Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 742 - 740 Black Mud

BOOM!

The Catastrophe Golem raised its arms and fired a crimson light cannon. The blast struck the horrific old man's back, causing it to stagger forward two steps. The bag in its hand narrowly missed Bai Haozheng's ear as it swept past.

Wanli Fengdao stepped forward, dragging a lingering afterimage and crossing half the corridor in an instant. The Dragon-Slaying Sword in his hand glowed faintly as he slashed towards the horrific old man's spine.

The Dragon-Slaying Sword sliced through the back, which was covered in a black, oily liquid. It penetrated easily, without any resistance, and without producing the imagined clash of metal on metal.

This is...

Wanli Fengdao felt an unexplained tingling pain at the back of his neck. He abruptly stopped his sword-wielding motion. His swordsman's keen intuition flared, allowing him to see a half-blade protruding from the black mud-covered wall to his left rear. It was just over ten centimeters from piercing Wanli Fengdao.

Had the horrific old man's teleportation ability spread to the black mud on the surface? Any attack focused on the black mud would be teleported and redirected to counterattack the attacker?

No, that's not right.

The light beam fired by the Mechanical Statue had just hit the horrific old man's back directly, causing it to stumble forward. It hadn't been reflected back at the players inside the Vajra Circles through the black mud on the walls of the corridor. Besides, if the opponent could absorb energy attacks one hundred percent, it should have stood still, motionless, not fallen.

Wanli Fengdao's brain worked at full speed. Either the horrific old man couldn't transfer energy attacks that lacked physical form, or the energy level of the light beam fired by the Mechanical Statue was too high for the opponent to absorb completely. No matter the possibility, it implied that the horrific old man was not without weaknesses.

In that case...

Wanli Fengdao held his breath and focused, swiftly pulling the Dragon-Slaying Sword out from the horrific old man's abdomen.

[Skill Name: Warm Rain and Clear Wind Break the Thaw]

[Type: Spiritual Energy]

[Special Effect: Warm Rain and Clear Wind. Use a sword-shaped weapon to swing out a straight-line energy blade. The blade will continue to absorb surrounding energy until it strikes a solid material.]

[Consumption: 400 stamina points, 400 Spirit Energy Value]

[Cooldown: 10 minutes]

[Conditions of Use: General Swordsmanship level must reach intermediate. Promotion to the 20th floor of the Sky Fighting Arena using a sword-shaped weapon is required.]

[Note: The Guanjiangkou Sword Saint Chu Jiaohe began practicing the sword at the age of three, attained innate talents at ten, became a grandmaster at twenty, and was unmatched in the world by thirty. He lamented the world's capricious weather and treacherous natural disasters. Consequently, he volunteered to serve the court, taking up the position of Si Kong in charge of deploying rain. He used his towering Sword Qi to slice through the accumulated clouds in the sky, regulating the climate over lakes and seas, rescuing people from disasters, and saving countless lives. The common people venerated him and erected temples in his honor.]

As Wanli Fengdao swung the Dragon-Slaying Sword, the wind in the corridor stirred.

A huge volume of air rushed in, drawn to the area around the Dragon-Slaying Sword. The howling gale compressed the air into a thin azure light, which slowly flew towards the decaying old creature's spine, following the path of the sword's swing.

The Guanjiangkou Sword Saint's technique, used to slice high-altitude rain clouds, was so terrifying that even when deployed in the confined corridor without enough space to fully unleash it, it still contained a horrifying energy that made the players present gasp in amazement.

The horrific old man seemed to sense this as well. It didn't bother to turn around and counterattack. Instead, black oily liquid surged wildly from beneath its feet. The entire ground caved in, quickly dragging the horrific old man down with it.

"Trying to run?"

Li Ang trod on the carpet, creating ripples as he charged forward swiftly. Vines imbued with Divine Power wrapped around the horrific old man's body and wrists, preventing it from falling. The Black Holy Son, who had also rushed out from the Vajra Circles, used his Serpentine Dagger to carve an inverse cross wound on his own chest. Through damage transfer, an identical inverse cross wound appeared on the horrific old man's chest.

