Deep inside the Sinkhole—Subterranean Palace, the once pitch-black bottom suddenly flickered with a faint luminescence. Fluorescent Algae, spread across the stone walls and soil, emitted a ghostly glow. The biting wind whistled through the hollows, creating a long, eerie wail.
At the bottom of the Sinkhole, Yi Yi lay on a stone platform, her body emitting plumes of pitch-black smoke.
*Sizzle—*
Scales scraped against the stone walls, and sharp claws struck intense sparks against the ground. Under the fluorescent glow, clouds of pitch-black mist permeated the Subterranean Palace. A beast resembling a python-dragon scanned its surroundings with a pair of pale blue serpentine pupils.
Rain-like soot filled the air. These droplets were flowing, continuously gathering the drifting smoke. As time passed, the misty rain gradually coalesced into a dense mass of smoke.
*Hiss, hiss, hiss—*
The turbid smoke fell to the ground, corroding the floor into an uneven surface. From within the swirling mass, a bone-chilling sound echoed.
*Jie jie jie—*
It was a seductive, eerie sound that felt like mental pollution. The smoke was so thick it made the sound of flowing liquid. Chaotic murmurs made one’s body turn cold. Finally, the liquid hit the ground, and dozens of pale white hands reached out from the smoke. They struggled desperately to escape, yet they could not pull themselves away from the mass even an inch.
With a splat, the smoke exploded into the air. The stench of rotting biological matter was nauseating. A pale human figure rose from the smoke. With eyes of pure white, it wore a tattered cloak and gripped a pitch-black blade in its hand.
This was an Eldritch—a monstrosity birthed from the supernatural. They were a force that humanity could not eradicate, destined to constantly emerge. It was a calamity, a disaster significant enough to force humanity to unite completely.
This was also why Yao Yao had chosen to settle in the Sinkhole. When Yi Yi evolved, they could quickly hide at the bottom of the Subterranean Palace to evade human detection for a time.
If Yi Yi had evolved on the surface, the danger would not have been limited to a small-scale Eldritch Outbreak; the fluctuations following the outbreak would have immediately attracted humans.
“Get lost!”
With a shrill shriek, Yao Yao, who had fully reverted to her Eldritch form, let out a roar. Her raised claws brought forth a biting wind pressure. As she swung her claw, an air burst erupted.
*Bang!*
With one strike, the newly born Eldritch was smashed into a pulp, sending stone chips flying.
With a series of wet pops, dozens of Eldritch creatures of various forms rushed out from the smoke formed by the supernatural energy. After a brief moment of confusion, their hollow eyes turned toward the stone platform where Yi Yi lay.
In their chaotic consciousness, there was a great supplement in that spot. If they ate the other party… they could evolve. They could evolve into individuals with independent consciousness!
“Roar!”
Yao Yao coiled her body, her slender serpentine tail whipping through the air like a crescent moon, striking a tiger-shaped Eldritch that was pouncing forward.
*Poof—*
The smoke exploded. Strands of black gas seeped into the gaps of Yao Yao’s tail, and pitch-black smoke also drifted off her own body.
“Hiss…”
Yao Yao exhaled a breath of turbid air. Her long tail retracted to coil around Yi Yi. The sound of breaking wind came from her side.
*Puchi!*
As her claws seized a humanoid Eldritch, she crushed its lower body. It only had time to open its mouth full of jagged teeth.
*Bang!*
The humanoid Eldritch was thrown against the wall and exploded. The dispersing mist drifted back toward Yao Yao, making her aura increasingly violent.
—
*Ding—*
Sitting at the top of the Sinkhole, witnessing the scene below, Gu Lian flipped a coin. After the coin flipped several times in the air, she caught it in her other hand.
‘So this is the supernatural? No wonder that Hunter hunted me like that before.’
Judging by Yao Yao’s expression, she wasn’t having an easy time after killing those Eldritch creatures.
Gu Ye opened her palm. The coin in her hand had turned black, which was enough to prove the uncontrollable and corrosive nature of this power.
