Chapter 426: Shatter

These specters of various shapes have all gathered together now, as if they already knew where Guleimlin is hiding.

At the same time, the flying specters silently unfolded the wings on their backs, perched on the tall tree branches, blocking Guleimlin's last retreat.

Moreover, outside, the mass-produced soldiers wielding steel forks also silently surrounded this place.

A single ordinary specter can summon multiple ghouls.

Now it's not just one but a group simultaneously performing the summoning, so this forest is completely surrounded, watertight.

The number of monsters here is already enough to form a powerful army.

Every creature here has enough defense to be immune to bullets; if they fight seriously with their special abilities, only certain large-area destructive weapons could possibly harm them.

"Hahaha, you won't really listen to that specter of unknown origin, claiming it can give you Evolution, will you?"

Seeing this encirclement, Guleimlin not only wasn't afraid, but let out a loud mockery, as if he had no worry at all about becoming a sacrifice.

When Guleimlin saw this number of pursuers, he realized that relying solely on his own strength, it would be very difficult to break out of this scale of encirclement.

But even faced with such desperation, he could not possibly give up.

From the very beginning, he had only one goal: to survive and return to human form from this monster's appearance.

If he wants to survive until the hunting game ends, he can only delay as much as possible and try to cause internal conflict among them.

Because that Sage clearly said whoever kills him first will obtain the qualification for Evolution, but currently he only has one, while there are many wolves and little meat.

Guleimlin believes no one will simply give away such an opportunity to others; for now, he seems safe.

Now, as long as he can provoke a fight among the specters, he can use his special ability to escape again.

He still has a chance.

"Although he showed you the opportunity for Evolution, the first to Evolve is Medusa, after all—Medusa is his most loyal subordinate. So think about it: after you kill me, without evidence, can he really expend power to fulfill his promise to you?"

Guleimlin looked at the specters around him that were no longer pressing him step by step, and his mind settled.

"I can accompany you to find the Sage; I entrust my life to all of you, so no matter what, the Sage will surely fulfill the promise of letting you Evolve, and the victor will be one of you."

Guleimlin slowly put down the twin blades in his hands, revealed his human form, raised both hands, and made a pose of no longer resisting: "But the problem now is that the Evolution slot is only one; you all together must capture me, so you can now choose a victor in advance, then we'll go see the Sage together, and afterward I will hand over my life to him—how does that sound?"

His goal has never been to fight, but to escape from here.

Even in human form he can still use the specters' special ability, so actively showing his human form is merely a tactic.

"Infight, only if you fight among yourselves do I have a chance," Guleimlin thought, maintaining a fake smile while looking for an escape opportunity.

Suddenly, the sound of several objects tearing through the air shattered this balance; the silver bullet, engraved with patterns, traced several twisted arcs in the air, forming a net.

"Bang bang bang!"

Sparks flew on the bodies of the ghouls outside the encirclement, and they were repeatedly knocked back by the impact.

"Silver bullets—why would a mage appear here?" Guleimlin exclaimed, as if everyone knew his hiding place.

"That's fine too; I just don't know whether the mage counts as a monster or a human," Guleimlin thought maliciously.

Inside the encirclement, the numerous monsters stared at the direction the silver bullets were flying from, slowly turning their bodies.

So many specters turned their heads at once, countless eyes fixed on the mage and human who were affecting their hunt.

The National Security Division 0 personnel simultaneously drew their pistols from their waists and unleashed a barrage of fire at these specters.

The ghouls were pushed back by the bullets' impact, and in those few seconds' gap, both ghouls and specters had already taken many hits.

At this moment, Cao Zhenqingren had transformed; his gun unfolded into a sword.

After initially seeing the specter data, he thought the situation wasn't as bad as imagined, but now he was wrong—it's far more serious.

With so many specters, if someone behind them is commanding, then relying solely on himself he probably couldn't protect everyone.

Moreover, Rentou Gongjie has already set out again on the expedition; he no longer has many helpers.

Cao Zhenqingren waved his sword, his body tumbling continuously in the air, attacking the surrounding ghouls. But he soon noticed an anomaly: these ghouls merely held their weapons, using their bodies to encircle him.

No matter how many times they were sliced by the sword or knocked down by silver bullets and unable to get up, they never launched an attack; they only blocked.

The National Security Division 0 personnel behind Cao Zhenqingren were even more so—those ghouls never approached them, as if something on them frightened the ghouls.

How could this be? How could specters not harm humans? Cao Zhenqingren had suspected this even in the car; according to the data, this phenomenon merely exists.

But now these ghouls summoned by the specters have indeed given him a lesson, yet he still has a doubt: why do these specters surround that youth wearing a hat?

And he got the answer to that question in the next second.

At the moment the ghouls blocked Cao Zhenqingren, those specters, as if by agreement, all lunged simultaneously at Guleimlin in the center of the encirclement.

Guleimlin instantly bent down, picked up the two twin blades on the ground, his body turning emerald green, and fiercely slashed at the lunging specters, instantly blasting them away.

It turned out the ones surrounding him were also specters, not humans.

At this moment, Guleimlin saw a specter whose body was entirely dark gray, with huge ears on either side of its head, accumulating that golden Electric Arc on its body.

He recognized this specter; it was called Argos, whose head could emit electricity.

Now the trouble is not just him—almost all the specters' bodies are simultaneously gathering energy for an attack.

Lamor's feather, Bahamut's light bullet, Sylph's air blade, Sphinx's giant fireball, and so on.

In an instant, the specters no longer cared who would get the Evolution slot; they only wanted to put Guleimlin to death.

"Wait, I can give the Evolution opportunity to one of you!" Guleimlin shouted unwillingly.

"Boom!"

All the attacks merged into one; a powerful energy pillar directly pierced Guleimlin's chest.

That colored energy pillar, after passing through Guleimlin's body, triggered an explosion deep within.

Even so, Guleimlin, despite being completely pierced through, was still not dead.

The emerald-green armor on his body turned into magic and gradually faded, restoring his human appearance; he clutched his chest and staggered toward the forest depths.

The specters who finished the attack did not pursue, but instead, like Guleimlin, reverted to human form.

Guleimlin no longer had the strength to look back and see if the enemies were chasing him.

If he turned his head back for a glance now, he would see that all the specters who had become human had their pupils turn golden at that moment.

"Guleimlin, no, I should call you Tachuan Kong."

Medusa crossed her arms, the purple gauze on her body swaying gently in the breeze.

She was waiting for him directly ahead of where Guleimlin was fleeing.

"Hu Linnai, you're really clever, you can get stronger again this time." Guleimlin said wearily.

This time he's really done for; Medusa's power is not something the injured him can shake.

"It's not that I'm clever; I'm just waiting for you here according to the script." Medusa revealed an extraordinarily beautiful smile.

"What…"

Before Guleimlin could finish speaking, a layer of ashen white covered his body.

A trace of fear remained on his face, as if he knew something but couldn't speak it.

He was petrified, and that spirited gaze instantly turned into cold stone.

Those ashen eyes gazed toward the azure sky, as if posing a final question to the heavens.

Why, all he wanted was to evolve, why did he end up like this?

Finally, his flesh turned to powder and scattered behind him in the woods; the phantom born from the tree sprite as its prototype slowly shattered in the forest, struggling desperately, wanting to obtain the Philosopher's Stone, wanting to evolve, Guleimlin died. (End of chapter)