Star Hunter.

Chapter 216 The Fall of the Lone Hunter

Chapter 216 The Fall of the Lone Hunter

In the jungle, after every rain, many new characters emerge. They may be unknown at first, but they gradually rise to prominence and then make a name for themselves.

The increasingly heavy rain washed away the smog in the air, and the raindrops, carrying suspended particles, fell to the ground. The previously hazy and blurry scenery gradually became clear.

The monitor lizards seemed to particularly enjoy the rain today, staying outside to get soaked and letting the rain wash over them.

On the other side of the jungle, Oskulo walked unhurriedly, neither using a flying glider nor piloting a flying vehicle.

Oskuro's strength lies in his perception, which surpasses even that of machines. If he wants to find something, he can always locate his prey. This is the perception of a top hunter.

Osculow prefers to solve problems in a primitive way.

Gada said that Osculo was cruel and arrogant. He would only tinker with the instruments when he was not paying attention. In fact, he believed more in himself and that no one or no machine could change his mind, even if his mind was wrong.

Therefore, the leaders of many violent groups associated with Oscuro have also adopted this habit of Oscuro to varying degrees, such as Skeleton King Karanio.

In the rain, Osculo, without using any mechanical instruments, simply walked in, wearing only the hood of his coat. He found machines to be annoying things, always chattering away beside him, utterly irritating.

If Shirin knew Oscuro's thoughts, he would be amazed by Oscuro's understanding of mechanical language. However, Oscuro is not one to listen to opinions.

Oscuro sheathed his longsword; he didn't like his blade to be stained with anything other than blood, especially raindrops, which he considered "dirty."

Oskuro wasn't particularly fast, but he was very purposeful. He chose a direction and kept heading in it, without any doubt that he would find his prey. And the direction Oskuro was heading was precisely towards the lizard's lair where Xilin was.

At this moment, Xilin, who was hiding in the lizard cave, was concentrating on recovering his body. He had already injected the fast-acting medicine that he had prepared in advance, and his own recovery ability was also amazing.

The wounds, large and small, inflicted by Oscuro's longsword on Sirin's body had begun to heal. The smaller, shallower wounds were starting to scab over, while the larger, deeper wounds were rapidly closing up. The severed muscles seemed to be connected by threads, closing together and fusing back into their original state.

Several severed meridians stretched out, spontaneously reconnected, and then flowed together, allowing blood to circulate normally again.

The shattered bones healed silently, as if performing a program, each step meticulously calculated, each step flawless, returning to their original position.

As Yuan Ye once said, people breathe differently in different situations, and one can judge a person's physical condition simply by observing their breathing.

The body has an optimal breathing rhythm during spontaneous healing, allowing for the most efficient recovery with the aid of medication. Many people who have frequently faced life-or-death situations don't consciously focus on that breathing rhythm during recovery; instead, they follow their instincts. Their experiences have conditioned their bodies to that rhythm. Xilin is one such example.

The breathing rhythm has already shifted quite naturally without any deliberate adjustment.

Xilin closed his eyes, sensing the recovery progress of every part of his body, as well as the condition of his surroundings brought about by every pore and every hair.

Heartbeats, many heartbeats, not just Xilin's own.

Inside the lizard's nest were many lizard eggs, from which came heartbeats of varying strengths. Xilin's heartbeat was mixed in with these eggs, which provided him with excellent cover.

As for the lizards outside the cave, the drugs carried by the bullets that Xilin shot into their mouths had seeped into various parts of the monitor lizards' bodies, but the effects would not be very obvious in the short term. As long as the monitor lizards did not experience strong emotional fluctuations, the effects of the drugs would not appear immediately.

Xilin, who was closing his eyes to recover, suddenly opened them and looked in a direction outside the cave.

  

Before long, the monitor lizards outside also looked up in that direction, stuck out their long, forked tongues, and stared straight at that place with their cold eyes. Their wild instincts told them that a troublesome creature was coming from that direction.

The rain in the jungle came and went quickly, and the sunlight shining through the clouds shone in this direction.

Tender new shoots have sprouted on the grass beyond the woods, looking very vibrant. A drop of water slid off a delicate leaf, splashing a series of ripples in a puddle on the ground.

