Night World Players

Chapter 66 I leave it to you, Rust
The illusion shattered into countless mottled fragments.

The sky, the ground, and every direction were covered with blood-stained white silk, like a gigantic spider's nest.

Outside the window, the distorted red moon was still surging and wriggling.

Rast's spirit returned to his body along the spiritual path.

He rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath, and the discomfort caused by his spiritual return was slightly alleviated.

According to the "Fool's Library", Hiltina's self-will should have broken through the illusion.

As soon as such a thought arose.

The next moment, he saw the light that suddenly shone up in front of him, like a morning star.

The tip of the sword dragged a thin silver light in the air, cutting and piercing at a terrifying speed, drawing a cross-shaped criss-cross trajectory.

One ten-thousandth of a second later, the huge cocoon in front of Last was annihilated into nothingness in the gust of wind blasted by the rapier.

Hiltina emerged from the cocoon, and the overwhelming silk threads did not touch her slender body at all.

She put the "Twinkling Morning Star" into the scabbard, came to Rast's side, and looked at the flesh-and-blood moon that replaced the moon in the night sky outside the window with Rast.

"Is this the mastermind behind Frozen Water Town?"

"Considering the calamity reverberations that restrict the entry of third-level night travelers, isn't this level of enemy a bit too exaggerated?"

There was some shock in Hiltina's voice, but there was no fear.

"This red moon made of flesh and blood is not a real creature, but merely an illusory projection with no personality."

Luster smiled.

His pupils turned silver-white with a mysterious color flowing in them, and the "Eye of Peering into Mysteries" was activated silently.

"A creature that can take the image of the moon must at least be a true evil god."

"If its true form really descends, then there is no point in us resisting. We can just wait to die... Even though the Night World's Disaster Remnant is dangerous, they will never arrange such a mission that means certain death."

He slowly scanned everything in Dongshui Town with his silver eyes.

"Of course, being able to materialize a projection of an evil god, even if it is just an illusion and only for show, is enough to explain a lot of things."

"'Red Moon', I use this name to refer to the projection of the evil god in the night sky... and the culprit that created the weirdness in Dongshui Town today is a pollutant related to 'Red Moon', just like the pollutant sculpture in Deep Blue Harbor."

"However, the sculpture in Deep Blue Harbor is in a sealed state. The evil god behind the Iron Cross Plague seems to be restrained from interfering in the world. It can only passively create some kind of coincidence and be passively carried by the cultists, leaking its aura to create Iron Cross pollution."

"And the pollutants in this town seem to have entered a state of activation... They can even actively create a domain, covering the entire town with this blood mist."

This reminded Last of the description he read in the diary of the shore keeper at the lighthouse when he first entered this remnant of the disaster.

Starting from the outbreak of the Iron Cross Plague... the order of the Sixth Epoch after the Cataclysm seemed to be increasingly devastated.

The gods, who were originally in a different dimension from the present world and could only interfere with the present world through means such as cultists, were able to descend frequently after the catastrophe.

And those pollutants that were originally sealed or inactive and could only passively wait for the opportunity to come have become much more active after the disaster.

There was no need to create coincidences or rely on the orders of others. He could actively release his power and destroy countless human towns.

It is precisely because of this that the once prosperous civilization of the Sixth Epoch became riddled with holes, and humans could only linger under the shadow of alien races and disasters.

Luster withdrew his thoughts.

He looked out the window at the Dongshui Town shrouded in endless silk threads.

"These threads are the means by which pollutants corrode living beings. They use the cocoon of mist to cover all living beings and living things in the dream they weave."

"Once you are completely lost in the dream, your soul and self-will will be wiped out by these threads." Hiltina interrupted Rast's story: "You will become a puppet with only a body but can only be controlled by these threads, right?"

"Yes."

Rast nodded slightly and looked at Hiltina with some surprise.

He did not share the "Eye of Secrets" with Hiltina this time, so he had no idea how Hiltina got this information.

After all, all of Hiltina's abilities are focused on strengthening herself and fighting, so she probably doesn't have any detection skills.

"My intuition told me that."

Hiltina smiled, with some inexplicable meaning in her smile.

Intuition?

Luster was slightly stunned.

But the next moment, the voice in his ear told him the answer.

wow-

wow-

wow-

A faint sound was heard in the thick fog.

The sound was very strange, as if a chick was pecking at the eggshell and breaking out.

It was as if the coffin lid in the tomb was pushed open, and the rotten corpse saw the light of day again.

At first, there were only one or two subtle sounds that people subconsciously ignored.

