Like a bird flying in the wind circling.
And the blade and axe drew cold, moon-like afterimages in the air.
The blade hit Jin Mu's throat. Sparks scattered as if slashing at iron. Only a small scratch was left on Jin Mu's throat.
The 'Eulai' Stigmata has a resident effect.
Even without conscious activation, it keeps the user's body tough.
Hard as steel.
But unfortunately, it's only steel...
In an instant, several high-pitched sounds rang out at once, and the 'Dual Blade Technique' of Theravada Buddhism was performed by Huai Shi. He didn't have the Naga's 'scimitar', only a blade and an axe, but it was at a terrifying speed.
The Source Quality of steel and the steel of Source Quality overlapped, cutting through the wind and whipping up a sharp sound. It had reached the speed that Huai Shi had once feared when facing the Naga.
A moment later, Huai Shi jumped off the iron whip, and Jin Mu staggered backward.
The exposed chest, neck, and facial features were covered in fine cracks.
The frontier alien species hidden deep within the magnificent body let out a roar of fury, slammed the iron whip in its hand onto the ground at its feet, and caused a vibration like an earthquake.
A whirlwind swirled.
It swung the iron whip indiscriminately, crushing everything around it to pieces.
Huai Shi's eye twitched—no matter how much his physique was strengthened by the Stigmata, if he got hit, he would be turned into minced meat.
The terrifying 'physical strength' of the third-stage Stigmata, Eulai, combined with the weight of the frontier relic itself, was something a first-stage newcomer couldn't counter.
By the time his ten fingers went numb, Huai Shi deployed the weapons in his hands again.
"Once more!"
As if dancing with a speeding train, a strong wind raged.
The fake Jin Mu's attacks had lost all reason, making them even harder to counter. There are patterns in the exchange of refined techniques, but the vicious power that didn't rely on patterns made it harder to predict.
The closer he got, the more suffocating it became.
The wind pressure was heavy, and even the ground under his feet felt unreliable, as if it were shaking. It was like a mouse in a hamster wheel having its sense of balance tested.
If he fell once, he would be caught in a storm like a meat grinder.
Not even bones would remain.
Up close, Huai Shi heard the sound of liquid boiling inside Jin Mu's body. It was starting to burn. No, it was starting to produce anxiety.
The terrifying ring of light was taking effect, suppressing him.
Amidst a suddenly leaked scream, Huai Shi dodged quickly. It felt like a large building collapsing in smoke, and then the iron whip grazed the tip of his nose.
Following that, they clashed with blade and axe.
Huai Shi roared with all his might, and the flames covering the Hand of Confinement holding the axe burned vigorously. The weight of the steel that continued to convert Source Quality was added to the blow.
The sound of metal colliding rang out loudly.
One of Jin Mu's hands suddenly trembled, and then, his little finger flew off the iron whip. On the cross-section of the finger that fell to the ground, he saw bone that was changing to the color of steel.
He cut off a finger!
Following that, the axe and the iron whip collided, and a loud sound like striking a bell rang out.
Huai Shi felt like his vision went dark. He lost his hearing in the huge sound, hurriedly retreated, and saw that the blade of his prized axe was chipped.
What rank is this frontier relic anyway!
Huai Shi stuck out his tongue in surprise. His legs wobbled. He was almost caught in the windstorm of the iron whip.
Having lost a little finger, the one-armed corrosive body could no longer hold the iron whip firmly.
The holes in its attacks were becoming more and more obvious.
For Huai Shi, it was like being kindly invited in front of a wide-open door.
—Welcome!
Huai Shi's hand roughly stroked the Axe of Fury, repaired the damage, and returned it to his body. Then he dodged the incoming iron whip and threw the sacrificial blade he was holding.
The sacrificial blade left a scratch on the fake Jin Mu's face and flew into the darkness behind it.
Huai Shi clenched his palm and pulled back.
Come back!
The thin thread tied to the hilt of the blade multiplied, the color of steel appeared, and as the blade returned, it wrapped around the body of the corrosive body. The thin thread became a wire rope as thick as a little finger, and pulled by Huai Shi, it contracted inward!
The wire rope contracted, rubbed against the fake Jin Mu's body, and sparks scattered. The rope stopped the fake Jin Mu's movement for an instant.
Huai Shi was right nearby.
In the air, he swung the axe down on the arm holding the iron whip.
Thud!
A shockwave spread with a roar.
The thumb was cleanly cut off and flew away.
The iron whip fell from his hand.
The fake Jin Mu was furious and struggled with all his might. The rope of Source Quality creaked and snapped. Huai Shi felt pain in his head, but he didn't stop moving.
The returned sacrificial blade settled into Huai Shi's hand, rubbed against the axe, and the brightness of the scattered sparks stung the fake Jin Mu's eyes.
A sharp scream went up.
Like a cutter roaring, it cut into the steel head-on.
There was a huge sound, and scorching sparks scattered from the scar left by the axe, and the heart poison burning on the axe drew a moon-like trajectory in the air.
In an instant, dozens of times.
Finally, amidst Huai Shi's shout, the blade and axe left a neat cross-shaped wound on the fake Jin Mu's chest from both sides. Inside the wound, the screaming of boiling dark terror echoed.
"—Goodbye!"
Huai Shi pushed the axe and blade into the body of the frontier alien species and detonated the heart poison.
A scream was emitted from the sticky liquid.
It stopped suddenly.
Silence arrived suddenly.
In front of Huai Shi, the powerless Jin Mu slowly knelt on the ground. From his open chest, liquid that had turned to ash scattered.
"Thank... you..."
The mutter sounded like a hallucination to Huai Shi. When Huai Shi looked down, a smile of liberation appeared on Jin Mu's scarred face.
"Are you still alive?"
Huai Shi was surprised.
He was parasitized by a frontier alien species, yet he hadn't died. What terrifying vitality. Is he only now meeting his end?
Huai Shi sighed, lifted the axe in his hand, and put strength into both hands.
"Sorry."
Huai Shi said.
"If you turn into a corrosive creature after you die..."
Even without saying the words that followed, Jin Mu understood.
Without fear or anger, he closed his eyes, gathered his last strength, and lifted his head. The color of metal on his neck slowly faded.
"Go... north..."
A hoarse voice came from his ruptured throat.
"Please... take care of Shen Yue..."
Is he worried about his companion in his final moments?
What a good guy.
Huai Shi looked down with pity.
"I understand."
The axe was swung down.
The headless corpse fell to the ground and slowly turned to ash in the erosion of the Ash of Calamity.
Huai Shi quietly watched him dissipate from this world.
After a while, Huai Shi turned around and started walking toward the depths of the darkness. Toward the direction where the mad neighing was coming from.
The fire of the Ash of Calamity is burning vigorously.
—Yin Soul, sortie!

Translator's comment:
Jin Mu, worrying about his partner Shen Yue until the very end...
I teared up at this development, which felt like a classic shonen manga (´；ω；`)