Volume Two: A Race Against Death in the Northern Realm, Chapter 152: Mold, the Third Hand, and the Strongest Debuff (4)

Sirius crashed diagonally into a stone pillar at the edge of the square. The engine stalled, and the hood popped up. Although not fatal, it needed to be repaired as soon as possible.

"...Ugh..."

Ally vaguely regained consciousness.

It seems she fainted for a moment.

Using his sense of touch, he felt the intense heat of his surroundings, indicating that A Ye's blood crystals were still radiating heat. He felt the hard texture of shards of broken glass against his side. Could it be that his upper body had been thrown out of the window? No, not out of the window, but outside the car door! The impact had caused the driver's door to come loose, and he had rolled out of the car. He should be lying on the ground now.

So heavy--

A cylindrical object pressed down on him, but because the force was relatively even and the angle was right, he was lucky enough not to suffer any serious injury.

"... sister..."

You have to break free quickly, using your arms to pull out the muscles one by one in sequence. But which muscles should you use? Which bones? And in what order?

"Sister... Sister..."

No... before that, I need to open my eyes, flipping up both my upper and lower eyelids at the same time... Okay, this is much easier than moving my limbs.

"Elder sister!"

The blurry vision cleared, revealing Ailin's face. Several abrasions marred her skin, the red wounds standing out starkly against her pale complexion. Seeing this, a deep sense of guilt washed over Ally. She had actually let her younger sister's lovely face get hurt; she was such a terrible older sister...

"Sister, don't move! I'll remove the pillar that's pressing down on you right now!"

Squeak, squeak—that was the sound of Ailin unscrewing the screws on the pillar. Even though she herself was quite injured, Ailin didn't stop what she was doing, desperately trying to help her beloved older sister.

She wanted to thank her, comfort her, ask her how Givinia was, and urge her to take Givinia away quickly. But—even something as simple as moving her lips was beyond Ally's capabilities. After trying her best to flex her muscles, Ally could only open her mouth and let out a meaningless whimper. For some reason, those incredibly simple movements had become arduous tasks requiring a great deal of thought.

"Don't worry, sister! It seems that Sister Givinia hit her head and passed out, but luckily she only suffered a scratch."

With a telepathic connection, Ailin immediately understood what her sister wanted to say. Her hands moved quickly, and a quarter of the huge stone pillar had already been broken into small pieces. However, the stone pillar was still too big, and Ailin's supernatural ability was more suitable for disassembling small objects such as mechanical parts.

"Ailin would never abandon her sister! So don't even think about letting me run away first—"

The air seemed to freeze instantly, a chilling killing intent silently flowing through it, and Ailin shivered violently.

The two people arrived.

The stolen beat-up car was parked in the center of the square. Two people, one tall and one short, got out of the car, their movements relaxed and without the slightest hint of tension.

It was like watching three pigs waiting to be slaughtered.

The handsome man in the hoodie, Geronimo, said with a teasing smile, "Just as I thought, let me see... Hmm, one's unconscious, one's been affected, and now... only you're left?"

"Damn, Geronimo, you didn't even finish the job."

"What can we do? I'm not like you or Payne who can directly cause harm. Although each of our abilities is powerful, there are still many inconveniences in fighting one-on-one. Payne is very strong in combat, but he goes berserk once he gets into a state of high alert. Your mold can cause widespread damage, but high fever is your weakness. My ability doesn't have direct destructive power. We teamed up in the first place to complement each other."

"... Excuse."

"Fine, I can't be bothered arguing with you... Hey, you blonde girl, are you the last one left?"

Just hearing the other person's voice made Ailin's legs tremble uncontrollably, and even breathing became difficult. The fear of death almost overwhelmed everything. After all, she was just a delicate girl who had been used to hiding behind her older sister since childhood, letting her sister shield her from the wind and rain. She had no fighting ability whatsoever, not to mention that her last reliable teammate, Givinia, had fainted. Now, she was truly fighting alone.

But--

"What did you do to my sister!?"

Even with fear, even with trembling, even with my own weakness—

As long as my sister is behind me, I will never run away!

"Hmm... you asked me what I did?"

Geronimo turned his neck and gave a mysterious smile.

Do you know how a person's hand moves?

"... What did you say?"

Get moving! What's the big deal? Isn't it just a matter of a single thought?

"Hands, just hands," Geronimo waved his hands, "Whether it's raising a hand, picking something up, or swinging a knife, making the hand move is just a matter of 'a thought'—but is it really that simple? The human body has 639 muscles, and even for a very simple movement, the complexity of how each muscle works is unimaginable. Whether a muscle contracts or relaxes, whether to move this muscle first or that muscle—these are all things that can make a world of difference if you're off by the smallest margin. Yet, apart from some disabled people, no one ever worries about how to pick up a cup. Do you know why?"

