Beast (Part 2)

"Waaah!"

Accompanied by a scream, a figure wreathed in flames spiraled through the air before crashing headfirst into a pile of garbage by the roadside.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

Jayce scrambled out of the trash heap, a dirty garbage bag still perched on his head. But compared to this minor inconvenience, he was quite relieved about his earlier choice. Faced with an enraged giant wolf and another opponent, he had decisively activated his proud creation, the Jetpack, and made a high-speed escape. Although the device had sputtered out after a few seconds, the result was decent enough.

"Senior Jayce! Come help quickly!"

Orianna's anxious voice called out from nearby. She was working with the Bertha Sisters to clear a collapsed shed so Viktor inside could get out. However, it was clear that with their strength, they could only manage to clear away some debris. Jayce didn't hesitate, quickly striding forward. Energy surged in his gauntlets, and with a boom, he smashed a large section of wall blocking their path aside.

"Hey! Still alive?"

"Bless your words."

Viktor's muffled voice came from beneath his Power Armor helmet.

"The armor's Energy Array is offline. Right now, I'm just living in a multi-ton iron coffin, unable to move."

"Damn it, I told you that thing still needed time before it was practical. You insisted on bringing it out, and even used it for a fight. Look at you now."

Jayce grumbled as he crawled into the wreckage. After inspecting the rear of Viktor's armor for a moment, he said, "Your so-called Automation Program doesn't seem to have crashed. I see the Auxiliary Manipulators repairing the Energy Array."

"Ah, that's truly good news."

Viktor's spirits lifted slightly.

"How are the junior sisters doing? I need to go... Oh, damn it, I feel like my bones are falling apart."

"You should save your strength."

Jayce mocked with a hint of amusement.

"Even with the armor's cushioning, you wouldn't survive a fall like that. As for the danger..."

Jayce was about to say something when suddenly a Purple Figure zipped past overhead, smashing through several thin sheet metal walls.

"Hahahaha! This is awesome!"

Accompanied by laughter, Ling Ying stepped out from the ruins. She looked quite battered at the moment. Her form-fitting clothes were tattered from the intense battle, revealing streaks of bloody wounds beneath. Though these wounds looked terrifying, they were healing at a visible rate. Soon, they faded into barely perceptible marks on her fair skin. In contrast, the horrifying purple cracks became increasingly prominent, having almost covered all of her exposed skin. At this moment, the pleasant impression Ling Ying had once held in Jayce and the others' eyes vanished completely. In its place was a frenzied Man-like Beast.

"Come on again!!"

Ling Ying roared, crouching on the foundation of the abandoned building. Her legs pushed off the ground with immense force, instantly accelerating her to a speed where only afterimages remained. Ling Ying, like a cannonball fired from a gun, charged towards the silver-gray giant wolf and began to wrestle with it again. And, to their surprise, she didn't seem to be at a disadvantage at all.

"Is this also a girl's secret?"

Jayce looked at Orianna beside him in astonishment. After all, in his opinion, the two junior students lived together every day, so Orianna should know something. However, in fact, Orianna's gaze at Ling Ying was as full of surprise as Jayce's, with a hint of worry mixed in. She didn't know why the usually meticulous and gentle Ling Ying had become like this.

Compared to them, Ling Ying didn't have so many thoughts. Bursting forth, she fully enjoyed the supreme pleasure brought by the fist-to-flesh, knife-to-blood combat. She even threw aside her usual Doran's Blade. Instead, she utilized every part of her body to attack and fight. For her, who usually used Void Power with great caution for fear of backlash, she was now using it without restraint, unleashing her power. Therefore, even though her human body was not actually suitable for such a primitive fighting style, she was still able to fight Warwick on equal footing.

"Ha! Idiot!"

Ling Ying sneered and nimbly dodged Warwick's bite by bending down. Then, taking advantage of its unstable stance, her hands transformed into Scale Claws, which instantly gripped and struck forward. The seemingly soft punch contained infinite power. With a loud BOOM, the punch Ling Ying threw towards Warwick's waist caused Warwick's massive body in mid-air to suddenly shrink. A mouthful of blood mixed with various colors spurted from its wolfish mouth. It seemed to have suffered internal injuries from this blow. However, Ling Ying's attack did not end there. She grabbed Warwick, who was much larger than her, like a chick, and her extremely sharp Scale Claws extended, clamping onto Warwick's jaw.

"CRACKLE!"

A chilling cracking sound echoed as Ling Ying tore off Warwick's entire lower jaw. His shrill howls became somewhat strange due to his gaping mouth. Ling Ying, letting the strangely colored blood stain her face, laughed maniacally like a bloodthirsty madwoman.

