Chapter 136: Now It's Your Turn
"Death Knell Striker can't be relied upon."
Wu Ge glanced at Death Knell Striker, who had defeated a Higher Stone Golem and an Elite Double-Bladed Spider. However, he was severely injured and unable to assist anytime soon.
"I can only rely on myself!"
The Insect Swarm transformed back into Wu Ge's form, his expression grim.
If it were possible, he would avoid using his last resort, as doing so would significantly shorten his lifespan.
But the current situation left no room for hesitation.
If he didn’t kill Su Nan, he would die right then and there.
With a sound like tearing cloth, Wu Ge's skin suddenly split open, and countless grayish-white flesh and blood poured out, swelling and rapidly forming into a grotesque giant insect.
The giant insect vaguely resembled a Death Knell Beetle, but it was larger, more grotesque, and decidedly more hideous.
While he didn’t resist merging with his Bloodline, he loathed the idea of transforming into such an inhuman and monstrous form.
Wu Ge’s humanoid shape had already been unattractive, and this new form was even more repulsive.
"My Spiritual Power is still about half full."
Su Nan's eyes flickered as he recalled the Magic Pattern Core.
When he noticed the Metal Spikes suddenly vanish, Wu Ge was momentarily stunned before joy surged within him.
As expected, such a powerful ability must consume a substantial amount of Spiritual Power!
Su Nan’s actions clearly showed that he had exhausted his Spiritual Power and could no longer utilize Metal Storm.
“Hahaha, now it’s my turn!”
The giant insect let out a high-pitched, chilling laugh as it charged toward Su Nan like a cannonball, its wings flapping violently.
Su Nan managed a faint smile. He aimed to conserve some Spiritual Power for emergencies.
After all, considering the current state of affairs, it was highly likely that Wu Ge hadn’t divided his forces to confront Matu and Olsen.
Given the recent peculiar behavior of Red Widow and Black Duke, the two sides had probably forged some sort of secret agreement, likely to join forces against Youhu City.
But Red Widow and Black Duke hadn’t shown up from beginning to end. Only the devil knew what those two were up to. Considering everything carefully, Su Nan felt he should still hold back some strength. After all, he had other ways to deal with Wu Ge.
With a subtle thought, countless tiny gray mists emerged from the void, quickly coalescing into gray phantom claws. Tearing through the air, they descended fiercely upon Wu Ge with piercing shrieks!
Wu Ge's figure flashed repeatedly in an attempt to evade, but the gray phantom claws relentlessly pursued him, striking like leeches, one after another.
*Zzzzz!*
Four gray phantom claws pierced through Wu Ge's body, emitting a hair-raising sound like sulfuric acid splattering on flesh. He couldn't help but let out a miserable scream.
Dim Magic Item!
Wu Ge looked at Su Nan's left hand in horror. In that instant, he clearly saw four rings on the other's hand flash with magical light; those were Magic Items. In other words, the four gray phantom claws were clearly the effect of those four magic rings!
Su Nan actually possessed four identical Glimmer Grade offensive Magic Items! And how many Dim Magic Items did this guy have in total, including the defensive ones? Had he looted the inheritance of a Formal wizard?
But that didn’t make sense. Formal wizards hadn’t appeared for many years. Even if it were an inheritance, it would have been from thousands of years ago; the Dim Magic Items couldn’t possibly have been preserved so well for so long!
Wu Ge felt his head was in complete disarray.
But what shocked him even more was yet to come. Su Nan simply swiped his hand, and the four rings on his left hand vanished instantly. Immediately afterward, four identical rings appeared, and magical light flared up.
*Whoosh!*
Four identical gray phantom claws materialized out of thin air.
Seeing this, Wu Ge felt a chill run through his entire body as if he had fallen into an ice cave. That last attack had already wounded him severely, and now another one was coming; even if he survived, he would be heavily injured.
The crucial thing was that he didn’t know if Su Nan had any more Dim Magic Items. If it happened again, he would surely die!
"Flee!"
The agonizing pain of the massive gray claw piercing through his body caused Wu Ge to cry out in despair, and the instinct to flee surged within him.
He didn't even have time to grab the Death Knell Striker he usually treasured; he bolted away into the distance.
The terrifying strength that Su Nan displayed had completely shattered his will to fight.
"Want to run?"
Su Nan sneered, and a High Rune Gem in the palm of his hand burst forth with dazzling light. It transformed into a gale that enveloped him, and he shot forward like a streak of cyan light, moving more than ten times faster than Wu Ge.
