Tier One Oil-Shadow Ghost

He crouched down, about to look for the fuel line connection at the base of the pump.

But the instant he crouched, an almost inaudible sound came from overhead.

It sounded as though something was writhing along the canopy's steel framework.

Had his senses not been so far beyond those of an ordinary person, he would never have heard it.

Shen Ye had no time to think, but his body reacted in a flash.

He rolled sideways, gripping the katana strapped to his waist with his right hand as he rose.

A black shadow slammed down from directly overhead, landing where he had just been crouching with a dull thud.

The flashlight fell to the ground, its beam pointing crookedly in that direction.

Shen Ye got a clear look at it.

It was something almost humanoid.

Pitch-black all over, it looked like a mass of crude oil, with no hair or facial features, only a human-shaped outline.

Its limbs were abnormally long, but its hands had no fingers, resembling two thick tentacles instead.

Black liquid constantly dripped from its body, landing on the concrete with faint hisses.

The floor touched by that black liquid corroded into pits of varying sizes, sending up wisps of white smoke.

A Tier One Eldritch.

Shen Ye made that judgment immediately.

It came from the experience he had accumulated identifying the many Eldritch he had encountered lately.

The energy fluctuations given off by low-tier Eldritch were chaotic, like a tangled ball of thread.

But the aura of the Eldritch before him was clearly stronger than that of the Tier One Green-Scaled Snake Demon he had encountered before.

Fortunately, it was only a little stronger, probably in the upper-middle range of Tier One.

Soon, the Oil-Shadow Ghost in front of him stood up.

Its head rotated a full turn like a gear, as though locking onto Shen Ye's position.

Even without facial features, Shen Ye could still feel it watching him.

The next second, the Oil-Shadow Ghost's body suddenly stretched out like a black rubber band snapping forward, reaching Shen Ye in an instant.

Its speed was astonishing.

Shen Ye sidestepped it, swinging Ghost Head horizontally at the same time.

The blade struck the thing's body.

The impact felt unlike cutting any Eldritch he had faced before.

Ghost Head, which had always sliced through Eldritch like tofu, now felt as though it had sunk into a mass of sticky asphalt. The blade penetrated less than two inches before tremendous resistance trapped it firmly in place.

Shen Ye heaved, trying to pull the blade free, but no matter how much force he used, the katana would not budge.

"This is trouble."

Cold sweat seeped from Shen Ye's forehead.

Then several drops of black liquid suddenly splashed from the Oil-Shadow Ghost's body.

They landed squarely on the back of Shen Ye's right hand as he gripped the hilt, and an intense burning sensation shot through it.

Several charred spots the size of rice grains appeared on his skin, visibly spreading as they ate away at the surrounding flesh.

Wincing in pain, Shen Ye kicked the Oil-Shadow Ghost's body, finally using the leverage to yank his blade free.

A layer of black slime had coated Ghost Head's blade, sizzling as it tried to corrode the metal.

But Ghost Head was a Weird Object weapon with a sequence number. Its blade material had long since transformed, and with its "Sharpness" effect, a light flick sent the slime splattering onto the ground without leaving a trace on the blade.

Shen Ye himself had not fared so well. Several blackened blisters had already formed on the back of his hand.

He shook his hand, his gaze turning cold.

"This thing really is a pain."

Before his words had faded, three more black shadows slowly closed in from the corners of the gas station.

There were actually three more.

Including the one before him, that made four Oil-Shadow Ghosts.

Shen Ye took a deep breath.

He immediately chose to take the offensive.

He had to break through their encirclement as quickly as possible.

Rather than charging the one in front of him, he sidestepped its lunge and slashed at the second Oil-Shadow Ghost's neck.

This time, he put his full strength into it.

The strength granted by his two sequences erupted within him, and Ghost Head gave a faint whistle as it swung through the air.

The resistance as the blade cut into the black liquid was still there, but this time, his strength was enough to overcome it.

The blade swept through the thing's neck, opening a gash nearly a third of the way through.

The Oil-Shadow Ghost visibly faltered, black liquid pouring from its wound like blood from an animal.

But a second later, the black liquid at the wound began rapidly flowing back and solidifying. In less than three seconds, it had mostly healed.

Shen Ye's pupils abruptly contracted.

This Eldritch recovered faster than any he had encountered before.

But he soon noticed that its movements slowed while it healed.

Apparently, its recovery did come at a cost.

Just then, one of the abilities granted by his new sequence flashed through his mind.

Slaughter Mark.

With a thought, he activated the power that had just been imprinted within him.

In an instant, his vision turned gray and white.

Even without relying on the flashlight, he could just about make out everything before him.

A dark red mark that only he could see appeared on the Oil-Shadow Ghost he had just wounded, standing out sharply in his gray-and-white vision.

Without hesitation, Shen Ye lunged straight at the marked Oil-Shadow Ghost.

The other three Oil-Shadow Ghosts moved simultaneously.

As though linked by telepathy, they converged on him from three directions at once.

Their black liquid arms stretched and distorted in midair, lashing at his head like whips.

Shen Ye did not dodge.

He bent at the waist, letting the lash sweep over his head without slowing his steps in the slightest.

The Ghost Head Katana thrust straight toward the marked Oil-Shadow Ghost's chest.

This strike was even more powerful than the last.

The instant the blade cut into its liquid body, Shen Ye felt a distinct difference.

The viscous resistance was weaker than before.

It was as though Slaughter Mark had weakened some defensive mechanism. Combined with Ghost Head's "Sharpness" effect, it allowed the blade to instantly pierce the Oil-Shadow Ghost's body and emerge from its back.

The Oil-Shadow Ghost began trembling violently, black liquid gushing wildly from its wound.

Shen Ye gave it no chance to heal again.

He pulled out the blade and delivered a second cut, then a third.

Every cut struck the same spot.

Meanwhile, Slaughter Mark continued to take effect.

Shen Ye could clearly feel a small trickle of something cool flowing back into his body through the blade each time he struck the Oil-Shadow Ghost.

He was plundering its attributes.

By the time the three cuts landed, the Oil-Shadow Ghost could no longer hold on.

Its body burst apart down the middle, splashing onto the ground as a puddle of black liquid that began bubbling like a pot of boiling crude oil.

[Killing Points: +76]

[Blood Feast +1, physique slightly increased]

Seconds later, the puddle lost all activity, becoming a dried black crust.

Shen Ye recovered a little stamina.

But the other three Oil-Shadow Ghosts had already closed in on him.

The back of his hand still hurt. The spots burned by the oily sludge throbbed, and the fingers gripping his blade were struggling to obey him.

The three Oil-Shadow Ghosts lunged almost simultaneously.

Shen Ye held his katana across his body to block. One Oil-Shadow Ghost's claws struck the blade, the tremendous impact numbing the web of his hand.

Another slipped in from his side, wrapping a black arm around his left arm and sending a burning sensation through it.

He gritted his teeth, lowered his shoulder, and rammed the clinging Oil-Shadow Ghost away, simultaneously slashing backhanded at the third.

But he was half a beat too slow.

The third Oil-Shadow Ghost had already pressed close in front of him, its "face" almost touching his.

That mass of black liquid suddenly expanded like a great net, descending over his head.

Shen Ye tried to dodge, but it was already too late.