Judge

A burst of golden light erupted.

A phantom rose from the scroll.

It was hazy and indistinct, yet it exuded an unparalleled aura of holiness.

The outline of the six wings appeared and disappeared in the light, and the Holy Light spread the next moment.

Like a tide, it spread outwards from Philip's position, enveloping everyone.

The tentacles stopped at the edge of the Holy Light.

It's like there's an invisible barrier keeping the Contamination out.

Lu Yuan felt the whisper in his mind disappear.

My headache is lessening, and my vision is clearing up again.

[You have received the Blessing of the Sky.]

[Effect: Grants partial immunity to Contamination for half an hour, significantly improves sanity and resilience, and strengthens the body.]

[Sanity: +10.. +5.. +3.. 58/70]

The gray and white text kept flashing, and reason was rising at a visible speed.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath and felt the power return to his limbs.

The others were also out of danger of losing their minds.

Gray stood up, Alice gripped the warhammer again, the lightning stabilized once more, the Born shakily got to their feet, and the mechanical arms resumed functioning.

Only Philip's face looked even uglier.

He stared at the scroll fragments in his hand, now reduced to ashes, his heart aching with unbearable pain.

"Marcus!"

Philip glared at Marcus ahead and roared, "What are you still doing!"

Marcus's mechanical eye rotated, and the red light stabilized again.

On that half-human face, as if it had caught something from the recent Contamination, a look of madness appeared.

"The Judge."

His voice was as cold as iron.

"Resume control! Open fire!"

Upon hearing this, the Judge stepped forward.

The device on his chest finished preheating, steam gushed out, and he emitted a sharp whistling sound.

The next moment--

A crimson beam of light shot out with a deafening roar!

It blasted straight at that indescribable mass of Flesh!

The crimson beam tore through the air and instantly disappeared into the blood cocoon formed by tentacles.

The Flesh that were hit instantly vaporized, emitting hissing sounds, and a burnt stench instantly filled the air.

A huge hole was burned through the surface of the blood cocoon, and the splattered blue blood was still flowing, but in the blink of an eye it turned into eerie smoke and rose up.

Despite the immense power of the beam, the wounds it inflicted were far too small to be of any use against the seemingly endless tentacles.

Tentacles surged from all around, filling the void, and Flesh and blood regrowed at a visible rate.

But the Judge did not stop.

Heavy footsteps crushed the Ore on the ground, and the whole body continued to move forward, steam gushing from the joints, and the sound of Gear turning echoed throughout the space.

The next moment, the armor on his body began to unfold, the metal shell on his back cracked open, and a row of skeletal structures slowly rose up, like some kind of folded mechanical spine.

The metal frame was engraved with dense runes, which glowed with a dark red light under the heat of the steam.

Both arms deformed simultaneously. The outer shell of the right arm fell off, revealing a rotating saw blade inside. The saw teeth were covered with dark red rust. Then it began to rotate, and the saw blade rotated faster and faster, emitting a piercing whistling sound.

A large needle-like appendage extended from his left arm, connecting to a metal canister at his waist. The silver liquid inside swayed with each step the Judge took.

"Boom"

The Judge's leg device emitted even more intense steam, and the next moment his body suddenly accelerated, like a cannonball, crashing straight into it.

The saw blade swept across, Flesh.

The tentacles were sliced into pieces the instant they made contact, and blue blood splattered everywhere.

The Judge advanced through a rain of blood, his saw blade spinning ceaselessly, shredding anything in his path into a bloody pulp.

Then tentacles surged up from other angles.

They attempted to entangle the Judge, but the runes on the Judge's back lit up.

A dark red light flashed, and the tentacles made a "sizzling" sound the moment they touched the armor, as if they were being burned by a branding iron, and instantly shrank.

The Judge broke free of his restraints, and the needle in his left arm pierced a thick tentacle.

As the silvery liquid was injected.

The Flesh began to rot and spread rapidly outwards. The Mutation creature emitted an even sharper hiss, and its entire body trembled. In the end, it could only abandon the Contamination tentacle.

But the Judge continued forward, wielding its saw blade, tearing a bloody path through the tentacles.

As Lu Yuan watched this scene, his pupils contracted slightly. The combat power of the Judge had completely surpassed the understanding of the Transcendence system.

With her indestructible armor and terrifying speed, even two more Alice wouldn't be enough to cut her down, right?

I reckon only Old Morgan's Structure Studies could possibly contend with this steel behemoth.

The Judge completely abandoned defense, not even pausing when struck by tentacles; runes flashed, wounds were sealed by steam, and he continued forward.

With pure offense, they forcefully restrained the constantly twisting tentacles.

At the same time, the two Born beside Marcus moved simultaneously.

They flanked from both sides, one on the left and one on the right, coordinating with the Judge's offensive with synchronized movements, as if it had been rehearsed beforehand.

A long blade shot out from the arm of one of the Born, its cold light flashing, to block the tentacles that were wrapping around the flank of the Judge. The blade flashed repeatedly, severing the tentacles and clearing more space for the Judge to attack.

The other Born's arm ended in a metal container.

He didn't participate in the fighting; instead, whenever blue blood splattered, he would catch it precisely, his movements practiced and flawless.

Marcus stood at the back, remaining motionless.

The mechanical eye rotates continuously, scanning the entire battlefield with red light.

But Lu Yuan noticed that his gaze was not on the Mutation creature.

"The scroll's barrier... is nearing its limit!"

Philip's voice came through, tinged with anxiety.

Although the Judge before us are formidable fighters, they will eventually tire. If we do not retreat, we will all perish sooner or later.

Lu Yuan turned around and saw that Philip's face was pale, his forehead veins were bulging, and the Holy Light barrier around him was thinning, like diluted milk, and the golden-white light was getting fainter and fainter.

As the words fell, the Holy Light receded, shrinking from the edges to the center like a tide, until it finally disappeared completely.

The group was once again exposed to the space shrouded in blue light.

[Warning: Deeply Mutation creature sighted. Determination in progress, assessment failed...]

[Sanity: -1...-1, 56/70]

The gray and white text flickered again, and Lu Yuan felt the whispers in his mind begin again.

However, it wasn't as intense as before, and the rate at which sanity dropped was much slower. Clearly, the Blessing of the Sky had provided an extremely strong boost.

Alice looked at Marcus, who was still standing in the same spot, and then at the Judge was struggling in battle. She gripped her warhammer and charged forward.

"Marcus, you'd better hurry up!"

As soon as he finished speaking, lightning flashed on the hammerhead. With a single blow, the hammer crushed an approaching tentacle.

Alice positioned herself behind and to the side of the Judge, and with the scroll's blessing, Judge blocked most of the attacks originating from behind.

Gray had already raised a large-caliber weapon and stood in front of Lu Yuan, smashing the tentacles that were trying to sneak up.

Philip and the two Deacon raised the Holy Emblem, barely creating a small area of Protective Barrier.