A tiny creature, smaller than a sesame seed and resembling a spider, crawled down from a leaf, leaving behind a glistening silk thread.

Sha sha, sha sha.

A figure gradually emerged from the shadows of the woods; it was Osculo.

He makes no attempt to conceal his tracks or the sound of his footsteps; he relishes the fear his prey displays upon hearing them.

Oskuro faced the lizards. These fierce-looking creatures were nothing more than small prey in Oskuro's eyes, which he could easily deal with with a few strokes of his knife.

"You think you can escape my blade by hiding in the holes of these little reptiles?" Oskuro chuckled softly. Although the laughter was soft and the voice was not suppressed, it gave people an inexplicable feeling of blood filling the sky.

The outermost lizard crawled toward Oskulo, its long tongue lolling out as it went, its large tail swishing back and forth, crushing some grass blades on the ground into dust.

Seeing the lizard crawling towards him, Oskulo did not dodge, but instead watched the poor prey's movements with great interest.

The more frightened the lizard became, the faster it moved, splashing mud up from its sharp claws.

Just as the lizard opened its massive jaws, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and lunged at Oskuro, a flash of white light reflected off the metal, and the lizard was cleaved in two. Blood splattered out, mixing with the still-damp puddles on the ground, flowing everywhere.

Xilin closed his eyes again, focusing on recovering from his injuries, ignoring Oskulo who was now standing not far from the cave entrance.

The hunt has only just begun.

Seeing their companion killed, the lizards were enraged, the stench of blood in the air further fueling their ferocity. They let out hoarse roars and scrambled toward Oskulo.

But this time, Oskulo narrowed his eyes.

These lizards are changing rapidly, their entire bodies are changing, as if someone is inflating them. With each step, they swell up a size, and the cells are stimulated to divide more and more actively as they go on, the rate of expansion is faster and faster, the rough, hard skin on their bodies is getting thicker and thicker, and the spines on their backs stand up like spears.

With each step these lizards took, the ground trembled more and more violently.

When these lizards arrived in front of Oskulo, they had swelled to nearly ten times their original size.

Oskuro slashed each of the five lizards with a mere flick of his wrist, but unlike the first one, which was cleaved in two, the bleeding from the wounds on the five lizards quickly stopped, the wounds healed, and even swelled up a size during that brief attack.

Oskuro scanned the surrounding area; over 80% of the lizards had begun to swell and become ferocious. Those lizards that hadn't changed were being bloodily devoured by the transformed giant lizards.

Oskulo didn't know if the changes in these lizards were related to Xilin, but one thing was certain: Xilin knew these giant lizards would change, which was why he hid here.

In fact, what Xilin initially injected into the mouths of these lizards was a substance extracted from the giant trees on that plant planet. After some modifications, it became the medicine now used on these lizards. The medicine causes the lizards to grow to enormous sizes, but this unnatural growth also causes the lizards to lose their self-awareness and become violent and bloodthirsty, which is why they kill their own kind who haven't changed.

The mutated lizard charged straight at Oskulo, and Oskulo was not going to have an easy time facing these dozen or so mutated giant lizards.

But this by no means means that Osculow cannot simply cleave these giant lizards in two.

Inside the cave, Xilin did not open his eyes, but a gun had already appeared in his hand, and bullets were being loaded one by one.

Although Sirin made very little noise, Oskuro outside heard it all clearly, especially his sense of danger. Sirin's gun was aimed at him, and Oskuro himself felt a strong sense of crisis. Therefore, he paid extra attention to Sirin's movements.

The moment those mutated giant lizards pounced on Oskuro, Xilin suddenly opened his eyes and fired a barrage of bullets from his gun.

The lizard cave wasn't a straight line; it had a slight curve. From Xilin's position, he couldn't see outside, but the bullets he fired followed a strange curve, shooting out of the cave and directly towards the defenses where Oskulo was located. Moreover, each bullet grazed the gaps between the giant lizards as it passed.

Oskuro brandished his longsword, deflecting all the bullets with a clang. Although he possessed a defensive energy shield, Oskuro didn't want to use it; he felt that using it would be a sign of weakness. Moreover, the energy shield would slow him down, and Oskuro trusted himself more than the shield.

