Successful Subjugation X Keeping the Appointment X Gift of Destruction

Jiang Ye originally planned to subdue Max Elephant after returning from Grey Elder's place, but after thinking about it for half the night, he changed his mind.

When the Grey Elder invites guests, it's most likely a trap.

Having an extra card in your hand is always better than going empty-handed.

The workshop was empty, and the hard concrete floor still bore the scratch marks and charred marks from the last time the nymphs were tamed.

The steel frame of the roof was mostly covered by sheet metal, leaving only a few narrow gaps through which grayish-white daylight shone, casting thin strips of light on the ground.

Jiang Ye walked to the center of the workshop and stood still, glancing down at his own shadow.

The outline of the Max Elephant lay deep within, more stable than it had been two days ago, but its edges were still trembling slightly, like a string stretched to its limit, ready to snap at any moment.

He took a deep breath, which rose from his abdomen and spread evenly over his entire body. His Aura Nodes closed one by one, and his breath settled into a state of still water.

"The last time."

He spoke softly, then raised his hands, interlocked his fingers, pressed his thumbs together, and arched the backs of his hands outwards.

The middle and ring fingers bend inward and come together, while the index and little fingers curve out in an ivory-like arc.

The shadow of a hand fell on the gray-white concrete, and the outline of a giant elephant with its head held high silently unfolded.

"Max Elephant."

As those two words were squeezed out from between his teeth, the ground beneath his feet suddenly trembled.

A spiderweb-like network of cracks burst open at the joints of the concrete, and a black shadow surged up from the cracks, like an underground river bursting its banks.

The grayish-white elephant rose from the shadows, its shoulder height approaching four meters and its body length exceeding six meters. Its limbs were so thick that they seemed to have twisted the discarded steel beams in the workshop into pillars.

Two tusks curved out from either side of the elephant's trunk, grayish-white and cold, their tips gleaming with a matte finish in the dim light.

The moment Max Elephant opened his bloodshot eyes, Jiang Ye's temple throbbed.

The untamed Shikigami needed to be forcibly suppressed by the sorcerer using his qi, with each breath draining his very essence.

The Max Elephant raised its head and let out a loud bellow, the sound waves crashing against the four iron walls and bouncing back, making Jiang Ye's eardrums buzz.

Its front hooves pawed the ground, sending concrete debris flying, and its crimson eyes swept around the workshop before finally settling on Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye didn't dodge; he took out the bomb he had obtained from the black market from his Shadow Space.

The gift called destruction!

It has a metal casing, about the size of a palm, with a layer of dark gray anti-rust paint on the surface, and a line of crooked words engraved on the side.

The arms dealer who sold it to him emphasized that point at the time.

"It's specially made, with strong penetrating power; it can even blast through special alloy plates at close range."

Jiang Ye didn't haggle and paid for the Jenny directly.

He held the bomb in his hand, pulled the safety pin, and didn't throw it away immediately.

The Max Elephant have already charged forward.

The four-meter-tall elephant, accompanied by a gust of wind and flying pebbles, charged towards him, its trunk raised high and its tusks pointed in his direction.

Jiang Ye didn't move, silently counting in his mind as he watched the trajectory of the Max Elephant's charge.

Three meters.

Two meters.

One meter.

He slammed his right foot into the ground, Shadow Stealth, and sank into the shadow beneath his feet.

The elephant's trunk crashed into the spot where he had just been standing, creating a crater the size of a washbasin in the concrete, with cracks spreading two meters.

Jiang Ye emerged from the shadow of the scrap metal pile behind Max Elephant and flicked his wrist, rolling the bomb horizontally away.

The metal shell slid along the concrete to the side of the Max Elephant's right foreleg and paused for a moment.

Boom...!!

Flames and shockwaves surged upwards, blasting the Max Elephant's right foreleg to the side, causing its massive body to lose balance and crash to the ground.

Concrete fragments and scrap metal flew everywhere in the workshop, and the steel frame of the ceiling groaned under the weight.

Jiang Ye didn't give it time to stand up.

He pressed his hands down sharply, and the shadows surged from all Max Elephant, entangling his limbs and torso and pulling him to the ground.

The Max Elephant struggled, emitting hoarse bellows, and the screen bulged and then tightened.

Blood seeped from the corner of Jiang Ye's mouth, his breath was rapidly depleting, and his Aura Nodes were burning hot from excessive output.

"Give me... back."

His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, but his hand moved down another inch.

The Max Elephant's right foreleg was blown off in half, and grayish-white Shikigami blood gushed out, staining half of Omokage screen black.

Its struggles grew weaker and weaker, and its cry changed from furious to hoarse, and from hoarse to a dull growl.

Jiang Ye could feel that the will to resist was being worn away little by little.

He reached into the Shadow Space again, his fingertips touching the second bomb.

He bought three of the Gift of Destruction.

After pulling the safety pin on the second bomb, he crouched down and rolled the bomb along the ground to the Max Elephant's chest.

Boom...!

