Night Journey

Chapter 142 Explosive Battle
After a series of deadly exchanges, both sides tacitly stopped their attacks, maintained a safe distance, and sized each other up.

Ciri gripped the Boiling Sword tightly with both hands, using source energy to further strengthen the blade and ignite a raging fire.

Dai Lin rubbed his aching chest. The barrage of bullets had nearly shattered his defenses, leaving his body riddled with holes.

Anya lurked in the shadows, like a cold, venomous snake, waiting for her chance to strike.

Directly in front of him, Darren glared menacingly, his body covered in sharp blades and gun barrels, radiating a chilling aura of death.

Dalin felt immense pressure and whispered, "As a Mech Soul user, he's already troublesome enough, but his body is also highly cybernetic... This is a formidable opponent."

In the journey of the mechanical corpses, the most troublesome are not the "Forging Faction" that can print out numerous weapons in an instant, nor the "Domination Faction" that can form an army by itself and lead countless armored vehicles.

Instead, like Darren before us, they completely sacrifice themselves, abandoning their frail blood and bones in exchange for a steel body forged from machine oil and machinery—the cybernetic faction.

"Do you have any ideas?"

This was the first time Ciri had fought a Spirit Craftsman, and one that was at the third rank.

“No…not at all,” Daelin complained. “I’ve dealt with some corrupted spirit crafters before, but this is the first time I’ve encountered a cybernetic one.”

Cillian asked, puzzled, "Is there a problem?"

"The problem is that my previous experience is completely useless."

Daelin explained, “Whether it’s the Spirit Craftsmen creating towering mechanical structures in seconds, or leading countless Dominator Armor, they always rely on these external objects to fight. Once their vulnerable core is killed, it’s all over.”

But the cybernetic faction was different; they successfully overcame this fatal flaw in the fate of mechanical corpses.

Before Dalin could explain further, Cillian had already seen it.

Dense arcs of electricity wrapped around Darren's body and then spread outwards.

The electric arc disintegrated the matter it touched, refined and transformed it, repaired damaged armor, recast deformed joints, and even previously empty ammunition was printed and loaded out of thin air using design blueprints recorded in the mind.

In the blink of an eye, Darren was back to his peak condition, with plenty of ammunition and sturdy armor.

A piercing hum resounded within Darren's body, like a morbid heartbeat or the low growl of an engine.

"careful!"

Dalyne shoved Cillian aside.

laugh--!
Darren lunged forward, his elbow blade grazing Cillian's body before plunging deep into the steel grille beneath their feet.

A cold light flashed.

The tough metal made a teeth-grinding tearing sound as the sharp blade pierced through, and icy river water gushed out from the breach, carrying a chilling cold and a strong, metallic stench.

"This is a complete trap!"

Ciri rolled to his feet on the slippery grille, his boiling sword sizzling as it evaporated the water droplets that had fallen onto it, sending up plumes of white mist.

"I've found it!"

Dai Lin swung his fist and smashed the rickety grating platform beneath his feet.

Darren's body hovered in mid-air for a moment before helplessly plummeting down into the raging torrent below.

His body was far too heavy; he would only sink to the bottom of the river in the raging torrent.

Cillian was unsure of the extent of Darren's cybernetics, and therefore unsure if he would suffocate, but this would at least allow them to regain the initiative.

"Anya, when will the reinforcements arrive?"

Taking advantage of the rare break, Dai Lin shouted.

In the shadows not far away, Anya shook her head.

After discovering that Darren was a Mech Soul, Cillian and Daelin restrained him, while Anya lurked in the shadows, waiting for her chance to strike, and at the same time, she sought help from the City Guard.

The intelligence was successfully transmitted back to the City Guard Bureau, but there was no response.

Could it be that the Claws have noticed the staff's all-out attack and launched a counterattack against the weakened City Guard Bureau, or is the battle so intense that the City Guard Bureau has no spare strength to support this place?

Two grappling hooks shot out from the rapids and embedded themselves in the arch above, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

Seeing this, Dai Lin was almost numb.

"Look, these are the Spirit Craftsmen, among the many destinies, the group whose strength is the most difficult to judge."

Generally speaking, the factors that determine the strength of a superhuman are nothing more than their own rank, the specific school of their destiny, the superhuman weapons they carry, and the extremely rare blessing.

But when it comes to the Spirit Craftsman, with the large number of design blueprints stored in his mind, the deciding factors suddenly become extremely complex and unpredictable.

For example, Darren right now.

The grappling hook retracted rapidly, dragging the heavy body and securing it to the archway.

Cillian gritted his teeth. He clearly remembered that when Dalyn knocked Darren into the water, he didn't have a grappling hook on him... This was something he had hastily printed out.

"No...that's not right."

Darren's dazed voice began to ramble, "If you really intend to erase this stain on me, you should send some stronger staff, or even come yourself."

His crimson eyes scanned the three tense faces, and suddenly, Darren realized what was happening, and belatedly said.

"Oh, I see. So you want to use me to kill them?"

Darren burst into laughter. "You guys are so pathetic!"

