Chapter 318 Ambush
In just a few seconds.
The entire carriage was reduced to a pile of smoldering wreckage. Black liquid churned above the wreckage before seeping back into the cracks in the stone slabs.
The streets were filled with a corrosive, sour stench.
Lu Yuan rolled over and got up, while the night watchman responsible for driving the carriage was thrown against the wall. He groaned, propped himself up on his knees, and put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
He looked up and gazed ahead.
Three figures.
In the shadow of the streetlights directly ahead, a figure flickered and emerged, half of his mask was gray and white, and a cold smile hung on his lips.
She had been away from the Earl's mansion for less than fifteen minutes. She was already here.
It is "abstinence".
Above the high wall on the right, a man silently descended. He was in his thirties, with an ordinary face, the kind of face that wouldn't catch your eye in a crowd.
But the black liquid on his body gave him away; it seeped out and was absorbed back into his skin, flowing slowly.
Grayish-white text appeared.
[Detection Target: Gray Pact Members (Mysterious and Extraordinary) (Contaminated)]
[A strange and eerie pilgrim who has abandoned his human identity.]
When Lu Yuan saw this, he immediately realized that this guy was most likely J.
A third figure emerged from the alleyway on the left.
His shell-like skin was covered with dense, old scars, each one a mark of insect bites, but his steps were steady and his breath was deep, a stark contrast to his previous state underground, where he had been half-dead from the insect swarm.
[Detection Target: Gray Pact Member 9 (Alienated Transcendent)]
Humanity, having received His power, seems to have recovered considerably.
The number "9" is almost at full capacity.
Three fourth-order units, three directions, completely blocking all escape routes.
Klaus has already stood up.
The bone ring began to deform on the ring finger, the bone-colored material slowly extending along the finger.
He paused halfway through the transformation.
Lu Yuan noticed that Klaus's shoulders slumped slightly and his breathing slowed a bit.
On the stone walls of the two high walls, the inscriptions lit up, and a faint blue light spread along the walls, extending all the way to the end of the street.
The Bronze City was alerted the moment Klaus used his strange powers.
The light pressed down on Klaus.
There was nothing on the three people opposite them.
Jie tilted her head slightly, looked at Klaus, and the curve of her lips narrowed a little, but didn't disappear completely.
"I didn't expect the wounded deputy chief of staff to still react so quickly."
Her tone was still coquettish, but this time it carried an added layer of hatred.
She paused, her gaze sweeping from the gauze on Klaus's body back to his face.
"But how much strength do you actually possess now?"
J remained silent on the right, black liquid flowing silently across his body.
"9" remained silent on the left, his carapace expressionless, though his aura surged, as if preparing to settle all previous scores with Klaus.
"Jie" smiled again, but the smile was different from before; it was less playful and more cold.
"Let's settle the score for '8' today. Bronze City is a suitable place for your grave."
Klaus tightened his grip on the bone blade.
The bone ring completed its transformation, its right hand gripping a short, bony-colored blade.
It's shorter than the normal size.
Lu Yuan took two steps back, pulled the coachman and the night watchman to the wall, and lowered his voice.
"Don't move, this is not something you or I can get involved in."
The driver gripped the knife, his face ashen, his lips trembling.
"But the deputy chief of staff is in danger... I..."
"Don't speak." Lu Yuan pressed down on his shoulder.
Klaus glanced back at Lu Yuan.
"Take him and go first."
Lu Yuan didn't move. All three directions were blocked. Where could he go?
Klaus didn't repeat himself. The next moment, he turned around to face the approaching presence from three directions.
"Go in peace." Jie's voice trailed off.
Then all three of them moved at the same time.
"9" was the fastest. At the same moment the armored arm cleaved down from the left, J's black liquid surged up from the ground on the right, condensing into three blade-like spikes that pierced Klaus's back from different angles.
"Jie" flashed twice, appearing five steps behind Klaus and three steps in front of him, blocking both directions simultaneously.
The three attack lines intersected and fell at the same time.
Klaus's bone blade blocked "9's" armored arm, the sound of metal clashing against armor echoing through the narrow street, dull yet sharp. He took a step back, his heel scraping a white mark on the stone slab.
When J's three liquid blades stabbed at him from the side and behind, Klaus barely managed to dodge two of them. The third blade grazed his coat, leaving a scorch mark on the fabric.
"Jie" didn't make a move, but she kept emanating a dangerous aura, clearly preparing something. She stood in the blockade position, calmly watching everything.
The shell arm of "9" did not pause at all.
After the first strike was blocked, the second strike immediately followed, slashing down continuously from above. At the same time, J's liquid surged up from the ground again, forming a net that spread out from Klaus's feet, trying to wrap around his calves.
Klaus leaped to avoid the liquid net, but "9's" second strike changed angle the instant he jumped, transforming from a slash into a sweep, the blade of the carapace grazing his ribs.
