Chapter 36: Face to Face

Manipulating the Web to provoke the two Legendary-level Awakened to fight each other, then waiting for them to fight until one was severely injured and dying, and the other was barely alive, and stabbing them both in the back to reap the benefits.

This idea was good, but also very naive.

If it were other more reckless Trialists, they might have started doing this by now.

But Xiao Fen believed that if an SS-rank difficult task could be solved with such a simple method, it would be underestimating the wisdom of the Awakened and the World Tree too much.

In this seemingly straightforward choice, there must be a hidden trap. It was this trap that would turn the entire event into a higher difficulty until it reached a point beyond Xiao Fen’s control.

Xiao Fen realized that he was facing a road hidden with killing intent. Any error in choice could cause the situation before his eyes to collapse rapidly, and he would fall into an abyss.

To avoid this situation, Xiao Fen had to find that hidden trap as soon as possible. Before that, he needed to avoid conflicts as much as possible.

This applied whether facing the two Legendary-level Awakened or facing Li Ruran and the others.

Thinking of this, Xiao Fen began to issue new orders to those Webs through the Light Screen. Not to let these Webs continue to expand, but on the contrary, he ordered the Webs to gradually retract.

The suddenly retracting Web clearly caught the two Legendary Awakened off guard. They cautiously began to advance toward the center of the block. Li Ruran and the others, however, seemed even more careful and didn’t continue to advance, possibly standing still and observing.

Xiao Fen carefully controlled the degree of the Web’s retraction. Not too fast, to avoid sudden changes alerting the two terrifying enemies before him.

It was just like Xiao Fen was treading on thin ice; whether it was Jack or that newly appeared Awakened, they were also being extremely cautious because of the other’s existence. Any sudden, violent change could cause these two Awakened to become suspicious and launch a sudden attack.

Finally, when the Web stopped at a distance of about three buildings away from Xiao Fen’s small building, a circle of red warning lines suddenly appeared on Xiao Fen’s Light Screen. This circle of red appeared incomparably dazzling in the dark room.

“Lux cannot retreat behind the warning line!”

“Repeat, Lux cannot retreat behind the warning line!”

“Lux retreating behind the red warning line is considered the Trialist abandoning the mission.”

“SS-rank mission abandoned, the Trialist must bear Yggdrasil’s wrath and accept the corresponding punishment.”

Xiao Fen looked at these suddenly appearing words, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Unlike in the past, this time the World Tree actively intervened in the mission, crudely drawing a red line and interfering with the Trialist’s mission progress. This could only mean that something similar had happened here in history.

To prevent history from repeating itself, the World Tree had to use this kind of prompt to prevent the Trialist from retreating.

This method seemed crude, but Xiao Fen felt a bit excited. The World Tree drawing this red line had already proven that this red line was the World Tree’s bottom line for this mission. In other words, on this bottom line, there were no traps.

Next, it was time for Xiao Fen to re-execute the mission.

Just at this moment, another change occurred in the block. The two Legendary Awakened finally met not far from the small building.

The unexpected encounter made both Awakened pause slightly. Soon, Jack, who had come from the east, first broke the silence.

This was a person whose entire face was covered by a thick hood. His stature was very tall, appearing full of strength. His gray coat seemed to have stayed in the mist outside for quite some time; the mist gathered on it made the clothes look wet. The black leather shoes on his feet were spotless, looking out of place with this gray world.

This serial killer, who had left a great name in both the Mortal World and among Awakened, spoke with a heavy Welsh accent in English to the other Awakened standing a few meters away: “Hello, old friend. Farrah from the Underworld, we haven’t seen each other for many years. How have you been?”

That Awakened from the Underworld, the person Jack the Ripper called Farrah, seemed more like a mass of black mist.

Except for two fixed pale blue light spots where his eyes were, his body looked like an existence without a fixed shape.

Hearing Jack’s greeting, Farrah replied directly: “I awakened from the grave, and then heard the abnormality here. Jack, you who have had your true name sealed by Yggdrasil, seem to want to change the alliance between us.”

Jack shook his head and said with a smile: “No, Farrah, the one breaking the alliance isn’t me, it’s you.”

As he spoke, he tossed a bullet at Farrah’s feet and said: “Look at what this is? Old friend, a Poison Witcher’s Eye. There are many Awakened who can manufacture this kind of bullet, but that doesn’t include me, nor does it include that idiot Lux.”

Looking at Farrah, Jack continued: “Although the spell to manufacture Acid Poison Bullets only requires the Gene Control Ability bloodline, this Poison Witcher’s Eye is not a simple primary manufactured product, but an excellent bullet that has stimulated latent elements.”

“Only an Awakened with a bloodline like a Garm creature can cause greater damage to a Stitched Monster. Otherwise, with a Stitched Monster’s huge body, how could it be killed by a tiny Acid Poison Bullet?”

“The fair judge, the watchdog of the Underworld, its bloodline can produce triple damage to Filth Creatures. Farrah, you should know this better than I do. So, can you tell me now, in this block, besides you, who else is a Gene Control Ability user and also possesses the bloodline of Garm?”

Farrah lowered his head and glanced at the bullet at his feet. If Xiao Fen were here, he would definitely be able to see that this bullet was exactly the one he had just fired and missed, embedded in the wall.

Merely looking at it, without taking any action, the Acid Poison Bullet began to emit a faint light. These lights flickered rhythmically. After a few seconds, the light dissipated, and the bullet instantly turned into a pile of crumbs.

Farrah turned his head to look at the small building’s defense line again. The huge mental pressure made Xiao Fen, who was observing here, feel his hair stand on end in an instant, as if a prehistoric giant beast was staring coldly at him.

“That is indeed a Poison Witcher’s Eye. Lux seems to have an interesting little friend over there. However, I don’t think what I’ve said will satisfy you.”

Farrah’s body began to flicker endlessly. In the gray space, he was like a mass of black flames, burning away the surrounding mist completely.