Hearing the sharp wind behind him, Wu Ge looked back and was immediately filled with dread.
In a panic, he released a sonic wave to try and block Su Nan, but the latter didn't even spare him a glance; he charged right through the sonic wave and tossed out another High Rune Gem.
"What is this thing again?"
Wu Ge felt psychologically scarred by Su Nan's unpredictable techniques and feared this was yet another powerful item.
His fears were quickly validated.
In mid-air, the gem transformed into a thunderbolt as thick as a bucket, crashing down and sending Wu Ge plummeting from the sky to the ground.
Su Nan pressed on with his assault, throwing out three more High Rune Gems, all of which became thunderbolts that slammed down relentlessly.
Deafening thunder echoed repeatedly throughout the cave.
The area where Wu Ge had been was engulfed in billowing smoke.
Su Nan levitated above the smoke and waved his hand, creating a gust of wind that cleared the haze, revealing a massive crater.
The crater was charred black, with sand calcified by the intense heat into quartz-like crystals, from which faint wisps of white smoke rose.
Wu Ge lay at the center of the crater, having reverted to his original human form. His body was scorched black, and it was nearly impossible to find a patch of intact skin.
Su Nan slowly descended to the ground and, seeing Wu Ge's miserable state, shrugged.
"For the sake of the Death Knell Striker, I was originally going to leave you with a whole corpse, but you just had to run. Well, there's no helping how you look now."
Wu Ge stared wide-eyed at Su Nan, his gaze filled with unwillingness, terror, and despair. He emitted a strange, rasping sound, as if trying to say something.
He was not reconciled.
He still wanted to live longer, to reach the Formal Wizard realm.
If he had known earlier that Su Nan's foundation was so profound, he would never have coveted the God Remains; he would have run as far away as possible!
But now, it was too late for regrets.
Su Nan shook his head, saying little. With a flick of his finger, a bolt of lightning pierced through Wu Ge's brow, taking his life.
Confirming that Wu Ge was dead, Su Nan stowed away the four Ring of Calamity that were now depleted of energy and took out four new ones to wear.
After returning to the Underworld, he had continuously produced a considerable number of Ring of Calamity and Extreme Protection Rings, totaling more than forty, all to ensure he overwhelmed his opponents in battle with sufficient equipment.
And the results proved this method was highly effective.
Wu Ge's final trump card could hardly exert any influence in the face of so many Ring of Calamity.
More importantly, the Ring of Calamity could be reused, unlike the High Rune Gems, which were disposable consumables.
Using more Ring of Calamity in battle saved a significant amount of High Rune Gems.
Although Su Nan now had a Mine providing substantial profits, he was still frugal, as he knew there were many future expenses ahead.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Su Nan approached Wu Ge, took off the Space Ring from his hand, along with several Alchemy Magic Items, and then returned to the original battlefield.
With Wu Ge's death, the Insect Swarm fell into chaos. Many of the insects no longer persisted in their assault on Youhu City but scattered, fleeing in all directions.
The Death Knell Striker also seemed to regain its autonomy and attempted to break free and escape.
Having finally encountered an Exotic Beast with an Ancient Bloodline, Su Nan couldn't let the Death Knell Striker get away. Without hesitation, he joined the encirclement and attack.
With Su Nan's intervention, the Death Knell Striker quickly found itself at a disadvantage.
"This strange insect, with the intelligence of an Ancient Bloodline, was no less clever than a human. Realizing it was outmatched, it immediately lay down on the ground, feigning surrender.
"It's quite perceptive."
After Su Nan landed a few Weakening Ray strikes, the Death Knell Striker became quickly listless, and two Elite Stone Golems escorted it back to Youhu City.
Su Nan then returned to the opposite shore of the lake.
The insects on the island had nearly all fled, and the Golem Legion was clearing away the remaining ones.
On the city wall, Karolina eagerly looked out. Upon seeing Su Nan return, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Although she couldn't see what was happening on the opposite shore of the lake, from the sounds, she knew her master must have faced a powerful enemy.
Even though she was confident in Su Nan's strength, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
After all, the safety of Youhu City now rested entirely on his shoulders.
If Su Nan were to fall, relying on less than a hundred Man-Faced Lion Warriors and a group of cannon fodder Slaves, survival in the perilous Underworld would be impossible.
Not to mention, Matu and Olsen would not spare the empty Youhu City.
"Master!"
