Chapter 178: The Chase and the Moonlight

"Fall back!"

The edge of the blade refracted a cold, iron-grey glint mixed with orange-red under the firelight. Black, disheveled hair swayed slightly, and the warm, scorching wind reeking of rot from the sewer brushed across his cheeks.

Xia Nan gripped his Decapitation Longsword tightly and shouted without looking back.

Tie Tou, who had already been retreating instinctively after witnessing the gruesome scene before him, quickened his pace.

With a dazed and panicked expression, he left behind only a few hurried words of warning before ducking into the shadows of the tunnel from which they had come.

"Mr. Xia Nan, be careful not to get hurt by his teeth and claws."

"He has 'Beastification Syndrome', watch out for infection!"

Xia Nan nodded imperceptibly. His gaze fixed on the burly figure standing against a backdrop of swirling flames, surrounded by countless corpses, his expression growing increasingly grave.

He had originally found the key clue, deducing from the "Iron Scab Moss" that the other party's hiding place was likely in the sewers.

He had intended to use the Grey Badger Gang, who often operated underground, to locate the hideout.

And now...

In a way, it had actually saved him some effort.

The price paid for this, however, was the annihilation of the entire Grey Badger Gang, including their leader, "Eight Fingers".

"Baku?"

Xia Nan called out tentatively toward the figure.

There was no response.

Echoing in the air were only the "crackling" of flames burning wooden planks, the distant roar of rushing water, and a low, guttural growl laden with a heavy sense of warning.

He keenly sensed the violent, bestial nature rapidly swelling and expanding within those beastly eyes, fueled by slaughter and blood.

Knowing that communication was no longer possible,

Xia Nan suddenly let out a long breath.

The scorching air condensed into a mist-white streak like an arrow.

His chest heaved and then suddenly steadied; his breathing became stable and long.

Yet, the surging battle intent deep within his heart caused his heartbeat to accelerate quietly, pumping hot blood filled with power to every part of his body.

His brain raced.

Potential attack methods, the impact of the sewer environment, the enemy's fighting style, things to be wary of...

Various details were synthesized in his mind, and in less than a second, all information regarding the battle was converted into actual action.

It drove Xia Nan to take his first step since arriving here.

"Tap."

His thick, tough leather boots sank deep into the mud of the sewer floor. The viscous sludge was squeezed and pushed to both sides, and one could vaguely see rotting leaf fragments and unknown filth embedded within.

But strangely, after his boot landed, there was no difficult process of pulling it back out of the sludge as one might expect.

The very second his sole touched the ground, his boot and the lower leg above it vanished in an instant.

Replacing it were clods of mud blasted away as if by an explosion, the suddenly stagnant humid air, and...

A distant, high-pitched, wild wolf howl!

Highly compressed, biting wind whipped up mud, blood, and scattered remains, condensing into a ferocious wolf head that roared and lunged forward, its mane fluttering.

The distance of several dozen meters was crossed in the blink of an eye, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.

Without the slightest intention of holding back, the iron-grey wolf fangs descended suddenly. Under the sharp blade, it seemed as if even the air was split apart, shrieking with a mournful wail.

In the instant transition between extreme stillness and extreme motion, Xia Nan could even see the folds of the burly man's hood fluttering in the wind, the significantly denser hair on his cheeks compared to an ordinary person, and those beastly pupils contracting inward in surprise.

【Spinning Slash】!

The iron-grey metallic arc traced a semi-circle like a waning moon in the air. From the sword hilt in his palm came the familiar, sluggish sensation of a sharp blade slicing through flesh.

The fragile outer robe had no defensive capability; the moment it touched the blade, it was torn into tattered rags by the force of the wolf-howl wind.

Broken brown long hair, sliced tough skin, writhing and expanding solid muscles...

Accompanying a spray of scarlet blood beads was a dripping wound that extended diagonally downward from the right shoulder near the scapula, ending deep in the left flank.

If the burly man hadn't sensed a fatal aura under the threat of the wolf howl and instinctively stepped back and to the side,

the wound on his body would likely not have been so simple; the iron-grey longsword would have followed his neck vertebrae and severed his head directly.

And just as Baku thought the opponent's round of attacks was over and wanted to seize the opportunity to counterattack,

he suddenly discovered that his body, which had been much stronger since the beastification that night, seemed to be suddenly burdened by an invisible weight.

From his toes to the top of his head, every inch of skin suddenly became several times heavier.