Before the laughter subsided, two thick hydraulic support rods suddenly sprang out from Darren's spine, embedding themselves deeply into the vault, firmly fixing the heavy steel body in place, counteracting the constraints of gravity, and transforming it into a merciless fortress.

Open fire!
A massive hail of bullets descended once more, from their elevated position, effectively blocking almost all their evasive maneuvers.

"Can't escape!"

Dai Lin's pupils contracted, his muscles bulged like iron, and instead of retreating, he advanced, crossing his arms to protect his head and face, standing firm like a reef, withstanding a large amount of bullets.

Using the same tactic again, Cillian and Anya split up and attempted to launch a flanking attack on Darren, shooting him off the vault.

"madness!"

Amidst a brief chuckle, the electric arc surged once more, rapidly printing a mechanical arm onto Darren's shoulder, its end extending into a gun barrel, locking onto the rapidly moving Anya.

Anya remained silent, channeling a large amount of energy into the blade in her hand until it burned red and ignited with flames.

Suddenly, she braked hard with her heels, bent her knees slightly to gather strength, tightened her back and waist, and suddenly exerted force with her shoulder blades. She spun around and twisted her waist, swinging her upper arm to throw the flaming sword in her hand. Her movements were extremely precise, just like a professional javelin thrower.

The flaming sword whistled through the air, carrying orange-red flames that transformed into crimson spears, the flying molten iron fragments hissing and steaming at the end of their trajectory.

It didn't hit Darren, but instead pierced his connection point with the vault at an extremely tricky angle.

"Get off here!"

Anya shouted, and the fire sword exploded, the spreading fireballs completely engulfing Darren.

"Wow!"

Dailin cheered in response, while Anya calmly drew another sword from the equipment box she was carrying.

Darren crashed to the ground, steaming hot, his eyes fixed on the longsword in Anya's hand.

"The Blazing Sword? You spent a fortune on it for me."

“No need for you to worry about that,” Anya said bluntly. “The city garrison will reimburse you.”

As a fusion warrior, Anya's biggest headache is that the high temperature of the "Flame Hand" is difficult for conventional weapons to withstand, so she chose the Blazing Sword as her main weapon.

This sword, crafted by the Wanji Tonglu Academy, was given a higher melting point limit by the spirit craftsman. More importantly, when it can no longer withstand the high temperature, the accumulated energy will be released explosively like high-temperature gunpowder, rather than melting like an ordinary weapon.

Cillian glanced at the Blazing Sword. This was the first time he had seen Anya in battle. She was valiant and decisive, a stark contrast to her usual gentle demeanor.

While Ciri was observing Anya, Anya was also glancing at Ciri out of the corner of her eye.

Upon being promoted to Meltermaster, the Torchbearer must learn to maintain absolute rationality in a deadly battle—only a clear mind can precisely control the temperature of the Flame Hand and prevent the weapon from melting due to uncontrolled heat release.

Anya witnessed Cirion's series of attacks. He didn't adjust the heat at all, maintaining an extremely high temperature throughout. Strangely, his sword didn't melt as a result; instead, it became even sharper and more deadly.

She didn't dwell on the matter for too long. Ciri already possessed that noble bloodline, so it was normal for him to also have a few divine weapons.

Moreover, the battle is still ongoing.

Darren abandoned the barrage of bullets; arcs of electricity flashed across numerous gun muzzles, causing them to disintegrate one by one, and then, according to the design blueprints, were reforged into new weapons, which were then mounted on his body.

Dalin lunged forward, swinging a heavy punch in an attempt to block Darren's print.

An arc of electricity suddenly separated and struck in front of Dai Lin. The metal grille beneath his feet disintegrated into fine dust, then gathered and recast, transforming into an iron wall that blocked his path.

"Damn it, the intelligence said he was a reclusive researcher... Can a researcher have such extensive combat experience?!"

Dai Lin felt that he had cursed more people tonight than he had cursed in the entire past year.

Darren's control over the mechanical power was truly exquisite. If it weren't for the source energy of Daelin filling the tiger's knuckles, which to some extent counteracted the erosion of the electric arc, it might have collapsed as well.

"Who knows!"

Cillian followed closely behind, cleaving through the obstructing iron wall with a single sword strike.

"Maybe he's like me, enjoying going out late at night..."

He was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly froze, remembering the mysterious being who had almost killed him with a single shot that night.

Behind the shattered metal, Darren's figure appeared, along with a long gun barrel that had been raised.

The gun barrel flashed, illuminating Cirion's face ashen.

He roared in fury.

"It's you!"

Darren pulled the trigger, and a burst of light shot out.

It pierced through the swirling iron filings and water vapor, and also through the iron walls it passed through. Just as it was about to pierce a hole in Cirien's body, he raised his Boiling Sword to block it in front of him.

The piercing light was abruptly deflected by the Boiling Sword, refracting to the other side.

At that moment, time seemed to stand still. Darren stared in disbelief at the sword in Cillian's hand, while Cillian turned his gaze to the spot where the light had deviated.

He heard a faint cracking sound.

Soon, the sound became increasingly clear until an entire iron wall collapsed, and endless river water poured in.

(End of this chapter)