On the other side, the Blazing Knight’s battle was nearing its end.
Red Hair and Green Hair had become monsters, but it hadn’t been long since their transformation.
Coupled with having almost no reason left, they could only pounce and bite like wild beasts.
Lin Du could easily spot gaps in their defenses and counterattack.
Lin Du nimbly dodged their attacks and knocked them to the ground with a single punch.
He crouched slightly, flames beginning to gather at his feet.
“It’s time to end this.”
If this move landed, both of them would undoubtedly die.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from Lin Du’s communicator.
“Lin Du, wait!”
Lin Du’s movement faltered, nearly losing his balance.
“What is it?”
“I just received news from the detention center,” the other person’s voice was urgent, “Those three monsters… they were still human last night! They were artificially transformed into monsters!”
“What do you mean?” Lin Du’s pupils contracted sharply.
“Early this morning, something happened at the detention center.” The man paused before continuing, “Someone infiltrated it and forcibly fed something to three prisoners. The two in front of you are the thugs you encountered before!”
“!”
On the ground, the barely breathing Red Hair and Green Hair looked at Lin Du, making indistinct sounds:
“Save… save me…”
“Don’t… want… to die…”
Only then did Lin Du remember the yellow tuft of hair on the lead monster’s head—it was precisely the yellow-haired thug they had met that day.
“Oh no.” He hurriedly turned and ran, following the trail of the yellow-haired monster, “Get someone to take those two monsters back! I’ll go deal with the last one!”
“Got it. The containment team will be there immediately.”
—
In the alley, the yellow-haired monster’s body was already frozen up to its chest, with only its head still exposed.
Its limbs struggled with all their might, but every time a crack appeared, it would be filled by newly formed ice.
White Li stood three meters away, maintaining a safe distance, gripping her ice spear tightly.
The yellow-haired monster’s eyes were fixed on her, its murky eyeballs bloodshot, as if it wanted to devour her alive.
“Why are you looking at me like that? You’re the one who started it.” She lifted her chin, looking at the yellow-haired monster, “Both times.”
“Roar—! You… indeed… are… a monster!” Its voice was fragmented, as if something was stuck in its mouth, “I was… right! I… said… it!”
“I have to… tell… tell everyone… you are…”
“Cut the crap,” White Li interrupted, pointing her ice spear forward, “Take a look in the mirror and see what you’ve become. Who do you think they’ll believe—you or me?”
The yellow-haired monster froze.
“My… appearance?”
It lowered its head. The ice surface was like a blurry mirror, and through the reflection in the ice crystals, it finally saw its current form.
Ugly, twisted—it could no longer be called human.
It stared at that reflection, its pupils trembling violently.
“This is… this is…” Its voice trembled slightly, “Me?”
“Although I don’t know why Madam suddenly got the idea to transform humans into monsters,” White Li waved her spear, clearing her throat, “I advise you to just accept reality. While I’m feeling merciful, get lost. Otherwise—”
She swung her ice spear, drawing a circle in the air.
“Hmph.”
Of course, this was just a bluff. She hadn’t even killed a chicken.
In the half-year since becoming a monster, she had at most sparred with other monsters or been whipped by Martha’s lash until she rolled on the ground.
Her hand holding the spear trembled slightly, afraid she might accidentally cut herself.
“No…”
“Huh?”
“No—!!!”
A beast-like wail erupted. The blood vessels under the yellow-haired monster’s skin became as clear as red-hot iron wires, and scorching gas surged from within its body.
The ice layer melted at a visible rate, directly evaporating into white steam.
“Whoa!”
White Li instinctively stepped back, shielding her face with her arm.
Steam engulfed everything, instantly turning the entire alley into a sauna. She couldn’t see a thing.
Scalding steam hit her face, burning her skin painfully.
Squinting her eyes, she could vaguely make out a blurred shadow rising through the white mist.
A pair of eyes lit up within the fog, filled with nothing but madness.
‘Oh great, there’s a second phase?’
It was no longer human at all.
Its deep purple skin resembled some kind of skinned animal, its body hunched over with a protruding spine.
Its limbs were abnormally robust, its nails long and black like five curved daggers.
White Li watched as the monster stared at its reflection in the water, watched it raise a hand to touch its own face.
“Roar—!” Then the monster looked up, glaring at White Li, “It’s you—it’s all because of you—!”
It pushed off with all four limbs, lunging toward White Li.
White Li instinctively sidestepped, but the claws still grazed her shoulder.
Riiip—
Her school uniform jacket was torn open from the shoulder to the back. White cotton stuffing floated out, revealing the plain cotton tank top underneath.
White Li looked down at her clothes, then up at the monster using the wall to launch another pounce.
“You—!”
She yanked the jacket off, quickly tied it around her waist in a few motions, and knotted it tightly.
“…Do you have any idea,” she gripped her ice spear and charged forward, “that this is my only school uniform!”
The yellow-haired monster’s speed and strength had more than doubled.
Rage had sent its physical capabilities soaring. Muscles twitched madly beneath its skin, and every pounce carried enough force to shatter walls.
White Li ducked under a swipe and thrust her ice spear toward its abdomen.
The yellow-haired monster actually twisted its body mid-air, sweeping its tail toward her.
Thud!
White Li blocked with her ice spear, but the impact sent her stumbling back several steps, her palms numb.
This guy had become troublesome. Rage had awakened the beast’s true nature.
After landing, the yellow-haired monster used all four limbs, bouncing between the alley walls like a purple rubber ball, moving faster and faster, its trajectory increasingly difficult to track.
White Li gritted her teeth, switching to defense.
She took a few steps back, pressing her back against the wall to reduce the area vulnerable to attack.
Then, with a wave of her right hand, several ice spikes condensed in front of her, shooting toward the flickering afterimages.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Of course, this didn’t hit the yellow-haired monster, but the walls pierced by the ice spikes became incredibly smooth.
It could no longer bounce freely between the walls because every time it tried to land, it risked stepping on an ice spike or slipping.
“Roar!”
It roared, making one final leap, pouncing at White Li head-on.
“Hmph.”
She gripped the ice spear with both hands, pouring all her strength into it, and thrust fiercely at the incoming figure.
Squelch—
The yellow-haired monster’s body froze mid-air. It looked down at the spear piercing through its abdomen, purple blood flowing down the shaft.
White Li had just let out a sigh of relief when she saw the yellow-haired monster’s tail sweep toward her.
Bang—!
White Li was sent flying, tumbling several times on the ground before crashing into a trash can at the end of the alley.
The metal trash can was dented badly, and the garbage inside spilled all over her.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
She covered her head and struggled to get up, stars dancing before her eyes.
It hurt.
It hurt so much.
She swayed as she stood, leaning against the wall to look back into the alley. It was empty.
Only a pool of purple blood and the shattered ice spear remained on the ground.
The yellow-haired monster had fled.
“Tch…”
White Li touched her head, grimacing in pain.
That hit was really something. She looked down at herself, still covered in rotten vegetable leaves and orange peels.
So pathetic.
She sighed, reaching for the pocket of her school uniform tied around her waist. Thankfully, the wristband was still there.
Just as she was about to take out the wristband and put it on, her tail was suddenly grabbed by something.
The Cloth Tiger!
“You… why are you here?”