Chapter 672 - 661: Obfuscation
Chapter 672: Chapter 661: Obfuscation
"That Puki... why...?"
Jini, whose consciousness was shattered by the sword heart backlash, couldn’t even control her body and had to let other cultists carry her away.
It’s not her fault she was unprepared.
Spirit Mages are already rare, and even if they encounter them, facing the power bestowed by the goddess, most can only passively defend, barely protecting themselves.
Such a swift and fierce counterattack, it’s almost like that already dead Sword Saint?!
At this moment, Jini couldn’t even concentrate to ponder over this matter, because she saw them.
In a daze, those faces emerged from the void, one after another, layer upon layer surrounding her.
There were old men, children, men, women, all people she knew, all sacrificed by her own hand.
They stood at the grayish edge of her consciousness, like reflections emerging from water, becoming clearer.
Someone frowned in confusion.
Someone clenched their fists in anger.
Someone stared at her with hollow eyes.
The voices started soft, as if through thick water, gradually becoming clear, sharp, piercing, tormenting Jini’s already fragile spirit.
"Jini... why?"
A voice pierced through all the clamor.
That voice was too familiar, so familiar that she couldn’t help but shiver.
In the gray-white glow stood a young man. His face still so clear, so young, as if forever stuck at seventeen years old.
Her childhood friend, Code.
"Jini, why?"
His voice was gentle, without blame, just a simple inquiry.
She wanted to speak, wanted to explain, but her body could only emit vague murmurs.
Code...
This is... the only way to save your soul...
...
"Jini."
"Jini!"
Voices calling her back to reality, she opened her eyes, initially seeing a blur of light that gradually resolved into two faces.
New Moon’s furry cat face full of concern, eyes slightly reddened, and the High Priest... the High Priest always with that gentle expression.
The High Priest’s hand held her cheek, glowing with a milky white light, threads seeping into her forehead, carefully picking up and piecing back the fragmented shards of her consciousness.
"High Priest... enemy... Puki..."
"New Moon has already explained." The High Priest gently soothed her, "Focus your thoughts on yourself, try to recall your past, remember who you are, and the important things, this will help heal your soul’s wounds."
Under the High Priest’s guidance, Jini gradually regained composure.
The High Priest then withdrew his hand, stood up, and walked towards the ritual nearby that was ready and waiting for him to preside.
Simultaneously, the cultists began to move.
Some walked towards the ritual, knelt at the sacrificial nodes, heads bowed in silent prayer.
Others gathered around New Moon, intending to block any potential enemy following them, at least ensuring the ritual remains undisturbed.
"My lord, please protect us."
With New Moon’s prayer, black mist erupted from her magic staff, enveloping herself and then spreading to each cultist behind her, shrouding them from head to toe.
The smell vanished, the magic power fluctuation vanished, sound vanished too, all possible trace-revealing information swelled by the mist.
Ready, they left the hidden refuge.
...
On the other side, Lin Jun and the Sword Saint had already pinpointed Hand of Death’s hideout but did not rush over.
To capture everything at once, relying on just two combat units was clearly too challenging.
On a stretch of unmanned Fungal Mat, numerous Pukis emerged one by one.
Simultaneously, the Pukis continuously spread spores, under massive magic power influence, the mat advanced visibly towards the Hand of Death’s hideout.
Seeing the area quickly packed by the Pukis, the Sword Saint couldn’t help but ask, "Is this fine? The scale is too large, it will leave a lot of marks, Thirteen’s side..."
Though he didn’t like Thirteen, after all, they were on the same side, the Sword Saint did not hope for its failure.
"No worries, Thirteen is a clever mushroom; it’ll find a way to conceal it." Lin Jun’s tone was full of trust in Thirteen.
Once everything was ready, the Sword Saint and Lizardman Puppet led thousands of Pukis towards the hideout.
The Lizardman Puppet had an audio Puki entwined on its waist, emitting occasional low laughter, making the Sword Saint Puki uncomfortable, hard to bring himself into the role of vanquishing evil.
As they reached an open forest clearing, the soil beneath the Sword Saint Puki suddenly exploded!
Four pitch-black figures burst from underground, attacking simultaneously from all directions!
The surprise attack caught not only the Sword Saint but even Lin Jun off guard.
Not only that, Lin Jun was shocked to find her panel failed facing these ambushers!
Did Hand of Death control the fog monsters?
This was Lin Jun’s first thought.
The ambush was very successful, and the timing perfect.
If the target were the Lizardman Puppet, it might have succeeded.
But the cultists clearly intended to first eliminate the most threatening Sword Saint Puki, meaning they chose the wrong target.
Facing the ambush, the Sword Saint Puki remained calm.
His mushroom cap pressed low; tendrils extended with his body rotation, two longswords carved arcs of sword qi in the spin.
[Wind Pressure Slash Level 10]
The sword qi struck first, four heads almost simultaneously flew up.
Blood then sprayed from the neck stumps, those four headless bodies still maintaining their charge posture, stumbled forward two steps, then collapsed softly onto the ground, weapons flying out from hands, landing with a muffled thud.
However, the ambush target wasn’t just the Sword Saint.
While Lin Jun focused her attention on the corpses’ dispersing black mist, more enemies burst forth, many Pukis caught unprepared were promptly slaughtered.
Even the Lizardman Puppet faced assaults.
New Moon leaped high, staff tip pointed at the Lizardman Puppet.
A pair of stone hands rose from beneath the puppet, clamped shut with force.
The puppet managed to shatter two fingers at the last moment, escaping the fate of being crushed, but its head still sustaining injuries.
Shattered scales and the sealing cloth wrapping its head fell together onto the ground.
New Moon blankly stared at the revealed true form of the Lizardman Puppet, momentarily forgetting the next course of action.
And this was just the beginning.
A voice she knew all too well came from opposite:
"Heh, I... will never yield..."
"Wrong, where is this?"
"New... Moon?"