Applying force with her thumb and index finger, she folded the coin in half. Gu Lian looked up at the sky. “But this time, the Sinkhole isn’t safe.”
*Boom—*
At the horizon where the sky met the ground, three fully-armed helicopters were slowly approaching. The Gatling guns at their noses gleamed coldly. There were eleven distinct auras on board, representing the attitude of the TFV.
This was why Gu Lian had chosen to step forward. If she hadn’t run to the Sinkhole, the TFV wouldn’t have arrived so quickly. In other words, these were the Hunters she had attracted, not the ones Yao Yao and Yi Yi had drawn.
“Hey, since when did I become so kind?”
Gu Lian gave a short laugh and stripped off her clothes. On her smooth body, black patterns spread from her arms to her elbows.
Root-like blood veins connected to the corners of her eyes, and a metallic black pattern spread out, completely covering her face. Sharp keratinous horns protruded from her cheeks. The whites of her eyes were filled with pitch-black, and a red pupil seemed to have a fire burning at its center.
“However, since you helped me, I will naturally repay you a hundredfold.”
Looking at the helicopters flying in the distance, she could sense an extremely difficult aura on board. Gu Lian grinned, took out an Eldritch Crystal Core from the clothes she had tossed aside, and swallowed it in one gulp.
*Crackle—*
Ash-gray flames ignited from Gu Lian’s shoulders. Simultaneously, flames erupted from her palms, upper arms, legs, back, and chest. Her gray hair, hanging behind her, drifted up like fire. The pale Fire of Dead Silence flickered within her tresses.
Her ethereal eyes, a mix of gray and red, became demonic and sharp at that moment. Gu Lian shook her head. She suddenly remembered what Eric had said, making her grin even wider.
‘I’ll do you a favor. Whether any Hunters die by my hand will depend on their cooperation and luck. But only this once!’
—
*Beep, beep, beep—*
A piercing alarm sounded from the helicopter. The expressions of everyone on board changed. The pilot looked at the energy detector in front of him, which had already turned red.
“The supernatural energy in the Subterranean Palace has reached 800 HW,” the pilot said, his voice urgent. “This energy fluctuation is enough to trigger an Eldritch Outbreak.”
He felt cold all over; the place where the energy was erupting made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
And that wasn’t even the most important part. The most important thing was that the energy fluctuation was still rising. It had already reached 860 HW. If it continued, the pilot felt that the fluctuation might very well break 1,000 HW. That was… the truly terrifying part of the supernatural!
“Wild Wolf, don’t worry. Worrying is useless. We came here for it this time.”
“Captain Ice Duke, can’t you say something encouraging?”
The pilot called Wild Wolf trembled with anger. Everything about his captain was great, except for his way of speaking, which was infuriating.
“Hahaha! If I knew how to say nice things, would I still be called Ice Duke?”
Ice Duke took the canteen hanging from his lower back and gulped down a mouthful of ice water.
“The captain is right,” the monkey-like Hunter, Black Skin, laughed, revealing teeth that were incredibly white. “When I was with the captain, he would bicker with everyone under the sun. Once, when he was arguing with a First-Class Hunter, he almost got the shit kicked out of him.”
“Black Skin, you’re getting cocky again. Just wait until the mission is over and see if the captain doesn’t deal with you.”
The other Hunters all laughed and joked. Maintaining a good mindset before a battle was a basic requirement for a warrior.
After Ice Duke wiped the water from his mouth with his sleeve, his gaze gradually grew firm.
“Enough playing around, everyone. Our target this time is Anomaly b-707. She disappeared here last time, and the current supernatural outbreak is definitely related to her. Don’t forget how badly the Leifa Squad suffered. Wangzi is seriously injured and in the hospital, and Yuan San is still in the intensive care unit. Although his life is stable, he can’t get out of bed yet. Anomaly b-707? Hmph, we must treat her as an A-Rank or even an S-Rank!”
Ice Duke’s words dampened the previously cheerful mood. They had already seen the tragic state of the Leifa Squad, but as long as they could kill this Eldritch, it would all be worth it.
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