Three stages?

Satan faltered for a moment, its eyes turning vicious.

No matter how many stages there were, at least for now, the pressure Zhou Chen was exuding wasn’t nearly as intense as before.

Strike while he’s weak, go for the kill!

A malicious, evil light flared in Satan’s six pairs of eyes, but this time, its Curse was aimed at Renie, who stood beside Zhou Chen.

The Curse descended from afar, and a dark, cursed aura began to envelop Renie. With a swift movement, she pulled an Alchemy Badge from her waist pouch and slapped it onto her chest. The badge immediately lit up, annihilating the clinging Curse and projecting an azure defensive field to block any further attacks.

Meanwhile, Satan had vanished from its spot. It charged forward with a deafening roar like a high-speed train, kicking up a biting, cold wind.

"You take Old Jack and fall back."

Zhou Chen shot forward abruptly and raised his fist. The magnificent cyan lightning coiling around him suddenly exploded outward, countless electric chains whipping wildly in all directions like bared fangs and claws.

He clenched his fist, channeling all his Willpower to drive this Extraordinary Ability, converting every ounce of that focus into his own Power...

The muscles in his arm bulged. An incandescent surge of Cyan Thunder Power flared on his fist as he smashed it straight ahead.

BOOM!!!

It was as if a roiling lake of lightning had detonated in mid-air. Countless arcs of electricity scattered in every direction. A web of cracks appeared on Satan’s fist, and as the force spread, its entire arm exploded.

The next second, the light of Sloth shone upon Zhou Chen. Satan opened its bloody maw and lunged, aiming to bite down on Zhou Chen’s shoulder.

However, the light of Sloth, which had successfully slowed him down just moments ago, now had no effect. Cyan Thunder surged around Zhou Chen’s body, forcibly breaking through the light’s influence. He dodged the vicious, gaping mouth and threw an Iron Fist.

Amidst a deafening crash, sparks and lightning erupted from the impact. Satan stumbled back several steps, a sunken fist print on its chest. Within the imprint, a mouth of Gluttony that had tried to launch a sneak attack was smashed back into nothingness the instant it opened.

Zhou Chen closed the distance, lunging forward with a sharp Crystal Spearhead in hand. He ignored the Dragon Scale defense on its body and easily pierced the Demon’s vile form. A blinding, brilliant illusionary light burst from the Crystal Spearhead, melting and tearing apart the sinful demonic flesh.

Satan roared in pain. The four pairs of dragon wings on its back unfurled and then slammed shut, sealing off Zhou Chen’s escape routes.

Viscous, sinful Darkness gushed from its wounded chest. Within the writhing black sludge, a chorus of faint, chaotic noises could be heard, like the roars and curses of tens of thousands of people...

Just a few drops of the sludge spattered onto Zhou Chen, and his flesh corroded instantly, exposing the bone beneath. His Life Force was viciously plundered as a malicious Curse spread through his flesh and bones.

The cyan lightning around him flared, turning both the Curse and the sinful black sludge to dust. He wielded the Crystal Spearhead like a short blade and slashed forward.

The dream-like light flashed, tearing through the gushing black sludge and piercing through layer after layer, but Satan’s figure was already gone.

Unwittingly, Zhou Chen had been enveloped in a deep Darkness. Within the writhing shadows, countless blood-red maws lined with sharp teeth opened wide.

They greedily devoured the crackling Cyan Thunder, making a horrifying chewing sound. They devoured everything indiscriminately—even the sky, the earth, and the Sun—anything within reach would be swallowed without a second thought.

This was no longer a single Original Sin, but a terrifying Ability formed by the combination of Greed and Gluttony.

Zhou Chen focused his mind. Incandescent Thunderbolt ignited in his eyes, and with a single thought, a brilliant pillar of Cyan Thunder shot into the sky, instantly shattering the Darkness that enveloped him and restoring the light. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Satan’s cry of pain echoed. Its four pairs of tattered dragon wings, pierced by the Thunderbolt, retracted. They were now covered with a dense array of the mouths of Gluttony.

It counterattacked. Six streams of black, cursed light shot out from its six pairs of eyes. Four of them struck Zhou Chen, while the other two grazed past him, traveled hundreds of meters, and blew a distant building to smithereens.

Four small holes, almost piercing straight through him, appeared on Zhou Chen’s body. The seven Original Sins, symbolizing the evils of humanity, took advantage of this opening to invade and erode his Willpower.

But he was now connected to Li Xiye through the Contract Ring. In the face of her overwhelmingly dominant and terrifying Willpower, no Illusion Technique or bewitchment could take effect.

"Tsk."

Suddenly, a displeased voice came from the other end of the Soul Link. It was the sound of someone watching a friend play a game, so stunned by their awful performance that it provoked a deep-seated question:

"—How are you so terrible at this?"

"Huh?"

Zhou Chen was stunned.

"Your attacks have no structure, no rhythm, and no oppressive momentum. Your application of Power and Essence is a complete mess. Even though you’ve learned a few Martial Arts Skills, your execution is mediocre at best."

If you could fully unleash my Power, killing this thing with a single punch would be no problem. But here you are, trading blows with it and even getting injured... You...

...Ugh, I can’t watch this anymore."

Before Zhou Chen could respond to Li Xiye’s disdainful critique, he felt a powerful, domineering Will descend through the Contract Ring’s link and into his body, seizing control without allowing any resistance.

Having forcibly taken over, Li Xiye clenched her fists, flexed every muscle, and instantly gained perfect control over every inch of this body.

"Watch carefully. This is how you’re supposed to use your body."

Li Xiye manipulated Zhou Chen’s body, appearing before Satan at an uncanny speed and sending out an unremarkable palm strike.

However, that seemingly unremarkable palm strike secretly employed numerous techniques Zhou Chen couldn’t even dream of. Upon hitting its target, it erupted with a deafening roar as a hurricane-force wind blasted outward.