Klaus staggered when he landed, almost kneeling on his knees, and only managed to steady himself by bracing himself against the ground with his bone blade.
Lu Yuan clenched his fists, because he knew that Klaus only had one chance to make a move.
Klaus is now like a dancer on the edge of a cliff, concealing a sharp knife in his hand, seeking an opportunity to strike a fatal blow.
"9" began to increase the frequency of its attacks, and the armored arm that formed its shell struck harder and harder with each blow, forcing Klaus to take a half-step back with each strike.
J coordinated exceptionally well; whenever Klaus blocked "9's" frontal attack, Liquid would simultaneously unleash his blade from the side or under his feet, forcing him to divert his attention from the defensive gaps to deal with the second line of attack.
Klaus remained calm, with flashes of green light constantly emanating from his body, as if he were giving it his all.
"Jie" remained on the periphery, and the aura around her grew increasingly intense. At the same time, she flickered and shifted positions, blocking every possible escape route for Klaus.
Although he didn't know what "Jie" was doing, Klaus didn't have time.
Lu Yuan pressed himself against the wall, watching all of this unfold.
The Grey Clan ignored him and the coachman; two low-ranking Night's Watchmen were not worth their attention. All their focus was on Klaus.
Just then, the ever-solidifying aura emanating from "Jie" finally subsided, and she spoke again.
She darted to Klaus's side and said something lightly.
"How's it going? Being suppressed by Bronze City isn't a good feeling, is it?"
Klaus didn't answer. The bone blade blocked another frontal slash from "9", his arms went numb from the impact, and he took another half step back.
Jie tilted his head slightly. His smile faded.
"**You can die now.**"
The moment the words fell, the aura that had been building up within "Jie" exploded.
An invisible wave emanated from her body, carrying the corrosive mental impact unique to the Gray Pact Society, directly affecting Poker Lawrence's consciousness.
Lu Yuan could feel it even from more than ten steps away. It felt like someone had hit his brain with a hammer, and two lines of gray text jumped up and down.
[WARNING: Mental corruption fluctuations detected... Please move away immediately!]
At the same moment, J moved.
Black liquid poured out of his body, far exceeding any previous amount.
The liquid no longer solidified into blades, but instead surged up from all around the ground simultaneously, like a black tide gushing out from the cracks in the stone slabs, closing in on Klaus's location and blotting out the sky.
Black water from all four directions converged in the air, threatening to completely engulf Klaus.
"9" charged in from the front, its armored arms brimming with power, the patterns on its entire body shining brightest, and it slashed towards Klaus's head.
Three lines, falling simultaneously at the same time.
This is what the Gray Pact has been preparing for throughout the entire battle, all for this moment.
Lu Yuan saw it.
Klaus finally moved at that moment.
He finally stopped hiding and finally got the only chance to get close to the ring.
His body suddenly leaned forward, the bone blade in his hand grew an inch, and green light exploded from the blade.
He chose to ignore the direct slash of "9" and the closing black water, and rushed towards the direction of "Ring".
He wants to kill "Jie" first.
No one expected him to dare to charge forward, and even less expected that Klaus would unleash such power.
Lu Yuan's hand was already inside his inner pocket.
The inscribed silver plate given by Beren was something Beren said could temporarily mobilize the power of the inscriptions in the Bronze City.
If we can suppress the Gray Pact Society with the power of the inscriptions, even if only for a moment.
Lu Yuan pinched a piece and activated the silver plate.
The silver inscription lit up, and a silvery-white wave spread out from Lu Yuan's hand.
The fluctuation encountered the layer of dark blue inscription light on the wall, and the two inscriptions interfered for a moment.
Nothing happened to the three members of the Gray Pact Society.
But things changed on Klaus's side.
The invisible shackles that had been pressing down on him suddenly loosened the moment the silvery-white waves enveloped him.
The suppression from the Bronze City vanished at that moment.
Klaus is on his way to the "ring".
The moment the suppression disappeared, his speed suddenly increased dramatically.
A dark green light appeared in his eyes. His figure exploded, leaving afterimages; two, three, four Klaus overlapped, shifting in front of and behind each other in less than a second.
The bone blade swelled during the charge, the withered bone-colored material expanding and extending into a bone sword as tall as a person. Green light spread along the spine of the blade, covering every inch of the bone surface.
The gauze on her wrist snapped the moment the bone ring extended, and fragments fell onto the stone slab.
The corrupting influence of "abstinence" on reason collided with Klaus.
However, the mental defense of a fourth-tier extraordinary being at full power is on a completely different level compared to when he is being suppressed. The corrosive wave swept over him, only causing him to pause slightly.
Jie's expression changed.
She had been preparing her ultimate move all day, but when she hit Klaus, who was at full strength, it had almost no effect!
Her figure flickered backward.
But it was too late.