Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1893: Jonathan’s Evolution

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BOOOM!

BOOOM!

BOOOM!

Gigantic explosions erupted as their fists collided.

Jonathan no longer wielded a sword—he had become one.

In doing so, he "wielded himself," moving his body in perfect harmony with his own swordsmanship and attaining enlightenment through that unity.

And "Flow" manifested.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

"Splendid! It’s as if you’ve been reborn! The Jonathan I fought before and the one standing before me now are completely different beings!" Hercules laughed.

"Yes, that’s right," Jonathan replied. "To reach this state, I had to abandon my emotions and ego entirely. To release every worry and concern. To become the sword and wield myself... this is my enlightenment."

"Heh...! Hahahaha!"

Hercules laughed wildly. His fists met Jonathan’s blade-sharp hands again and again. The more they clashed, the more blood poured from Hercules’ knuckles.

Yes—his hands were bleeding!

Countless small slashing wounds opened across his skin. Though he tried to regenerate them swiftly, the cuts accumulated faster than he could heal.

Each strike, each technique, each shockwave carved like a dozen swords across his body.

"Incredible!"

Hercules was being pushed back!

Everyone watching stared in stunned silence, mouths agape.

Perhaps their help wasn’t even needed.

Jonathan could handle this alone.

Yes—Jonathan was formidable.

...

But not enough.

"Good, good... let’s see."

Hercules nodded as fresh slashes covered his body.

His third eye flared bright blue.

And then...

"{Heavenly Blood Demon Style}: {First Form – Absolute Oppression}"

"{Heavenly Blood Demon Style}: {Second Form – Collapsing Dual Fist}"

"{Heavenly Blood Demon Style}: {Third Form – Twin Dragon Fang}"

"{Heavenly Blood Demon Style}: {Fourth Form – Severing Heaven Finger}"

Four devastating techniques struck Jonathan in rapid succession. Though he had grasped "Flow," it was far too new, far too raw.

Hercules had wielded his own Flow for centuries.

Jonathan? Mere minutes.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Ngaaaahh!"

Jonathan screamed through clenched teeth, refusing to be torn apart as he had been before.

When Hercules struck, Jonathan concentrated his internal energy precisely at the point of impact.

He reinforced that spot to its absolute limit—and beyond—surviving with only shattered bones and ruptured organs instead of exploding into pieces.

Now, as the final technique—a single, piercing finger aimed straight at his heart—closed in...

Jonathan’s eyes blazed bright gold.

In that precise instant...

"{Heaven Sundering Holy Blade Style}: {First Form – Rising Sword}"

"Hm?!"

CLAAASH!

RUMBLE!

In the very second he had anticipated.

In that very second!

He intercepted Hercules’ flawless technique.

The finger was not merely stopped.

Jonathan’s sword-shaped fingers sliced straight through it.

Like a rising blade!

SLAAASH!

"Ah...!"

Hercules felt a faint sting of pain, but he was so accustomed to agony that he didn’t even flinch.

He simply smiled.

"Hoh?"

Without a sword.

By becoming the sword.

By forging and refining himself.

Hercules no longer saw a human standing before him.

No...

When Jonathan "evolved," he did not become some exalted High Human.

He became...

"A Human Sword, huh?" Hercules mused, attempting to regrow his severed finger—only to find a powerful holy rune halting the process. "Clever. You planted a holy rune there. It’ll take longer to break through and regenerate... but one finger? Is that truly all you can claim, Jonathan?"

As Jonathan smiled with grim pride, dozens of crimson punches bloomed across his body—unleashed in the split second Hercules’ finger had been severed.

Indeed.

That was the true mastery of "Flow."

Even as his finger fell, Hercules had seized the opening to land a barrage of strikes.

Every movement became an opportunity.

This was the enlightenment Hercules had cultivated over centuries—the pinnacle of martial mastery.

But yes.

Just one finger was enough.

Unbeknownst to Hercules.

Darkbound snatched the fallen finger from the ground and drove his cursed claws through it.

Using it as a sacrificial conduit, he poured thousands of curses directly into its original owner.

FLUOSH!

"Hm?!"

Hercules felt black cursed flames ignite across his body.

The pain was negligible.

But the irritation was real.

It disrupted the perfect rhythm of his energy, if only by a hair.

"So this was your plan? Impressive... but still not enough!"

Hercules advanced on Jonathan.

Jonathan, body reeling with dizziness...

Did not retreat or flee.

His sword soul heart blazed through his hands.

He parried every incoming strike as though deflecting a blade with his own.

"{Heaven Sundering Holy Blade Style}: {Second Form – Sword Parry}"

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

"Hooh?!" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Hercules laughed like a maniac, grinning wildly as he watched Jonathan—muscles tearing apart from the strain—hold his ground while carving fresh slashes across Hercules’ arms.

And at that moment.

In that very moment of ferocious intensity, when Hercules’ focus narrowed to nothing but Jonathan...

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

Laura burst from behind, fists blazing with explosive energy. She merged fully with her Dream Weapon, aging further in appearance and gaining an exoskeleton-like armor across her body.

Her detonating fists struck Hercules’ weak points—beneath his neck and in his right armpit.

BOOOM!

BOOOM!

Two massive explosions erupted from the impacts!

These seemingly minor blows shattered Hercules’ Flow, forcing him to stagger for two precious seconds.

Seizing the opening, Brunhild and Violet launched their assault.

Fusing with their Dream Hearts, they compressed into hybrid Dragonoid-True Dragon forms.

Brunhild became a blazing dragon goddess; Violet, a shadow dragon goddess clad in crystalline armor.

With dragon claws and the single Heavenly Demon technique they had mastered—the Dragon Claw Grasp—they struck Hercules in the two-second window Laura had created.

CRAAASH!

CRAAASH!

Two deep gashes opened across Hercules’ neck and left thigh, blood spraying in crimson arcs.

His eyes widened.

Not from pain.

From sheer surprise!

"Though they have barely grasped ’Flow,’ they are using it in perfect conjunction—covering for each other’s lack of training and talent!"

He smiled.

His aura exploded outward. Dozens of crimson demonic fists hammered Laura, Brunhild, and Violet away.

Then he turned back to Jonathan, thrusting his finger once more—this time straight toward the carotid artery in Jonathan’s neck.

"Guh?!"

Jonathan vomited blood, breath cut off.

"I’ve got you."

Hercules smiled with savage triumph.

Yet even on the brink of death...

Jonathan smiled back, blood streaming from the wound.

His sword-hand moved.

Straight toward...

Hercules’ heart.

"...? When?!"

Hercules tried to withdraw his finger, but—

CLASH!

A thunder spear and a wind spear pierced his arms, pinning them in place for a fleeting instant.

Nia had struck his weakest point—at least for that one heartbeat.

Celes, Alma, and Takeshi fused their oceanic power into a single, ultra-compressed technique.

A razor-thin ray of water under unimaginable pressure.

"Take this—our all!"

FLASH!

It made almost no sound.

Yet this concentrated torrent—capable of cleaving mountains—pierced straight through Hercules’ chest.

And through his heart!

A small, perfect hole opened.

Without hesitation, Jonathan drove his sword-hand through it—at the cost of his own life.

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