His joints felt as if they had rusted, making it difficult to exert force.

【Gravity Control】!

In his beast-like eyes, a flash of fatal red light emitting an extremely dangerous aura suddenly reflected.

He saw the young adventurer with black hair before him, after one round of slashing, had actually completed preparations for another attack in an extremely short time.

Both feet planted firmly on the ground, knees bent to support his body, arm muscles bulging with stored power, the Decapitation Longsword thrust straight forward.

The surface of the blade was covered with a layer of unstable ochre-red flowing light, resembling some kind of complex rune constantly changing and flowing.

【Gravity Etching】!

"I'm going to die!"

Under the suffocating, dense offensive, Baku had no time to think and relied purely on his body's instinctive reaction.

Standing in place, the solid muscles beneath his thick, tough skin suddenly expanded, and his already burly frame swelled by another two sizes in an instant.

He roared to the sky, the beastly noise almost condensing into tangible sound waves in the air.

The outer robe on his upper body, already reduced to a few rags by the enemy's biting wind, was completely snapped off.

Revealing his exceptionally robust body and the beast-like, coarse, dense long hair on the surface of his skin.

And beneath the skin, a strange, abnormal blood-red hue seemed to be brewing and accumulating.

Xia Nan raised an eyebrow, sensing that something was wrong.

The Decapitation Longsword, which had been aimed at the opponent's chest and heart, suddenly pulled back its force.

As he shifted his steps, the wolf howl sounded once again.

In the blink of an eye, his entire person had retreated more than ten meters away under the effect of 【Tooth Hunt】.

At the same time, the blood-red hue beneath Baku's skin had finished brewing.

It burst forth suddenly!

Transforming into tiny, dense blood arrows, they shot out from the skin pores, shrouding a small space around him like a cluster of rain.

Of course, this posed no threat to Xia Nan, who had retreated more than ten meters away in an instant.

Looking at the pool of blood steaming on the ground beside Baku,

Xia Nan narrowed his eyes and flicked the sword tip upward.

It was fortunate that his reaction was fast and he dodged in time; if he had forcibly thrust that sword which had already finished accumulating power just now,

even if he could have killed the opponent in one blow, he himself would have been subjected to the subsequent series of blood arrow attacks.

And if he were injured because of this, and the blood from the opponent touched his wound...

"Beastification Syndrome" was nothing to joke about.

Xia Nan was very satisfied with this body of his; although being furry might not be bad, he didn't want to live his days under the wary gazes of those around him.

At the same time, on the other side.

Baku, who had used the blood-qi burst to temporarily force Xia Nan back, stood in place, panting heavily, his face slightly pale.

Clearly, that move just now was also a huge drain on him.

In his wild, beastly eyes, human reason once again gained the upper hand under the crisis of life and death.

The gaze fixed on Xia Nan carried a deep sense of dread.

There was no doubt that the strength of this young man who had suddenly appeared in the sewer and attacked him had already exceeded the range he could deal with in his current state.

"Is he a professional?"

Baku guessed in his heart.

That exaggerated movement speed and mobility, as well as the spell-like effect that had just controlled him in place and made it difficult to move, were definitely not things an ordinary adventurer could master.

"This is troublesome..."

In his memory, aside from that accidental encounter in the morning, he should have never met the other party, so naturally, there was no question of having offended them.

"Could it be related to the Grey Badger Gang?"

"No, it shouldn't be."

Baku dismissed his own thought.

Such a small or medium-sized organization that couldn't even rank in the slums, which even someone of Da Ben's level of strength couldn't be bothered with, how could they possibly be associated with a professional?

"Then it's..."

The Adventurer Association!?

Baku's expression sank again, feeling that the development of events had exceeded his control.

"Judging by his relaxed and easy manner just now, not to mention how much strength he used, he definitely still has hidden cards."

"At least in the sewer, I am definitely not his match."

He decided decisively in his heart:

"Must get out!"

"To survive, I must get outside!"

Thoughts flew through his mind, but only a few seconds had passed in the outside world.

Seeing the black-haired youth in the distance with a sharp gaze, his longsword looking as if it would swing toward his neck in the next second,

Baku exerted force in his chest and abdomen.

"ROAR!!!"

The beast-like roar caused ripples in the pool of blood on the ground, fierce in momentum.

