'9'’s fingers brushed across the edge of the altar with a certain grace, and in the next heartbeat, the entire space came alive.
The greyish-green roots on the walls swelled simultaneously. Thick vines erupted from the stone ceiling and from every crevice Lu Yuan hadn't noticed, surging toward the hall's entrance with a whistling, tearing sound at a speed visible to the naked eye.
When Lu Yuan looked back, the stone staircase they had come from was already half-blocked.
Vines wrapped around the hinges of the iron door and tightened. The metal let out a dull groan, and under the force of the pulling vines, the iron door slowly swung shut. The final sliver of light narrowed and vanished from Lu Yuan's sight.
Clang.
The iron door was completely sealed.
At this moment, the way out of this underground space had entirely disappeared.
Bolen’s reaction was faster than Lu Yuan had expected. The old man’s cane struck the ground almost the same instant the vines began to swell. The sound was faint, but his speech was incredibly rapid.
“I left inscriptions on the path I walked earlier, but it will take some time to burn through these vines. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
Before he could finish, the area behind them lit up.
Along the stone passage they had traversed, from the inner side of the iron door all the way to the secret entrance, faint golden inscription patterns glowed on the walls. The light emitted by the inscriptions wasn't strong, but it covered a vast area.
The moment Lu Yuan saw those inscriptions, he understood.
Bolen had prepared on their way in.
Throughout their journey, the old man’s cane had been tapping and clicking. He had walked half a step slower than Lu Yuan, setting up his contingency plans the entire time.
As the faint golden inscriptions came into contact with the vines blocking their retreat, the burning began immediately. The outer skin of the vines hissed audibly, charring and curling to reveal the greyish-white fibrous tissue underneath.
However, the burning wasn't fast enough. It would take time, and until then, they had no choice but to face the Grey Covenant head-on.
Lu Yuan didn't look back again.
He turned around, facing deep into the hall.
Lake had already moved.
The blurred face beneath his short brown hair shattered in an instant. The grey meat-worms beneath his skin no longer maintained any disguise. An eerie aura surged from every inch of his skin, so thick it nearly solidified.
But Lu Yuan noticed something.
The vines sealing their retreat had blocked their way out, turning the entire underground hall into a sealed space.
As Lake’s aura surged forward, it was reflected back by the wall of vines, churning and echoing within the hall without a single trace leaking outside.
Lake noticed it too—this place could actually completely isolate their aura from the outside world!
His form flickered one last time beside Lu Yuan.
“Protect yourself as best you can.”
With that, grey meat-worms exploded from his body, turning into a vast swarm.
Tens of thousands of insects spread in all directions at extreme speed, seizing nearly half the space of the underground hall in an instant.
The swarm clung to the ceiling, covered the stone walls, and blanketed the floor, turning the front half of the hall into a grey ocean of living matter.
“9” stood by the altar, watching the insect swarm stop a dozen meters in front of him.
He didn't retreat.
Instead, he clapped his hands.
“I’ve finally encountered a decent opponent.”
He laughed loudly, the sound bouncing around the sealed hall.
As he laughed, his entire facial expression twisted. Beneath his greyish-white skin, those things that didn't belong to Glazed Water flowed rapidly.
The laughter stopped for a moment.
His gaze bypassed Lake’s swarm and landed precisely on Bolen in the rear.
“And there’s even a rank 3 Inscriptionist.”
The curve of his mouth changed, and his eyes narrowed.
“This time, I’ve hit the jackpot.”
His two rank 3 subordinates didn't wait for an order.
Three figures flickered simultaneously and vanished from their spots.
All that remained was the sound of the vines covering the walls beginning to twitch violently.
In every area not covered by the insect swarm, countless branches grew explosively, falling toward the edges of the swarm to entwine and crush them.
Branches and meat-worms tore at each other along the boundary line, producing a bone-chilling sound of crushing and snapping.
The “fertilizer” on the walls moved.
Those bodies that had been whimpering moments ago were now being controlled from within by the branches. Everyone’s head turned toward Lu Yuan’s direction at the same time. The twisting was far more violent than before, as they were being forcibly driven to turn.
Their mouths were pushed to their limits from the inside by the branches.
The bases of the branches piercing through their oral cavities swelled, revealing dense clusters of holes.
Lu Yuan smelled it.
A cloyingly sweet, sour scent surged from all directions simultaneously.
Greyish-green spores erupted from dozens of mouths at once, forming a visible cloud of dust that shimmered in the dim light of the hall.
The coverage of this dust was irregular; some sprayed three or four meters, while others only diffused in a small cloud around the mouth. Within seconds, the air quality in the entire hall deteriorated sharply.
Bolen’s inscriptions activated almost in sync.
Faint golden inscription patterns surged from the tip of his cane, clinging directly to the surface of his and Lu Yuan’s clothing. A slight warmth spread when the inscriptions touched their skin.
Instantly, the discomforting smell dissipated significantly.
Bolen didn't apply any inscriptions to Lake, as Lake simply didn't need them.
At the same time, Bolen accelerated the burning speed of the inscriptions on the path behind them. A rank 3 Inscriptionist couldn't intervene in a battlefield between two rank 4s; the best he could do was burn open a way out as quickly as possible.
