Chapter 436 - Teleportation

Gold was directly hit by Aimou’s heavy punch, breaking his nose, with blood smeared all over his face.After landing his strike, Aimou immediately retreated, merging once again with Bologue. With the power of the Shared Chord Body, Bologue’s strength reached its peak, as Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid condensed into a sharp Fist Blade in his hand.

His vision turned crimson as Gold raised his hand, causing the wooden cage around him to writhe, with branches reaching out to Bologue, attempting to intercept his movements.

"Too late!"

Bologue shouted, having already discerned Gold’s weakness during the previous time reversals.

The Secret Energy·Giant Wood Garden seemed terrifying, capable of wide-range attacks, but its Secret Energy release came with a certain delay. At a normal distance, this wasn’t noticeable, but up close, Bologue exploited this weakness to its fullest.

Faced with Bologue’s swift assault, he had no time to defend himself.

The Fist Blade left behind afterimages, pounding against Gold’s chest, the sharp blade easily piercing flesh and shattering bones, and this was just the first punch.

Bologue let out low growls, the terror induced by the Face of Horror reaching its peak, as horrifying illusions flickered before Gold’s eyes, with Bologue’s figure transforming into a Demon God.

Punch after punch, even as the approaching branches pierced through Bologue’s body, tearing his flesh, Bologue showed no intention of stopping.

Bologue was undead, and his greatest advantage was the reckless exchange of blood for blood. Seizing this rare opportunity, even if he couldn’t kill Gold, Bologue aimed to severely wound him, preventing interference in future actions.

From the ruins on the other side arose a strong Ether reaction as Kronin pushed aside the debris, disregarding his injuries, attacking Bologue.

In their brief clash, Kronin realized that Bologue among these Condensers was no ordinary Condenser, one slight misstep could lead to reversal and death.

In this situation, Gold must not fall. If Gold were killed, Kronin would be placed in an extremely passive position.

Kronin attacked Bologue with full force, evidently forgetting there was another person on the battlefield.

The morning light glistened on the cold blade, its dazzling brilliance stinging Kronin’s eyes, as a gust of wind seemed to claw fiercely towards him.

The Ethereal Barrier protected Kronin’s body, with the chaotic Flying Knives scraping against the shield, unable to affect Kronin in the slightest.

In Kronin’s perception, among these Condensers, the least threatening was the one playing with Flying Knives. Besides provoking their ire with foul insults, he seemed useless. But soon, Palmer proved his capability through action.

A Flying Knife embedded itself in the ground near Kronin. In the rush, he caught a glimpse of the knife, just ready to mock Palmer for missing, when he saw a thread attached to the knife’s end, a fuse entwined with it.

And then he saw the Alchemy Grenade falling mid-air, metallic fragments bursting out, with blazing Red Mercury raining down like a fiery storm, spreading across the street.

The explosion’s impact and ensuing fire indeed hindered Kronin’s movement, and this brief obstruction was enough for Bologue.

Bologue raised his fist, with the Fist Blade extending and transforming into a slender Short Sword.

At that moment, Bologue felt in excellent condition, possibly influenced by Aimou. For some reason, she felt happy even as the Fantasy Species were about to devour her.

No need to overthink it, Bologue aimed to take down the person in front of him.

With both hands gripping the Short Sword, Bologue viciously stabbed down, trying to pierce through Gold’s heart.

Gold’s body emitted a strong light. Bologue wasn’t the only one with Alchemy Armament. Ether coagulated in mid-air, forming Kite Shields, with metal and ether clashing, sparking bursts of flames.

Gold coughed up large amounts of blood, clots nearly choking his throat. He thought Bologue was mad, as Bologue attacked him, the branches whipped Bologue, rendering him a bloody mess.

But Bologue seemed immune to pain, with eyes fixated on Gold, an anger in his gaze as if he wanted to devour him whole.

Gold struggled, pulling out a Dagger from his waist. Bologue thought Gold was going to attack him, but Gold instead reversed to throw the Dagger away.

The Dagger pierced through the gaps in the wooden cage, embedding in the distant ground, with Ether’s luminescence flickering on the Dagger’s surface.

As Bologue prepared to swing his sword again, to penetrate the Kite Shield’s defense, Gold’s figure blurred and then vanished.

The Short Sword struck nothing but air, embedding into the wood, as Gold reappeared at the location where the Dagger landed, while in front of Bologue, where Gold originally stood, that thrown Dagger materialized in mid-air.

Gold looked at Bologue with venomous resentment, aware of his own weaknesses, which is why the Alchemy Armament he carried leaned towards defense.

