"Don't run. Heal up first. We'll make our move soon."
The blue-clothed ninja appeared beside Orlov and spoke in a low voice. Now was the perfect moment to kill Cyan — her skills had all been spent on the boss, while he was still at full strength.
"Got it."
Orlov was silent for a moment. He removed his gauntlets and pressed his hands against his arms, speeding up the recovery of his injuries. He glanced at the ninja and said, "That explosion earlier might have been their doing. I was kept out of the loop, which means they probably already know about our cooperation."
"So what if they know? Right now they have no choice but to go all out to kill the boss if they want to survive. I didn't expect the survivors' interference to make the bosses from Stage 5 and Stage 6 appear here together."
The blue-clothed ninja lowered his head and let out a cold laugh, a flash of excitement in his eyes.
"Orlov, the opportunity is right in front of us. Once they kill Balbars, that's when we strike."
"You're not planning to kill all of them, are you?"
Orlov frowned at the ninja. This guy's killing intent was way too strong.
"You should know the consequences of having too high a kill count."
"My kill count isn't that high. Even if I kill them, I won't be sent to a high-difficulty world in the next round."
The blue-clothed ninja looked at Orlov. The mask on his face curved slightly, as if he were smiling. He gazed at the desperate struggle happening on the distant battlefield. Balbars's death was only a matter of time.
Cyan leapt up and landed on Balbars's shoulder. She drove the demon blade into the gap in his armor and twisted it. Blood sprayed out.
Balbars roared in pain. He swung his hammer to knock Asuka back while reaching up with his other hand to grab Cyan.
Holy Flame! Infinite Style · Gale Slash!
Cyan jumped again. Gripping the blade with both hands, she descended with green sword aura and pale golden Holy Flame coiling around the weapon. The blade sank deep into the gap in Balbars's armor.
Holy Flame burst out from the seams. His HP bar plummeted at an alarming speed.
"Uraaaagh——!!!"
Balbars howled in agony. Asuka leapt up and drove her lance straight through his helmet, finishing off his remaining HP.
With his HP bar hitting zero, Balbars stopped moving. With a heavy thud, he dropped to his knees, lowered his head, and let the giant hammer slip from his hand.
[Damage contribution calculation in progress…]
[Survivor #9731 dealt 40% damage to Balbars. Obtained Silver Card.]
[Survivor #11766 dealt 38% damage to Balbars. Obtained Silver Card.] [Survivor #13001 dealt 14% damage to Balbars. Obtained Bronze Card.]
[Survivor #11766's servant: Nishi dealt 5% damage to Balbars. Obtained Bronze Card.]
[Cards have been stored in inventory.]
"Not a bad haul…"
Asuka looked at the Silver Card in her inventory and tried to console herself.
A blue figure suddenly appeared.
"Careful."
Cyan drew her blade and blocked the ninja's sword aimed at Asuka, then kicked at the blue-clothed ninja.
Orlov used the Velociraptor buff card. His movement speed instantly doubled as he charged toward Cyan, Nishi, and Asuka. He activated his weapon skill.
[Shockwave]
Orlov slammed both gauntleted hands into the ground. A shockwave spread outward in all directions.
The three of them were sent flying backward uncontrollably by the impact.
[Survivor #11766 received 25 damage from Survivor #6411's skill Shockwave.]
[Survivor #11766 was attacked by Survivor #6411. You have 30 minutes to counterattack.]
[Survivor #6411's current kill count is 6. Killing this survivor grants +1 Bloody Card draw attempt.]
[Steel Bone]
[Type: Weapon]
[Enhancement Level: 4]
[Stats: Attack Power 57~68, Strength +3, Grab skill damage +10%.]
[Skill: Shockwave — Consumes 5 Spirit. Slams the ground to create a shockwave that deals 120% of Attack Power as damage and knocks enemies back. Cooldown: 10 minutes.]
[Equip Requirement: Strength 18, Constitution 15.]
[Remark: These steel gauntlets have crushed the bones of countless people.]
[Note: While equipped with this weapon, you cannot equip hand-type equipment.]
This Level 4 enhanced weapon came with the Shockwave skill, which not only dealt damage but also knocked enemies back. It was practically made for Orlov. Even though its base attack power wasn't high, it was still an extremely satisfying weapon for him.
The blue-clothed ninja took the chance to slash at Cyan's neck. Blood sprayed out and her HP instantly dropped by half.
"Master!"
Nishi's eyes widened. She swung her short blade at the ninja.
