Chapter 264: Omen of Death |
The four people from the two teams set off together toward the location of the final Evil-Warding Beast. This sudden turn of events filled them with a profound sense of urgency, prompting them to quicken their pace.
Only one path remained for them now, and the Ghost King was very likely on the verge of breaking out of its seclusion. If they could not escape, they would all die here. The sheer terror of that thought made their hearts race.
However, their rendezvous went unexpectedly smoothly. After advancing for over ten minutes, they met at a crossroads. They encountered almost no ghosts or monsters along the way; the few they did see were mere low-level mobs, completely incomparable to the broadsword-wielding Zombies they had faced earlier.
Brewing Cat let out a long sigh of relief when she spotted the bronze lamps in the distance. In a place infested only with Zombies and vicious ghosts, seeing living humans was inherently comforting, especially when they were her teammates.
She and Work Three Rest Four couldn't help but speed up, quickly regrouping with the other two.
"Now we are only missing Brother Bai." I Love a Sword peered deep into the corridor. "I hope he is safe and sound."
In the team interface, Bai Mu's portrait was still illuminated, but Brewing Cat did not harbor any optimistic thoughts about it.
"If he found the exit, why hasn't he cleared the stage yet?" Brewing Cat asked. "If he had cleared it or died, his portrait definitely would have changed..."
"Big Brother Bai... might be doing a Side Quest," Scattered Fireflies whispered softly.
'If you had finished a Script with him, you would trust him just as much.'
Scattered Fireflies muttered in her heart, though she kept the words to herself. The other woman's doubts were not unreasonable; from an objective standpoint, that possibility was indeed higher. However, Scattered Fireflies knew full well that Bai Mu was no ordinary person.
"We should focus on finding the exit first," Scattered Fireflies suggested.
Without realizing it, she had become the most composed one among the four, entirely lacking the restless anxiety that plagued the others.
"Fireflies is right," I Love a Sword agreed. "Finding the exit is our top priority. As for that Zombie King... who knows..."
Before he could even finish speaking, the tranquil Bagua Compass in I Love a Sword's hand suddenly began to spin violently. A moment later, as if unable to withstand the sheer force, the Bagua Compass shattered instantly, crumbling into fragments.
He glanced back, his expression twisting in horror as he screamed, "Run!"
Even as he yelled, he abandoned all reservations and sprinted forward madly.
A cyan talisman spontaneously combusted in his hand, conjuring swirling gusts of wind that enveloped him and cast a buff on his three teammates.
This talisman was called the Divine Travel Talisman. It was a rare consumable item that made a person as light as a swallow, granting an additional ten points of agility and allowing them to run without consuming stamina for ten minutes. It was one of the most precious life-saving items in his possession.
He had kept it for a long time, reluctant to use it, but the moment the Bagua Compass shattered, he knew that if he did not use it now, he would undoubtedly die here.
As early as the beginning of the Script, he had told the others that this Bagua Compass was an item capable of predicting good and bad fortune.
It was his bound item, predicting fortune based on his personal standard of strength. When the Bagua Compass did not spin, it meant there was nothing nearby that could threaten him. A slight tremble indicated a level of danger he could easily handle.
If it spun violently, it meant the entity's overall strength was equal to or even slightly greater than his own, meaning the slightest negligence would cost him his life.
When the Bagua Compass shattered completely, it meant only one thing: he was going to die immediately.
This was a one-time death warning. The needle of the Bagua Compass would point out the route with the highest chance of survival; this was the final act of service it could provide for its master.
The day I Love a Sword obtained this item, he mentally prepared himself for the possibility that the Bagua Compass might one day shatter. If that moment ever arrived, he would have to abandon even the most precious items. Nothing was more important than his own life, and the only warning he could offer his teammates was that single word—"Run!"
The remaining three were already in a state of high tension and concentration. Therefore, when I Love a Sword began to run, they instantly understood what had happened. Even though they could see and feel nothing in the pitch-black darkness, every single hair on their bodies stood on end.
Something unknown was approaching, and it was likely the final boss of the Script—the Zombie King they had been agonizing over for so long.
The three of them sprinted madly right on his heels, abandoning all other concerns. Scattered Fireflies stored her staff away and threw on an unknown Cloak. Her figure turned transparent and Etherealized, and in passing, she smashed a bottle containing a pale purple liquid behind her.