For an ordinary person, even someone like Xilin, after blocking those bullets, there wouldn't be enough time to deal with the giant lizards that pounced on them; those lizards could crush a person with a single kick.

But Osculo can.

Almost simultaneously with blocking the bullets, a flash of light appeared, and the giant lizard at the forefront was cleaved in two before it could even crush the tiny creature in its eyes into a bloody pulp.

It wasn't the previous five-meter-long body, but a gigantic body now over a hundred meters long, which was actually cut in half by Oskuro with a single slash.

Don't underestimate this seemingly simple strike. It contains a multitude of elements: powerful mental concentration, a perfect fusion of intention and blade, and a skillful, precise, and decisive swordsmanship. Although only a third of the blade pierced through the blade during the slash, the resulting wound tore apart in the other direction, as if a powerful force was tearing this massive body apart.

The strike was so fast that the blade was invisible; all that could be seen was the giant lizard that had been cleaved in two.

This was just the beginning. Before the monitor lizards could even react, they were cleaved in two one by one. Even with their thickened, hardened skin, reinforced muscles and bones, they were nothing more than pitiful prey under Oskuro's blade.

The blood on the ground grew increasingly viscous, and its pungent, fishy stench spread outwards.

Oscuro, engrossed in the exhilarating sensation of the blade slicing through flesh, failed to notice the small grasses around him beginning to grow wildly, all pointing in his direction. Meanwhile, in the air, thin threads drifted by, each end adorned with a tiny, spider-like creature the size of half a sesame seed.

Some of these spider-like creatures drifted to the ground, while others landed on Oskuro. Those that landed on the ground crawled towards Oskuro.

It took less than a breath to chop down more than a dozen mutated giant lizards. The huge lizards on the ground were still twitching, and blood was flowing out continuously.

After chopping down the giant lizard, Oskuro was about to go find Sirin, but he suddenly stopped and looked around warily.

Whoosh whoosh!

Vines coiled in from all directions, as if they had spotted a delicious wild beast.

Osculo had seen many unusual plants, and he understood that plants were often more terrifying than animals, so he chopped them down one by one.

However, these plants are growing too fast; it seems that they will continue to grow as long as their roots are not pulled out.

As Oskulo slashed with his sword, the vines, along with the soil, were torn up. However, unlike the plants he had seen before, these vines did not die after being removed from the soil. Even when they were thrown into the air, they did not stop growing. After landing, their roots quickly regenerated, and the severed sections of vines split into several new plants after landing.

In particular, a vine that had fallen onto the monitor lizard, which was now practically in two, quickly took root on the lizard's corpse and grew wildly.

Oskuro swung his sword to cut down the vines that were attacking him, while looking for an opportunity to kill the kid hiding in the cave.

Just then, a sound came from inside the cave. Oskulo also sensed that Sirin was walking towards the cave entrance.

Hmph, is that kid planning a sneak attack?!

It wasn't that Oscuro looked down on Xilin; rather, Oscuro looked down on everyone except the Heavenly Decree Warriors. To him, this scheming brat was nothing more than a naive young man who hadn't seen much of the world or experienced much life and death.

Despite looking down on him, Oskulo still managed to cut down the wildly growing vines while keeping an eye on what was happening in Xilin's area.

The moment Xilin stepped out of the cave, Oskuro suddenly turned around and accelerated, slashing straight at Xilin with his sword. The speed was incredibly fast, but Xilin was prepared and activated the energy shield on his body.

However, the energy shield was broken almost as soon as it was raised.

The fact that the blade could break through the energy shield activated by the special energy block without being damaged shows just how high the quality of Oscuro's blade is.

Although the energy shield was broken, it slowed down Oscuro's movements somewhat, and Xilin took advantage of this time to launch another round of fiber needles. When Oscuro returned to block the fiber needles, Xilin slashed at him, but the slash did not hit Oscuro's vitals. Xilin could not find an opportunity to strike, so he had to settle for a less vital strike.

He slashed Oskuro's arm, but Shirin was also slashed in the waist by Oskuro, adding a new wound to his old one before the old one had healed.

The injury to his waist did not slow down Xilin's speed; Xilin quickly ran away from that place.