First, the Ethereal Kite Shield that hindered Bologue’s attack, and then this Phantom Dagger with space-swapping abilities.

The Phantom Dagger is Gold’s most cherished Alchemy Armament. It allows a Condenser to switch places with it, but its flaw is also evident: if used to escape from an enemy, it will fall directly into their hands.

Just like what’s happening now, Bologue grabbed the Phantom Dagger, examined this Alchemy Armament, and then looked at Gold. A look of joy appeared on Bologue’s face, though masked, and he wasn’t sure if Gold could sense it.

Alchemy Armaments capable of spatial teleportation are extremely precious. Bologue didn’t expect to obtain one so easily here.

Kronin extricated himself from the sea of fire and leaped to Gold’s side. Both were exhausted, bearing wounds of various sizes. No one anticipated that what was supposed to be a smooth operation would turn into such a situation.

They thought they would have a moment’s respite, but Bologue had no intention of letting them go. Bologue’s style was always relentless, like a violent storm.

Gripping the Phantom Dagger, he injected a large amount of Ether into it. Although Bologue wasn’t as knowledgeable about the exact effects of the Phantom Dagger as Gold was, he felt he would eventually become familiar with it.

Bologue suddenly flung the Phantom Dagger out, not aiming at the ground, but directly at Gold, as if he intended to return it to him.

Gold had no intention of catching the Phantom Dagger. He knew very well what Bologue was up to. Thorns danced wildly around him, whipping towards the Phantom Dagger.

He gambled, betting on whether Bologue would risk attacking or feign an attack and return the Phantom Dagger to him.

The two drew closer, and suddenly Bologue pulled on his wrist. The trajectory of the Phantom Dagger halted, and only then did Gold notice a fine thread wrapped around the handle of the dagger.

Bologue had never intended to use the Phantom Dagger; the thread tugged it, slashing in another direction.

Ether surged, the speeding Phantom Dagger disappeared, replaced by Bologue who leaped into the air. Kronin watched helplessly as Bologue breached their defenses and appeared before him.

"Gold!"

Kronin shouted his comrade’s name, then raised his hand as if about to strangle Bologue, gripping tightly.

Bologue’s movements stalled, and he immediately felt a suffocating pressure. His ether response rapidly declined, no longer obeying his commands, falling from an extraordinary Condenser to a common person.

Landing on the ground, Bologue’s assault was forcibly halted. In front of him, Kronin glared angrily, his eyes reddened and blood trickling down his chin.

For Kronin now, using such a move was not easy, but he had no other way to stop Bologue and could only try this.

Ethereal Prohibition.

Under Kronin’s gaze, Bologue’s Alchemy Matrix was uncontrollably suppressed. However, compared to Yas’s strength, Kronin was undoubtedly much weaker.

The feeling of being restrained was unpleasant, but it did not surprise Bologue. As a Prayer Level Condenser from the Origin School, if Kronin could be killed so easily by Bologue, he would have been disappointed.

Kronin thought Bologue would halt his advance and look for another strategy, but Bologue had no intention of stopping and continued charging towards him.

What confused Kronin the most was that even though he had prohibited Bologue’s Alchemy Matrix, Ether still shimmered around Bologue.

In his blue eyes, golden halos lit up. Bologue sidestepped to block the incoming branches with his body while, at the same time, Aimou detached from his body and launched another powerful strike.

Reusing the same trick!

Kronin had to maintain focus to barely keep Ethereal Prohibition in effect. Aimou’s punch directly disrupted Kronin’s offense.

A slight gap appeared in Ethereal Prohibition, and Bologue seized this opportunity to awaken Ether and shatter the shackles.

Gold created countless branches that bloomed beneath the three’s feet, and Kronin swung his dagger to counterattack Aimou.

In an instant, a swarm of snakes danced wildly, thin lines connecting Aimou and Bologue. Aimou, like a puppet, was forcibly pulled away by Bologue under the line’s control.

Bologue stepped forward, the swarm of snakes twisted into a spear in his hand. He raised it, twisted his waist, and concentrated all his strength into the spear, hurling the searing Thunder.

Kronin saw only a flash of light burst out, and then his chest was struck, pierced. The spear broke through his fragile Ethereal Barrier, advancing all the way, finally pinning Kronin to the street.

As his vision gradually cleared from chaos, Kronin looked at the blood-stained spear, then at Bologue. He still wanted to say something, but Bologue’s voice interrupted him.

"This should be our last encounter."

Kronin didn’t understand Bologue’s meaning. Immediately, the spear shattered, and the swarm of snakes burrowed into Kronin’s body, repeatedly biting and entangling until his organs turned into a mass of blood and filth, completely snuffing out his life.