Endless Debt

For... whom am I fighting.

Countless thoughts collided in Gray's mind, until a fierce pain nearly tore his consciousness apart, and he suddenly woke up.

Looking around in a daze, Jia Meng's corpse and the container were enveloped by scarlet branches. The Tyrant and the sea of blood had disappeared, as if everything that happened just now was merely an illusion.

Cold sweat mixed with blood soaked through Gray's clothes. He opened his mouth wide, taking deep breaths with all his might, trying to dispel those complex and indescribable emotions deep within.

The hand gripping the sword couldn't stop trembling, and Gray suddenly realized that holding a sword was such a difficult task for him.

Footsteps sounded from behind him, Gray turned his head, and a blurred silhouette emerged on the road from which he came; someone was chasing after him.

His figure gradually revealed itself, and a ghastly white mask appeared before his eyes.

"Delusional..."

Gray said in confusion, not understanding why the Delusional was here. In their previous deal, wasn't it agreed that Gray would be the one to seize that thing?

Thinking of that thing, Gray felt a headache. The Tyrant's sudden whim disrupted everything, and he didn't know if he could fulfill his promise.

Yet just as Gray was about to say something, a crazed illusion emerged beside Delusional, iron-cast arms appeared out of nowhere, each wielding countless knives and swords.

The Negative Power User's strength was unleashed in an instant, and almost immediately, Delusional appeared in front of Gray, the icy blade tracing a predetermined arc that, once it fell, would cut Gray into countless pieces of flesh.

The remaining Ether surged, Gray placed the Silence Sword horizontally in front of him, protecting his torso as best as he could.

He couldn't understand why Delusional suddenly attacked him, and Delusional's actions were swift and clean, without the slightest hesitation, as if facing a stranger competitor.

What shocked Gray the most was Delusional's power. In their few exchanges before, Gray had tested Delusional, and he didn't sense any strong Ether response from him, but this time he appeared directly at the Negative Power User's tier.

Gray was powerless to ponder these things further; his mind was filled with too much information, countless thoughts were nearly bursting his brain.

After the flashing sparks, Gray's body was covered with several hideous wounds, and his entire body heavily slammed onto the rocks on one side, coughing up a large amount of blood.

Delusional tried to pursue, aiming to completely kill Gray, but at this moment, a pair of arms extended out of thin air, grabbing Gray's shoulders from behind.

A biting cold spread along the arms onto Gray's body, and Delusional stopped his footsteps, for he could see the figure standing behind Gray.

"I anticipate your next decision."

It was unclear if he was speaking to Gray or to Delusional, but the Tyrant forcefully pulled Gray into the vague darkness, disappearing from sight.

Once again, the world fell silent, and Delusional stared for a long time at the place where the two had vanished, then picked up a Sharp Sword to cut through layers of flesh and was about to reach for the blood-soaked container when a gunshot rang out.

The shooter pulled the trigger six times, and six deadly Alchemy Warheads were completely unleashed, tracing lethal paths toward Delusional.

For a Negative Power User, the threat of an Alchemy Warhead was greatly reduced, but that didn't mean it posed no threat.

Ether surged, weaving heavy steel in the void, a shield wall appeared beside Delusional, blocking the heavy gunfire, but the shooter had no intention of letting him off so easily. Howling winds rose, carrying several Flying Knives rushing forward.

With precise control, the Flying Knives easily bypassed the shield wall's defense and swung towards Delusional, but such attacks clearly underestimated him.

As swords were swung, the Flying Knives were chopped into fragments of iron, and Delusional looked at the attacker, seeing him awkwardly looking at him, while still keeping the motion of reloading.

"G... good morning?"

Palmer thought about it and started the conversation in this clumsy way.

Delusional hadn't been dragged into Palmer's dim-witted chat; he knew very well that when Palmer appeared, another person must be nearby, and that person was the most troublesome one.

To admit, Delusional's judgment was correct, but clearly, he had somewhat underestimated these two's audacity. When Delusional noticed the abnormality, a hook had already coiled around the container and flown out right in front of him.

Delusional tried to intercept it, but Palmer had finished reloading and mercilessly pulled the trigger, sealing Delusional's movement trajectories with heavy bullets.

Yet such an offensive was too fragile for a Negative Power User, not to mention facing this pure Illusion Creation.

Ether intertwined to form chains, layer upon layer locking onto the container, fighting against the hook, while more shield walls rose from the ground, blocking all of Palmer's shooting routes.

At the end of the hook, above, the rocky wall shattered, and hidden within it Bologue leapt out.

