He pressed his left thumb into the groove at the center of the cylinder, letting a sliver of Sanity seep in.
【Sanity: -1... 99/140】
The central Sanity slot lit up, and a pure white bullet materialized out of thin air in the center of the cylinder. Fine inscription patterns flowed across its surface, emitting a soft white glow in the dim light of the hall.
The cylinder clicked into place.
Lu Yuan raised his gun.
The barrel was aimed at the two Grey Covenant members who had lost their transcendent abilities. They were still crouching at the base of the wall.
He pulled the trigger.
The central bullet went first.
Bang.
The white flame from the muzzle tore through the air. The pure white bullet trailed a tail of light as it flew, piercing through three frozen branches and a floating cloud of spores along its path.
The pierced branches all ignited with faint white flames, and the spores instantaneously carbonized and dissipated where the trail of light passed.
Lu Yuan didn't pause.
His finger pulled the trigger repeatedly. One, two, three shots—orange-red flares exploded consecutively from the muzzle. Shell casings flipped through the air.
Seven rounds... ten rounds.
He emptied the entire cylinder of Flame in one go.
All ten copper-cased incendiary rounds were fired. Scorching white smoke drifted from the muzzle, and for once, the copper barrel actually felt warm.
The gunshots echoed through the sealed hall several times before finally fading away.
The bullets fired by Flame didn't kill them, but the vines finished half the work for Lu Yuan.
The Sealing Disc had suppressed their transcendent abilities and stripped them of their control over the vines. The moment they lost their authorization, the root network no longer recognized them as masters.
One of them was too slow to react.
He was still crouching at the base of the wall, still trying to process what had just happened, when the vines above dropped down. They wrapped around his shoulders and head. He struggled, but his body, now devoid of transcendent power, couldn't break free.
A rotating branch pierced straight through the top of his head.
The scream lasted only an instant. The man was hoisted straight up, his legs twitching in the air; clearly, he wouldn't be dying anytime soon.
The other was much smarter.
He moved the moment he lost his transcendent abilities. Without a hint of hesitation or even a backward glance, he lunged toward the wooden men at the center of the altar.
The out-of-control vines visibly hesitated as they approached the wooden men. The branches swerved around those kneeling wooden constructs.
He huddled among the wooden men, safe for the moment.
Lu Yuan’s central bullet and ten copper-cased incendiary rounds had all struck the original positions of the two rank 3s.
White alchemical fire and orange-red scorching heat exploded against the wall, leaving a charred mess, but unfortunately, only one had been killed.
“You... dare.”
‘9’s voice drifted from deep within the insect swarm.
Lu Yuan turned his head.
In the accelerated world, ‘9’s greyish-white face was emerging from the gaps between the branches. His eyes were fixed on the corpse hanging from the vines, a hint of disgust flashing in their depths.
“How slow. Even as fertilizer, he's a waste, though he might serve some purpose as a sacrifice.”
There wasn't a shred of concern in his tone for his dead subordinate.
Then he looked at Lu Yuan.
His smile vanished.
‘9’s speed exploded once more.
Even though Lu Yuan was still within the state of Acceleration, he could see ‘9’ approaching him at the speed of a normal person jogging.
The gap was still there.
Lu Yuan didn't retreat.
The cylinder was empty, but the central Sanity slot didn't require a physical bullet.
His thumb pressed against the center of the cylinder again.
【Sanity: -1... 98/140】
A second white bullet condensed.
He raised the gun, aiming at the approaching ‘9’.
He pulled the trigger.
Bang.
The pure white bullet flew out, its muzzle velocity more than double that of the copper-cased incendiary rounds. Its light trail traced a piercing white line through the dim hall.
But ‘9’ didn't dodge.
He reached out and caught the bullet with his bare hand.
A muffled boom followed.
White alchemical fire exploded in his palm, light leaking through the gaps between his fingers.
‘9’s entire arm, from palm to elbow, turned charred in an instant. His greyish-white skin carbonized and cracked, revealing equally charred muscle tissue underneath.
His hand trembled slightly.
“Truly interesting.”
‘9’ glanced at his charred arm.
Clearly, at this moment, he finally set aside his playful attitude and turned serious.
The vines that had been blanketed and suppressed by Lake’s insect swarm suddenly surged again the moment ‘9’ injected his will.
It was on a completely different level compared to when the two rank 3s were in control.
With ‘9’ personally taking over the root network, the vines' growth speed, strength, and coverage all increased several-fold.
Countless thick branches dropped simultaneously from the ceiling, the floor, and indeed from all directions, carving straight into the heart of Lake’s swarm.
The grey surface of the swarm was torn apart by the branches. Greyish-green and grey intertwined, devouring each other.
A wall of branches formed in a mere two seconds.
Stretching from ceiling to floor and from the left wall to the right, a living barrier woven from dozens of thick vines split the hall in two.
Lu Yuan was isolated on the side near the altar.
Along with ‘9’.
Bolen, over by the iron door, was cut off on the outside by the wall of branches and the insect swarm.
Lake’s swarm hammered violently against the vine wall from the other side.
Insects gnawed and dissolved, but new branches grew back at an even faster rate than they were being destroyed. The speed of destruction simply couldn't keep up with the speed of growth.
For the time being, Lake couldn't break through at all.
