Chapter 34: Bloodlight Piercing the Heavens!

The shadowy figure moved with incredible speed, jets of propulsion flames spewing from his back.

The enemy’s nano-armor now hung from his body in ragged strips like torn cloth. His visor was shattered, and his neck twisted at a grotesque angle.

If it were anyone else, such injuries would’ve meant instant death.

No one knew what method the target, “Engineer,” had used to overdraw his life force to escape the encirclement of Li Xingyue and the others.

Lin Xun licked his lips cruelly and yanked hard on the reins. The monstrous Bloodhorse reared high on its hind legs.

Neighhh!

From the gaps between the metal plates of the armor, eerie crimson mist surged outward.

The crimson aura, like blood-drenched ribbons, coiled around the armored knight’s body.

At that moment, the warhorse’s hooves came crashing down, sending stone and earth flying.

With an unstoppable momentum, man and beast charged together. The Paladin of Discipline’s sword pointed straight at the frantically fleeing enemy.

Blood Charge!

The thunderous stomp of the behemoth echoed across the silent night. The charging steel war machine dragged a long trail of blood-red afterimages behind it…

Through the slit of his helmet, Lin Xun could clearly see the horror magnified in the enemy’s eyes—mere moments from collision!

BOOM!!

The enemy was like a rag doll hit by a speeding freight truck.

He was flung backward at several times his previous speed, crashing into the ground with enough force to create a human-shaped crater, smoke and dust billowing skyward.

After a long while, Li Xingyue finally arrived. Her Shell was that of a female assassin wielding a chained sickle, wearing a demon-faced mask and skintight armor etched with runes—deadly and alluring.

“I told you to let him escape, not to block him, why are you still here… uh, why is the Engineer in the crater?”

“That was you?!”

Even though her face was hidden behind the demon mask, Lin Xun could hear the shock in her voice.

Close behind was Lu Caiyi. The woman in white had transformed into a ferocious female warrior, donning massive lion-headed metal gauntlets. The beast-hide bra and short skirt couldn’t conceal her panther-like wildness.

“Team Leader Li, isn’t Lin Xun supposed to be a newbie? Were you guys lying to me?”

Lu Caiyi stared at the mangled humanoid creature in the crater, utterly incredulous.

Normally, given her shy personality, the white-clad girl wouldn’t speak so bluntly. It must have been a side effect of materializing her Shell…

“Enough, we’ll talk later. The target has a talent that overdraws life force—he might not be dead yet!”

Li Xingyue’s voice was low and serious.

The two women, together with Lin Xun, formed a triangle to surround the target.

Li Xingyue had already been caught off guard once by the Engineer’s tenacious vitality—she wasn’t about to let it happen again.

“Attack!”

At her command, the three were just about to move—

When the fallen Engineer suddenly opened his eyes. Despite his near-crippled condition and having taken a full-force Blood Charge, he wasn’t dead!

The propulsion pack on his back buzzed. A fiery burst of thrust erupted, launching him into the sky like a rocket, aiming to escape the battlefield!

“Xiaoqi!” Li Xingyue shouted sharply.

Bang!

A muffled gunshot rang out in response.

The flying figure suddenly jerked—then continued flying.

“Xiaoqi, you’re the cheerleader here,” Lin Xun muttered, quickly materializing the Crossbow and firing a bolt at the escaping figure.

Unfortunately, the enemy’s speed was too fast—the bolt missed.

“We can’t let him get away!”

Seeing that the enemy was about to escape, Lin Xun didn’t have time to think. He flicked the reins and galloped in pursuit.

Li Xingyue followed closely but found the distance between her and Lin Xun growing wider. That blood-colored warhorse galloped as if riding the wind, growing faster and faster.

The enemy’s flight speed was also rapidly increasing. Even the warhorse seemed like it was starting to fall behind.

“Looks like we can’t catch up.”

Li Xingyue frowned, deeply regretful over the impending failure of the mission.

Lu Caiyi, the enforcer borrowed from the Armed Division, might look soft and frail on the outside, but her soul talent in combat was formidable!

Li Xingyue still couldn’t understand how a talent called “Endless Strength” ended up in such a sweet and cuddly girl. No wonder the White Deer was the prized asset of the Armed Division.

During the earlier courtyard battle, none of them had expected the Engineer to have a life-overdrawing talent. A punch from Lu Caiyi that should have shattered his skull had only broken his neck.

Thanks to his talent, the Engineer’s vitality surged under the overdraw effect. Even with his neck bent at a diagonal, he could still move freely.

That moment of relaxation on their part had allowed the target to escape.

Bringing Lin Xun along on this mission was originally just to let the newbie get familiar with internal task procedures. Once the target was dead, he could make use of his own talent.

She had never intended for Lin Xun to actually participate in combat.

Who would’ve thought this guy not only had a high Shell Level, but even had a mount summoning item?

Although the mission hadn’t ended as planned, Lin Xun’s rapid growth shocked her greatly—she felt like she’d found a hidden gem!

But then, the galloping knight up ahead suddenly halted. He pulled on the reins, and the Bloodhorse reared, letting out a long neigh before stopping in place.

“Giving up the chase? Makes sense. We can’t catch up anyway… This mission’s failure is mainly on me. If I had just been a bit more careful…”

So thought Li Xingyue.

Suddenly, her beautiful eyes widened—she saw something utterly unbelievable.

The knight’s dark silver armor slowly faded, replaced by a luxurious robe of radiant yellow!

The helmet with the slit visor vanished, and atop his head appeared a magnificent crown inlaid with a multitude of glittering gems.

The towering figure of the knight shrank and withered, revealing a gaunt Shell seated atop the horse.

That Shell had no towering form, no bulging muscles—but the aura it exuded was ten times more terrifying than the Paladin of Discipline!

Just the sight of that yellow-robed back was like staring at a fallen, blood-soaked sun. The corrupt, mutated power made one want to claw out their eyes and scream madly!

A strange scepter appeared in the Shell’s hand—an extremely long staff, taller than the Shell itself. It radiated golden light, with a lifelike dragon coiling up its length. The dragon’s horn was a gleaming spearpoint!

The emaciated yellow figure raised the scepter high, and a deep, arcane chant began to echo…

BOOM!!!

A pillar of blood-red light shot toward the heavens, blasting into the fleeing enemy far above!

Even from a distance, Li Xingyue could see the pillar was surrounded by a twisted crimson aura—so maddeningly bizarre it threatened to shatter the mind.

The distant figure plummeted like a shot bird…

The withered figure up ahead yanked the reins, and the warhorse galloped toward the enemy’s crash site.

“Let’s go.”

Lin Xun’s deep, hoarse voice came through the earpiece.

Li Xingyue snapped out of her daze, grabbing the also-stunned Lu Caiyi to chase after him.

“Team Leader Li… you still wanna tell me… he’s a newbie?”

As they sprinted through the whistling wind, the disbelieving voice of a young woman rang out.

Li Xingyue paused for a beat, then replied without a hint of shame, “Ahem, he’s our Intelligence Division’s secret weapon. Not something we tell just anyone.”

Lu Caiyi kept running, but in her heart she thought: Director Wang… if I poach him to the Armed Division, you’ll probably be laughing in your sleep. The whole division will go wild because of him…