The bright spots in the darkness connected into lines in an instant.
A rank wind crashed in, nearly brushing against the channel entrance.
The limbs of those greater ghouls scraped against the rubble floor with a sharp, screeching sound, the noise of bone friction mingling with low growls, causing the dust at the top of the rock walls to shiver and fall.
They had lurked in the lowest level of the abyss for too long; now, smelling the scent of the living, their predatory instincts instantly overrode their fear of the holy light.
The first to meet the charge were the Descendants.
Dozens of metal shells wrapped in black robes showed no panic. Their mechanical joints operated with dull, clanking sounds as they locked themselves into position at the mouths of the several branch channels ahead.
Their feet stepped heavily into the soil and rubble, crushing large patches of thick, greyish-white hyphae. Using their weight to steady themselves, dozens of alloy blades slid from their metal arms, pointing diagonally forward.
The impact erupted in an instant.
The massive bodies of the greater ghouls slammed into the Descendants' metal defensive line, the sound of dull bone fractures and metal blunt impacts mingling together.
The two Descendants in the front row were pushed back half a step by the immense force, their hard metal feet plowing two shallow furrows through the mud and rubble, kicking up slimy, blackened residue. However, their blades had already pierced through the chests of the two ghouls in the lead.
Blackish-red fluid sprayed out along the metal blades, splashing onto the damp hyphae and into the cracks between the stones.
The battle line was held firm by the Descendants' bodies.
These core pioneers of the Great Ascendants displayed terrifying combat power. Although they lacked human breath or transcendent fluctuations, cold white light flickered within their hollow eye sockets. Every swing and thrust of their blades was extremely precise, cutting through the ghouls' joints and throats without a millimeter of error.
Lake stood in the shadows of the flank, his fingers resting lightly on the hilt of his short-blade. He leaned forward slightly but did not rush out immediately.
His short brown hair was tucked into his coat collar as he watched the wave of ghouls being forcibly split apart by the Descendants with cold eyes.
The scavenger fungus on the ground had still not been fully cleared.
Adrian pushed the tome hovering in mid-air forward an inch. The old Archbishop’s face appeared somewhat pale under the pale gold blessing halo. His right hand was pressed tightly against the holy emblem on his chest, and though his chanting was low and measured, with every syllable that fell, the golden light emitted by the tome brightened by another layer.
Wherever the halo reached, the greyish-white hyphae on the ground curled and blackened in patches, turning into charred ash that peeled away.
But deeper in the rift, damp, moldy mist continued to surge upward. Agnes and the two nuns stood behind Adrian, each holding a silver holy water cup and splashing diluted holy water onto the protective zone around the team to neutralize the rotting scent drifting in past the front lines.
Lu Yuan leaned against the rough rock wall at the edge of the sinkhole.
Two rows of Descendants stood steadily as a metal wall in front of him, their alloy blades weaving a curtain of cold light.
Behind such a defensive line composed of several rank 4 and rank 3 elites, Lu Yuan—who was a "rank 2 transcendent" on the surface—didn't even have an opportunity to join the fray.
He adjusted his collar, confirming that the small pouch of ghoul brain cores at his waist was within easy reach, and then turned his gaze toward the chaotic center of the engagement.
The beams from the march lamps and the golden holy light flickered wildly against the rock walls, stretching the shadows of people and ghouls into fragmented shapes.
Everywhere he looked were distorted shadows and splashing fluids. The roars of greater ghouls as their flesh was sliced away by blades echoed repeatedly in the narrow space. It was impossible to distinguish any valuable details from this grey-black chaos with the naked eye alone.
A row of cold, greyish-white text suddenly flowed across the edge of Lu Yuan’s vision.
The large amount of greyish-white text scrolled extremely quickly, mostly consisting of minor fluctuations in the environmental pollution concentration. However, among the rows of monotonous information, a red-and-grey warning prompt popped up, exceptionally prominent:
【Abnormal individual detected; life attributes have shifted.】
【Detection Target: Greater Ghoul (Forest Seed Parasite)】
【Parasitized by a "Forest Seed" and completed physical sign conversion. This individual no longer belongs to the original ghoul species and possesses extreme parasitic and secondary contagious traits.】
Lu Yuan’s heart sank.
He didn't have time to carefully study the detailed explanation of "physical sign conversion." He immediately followed the directional description provided by the system prompt, searching through the overlapping shadows near the third branch channel on the left.
In a dark corner at the edge of the holy light, a greater ghoul, bloated to the point of deformity, was moving slowly along the edge of the rock wall.
Its flesh was an unnatural greenish-grey, and a layer of dry, cracked wooden bark was visible in the gaps of its bone joints.
That layer of rough wooden carapace had pushed out from beneath its skin, rooting itself into the flesh. In the faint light of the passing march lamps, it displayed the texture of dried, cracked wood.
It moved along the edge of the stone wall, using the corpses of its kin as cover, avoiding the sweeping holy light as it retreated toward the shadows of the deepest branch channel.