After blocking the fiber needles, Oscuro turned around and cut the pursuing vines. With a powerful stomp of his feet, he flashed after Sirin.

Just as Oscuro's knife was about to reach Sirin's back, Oscuro suddenly felt a sense of dizziness.

With his experience, Oskulo quickly noticed the abnormality in his body and the things that had entered his body.

I always thought those were just spiders in the jungle, but I never imagined they were parasites, and parasites that secrete toxic substances!

Oskuro stopped attacking Xilin. He knew all too well how powerful these little creatures were. He mobilized his muscles, and even his internal organs began to move.

The sudden contraction of the muscles clamped and killed the tiny parasites inside.

Xilin, who hadn't run far, was surprised to see this scene. So far, Xilin had only seen Oskuro with such ability. Others, let alone killing the parasites inside their bodies, couldn't even stop the parasites from moving.

However, you can crush parasites, but can you resist the toxic substances secreted by those parasites, Osculo?

These parasites aren't actually parasitic species; they prefer corpses. So once they've chosen a suitable host, they kill it and then absorb the substances needed for their growth at this stage from the dead host—substances that are only produced during the host's decomposition process.

There are some on monitor lizards as well, but monitor lizards have vines competing for nutrients, so in this area, the best and most attractive parasite is the Osculo.

Compared to viruses, parasites are more formidable because of their independent thought processes.

This type of parasite was one of the parasite samples that Bart gave to Celin, and Celin created them after making slight modifications to the parasite's genes.

The venom secreted by these parasites can rapidly lower the host's blood pressure and prevent the wound from clotting. Even some individuals with A-grade genes will lose consciousness before they can even struggle. Then, the host will bleed for hours until death. Ordinary wounds don't behave this way; they stop bleeding quickly.

Oskuro could clearly feel that his mental energy was not as concentrated as before, and the wound on his body that Xilin had scratched had not healed immediately and was still bleeding.

The vines from all around then rushed up again.

Xilin dared not run far away. Once he ran out of this area, he would have no support. Other areas did not have so many vines or such a good environment for vine growth.

Oscuro desperately wanted Shirin to leave now, so Shirin absolutely could not grant his wish.

Leaping among the vines, using the vines and the dead giant lizards as cover, it would shoot fiber needles at Oskuro whenever it found an opportunity, causing trouble for Oskuro.

Oscuro found it strange that the vines weren't chasing Xilin but were only targeting him. He absolutely refused to believe that this had nothing to do with Xilin.

Xilin also admired Oskulo's physique, which was able to withstand the parasite toxins to such an extent.

Oskuro blocked the fiber needles fired by Xilin, but with the toxin seeping in and more and more parasites floating by, Oskuro was under considerable pressure. However, Xilin was incredibly slippery; he nearly struck several times, but the kid still managed to slip past him.

As for why those vines kept chasing Oscuro, Oscuro himself would never have guessed the answer.

Those fiber needles weren't just highly corrosive as Oskuro had seen; they also contained a drug that excited both the vines and the parasites. Just like how the blood flowing from Udo had driven the vines mad, now these vines saw Oskuro as if he were blood, and even the blood flowing from a lizard hadn't excited them like this.

These drugs consumed a great deal of Xilin's energy, and he didn't know how many brain cells he had used up. Xilin had experimented with them before, and even with his own special constitution, it was difficult to block these toxins immediately. It would take time to eliminate these toxins, which was why he was confident in using this parasite to deal with Osculo.

With preparation comes confidence and opportunity.

Oskulo kept using the knife to block the fiber needles, and the scent naturally adhered to the knife, preventing the knife from corroding and the scent from dissipating.

Osculo disliked using guns because it was impossible to use the same bullet for every trophy. Osculo loved his knife, using it to harvest each trophy, letting the blood of each trophy flow across the blade, as if the trophy's life was flowing from the blade to the tip before falling.

Therefore, Oscuro would never easily put down his knife, nor would he wash it. He also never imagined that the vines and parasites would behave this way; the root of the problem lay with his knife.

He had to do three things at once: avoid getting entangled by vines, prevent parasites from entering his internal organs and brain, and also block the trouble caused by Xilin's jumping around!

