Chapter 1438 - 60: Pursuit

Chapter 1438: Chapter 60: Pursuit

Storm waves swept over the building cluster, smashing apart one structure after another along the way.

Two figures leapt across the rooftops. One was tall, the other short. The short figure held a long dagger, the tall one’s fists were clenched, Blue Flame wrapping his forearms and fists.

Bang, bang, bang.

Blue fist shadows flickered, fast enough to leave afterimages, Blue Flame scattering in the air.

The short figure was Gulu, the tall one, needless to say, was Holy Flame from the Holy Sanctuary Paradise Faction, one of the very first Contractors to rush to Lubei City.

Gulu and Holy Flame vaulted between buildings, both drenched, with the tsunami surging right behind them, the giant waves pulverizing every building in their wake.

"Annoying bastard."

Gulu flicked the dagger in her hand. The dagger brushed past Holy Flame’s ear—just when he thought he’d dodged it, a row of sharp barbs popped out on both sides of the blade.

If you looked through a microscope, you’d see a fiber strand between Hulu and the long dagger she’d just thrown, so fine it was invisible to the naked eye.

Gulu gave her arm a yank, and the long dagger that had just flown past Holy Flame’s ear snapped back. The barbs on the hilt shot out and punched straight into the back of Holy Flame’s neck.

Holy Flame, mid‑air, let out a muffled grunt. The dagger in his neck was like a row of fishhooks, each barb studded with countless tiny barbs. If he tried to yank the dagger off with brute force, half his neck would tear open with it.

"Haha, finally hooked you."

Gulu hauled on the fiber line with all her Strength, lunging forward faster.

The masseter muscles bulged on Holy Flame’s face. He was just about to rip the dagger out of his neck when he suddenly realized he couldn’t move at all.

"Poison."

Holy Flame’s body was being eroded by some unknown, vicious toxin, no prompts, no warning, just quietly paralyzing him.

"Oh‑hoo～"

Gulu got excited, bounding forward, the tsunami roaring behind her, dragging Holy Flame along.

Bam!

Holy Flame’s head slammed into a building. His body was locked up completely; he couldn’t even move a finger.

Just five minutes earlier, Holy Flame had been pounding Gulu into the ground. His fists were too fast, he’d almost pinned her down and gone "ura‑ura" on her like a piledriver.

One tiny mistake was all it took to throw Holy Flame into eternal damnation. That was Gulu. Her Power wasn’t high, her Speed wasn’t fast, she had no flashy Abilities, but if she caught the slightest opening, the enemy might never crawl back up.

Without a doubt, Gulu was having fun dragging Holy Flame through the air between the buildings. As for Holy Flame, his psychological trauma was massive, and for a simple reason: the barbs buried in his neck were actually growing, absorbing his Blood and sprouting inside his veins, drilling through them like Vines.

If it were any other Contractor, faced with this, even if they didn’t break down they’d fall into Despair. Gulu’s methods were too vicious—this wasn’t a fight, it was her putting the enemy under torture.

"Aaah!!!"

Holy Flame let out a Roar. Hearing that, Gulu was a little surprised that his mouth still worked, which meant his Poison Resistance was strong.

Gulu pulled out a big Anti-tank Mine. She bit the pin off and silently started counting Time.

Four seconds later, Gulu tossed the Anti-tank Mine. A deafening boom erupted behind her, and that furious Roar vanished.

Riiip— the sound of flesh tearing reached Gulu’s ears. She tightened the fiber strand. The Legendary Dagger was now dragging a huge sheet of flesh; Holy Flame’s entire back and the back of his skull had been ripped off.

"Pretty flimsy. I’ll let you off this time."

Gulu dropped the hunk of flesh and sprinted forward, leaping away. She wasn’t interested in getting swept up by the tsunami.

After paying with a quarter of his muscle mass and a third of his skin, Holy Flame learned a lesson: the little brats from Reincarnation Paradise are not to be trifled with—especially the ones whose Spirit clearly isn’t all there.

The tsunami almost surged all the way to Lubei City’s downtown before it finally started to recede. Don’t assume that’s the end of it; this was only the first wave.

The sea slowly pulled back, leaving behind a mountain of building rubble in the city center, turning it into a garbage dump in an instant.

Corpses of countless Ocean creatures lay scattered across the streets. A Killer Whale covered in scars was thrashing among the wreckage.

"Cough, cough..."

A dry cough came from within the ruins. A Metal arm reached out of the rubble, and soon Black Bee, soaked through, crawled out of the broken stone. He’d already been injured before; once the tsunami swept him up, a slab of concrete in the waves slugged him and knocked him out cold.

"Still alive. That Monster..."

Having cheated Death, Black Bee burst out laughing. As he stood, more than a dozen Elemental Bee corpses fell out from his clothes. The hundreds of Elemental Bees on him had shielded him.

"Thanks, all of you."

Black Bee picked up the Elemental Bees on the ground and stored them into his Storage Space. His Profession was sort of like a Summoner + Space Mage hybrid. He could only Summon one type of creature: Elemental Bees. When they first appeared, those Elemental Bees were weak, but by devouring strong enemies, they gradually grew more powerful.

Black Bee pressed his palms together, trying to use his Spatial Ability. Moments later his face turned pale and he was gasping. Too many Elemental Bees had died, and he was already injured; he couldn’t use Spatial Ability again for a while.

Realizing this, Black Bee sprinted into the buildings ahead and vanished quickly.

Splat.

A frog leapt down from a building, landing where Black Bee had just been.

With a pop, the frog burst into a puff of white smoke. A few minutes later, a figure arrived in the area.

"Here. No mistake, Boss, I found the target’s trail."

The newcomer’s hands blurred through Seals.

"Summoning Technique!"

Bang.

White smoke billowed, and a few twisted, warped Monster birds appeared.

...

Half an hour later, in Lubei City, at the point furthest from the coast.

In a narrow alley, several trash cans were lined up together, with a figure lying across them. Cold rain beat against Black Bee’s face as his eyes opened.

"Good."

Black Bee sat up and tried moving his limbs. The dull ache in his organs had faded. The newly born Elemental Bees might not have much combat effectiveness, but with them he could at least trigger his Spatial Ability.

Just as Black Bee thought victory was within reach, a howling sound came from above.

Boom!

A column of fire shot up through the rain, blowing apart several buildings whose exterior walls were already riddled with cracks.

The smoke was quickly pressed down by the rain. Black Bee, face smeared with mud, stood in the ruins, the confidence back in his eyes.

Leather shoes crunched glass shards. The People’s Teacher stepped over the rubble, walking slowly toward Black Bee.

"Like a damned ghost, you never go away."

If Black Bee were to rank his enemies, number one would be a woman named Xi. To his satisfaction, Xi had already died in the last world War—supposedly blown to pieces, which Black Bee still found a bit unbelievable. As for number two, that was the People’s Teacher.

"You don’t seem to enjoy fighting me. I suppose that’s what you’d call loathing."

The People’s Teacher’s tone was still flat, like a Slaughter machine without Emotion.

"Who the hell would enjoy brawling with a deadpan freak like you."

Black Bee chuckled. Knowing he could leave with Spatial Ability at any moment, he didn’t particularly care about the People’s Teacher’s terrifying combat effectiveness.