Indeed, things weren't as smooth as he'd hoped. Before it all started, when he'd begun to be wary of Teda, Bologue had carefully considered how to deal with Teda if confronted head-on.

The result was, no result.

Faced with this pure Illusion Creation, Bologue found that for Teda, the only limitations were Ether consumption and his own imagination.

He needed flames and could create flames, needed waves and could summon waves; within Teda's realm, whatever he thought would become fantasy becoming reality.

Against such an enemy, Bologue truly didn't know how to fight, he could only rely on improvisation.

The sharp blade appeared out of thin air, ready to cut Bologue's hook. However, before it could sever the hook, dense iron branches extended from it, pushing away all the attacking blades.

Countless serpents crawled along Bologue's arm, touching the container along the hook, and then the iron branches extended again, severing all the Illusion Creation chains.

The Deceitful Snake Scale Silver transformed into an extended arm, firmly grasping the container, and flew back towards Bologue.

"Palmer! Do something useful!"

Bologue shouted loudly.

Palmer gritted his teeth, raised the Revolver high, and took a deep breath.

The Delusional abandoned defense, eight arms rose from its back, holding knives, spears, swords, and halberds, charging toward the two.

"Do something! Blessing!"

Palmer had no idea whom to shout at, so he shouted inexplicably and then pulled the trigger, firing the last Alchemy Warhead in the cylinder.

He had been unlucky all day and it was about time for his luck to change. The Alchemy Warhead spun out, the lone bullet heading towards the murderous Delusional.

Expectedly, the Alchemy Warhead would be slashed open by the Delusional, followed by a storm of sharp blades that would tear both of them to pieces.

Everything went exactly as Palmer expected, the Illusion Creation's blade ripped the warhead apart, the ghastly white mask like a specter claiming lives. But just as the Delusional was about to catch up with the container and sever the arm built of Deceitful Snake Scale Silver, the ground shook violently and collapsed.

Crimson tendrils suddenly wrapped around the Delusional's ankle, shattering rocks like swaying seaweed, winding around again and again. Although the sword could easily cut them into mush, it still slowed down the Delusional's pace.

"Thank you, boss!"

Palmer shouted excitedly. He wasn't sure if his Blessing had taken effect, or if the Delusional was just that unlucky, falling victim to the Corrupted Root's attack.

But either way, shouting thanks to the boss was not a problem, considering that whether it was his own Blessing or the Corrupted Root, both sources came from that scarlet lady.

"Successfully recovered!"

Bologue shouted triumphantly as if in defiance.

But the two were not happy with the success of their mission for long. Bologue and Palmer stood side by side, facing the Delusional, who remained silent, exerting the full pressure of a Negative Power User.

"What now, expert?"

Palmer swallowed hard, facing the pressure from a Negative Power User was not insignificant, let alone now without the unlucky ones from the Scarlet Decay Sect to share the damage.

This time Palmer's eyes were full of expectation. Every time at such a critical juncture, Palmer had great faith in Bologue, because only an expert like Bologue could break through such hopeless situations.

Bologue did not disappoint, his eyes heavy and steady as he thought. If Palmer were a woman, seeing such eyes in this desperate situation, Palmer thought he would certainly fall in love with Bologue. Then he heard Bologue say.

"Do you know the first thing everyone does after a bank robbery?"

"Huh?"

"After the robbery, you run!"

Bologue turned and ran with the container in his arms. Palmer hesitated for a few seconds, until the Delusional's violent Ether reaction was almost upon him, he finally understood what Bologue was saying.

"Is that all you've got?"

Palmer chased after Bologue, running for dear life.

"What else? Fight a Negative Power User head-on?" Bologue didn't forget to mock Palmer, "I'm an Undead, can you do that?"

Bologue knew one thing very clearly, after the long battle, both he and Palmer were significantly drained. Faced with a fully powered Negative Power User, they wouldn't stand a chance.

The most important thing was, this Negative Power User was Teda Yazhede. Who knows how many Alchemy Armaments he was carrying. Reflecting on the previous encounter with Gray, Bologue thought, if Teda wanted, he could smash the two of them just with Alchemy Armaments.

Confrontation was not feasible, so the only option was to grab the stuff and find reinforcements.

"Where to escape!"

Palmer screamed, feeling the Delusional was getting closer and closer. The continuous collapsing sound was proof enough.

The Delusional was furious, chasing while destroying everything in its path.

Bologue thought for a moment, then shouted back at Palmer.

"Dealing with two Negative Power Users at once, Yas should be able to handle it, right?"

"What?"