The second explosion blasted a gash in Max Elephant's chest, and the blood of the Shikigami mixed with the shadows flowed all over the ground.

Max Elephant's crimson eyes finally dimmed.

The massive elephant ceased its struggle and lay quietly within the shadow screen.

Jiang Ye braced himself on his knees and took a few breaths. The screen continued to tighten, and countless Shadow Spike emerged from the earth array, instantly piercing through the weakened Max Elephant's entire body like a hedgehog.

The next second, the Max Elephant gradually dissipated into specks of light, merging into the shadows.

Only his breathing could be heard in the workshop.

Jiang Ye knelt in the concrete rubble, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth and splashing onto the grayish-white gravel.

His vital energy was almost depleted, and the burning sensation in his Aura Nodes burned from his skin to his bones.

But instead of standing up, he looked down at his shadow.

The outline of the Max Elephant lay quietly in the depths, alongside the Divine Dogs, Toad, Rabbit Escape, and cere, its edges smooth.

Subjugation complete!

Jiang Ye stared at the shadow for a few seconds, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile.

The fifth one.

He propped himself up on his knees and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

Ten Shadows Technique, the fifth Shikigami Max Elephant, are at his command.

He paused for more than a minute, until he had regained some of his breath, before walking to the iron gate and knocking twice.

"Iron Wall."

The sound of a lock turning came from outside, the iron door was pulled open, and the rough face of the Iron Wall peeked in.

He first glanced at Jiang Ye to make sure he was still standing before turning his gaze into the workshop.

"It's done?"

It's done.

Without asking any further questions, Iron Wall pushed open the door and made way for him.

Jiang Ye walked out of the workshop, the gray sunlight falling on his face, the wind carrying the smell of rust.

He paused, turned his head, and glanced to the north.

"Iron Wall."

"Exist."

"You stay here and guard the house. Don't remove the perimeter line. Push the northern outpost outwards another two hundred meters."

Iron Wall's brow twitched slightly.

"Then you..."

"I'm going to Grey Elder."

Jiang Ye turned up the collar of his coat to cover the red marks on his neck from the burns from the Aura Nodes.

He said he'd be hosting a banquet tomorrow night, so I need to check out the route beforehand.

Iron Wall opened his mouth as if to say something, but Jiang Ye stopped him with a look.

I'll be back before tomorrow night.

He finished speaking and walked away, his footsteps making a soft crunching sound on the gravel.

Grey Elder's mansion is located in the northeast of Central City, separated from District 13 by an old industrial strip.

Jiang Ye didn't take the main road, but walked through the shadows of scrap metal piles and abandoned pipes.

The Shadow Stealth was used intermittently, with a short break after each use, which annoyed me so much that I had to conserve it.

After walking for more than half an hour, the scavenging area ahead came into view.

The off-white villa in the very center of the scavenging site stood out starkly in the dim light of the day.

The exterior walls were painted with half-new paint, and several half-dead green plants were growing on the outer edge of the second-floor balcony.

Jiang Ye stopped behind the pile of scrap metal on the outskirts of the scavenging site, his gaze sweeping across the two hundred meters of road leading to the villa gate.

Seven sentry posts.

Some were hiding behind piles of scrap metal, some were crouching on beams, and two were standing in the shadows of the porch.

The numbers match the ones previously reported by Gray Beak.

He didn't rush to leave. He squatted down and spread the shadow threads out from under his feet, extending them along the cracks in the gravel towards the villa.

When Yingsi climbed to the bottom of the porch steps, he sensed a breath.

The Nen user sat in the porch.

He doesn't have a strong breath, but he can control it well; he's trained.

Jiang Ye withdrew the shadow threads, stood up, and dusted off his trouser legs.

Then he walked out from behind the pile of scrap metal and headed towards the villa's gate.

As they approached the iron gate, the guard in the black uniform inside raised his hand to stop them.

"Stop."

Jiang Ye stopped and didn't move.

"Tell the Grey Elder."

He tilted his head slightly, his tone indifferent.

"The leader of the Rust Remains Alliance has arrived."

The guard paused for a moment, glanced at him, then turned and quickly entered the villa.

Jiang Ye stood outside the iron gate, his hands in his coat pockets, the wind blowing his bangs across his forehead.

The curtains on the second floor of the villa moved slightly.

A moment later, the door was pushed open from the inside, and an old man in a gray robe slowly walked out.

Standing on the porch steps, Grey Elder looked down at Jiang Ye beyond the iron fence, a cryptic light flickering in his fiery eyes.

"Rust Remains Alliance."

He spoke, his voice neither hurried nor slow.

"I invited you for tomorrow night, but you came today."

Jiang Ye looked up at him, a slight smile curving his lips.

"Tomorrow night is tomorrow night's problem."

"I've come today to ask the elder for a cup of tea beforehand."

The Grey Elder stared at him for a couple of moments, then suddenly chuckled.

"Interesting."

He turned his head and waved to the guard beside him.

"Open the door."