Oscuro has never been one to shy away from things, so when he first encountered those vines, his first instinct was to chop them down. But now he's being forced to avoid them altogether.

Oscuro felt he hadn't been this angry in a long time. A strong aura of malevolence emanated from him; most people would have retreated long ago. However, two of the three creatures Oscuro was facing were not human! And the only human was an anomaly!

Xilin's current goal can be summed up in one word—delay!

Oskuro is too persistent when it comes to its prey, and right now Oskuro is furious, showing no sign of stopping until it kills Sirin.

I'm not afraid of your anger, I'm afraid of your lack of anger.

Anger can impair a person's analytical thinking.

However, it must be admitted that Oskuro's enraged state is indeed powerful. Such a large piece of giant lizard corpse was shattered in one move. Fortunately, Xilin dodged quickly, and it was also thanks to the others that Xilin was able to avoid being turned into mincemeat.

That's about enough.

While dodging, Xilin took out a gun from the scroll-patterned ring. It looked no different from the previous one, but the bullets inside were different.

Oskulo felt a pang of regret. When exactly did the parasite begin to enter his body?

Yes, that was when the kid was hiding in the lizard hole, fiddling with the bullets. He deliberately played the sound for him to hear, so that the kid would be alert and pay more attention to the bullets instead of the parasites that were drifting by!

The toxins secreted by those parasites were simply too potent; his constitution couldn't withstand them. The toxins were having a deeper and deeper effect on him, and if this continued, he would be dragged down to death. Unable to deal with the kid within two minutes, Osculo had no choice but to leave temporarily, expel the toxins, and then find Sirin. However, Osculo was unwilling to accept this. To be forced into this state by this unknown kid—if those guys in the military saw him like this, they would surely laugh!

Just as Oscuro was pondering this, Sirin, hiding among the vines, fired bullets at him again.

Eight bullets were fired at Osculo from eight directions, almost surrounding him.

Are you trying to force me to back down?

I refuse to back down!

It must be said that Osculow's obsession led him to take the most wrong step.

Previously, Xilin had never fired eight shots in quick succession, but Oskuro didn't think that much about it now, nor did he consider how these eight bullets were different from the previous ones. He simply swung his knife to block all eight bullets.

However, when the knife touched the bullets, the bullets exploded. Although the explosion was not large, only within five meters of Oskuro, the impact of the close-range blast wave from the eight bullets had a significant effect on Oskuro. His body was torn open by the explosion, and blood flowed from each wound. Due to the vasodilation and hemostatic inhibition of the parasite toxins, a lot of blood flowed out even though the wounds were not large.

Oskuro's blood stimulated the vines, causing them to swarm towards this side, their branches dancing.

Oscuro is human, not a steel beast. He knows his limits when his injuries are compounded. The new wounds have allowed the toxins to spread further. Oscuro needs time to recuperate and expel the toxins from his body. The blood loss has also caused localized oxygen deficiency, and his movements are now much slower than before.

With a single slash, Oskuro shattered the vines that lunged at him, then stood there watching Shilin leaping among the vines and the giant lizard's corpse. It was as if one were in an even colder, more extreme polar region.

Xilin saw the look in Oscuro's eyes and knew that Oscuro was going to leave temporarily. However, Xilin did not let his guard down and kept changing locations to give Oscuro no chance.

Details determine success or failure, and Xilin cannot be careless for a moment when dealing with someone like Oskulo.

Oskuro's aircraft flew over, and Oskuro turned and jumped.

Oscuro disliked backing down, so even as he left now, he simply turned around, leaping with his back to Sirin, unafraid of an attack from behind. It's hard to say whether Oscuro was overconfident or arrogant.

Regardless, Xilin did not attack him. Xilin's body was also nearing its limit. In order to maintain high speed and dodge Osculo's attacks, he injected himself with three doses of the stimulant developed by Likraber. Three doses were the theoretical limit that Likraber and Xilin had mentioned. For example, Kari and the others had reached their limit with just two doses. Any more would have the opposite effect and cause them to explode and die.

Osculo leaped up from the treetops and landed right inside the aircraft's newly opened hatch.

Given Oskuro's personality, he wouldn't use the weapon systems on the aircraft to deal with Sirin. The more he hated him, the more Oskuro wanted to kill him by hand.

