I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

At that moment, gray and white text jumped out.

[Detection Target: Gray Pact Member '9' (Alienated Extraordinary) (Out of Control)]

Will humanity that relies on His power have a good ending? ...The extraordinary path has been severely skewed...The target body is being rewritten by external forces...

[Environmental Sensing: ■■■ pollution source detected... Extremely dangerous... Please move away immediately!]

Lu Yuan's pupils suddenly contracted upon seeing this scene.

"Watch out, Rick."

Lu Yuan shouted a warning as much as he could, but there was no need for Lu Yuan to remind him now, because Lei Ke could clearly sense the change in the man in front of him, and an extremely dangerous aura was awakening on him.

『9』 It managed to stand up from the swarm of insects.

In his blurred vision, Lu Yuan saw a black and yellow patch slowly rise from the gray sea of ​​insects, transforming back into a human-shaped outline.

The surface of that outline was riddled with holes.

'9's body was covered with tiny holes gnawed out by the swarming insects, like a piece of rotten wood riddled with worms. Blackish-yellow fluid seeped out from each hole, mixing with the black power surging in from the ground's veins.

A constantly flowing black film formed on his body surface.

His body began to contort, his bones dislocated under his skin, his joints bent at angles they shouldn't have, and his muscles contracted where they shouldn't have.

Its entire body alternated between two forms, flashing at an increasingly faster frequency.

Two forces were vying for control within him.

A dark aura surged from his entire body, emanating black mist from every wormhole, so dense that it almost solidified in the dim light of the hall.

The flesh on the bodies, riddled with tiny holes, continued to bulge, clearly indicating that the swarming insects controlled by Rex were not yet completely dead.

But the dark power is crushing all foreign things from within.

After going berserk, '9's aura was more than one level stronger than before, but Rex also saw a key point.

The state of '9' is extremely unstable.

His body twisted and flickered, and his power bursts came and went. For a few seconds, the deadly aura around him was so strong that any insect that got close would die, and for a few seconds it suddenly dropped back to the previous level.

The wounds inflicted by the swarming insects did not heal; the black power kept him alive, but did not repair them.

He is burning.

He was using his own body as fuel.

Rick made his judgment.

The insect swarm's actions changed in an instant. Instead of trying to surround and devour, it retreated as a whole, maintaining a flexible encirclement around '9'.

'9' burst out.

The distorted form, accompanied by surging black mist, lunged at the right flank of the insect swarm, its speed so fast in those few seconds that it was just a blurry afterimage.

The insect wall took a step back.

The entire wall of insects seemed to have been stripped of a layer, steadily making room for '9' to sprint forward and avoiding the core area of ​​that deadly aura.

Then, during the brief moment when the aura of '9' subsided, the insect wall closed up again.

A war of attrition.

Rick planned to wear him down.

'9's berserk state cannot last long. The intermittent power indicates that his body cannot hold on for long. As long as we hold him back, he will burn himself out.

The swarm of insects steadily maintained its elastic encirclement, advancing and retreating with a cold composure.

Just as the swarm of insects and the rampaging '9' were locked in a tug-of-war deep within the hall.

[Environmental Sensing: High-risk pollution sources detected...]

The moment the gray and white text danced.

The black liquid had soaked into the stone slab.

The moment Lu Yuan lowered his head, the black liquid had already spread in all directions from the soles of his shoes.

When the liquid came into contact with the insects at the edge of the swarm, the insects immediately began to dissolve. The gray, fleshy worms emitted grayish-white smoke where they touched the liquid, and their bodies melted at a visible speed, turning into a gray residue in the liquid.

Lu Yuan's heart sank; it was the other members of the Gray Pact Society.

But before Lu Yuan could speak, a ball of black liquid condensed into a human shape three meters behind him.

The speed was extremely fast; the process of transforming from liquid to human form took less than half a second. The body, not yet fully solidified, had already moved; a hand enveloped in black liquid struck out the instant it solidified.

The hand pointed precisely at Buren.

It points to the person who just unleashed the power of the Bronze City.

Beren was at the edge of the insect swarm, his face as white as a dead man, and he didn't even have the strength to raise his hand. If that hand were to strike, the old man would die on the spot.

Fortunately, Rake's reaction saved Buren's life.

Although his eyes were fixed on the rampaging '9' at the top of the insect swarm, Rick knew something was coming the moment his insects came into contact with the liquid and died en masse.

His dark red eyes suddenly turned behind him.

In an instant, half of the giant insect's tentacles were pulled out from the direction of the confrontation with '9' and flung behind it with maximum force.

The tentacle swept across just before the figure's palm reached Beren, slamming into the side of the humanoid figure formed from black liquid.

boom.

The humanoid figure was smashed apart by the tentacles.