As the bottle shattered, a purple mist with a choking odor billowed out. The walls and rocks that came into contact with it showed signs of melting and softening, turning into a quagmire-like substance.
Brewing Cat clenched her teeth and jumped directly onto Work Three Rest Four's back. Her agility attribute was very low, and she possessed no skills or items that boosted movement speed. If she relied purely on her own two feet, she wouldn't even be able to win first place in an eight-hundred-meter dash for female college students.
I Love a Sword's extreme reaction filled her with immense terror. Consequently, holding nothing back, she and Work Three Rest Four activated their ultimate technique.
She rolled up her sleeves and offered her snow-white arm to Work Three Rest Four.
"Hurry!" she shouted frantically.
While carrying her on her back, Work Three Rest Four pulled out a dagger, bit down on it, and swallowed it directly.
Following that, her irises turned blood-red, and two long fangs extended from beneath her pale lips. She bit into the arm where the veins were clearly visible, drawing the warm blood from beneath the skin into her own body.
Brewing Cat's Health plummeted rapidly, only stopping when it hit fifteen percent. Simultaneously, she entered weakened and anemic states; the former halved all her attributes, while the latter rendered any healing effects useless on her.
This effectively turned her into a cripple, but in exchange, Work Three Rest Four revealed her True Form.
Her hair became pale and withered, her ears elongated, and her originally frail body swelled in size. Black, membranous wings unfurled from her back, and thick, bulging veins pulsed all over her body.
She transformed into a hideous, terrifying monster, unleashing a beastly roar. Brewing Cat caressed her face and whispered, "We shall not part until death."
Her gaze then turned clear, and she softly replied, "I share life and death with you."
When they finished reciting their lines, an uncleansable, locked status effect appeared on them: [Twin's Pact: Your lives are bound together].
If either one of them died, the other's Health would instantly drop to zero.
For Brewing Cat, using this move turned her into a cripple. However, the enhancement to Work Three Rest Four was an all-encompassing surge in power. By entering her True Form, all her attributes skyrocketed, she gained additional skills, and for the duration of the state, she possessed a Regeneration effect, granting her virtually infinite Health.
In her current state, she could punch the head off that broadsword-wielding Zombie in a frontal assault. If placed in a D-grade Script, she already possessed the stats of a boss-
level entity. The biggest flaw of this skill was its brief duration, but while it lasted, she was practically invincible. At least in their previous Scripts, every time they used it, this had held true. The two of them had even relied on this trick to kill a Script's boss, reaping considerable rewards.
Yet, Work Three Rest Four had absolutely no intention of clashing head-on with whatever was behind them. Her suddenly heightened perception allowed her to feel a terror that the others could not sense.
The entity had locked its sights on her, treating her as its first hunting target. Every hair on her body stood on end as she launched herself forward in a frantic sprint.
Even so, she still failed to dodge that strike.
Within the dense purple mist, a shadow suddenly materialized as if blinking into existence, and an arm covered in thick red fur pierced straight through one of her arms.
That blow had originally been aimed at her heart, intending to rip it straight out of her chest. Relying on her skyrocketed attributes, she pushed herself to the limit to shift her position just enough so the razor-sharp nails struck her right arm instead. Without a moment's hesitation, she severed her own arm and continued fleeing.
Witnessing Work Three Rest Four lose an arm sent a shockwave of horror through I Love a Sword's heart as they caught a fleeting glimpse of the creature's appearance.
Its feet hovered an inch or two above the dusty ground. It was incredibly tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back, resembling a moving stone stele. It was draped in a robe whose original color had long faded into obscurity, and a winged crown with a broken wing rested crookedly upon its head.
Purplish-red, dried skin clung tightly to its skull, covered in dense, fine wrinkles. There were no eyeballs within its deeply sunken sockets; only two pinpricks of dark red light pulsed eerily in the hollow voids.
Its entire body was enveloped in a thick layer of red fur that burgeoned from deep within its skin, covering every inch of its frame.
It clamped Work Three Rest Four's torn arm in its jaws. Its own hands were a good segment longer than a normal human's. What followed were the bloodcurdling sounds of wet chewing and shattering bones.