Chapter 373: Again?

A crisp sound, yet seeming to echo deep within the souls of all living beings, rang out out of nowhere.

Time, space, magical flow, cracking rocks, surging clouds, even the dark red veins spreading over Archer's body and the Guai Li Sword about to fully manifest…

Everything, everything, froze in that single "crack".

The teeth of the key seemed to embed into a lockhole invisible to the naked eye.

The Black Tower twisted its wrist lightly.

Ka‑da.

Unlock.

Centered on the hovering purple giant key, a color‑indescribable ripple spread silently.

Where the ripple passed, the dark red patterns corroding sky and earth peeled away like faded paint; the forming Guai Li Sword's phantom let out a resentful whine, and together with the twisted space around, shattered like broken mirror, showing countless neat cracks, then collapsing into raw magical energy, returning to heaven and earth. The shackles and control marks that forced magical extraction from Archer also dissolved in the ripple.

The golden light on his body scattered faster, his spirit becoming transparent.

But before fully dispersing, he took a deep look at the purple giant key and the Black Tower hanging behind it, a hint of lingering anger on his proud face, yet also a trace of something complex and hard to discern.

In the end, he left only an almost inaudible yet still melodious cold snort, turning into countless golden specks that vanished completely.

The Honkai scene in the Yuan Cang Shan area halted abruptly, leaving only scarred devastation and an unusually calm air.

The purple giant key, as if having completed its mission, dimmed its brilliance, shrank back to a pendant shape, and flew back into the Black Tower's hand.

She caught it and hung it back around her neck.

Tsk,

The Black Tower curled a lip, glanced at the now‑normal yet wrecked surroundings, and said with a bored tone, "Thought I could see more of this world's strength… and that's it? This Noble Phantasm… feels like just a lock being opened."

She didn't seem to hold this Noble Phantasm in high regard.

She didn't know that at the very moment the key turned—

In Dongmu City, and indeed worldwide, every entity that had been locked experienced a brief anomaly.

Door locks popped open, safe passwords failed, electronic lock screens flickered black, the magic‑sealed barrier cracked, even some people's tightly sealed hearts and forgotten memory shackles…

all loosened.

That "ka‑da" not only solved Yuan Cang Shan's predicament, but also served as a light‑hearted yet astonishingly wide‑ranged "greeting" to the world's lock.

The Black Tower hovered in the air, its gaze turning toward the ongoing battle in the distant city.

Troubles aren't over yet.

Mid‑battle, the Insect Swarm's numbers dwindled sharply as Rider's king‑army devoured them, but the remaining few grew fiercer and harder to handle, and seemed to have gained intelligence—at least when confronting a certain orange‑haired gunner.

Wow! Again?!

Gui Naifen had just pierced a spiky insect's core with a graceful Counter Spear when the solid ground beneath her suddenly collapsed, revealing a hidden pit!

She slipped, tumbling forward; though she managed to brace the ground with her long spear to avoid a muddy splash, her posture was truly messy.

What's going on today!

She muttered as she got up, brushed the dust off her skirt, "Everything's gone wrong since just now! Falling into pits, getting acid splashed on my skirt, almost being hit by a collapsing sign… am I under a water‑reverse?! I've never been this unlucky even when I smashed a big stone on Xianzhou!"

Before she finished, she caught a glimpse of a hidden wing insect silently swooping toward her exposed back!

Ambush? No way!

Gui Naifen reacted swiftly, twisting her waist; her Flame Spear traced a scorching arc, precisely cutting the weak wing base of the hidden wing insect, sending it flying into the wall where it turned into a puddle of black water.

Hmph, you little— huh?! She was about to gloat when she turned—

Snap!

A wet, indescribably foul‑smelling object slapped right onto her face!

Ugh—!!!

Gui Naifen's eyes widened to circles, her stomach churned, and tears burned out.

She felt as if she'd been stuffed into a centuries‑old salted‑fish barrel, with extra seasoning!

The one who struck was A Xing, who had just swept past her side.

The gray‑haired girl apparently didn't expect Gui Naifen to turn so quickly; the Immortal Salted Fish in her hand didn't finish its motion.

She halted, her golden pupils looking at the tear‑filled, nose‑pinching Gui Naifen, and said expressionlessly, "Sorry."

Then, as if nothing had happened, she charged toward the other side of the Insect Swarm.

Gui Naifen: "……"

She tried to wipe her face with all her might, feeling the smell had already seeped into her olfactory memory.

I… I consider myself unlucky!

She gritted her teeth, directing all her frustration at the next unlucky target in sight—a small, dog‑sized true cicada with a dull shell, cowering behind a broken wall.

It's you, isn't it! Watch me skewer you!

Gui Naifen charged forward with fierce momentum, pouring all her pent‑up resentment into this strike; the Flame Spear, bearing scorching wind pressure, hammered down!

Yet, just as the spear tip was about to touch that "little bug"—

Boom—!!!

The ground roared and burst open!

The "little bug"'s body inflated wildly like a balloon, dark shell leaking dangerous purple light!

It wasn't a tiny species at all, but a treacherous giant insect that kept most of its body underground, exposing only a bait portion!

In two seconds, a colossal true cicada nearly forty meters tall, like a moving hill, erupted from the earth!

Its snarling mouthparts were less than ten meters from Gui Naifen, its compound eyes flashing cruel light, its scythe‑like forelimbs larger than a truck, emitting a tearing‑air screech as they swung down toward the stunned Gui Naifen!

No, it can't be! Again! And so big?!

Gui Naifen's rant was drowned by the raging wind; she relied on the extreme reflexes and super‑human agility honed from street performances, and at the last instant flung herself backward to the side.

At the same time, her long spear's flame surged, a lifelike fire‑dragon illusion coiling upward, meeting the terrifying blade head‑on!

Clang—!!!

The fire dragon and the insect blade collided violently, emitting a deafening roar!

The fire dragon's phantom wailed as it shattered, but it succeeded in shifting the insect blade's trajectory by a few degrees, sweeping past Gui Naifen's side and carving a bottomless trench into the ground.

Gui Naifen used the momentum to adjust her posture in the air, her eyes Lock onto the relatively soft abdomen of the giant insect.

Huge size—this is the target!