Chapter 4780: Killing Intent on a Rainy Night (VI)

But one really can't blame Arkham Batman for the misunderstanding. That kind of plot introduction, combined with the opening at the time, was indeed highly misleading; everyone would think the main storyline was to seal the devil away and then rescue the eldest son.

The main storyline might indeed be that. It's just that Shiler looked like a human being after all, so people would immediately take him for that possessed eldest son. Then the more the devil was sealed, the closer the eldest son should be to an ordinary person, and the weaker he would become.

But in reality, the role Shiler was playing might not be the eldest son's soul inside this body, but the devil's soul. That passive of growing stronger the more injured he got also went with the devil. The more the devil was sealed, the weaker it became; the weaker Shiler got, the stronger he became. Doctor Manhattan, are you sick?!

Arkham Batman complained, but felt this was the intensity he wanted. Seeing Shiler break down the door, he didn't hesitate, jumping straight down from the skywell, rolling upon landing, breaking Shiler's line of sight, then running toward the nearest side door.

He rushed into the garden again, but he didn't run toward the depths of the garden; instead he circled around, preparing to enter through the front door again. But just as he reached the front door, he saw Shiler waiting for him right there at the front door.

He stood alone on the rain-soaked steps, his features indistinct in the rain curtain, but those gray eyes kept tracking Arkham Batman. And the emptiness and bewilderment in them had vanished; he was fully locked on.

Arkham Batman realized almost instantly that the weakness from the seal should have unlocked a new skill for him — his gaze tracking could penetrate walls directly. And when Arkham Batman jumped down just now, he had definitely exposed his back.

Arkham Batman sighed inwardly, then turned and ran.

It wasn't that he didn't know continuing to turn his back might have severe consequences, but the current situation left him no choice. The wound on his shoulder was small but still bleeding. He estimated his health bar had only a little over half left; in a best-case scenario he could take two more slashes, but worse-case, he might only have margin for one.

Shiler followed behind him. Arkham Batman was running; Shiler kept walking, yet his speed was faster than Arkham Batman's, though not by much — but if they kept going in a straight line, he would definitely catch up.

The violin piece kept echoing in Arkham Batman's ears, accompanied by the pattering rain and the booming thunder, like a symphony of death. As the distance closed and the music grew more urgent, Arkham Batman came to a sudden stop.

He stopped beneath the large tree in the center of the garden, then delivered a whip kick, knocking the drooping branches to the ground, and continued turning to run, while Shiler had to use his knife to cut through the branches.

There's a chance! Arkham Batman realized that in open ground he absolutely couldn't outrun Shiler; he had to find obstacles. Good thing Shiler couldn't teleport.

He ran to the other side of the big tree, but there were no more drooping branches here. Fortunately he spotted a tool shed, piled with gardening tools. As Arkham Batman ran past, he casually knocked over the flower pots beside it, forcing Shiler to go around.

Then immediately he kicked over the nearby iron shovel, making Shiler step over it, buying a bit of time. Then he ripped open the bags of soil next to them, scattering dirt everywhere, forcing Shiler to take a long detour.

He had already figured it out: Shiler didn't have very agile movements. Maybe because the devil and this body weren't well matched, so although he could walk like a normal person and was extraordinarily fast, maneuvers like double jumps or dodging were beyond him.

After waiting a bit for the skill to come off cooldown, Arkham Batman used another stun, creating some distance. But this couldn't go on; No. 1 and No. 2 were probably near death, No. 4 took a slash and hid, so only he and No. 5 could still move freely, but No. 5 was completely unreliable. He couldn't keep stalling like this.

Observing the path ahead, Arkham Batman immediately had a plan. He kited Shiler around here a few more laps, using the moments of turning to observe Shiler's state, and when it seemed about right he ran for the big tree again, vanishing behind it in a flash.

Only after Shiler walked past under the big tree did Arkham Batman emerge from the treetop. He knew Shiler's wall-penetrating tracking skill couldn't be permanent; there had to be a time limit. Once the skill duration ran out, he could use line-of-sight blocking to evade.

Arkham Batman didn't jump down from the tree immediately, because from here he could see which way Shiler went and avoid him. But who knew that at this moment, a white light flared on Shiler again — this most likely meant someone had performed a second seal.

The next second, those desolate gray eyes looked over again and instantly locked on. Arkham Batman cursed, jumping down from the tree and sprinting outward.

These teammates — active when they shouldn't be, idle when they should. Also their fault for not having voice chat; they should've been told early that seals might strengthen Shiler. Now it was great — he probably couldn't escape either.

As expected, Shiler's wall-penetrating tracking skill refreshed again. He once more walked toward Arkham Batman, and faster than before. Before he was just a bit faster; now Arkham Batman hadn't even run a few steps before he took another slash.

