Just as the sonic wave was about to erupt from Li Zhiya’s mouth, the muddy Fruit Thunder suddenly dragged the woman away.
All around her, the air instantly turned pitch black, as if she had stepped into an endless darkness where no boundaries could be seen.
She was stunned for a moment, then manipulated her hair condensed into sharp blades to sweep the surroundings, even letting out one sharp, shrill scream after another.
But the Phantom Mist shrouding her was not something so easily dispersed. For now, she was trapped in this world of darkness, unable to find the shadow of her prey.
Outside the black snow, two figures seized the chance while Li Zhiya was lost and slipped through the large gap in the Manor wall, retreating to a temporarily safe spot.
Peeking out to check the situation outside, Jiang Sui let out a breath, thinking the effect of the Phantom Mist on her was even better than she’d imagined.
However, judging from the battle just now, Li Zhiya’s power would only continue to grow stronger.
It wouldn’t be long before she broke through that little bit of restraint.
“What a troublesome creature.”
Jiang Sui lowered her head, and just as she was about to turn, she locked eyes with the wary and furious Lu Yunze.
“What are you doing here?”
“Come on, I taught you before. Why are you looking at me as if I’m one of those bystanders?”
After saying this, Jiang Sui watched his expression from the corner of her eye and, seeing that he was still as stern as ever, had no choice but to answer him honestly.
“It was your little maid who notified me. With something this big going on, how could I miss out on the fun?”
“Fun?” Lu Yunze frowned.
“Yeah, do you know why things turned out like this?”
“The King of Dark Sleeves.”
“That’s right.” The girl snapped her fingers, a bright smile on her face. “Opportunities to come into contact with the Evil God’s Power are rare. I can’t just let this prime specimen go.”
“So to you, this is all just an Experiment?”
“Don’t misunderstand, I still want to defeat that creature. On this matter, we’re united on the Battlefront. As long as you’re willing to cooperate with me, there’s still a chance for victory. Now, it’s up to you to decide.”
As she spoke, she extended her hand toward Lu Yunze.
The white sleeve slid down, revealing a section of porcelain-white wrist, palm up, waiting for Lu Yunze’s response.
The girl’s smile was adorable and seemingly harmless, but to Lu Yunze, her eyes were filled with wild ambition, making him feel that agreeing would inevitably lead him into some trap.
“You say there are Victory Odds. How can you guarantee them?”
“Honestly, I do know a way to deal her a heavy blow,” Jiang Sui replied. “But I need a little preparation time, and during that, I’ll need a competent bodyguard to stall her for me.”
So this is your plan? Use me as bait?
“Don’t be mad. To make sure nothing goes wrong, I even risked my neck to retrieve something from the lab.” Jiang Sui pointed to a large cannon cut apart on the ground. “There’s no one in this world more considerate of their partners than I am, okay?”
Lu Yunze rolled his eyes, but finally reached out and clasped her small hand.
“Fine. Don’t let me down.”
“As expected of Young Master Lu Yunze—decisive.” Jiang Sui said, then pulled out two Potions from her robe and shoved them into his hands.
“When you see her, remember to smash one on her face. Careful not to get it on yourself.”
These two Potions… why do they look a bit suspicious?
Before Lu Yunze could ask what they were, Jiang Sui pushed him out directly.
Staggering as he ran out of the courtyard, Lu Yunze arrived just in time to see Li Zhiya disperse the last trace of black mist. Her neck, capable of rotating a full 360 degrees, immediately locked onto him.
With only Jiang Sui’s guarantee, Lu Yunze still felt uneasy. What if he really got caught?
No, this was Jiang Sui’s plan. Even if he couldn’t trust himself, he could trust Jiang Sui.
Seeing Li Zhiya dart forward, Lu Yunze hurriedly took out one of the Potions and hurled it straight at her face.
Then…
Seeing the Potion flying toward her, Li Zhiya simply gathered her long hair from the ground and blocked her own face.
The Potion shattered against her iron-like hair, not a single drop getting through.
“So it works like that?”
Lu Yunze was dumbfounded, thinking he should slap himself—she must have predicted he’d mess up.
“She’s thought of everything.”
Lu Yunze gritted his teeth, unscrewing the next Potion, looking for another suitable opportunity.
Meanwhile, in the Manor’s main hall—
Jiang Sui quickly cleared an open space, then used cinnabar to sketch out a Magic Array on the floor, lines that had long been planned.
Once she finished, she saw Black Hunt’s silhouette coming downstairs.
“Bo Yao has been moved to a safe place.”
“All right, we can begin.”
“Big sis, if not to win over Lu Yunze and force him to cooperate, I wouldn’t have taught her this…”
Jiang Sui scratched her face, looking a bit awkward.
“I think you should’ve just left her behind. After she’s shredded to pieces, you could use Lu Yunze’s fragile heart to finish him off.” Black Hunt spoke such cruel words in a calm tone.
“That would work, but then Lu Yunze would hate me forever. Wait, maybe I should’ve realized that sooner.” Jiang Sui’s expression didn’t brighten at all.