As the aircraft soared into the sky, Xilin coughed up a mouthful of blood. The vines, however, showed no excitement at the sight of his blood. Xilin had been injected with immune-boosting agents, and his blood still contained traces of them. He had also been sprayed with medication, rendering the vines and parasites indifferent to him.

After Oscuro left, the vines and parasites turned their attention to the dead monitor lizard.

When Shirin was planning, she hadn't intended to kill Oskuro outright. After all, even though he was a stubborn, twisted, and headstrong individual, his strength was undeniable. This time, Shirin realized the gap between them.

Xilin sat down against the giant lizard's corpse, and after catching his breath, he suddenly looked up at the sky and couldn't help but smile.

Osculo, all I can say is that you're having the worst luck today!

After Osculo entered the aircraft, he set it to autopilot and began to recover on his own. He disliked relying on drugs; each time he withstood a drug or toxin, his body would spontaneously develop resistance, making his physique more robust, a feeling Osculo enjoyed.

Just as Oscuro calmed down and prepared to recover and eliminate the toxins, he suddenly opened his eyes, unleashing his telekinetic power to envelop the entire aircraft.

If it were a normal Oscuro, it would be absolutely foolproof, but Oscuro in its current state is still lacking. From small areas to large areas, from thrusters to control panels, the external intrusion program is quite powerful!

Oskuro stared intently in one direction, where a flying vehicle burst through the clouds and appeared—it was the same flying vehicle that Gray Cat and West Shadow had used.

Oskuro now has to withstand the attacks of two powerful invading forces, Gray Cat and West Shadow. Once Gray Cat and West Shadow join forces to break through the defenses, Oskuro's aircraft will lose control, or rather, control will change hands.

The green characters in Gray Cat's eyes flashed brightly, and west Ying wasn't idle either. Enveloped in Oscuro's psychic power, the magnetic field around the aircraft hindered Gray Cat and west Ying, making intrusion difficult.

On the ground, Xilin took out a handheld micro electromagnetic cannon. He had never thought of using this thing to deal with Oskuro, after all, this thing was too poor at locking onto people like Oskuro, but now the opportunity had come.

To avoid the electromagnetic cannon, Oskuro didn't have the extra energy to defend against Grey Cat and West Shadow. To defend against Grey Cat and West Shadow, he had to endure the cannon fire.

So, Osculo, which one would you choose? Given your current situation, you can only choose one!

A bright white beam of light struck Oskuro's aircraft, but Oskuro ultimately chose to dodge.

However, just as he dodged the shelling, before Oskulo could use his telekinesis to envelop the entire aircraft again, Gray Cat had already destroyed the aircraft's energy system.

boom--

The explosion sent sparks flying, even obscuring the natural light and startling the animals on the ground, causing them to scatter in all directions.

It has to be said that the timing of the arrival of the gray cats was perfect, giving Oskuro no time to recover. If Oskuro had recovered even a little, he would have had a chance to break through. However, it is clear that this time, the goddess of fortune did not favor him.

Xilin thought of Gada, that person, did he foresee this outcome, which is why he said those things back then?

As the debris from the explosion fell from the sky, Xilin sped off in that direction. He wouldn't feel at ease until he was certain that Oskuro was truly dead.

The wreckage of the aircraft, still ablaze, landed in the forest, which was ablaze with flames. The brief downpour that had preceded it hadn't made much difference; the trees that could still burn were still ablaze, and the moisture was quickly evaporated.

Amidst the flames, a figure staggered out, pushing aside the uneven steel plate blocking the way. His clothes were charred and his skin was blackened, but blood continued to gush out. The incident had caused the toxins to seep deeper, and the blood vessels had dilated to an extremely life-threatening degree. The wounds had not yet clotted.

The current state of Osculo is beyond description; no one would believe that this is the same Osculo who struck fear into the hearts of all.

Although not a single part of his body was intact, Oskulo still held the knife in his hand, the blade still gleaming coldly, unchanged by the commotion.

Osculo stiffly turned his head to look in one direction, then walked towards it, quickening his pace until he started running. Each step only made his wound worse. Logically, what he needed most right now was to find a quiet place to heal, not to engage in such strenuous exercise.