"...Is that all?"

Ling Ying grabbed a handful of fur near Warwick's neck with one hand and then threw him away like a discus. The heavily injured Warwick, no longer "energetic" as before, was thrown into a pile of garbage like a starving mongrel. After finishing this, Ling Ying clapped her hands and looked at Orianna, Jayce, and the others who were dumbfounded. Her vertical pupils, surrounded by ring-like sharp teeth, spun, instantly causing Orianna and the others to tremble uncontrollably.

"Next, it's time to clean up another pile of trash."

Ling Ying walked towards them with a smile that was not a smile. The strangely colored blood flowed down her Scale Claws, pooling on the ground.

"I can't believe it. I thought she would be too busy dealing with me to have time for anything else. I didn't expect her to have time to play house with you guys? Truly, disappointing."

Ling Ying looked at Orianna, and a strange arc suddenly appeared at the corner of her mouth. Almost simultaneously, her figure flickered like a ghost, suddenly appearing in front of Orianna. By the time Orianna reacted from her daze, her vision was already occupied by a blood-stained demonic claw.

"Be careful!!"

Jayce, standing behind, shouted. Electricity crackled on his gauntlets as he wanted to help, but his speed was naturally no match for Ling Ying. Just as the tip of her claw was about to slash across Orianna's fair neck, Ling Ying suddenly turned around and grabbed in mid-air. A slender Alloy Arrow Shaft was firmly held between her fingers. The next second, with a drip, the blunt arrowhead suddenly exploded, and Dark Green Gas was instantly released from within. It quickly filled the alley where they were.

"Huh?"

Ling Ying rushed out of the alley in a few steps, her stern pupils turning towards a building standing at the street corner in the distance. A blurry figure flashed rapidly across the rooftop, moving as fast as an ethereal Illusion. But unfortunately, Ling Ying was not so easily fooled. A Void Fireball the size of a washbasin condensed in her palm and then hurtled towards the direction of the figure. After a breath, the building at the street corner was completely annihilated in a fierce explosion.

Ling Ying narrowed her eyes slightly. Such an explosion would be impossible for an ordinary person to dodge. But she clearly didn't think that the person who dared to attack her was ordinary.

"WHOOSH!"

An almost imperceptible sound of something sharp piercing the air. A figure dressed in black leather, like a Night Walker, swung out of the flames, holding a steel cable with one hand. His wide, single-shoulder cape fluttered behind him. In his other hand, a Mechanical Longbow, as tall as a person, was quite eye-catching.

"Can you escape?"

Ling Ying sneered, and another Void Fireball appeared in her palm. The archer might have escaped the first wave, but in the air, unable to counterattack or dodge, he was no different from a target in Ling Ying's eyes. However, as it turned out, accidents always happened unexpectedly. Just as Ling Ying was about to launch her fireball, four figures suddenly leaped high from the shadows of the alley, charging towards Ling Ying with dazzling Cold Light.

"Childish."

Ling Ying scoffed dismissively, standing her ground without any intention of dodging. As the four approached, she suddenly accelerated and spun around, delivering a simple and unadorned leg sweep that sent three of them flying. As for the remaining one, Ling Ying slightly shifted her body to avoid the Cold Light. Her Scale Claws darted out and fiercely pierced the opponent's heart.

"SPLAT!"

Her Scale Claws had truly penetrated the opponent's chest. Yet, Ling Ying vaguely sensed something was wrong. The opponent's physical strength seemed far beyond that of an ordinary person. Moreover, even though she had struck the heart, no blood spurted out. Only some inexplicably pinkish blood flowed sluggishly over her claws. Just as Ling Ying thought of something, a pair of hands suddenly emerged from under the opponent's robes and clamped onto Ling Ying's wrists. No, perhaps those things could no longer be called hands. The forearms, as thick as thighs, were covered in raised, pus-filled sacs that made one nauseous. Through the thin skin of these sacs, one could clearly see the wriggling pinkish liquid within.

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"Boom!"

Before Ling Ying could react, her entire body was swallowed by a violent explosion. Before the blast even faded from the street, three figures charged through the smoke and dust. Immediately, three more explosions rang out. By the time the swirling smoke cleared, those four figures, along with all the walls and debris within a dozen meters around them, had vanished. Ling Ying stood alone in a pit several meters deep, her clothes torn to shreds. She looked utterly disheveled.

"Despicable Gutter Rat."

Ling Ying glared hatefully in the direction the archer had just been. The spot was now empty. The opponent had used the time to disappear from her sight. However, she could sense that their aura still lingered on the street, clearly indicating they hadn't gone far.

"You'll pay the price! Stinking rat!"

"Before that, get out of my body!"

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