“Did you really not realize, or is there something else going on?”
“What are you talking about? Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.”
Jiang Sui lightly tapped her own head, trying to brush it off.
Black Hunt just poked his head out indifferently, then began preparing for the ritual with her.
“What if Lu Yunze can’t hold out?” Black Hunt suddenly thought of this question.
“Impossible. I gave him two Potions.”
As long as he can smash them onto Li Zhiya, he can cut off her Soul Tether for a while—two bottles are enough for Lu Yunze to hold on for quite a long time.
“Unless he wastes them both…”
That shouldn’t happen, right? After all, he’s Young Master Lu Yunze—he fought so well before, it shouldn’t go wrong now.
Just as Jiang Sui was full of confidence in her Young Master, outside at the battlefront, Lu Yunze’s heart was utterly gloomy.
“This is impossible…”
He’d finally gotten close to Li Zhiya, and Lu Yunze flung the second Potion at her.
The result was the same—the bottle was snatched by her hair.
Watching the liquid fly everywhere but not a single drop landing on the target, Lu Yunze felt his face grow hopeless.
Should I run back and ask Jiang Sui for more Potions?
Lu Yunze had just finished this thought when he saw Li Zhiya’s neck stretch unnaturally, her jaw gaping open.
Lu Yunze immediately leaped back, pulling away just as Li Zhiya released a sonic blast.
Using the rebound force from his foothold, Lu Yunze kept dodging her, barely avoiding the sonic booms. But each blast left new craters in the ground, leaving fewer and fewer safe spots to stand.
By the time Li Zhiya’s throat was almost smoking, her sonic attacks finally stopped. Lu Yunze was on the verge of collapse.
“Why won’t you die?”
“So you can still talk, huh.”
Lu Yunze had thought her mind was already lost to corruption, but she could still speak so fluently.
“Die…die, all of you just die!”
In a rage, Li Zhiya began to pound her own grotesquely swollen belly, even using her nails to scratch herself, leaving her abdomen a bloody mess.
With her effort, her stomach finally split open down the middle.
Bone shattered, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and several Touch Tentacles burst out of her belly, dancing in midair before whipping toward Lu Yunze.
They moved too fast to dodge, so Lu Yunze could only raise both hands to protect himself.
Then his body was struck and sent flying, directly crashing into the courtyard.
Li Zhiya was about to chase after him, but a sudden strange aura from inside the Manor made her pause for a moment.
“So the Box isn’t on you?”
Li Zhiya instantly turned, using her intestine-like Touch Tentacles to smash through the wall, catching sight of the girl in the main hall.
“So it’s here.”
All her attention was focused on the Box before Jiang Sui, and she let out a sharp, manic laugh.
Jiang Sui’s eyes widened and she couldn’t help but curse:
“Lu Yunze, hurry up!”
A spike formed from condensed hair shot straight for her heart. Jiang Sui had to turn her body into mist and float aside to evade.
Without Jiang Sui, the Magic Array’s glow quickly dimmed.
As she dispelled her mist form, her shoulder was still grazed, leaving a chunk of flesh torn off. Her expression darkened.
Li Zhiya advanced, but Lu Yunze jumped through the breach behind her, rushing for her back.
Lu Yunze threw a textbook Military Boxing combo at the monster—moves crisp and neat, but they did almost no damage.
Just as he finished, his hand was grabbed by Touch Tentacles and he was flung aside, smashing into Jiang Sui.
The two of them rolled into a corner of the hall, able only to watch as Li Zhiya approached the Magic Array.
“Ow, that hurts… What stabbed me?”
Jiang Sui sat up, noticing the Protective Amulet Lu Yunze had given her was still in the inner pocket, thinking, Could it be that thing?
She pushed Lu Yunze aside, tugged open her robe, and reached in—but found nothing. Not even the warmth of blood.
That’s odd…Where’s the Amulet?
She pulled the collar of her clothes a bit lower, revealing her white collarbone and the skin below.
Between her two white rabbits, a deep line was emitting a strange green light.
At the same time, as he reached for his waist, Lu Yunze—whose mind had grown hazy—suddenly found his thoughts clearing.
If only I had a handy weapon right now…
This idea grew so strong it nearly took over his mind.
Something was tempting him, pushing down the girl beneath him, pinning her in place.
“Hey, what are you—”
Jiang Sui watched him raise his hand, pressing directly onto her chest.
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of doing that at a time like this? At least wait until the fight’s over—”
Before she could finish, Lu Yunze’s hand slid over her abdomen, and under the girl’s stunned gaze, slowly pulled something out.
It was—the hilt of a sword.
No, it was a heavy, weighty Heavy Sword!
As Lu Yunze drew out the Heavy Sword, he spun and slashed toward Li Zhiya.
A dense wave of sword energy struck the mutated monster, sending her flying and crashing through a collapsed wall out into the open.
Lu Yunze looked at the Heavy Sword in his hand, his eyes glued to it.
As for Jiang Sui lying on the floor, she felt like she might really be broken this time.