Just as the burly man's hooked line was about to catch Dark Chu Lian, a sudden burst of gunfire rang out. From among the silent, still figures, several collapsed, bullets piercing their foreheads. Thick streams of blood slowly seeped out.
At the same instant, Dark Chu Lian's body vanished without a trace. When she reappeared, she stood amidst the crowd, twin blades in hand, cutting down a monster covered in scales.
The change came too abruptly. Not only the monsters but even the burly man himself was stunned. What was going on? He had been pretending to be careless, scheming to strike, and yet in the blink of an eye he became the one being toyed with.
But he had no time to gape. With a quick movement, he recalled the hooked line, then pushed off hard with his feet, charging into the chaotic crowd in just a few steps, aiming straight for Dark Chu Lian.
"Big guy, you're overthinking this. With your strength, catching me is far too difficult." Dark Chu Lian didn't seem concerned at all. She turned, flashing him a smile, then swept her dainty foot sideways, kicking one of the monsters into his path.
Shoving the green-skinned monster aside, the burly man's eyes, which had already calmed, now flared with genuine anger. This was no act—he was truly enraged. After all, anyone would fume if their subordinates were cut down before their eyes while their foe mocked them like a monkey.
"Don't let me catch you, or I'll make you taste the most agonizing torments of this world." With a roar, his voice thundered, and at once the surrounding monsters scattered. Clearly, the shout was a coded signal, meant to replace words at such a critical time.
The sudden clearing of space made Chu Lian's petite figure stand out all the more. Yet she swung her blades lightly and stood her ground without a trace of fear. Instead, she asked, "Do you recognize these two swords?"
"Tch, those little blades of that white rat. Not much power, but I've seen them before, so I know them. If they're with you, then that rat must also be in your hands, right?" Though his eyes held a trace of admiration at her courage, his words dripped disdain, especially when speaking of Kurosaki Satsuki. To him, anyone unwilling to face him directly deserved only contempt.
This man is truly confident. But confidence without strength is just arrogance. And arrogance is often the deadliest weakness. Is he truly like this… or still pretending? Dark Chu Lian thought to herself, firmly noting this flaw regardless.
Seeing her silent, the burly man mistook it for serious thought and gave a stiff smile: "Hand her over, then join us. With your talent at this age, wasting it in this filthy world is pointless. Only the Otherside deserves someone like you. Of course, you can refuse…"
At that, his eyes turned cold, murderous intent surging. "Then don't blame me for being ruthless. Killing a prodigy like you… would be quite the thrill."
"Don't you care about my other companion? She's already killed three of yours…" Dark Chu Lian listened quietly, feigning contemplation, then suddenly raised her head with a sinister smile. "Bang~ bang~ bang~, oh my, another three are dead…"
Almost as if linked by thought, the moment Chu Lian spoke, Inori, who had shifted her sniping point in secret, fired three consecutive shots. Each bullet pierced straight through the brows of three monsters, dropping them with a thud before they even had a chance to resist.
With Inori's skill, and armed with the gun empowered by spacetime energy, even without its "Deathblow" ability, it could still pierce the skin of enemies with average physical stats below 25. Killing them was almost too easy.
"So you were just stalling for time!" The burly man had underestimated her. He thought once his subordinates hid themselves, Inori wouldn't be able to snipe them. In his heart, he had always looked down on opponents who struck from the shadows. He believed her earlier kills were only because his men were careless, and that she must have used some special ability to pull it off.
Yet in less than a minute, Inori once again felled three more of his subordinates with absolute precision. Added to the four already slain by Dark Chu Lian amidst the chaos, only seven or eight remained. Though the strongest still lived, their total strength had been cut in half since their arrival.
This way, not only was finding the Daughter of Fate nearly impossible, but even completing the mission of pursuing the "Death Moon" had become far more difficult—almost impossible. How could he not be enraged?
"Don't you know? Villains die from talking too much." Dark Chu Lian sneered, sidestepping his flying hook. With a sharp swing of her right blade, she cut straight through the tough wire.
"Even if half my men are gone, do you think you can defeat me? This is only half of my strength! What can you do?" Forcing down his fury, the burly man stopped wasting words. Spear in hand, he stepped forward, crossing more than ten meters in an instant, and thrust straight at Chu Lian.
