Chapter 133: Forced Fusion of Power

The reaction of the three was heart-warming to Link, yet it did not surprise him. Having understood their characters and the depth of their faith, he had long anticipated such a response. He could not feel at peace simply walking away, yet he understood that if he remained, the Church of the True God would face disaster. He had to make a choice.

After much deliberation, Link sought out Alice once more, asking her to look after those he was leaving behind. Once she agreed and gave her word, he went to find Yuuka, who was tending to the sunflowers in the field, and broke the news of his impending departure.

Yuuka was not surprised; whether for personal or public reasons, it was the correct choice. She merely nodded and said, "Very well. Since you have made your decision, I shall help you attain Saint-level power. By the way, you possess many different types of energy within you—some I have never even seen before. They do not appear to be powers you cultivated yourself. What is truly going on?"

Link immediately assumed a sanctimonious expression. "These are all powers bestowed upon me by the True God."

"I see. As expected of a True God, creating so many power systems unlike anything common out of thin air. Truly impressive." After offering this praise, she shook her head. "However, having many but not being proficient, being mixed but not unified—if this continues, they will only serve as a means to trigger certain techniques, never becoming truly yours. I will give you a hand, Neil Night. Clench your teeth; if you cannot endure this, you might die."

Link was momentarily stunned. Just then, Yuuka flicked her finger, shooting a strand of green energy into his body. Instantly, every ounce of power within him erupted.

Yes, an eruption. Every power within Link fell into a state of total loss of control, spiraling into a frantic, chaotic frenzy that began to ravage his body. He felt as though he were about to burst, and he collapsed to the ground in agony.

Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Yuuka’s cold, aloof face, and her voice carried a hint of pleasure. "Neil Night, since you claim to be the spokesperson for the True God, show me the willpower and resilience to match. If you cannot hold on until the fusion is complete, you shall remain here as fertilizer. I suspect the True God has no need for such a weak spokesperson."

"You... Ugh..." Link desperately wanted to say something, but the indescribable pain forced the words back down. Veins bulged across his body, his hands dug deep into the earth, crushing the soil into dust, and his body began to convulse uncontrollably.

Muscles, blood vessels, meridians, brain, internal organs.

Link felt every part of his body boiling. Centered around the power Yuuka had injected, a process of maddening condensation began. It was a long, excruciating ordeal. Link felt as if his organs were about to burst out, his brain was about to explode, and his muscles and bones were being torn apart. He could not endure even a single second, yet each second felt as long as a year.

During this process, Link lost the ability to think. He could only cling to the instinct to endure and refuse to pass out, for his intuition screamed that if he were to lose consciousness, he would never wake up again. Watching his agony, the pleased smile on Yuuka's face deepened, as if his suffering were her greatest joy.

"Damn woman, what have you done to Neil?"

A thunderous voice suddenly rang out. It was Lin Xi, who had arrived in a fit of rage so intense that she had released the power of her Dream Talisman, propelling her strength to the peak of the seventh tier.

However, to Yuuka, such power—which could crush everything in the Red Moon Province—was no different from a joke. Yuuka merely glanced at Lin Xi before looking away. When Lin Xi reached a point twenty meters from Yuuka, she felt as if an unbearable weight had suddenly crushed her, and she collapsed to the ground, unable to move. It was merely a sliver of Yuuka’s power suppressing her.

Moments later, the others arrived. Seeing the scene before them, their expressions shifted. Mercury Lamp shouted "Father" and attempted to rush forward, but was held back by Alice. After instructing the others not to act rashly, Alice stepped forward, looking displeased. "Miss Yuuka, what are you doing? Why must you hurt them?"

"Hurt them? Heh..." Yuuka gave a light laugh. "I had no intention of hurting them. This little human girl charged at me herself; it is a mercy I did not turn her into fertilizer. As for Neil Night, he has too many powers within him, none of which he cultivated himself. They are mixed and unrefined. If this continues, he will eventually die from the loss of control. Instead of that, it is better to fuse them now, while these powers are still in their growth phase."

Alice realized the truth, then frowned. "Forced fusion? Is it not too early for this?"

"Not early at all. Some of the powers in his body do not even belong to this world. I truly wonder what the True God was thinking, stuffing such incompatible powers into him. If he waits until he is stronger, fusion will be even more difficult, and the most likely outcome will be his soul dissipating due to a loss of control. If that happens, it is better to let him take this gamble now. If he survives, he will possess Saint-level power and be able to return to the Human Realm. If he fails, using a True God's spokesperson as fertilizer is not a bad alternative." After explaining, Yuuka stared at Link with a pleased smile.

