Chapter 640: Oblivion Starts the Raid |
On the other side.
Rewinding slightly—Li Wufang had been wandering town with Wu Cun for some time now. The Order follower knew full well that splitting up would be fastest in an area this large. But his current mission wasn't just investigation—there was something more important: keeping a close eye on Wu Cun and ensuring this Oblivion follower didn't casually make offerings to her Benefactor.
Contrary to Li Wufang's expectations, though, Wu Cun's murderous aura was intense but never uncontrolled. She seemed to channel every ounce of destructive desire into her eyes alone—at a glance, Li Wufang might have been walking alongside a Folly follower instead.
But whatever faith she followed—as long as she wasn't a threat to the trial, she was a good follower.
Li Wufang was actually quite relaxed this round. When he'd spotted both a Truth follower and the Blind One at the start, he'd known the trial wouldn't be too difficult.
Truth followers excelled at solving puzzles. The Fate Chosen could see through destiny itself. So as long as no one caused trouble, he figured he could coast through.
And the only player likely to cause trouble was currently walking beside him with a cold expression—who actually didn't seem unreasonable.
"Miss Wu, found anything?"
Li Wufang wasn't a quiet person. Though Grand Tribunal investigators were famously stern, he was still a player—he needed to unwind during investigations.
But this time, the Oblivion follower finally broke her cold-shoulder routine with a sneer:
"I hate noise. My only thought right now is annihilating the sounds that shouldn't exist."
Li Wufang blinked. He squeezed out an awkward smile:
"I'd advise reconsidering. While that would honor Oblivion, it also looks suspiciously like honoring Silence. Miss Wu—you're not planning to fuse Silence, are you?"
Wu Cun frowned with disgust: "Silence doesn't fuse. Everyone knows that. You're dressing up small talk as idle chat, but every line is a test. What—am I that interesting to you?"
She stopped walking. She turned and flicked one glance at Li Wufang's face—then her gaze slid downward, landing with a half-smile on his crotch.
That look made the Investigator damn near jump. He instantly shut up.
"Enough, Li Wufang. Drop the act. You're a hunter—an Order hunter at that. One of your god-given talents is reading people. You've tailed me long enough to know I can handle myself.
So let's pick up the pace. I know what you're thinking. I know you'd rather coast this round.
But I don't want to be the slacker sitting in back row when we regroup. And I definitely don't want that Truth idiot's side-eye and mockery.
One hour left. We split up and investigate separately. With your speed—as long as you're still nearby—even if I lose control, the damage should be minimal, right?"
Wu Cun's cold laugh carried an unquestionable edge.
Li Wufang scratched his head awkwardly. He had indeed seen her "stability"—but for safety, he didn't agree immediately.
"Have I been rejected by the beautiful lady?"
"Should I say yes or no? I despise hypocrites. If you actually meant to try something with me, I'd respect you for it. But you're all timid hesitation, just like your boring master. What good is a mouth alone?
Judgments aren't won with words—at minimum, your fists need to be big.
That's enough. You go left, I go right. Stop following me. My patience has limits."
Without looking back, Wu Cun headed for the right fork. She wasn't trying to shake Li Wufang's surveillance—she genuinely wanted to improve investigation efficiency and find useful information to avoid the others' contempt.
Oblivion followers had always suffered terrible reputations in trials. That negativity fed back into them, compounding their irritability—a vicious cycle that made every Oblivion follower struggle harder against their annihilation drive.
They battled constantly against the rage that demanded they erase everything. Added pressure only made it worse.
Li Wufang understood the principle of "too much is as bad as too little." So when she rounded the corner and disappeared from view, he frowned—but didn't follow.
His Order talent truly had let him read Wu Cun. She was clearly an "ambitious" high-scorer. Players like her understood discretion and knew how to manage relationships. Separated for just an hour, she shouldn't cause any—
Right as the thought formed, his wristwatch alarm chimed. 11:00. One hour until the rendezvous he'd set.
"Time to speed up. If I'm going to coast, I should at least help the others eliminate some wrong answers."
A light chuckle. He started to turn—but before he could, before his raised heel had even touched down, catastrophe struck without warning. In the instant between checking his watch and looking up, entire blocks of housing vanished from reality before his eyes!
Oblivion's power erupted nearby, annihilating every human-height space in range. Houses lost their walls but kept their roofs. Tall trees lost their trunks but kept their canopies. Boulders and hillocks shattered. Every living thing—every blade of grass—blinked out of existence!
Li Wufang's head snapped up. Before him lay a sudden expanse of white nothingness. And at the center of that void—stretching to an unknowable distance—stood a cold-faced beauty in white mage robes, sneering with undisguised contempt as their eyes met!
She was watching him too.
But their gazes held for less than a second. Because in the next instant, the unsupported ruins—rooftops, treetops, debris—came crashing down with a thunderous BOOM, kicking up waves of dust and sending tremors through the ground.
Li Wufang's eyelid twitched. His face went absolutely black.
He'd been toyed with. No—provoked!
Wu Cun had deceived his observation, then from this close range unleashed an apocalyptic annihilation to pluck his nerves like strings.
'Well, well, well!'
'Some Oblivion follower!'
Li Wufang's eyes went cold. But instead of flying into a rage, he summoned his longbow from thin air, nocked several arrows in rapid succession, and sent Discipline Arrow after Discipline Arrow piercing into the billowing dust clouds.
Simultaneously, he launched himself skyward, sprinting across the rooftops of the still-intact outer buildings. As he moved, he "proclaimed" special laws unique to this zone:
"Hereby—teleportation is forbidden.
Hereby—elevated jumping is forbidden.
Hereby—sprinting is forbidden.
Hereby—life transfer is forbidden!"