A black shadow pounced toward him.
However, a bizarre scene occurred — the ninja's blade passed straight through Cyan's neck.
Cyan instinctively stepped back two steps. Blood flowed down from the wound on her neck. When she saw Nishi and the black widow spider charging at the ninja, her pupils shrank.
"Come back!"
How?! An equipment that grants immunity to damage?!
The blue-clothed ninja immediately realized what had happened. Cyan must have had equipment that granted damage immunity. Otherwise, that slash would have killed her.
Damn it! Such a good opportunity and I still couldn't kill her!
The ninja kicked Nishi away, but the black widow spider leapt onto his face and sank her fangs into his cheek.
[Deadly Venom]
This was one of the black widow spider's innate abilities — the same power she had relied on to survive as a venomous spider.
A large amount of toxin was injected into the ninja's flesh in an instant. He let out a pained grunt and grabbed the spider, squeezing hard.
Pop!
The spider's arachnid body was crushed in his palm. Her humanoid upper half fell to the ground. Trembling, she raised her hand and looked at Cyan with tear-filled wine-red eyes.
"Mas… Master…"
"Go to hell!"
The ninja stomped down on the spider's upper body and ground his foot down. The pain from the venom made him increasingly violent.
Nishi's eyes widened at the sight. She tightly gripped her short blade in rage.
[Survivor #11766, your pet: Black Widow Spider has died.]
I went back on my word… I promised I wouldn't let anyone hurt you… You shouldn't have had to experience death.
Cyan lowered her head and looked at the blood flowing from beneath the ninja's foot. She silently ate a seafood sashimi platter. The wound on her neck healed rapidly. She drew her blade and charged at the ninja.
"This time, I won't let you escape."
A blood-red light flashed in Cyan's silver-white eyes.
I was too useless…
Even though I knew this would happen, I still…
"Die!"
Orlov charged at Asuka and grabbed her, activating Super Argentine Backbreaker. Just as he was about to throw her into the air, he felt an overwhelming force coming from within his arms.
"What are you trying to do to me?!"
Asuka's eyepatch slipped off, revealing her left eye glowing with a cross-shaped light — a trace left behind by Apostle erosion. The light grew even brighter as she borrowed the power of Unit-02.
EVA and the Apostles shared the same origin. EVA was created based on the Apostles and equipped with restraint devices to fight them.
Asuka knew she couldn't maintain this state for long. She grabbed Orlov by the neck, slammed him into the ground, and threw him away.
She stomped hard. The ground cracked with a loud bang. Droplets of blood fell to the ground as Asuka kicked the still-falling Orlov in the stomach, using him like a human skateboard. With a ferocious expression and hair whipping in the wind, she punched him repeatedly.
Her lance appeared in her hand. Just as she was about to stab down, Orlov roared. His muscles bulged, dense fur grew across his body, sharp fangs emerged from his mouth, and his hands turned into bear paws.
In just a few seconds, Orlov transformed from a human into a muscular bear-man.
[Bear Transformation]
A beastification transformation from the PS2 game Altered Beast, performed by implanting a beastification chip inside the body.
Orlov raised his upper body and swung his claws at Asuka's legs.
The lance pierced Orlov's chest. Asuka stepped on the lance and leapt up, pulling it free. She flipped backward in the air and landed on the ground. She swallowed the blood in her mouth and ate several recovery items to restore HP and Spirit. She was breathing slightly heavily. While HP and Spirit could be recovered through items, stamina could not.
Nishi, who couldn't join the fight, tremblingly picked up the black widow spider's corpse. She carefully placed it inside a small cake box that still contained a piece of cake — the one she had originally planned to tease the spider with.
Don't worry. Master will avenge you…
You'll come back to life…
Nishi stored the cake box containing the spider's body in her inventory. Gripping her short blade tightly, she charged at the now bear-transformed Orlov.
She believed Cyan could kill the blue-clothed ninja. Her job was to help Asuka kill Orlov.
The blue-clothed ninja fighting Cyan had his entire body convulsing violently. The black widow spider's deadly venom had clearly taken effect.
"Die!"
Cyan thrust her blade at the ninja's head. Blood sprayed, but the strike only pierced his eye — it didn't go through his skull.
At the critical moment, the ninja activated Protective Flames! A red clone appeared beside him and attacked Cyan.
The double torment of his injured eye and convulsing body made the ninja feel a hint of retreat. However, before running, he still wanted to try killing Cyan.
The pain he had endured couldn't be for nothing.