“What are you looking at me for? Get moving!”
Ms. Sophia waved her hand impatiently.
Clearly, she had no intention of participating in a pointless street brawl.
Bloodsong looked at Ms. Merskael’s back, then turned a pleading gaze toward Elias.
He found Elias looking back at him with an expression that said, “Welcome to the suicide squad.”
“Dammit...”
Bloodsong cursed under his breath.
But under the weight of Sophia’s overbearing authority, he could only sigh with reluctance and follow the three with heavy steps.
By now, the massive carapace husk had already charged right in front of them!
Its hardened, grayish-white shell glinted under the gaslights, and its massive chelicerae swung down like the twin scythes of a reaper. With an ear-piercing whistle of displaced air, it hacked toward Dabu, who was at the very front!
Bang!
Dabu didn't even try to dodge. He raised the heavy brass firearm in his hands and pulled the trigger without hesitation!
The massive recoil forced even Dabu’s large frame back half a step.
The moment it left the barrel, the enchanted bullet, etched with complex runes, actually split apart in mid-air into countless points of light that glowed with a faint blue luster!
It was like a shower of falling stars from the night sky.
They formed a dense web of fire that completely enveloped the giant carapace husk.
“Holy crap!”
Elias, following behind, nearly had his eyes pop out at the sight.
Was that a supernatural shotgun?!
The area of effect! The visual impact!
Why hadn't he come across something so simple, crude, and effective?!
Damn it!
He gritted his teeth in envy.
The Seventh Agency’s benefits were just too good!
However, as much as he envied them, reality soon doused his excitement with cold water.
As the smoke cleared, the carapace husk’s shell was merely covered in a dense cluster of dents and cracks.
A few spots had been blasted through, leaking a ghastly green fluid, but it only caused the creature to pause for a moment.
For a thick-skinned deep-sea monster, that level of physical damage was far from fatal!
“Hiss—!!!”
The carapace husk was enraged.
It let out an even more violent roar. Ignoring its shattered shell, it once again swung its chelicerae, intent on crushing everyone in its path!
“Damn, it’s all style and no substance!”
Elias was instantly disenchanted with the gun.
He gave up on the idea of dealing chip damage from a distance with his revolver.
With a flick of his wrist, he pulled a captured dagger from the Gluttonous Stomach.
At the same time, the Moonlight Barrier activated instantly, shielding his front.
It was then that the sound of gunfire and combat drew even more monsters roaming the area.
A dozen deep-sea chimeras of various shapes and sizes began to converge on them from all directions!
“Dabu, back off!”
Xia’an’s cold voice rang out through the chaos.
The girl stepped forward.
In her left hand, she gripped a shortsword wreathed in flames, while her right hand held an ancient-looking lantern.
Just then, a massive long-legged anglerfish lunged out from a side alley!
Its blood-stained maw, filled with razor-sharp teeth, snapped toward Xia’an’s side, accompanied by the swaying, disgusting lure atop its head!
Facing this sudden ambush, the young investigator didn't panic in the slightest.
She decisively abandoned the spell she had been aiming at the carapace husk.
With a twist of her wrist, she pointed the lantern directly at the pouncing giant anglerfish.
As her spirituality triggered the lantern, the dim street was instantly illuminated by a light too bright to look at directly!
It wasn't ordinary firelight.
It was pure, holy white holy flame that carried the scent of destruction!
Blindingly bright white fire erupted from the small wick of the lantern, firing continuously like a laser cannon!
Three dazzling pillars of fire pierced the night.
The moment the seemingly indestructible long-legged anglerfish came into contact with the white holy flame, its thick layers of fat and scales melted away like butter under a scorching sun!
Three charred holes were instantly blasted straight through its body!
The behemoth collapsed with a thunderous thud before it could even let out a scream.
The remnants of the holy fire on its body did not go out; instead, they spread, slowly consuming its massive frame until only ash remained.
“Woah!”
Elias had just used his Moonlight Barrier to knock away a smaller monster and used his cane to precisely deflect the sharp claws of the large carapace husk.
When he turned around, he saw this staggering scene.
The scorching rays from the small lantern in Xia’an’s hand had only fired three times, which was far fewer than what the bald Director or Guss could do.
But the nature and intensity of those flames were on an entirely different level!