*Shing! *

*Hiss... *

Arkham Batman gasped sharply, vision turning blood-red. He could feel a wound piercing through his entire back bleeding continuously, slowing his movements.

Arkham Batman threw a stun with his last strength. But clearly, this slash had triggered Shiler's God of the Wild Hunt mode. The tune began to distort, growing more and more intense. Arkham Batman saw a layer of blood-colored radiance clinging to the originally silver blade, and Shiler's eyes started glowing red.

*Shing! *

*Ugh!!! *

Arkham Batman was instantly cut down, two large words appearing in his vision — "Dying". He cursed inwardly; he still hadn't dodged the killing blow. Blame the untimely information flow — his teammates completed the seal right at this moment, otherwise he could've escaped.

Arkham Batman was briefly stunned, then found himself lying on the ground. Through the reflection in the rainwater on the ground, he saw Shiler hadn't raised his knife again. Could it be he couldn't finish him off?

Arkham Batman wanted to crawl, but obviously couldn't get far in this state. He simply stayed there watching Shiler's next move. Suddenly, Shiler hoisted him up.

This didn't surprise Arkham Batman. Shiler exploded with greater strength in his weakened state, sometimes comparable to a train; carrying a person like him was no problem — the question was where he was taking him.

He thought he'd be thrown into the lake, the nearest body-dumping spot, maybe a terrain kill. But Shiler carried him into the castle, circled around, and found a cellar-like door at the back of the castle, seemingly intending to go down there.

Arkham Batman immediately understood: sacrificing them might require not only a specified order but also a specified location. Shiler's puzzle-solving probably wasn't any easier than theirs.

Just as Shiler, carrying Arkham Batman, prepared to descend into the cellar, a strand of spider silk suddenly shot over. Shiler stumbled, and Arkham Batman dropped straight to the ground.

Arkham Batman instantly realized this must be a mechanic: if the carrier is controlled during the carry, the person is guaranteed to drop; otherwise Shiler would definitely have caught him.

Arkham Batman didn't waste the opportunity, immediately activating his cape stun. Unexpectedly, even though he was already on the ground, the hem of his cape was still lifted by a gust of wind, directly stunning Shiler.

Suddenly, a crimson figure landed beside Arkham Batman. Arkham Batman had to shout with all his strength: "Watch out!!!"

Crimson Spider-Man ignored him, suddenly pulling out a medkit and bandaging Arkham Batman. Arkham Batman was stunned — don't you see who's next to you?!

Miraculously, the medkit finished in just two seconds, and the spider-silk ambush plus cape stun just now had bought almost exactly three seconds. Arkham Batman really shook off the Dying state and could move again.

Though the wound on his back remained and his health bar was probably below half, at least he could move freely now. And Crimson Spider-Man didn't climb walls again, but supported Arkham Batman as they ran out together.

While fleeing, Arkham Batman jerked left hard, dragging Crimson Spider-Man around to the right-hand corner. This was to avoid Shiler's gaze, afraid he'd lock onto their backs.

Shiler had used quite a few skills catching him just now; they should all be on cooldown now. As long as they weren't spotted from behind in reality, running should be relatively easy.

"Was it you who sealed?" Arkham Batman asked, looking at Crimson Spider-Man.

Crimson Spider-Man shook his head: "Probably No. 1. When I was wall-crawling earlier I saw a figure in a second-floor room."

"But isn't No. 1 down?"

"They can be revived," Crimson Spider-Man said, "with a medkit or potion. I went and saved Natasha earlier."

Arkham Batman couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up. If not for Spider-Man, they'd probably all be dead by now.

"Must be Black Widow saved Constantine," Arkham Batman speculated, "then Constantine performed the second seal. Just bad timing — I was being chased by him at that moment."

"Who's that last guy?" Crimson Spider-Man asked.

Arkham Batman shook his head: "Don't count on him. That guy's a not-quite-normal madman; he does whatever he wants. We need to find the remaining three seals and seal them simultaneously."

"Why?" Crimson Spider-Man asked.

"Because sealing doesn't make the devil weaker — it makes him stronger. So if we seal separately, we'll face even more terrifying pursuit."

"But if what you say is true, with one person unreliable, the margin for error is too small," Crimson Spider-Man pointed out. "Four people trying to seal three at the exact same time is almost impossible."

Arkham Batman knew that better than anyone. Never mind whether they could find three seals under pursuit of this intensity — just completing the seals simultaneously with no communication was nearly impossible.

*Boom—!!! *

Lightning tore across the night sky again, blanching the castle bone-white for a fleeting instant, like a monster's skeleton. And in that moment the heavens were lit by electric light, Arkham Batman's pupils contracted sharply. He knew what to do now.