Chapter 412 – Death

Above the murky, blood-red water region, bodies of some ancient creatures floated like islands.

All were decayed, resembling the dead sea itself.

In this desolate and eerily silent atmosphere, filled with a strange and oppressive air, two figures were engaged in a fierce chase and battle.

“Whoosh-“

A dazzling blade light, like a galaxy pouring down, suddenly slashed from one person’s hand straight toward the other’s head.

The latter did not even bother to dodge, merely lifting a hand slightly as two thick beams of silver light, like spears, shot up from his palm, instantly smashing the blade light to pieces.

“Pathetic attack…”

Anders casually shattered the opponent’s assault, chuckling coldly.

Anders had changed a lot since before.

The silver braid at the back of his head had grown longer, floating fixedly like an outward spine.

His body sprouted many dense silver threads, intertwining like vines, weaving and growing over him.

They protected his cheeks, throat, heart, and joints, creating a suit of armor with a simple yet exquisite openwork pattern.

From the armor, thick silver vines extended outward, encircling Anders like the tentacles of an octopus.

Each tentacle was unstoppable, whistling sharply through the air with a speed so fast that their trajectory was nearly impossible to catch, leaving only flashes of silver light streaking through the air.

Effortlessly blocking the “insignificant” attack, Anders lightly lifted his right hand, which seemed to be wearing a silver arm guard, and spread his fingers toward the woman in front of him.

“Whoosh-“

Tentacles from behind Anders simultaneously extended.

These silver tentacles moved incredibly fast, perhaps many times the speed of sound.

Appearing out of nowhere around the woman, they instantly blocked nearly all her avenues of escape.

Just as a prison seemed to form around her, the woman remained calm, as if this was not her first time facing such peril.

She took a slight step back, and then a deep purple light quietly blossomed in her eyes.

“Buzz-“

A colossal pattern, resembling an eye, burst forth from the woman’s gaze, rapidly expanding in the void between the two.

As the pattern appeared, the void suddenly seemed as if a smooth, mirror-like water surface was gently stirred by a finger.

In the stirring, invisible ripples emerged, sending out strange fluctuations through the waves.

Influenced by these fluctuations, Anders’ gaze momentarily fell into confusion.

However, this confusion quickly vanished from his eyes.

Anders’ gaze cleared once again.

By the time he regained his senses, all he saw were dozens of silver tentacles twining through the air at a certain spot.

The cunning woman, his intended target, had already taken advantage of his momentary lapse and the flaws in his offensive to escape far away.

“Damn it!”

Anders’ face turned sour.

This was not the first time.

As the direct descendant of a top-tier family from an advanced civilization, he had always enjoyed the finest Legacy and the most lavish resources since birth.

Ever since he embarked on his cultivation journey, starting from activating his first star acupoint, he had nurtured his life’s core with countless precious materials.

He was not just among the top of his generation in his family but was certainly close to the top tier.

After deploying a fraction of his power, to be repeatedly tricked and evaded by a native of a lower civilization, practicing the most basic Legacy and wielding nothing but scraps of metal, was humiliating.

If word of this got out, even if his opponent was a bearer of the legendary Immortal Bloodline, his potential rating in the Council of Elders would likely plummet.

“No matter…”

Anders quickly calmed his mind, his silver eyes twinkling with a cruel light.

He slowly twisted his neck and muttered with a sinister sneer, “After all, once I capture you… your ability will naturally become mine.”

With that, Anders’ feet made a “thump” sound.

In an instant, he transformed into a clear afterimage and vanished from the spot.

Minutes later, Yuwen Tong, who had fled, was once again caught up by Anders.

This time, Anders had learned from his mistakes. Instead of bombarding her wildly from the start, pushing her to a corner as before, he controlled the tentacles, gradually escalating his attacks from weak to strong to entangle and assault the woman.

Silver tentacles danced around, stirring up shockwaves that exploded into huge splashes in the water region beneath them.

Unidentified ancient creature remains were affected, directly shattered into pieces by the indestructible silver tentacles.

The calm of this ancient, silent water region was utterly disrupted.

The blood-red lake water, now more turbid, seemed to have black currents surging underneath, ready to evaporate at any moment.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Anders manipulated the silver tentacles, smashing the seven or eight slashes of light emitted by the woman in one breath.

On the ninth strike, he distinctly felt one of his tentacles touch something.

“Hmph!”

The woman, enveloped in brilliant starlight, grunted.

To Anders, this grunt sounded like the long-awaited music of the heavens.

“Can’t hold on, can you?

You should be proud of yourself!”

A sharp gleam appeared in Anders’ eyes, and his lips unconsciously curled into a smile.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, he directed four tentacles from four different directions towards the woman, while the remaining tentacles entwined with each other.

In mid-air, they wove into an outline of a cage that completely enclosed the woman.

This time, Anders was determined to prevail.

Even if the woman used that secret technique again, which briefly caused him to lose his focus, the cage made of silver vine would still remain.

If he could just delay her briefly, he would recover from his stupor.

This chase would finally come to an end.

Just as Anders had anticipated.

As the four feinting tentacles were about to strike the woman, a deep purple radiant light burst from her, with patterns resembling eyes appearing.

Anders’ lips were already curling into a smile, unconsciously.

He knew exactly what was going to happen next; the cage he had spent most of his energy constructing was finally taking shape.

This time… there would be no accidents.

However…

The smile on Anders’ face froze in the next instant.

Eyes… eyes…

Another eye!

The woman, radiant with a splendid purple glow, suddenly sprouted seven or eight eye-like patterns around her body.

These mysterious and eerily atmospheric patterns, reminiscent of ancient badges or symbols, hovered silently in the air.

The entire space seemed to solidify under the shroud of this misty purple light.

Time itself came to a standstill.

Yet the only woman who could move freely did not use this opportunity to flee as she had in previous encounters.

Instead of retreating, she advanced.

Her movements were as graceful and deft as a fish swimming through water, emerging from the very center of the attack.

She brushed aside the four silver tentacles frozen in front of her, cloaked in purple light, and in a flash, appeared right in front of Anders.

Anders’ eyes widened.

This time he did not fall into a momentary daze, but his body, his strength, every cell in his being,

seemed to be frozen solid by something.

Even his thoughts were nearly immobile.

All Anders could do was watch helplessly as the woman, now just cun away, gently raised her battered black alloy combat blade, its edge nicked and jagged.

Her beautiful face showed no trace of emotion.

Then, aiming at him from above, she coldly brought the blade down.

“Die!”