Chapter 83 The murderer is not human! The orb-eating monster!
Whoosh—!
A shrill grass whistle pierced the night sky of Rivira Town.
Arthur and his group were searching for Ais and Lefiya separately.
The sudden sound made him pause, his sharp gaze penetrating the night to the chaotic streets below the cliff.
Smoke and dust billowed like a dragon from deep within the street, and a faint roar tore through the air, reaching his ears.
A strange smile played on Arthur's lips as he teased,
"Did those two girls actually find it?"
"After this is over, I'll discuss with Riveria about reducing their confinement time."
The wind howled furiously, and an invisible vortex of air rapidly condensed beneath Arthur's feet!
In a flash, he shot down towards the cliff like an arrow released from a bowstring!
A vertical distance of two to three hundred meters was but a breath to him.
As Arthur, enveloped in a fierce wind pressure, tore through layers of smoke and dust, what greeted his eyes was—
Several man-eating flower monsters, brandishing flat roots, were wantonly destroying the street.
The Sword Princess, who should have easily slain the monsters, was now pale and breathing rapidly.
Ais barely managed to swing her sword, just protecting Lefiya and Lulune behind her, having already lost the power to counterattack.
Arthur frowned slightly, his wrist turning, and the Holy Sword answered his call.
The wind mass beneath his feet instantly exploded, and his figure moved like a bolt of lightning, sweeping over the heads of several man-eating flowers in an instant!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of deafening explosions rang out, and the menacing man-eating flowers burst apart!
Dust settled, leaving only new species of magic stones, shimmering with an unusual light, scattered on the ground.
Arthur shook his arm, shedding the residual airflow, and his gaze swept over the weak Ais, his eyes darkening slightly.
Then, he turned to the still-shaken Lefiya and Lulune, and said in a deep voice,
"Take care of Ais, stay by my side, and don't run off."
Lefiya clutched the leather bag in her hand, looking at Arthur's solid back, her eyes filled with confusion and unease.
"Mr. Arthur, are we… not going to rendezvous with Captain Finn and the others?"
"Want to rendezvous? That'll have to wait until I've cleared out these obstructing offal first."
Arthur raised his hand, pointing to a dilapidated house on the left, and crimson magic bullets shot out like a sudden downpour!
Wood splinters and rubble instantly exploded, scattering everywhere!
At the same time, a figure completely covered in heavy black armor, enduring the magic bullet bombardment, rushed out of the house's ruins.
The bandages and hood that had covered that person's face shattered on the spot, revealing a blank face and a pair of cold eyes with no emotional fluctuations beneath.
Arthur scrutinized the 'Hashana' before him; that face, which he had met once in his memory, now appeared stiff and eerie.
Under the vision of the Transparent World, all disguises were exposed!
Beneath the human skin mask was an unfamiliar female face.
What puzzled him even more was the magic stone embedded in her chest.
A colorful magic stone, no different from those found within new species monsters, emitting an ominous glow.
…
Arthur, unable to discern the opponent's true nature, let out a sneer, mocking,
"Wandering around with a victim's face, your taste is truly twisted."
The female monster ignored his taunt, her gaze fixed on Ais, who was half-kneeling on the ground behind him, breathing heavily.
Arthur took in her reaction, shifting his stance.
He completely blocked Ais, then beckoned to the non-human, non-ghost monster.
Clang!
The grating sound of heavy armor suddenly rang out!
The monster's figure had already vanished from its spot, the immense sound seemingly delayed for a moment before echoing in everyone's ears!
At the same time, the earth trembled violently, as if responding to the command of an unseen master, and countless man-eating flowers burst forth from the ground!
They writhed their nauseatingly slender bodies, surging forward like a tide!
Arthur had noticed early on that the ground beneath their feet was covered with the roots of these eerie things!
His wrist spun rapidly, and the Holy Sword carved a dazzling arc of platinum light, instantly severing a large number of incoming flat roots!
Before the surrounding man-eating flowers could further destroy the terrain, he suddenly raised his hand and threw a deep, jet-black light point into the air, clearing the area first!
"Imitation: Overlord Heavenly Star!"
Gravity suddenly changed!
An incredibly violent force field instantly enveloped the surroundings, and layers of earth were violently torn apart!
The already dilapidated houses nearby were, moreover, uprooted one after another by this power, soaring into the sky!
The man-eating flowers, dancing their roots, along with countless clumps of soil and wood splinters, were forcefully flung high into the air!
All matter was squeezed and crushed in the terrifying gravitational field, eventually converging into a giant brownish-black sphere!
After completing this literal "digging three feet deep" act,
Arthur dispersed the anti-gravity field that enveloped his group of people, his gaze cold as he looked at the monster's figure at the edge of the deep pit.
Rather than a person, the opponent's mode of action was indeed closer to that of a pure beast.
The moment he released Overlord Heavenly Star, the opponent not only did not hesitate to abandon the attack.