“9” completely ignored Bolen’s actions.
His aura vanished entirely for a split second.
A moment later, he reappeared a dozen meters in front of Lu Yuan.
Lake’s insect swarm reacted instantly. The moment “9”’s aura vanished, the insects surged toward his landing point like a tide.
Hundreds of grey meat-worms converged from the ceiling, floor, and both walls, slamming toward the spot where “9” had appeared.
A phantom of Lake’s upper body emerged at the crest of the swarm.
Within half a second, the grey insects formed an arm and a hand-blade, the tip of the blade thrusting straight at “9”’s chest.
Lake was incredibly fast. Under the cover of the swarm, he successfully landed the blow, but the expected sensation of piercing flesh didn't occur. Instead, there was a metallic clang.
“9”’s skin hardened instantly at the point of contact, the greyish-white surface turning into a carapace texture. Simultaneously, a flurry of branches surged from behind him, clamping onto both sides of the hand-blade to limit the depth of the thrust.
The strike failed.
“Truly an interesting eerie transcendent.”
“9”’s face peered through the gaps in the branches, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
“But unfortunately, you’re carrying two burdens.”
Before the words finished, his speed suddenly climbed to a new level.
He crashed directly through the body Lake had constructed at the top of the swarm.
The swarming insects at the impact point were reduced to powder. Juices and debris sprayed everywhere, and the crushed insect remains traced an arc through the air, leaving long streaks of grey liquid behind.
Lu Yuan’s hand was already resting on the “Flame” at his waist.
At the moment “9” and Lake’s swarm collided, both sides were in motion—branches were entwining, and the swarm was reforming.
Lu Yuan activated Timekeeper.
The world slowed down.
The spores in the air became nearly motionless, each grain clearly visible. The growth of the branches turned into a slow crawl. “9”’s silhouette was finally stretched into a trackable trajectory—fast, but at least visible.
【Sanity: -1... 107/140】
The continuous consumption began.
Lu Yuan’s gaze didn't follow “9”.
He was looking at the two rank 3s.
In the accelerated world, the positions of “9”’s two subordinates were clearly visible. One was crouching by the wall to the right of the altar, hands pressed against the stone. His greyish-white skin was connected to the roots on the wall, controlling the vines.
The other was behind the altar in a similar posture, also maintaining something.
Currently, to protect himself and Bolen, Lake was forced to split his power to fight the vines for control over this underground space.
If Lake were to exert his full strength, the source had to be dealt with.
The two rank 3s were using some unknown method to drive the entire network of roots in the hall.
Lu Yuan noticed that “9” had been tangled with Lake the whole time, never once glancing at the vines.
If he could take out these two people or strip them of their transcendent abilities, the vines might go out of control, allowing Lake to truly face “9” one-on-one.
Otherwise, in this confined space, with “9”’s speed combined with the coordination of the branches everywhere, Lake wouldn't be able to hold him back.
In the accelerated world, Lu Yuan locked eyes with “9”.
Under the interference of Timekeeper · Acceleration, “9”’s speed was reduced to the level of a “normal person taking a stroll.” It was still not slow, but at least it could be tracked.
His mouth was crooked, and his greyish-white skin constantly shifted colors, flickering in and out of view against the chaotic background of branches and spores.
Lu Yuan didn't draw his gun.
He reached into his coat, his fingertips touching a cold copper surface.
It was the Sealing Disc.
Of the three dark red crystals, only the last one was still lit. The other two had long since turned a dead grey during the battles in the pipe network.
This was the last time.
【Sanity: -2... 105/140】
The continuous consumption of Timekeeper ticked away.
Lu Yuan’s thumb pressed against the final crystal, and his Sanity seeped in through his fingertip, being swallowed bit by bit by the inscriptions on the copper surface.
【Sanity: -5... 100/140】
The Sealing Disc heated up rapidly in his palm.
Lu Yuan stepped forward in the accelerated world. Branches crawled slowly around him, and spores hung motionless in the air. He wove through these nearly static obstacles, taking a few steps toward the two rank 3 subordinates.
‘Close enough.’
Thinking this, Lu Yuan flung the Sealing Disc.
The copper disc flipped through the air, the glow of the dark red crystal tracing an arc as it spun.
The moment the copper disc left his hand, Lu Yuan reversed his steps and retreated decisively.
In the world of Timekeeper, the Sealing Disc traced a perfect arc before landing near the Grey Covenant members.
The last crystal dimmed and turned a dead grey.
The suppression force expanded instantly. With the copper disc as the center, all transcendent auras within a ten-meter radius were crushed.
The effect took hold immediately.
Within this range, all transcendent abilities came to a complete halt.
The connection between the two rank 3 subordinates and the roots on the wall was instantly severed. Their greyish-white skin returned to a human complexion, and their transcendent auras vanished.
The vines everywhere froze.
The branches and the writhing, greyish-green plant tissue all stopped.
Silence lasted for but a heartbeat.
Then, the vines moved.
But not in the way they had before.
Without the controllers, the root network reverted to its primal instincts. Distinguishing no friend from foe, it sought only to devour everything.
While retreating, Lu Yuan had already drawn “Flame.”
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