“The first scenario is a diversion,” Sword-man said.
“That mad Lord of the City isn't even on this floating island. He's probably hidden elsewhere with S-001.”
“While we're over here foolishly turning the place upside down, he'll quietly activate the New Era over there... and then we all go down together.”
Evans shook his head. “Didn't you say S-003 can't be moved?”
“S-003 can't run, but he can,” Sword-man scoffed. “The Lord of the City can relocate with S-001, and the blood pact will still hold. However...”
He paused, his tone growing a bit more serious.
“Before S-001 activates, there will be massive energy fluctuations. The startup time is so long that it would give me enough time to fly all the way here from the Abyss.”
“Even if he hides in some remote corner, we can trace the fluctuations and drag him out.”
“So we can basically rule this one out.”
He held up a second finger.
“The second scenario is a defensive stand.”
“The Lord of the City is hunkered down right next to S-003, sticking close to it.”
“If so, those of us ‘compatriots’ bound to that madman by the blood pact... including me and the old bag, won't be able to muster any fighting strength near S-003.”
“That suppression force is no joke. Once we get close, we won't even be able to stand steady. We'll have to rely entirely on you to charge in.”
He glanced at Evans.
“And it won't be easy for you either. You've already experienced that annihilation effect.”
Evans raised his hand and looked at his fingertips. The black liquid was slowly and periodically trembling.
Even at this distance from S-003, it was already reacting.
“And the third scenario?” he asked.
“He took both S-001 and S-003 and is running all over the place.”
“Once the Month of Divine Sight passes and the suppression force recovers, it'll be hard for us to fight him.”
Evans chimed in, “But since the blood pact's sensation is right here, we can already rule that out.”
“He won't run.”
Sword-man concluded, his voice carrying an indefinable mix of certainty and resignation.
“So he is definitely on this floating island, and in all likelihood, he's hunkered down right next to S-003, waiting for us to deliver ourselves to him.”
Evans's mouth twitched. “So after all that talk, it's still the second scenario?”
“The second one,” Sword-man nodded. “A defensive stand.”
“Then what are we still analyzing here? Why don't we just head straight in?”
“We can only go in after we've analyzed it.”
Sword-man glared at him, completely self-righteous.
“It's called planning before acting. A guy who only thinks with his stomach like you wouldn't understand.”
“You're the one who thinks with his stomach.”
“You think with your bowels.”
Despite the impending battle, with Sword-man around, the atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed.
Ren Yi's tentacles quickly twisted between the two. “Alright, alright, the direction is set. Let's just go.”
They made their way down the corridor, passing several sealed doors that had been violently breached.
These were all traces left behind by the other compatriots clearing the way ahead.
Some doors had been completely blown off, while others had large holes melted through them.
On one heavy blast door, there was a massive fist print, the metal deeply dented inward as if it had been rammed head-on by a charging rhino.
“Your compatriots are pretty fierce,” Evans remarked.
He couldn't help but take a second look as they passed.
“They've been cooped up for four eras. Now that they finally get to smash things, you'd be fierce too.”
Sword-man didn't even turn his head.
The corridor began to slope downward, transitioning from a straight path into a gentle incline.
The walls on both sides changed from grayish-white alloy to an older material that looked like a mixture of rock and metal.
After walking another hundred meters, Ren Yi's tentacles suddenly went completely rigid, like tightly wound violin strings.
“Stop.”
Evans and Sword-man halted at the same time.
Ren Yi's voice echoed in their minds.
“Something's wrong. There's something ahead interfering with my perception.”
Evans didn't speak. He slowly raised his right hand and reached into the air ahead.
At his fingertips, the sharp, blade-like black tips formed by the black liquid were slowly disappearing at a visible rate.
Annihilation.
The tips of his fingers were being erased by some unseen force.
Black liquid surged frantically from the base of his fingers to replenish the vanishing parts.
“S-003,” Sword-man whispered, his voice extremely low. “We hit the jackpot. It's right nearby.”
“The power of the annihilation is much weaker than before,” Evans added, staring at his fingertips.
“My regeneration rate can currently outpace the rate of annihilation.”
Before his voice could fade, a dark red light suddenly flared up around the corner ahead.
The light didn't come from any lamp; instead, it seemed to condense out of thin air.
It started as a tiny speck before rapidly expanding into a broad glow, staining the entire corridor the color of blood.
Then, a blade drifted out from behind the corner.
No, it didn't just "drift out." It floated out in midair, its tip pointing downward as it slowly rotated.
With every rotation, the dark red patterns on the blade flared, resembling dried-up blood vessels being refilled.
A thick scent of blood filled the air, permeating from all directions as if the walls, floor, and ceiling of the corridor were all oozing blood.
“S-006,” Sword-man muttered, his voice laced with the complex emotion of meeting an old acquaintance. “The Demon Blade.”
The blade stopped rotating.
Its tip slowly rose, pointing directly at Sword-man.
The dark red patterns on the blade flared violently, and then it moved.
Yet, instead of flying toward Sword-man, it violently slashed at the adjacent wall.
A deep gash was sliced into the wall, but it didn't reveal the structure behind it.
Instead, a thick, dark red substance resembling coagulated blood welled out.
The liquid trickled down the wall, emitting a sizzling, corrosive hiss as it made contact with the floor.
“It loses control on its own, slashing wildly.”
Sword-man's voice was calm.
“But it needs to absorb enough blood to unleash its true power.”
“Right now, it's clearly gorged itself to the brim... but it has no brain, so it's easy to deal with.”
“Easy to deal with?”
Evans watched as the blade slashed another expanding red fissure into the opposite wall.
The dark red liquid seeping from the cracks had already pooled on the ground, looking like a fresh splatter of blood.
“Easy enough for me.”
Sword-man held his longsword horizontally before him. The green glow on the blade began to brighten, turning from a dull shimmer to a brilliant, piercing light.
“As for you two... you'd better get out of here quickly.”
“Can you handle this alone?”
Sword-man didn't answer.
The corner of his mouth curled upward as he took a stride forward.
His longsword trailed behind him, its tip carving a long trail of sparks against the floor.
The green light stretched into a thin line behind him, resembling an azure bird spreading its wings.
The Demon Blade seemed to sense the threat. The dark red patterns on its body flared violently, and the entire blade pounced toward Sword-man like a rabid beast.
Sword-man met it with a strike. The green light clashed with the dark red, producing a piercing metallic shriek that shook plaster dust from the corridor walls.
“Go!”
Sword-man's voice rang out from the interwoven green and dark red light, carrying an unquestionable decisiveness.
“Go forward and don't look back! What you're looking for is right behind that door!”
Rate on N.U.