Sensing the overwhelming force behind his strike, Chu Lian knew she couldn't block head-on. Instead, she leapt back, her twin blades whirling. Clang~ clang~ clang~ clang~ clang! Dozens of ringing clashes echoed as she barely managed to deflect his attack.
The moment she felt his spear lose momentum, Chu Lian retreated far, landing lightly on a tall bamboo stalk over ten meters high.
Her arms were already numb. His strength was not inferior to her own when she drew the Void Greatsword. Even weakened, his force left her arms trembling. Fortunately, the numbness was fleeting—after a short rest, her strength would return. But he gave her no such chance, following with thrust after thrust.
That first devastating strike had drawn on a special ability. Without it, his power wouldn't have been so immense. His skill in using that technique was limited; even one use drained him, forcing him to rest for a long time. Yet unlike Kurosaki Satsuki, who relied on "Shun" for decisive kills, his reliance was on pure martial might. Even without that ability, he was still formidable.
His spear flashed like rain, each thrust faster than the last. Chu Lian couldn't withstand them head-on. She could only redirect each strike with her blades, siphoning off the force. But the residual power piled up relentlessly. She could already feel her arms growing heavy again—if it continued, she'd soon be unable to lift her swords. That would be disastrous.
Their fierce duel didn't hinder Inori's sniping. Using a piece of tech Chu Lian had given her, she easily tracked all enemies hiding within the bamboo forest.
While the burly man was occupied, her pink-clad figure moved like a beautiful yet deadly Pandora. She fired a bullet straight into one man's forehead, then walked away without even glancing back, already seeking her next target.
With careful precision, she avoided the three stronger enemies she couldn't kill immediately, instead focusing on those unable to dodge her shots. Clear out the weak, then deal with the tougher ones, and finally, together with Chu Lian, finish the burly man.
It was nothing less than an MMO boss fight strategy—split the battlefield, have one hold the boss while the others wipe out its minions, then everyone gangs up on the boss.
Though cunning and ruthless at times, this burly man shared the Otherside's common trait: disdain for the surface world. He had never touched a computer, let alone played a game. Thus, he had no understanding of Chu Lian's strategy, and could only be led helplessly by the nose.
Of course, he was never particularly cunning to begin with, so falling for such an obvious tactic was only natural. In the Otherside, power was everything. Before acquiring overwhelming strength, few bothered to study culture or strategy. Alone, they could be tigers; together, they were but dogs.
By the time the last enemy fell, Inori was already panting heavily. Those three had attributes nearly equal to hers. If not for their ignorance of her "Deathblow" ability—strange and terrifying as it was—they might have survived. Trusting instinct, they evaded her first kill shots, then chose to fight her head-on. But seconds later, each succumbed to repeated fatal strikes, dying where they stood. Only because of that could she dispatch them so swiftly.
Even so, the last man's dying counterattack nearly struck her down. If not for a bamboo pillar falling from above and deflecting the great blade's path into another stalk, she might not have been able to aid Chu Lian in the battle ahead.
Standing there, she gasped for breath, resting for a moment to recover some strength. Then she turned and followed the sounds of combat.
On the other side, Dark Chu Lian had already exerted herself to the utmost, yet she still could not withstand the suddenly strengthened burly man. Now she could only defend, unable to strike back.
Before Inori could arrive, Chu Lian's arms went numb during a block. Seizing the chance, the man slammed a heavy kick into her stomach, sending her body tumbling through the air, smashing through several towering bamboo stalks.
As her body hurtled toward the jagged tip of a broken stalk, Inori leapt through the air, catching her in her arms. The two of them rolled across the ground several times before finally dispersing the momentum.
"Cough… I didn't expect you'd see me in such a sorry state. How disgraceful." Blood trickled from Chu Lian's lips, though her face held only a wry smile. She wasn't truly ashamed—just frustrated at her lack of strength, beaten into such a state.
"You've already done your best…" After a brief hesitation, Inori gently wiped the blood from her lips and whispered softly, "Lian… use me."
Once more, ethereal light shone forth. From her chest emerged a greatsword radiating supreme glory, its immense power flowing into Chu Lian's body, overwhelming and intoxicating…