However, life and death were no longer matters for Osculo. As he sensed the cunning prey getting closer and closer, only one thing remained in his mind: to kill it!

Noticing Oscuro's movement, Sirin turned and ran. He couldn't believe that Oscuro could still run so fast in his current state!

The distance between the two was getting closer and closer. Xilin had tried to squeeze through the dense trees, hoping to use the cover of these big trees to block Oskuro, but he could not have imagined that Oskuro would be so agile.

It was like the shadow of a black ghost, with only the bloodstains on the ground indicating that someone had passed by.

Oscuro now resembles a soul-reaper emerging from hell, his aura terrifying beyond measure.

As Oskuro drew closer, Xilin could feel the hairs on his body trembling with fear at his approach.

Can't escape.

Since there's no escaping it, then...

As Oscuro's knife came slashing down, Xilin suddenly turned around, accelerated in the opposite direction, and crashed directly into it, swinging his wrist blade at an accelerated speed.

The sounds all overlapped, making it impossible to distinguish whose flesh and blood were making them.

On Xilin's shoulder, there was a wound about ten centimeters long that extended from his left shoulder to his chest.

Meanwhile, Oskulo had Sirin's wrist blade stuck in his neck.

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

Large drops of blood fell, some from Xilin, some from Osculo.

Xilin originally intended to cut off his entire head, but unexpectedly, he couldn't cut it off. He only managed to make a wound, and the knife was even stuck there. Fortunately, the artery in his neck had been severed.

The blood spurting from the arteries was no longer as intense as in a normal person. Despite severe ischemia and blood pressure so low that he was nearing death, Oskuro still had the ability to catch up and slash Sirin!

On Oskuro's chest, a large claw pierced through his heart, and on Oskuro's knife were two hands, one belonging to Xilin and the other to Xiying.

Without Xiying's hand, the knife would have already cleaved Xilin in two. And without Gray Cat's claw piercing his heart, Oskuro could have delivered the final blow.

It was a close call, and every factor was indispensable.

The gray cat smashed Oscuro's head with a single claw.

Despite having his heart pierced and his head gone, Oskuro stood upright, the knife in his hand trembling slightly but not loosening, still gripping it firmly, as if he were about to deliver another blow to Shirin.

Oscuro is a legendary figure who does not rely on any power or group. He rose to prominence on his own. More than half of the leaders of violent groups or underground organizations in the Covenant today have Oscuro's shadow behind them. In other words, Oscuro created them, allowing them to seize power from the older generation of leaders and become a unique underground force in the Covenant.

However, Osculo never stopped for anyone, remaining a solitary traveler, bringing bloodshed and taking it away with him.

Such a life, existing in such an era, was destined for tragedy. Even if he didn't fall into Xilin's hands today, he would fall into the hands of the military or those cunning politicians someday in the future.

Oscuro's existence is to appease the leaders of those underground forces. They aren't afraid of the military, nor the four major hunter groups; they only fear one person: Oscuro. Once Oscuro is gone, the entire underground criminal underworld will descend into chaos. What will happen to the Star Alliance then?

Sirin collapsed to the ground. Oskuro's final strike, though incomplete, had severely wounded Sirin. Anyone else who had suffered such a wound would likely have died.

The gray cat kicked away the headless Oscuro, transformed from its metallic state, and ran to Shilin, circling around him.

"Xilin, how are you? Are you going to die? Do you need to replenish your blood? Do you need to...?"

west Ying sprayed medicine on Xi Lin's wound to stop the bleeding.

"Alright, don't touch me yet, I'll recover on my own."

After saying that, Xilin closed his eyes, as if he had fallen asleep.

The gray cat crouched down beside Xilin, looked at him, and then carefully moved closer to listen to Xilin's heartbeat, pulse, and breathing. Then its ears drooped: It seems the situation is not good.

With its tail drooping in frustration, the gray cat suddenly remembered something, turned around, and ran to Oscuro, who had been kicked away.

Osculo maintained the same posture, his hand gripping the knife tightly.

After a sound of flesh being torn apart, there was another surge of energy. Then, with a "bang," came the angry sound of the gray cat.

"What the hell is this knife?!"