Black liquid splattered everywhere, emitting corrosive white smoke when it landed on the stone slab, and instantly dissolved the insects when it landed on them.

But at the same moment, the figure's hand had already crossed a certain distance.

A dozen drops of black liquid splattered from his palm, landing on the insects near Beren, instantly turning them to ash. Two drops splashed onto Beren's cane, causing white smoke to rise from the bronze surface and leaving two fingernail-sized corrosion pits.

Buren was not hit directly.

It was less than half a meter off.

The scattered black liquid re-aggregated on the ground and quickly reformed into a human shape.

This time, the condensation was even more complete, with black liquid constantly seeping out and being absorbed from the skin's surface, as if it were wrapped in a living armor.

He looked at Rick.

He didn't speak.

It was obvious who the visitor was.

It's 'Q' from the Grey Contract Society, who escaped from Klaus's clutches.

The position of 'Q' is precisely between Lu Yuan, Bo Lun, and the stone steps they came from.

He sealed off the only entrance and escape route.

Two fourth-order digits are present at the same time.

Although one of them is in a berserk state, 'Q', who has been hiding for some time, may have recovered.

Just now, in order to save Beren, Reck diverted half of the insect swarm from the direction of '9'.

The pressure from '9' suddenly dropped, and the berserk '9' took advantage of this opening to regain its footing. Black energy surged around it, and its deformed limbs swayed in the air. Its face, which was half human and half vertical pupils, carried something that had transcended the realm of expression.

Q was behind him, and a gray-white figure stood in the direction of the entrance. Black liquid kept seeping out and receding from his skin. He was as quiet as a statue, and he didn't seem to have any intention of making a move immediately.

The swarm has consumed a large number of insects during the continuous battle, and the total number of insects has decreased by at least 30% compared to when they entered the underground.

The most crucial communication crystal is gray.

When Rick inspected the insect swarm, he discovered that the communication crystal embedded in the tentacles was covered with an extremely thin, almost invisible black film that completely blocked the signal.

His signal may have been cut off the moment he stepped into the underground hall.

No wonder Klaus, whom I've been calling for so long, hasn't arrived yet.

As Rex thought about this, his heart sank.

Moreover, judging from this arrangement, it's clear that Q has always been here.

He sealed off the communication crystal, waiting for '9' and Rex to be weakened before making his move. Then he appeared from the entrance, blocking their escape route.

This is a trap. No, if it were a trap, the first target wouldn't be Buren, but himself.

However, the stone steps leading down to us have been blocked by Q.

But there was another passage deep inside the hall, and during the battle, Rex sensed an airflow leading to the ground in that direction.

After the altar's power supply was destroyed, the vines throughout the nest began to decline, and the remaining branches deep within the passageway had stopped growing and no longer posed an obstacle.

Rick made his judgment.

I am no match for them.

Even if '9' can't maintain his rampage for long, and even if Q is still testing the waters, with two Tier 4s present at the same time, and him carrying two people who need protection, continuing to fight will only lead to one outcome.

That would mean dying here with Lu Yuan, Bo Lun, and the members of the Gray Pact Society.

Rick had already made his judgment.

With one last look at the rampaging '9', his dark red eyes told Rick that he couldn't kill him.

It's just a pity that my strength isn't as great as Klaus's.

Rex no longer hesitated.

The actions of the swarming insects changed in an instant.

The insect swarm ceased its attack and suppression; all the insects began to converge inwards, like a giant net tightening.

Rex's insect body completely enveloped Lu Yuan and Boren inside.

The moment Lu Yuan was enveloped by the insect bodies, a heavy sense of oppression enveloped him. Tens of thousands of insect bodies tightly adhered to his body, layer upon layer forming a living armor half a meter thick.

The insect's body temperature is slightly higher than that of humans, so it feels warm when it touches the skin.

The sounds from the outside world were cut off; the screech of '9' and the deafening roar of the swarming insects collided all became extremely distant, like muffled sounds coming from behind a thick wall.

The air had changed too; the insect's layers of wrapping isolated the spores from the outside, and Lu Yuan's breath no longer carried that sweet, fishy smell.

The insect is moving.

Carrying the two people, Rick retreated at top speed towards the passageway deep inside the hall.

In the darkness inside the insect's body, Lu Yuan sensed one last detail.

A faint tremor came from the symbiotic connection.

The worm of knowledge shrank into a ball deep within its left eye.

Lu Yuan could sense that it was bristling, as if it had encountered some kind of natural enemy.

He was afraid of Q.

Or rather, it was out of fear of some kind of aura carried by Q.

Lu Yuan memorized this information, then his consciousness began to wander; his rationality was too low.

The heat and pressure from the insect's body urging him to close his eyes, and fatigue surged up from his limbs like a tide.