But soon, that subtle sound grew into hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands...

There was a rustling sound, as if coming from all directions.

boom--

Luster jerked out his gun, and the muzzle of the revolver shot out flames into the empty darkness.

The bullet shot out at a high speed and then quickly sank into the floor, leaving only sparks and a few uneven bullet holes on the ground.

At the same time, in the darkness where Last was shooting, shadows suddenly began to riot wildly.

Like boiling ink, several spears formed by shadows shot out towards Last's body.

Snapped--

In a flash, Rast quickly switched the card equipped in "The Fool's Library" from the original "'Hermit' Ishtar" to "'Chariot' Hiltina".

The silver light in his eyes quickly faded away, and Night Blade's "Eye of Secrets" lost its effect.

But in contrast...Last regained the long stage of the chariot sequence and some of the abilities of Hiltina's "Infinite Sword" Night Blade.

"Intuition" is activated.

No extra thinking required.

Just based on the sound of the shadow spear breaking through the air and the changes in light in the room, Last instantly determined the optimal solution at the moment.

The trajectory of the shadow spear evolved into a clear trajectory in Rast's mind.

Then, in a fleeting moment, he turned sideways and slid, avoiding them all with a millimeter's space.

While dodging sideways, Last quickly loaded his revolver with new ammunition.

It was not the ordinary full metal jacket bullet, but a black bullet with complicated runes engraved on the bullet head, like a work of art.

This is the custom ammunition that Last had commissioned from the "House of Ashes" at Starry University, a company that specializes in forging weapons and equipment, to be made specifically for his "Iron Moon" heavy-hitting revolver.

Alchemical Bullet "Magic-Breaking Bullet".

Compared with ordinary full-metal jacket bullets, the physical lethality of this type of ammunition is not worth mentioning.

Its only effect is to "break demons" as its name suggests.

It can destroy the normal flow of magic circuits, and has unimaginable special attack capabilities against Night Blades, Sequence abilities, and other extraordinary fields.

The black bullet, enhanced by the "Infinite Martial Arts", shot out from the muzzle of the revolver.

Perhaps because the cost of practicing shooting is lower than that of swinging a sword, every time Last shoots, the lethality permanently increased by "Infinite Martial Arts Training" can only be described as negligible.

But during the few days at Star University, Last fired tens of thousands of bullets. Such an amount of practice made a long-term improvement in his shooting skills.

If he went back to Deep Blue Harbor again, even without using armor-piercing bullets, Last would be confident that he could use ordinary ammunition to penetrate the steel diaphragm of the Iron Cross's heart with one shot.

boom.

It was clear that the direction in which Last's revolver was aimed was still the empty shadow from before.

But this time, the magic-destroying bullet did not sink into the ground as silently as before.

Instead, there was the sound of bullets entering flesh and blood being pierced through. In that corner, which was originally dormant and only a faint shadow could be seen, the shadow suddenly twisted.

The shadow spread out like ink, transforming into a human figure wrapped in shadow.

The silvery-white thorn flashed and disappeared in mid-air.

Almost at the moment when the shadow began to twist and transform under the effect of the "Magic-Breaking Bullet" and changed from a shadow to a human form, Hiltina's crystal-like rapier pierced through.

The twisted human figure wrapped in shadow had its neck pierced by Shiltina's "Shining Morning Star", instantly creating a huge bloody hole.

His figure fell to the ground, disintegrated like a shadow, twitched slightly, and then stopped moving.

at the same time.

Strands of silk threads condensed from the blood mist also appeared silently in the air, detached from the shadowy figure, and then disappeared.

"Roya."

"Member of the scout team, ranked 27th in the Starry Obelisk, Nightblade is "Shadow Jumper"."

Looking at the figure lying on the ground and twitching, Hiltina spoke softly and determined the other party's identity.

"To be more precise, the person here is no longer Roya."

"But after his soul and self were devoured by the blood mist... the contaminant controlled his body and Nightblade, making him a puppet."

Luster added.

At the same time, he also understood what those thousands of abnormal rustling sounds were that had just echoed throughout the town.

Since it is a woven cocoon, there will inevitably be a moment when it breaks out of the cocoon.

However, for those creatures who are trapped in the dream and have not been able to break free from the dream by their own will——

The products that emerge from the cocoon are naturally no longer their original selves, but puppets and dolls whose consciousness and soul have been erased and whose bodies are controlled by the blood mist.

Among these puppets that have been transformed into slaves of blood mist threads, there are not only the original residents and creatures of Dongshui Town.

