Chapter 46: Sudden Change
A faint scent of blood hung in the still air near the small woods in Jiangcheng County’s central park.
A three-foot long sword pierced Yang Meili’s hand, pinning her to a wall. Her usual weapon, a hidden blade in her sleeve, lay broken on the ground, its shattered fragments scattered around her.
Even worse were the three burn marks on her body, still searing her flesh, the pain relentless.
Yet, Yang Meili’s expression was devoid of agony, replaced by shock and bewilderment at the even more gruesome scene before her.
“Wu Hai…”
Codenamed Flame King, Elemental path, wielding the power of fire, his skills were imbuing weapons with fire and enhancing his own body with fire.
He leaned against the wall, his face a mask of disbelief, his eyes fixated on Yang Meili, frozen in place, his red-hot claws hanging limply at his sides.
Several throwing darts protruded from his chest, piercing his heart and extinguishing his life force.
This was one of Yang Meili’s signature assassination techniques.
Flame King, Wu Hai, was dead.
Even in his final moments, Wu Hai couldn’t understand why Yang Meili had done this, only managing to inflict a final injury upon her before dying.
On Yang Meili’s broken hidden blade were traces of Ancient Martial Artist Liu Songyi’s fist force, and the sword pinning her hand belonged to Swordsman Zhong Bo.
However, neither of them was in good shape either.
Zhong Bo lay on his back, his sword hand crushed to a pulp, his legs twisted at unnatural angles, unable to stand.
Liu Songyi, though still able to fight, knelt on one knee, his muscular body covered in wounds.
Sword wounds, puncture wounds, even fist wounds, all oozing blood.
His eyes were wide with fury as he stared at the indifferent woman not far away, gritting out each word.
“Huang…Xiu…Qin…”
This was an unexpected and brutal battle, far beyond what the team had anticipated.
Even the beginning of the fight had been sudden and unforeseen.
Yang Meili, who had been scouting the area, suddenly appeared in front of Wu Hai. Before anyone could ask what was happening, she attacked.
And her attack was lethal.
Three throwing darts flew straight towards Wu Hai’s heart, while the hidden blade in her other hand slashed at his head.
Liu Songyi, who was closer to Wu Hai, reacted instantly, shattering Yang Meili’s hidden blade. Zhong Bo, half a beat slower, also reacted, throwing his three-foot long sword, pinning Yang Meili’s hand to the wall.
…But it was too late. The three throwing darts had already found their mark, piercing Wu Hai’s heart.
In his final moments, Wu Hai mustered his remaining strength and lashed out with his fire-imbued claws, leaving three gruesome burn marks on Yang Meili.
Before Liu Songyi could ask Yang Meili why she had done this, Zhong Bo, who was behind him, suddenly attacked, slashing at his back with another sword.
Fortunately, Liu Songyi’s physique was strong enough to withstand the blow. He quickly turned and subdued Zhong Bo, but as he reached out to restrain him, his hand inexplicably formed a fist and smashed Zhong Bo’s left arm to a pulp.
A fierce battle ensued, ending only when Liu Songyi was heavily injured and Zhong Bo collapsed unconscious with broken legs.
As Liu Songyi struggled to his feet, the figure they had been chasing for so long finally appeared before him, looking down at them.
Liu Songyi realized… they had failed.
This inexplicable infighting was her doing.
“You were too careless, completely unaware of the kind of opponent you were facing,” Performer said calmly. “I could easily defeat you even without knowing your abilities.”
“Oneiric path…”
Liu Songyi struggled to lift his head, staring intently at Performer, trying to memorize her face, every detail about her.
So that Ji Shinian could use his ability to find her.
He hadn’t expected… this entire operation to be a trap.
They had been cautious, gathering the strongest fighters in the group before coming here, sending the unstable Scarlet Witch and the less useful Cyber Girl on a newbie mission.
But they hadn’t expected… her ability to be so strange.
Before coming here, Performer had sought out the Speaker to obtain information on the Awakened Ones in the area, intending to use her psychological suggestion ability to take them down one by one.
But they had gathered together, and their search had been disorganized. The assassin she had initially targeted with psychological suggestion had been distracted.
…And this small-scale encounter, where her opponents were unprepared, was the perfect setting for Performer’s ability.
In direct combat, Performer’s strength wasn’t even comparable to a Judgment path Awakened One a few Orders lower than her, unless she used a sneak attack, like with the Bone Doctor.
But with a slightly larger group, she only needed to sow a little discord, and the team would easily crumble.
In the battle just now, Performer had used her ability three times, each lasting no more than two seconds.
The effect had been significant.
“Goodbye.”
Performer took out a homemade firearm from her pocket, aimed it at Liu Songyi’s forehead, and pulled the trigger.
“Pfft—”
A small, unremarkable sound, like opening a bottle of wine with a corkscrew.
Liu Songyi collapsed.
“That was easy.”
Performer put away her firearm, her expression still indifferent.
Just then, she heard a vibration. Looking down, she saw Liu Songyi’s phone in his pocket.
A message flashed on the lock screen, marked urgent.
“Hmm?”
Performer raised an eyebrow, picked up the phone, and unlocked it with Liu Songyi’s fingerprint.
“Oh? They’ve encountered that Dangerous Grotesquery already… such fearless little ones.” Performer chuckled coldly, then her expression turned serious. “I was planning to wait for Scientist and Artist to arrive before making a move… it seems I have to act sooner than expected.”
Judging from the urgent message, the Dangerous Grotesquery was still dormant. If it awakened… it would be much more difficult to deal with.
But Performer wasn’t worried. She had “His” blessing. As long as she could reach the Grotesquery, it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Let’s go take a look.”
Performer tossed the phone aside and turned to leave.
She didn’t notice the young girl clutching a bag of snacks, who had witnessed everything from afar, covering her mouth, too terrified to make a sound.
“How could this be… I just went to buy some snacks, and Brother Liu and the others…”
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