But also, at the first instant, rapidly retreated, precisely moving out of the skill's killing range.
This decisive ability to seek advantage and avoid harm was even more acute than that of Burt, who was known for his speed.
"LV6?"
Arthur's brow arched slightly, watching the female monster roughly tear off her heavy armor!
Until she ripped off the human skin mask, revealing a ferocious and unfamiliar female face.
Ruì Wéisī moved her shoulders as if no one else was there, sweeping away her previous deathly silence, and bared a brutal, savage grin at Arthur.
"Not bad, you bastard!"
Before her words finished, she suddenly drew the longsword from her waist, leaped from the edge of the deep pit, and, with a force that split the air, wildly chopped down!
Arthur's expression remained calm, as he indifferently watched Ruì Wéisī rapidly approaching.
He lightly twirled the Holy Sword, holding it upside down, and fine electric arcs sparked from his body!
In an instant, electric light tore through the night, like a bolt of lightning rushing low to the ground!
He only took an instant to sever Ruì Wéisī's limbs, and with the remaining momentum, her broken body crashed through several remaining houses!
Amidst flying wood splinters, Arthur backhanded the Holy Sword, which had pierced the enemy's abdomen, and with his other hand, like an iron clamp, he gripped her neck, his voice icy.
"Move again, and I'll break your neck."
If not for the special circumstances at hand, he wouldn't mind "playing" with this LV6-level opponent.
But now, it involved an unknown enemy spread across many worlds.
Having finally caught a seemingly communicative live one, he had to pry some valuable intelligence from her mouth!
"…Cough, ugh…"
Her throat constricted, and breathing became increasingly difficult, Ruì Wéisī let out an unclear muffled grunt.
The flesh at her severed limbs actually wriggled wildly at a visible speed, regenerating complete limbs in an instant!
A fist, accompanied by a whistling wind, slammed towards Arthur's head, but he parried it with a backhand swing of his sword, neatly severing it again!
Arthur maintained a poker face, gazing at Ruì Wéisī, who was suspended in mid-air and still struggling.
He was quite accustomed to the enemy's abnormal super-regeneration ability.
"Have you thought it through? If you're willing to be honest, just blink."
Ruì Wéisī raised her newly regenerated left arm, futilely pounding Arthur's restraining hand.
Even though she knew she had no chance of escape, there was no hint of submission or begging in her eyes.
A cold light flashed in Arthur's eyes, and his fingers suddenly exerted force, digging deeply into Ruì Wéisī's fair neck flesh, emitting a bone-chilling crunch.
"My patience is limited."
"No matter how strong your recovery is, digging out that magic stone from your chest will surely kill you, won't it!"
As the inhaled oxygen became scarcer, Ruì Wéisī's remaining will to resist began to blur, her feet straightened limply, and her arms drooped softly.
Looking at this unyielding hard case before him, Arthur's brows knitted into a knot.
He was hesitating.
Should he finish her off now and bring her corpse back to give the townspeople an explanation?
Or…
Arthur had a faint premonition that this guy might be similar to the monsters in the Dungeon.
Once the magic stone within her body was dug out, she would likely turn to dust on the spot, and then nothing could be extracted from her.
Just as Arthur was weighing the pros and cons, a sudden change occurred!
The scattered, heavily wounded man-eating flower remnants on the ground all raised their heads simultaneously!
Four twisted petals suddenly bloomed, and the core magic stone began to flash rapidly and rhythmically!
A familiar scene made alarm bells ring in Arthur's heart!
Without hesitation, he turned into a gust of wind and rushed towards the three women, Ais!
Boom—!!!
A continuous series of violent self-explosions reverberated through the sky!
The deafening, terrifying sound waves even pierced through hundreds of meters, clearly reaching the plaza area above the cliff!
Arthur, pulling and dragging, forcefully dragged four people out of the rolling explosion flames!
Before he could even catch his breath, he heard Lefiya's tearful scream.
"The orb! Mr. Arthur, that orb… that orb, it, it flew away on its own!"
A thought flashed through Arthur's mind like lightning, and he urgently asked,
"What orb!?"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His answer came in the form of giant roots, even thicker than before!
They wildly dispersed the flames, haphazardly lashing out at everything around them, sending shattered rocks flying like rain!
Arthur swung his sword, unleashing gusts of wind, continuously severing the approaching thick roots!
The strange corrosive liquid oozing from the severed ends dripped onto the ground, making a "sizzle" sound, causing one's scalp to tingle!
He suddenly looked up at the most intense part of the flames, only to see the remaining fragments of man-eating flowers, now rapidly gathering and merging at an inconceivable speed!
They were rapidly proliferating and mutating, with the mysterious fetus, which Lefiya called "the orb," as their core!
Veins of crimson, like blood vessels, wildly snaked and spread across their twisted, elongated bodies, and their size was constantly rising and expanding at a visible rate!
A far more terrifying monster seemed to be brewing and taking shape!