With a roar, Muramasa charged again, wielding the demon blade, and this time his assault was even fiercer than before.
After all, just as when he blocked Qin Ming earlier, Qin Ming knew that if he didn't deal with Muramasa, he wouldn't be able to escape.
Facing Qin Ming, who also had strong mobility, Muramasa knew that if he didn't eliminate him, he too would have a hard time getting away.
The long blade swung, chopping repeatedly, clashing against Qin Ming's battle robe with ringing metallic sounds.
Sparks flew as Muramasa suddenly spun and shot straight at Qin Ming.
Before Qin Ming could control his blood to spill and turn into countless droplets for a wide-area attack, a large amount of smoke suddenly exploded around Muramasa, who was already leaping midair.
In the roaring wind, countless blood droplets pierced through the smoke and dust, but no sign of the enemy was seen.
The real Muramasa had already used the smoke as cover and eerily appeared behind Qin Ming. With a flick of both hands, he swung a furious slash right at him.
Feeling the wind behind him and hearing the continuous alarms from his battle suit, Qin Ming suddenly roared and spun sharply. His hand transformed into a drill, spinning rapidly as it stabbed backward.
The blade clashed violently against the drill, scattering countless sparks.
Amid the harsh cutting sounds, the blood-red Muramasa demon blade actually shattered upon collision.
Fragments flew everywhere, hitting Qin Ming and causing a spray of blood.
Muramasa himself, falling with the momentum, slammed into Qin Ming's drill arm. Amid a scream, his body was pierced through by a punch.
His chest armor broke, blood gushing wildly. Muramasa, staring at the enemy close before him, suddenly roared and swung a slash.
The broken blade in his hand struck Qin Ming's arm and, empowered by his skill, instantly severed it.
And the blood at the wound began to weirdly float and swirl in the air, wrapping around Muramasa's broken blade, causing the demon blade to reforge its edge.
With a clang, Qin Ming staggered backward, blood flowing from his severed arm. Muramasa, with the broken arm still embedded in his chest, crashed heavily onto the ground.
Leaning on the restored Muramasa demon blade, Muramasa knelt on one knee, gasping for breath.
As the blood-red blade flickered, numerous blood vessels seemed to connect along the handle back to his arm.
In the next moment, the arm that had been stuck in his chest was pushed out, and the piercing wound began to strangely heal.
This demon blade actually fed off the enemy's blood to help the user recover wounds!
In just a blink of an eye, Muramasa had already restored to his peak condition, his healing speed even surpassing Qin Ming's.
Standing up and swinging his katana, Muramasa's expression darkened.
Opposite him, Qin Ming forcibly tore at his wound, separating the flesh at the severed limb. Using this method, he broke the demon blade's seal and regrew his arm with blood.
Their eyes locked again, flashing with murderous intent, and once more they charged at each other simultaneously.
During the charge, Muramasa suddenly shouted fiercely and activated his ability.
Dust billowed on the ground, blocking all of Qin Ming's vision. Taking advantage of this, Muramasa thrust his blade with full force.
Seeing the cold glint flash through the dust, Qin Ming's pupils contracted. With all his strength, he clapped his hands together and, with a sharp clang, forcibly clamped down on the blade's tip thrust before him.
The blood-red blade stopped right in front of Qin Ming's chest. Despite Muramasa's full push, it moved forward slowly.
Qin Ming's hands bulged with veins from the effort, but he still couldn't stop the demon blade's advance. Worse, as his palms touched the blade, it started to devour his blood.
His eye corners twitched wildly as he suddenly roared and deliberately released his grip.
With a buzz, the out-of-control demon blade pierced through Qin Ming's chest and began to frantically suck his blood.
Qin Ming, who had always been the one draining others' blood, now for the first time was having his own blood drained. He let out a low growl, both hands turning into hammers, and slammed a fist down on the blade embedded in his chest.
With a crisp clang, the demon blade Muramasa actually snapped at the hilt — the part of the blade attached to the handle was now less than half a palm in length.
Seeing this, Muramasa's face changed dramatically, while Qin Ming, with the blade still lodged in his chest, flared with rage.
"You want to suck blood?! Let's see how you do it without a blade!"
Raising his arm — transforming it into a cannon — Qin Ming fired several shots at Muramasa from close range!
The blood-powered shells blasted Muramasa's chest, spraying blood everywhere, shattering his armor, and sending him flying uncontrollably backward.
After tumbling several times and barely dodging Qin Ming's follow-up bombardment, Muramasa, with blood pouring from his chest, held the now shorter-than-a-dagger demon blade, glaring fiercely at Qin Ming.
Muramasa's combat power relied heavily on his demon blade.
While his own abilities were strong, without the aid of the demon blade, he could no longer pose any real threat to Qin Ming.
Now, with the blade mostly broken, his combat power had drastically declined.
As for regenerating the blade through blood absorption? Muramasa's expression turned even darker as he looked at Qin Ming, who was already raising his hand to condense a blood sphere and rapidly absorbing all surrounding blood, leaving no opportunity to siphon any.
His gaze flickered. Muramasa, now standing, subtly glanced around — a retreat had already formed in his heart.
The reason Muramasa had fought so desperately was merely to protect his current status.
All the talk of defecting, of turning to righteousness, was just empty words.
If given the chance, he would never have given up killing the opposing commander to help the Evil Duke turn the tide.
Going all out against Qin Ming was nothing more than a desperate gamble to maintain his prestige and luxurious position.
But now, he was clearly no match for Qin Ming, and the Evil Duke's forces had already collapsed.
There was no point in fighting any longer.
With his skills and weapons, as long as he could escape, he could still carve out a position somewhere else — why die here with the others?
As for those heavenly riches and glory — better to let them go.
Having made up his mind, Muramasa's eyes suddenly narrowed. The next second, he slammed his palm into the ground.
Seeing this move, Qin Ming immediately sensed something was wrong. He used his Heaven Glide technique to accelerate forward.
But he was still a step too late. As the smoke burst out, Muramasa had already vanished without a trace.
Qin Ming came to an abrupt stop and looked around, but couldn't find any sign of the enemy — his face filled with disbelief.
He had originally thought Muramasa's movement technique was a type of spatial teleportation, merely accompanied by a smoke screen.
But now that the smoke had cleared and Muramasa still hadn't reappeared — was it not teleportation after all?!
Before Qin Ming could process his shock, the previously silent ground suddenly erupted — a figure shot out from the soil, letting out a pained scream.
It was Muramasa, who had used the Wind Technique of the Wind-Fire-Mountain-Forest Method, which in essence turned out to be an Earth Escape technique — he had tunneled underground himself!
And as soon as he landed, he began furiously tearing at his own arm.
More precisely, he was trying to remove the now dagger-length demon blade of Muramasa that was still attached to his arm!
The katana he once gripped tightly was now covered in spreading blood vessels, coiling around his arm and wildly devouring his blood!
With every bit of blood it consumed, the broken blade would regrow slightly.
And within moments, the demon blade Muramasa had already regenerated over half of its original length.
Correspondingly, Muramasa himself had become gaunt and skeletal!
The Demon Blade — has turned on its master!
(End of Chapter)