Karolina opened the city gate to welcome him but stopped in her tracks, her expression shifting to surprise as she looked at the Death Knell Striker.
What is this?
A Death Knell Beetle?
But its size is far too large!
"Master, what is this?" she couldn't help but ask curiously.
"A strange insect with the intelligence of an Ancient Bloodline."
Su Nan casually briefed her on what had happened to Wu Ge.
When she heard that the Controller behind the Kasham was a Wizard, Karolina was instantly shocked.
She never imagined that the mastermind behind the Insect Plague, which had caused so much trouble and fear for Lake of Gloom, Matu, and Olsen, was actually a Wizard.
As she looked at her master, Karolina couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Wizards truly are terrifying beings!
Even one or two of them can create such a significant disturbance.
"But Master, what is the purpose of that Wizard controlling the Insect Plague?" Karolina asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
It wasn't hard to see from today's situation that Kasham actually possessed the strength to defeat the three great City States one by one, completely dominating the area. But why hadn't he taken action all these years, only sending his Insect Swarm to attack the three great City States occasionally?
Su Nan shook his head. “Who knows?”
Yet, he had a suspicion in his heart.
Wu Ge was likely acting with a purpose, needing to collect souls or flesh, treating the three great City States as renewable resource points, harvesting them every so often.
As for what that purpose was, he would have to wait until he took down Kasham to find out.
Su Nan had examined Wu Ge's ring. Inside, apart from a few Gold Coin Gems, there were only some miscellaneous items of little value.
He surmised that Wu Ge probably kept the truly valuable items in Kasham, and perhaps that was where Wu Ge's laboratory was located.
“Send people to monitor Matu and Olsen. Report any movements to me immediately.”
Seeing that the bugs on the battlefield had been almost completely eradicated, Su Nan stored away Golem and hurried straight to Kasham.
Time was of the essence. He needed to defeat Kasham as soon as possible and obtain Wu Ge's inheritance.
Once this matter was settled, he could begin to deal with Matu and Olsen.
“Yes, Master.”
Karolina bowed slightly, watching Su Nan's figure disappear into the darkness before slowly straightening up and squinting as she surveyed her surroundings.
Initially, she hadn’t considered Matu and Olsen in that way.
But after learning that there was a controller behind Kasham and recalling today’s events, she understood that Matu and Olsen had likely formed some kind of cooperation with him.
Based on her understanding of the Red Widow and Black Duke, those two were most likely hiding in the shadows, observing the battle.
Once Youhu City was locked in a deadly struggle with Kasham, or if either side was annihilated but suffered heavy casualties, those two cunning fellows would undoubtedly emerge to reap the rewards.
Unfortunately, they had ultimately underestimated their master's power.
Kasham's attacks had failed to inflict any real damage on him. Instead, the Wizard controlling things from behind the scenes had met his end at Kasham's hands.
The threat of the Insect Plague was now completely resolved, and Kasham would soon fall into the hands of Youhu City.
With his hands freed, the master would certainly not allow Matu and Olsen to continue growing stronger.
"Next, it's your turn."
Karolina cast a glance toward Matu and Olsen, a flicker of dark light flashing in her eyes.
Red Widow and Black Duke shared the same thought.
Seeing Wu Ge's defeat and the Insect Swarm scattered, Red Widow and Black Duke felt their hearts sink.
"Useless! Truly useless!"
"Just a moment ago, they were boastfully proclaiming they could defeat Su Nan, yet they were taken down so easily!"
Black Duke gnashed his teeth in anger.
He had suspected that Wu Ge might ultimately lose to Su Nan, but he had not anticipated such a decisive defeat, one that inflicted little damage on Youhu City's forces.
It was clear that Youhu City, having retained most of its power, would now set its sights on them!
Red Widow's expression was equally grave, completely stripped of her usual frivolity and debauchery.
The strength that Youhu City—or rather, Su Nan—had displayed far exceeded their expectations.
It could only be said that both Kasham and Wu Ge's defeats were not unwarranted.
However, that did not prevent her from harboring disdain and irritation towards Wu Ge.
If only that fool had put in a little more effort and caused Youhu City to suffer greater losses before his demise, she would have had more room to maneuver.
But now, she felt no confidence that she could withstand Youhu City.
Once Su Nan was unrestrained, it would spell annihilation for Matu and Olsen.
What should they do now?
Red Widow glanced at Black Duke, who was still ranting beside her, a strange glimmer flickering in her scarlet eyes.
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