Chapter 285: Efficiency

The slick, greasy sensation arrived instantly!

Lancer only felt his arm go numb, the Breeding's, as it surged wildly along those feeler tendrils into his Spiritual Core!

"Uh!"

Lancer let out a muffled hum, and his movement showed a Shana of stiffness.

And in that flash of lightning, the bizarre insect's whole body suddenly turned into a streak of light, whoosh, sliding along the barrel of the Yellow Rose, like living mercury, it directly pierced the gap in the armor plating of Lancer's arm!

"!!!"

Lancer, as if struck by lightning, froze on the spot.

He could clearly feel that the cold alien presence was rapidly spreading inside his body!

At the same time, his Contract Link with Kenneth fluctuated violently as the Master's life gradually faded, yet because of the insect's intrusion, it displayed a bizarre condition.

Huan Long stood in place the whole time, watching the sudden and swiftly concluding horror drama with keen interest, as if appreciating a uniquely staged play.

She even gently clapped her fan.

"Tsk tsk, truly... an astonishing efficiency."

Huan Long's tone carried an artistic appraisal and a hint of understanding, "Sure enough, it's the work of Breeding… even though it's just an insignificant wisp of breath, in this world lacking corresponding resistance, it can still give rise to such... creation."

She looked at Lancer, whose body began to tremble unnaturally, his face flashing pain, bewilderment, and a gradually spreading strange void, and her fox-like eyes grew even more interested.

"Then, loyal Mr. Diermde Audina,"

Huan Long's voice suddenly took on an odd cadence, as if countless whispers murmured at his ear, stirring the deepest emotions and cracks within, "Deprived of the Master, bound Heroic Spirit… what shall you fight for now? Whose command shall you obey?"

As she spoke, the 'insect' that had entered Lancer's body seemed guided by some force, no longer raging to devour, but shifting into a state of Fusion.

Lancer's gaze wrestled violently, the pride of a radiant visage, the grief and anger over his lord's death… various intense emotions collided within his Spiritual Core.

Huan Long smiled, extended a finger, and lightly tapped in the air.

A streak of light pierced Lancer's forehead.

The struggle gradually subsided.

Lancer slowly straightened his body, his head hanging low.

When he lifted his face again, the once handsome and resolute countenance still bore Diermde Audina's features, but his eyes had completely changed.

The former loyalty and candor vanished, replaced by a hollow indifference.

"That's more like it."

Huan Long, satisfied, folded away the fan and approached the controlled Lancer, as if inspecting a newly acquired tool, "A shell that retains most combat techniques yet has shed the boring Chivalry's shackles, still harboring a small amusing surprise inside… hmm, far more useful than that noisy Magus before."

"Let's go, Lancer."

Huan Long turned, walking toward deeper darkness beyond the factory, voice lazy, "Let's see how many more can be hatched from this Holy Grail War."

The controlled Lancer said nothing, like the most silent shadow warrior, wielding dual pistols, stepping with a slightly stiff yet still swift gait, silently keeping pace with Huan Long's silhouette, soon vanishing into the shadows of the Abandoned Factory.

When Black Tower followed a trace of Huan Long's lingering aura into the suburban Abandoned Factory, what she saw was not the expected conspiratorial scene or battle, but a strangely empty expanse.

She walked slowly forward, the sound of her heels striking the cement floor echoing distinctly in the vast hall.

Then, she saw Kenneth lying beneath the shadow of a massive machine.

The Clock Tower's lord had long lost his former elegance and pride.

He lay in his own pool of blood, his expensive suit's front torn from the inside, revealing a jagged opening, with the damaged thoracic tissue faintly visible beneath.

His complexion was a blend of ashen gray and waxen yellow, his breathing so faint it was almost nonexistent, yet his chest rose slightly.

"Oh?"

Black Tower raised an eyebrow slightly, halting her steps.

She recognized the face—information shared by Chang Ye Yue indicated this was Lancer's Master.

However, this condition was far more tragic than the "proud Magus" described in the reports.

She did not approach immediately, but remained where she was, raised her hand, and made a gentle gesture toward Kenneth.

An invisible force field lifted the ruined body, allowing him to hover slowly at mid‑air, like a specimen awaiting examination in a lab, and under Black Tower's mental control, it rotated smoothly several times for observation from all angles.

"Violent internal rupture… the thoracic and upper abdominal primary organs show signs of forced expansion and partial devouring by a foreign object."

Black Tower's voice, calm and clear in the silence, sounded like an anatomical report, "The wound's edge retains tissue showing non‑magical scorching and biological enzyme decomposition… a certain organism once gestated here and detached. Time… approximately ten to fifteen minutes ago."

Her gaze fell on the back of Kenneth's hand—where a Command Spell should have been, now only a faint, almost invisible scar remained, the Contract Link long severed.

"Interesting."

Black Tower's fingertips lightly tapped her own arm, "Vital signs are so weak they're nearly nonexistent, the Mana Circuit depleted, the soul on the brink of dissolution due to the contract‑forced rupture and extreme bodily trauma… yet it clings to its last breath, unable to die."

She noticed a Magic circulating slowly within Kenneth, like an ultra‑fine spider silk, barely keeping the shattered husk from collapsing instantly.

"This forced life‑extension method… crude, inefficient."

She first thought of Huan Long.

But she immediately dismissed it.

Extinction Great Lord Huan Long's favored tactics usually lean toward the mental.

The brute method before her didn't quite match her stereotypical view of Huan Long.

"Then, who?"

Black Tower quickly filtered the known participants of the Holy Grail War in her mind.

She thought for a moment, reaching no definite conclusion.

"Never mind."

Black Tower, with a lackluster gesture, waved her hand as if discarding a useless rag.

Kenneth's hovering body instantly lost its support, falling back to the cold ground like a sack of rags with a thud, splattering a few drops of blood.

Black Tower turned, preparing to leave this boring place.

However, just two steps after she moved, a sucking sound like a broken bellows and the rustle of clothing against the floor came from behind.

Black Tower's steps halted, turned sideways, and looked over with a slight hint of surprise.

Only to see the corpse on the ground, which should have been completely still, its fingers twitching slightly, its gray, withered, scattered eyeballs, using its last ounce of strength, turning extremely slowly toward her.

In that gaze was humble pleading.

"Yo."

From Black Tower's tone no emotion could be discerned, "Your fate's still pretty tough, you didn't die from the fall."

She walked back, looking down at Kenneth from above.

Those eyes, which once flickered with the Magus's proud radiance, now only held dying murkiness, and a clearly transmitted message:

(Save... me...)

Black Tower stared at that gaze.