By this time, Bai Haozheng had steadied his footing. He felt a piercing pain at the back of his neck. He could almost sense the profound and sinister presence within the horrific old man's sack, knowing that being caught by the bag would mean the end of everything.

A strong sense of déjà vu lingered in his mind. Bai Haozheng calmed his spirit. His fingers slid back and forth on the hilt of his sword, creating a rope-like beam of light. Combined with the vines infused with Divine Power, this stalled the decaying elderly creature's descent.

With the cooperation of the three players, the azure energy blade, now fully charged, suddenly accelerated, slicing diagonally towards the horrific old man's chest.

HISS—

The horrific old man's body and head were split in half. Black oily drops scattered in all directions. Most were blocked by the semi-solid light screen Bai Haozheng had prepared in advance, while the remaining droplets were intercepted by Li Ang's plant vines.

The corrosive power of the black ink had intensified greatly compared to yesterday; it could now dissolve even vines imbued with Divine Power.

Li Ang watched as the two halves of the horrific old man quickly melted away. He fell silent.

As the two halves of the horrific old man's corpse melted into the ground, the black oily substances in the corridor also vanished. The Spiritual Sense Wards floating at either end of the corridor changed from red spherical mists to blue, then reverted to a transparent state, concealing themselves.

Bai Haozheng let out a long sigh of relief. He looked at the Black Holy Son and nodded. "You might be right. Staying on the eleventh floor might be better."

The Black Holy Son remained silent, merely using the hilt of his Serpentine Dagger to scrape across his chest, smoothing over the wound.

During the day, the players had discussed which floor to stay on at night. The Black Holy Son had suggested staying on the eleventh or tenth floors. This offered a wider detection range, allowing them to monitor movements on the floors above or below. However, other players vetoed this suggestion, thinking that staying on the eleventh or tenth floors would mean having to be wary of things emerging from Rooms 1108 or 1008.

Now, it seemed the anomalies in the corridor moved through the stairwell. If they had been stationed on the eleventh or tenth floors, the Psychic Truesight Guard controlled by the Mule would have had a wider monitoring range. They could have anticipated the anomalies in the stairwell in advance and wouldn't have been caught off guard and flustered, as Bai Haozheng just was.

"Wait!"

Wanli Fengdao, who was standing aside panting heavily, suddenly paled and said urgently, "I didn't hear the kill notification! That thing is still alive!"

"What?!"

All the players present looked astonished. In the next second, a vast amount of black oily liquid seeped out from everywhere in the twelfth-floor corridor: the walls, floor, ceiling, and door frames.

The corridor filled with the rotten stench of the black ink.

The Vajra Circles crackled, lasting less than a second before shattering and dimming. Players within the Vajra Circles employed their own countermeasures. The Mule and his Mechanical Statue stood inside a bubble, floating in the air. Liu Wu Dai's pinky ring emitted a faint glow, its Repulsion keeping her suspended. Meanwhile, Yuyi Xinzhong, wearing a Jet Backpack, held the pale-faced Plague Doctor, avoiding the boiling black ink below.

HISS HISS—

The two machine guns, left in place and unretrieved, were engulfed by the surging black mire and immediately dissolved into charred molten iron. The yellow paper Talismans pasted on them produced no sound or light effects before they, along with the machine guns, melted away.

HISS HISS—

ROAR!

THUD THUD THUD!

The black mire boiled and churned, emitting all kinds of strange noises. One after another, grotesque and oddly shaped creatures emerged from the sticky black mire, some of which even looked familiar to the players present.

The black-clad old woman from the oil painting in Li Ang's Room 0508, who was telling stories to the demonic child.

The Concrete Humanoid Puppet that had stood outside the Black Holy Son's door on the first night, imitating his movements.

The red-clad old woman wielding a Naginata...

The creatures emerging from the black mire were the hotel's anomalies.

"Go!"

Bai Haozheng's expression changed drastically. Disregarding the cost, he forcibly used Telekinesis to hold up an invisible umbrella, shielding himself and his companions from the black ink dripping from above. Simultaneously, nozzles at his feet ejected a massive amount of gas, propelling him towards the elevator shaft on the left side of the corridor, which was propped open by a heavy object.