Even those night travelers and members of the strategy team who had previously entered the remnant of the disaster and never returned became slaves of the blood mist.

Possessing the Night Blade "Shadow Jump", Roja, who arrived first, was only the first, but definitely not the last...

At this moment, these former teammates of Hiltina and Last, classmates of Star University, were all transformed into cold fighting puppets under the control of blood mist threads.

Using the sequence ability and night blade that were originally supposed to be used to conquer the night world, he tried every means to keep Hiltina and Rust and turn them into puppet companions who would lose their souls and selves like himself.

……

"Seventeen members of the reconnaissance team were lost in the remnant of the disaster. In addition to Roya, there are sixteen more people."

"Even though most of their Night Blades are Reconnaissance and Concealment-type... as members of the Raiders Group, they are at least Tier 3."

"It's really a tough battle."

Last calculated the difference in combat power in his mind.

In addition, there are the original residents of Frozen Water Town and other animals.

Even if they were originally ordinary people, after being controlled by the blood mist threads, they would lose the constraints of pain and would likely be strengthened by the blood mist, just like the Iron Cross before.

To some extent, this was an even more difficult and dangerous situation than the previous battle in Deep Blue Harbor... After all, in this remnant of the disaster, Rast did not have the experience of rewinding more than 8,000 times like he had in Deep Blue Harbor, and he did not have the experience of memorizing almost all the details inside the port.

And, most importantly—

Even if they destroyed all the puppets controlled by the blood mist, it did not mean that they would be able to pass through the remnants of the disaster in Dongshui Town.

Last had not forgotten everything described in the shore watcher's diary... It was a time similar to his own time in Deep Blue Harbor, which was constantly cycled and restarted.

As soon as such a thought arose.

The next moment, Rast heard Hiltina's whisper in his ear.

"Laster, have you used the Eye of Secrets to find clues to clear this reverberation of the disaster?"

"Gray...right?"

"If not, with your personality, it shouldn't be possible for you to talk so much to a little girl who has nothing to do with you."

"Ah."

Rust nodded: "But given our current situation, these are just empty talk until we get rid of those puppets chasing us."

"So, if someone stops all the puppets for you and eliminates all interference, how long will it take you to solve all this?"

"Not sure, but if everything goes well, maybe around fifty minutes."

As soon as Rast finished speaking, he realized that this conversation seemed familiar.

I seemed to have had a similar conversation in that port city not long ago.

The person he was talking to that time was the rapier wielder girl in front of him.

However, the roles played by the two in the conversation seemed to have changed drastically.

"Is it……"

For some reason, Rast detected a sly smile in Hiltina's words.

"So this time, you'll have an hour."

boom--

At the moment the words fell.

The gust of wind that had been lingering around Hiltina dissipated.

The "Swift Wind Step" that had been bestowed upon her for a long time was now actively removed by Hiltina.

But it is in stark contrast to the gradually subsiding wind.

It was the pale blue flame that suddenly rose up from Hiltina's body.

"Burning blood".

The third-tier capability of the vehicle series.

Burn the body, burn the soul.

Squeeze all the potential from the body, and then concentrate all the power within a very short time frame and release it.

The blue flames lingering around Hiltina at this moment are the product of the burning of blood and soul.

In the burning blue flames, Hiltina smiled and said, "Before in Deep Blue Harbor, you acted on your own and succeeded. I have always wanted to force myself on you."

"This time is different from Deep Blue Harbor. These puppets were members of the strategy team when they were alive. I am more familiar with their Night Blades and Sequence abilities than you..."

"Besides, my abilities are all for enhancing combat power. They are useless for cracking the mystery of time loops. I can't help you."

"It is undoubtedly the best choice for me to stop these manipulated puppets."

Hiltina's figure burned in the blue blood flames, and she walked step by step to the open window.

She turned back and looked into Luster's eyes.

"Last time, you entrusted your hopes of escaping from Deep Blue Harbor to me... You bet on me to win."

"Well, this time."

"I bet on you to win, too."

The red and white knight's uniform rose and fell, and his long chestnut hair fluttered in the wind.

The dignified rapier jumped out of the window, and his slender figure surrounded by blue flames was particularly conspicuous in the night.

She rushed towards the night, facing the sound of footsteps coming in the blood mist.

Just like many years ago, the female knight named Cecilia walked alone into the raging flames of Qiuye Territory amid the thunderous roar of the Fire Elemental King.

"so--"

"Leave it to you, Luster."

"Let's put an end to this damned remnant of disaster once and for all."

…………

PS: There will be another chapter later.

(End of this chapter)