And just as Xia Nan's body tensed, his expression wary, thinking the opponent wanted to launch a counterattack against him,

the burly figure before him suddenly turned around, exerted force with his feet, and rushed into the depths of the tunnel behind him.

The mission target was right before his eyes; how could Xia Nan be willing to let him go just like that?

As he moved his feet, he followed directly.

The Niumu sewer was vast and complex, filled with countless forks and corners, and followed no pattern whatsoever.

Even though Xia Nan possessed speed far exceeding the opponent under the effects of 【Tooth Hunt】 and 【Gravity Control】, he had no way to utilize it in such an unfamiliar environment.

He could rely on his speed advantage to gradually close the distance between the two.

But it would take some time.

And because he hadn't yet figured out the opponent's strength and the potential danger of "Beastification Syndrome", he dared not be too reckless.

If the opponent were to pull a "returning spear" attack, not to mention how serious an injury it could cause him, even being scratched once by the opponent's claws or teeth would make things very troublesome later on.

But he also dared not hang too far back; after all, the terrain was complex and unfamiliar, and if he fell slightly too far behind, it would be easy to lose track.

And if he lost contact with the opponent, it would be very difficult to catch up again.

Just like that, one after the other, about ten minutes passed.

Another corner of nearly ninety degrees.

The footsteps in the pipe gallery ceased, replaced by the manhole cover at the top of the sewer ahead being lifted, and the shadow cast by the burly figure under the moonlight.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xia Nan stepped forward and climbed the iron ladder.

At the same time, he couldn't help but be on guard, wary of the opponent ambushing at the manhole, waiting for the moment he climbed out of the sewer to launch an attack.

A grey light flashed in his pitch-black eyes, and 【Heart-Drawing Vision】 was activated silently.

The originally dim and blurry environment instantly turned into a clear black and white.

Countless lines intertwined and collided like ripples in water.

Enduring the slight dizziness in his brain, Xia Nan raised his head and captured the burly figure on the ground above, which had already moved away from the manhole and was moving rapidly.

Feeling slightly relieved, he deactivated 【Heart-Drawing Vision】, which consumed a great deal of mental energy, and exerted force with his hands and feet, leaving almost distorted marks on the iron ladder, and shot out of the manhole in an instant.

He landed lightly.

As the surrounding scene came into view, he frowned slightly.

Having followed for so long in the sewer, he had no idea what place this corresponded to on the surface.

It was definitely still within Niumu City, seemingly some open space in the slums of the Lower City District.

The size of a basketball court, surrounded on both sides by the thatched mud houses typical of the slums.

But it seemed to have been abandoned for a long time; even though it was already night, no lights could be seen in the sheds, and there were no traces of human life.

On the other side, across the open space.

Baku stopped running.

He just stood there quietly, facing Xia Nan.

A low beastly growl, like an engine starting, echoed in the cold air shrouded by the night.

Dark red crystalline Iron Scab Moss powder drifted leisurely from the surface of his skin.

The dripping wound extending from his scapula to his flank healed quietly amidst the writhing of granulation tissue.

His already burly body expanded and enlarged like a balloon, his skin was torn by muscles and blood seeped out, and brown-grey mane proliferated and grew.

Sharp canine teeth naturally protruded along the gradually lengthening upper jaw of his skull, and viscous saliva spread across the corners of his mouth.

A silver-white radiance flashed past the corner of Xia Nan's eye.

It was a layer of shining moonlight, soft as gauze, floating around Baku's body.

As if absorbing nutrients from it, specks of stardust drifted down and melted into his body.

Subconsciously, Xia Nan raised his head and looked upward.

What came into view was not the dirty stone ceiling covered with mold spots and fungal moss in the sewer.

But the pitch-black, deep night sky, the brilliant and vast stars, and at the center of it all, blooming with incomparable, bright radiance,

—a full, clear, translucent, and bright full moon.

Reflecting the bright silver moon in his pupils, the God-Eye Holy Emblem surrounding the stars on his chest swayed gently.

Isidore withdrew his gaze, his expression peaceful and serene.

"The time is almost here; are you ready?"

Behind him, Cornell was still wearing his indigo mage robe, nodding absent-mindedly.

"We've been preparing for so many days, let's just start."

Although he said this, his gaze was not looking at the priest, nor at the corpse of the blonde elf lying quietly on the altar, waiting to be resurrected.

He just lowered his head, staring unblinkingly at the strange, sheep-like, deer-like, pitch-black statue in his hand.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 179 =====