Yet strangely, the grey-cloaked cultist sliced in half didn't scream, nor did he even struggle; he simply collapsed stiffly to the ground.
The Nightwatchers couldn't afford to care about such oddities. Seeing Captain Mary charging forward, their morale soared, and they launched a fierce counterattack.
Those holding alchemical muskets began adjusting their firing rhythm. Although the bullet force was weakened by the water screens, the dense barrage of fire still managed to provide effective suppression.
The melee fighters drew their enchanted longswords, engaging the grey-cloaked figures in hand-to-hand combat under the empowerment of the silver light.
But the grey-cloaked figures made their move as well.
Following another wave of eerie chanting, faint blue patterns surfaced across the grey-cloaked figures' bodies, making their movements noticeably faster and stronger.
Blessing of the Deep Sea!
With both sides' buffs clashing against each other, the battlefield devolved into brutal hand-to-hand combat.
Flashing sword blades collided with battered weapons. Even though the grey-cloaked cultists wielded crude arms, their death-defying combat style and superior numbers allowed them to withstand the Nightwatchers' momentum, plunging the battle into a desperate stalemate.
Lu Yuan's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
If this continues, Mary won't hold out.
Lu Yuan turned to Ink. “I'm going out there.”
Ink floated out from the notebook, unusually refraining from snark. “...Are you sure?”
“The caster must die. Otherwise, our firepower won't be restored.”
Ink stayed silent for a moment before letting out a sigh.
“There's something I need to tell you.”
Her tone carried a trace of helplessness. “After fighting that priest and pulling you back from that Strange Dream... I'm actually injured right now.”
“If you go out there to fight, I might not be able to protect you.”
Lu Yuan froze for a moment.
Ink was injured?
She had never mentioned it before.
“Why didn't you say so earlier?”
“What difference would it have made?” Ink rolled her eyes. “It's not like you can heal me.”
Lu Yuan looked at her in silence for a long time, knowing he truly had no way to treat her injuries.
【Spotted Special Containment: Book Spirit (Knowledge disrupted...)】
【Traits: Feeds on knowledge; can also serve as an index for knowledge.】
【Treatment Method: ...Insufficient knowledge... Preset plan failed...】
“Just stay here and guard the hall while keeping an eye on Mina. Besides, I don't like leaving my fate in someone else's hands. I prefer taking the initiative.”
Ink stared at Lu Yuan for a few seconds. “...Don't die.”
“I'll try.”
Lu Yuan turned and charged toward the entrance.
The battlefield had devolved into total chaos.
Lu Yuan rushed into the fray with a single clear target—the spellcaster who was still continuously chanting.
He raised his enchanted revolver, took aim, and pulled the trigger.
“Bang!”
The bullet streaked through the chaotic crowd, only to be intercepted by a grey-cloaked cultist.
This won't work, Lu Yuan judged. The next instant, he activated Timekeeper.
Click!
The world slowed down in his eyes.
He darted rapidly along the edges of the battlefield, relying on Timekeeper's acceleration to evade incoming attacks as he steadily closed the distance to the spellcaster.
【Sanity: 59/71 → 56/71】
Mary noticed Lu Yuan weaving through the battlefield at incredible speed. Seeing his flickering silhouette, she instantly grasped his intention.
She let out a thunderous shout, her aura surging like a rising tide. The silver halo exploded outward as her silver longsword radiated blinding light, carving a path straight through the enemy lines for Lu Yuan with a single sweep of her blade.
Seizing the opportunity, Lu Yuan accelerated once more. Finally, as the last guard in front of the spellcaster was sliced in two, Lu Yuan raised his gun.
“Bang!”
The bullet cut through the dim light in a sharp arc.
The next moment, the head of the spellcaster hiding in the crowd exploded, and his body slumped limply to the ground.
The Deep Sea Barrier vanished along with him!
“Our firepower is back!” a Nightwatcher shouted in excitement upon noticing the shift.
Yet an ominous feeling surged in Lu Yuan's heart.
It had been too easy.
That spellcaster had almost no protection, almost as if... he had been left there to be killed intentionally.
Right at that moment, the corpse began to shudder violently.
An eerie ripple erupted from the corpse, instantly enveloping every grey-cloaked cultist!
“Great Mother... accept the sacrifice of your children...”
“Grant us... our true forms...”
It was a curse etched onto the spellcaster long ago—a group mutation triggered by death!
Every grey-cloaked cultist wore a fanatical expression as they unleashed agonizing roars in unison.
Their skin turned a deep blue as foul-smelling scales grew at a visible rate. Their withered hands mutated into webbed claws, and their mouths split open to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Almost every grey-cloaked cultist on the field transformed into a half-human, half-fish monstrosity!
【Deep Sea Kin (Low-level): A creature mutated by dabbling in the power of the deep sea.】
It was a trap!
That spellcaster was bait from the start, meant to drain the Nightwatchers' strength before triggering a group mutation!
“Damn it!” Mary roared in fury, clearly realizing she had been played.
Though firepower was restored, the mutated kin were far more frenzied than before.
Flinging themselves at the Nightwatchers with zero regard for their own lives, they ripped a breach through the defensive line in an instant with sharp claws and fangs.
Lu Yuan fired wildly, but there were simply too many kin.
Before Lu Yuan could reload his revolver, he saw a Nightwatcher tackled to the ground by a kin, their throat torn open as blood spurted everywhere.
His Sanity continued to plummet.
【Sanity: 56/71 → 52/71 → 48/71...】
Just as the defensive line was on the verge of complete collapse—
A roar bellowed from the distance.
“Get the hell out of my way!”
A figure descended from above.
Boom!
The ground cracked into a deep crater as stone debris scattered everywhere.
As the dust settled, a tall female figure was revealed.
Standing nearly two meters tall with sharply defined muscles, she held a massive warhammer whose head crackled with arcs of lightning.
Alice!
She swept her gaze across the battlefield, her eyes burning with fury.
“I was only gone for a few days, and trash like you dares to attack the base?”
She let out a cold snort and raised her warhammer.
“Die!”
The lightning on the warhammer surged, forming a crackling storm of arcs.
She slammed it violently down toward the cluster of kin.
Rumble—
Lightning tore through the kin, charring those nearby into cinders on the spot!
The kin's charge was forcefully broken.
With Alice joining the fray, the Nightwatchers finally stabilized their footing.
“Captain is back!”
“Counterattack!”
Mary endured the pain of her wounds and roared, “Unleash full firepower! Support Captain Alice!”
As Mary's words fell, the silver halo erupted once more. But this time, its hue was visibly dimmer, showing that Mary was approaching her limit as well.
Yet it was more than enough. Empowered by the halo, Alice—already terrifyingly strong—became a human storm of destruction.
And with their firepower restored, the Nightwatchers felt revitalized.
Mithril, firebombs, alchemical grenades—all kinds of explosives poured out once again.
Synergizing with Alice's lightning and Mary's blade, the Nightwatchers began pushing the enemy back.
Rate on N.U.
