I Want to Make a Deal with You

Lu Mingfei, having pulled himself together, did not dare let up in the slightest. He swiftly switched to a new shield, then immediately raised his left hand, crossing both arms above his head.

Clang!

A massive slash came crashing down onto the brass shield. With the ring of metal on metal, Lu Mingfei staggered back two steps.

The next second, he planted his feet hard and swung his straight sword at incredible speed, driving it into the beastman's chest.

The beastman howled again and raised its blade to strike, forcing Lu Mingfei to retreat repeatedly.

With that stance, it was a five-hit combo!

Lu Mingfei decisively widened the distance between them, not daring to get greedy for even one extra strike.

Sure enough, after four consecutive wide-ranging slashes, the black figure leaped high into the air and came cleaving down at Lu Mingfei.

Boom!

Broken stones flew everywhere!

Lu Mingfei raised his shield again, blocking the flying pebbles.

At this distance...

Gripping its enormous blade, the beastman charged straight at Lu Mingfei with terrifying momentum!

Without even thinking, Lu Mingfei rolled to the side and easily dodged it. He raised his hand and slashed the beastman across the waist, then sprang backward at once as the pressure from the blade swept past the top of his head.

Both the beastman's charge and slash had missed. Its scarlet eyes widened as it roared furiously again, spraying saliva mixed with foul-smelling breath.

"Looks like the sanitation and hygiene habits in your Farum Azula are really terrible..."

Lu Mingfei mocked it under his breath, but his hands did not pause for even an instant. He swung his straight sword fiercely at the top of its head.

Just as the straight sword was about to hit, the beastman suddenly twisted aside, avoiding that head-splitting blow. The sword instead plunged deeply into its shoulder and wedged itself between its bones, impossible to pull free.

Lu Mingfei had never considered himself a swordsman, nor did he feel any attachment to the sword in his hand. He swiftly abandoned it and retreated, then drew out a spear instead.

The successive fatal wounds had already caused the beastman to lose a great deal of blood. Its abdominal organs had also been mangled beyond recognition by Lu Mingfei's thrusts.

It was already on the verge of death.

Lu Mingfei's entire body had been dyed crimson with blood, making him look like an evil spirit.

His Golden Eyes blazed brilliantly at that moment.

The youth expressionlessly gripped the spear tight and drove it into the beastman's chest with all his strength.

The spearhead sank into flesh, pierced through its chest, and became lodged between its bones.

Lu Mingfei did not stop moving. Riding his momentum, he viciously rammed the beastman into the rock wall.

Bloodshed and violence flowed through his body, making him feel better than he ever had before.

What was happening to me?

Lu Mingfei did not know, but the excitement in his heart could no longer be suppressed. It surged wildly forth, curling his blood-smeared face into a smile.

It was as if something ancient flowed through him—rushing, surging, celebrating madly!

Die! Die!

Lu Mingfei squeezed out the last shred of strength in his body and shoved the spear forward. At last, its tip burst from the beastman's back and plunged straight into the depths of the rock wall.

The Beastman of Farum Azula trembled violently and struggled, trying to escape its fated death.

However, as the last trace of vitality faded, its movements gradually weakened until they vanished entirely.

It had been nailed to the wall.

Silence returned to the cavern.

Thud!

Lu Mingfei collapsed onto the ground, too exhausted to move even a finger.

"Did I win...?"

He stared blankly at the cavern ceiling, unable to react for a moment.

Only after a long while did he raise his blood-covered hand and gaze at it.

"Ah, I won."

Lu Mingfei grinned, revealing a smile from the bottom of his heart.

This was the first time in his life that Lu Mingfei had truly defeated an enemy he could once only look up to, through his own efforts.

It was a complete victory.

That beastman's physical strength... was at least comparable to an A-rank Dead Apostle, right?

"So I can reach such heights too?"

he murmured.

Filled with that joy, the utterly exhausted Lu Mingfei closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Lu Mingfei slumped beside the Site of Grace at Gatefront Ruins, taking off his already warped and damaged helmet.

"My equipment's getting damaged a little too quickly..."

That was hardly surprising.

After killing the Beastman of Farum Azula, he had directly gained roughly the equivalent of thirty Godrick Soldiers' worth of Runes. It had raised Lu Mingfei's abilities somewhat, but only by a limited amount.

That meant the starting area had very little left to offer Lu Mingfei. It was time for him to move on.

Although he had not yet thoroughly searched this area, Lu Mingfei could no longer wait to press onward and seek out something related to Dragon Communion.

Thus, with confidence unlike anything he had ever felt before, Lu Mingfei cut through Gatefront Ruins like a hot knife through butter.

Then, to his surprise, he discovered that there was a Site of Grace not far ahead—and he could have simply gone around to reach it.

That dealt Lu Mingfei another heavy blow.

"What a waste of effort..."

Because Lu Mingfei had been clearing the area like he was pumped full of adrenaline, most of his armor had been damaged beyond use, forcing him to replace it completely.

"Well, there aren't any living people around anyway..."

Lu Mingfei muttered softly as he removed his ruined chainmail.

The armor plates scattered across the ground with dull clatters.

Once the armor came off, it revealed the youth's lean but already well-built body.

Armor in the Lands Between was strange, as though it came with built-in lining that made it easy to put on and take off.

"Next time, I need to be more careful when I cut them up. At least put together a newer set of armor..."

He had already grown used to stripping equipment from corpses, and had become quite skilled at it.

Lu Mingfei took out the Flask of Crimson Tears at his waist. Just as he was about to place it into the Site of Grace to refill it, ripples suddenly spread through the golden light...

"Greetings, traveler from beyond the fog. My name is Melina..."

"Ghost!"

Lu Mingfei screamed as he frantically pulled a tattered robe of unknown origin from his inventory and wrapped it around himself.

At that moment, he was wearing nothing but a Lands Between-style loincloth.

The girl's spirit emerged from the glow.

She slowly removed her hood, revealing short hair somewhere between gold and red. Her right eye was golden, while her left was sealed shut by a strange marking resembling a three-toed beast's claw.

Her faded gray-brown cloak fluttered behind her despite the lack of wind, exposing the worn embroidery on the dark blue robe beneath. She wore a pair of knee-high boots.

"This ghost girl's actually kind of pretty..."

Lu Mingfei muttered, yet he could not shake the feeling that the breathtaking woman before him looked very familiar.

He thought for a while, then suddenly came to a realization. Stammering, he said, "Hi... Higuchi Madoka?!!"

The girl calmly looked at him, clearly not understanding what he was talking about. She simply knelt down on her own.

"I want to make a deal with you."

The moment she said that, Lu Mingfei jolted in fright again, nearly leaping to his feet.

The last one who had said that was a devil named Lu Mingze.