This wood-armored ghoul noticed Lu Yuan’s gaze—or perhaps it instinctively felt fear toward certain high-level powers within this human team. Its massive body suddenly contracted, and it turned to bolt into the shadows of the channel.
Lu Yuan pointed at the edge of the left stone wall and shouted, “Catch that thing! Don't let it get away!”
The Blue Knight’s eyes narrowed slightly in the shadows of the rock wall.
Her blue dress was somewhat prominent under the dim holy light, and her long blue cloak trailed behind her, damp with the moisture of the underground.
She did not draw the sword at her waist. Instead, she simply took a step forward and raised her right hand, which was encased in a fine white leather glove.
Several extremely thin, light-blue threads drifted out from between her fingers.
The ghostly blue threads emitted a cold halo in mid-air, tearing through the gloomy air at high speed.
The Blue Knight moved as well.
She stepped over the slippery mud and loose stones, her movements light and agile. Each time her boots rose and fell, she avoided the large patches of slimy hyphae. Her blue dress fluttered with her movements, and as she turned, the blue threads from her fingers interlaced into a net.
The dozens of greater ghouls lunging at the front didn't even have a chance to let out a growl. The threads easily sliced through their hard skin, and every time the light passed, it precisely pierced the brain core at the center of their foreheads.
Small, finger-sized holes were left in the skulls of those fallen greater ghouls.
The large pack of ghouls collapsed heavily to the ground, brain matter and foul-smelling fluids leaking from the holes and soaking the rubble on the floor.
Only the greater ghoul clad in wooden armor remained alive.
It let out a sharp shriek the moment it was ensnared by the threads. Its joints were bound tightly by several blue lines, which bit deep into its greenish-grey flesh.
The Blue Knight clenched the fingers of her right hand and yanked her arm back. The massive, heavy monstrous body was forcibly ripped from the ground and slammed heavily into the clearing in front of the team, bringing a spray of mud and stone with it.
The greater ghoul lay among the rubble, struggling as the blue threads tightened further, nearly severing the wooden structures beneath its flesh.
Lu Yuan walked forward, leaning down to stare at the captured monster.
Archbishop Adrian and Lake also gathered around. The old Archbishop pressed the holy emblem on his chest, his expression tense as the light from the tome focused on the mutated ghoul, illuminating its details clearly.
The skin of this greater ghoul showed large patches of greenish-grey lesions.
At the gaps in its joints and ribs, a layer of wooden fibers had sprouted, taking root deep within its flesh.
The rough fibers interlaced into a net, binding the monster's chest and spine tightly together.
Looking at these familiar tangled forms, Lu Yuan immediately recalled his previous experiences chasing the tree-men in the city and treating Kail in C-District; this was identical to the "Forest Seed" that had eroded the flesh of Kail's shoulder.
In Lu Yuan’s vision, the cold-toned grey-white text surfaced again:
【Detection Target: Greater Ghoul (Polluted Entity)】
【Status Description: Deeply parasitized by a "Forest Seed." The individual's life mechanism is undergoing restructuring; the original flesh structure has been converted into a woodenized spore medium. Note: It has left the ghoul faction and possesses extreme parasitic activity and contagious tendencies.】
Lu Yuan looked at the information in his vision, and his expression became very grim.
“It’s been parasitized by a Forest Seed,” Lu Yuan said as he crouched down, pointing at the dry, cracked wooden bark at the greater ghoul’s joints. “And it no longer belongs to the ghouls.”
Adrian frowned slightly. “Doesn't belong to the ghouls? It has mutated, but its body still has the silhouette of a ghoul.”
“Its life essence has been replaced by the Forest Seed,” Lu Yuan said in a low voice. “If this were just an isolated case of parasitism, the situation would still be manageable. But if this thing can cause secondary infections among the ghouls...”
He turned to the Archbishop, his expression solemn. “Our bronze pillars and the Ancient Large-scale Inscription arrays carved upon them were all established to target the native underground ghouls. Once the targets of the underground seals all transform into these wooden monsters that do not belong to the ghoul faction, the original seals will very likely lose their effectiveness entirely, and the balance will be shattered.”
Adrian’s eyes shook violently.
He naturally understood the meaning behind Lu Yuan’s words. If the seals failed, the entire Bronze City would fall.
“How can you be certain it’s contagious?” the Archbishop asked in a heavy voice. “Perhaps it just accidentally came into contact with fungal seeds in the pipe network layer above.”
Lu Yuan did not offer a verbal explanation.
He reached into the leather tool pouch at his waist and pulled out a copper stripping knife.
Lu Yuan gripped the copper knife and plunged it into the cracked greenish-grey flesh of the greater ghoul’s abdomen.
The greater ghoul’s body suddenly convulsed, and a large amount of thick black water erupted from its mouth.
The moment Lu Yuan pulled the copper knife out, the dry wooden fibers around the wound suddenly came to life.
Dozens of thin plant roots writhed and extended frantically in the air. Following the scent of the copper elements remaining in the air, they desperately reached for the copper knife in Lu Yuan’s hand, with a few tips even attempting to entwine themselves around his leather glove.
It was an instinctive desire to devour copper and a nearly pathological drive for expansion.
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