CLANG—

The Eight-Sided Han Sword intertwined with the Western Thin Sword, their howls tearing through the air, radiant with a cold gleam.

The Flesh Fungi Blanket on either side of the corridor, like cloth, was easily ripped apart by the crisscrossing Sword Qi; even the alloy walls bore deep sword marks.

The sound of metal clashing filled their ears. In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged more than a dozen blows.

"I can't believe you've turned traitor too!" Li Ang bellowed, pulling out a steel rod and sweeping it towards the Black Holy Son, who was relentlessly entangled with Wanli Fengdao.

The Dusk Knight standing beside him silently raised a Knight Spear named "Hidden Glowing Thunder Light" with one hand. He heavily stomped on the Flesh Fungi Blanket, his body charging forward with the momentum of a fully-powered truck. My Virtual Library Empire (*)

Zhuang Pengpai's eyes were as cold as winter. He reached out, gently pushing the fallen Stonemason towards the end of the T-corridor clear of the Aberrant Progenitor, while simultaneously flicking a Miniature Life Potion into the Stonemason's arms. He then kicked off the ground fiercely, shooting forward like a cannonball, arriving to block the Black Holy Son despite starting later.

Facing the steel rod and the spear, Zhuang Pengpai, the Datura Archbishop, remained calm. His back skin twisted and writhed. After a brief delay, two bloody, stout arms tore through his thin hazmat suit, growing out from beneath his shoulder blades.

"You're like Machamp from Pokémon!" Li Ang exclaimed, increasing the force of his swing.

However, Zhuang Pengpai shook his four arms. Both his left hands simultaneously caught Li Ang's sweeping steel rod, while his two right hands, seemingly slow but actually swift, grasped the spear tip of the charging Dusk Knight. Temporarily impeding the Dusk Knight's momentum, Zhuang Pengpai unleashed an iron fist like a battering ram, slamming it into the long spear shaft.

THUMP!

A subtle dent appeared on the spear shaft as it bent. At the same time, the Thunder Python Electric Snakes coiling around it electrocuted Zhuang Pengpai's palms, mangling his flesh until they were a bloody ruin.

Despite this, Zhuang Pengpai didn't let go. Instead, a brutal, ferocious smile spread across his face. He released the steel rod, forcing Li Ang back with his Double Handed Knife, which blazed with pale blue flames. Then, grabbing the long spear with his left hand, he tugged it fiercely towards himself while his right fist, ablaze with blue flames like a giant siege ram, thundered towards the Dusk Knight.

His spear restrained, the Dusk Knight didn't retreat but advanced instead. Enveloped in flying embers and ash emanating from his body, he threw a punch, colliding with Zhuang Pengpai's.

The fiery explosion bloomed in the narrow corridor, burning the Mycelium Carpet spread across the floor to dim Ash.

Zhuang Pengpai's right arm was now fractured and bent, the protruding radius even piercing through the skin, exposed to the air. Blood slid down his fingertips, splashing onto the pitch-black, muddy floor. He gazed at the Dusk Knight, who had also suffered a broken arm, and was just about to charge again when he saw two octopus tentacles, thick as water buckets, shoot out with an agility completely at odds with their bulky appearance. They rounded the corner of the T-corridor, rushing towards Zhuang Pengpai and the Stonemason, who had just finished his Miniature Life Potion and was about to stand up.

The snake-like tentacles violently wrapped around both the Stonemason and Zhuang Pengpai, squeezing fiercely!

CRACK. CRACK.

The sound of ribs breaking was incessant. Zhuang Pengpai's vision turned black, and he couldn't muster any strength. He could only watch helplessly as he and the Stonemason were engulfed by the tentacles and pulled back.

"No!" The Black Holy Son's eyes reddened.

If both my teammates die here, I'll have to kill the Aberrant Progenitor and destroy the Origin of Life. At the same time, I'll need to eliminate one of our three opponents, just to earn three points. The chances of success are minuscule. My only way out is to rescue my two teammates before they're devoured by the Aberrant Progenitor.

At the cost of a heavy shoulder wound, the Black Holy Son repelled Wanli Fengdao. He then feinted with his sword to deflect the spear the Dusk Knight had thrust at him. Amidst his elusive movements, he flashed to the middle of the corridor in front of the Aberrant Progenitor, his Thin Sword slashing down at the tentacles in mid-air.

The Black Holy Son, originally named Cui Zaixi, hailed from a family in Goryeo with immense power and a complex network of connections. The nobles of Goryeo acted with far more impunity than the powerful elsewhere. Consequently, thanks to his family's influence, Cui Zaixi never had to worry about the scarcity of equipment or skills like Lone Wolf Players.

His offensive skill activated instantly. The rapier extended a long trail of Sword Qi, slicing through the Aberrant Progenitor's tentacles and a large section of the corridor wall. Two severed tentacles, along with Stonemason and Zhuang Pengpai, fell to the ground.

The foolish, dim-witted Aberrant Progenitor paused, seemingly surprised that it could no longer feel its two extended tentacles. While its brain was still processing this, its body acted on instinct, shooting out dozens of tentacles towards the front of the corridor.

The three players each pulled out a Miniature Life Potion and gulped it down.

Stonemason flipped the hand holding his utility knife, activating his skill. Countless razor-sharp, narrow metal strips extended from both sides of the corridor, intersecting and weaving into a dense net.

Zhuang Pengpai stretched out his four arms and smacked his chest forcefully, conjuring three basketball-sized Fiery Fireballs that shot forward in a triangular formation.

The Black Holy Son, meanwhile, swept his rapier horizontally, unleashing a crescent-shaped blade of Sword Qi towards the Aberrant Progenitor.

Each employing their own methods, they tried to fend off the countless tentacles that nearly filled the corridor. They succeeded—for a moment. The tentacles were torn apart by the indestructible metal net, scorched by the Fiery Fireballs, and bisected by the crescent blade of Sword Qi.

Severed pieces of the Aberrant Progenitor littered the ground. Yet, the creature merely shook its body nonchalantly. From the Mycelium Carpet in the corridor behind it, hundreds of arm-thick conduits grew, piercing like needles into the cracks of the shell on the Aberrant Progenitor's back.

The Mycelium Carpet and the Aberrant Progenitor were two aspects of the same creation. Reinforced by the Mycelium Carpet's flesh, the Aberrant Progenitor's tentacles began to regenerate at high speed, their growth rate several times faster than their rate of attrition!

In despair, the torrent of tentacles engulfed the three players and continued its unstoppable onslaught toward Li Ang and the others.

The Aberrant Progenitor's hunting method wasn't to kill its prey immediately and devour its flesh and bone. Instead, it swallowed them whole, intending to slowly digest them with the Flesh Fungi Blanket in its stomach.

This method meant that Stonemason and the others didn't die instantly, but it also plunged Li Ang and his companions into a desperate situation. They could no longer earn enough mission points by directly killing another player.

Their options were to either make a desperate stand, battling the Aberrant Progenitor to the death in hopes of killing it or destroying the Origin of Life on its back, or to fight a retreating battle, waiting for the death notifications from Stonemason and the others who were engulfed by the tentacles...

In the blink of an eye, a sky full of tentacles had already surged before Li Ang, the foul wind carrying a brutal killing intent as it bore down on them.