Chapter 226: Fighting Alone
Chapter 226: Fighting Alone
Snap!
A skeletal claw unexpectedly burst from the ground, its deathly pale fingers clamping around the female archer’s ankle.
“Ah!”
Caught completely off guard, she screamed in terror by pure reflex!
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The next instant, more skeletal hands surged from the dirt, grasping for the feet of Kui Bao and the others.
Gao Jing’s left foot, too, was seized by a bony claw. The hidden undead power underground was immense. It felt like being caught in a metal clamp, impossible to shake off immediately.
Whoosh!
Instinctively, Gao Jing activated his Flame Totem. The emblem materialized instantly into a fiery long-blade in his hand.
He swung it down with brutal force!
On the journey to Senluo Ruins City, Kui Bao had mentioned this: specters and wraiths like these spirits generally dodged physical harm. Fists, kicks, or blades couldn’t hurt them physically.
Skeletons and zombies could be smashed or chopped.
But even limbless, they could still fight.
So ordinary fighters, even Junior Totem Warriors,
could not battle the undead unless they had special weapons touched with sorcery.
Only mastery of Battle Qi Empowerment could infuse swords or weapons with the Totem’s power. That could harm or destroy the undead.
The flames he surrounding his blade struck the bone claw like lightning.
It cut through the bone like a hot knife through butter, slicing it cleanly into two pieces.
The broken bones recoiled underground as if electrocuted. The fingers clutching Gao Jing’s ankle turned rapidly to ashes and fell apart!
But there were more than one of these skeletal claws popping up near Gao Jing. He swiftly sliced them apart.
He felt vibrations from underground. Suddenly, he stabbed his blade down hard! The flaming knife plunged over two meters deep. Sounds of bone shattering and crumbling rose unceasingly from below.
This single thrust successfully struck true and killed one skeletal undead!
“Aggh!”
A pained scream tore through the air. Sharp bone swords pierced up from the ground where the claws had been heavily struck!
One warrior, caught unawares, had his foot sliced open by a bony blade. Pain twisted his face instantly.
No one had foreseen this tactic from the undead. Attacks from below were hard to guard against. After freeing their legs from the skeletal grips, the other party members scrambled backward.
They tried to escape the range of the underground undead.
“Don’t scatter!” Kui Bao roared, having just hacked off a bone claw himself. His voice was frantic: “Gather around me! NOW!”
He hadn’t come to Senluo Ruins City for missions for the first time.
The last time he’d faced something similar. It had nearly wiped out the whole team.
That’s why, during the journey, Kui Bao had stressed so much about every member following orders carefully.
No going off on their own.
Yet still, this happened.
Panic and fury warred within him.
But he could do nothing.
It’s a common problem with newcomers. When danger strikes at the crucial moment, their reactions simply can’t match seasoned adventurers.
Also, Kui Bao hadn’t expected either.
That the undead in Senluo Ruins City would “greet” him and his new team like this!
Or rather, “greet” any adventurers venturing into the Ruined City.
But this was just the first taste of the horror to come.
The mist thickened rapidly, swallowing everyone. Accompanying it came murmurs and whispers, like an indistinct hum.
Like countless voices muttering just out of hearing. Impossible to make out the words. The sounds flitted right and left, impossible to pinpoint, utterly eerie.
Worse, the whispers bred agitation.
And hallucinations!
“Undead Whispers!”
Kui Bao gasped, his face paling with terror.
“RUN!” The fierce fighter screamed. He pivoted, sprinting blindly back the way they had come.
The Undead Whispers meant something powerful had appeared.
He and his team stood zero chance.
Run, or die!
Facing death, Kui Bao discarded his sense of duty as a leader.
Their captain fled in terror. The others needed no prompting.
The adventuring party shattered instantly. All their earlier caution, all their careful steps, became a pathetic joke.
Only Gao Jing did not run.
Gao Jing wasn’t foolish. He desperately wanted to escape too.
But despite the maddening Undead Whispers pressing on his mind, Gao Jing kept his reason.
The mist was thick, visibility near zero. Senluo Ruins City was already dark enough. Running wildly into the unknown fog? Utterly dangerous.
He didn’t stay put either. Instead, he quickly felt his way towards the cavern wall.
Kui Bao’s careful plan? Sticking only to the ruins’ edge. So Gao Jing easily found his way to the cold stone cliffs.
He pressed his back against the cool, hard rock. Now he faced the churning, overwhelming fog.
This eliminated the fear of an unseen attack from behind. The area he needed to defend shrank drastically.
Screech!
The moment Gao Jing steadied himself, a grey shadow shot from the fog, raking claws reaching for him.
A piercing shriek tore through the air!
A Wraith!
Instinct took over. Gao Jing thrust his Flame Blade straight at the ambusher.
Great Cleaving Blade!
He’d practiced this specific strike countless times. Perfected it. The blade surged forward, fire roaring, heat intense. A full two meters away, the blade’s fire slashed through the attacking spirit.
The wail cut off.
The wraith split into two pieces under the flames. It twisted violently, dissolving into wisps of grey smoke, merging back into the mist.
A faintly glowing crystal dropped at Gao Jing’s feet.
A Tear of the Undead!
The first required task item, dropped unexpectedly.
Gao Jing didn’t spare it a glance. More wraiths were emerging.
Not just one or two.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gao Jing’s left hand gripped a pistol. He fired rapidly at the ghostly figures.
The bullets passed clean through them. No harm done to the incorporeal spirits.
The outcome didn’t surprise Gao Jing.
He was only testing a theory.
He stashed the pistol back into his Storage Space. Instantly, another Flame Blade formed in his now-empty left hand.
“BRING IT!” he roared.
He crossed both arms. Twin blazing swords slammed together, spraying sparks into the fog.
The sudden, fierce flare of heat illuminated the wraiths lunging from different directions. It revealed their shifting forms fully against the encompassing gloom.
Back planted firmly against the unwavering rock wall, Gao Jing spun and swung his dual Flame Blades.
No flashy moves. No intricate techniques. Just the raw, most direct, vicious slashes possible. He met the endless tide of wraiths crashing onto him. He hacked them apart. He sliced them into shreds. He burned them into nothingness!
Alone. Outnumbered. Yet, fear found no hold. His killing will, his battle fury, burned hotter and higher with every strike.
Glittering, crystal clear Tears of the Undead piled around Gao Jing’s feet!
Plenty for the mission.
Focused, utterly consumed, Gao Jing didn’t dare glance at the spoils once.
He focused his power through the Seven Enemy-Slaying Blades technique. His Flame Blades weaved a net of fire before him. Any wraith daring to charge straight in met instant, fiery dissolution!