Why? What why? I've never even thought about how to use my muscles when performing these movements... Ailin is getting more and more confused.

"It's the subconscious! When we want to do something, we only need to send a simple command with our brain. As for how to actually move our muscles, that's all left to the subconscious! All kinds of human actions, whether it's driving, fighting, or even talking, from picking up a water glass to the deep-seated human survival instinct, are closely related to the subconscious! You could say that without the subconscious, humans would be no different from corpses!"

So that's how it is...?

That older sister too...

"My special ability is to sever the connection between a person and their subconscious! Without the support of the subconscious, a person is doomed to die!"

Geronimo's arms were spread wide, his once handsome face twisted into a sinister shape, while Ailin—

He pulled out a pistol.

"Since that's the case... I'll strike first—"

"Just because of that flare gun?"

"Huh? "Ailin was stunned.

That's right, this is indeed a signal flare gun issued for the competition, capable of firing only flares. Ailin's intention was at least to scare them a little, fire a flare, and then quickly get her sister away before they could react, but...

"You really think we're stupid? Young lady, you're obviously a naive virgin. How could your little schemes possibly sway someone as perceptive as me who's good at understanding human psychology?"

"Hateful!"

Since the truth has been revealed, let's just go with the flow! Thinking this, he tightened his grip on the trigger.

--Fingers, tighten?

What should I do?

Which joint should be moved first?

She'd been hit—by the time Ailin realized what was happening, a long leg had struck her hard in the side of her face. Her consciousness was overwhelmed by excruciating pain and dizziness; her vision tilted ninety degrees, her head slammed into the hard ground, and she lost consciousness.

"That's it? How boring."

Due to the impact of her head to the ground and her existing injuries, Ailin had lost consciousness, and Ally was in a similar situation. Her chest and abdomen were compressed by the stone pillar, resulting in insufficient oxygen supply, and coupled with the mild concussion she had previously suffered, she also fell into a coma.

There was no smoke of gunpowder, no flames of war, not even room to struggle.

Three people collapsed.

Flames burst forth in the pitch-black space of the sixth level, clusters of dazzling crimson flames tearing through the darkness with their crystalline light. I was still fighting fiercely, my stamina waning, while my opponent showed no signs of fatigue. Payne's demonic eyes, Third Hand gleaming with a bloodthirsty excitement, twisted wildly in response to his master's heightened emotions, causing the space he touched to crumble inch by inch!

"Tear her apart! Hahahaha!!!"

Enveloped by countless spatial rifts, the Third Hand slammed into the Void Greatsword! The moment of impact, an extremely terrifying shockwave traveled through my entire body via the greatsword! Centered on the point of impact, a large ring of radiating spatial rifts exploded outwards, and the resonating air intensely compressed my body!

I finally couldn't take it anymore, and I let go. The greatsword spun out of my hand and flew away, transforming into a beam of crystalline light in mid-air before returning to my body.

"Checkmate!!!"

Countless cracks swept in like a waterfall, shattering space wherever they passed. Having lost the Void Greatsword, I could not summon it again for a while, which meant I was naked and exposed to the spatial cracks!

But... don't think I'm completely helpless!

Accompanied by excruciating pain, two deep wounds split open below my shoulder blades—the situation is critical now, and even Flame Step Void Walk is not enough to escape; I must use my trump card!

"Flame Wings!!!"

Fresh blood gushed out from the two slits like a fountain, bursting into flames the moment it hit the air. From a distance, it looked as if a pair of fiery wings had sprouted from my back! It works on the same principle as a rocket, using the reaction force of the gushing Blood Flame to achieve supersonic flight!

Just before the crack hit me, I transformed into a fiery meteor, accelerating rapidly with the propulsion of my wings—the fastest way I could move at the moment!

"It can fly!?"

The Third Hand angrily slammed into the void, and Payne began to pursue at high speed through the cracks, but it was still too slow for me! Facing the obstruction of numerous spatial cracks, I kept fine-tuning the direction of my wings' jets, dodging one obstacle after another—that's why the jets of Blood Flame are shaped like wings, so that I can maintain balance and freely control the direction of flight!

"Crimson Flame Burst!"

Crimson Blood Rain rained down on the sixth floor, blasting the ground apart with a deafening roar. Without delay, I accelerated again, passing through the crater, with the enraged Payne following closely behind.

We've finally reached the bottom level.

Although Flame Wings is fast, his speed is also extremely high, making it impossible for him to fight me head-on anymore. If my plan fails, then death is the only outcome.

The task at hand is neither particularly difficult nor particularly challenging.

To defeat Payne, we must find a way to break through the autonomous defense function of the Third Hand!

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It's May! A new month calls for new Monthly Votes ~ (runs away)