【Sanity: -3... 95/140】
Lu Yuan stood in the altar area, holding Flame with its empty cylinder.
Opposite him was a rank 4 mutation transcendent who had one charred arm but could still kill him ten times over.
On the other side of the vine wall, the sounds of Lake’s impacts were dull and urgent.
Further back, the inscriptions Bolen was using to burn through their retreat hissed loudly; it was unclear how much progress he had made.
Lu Yuan’s thumb brushed the edge of the empty cylinder.
He pulled a copper-cased incendiary round from his belt and pressed it into the cylinder.
It was time to risk it all.
Lu Yuan knew he had to put everything on the line.
The vine wall had cut off Lake and Bolen, trapping him alone on this side of the altar. The space was still being compressed by the vines. The vines personally controlled by ‘9’ slithered and closed in from all directions, leaving fewer and fewer places to stand.
Timekeeper · Acceleration was still running, devouring Sanity every second.
And the advantage brought by Acceleration was only enough to let him see the trajectory of ‘9’s movements; because of the confined space, he couldn't open up any distance.
If he was going to risk his life, he had to aim for the right spot.
Lu Yuan’s consciousness reached deep into his left eye along the symbiotic link.
The Knowledge Worm responded.
The symbiotic link that had been half-dead since the Polymath Tower pulsed clearly at this moment.
The Knowledge Worm had fully awakened the moment it entered this underground space, but Lu Yuan had been fighting and hadn't had the spare capacity to confirm it until now.
A curious response came through the symbiotic link.
It was interested in ‘9’.
More accurately, it was interested in the layer of blackish-yellow aura emanating from ‘9’.
Lu Yuan sent a command through the link.
Get ready. Wait for my signal.
“You really have interesting abilities.”
‘9’s voice drifted through the space filled with spores. Lu Yuan could no longer see him clearly; the choking greyish-green dust blurred everything ten meters away into indistinct blocks of color.
The protective inscriptions Bolen had placed on him were still working. The faint golden patterns glowed slightly on the surface of his clothes, filtering every breath of air he took.
“I've been in this city for so long, and this is the first time I've encountered someone like you who could best me for even a heartbeat.”
‘9’s silhouette flickered once in the spore mist.
Then twice.
Lu Yuan raised his gun.
He only had two copper-cased incendiary rounds left in the cylinder.
‘9’s figure solidified for half a second directly in front of him.
Lu Yuan pulled the trigger.
Bang.
An orange-red flare exploded from the muzzle. The bullet pierced through the spore mist, tearing a visible path.
The bullet went straight through.
It didn't hit anything.
It was an afterimage.
A soft chuckle came from behind Lu Yuan.
It was extremely close.
So close that as the laughter ended, the exhaled breath almost brushed against the back of his neck.
Lu Yuan didn't look back.
His body performed two actions in that single instant.
First, he threw himself to the right, tumbling out of the attack range from directly behind him. Simultaneously, Lu Yuan activated Timekeeper · Stasis.
【Sanity: -40... 50/140】
The world froze.
With Lu Yuan as the center, all matter within a spherical area roughly three meters in diameter was forcibly slowed to near-zero. Spores hung suspended, vines were locked in place, and the air became viscous.
A pair of greyish-white hands reached out from behind.
The knuckles were long, and blackish-yellow vein patterns were faintly visible beneath the skin.
The hands' speed dropped sharply the moment they entered the Stasis zone, going from invisible to the naked eye to a slow crawl.
But they didn't stop.
‘9’s strength continued to push forward even after taking the deceleration from Stasis head-on.
His speed was suppressed to the level of a human walking, but step by step, he crossed the outer layer of Stasis, pushed through the middle, and closed in on the core.
His palm landed on Lu Yuan’s shoulder blade.
The force wasn't great.
But Lu Yuan felt it. The moment that hand touched him, the structure of Timekeeper · Stasis let out a faint cracking sound.
The strength of a rank 4 had crushed the time barrier directly.
Lu Yuan’s left eye flashed.
The Knowledge Worm moved.
It didn't crawl out of Lu Yuan’s eye socket.
Instead, it swam across the contact point between ‘9’s palm and Lu Yuan’s shoulder at extreme speed. A multicolored shimmer flashed for a split second at the point of contact, then vanished beneath the greyish-white skin.
At the same time, ‘9’s other hand slapped forward.
Lu Yuan was sent flying.
The moment ‘9’s palm touched his back, a force exploded from the center of the palm, blasting him toward the altar.
Lu Yuan flipped half a turn in the air, his back slamming into something.
Pain shot from his spine to his limbs.
Vines closed in from four directions the moment he hit the ground.
Lu Yuan rolled twice on the floor, dodging the nearest branch. He kicked off the ground to bounce up half a meter, only to have another vine sweep into his shin from the side.
He had no chance to stand up.
The vines were tightening their net.
Lu Yuan activated Guard II.
Without hesitation.
【Guard II (Temporary): Consumes 20 points of maximum Sanity.】
【Sanity limit: 140 → 120】
【Sanity: +50... 100/120】
Deep within the depleted river of Sanity, a floodgate was forced open. A massive surge of Sanity rushed in, filling the riverbed that had been parched to the point of cracking.
His vision became clear once more.
Strength returned to his limbs.
Rate on N.U.
