Endless Debt

The Blade-Biting Wolf shredded the phantom, Geoffrey heightened his ether, alert to his surroundings. Bologue brushed past Palmer and the Abyss, leaping from the other end of the Long Bridge.

This all happened simultaneously, as Bologue witnessed the raging tiger, he couldn't help but sigh, even the good-natured have moments of anger.

"You say, if that's an Illusion Creation, then where would the Delusional be?"

At this moment, Palmer unexpectedly spoke.

"Don't jinx it with your crow mouth..."

Bologue hadn't finished warning Palmer when another surge of ether released nearby.

"Damn it! Palmer!"

Bologue choked back his unfinished words, cursing loudly.

Ether solidified in mid-air into steps, the Delusional appeared before them once more, several barbed hooks were illusioned, attacking the two still swinging towards the Long Bridge.

From deceiving Geoffrey with a Calamity illusion, then misleading the Blade-Biting Wolf... the Delusional's combat strategy was clear, to keep the Immortal Heart away from Geoffrey.

Once Geoffrey obtained the Immortal Heart, aside from a direct battle, the Delusional had no chance of reclaiming it, and even in a direct battle with Geoffrey, his odds were pitifully low.

Perhaps seven years had changed the Delusional beyond recognition, yet Geoffrey had survived the secret wars as a seasoned field staff; he was truly battle-hardened. Had the life in Logistics Department not corrupted him, Geoffrey would have had pure muscle rather than a paunch.

Now was the Delusional's last chance, he charged aggressively at the two in mid-air, Geoffrey noticed everything, his gaze intense, as a suppressive force descended to try and seal the Delusional.

Mocking laughter echoed, the puppet-like white mask twisted and shattered in an instant, the Delusional's figure split into dozens, densely surrounding Bologue and Palmer.

Geoffrey's Tiger Eye could switch between group stasis and single stasis, the strength difference between them was vast. The Delusional confused Geoffrey's vision with illusions, forcing him into group stasis, trying to control the Delusional.

"This is why I prefer not to work with others."

Geoffrey's eyes glowed Canyin, he murmured.

Pairing with Lebius, he never worried about Lebius getting hurt, nor did he worry about his stasis failing. But now Lebius wasn't here, only a Blade-Biting Wolf assisted him.

The pitch-black blade moved swiftly, yet it couldn't immediately cut down all the phantoms.

Bologue and Palmer's racing figures encountered changes; Deceitful Snake Scale Silver formed into a Silver Hand, pushing away the encroaching chains, yet cracks appeared in the rock where the hooks embedded, then dislodged.

"Palmer! Do you still have strength left?" Bologue asked.

They swung halfway, but with hooks detached, they couldn't swing back onto the Long Bridge. Hook retrieval needed time, Silver Hand was limited by distance, unreachable.

"I'll do my best!"

Palmer gritted his teeth, summoned a gale, pushing them towards the Long Bridge, yet in the Delusional's view, the two airborne seemed like targets.

The remaining figures lunged at them, true or false, no one knew where the Delusional's real body was. But Bologue had no other options; he could only push on regardless.

Luckily, in this desperate moment, the Canyin light brightened, under Ethereal Amplification, Geoffrey's speed exceeded all their expectations, nearly instantly appearing before them.

Bone-breaking Knife raised high, Geoffrey slammed a blood-stained blade down at one figure.

After brief confusion, Geoffrey accurately judged the Delusional's true location based on different ether intensities.

Seven years transformed the Delusional from a scholar to a warrior, yet he had never personally experienced those most frenzied combats, nor that blood-earned experience of Geoffrey's.

In an instant, the surrounding figures scattered, leaving only the real body beneath Geoffrey's blade.

The Delusional didn't panic; he had foreseen this moment. After all, he was here to snatch food from the jaws of the Order Bureau; he knew all too well his old employer's strength.

Luckily, he had prepared thoroughly.

Rounds of hard Round Shields were illusioned in front of the Delusional, they couldn't block Geoffrey's heavy strike, but enough to delay slightly, allowing the Delusional to hurl something towards Bologue and Palmer.

Bologue watched helplessly as the Delusional swung his hand, a delicate glass container barreling towards him.

The surface of the container was etched with intricate patterns, resembling a work of art, yet inside brewed rolling thunderclouds, tiny cracks split open, Bologue could almost hear the roaring storms and lightning.

Thundercloud Qi, Bologue had seen this thing at the auction. It seemed the buyer had been killed by the Delusional, making it the Delusional's spoils, turning into a weapon to break the deadlock.

Bologue had no time to issue any warning. The moment the container shattered, the roaring thundercloud engulfed everyone.

The vision turned grayish, and amidst the dimness was lightning like serpents, twisting light striking everyone inside the thundercloud. Bologue was hit directly by a bolt of lightning, his whole body lost strength, and he fell into brief paralysis.