Elias could clearly sense the holy aura within that bright fire.
It was exactly like the Dawn Fire produced on the island by burning phosphor whale oil—a flame that could dispel all evil!
“So this is what a girl from a legendary family is like?”
Elias sighed sourly to himself.
“She’s a total whale! Pulling out an item that can one-shot like that just casually?!”
Based on its spiritual pressure alone, that giant mutated anglerfish was at least at the level of Scale Three!
And it had been one-shot just like that!
Then there was him.
Bitterly struggling with a broken revolver and a dagger, brawling with a carapace husk of the same level like a common thug.
Comparing himself to her was truly infuriating.
A wave of uncontrollable, mischievous thought suddenly rose in the depths of Elias’s mind.
“If I could get Xia’an to stay at the top of the lighthouse and help light it every day...”
Wouldn't that save a lot of whale oil?
However, he didn't have time to flesh out this thought born of his capitalist exploitative spirit.
The giant carapace husk was still tirelessly on the move.
Clang!
Elias nimbly dodged the creature's frontal lunge.
He swung the dagger, hacking hard at the creature’s flailing limbs.
The hardened steel blade collided violently with the shell in mid-air, sending out a shower of sparks and a sharp metallic ring.
Though the strike didn't sever the limb, it knocked the creature off-balance, causing it to stumble.
“Now!”
A sharp light flashed in Elias’s eyes.
Taking advantage of the moment the monster’s guard dropped and its body was exposed, he thrust his left hand forward.
His cane struck like a viper leaving its burrow, precisely hitting the carapace husk’s belly.
“One, two, three!”
The cane tapped the monster’s soft underbelly three times in rapid succession.
Three resonance stacks.
But he wasn't done yet.
A cold white moonfire surged up from the ground.
As the Moonfire ignited, the monster let out an agonized, frenzied screech. Its limbs began to twitch uncontrollably, and it started attacking everything around it in a blind rage.
However, by then, Elias had already drifted out of the creature’s reach like a phantom.
He tapped his cane lightly on the wet cyan stone bricks.
Under the shocked gazes of the others, the massive mutated carapace husk behind him exploded from the inside like a watermelon hit by a bullet!
Hardened grayish-white shell, ghastly green fluid, and minced meat mixed with Moonfire were sent flying in all directions by the massive energy shockwave, scattering across the ground.
An instant kill.
And a brutally violent one at that.
“...”
Nearby, Dabu, who had just finished reloading his heavy brass firearm, froze in place.
He stared at the scattered remains on the ground, then looked at Elias.
A massive question mark slowly formed in Dabu’s mind.
“Wait a minute...”
Dabu felt completely bewildered.
“Buddy, if you’re at the level where you can just one-shot giant monsters like that...”
“Why the hell did you shamelessly insist on us escorting you to the pier?!”
You call this needing support?
You’re basically here on a shopping spree!
Dabu felt like he had been swindled.
But when he recalled the intelligence the man had promised back at the tavern entrance, Dabu took a deep breath and decided to let it go.
Behind them, Bloodsong, the half-demon bartender, wasn't as lucky. He was struggling against several smaller monsters with a crossbow and spells.
He had just exerted every ounce of his strength to pin a coral monster down with a crossbow bolt when a shard of the carapace husk’s shell, sent flying by the explosion, scraped across his uniform.
“Ow!”
Hissing in pain and clutching his bleeding arm, Bloodsong shouted angrily.
“Who did that?!”
He turned around in a rage, only to see the man casually blowing a Scale Three carapace husk into a million pieces.
Bloodsong’s slit pupils contracted sharply.
He’s so strong!
“Follow me!”
While everyone was still immersed in their shock, Elias let out a shout.
With one hand, he plunged his dagger into a monster’s corpse on the roadside to absorb its spirituality. With the other, he waved his hand, igniting a nearby coral monster into a flailing human torch with Moonfire.
“What are you standing around for?”
Elias glanced back at them.
Dabu and Bloodsong snapped out of it and quickly raised their weapons, following him as he carved a path through the monsters.
However, Xia’an, who was following behind with her lantern, was starting to realize something.
“Wait a second!” she muttered to herself.
Wasn't the deal to cover the informant’s retreat?
Why is the informant himself charging at the very front?!
Do you even need cover?!
Rate on N.U.