The others were more or less dissatisfied with Yuuka’s arbitrary actions, but since things had reached this point, there was no use in arguing. They could only pray that Link would endure. Lin Xi was released by Yuuka, and she joined the others in watching Link with concern.

Link looked terrifying. Every vein and blood vessel in his body was bulging, his skin was flushed a deep, bruised red, and he looked as if he might explode at any moment. His eyes were rolled back, showing only the whites, like a corpse. Were it not for his painful convulsions and the occasional agonizing cry, they would have assumed he was already dead.

Seeing Link in such pain, the group felt unbearable pity. Link and Reimu glared at Yuuka with resentment. Alice, sensing this, worried they might act recklessly and whispered a warning: "Do not do anything foolish. Though Yuuka usually appears as a cold and quiet beauty, she is, in fact, someone with a strong propensity for sadism. She loves to torture others, whether mentally or physically. Among the Holy Spirits, she is a notoriously dangerous individual, and her power is among the very top. Except for a few spirits who have a history with her, no one dares to get close to her. Do not provoke her, or she will surely torture you to death, and even I would be unable to stop her."

The group felt a chill. She was a psychopathic sadist! What shocked them even more was that Yuuka was among the strongest of the Holy Spirits. How powerful was she, exactly? To them, having only just encountered the concept of Holy Spirits, it was unimaginable.

Immediately, their wariness and awe of Yuuka deepened, and they felt fortunate they hadn't interacted much with her in the past. Who knew what such a sadist would do if she lost her temper? If she had ever seen them as a source of 'pleasure,' they would have been fertilizer long ago.

However, Link, currently tormented by the pain of the fusion, had clearly become Yuuka’s source of pleasure. The group was deeply worried. Had it not been for Alice’s assurance that Yuuka was genuinely helping Link fuse his powers, they would have rushed forward regardless of the consequences.

Watching the agonizing Link, the group wanted to step in several times, but Alice blocked them. She knew exactly how dangerous Link's condition was; no one could approach him. Yuuka knew this as well, so while she took pleasure in his suffering, she also kept her distance, ensuring that within a ten-meter radius of Link, there was no one else.

One hour, two hours, three hours, five hours, ten hours!

From morning until night, for ten full hours, Link had not collapsed. While the group was worried, they were also struck with awe at his perseverance. When they couldn't help but ask how much pain he was in, Yuuka ‘graciously’ informed them that this was not pain a mortal could endure—it was as if, every single moment, ten thousand ants were gnawing at his bones, ten thousand needles were piercing his skin, and ten thousand insects were eating his organs.

Just thinking about it was enough to drive someone mad. An ordinary person would have fainted in the blink of an eye, let alone endured it. Yet, Link had not lost consciousness once, enduring the pain of the fusion with a clear mind from start to finish.

It was precisely because they understood the magnitude of this pain that both Alice and Yuuka expressed genuine admiration. Yuuka even went as far as to offer rare praise: "Truly impressive. I had thought I would need to help maintain your willpower or dampen the pain, but to think you have held on this long by yourself. Based on this perseverance and resilience alone, you are the strongest human I have ever seen. Even among the Holy Spirits, few possess willpower greater than yours."

These words left the group feeling both proud and anxious. Would this trauma leave Link with psychological scars? Alice looked at Link with an added sense of unnamable sentiment, subconsciously glancing at Mercury Lamp in her arms, before staring at Link with deep, resolute eyes.

The onlookers had varied reactions to Link's performance. But what of Link himself? If asked, Link could only say, "I am so bored."

Yes, Link was bored. Though he appeared to be on the verge of total collapse, in reality, after the first hour and a half, he felt absolutely nothing. The reason was simple: at the very beginning of the fusion, the system had sent him a notification.

[Ding! Detected external force forcibly fusing the host's internal powers. The host's current willpower is insufficient to endure this. You may spend five points of Divine Power to perform a spiritual modification, temporarily severing the connection between the host’s consciousness and body. The Divine Power will protect the host's body during this time, allowing the host to complete the fusion safely.]

Yes, that’s right. The omnipotent True God System had stepped in at the critical moment once again!