Palmer was the same; he tried to summon the gale, but the air currents around were already engulfed by the Thundercloud Qi. The gale he wove was covered by the thundercloud before it could blow.

In the apocalyptic scene, the golden light flickered behind the dark clouds, followed by crimson appendages breaking through, swallowing the golden light.

At this critical moment, the Delusional once again created Calamity through illusion, although merely a fake replica. Under the Delusional's full-on effort, in tandem with the violent thundercloud, it briefly suppressed Geoffrey.

Most importantly, the dark thundercloud obscured Geoffrey's vision. He couldn't find a target to freeze. The Ether flow around had also been disrupted by the thundercloud, making him completely unable to detect the Delusional's Ether reaction.

The thundercloud surged, and a black figure broke through the clouds, like a diving Black Hawk, swooping toward Palmer below.

The Black Hawk was accompanied by a raging thunderstorm, with bolts of lightning striking down, electrocuting Bologue and Palmer.

Bologue was better off; he was the Undead, and from his earlier learning experience in the Black Prison, this level of attack wasn't enough to knock him out or kill him. But Palmer was different. This unlucky fellow was already smoking from the electric shock, losing consciousness and free falling with Bologue out of the thundercloud, plummeting toward the Abyss below.

The Delusional and the two of them burst out of the thundercloud one after another, with the crimson figure inside it clashing with Geoffrey repeatedly.

"Stop!"

Bologue roared hoarsely, but this still couldn't prevent the Delusional from reaching Palmer's side, snatching the Immortal Heart.

The pale puppet mask turned toward Bologue, still maintaining silence, saying nothing. Illusion-made wings unfolded behind him as the Delusional quickly decelerated, briefly hovering in mid-air, then rushing towards another corner of the darkness.

The Delusional eventually secured the Immortal Heart. What he needed to do next was escape from the Order Bureau's siege. As for Bologue and Palmer's lives, they weren't in his considerations.

Bologue watched the light gradually fade. At the crucial moment, he made a decision, Deceitful Snake Scale Silver extending to form an arm, grabbing the unconscious Palmer.

The two clung together, Bologue spinning in mid-air, using all his strength to throw Palmer upwards. This wasn't the end; he then rotated again and hurled an Iron Spear with even swifter force.

The Iron Spear accurately struck Palmer, piercing through his arm, pinning him to a nearby rock wall. It looked somewhat tragic, but at least Bologue successfully stopped Palmer from falling.

When it was time to save himself, Bologue realized he had already fallen into a desperate situation. Whether it was the surrounding rock walls or the Long Bridge, they were too far away. The Summoning Hand couldn't reach that distance, and the grappling hook he held had only one chance.

If it couldn't be lodged into the rock wall, by the time the hook retracted and was released again, he would already have been completely swallowed by the darkness.

"Whatever, let's give it a try!"

Bologue never thought there would be a day where he, like Palmer, would become a player reliant on luck. But in such a desperate situation, he could only gamble on his luck.

He threw out the grappling hook, and as it reached the extreme distance, the hook barely caught into the rock wall. Bologue showed a look of joy, but before he could pull himself closer, the hook, having hit from the extreme distance, couldn't fully lodge into the wall and came loose again.

Luckily, Bologue was already closer to the rock wall this time. After the hook retracted, he directly used Deceitful Snake Scale Silver to mold the hook-head into a small anchor and hurled it toward the rock wall with all his might.

"Aimou!"

Bologue called out, and immediately Ether Amplification covered his body.

This time, the anchor fiercely drove into the wall, and as Bologue fell, the grappling hook went taut, with Bologue raising a shield in front of him and colliding hard with the rock wall under the pull of the hook.

It felt like being hit head-on by a car; after the impact, Bologue felt intense pain all over his body, followed by the anchor starting to loosen, falling straight down.

Fortunately, by now Bologue had already touched the rock wall. Under the drive of the Summoning Hand, protrusions appeared one after another, allowing him to slowly climb back to the Long Bridge.

After the danger subsided, Bologue could finally catch a breath of relief. Clinging to the rock wall, trying to regain his strength, Bologue was completely unaware that the shadows were writhing intensely. Then a pair of white gloves extended from the shadows with an inaudible malicious chuckle, grabbing his shoulders.

The Devil would never interfere with others' choices, at most, at the crossroads of fate, giving a nudge with some force.

Of course, for some stubborn fellows, they might give a kick.

The Tyrant gently tugged on Bologue's shoulders, and in a flash, Bologue lost all his strength, even the Ether fell silent, no longer responding to his call.

Bologue didn't know what was happening; he only felt a chilling coldness. And as he fell, the light above his head faded continuously until everything returned to darkness, descending into an eternal fall.