The figure hiding in the darkness still hadn’t shown himself, occasionally firing a cold arrow.
As if a sneak attack wasn’t enough—the arrow exploded.
Who the hell could take that?
And then there was that damn fox grinning from the rooftop.
That sly smile was straight-up the face of a scheming bastard.
Faced with such a twisted and eerie scene, Wang Qian felt fear for the first time.
He had no idea who had set their sights on him.
Right now, he was completely at the mercy of others—his position was far too passive.
If this kept up, he might really die here.
That thought made him turn and bolt from the courtyard.
At the same time, a voice echoed from the darkness—
“Pursue!”
“Screech.”
The Dark-Tailed Three-Tailed Fox leapt nimbly onto the rooftop and disappeared into the night with a few swift bounds.
Meanwhile, a shadowy silhouette in the corner melted directly into the ground, moving unrestrained through the world of darkness.
From within that shadow realm, Li Ran looked up and could clearly see Wang Qian running on the surface above.
With the passive skill [Lookout], his field of vision was broad and far-reaching. In the shadow world, the buildings above resembled 3D game models—he could peer up at the ground above like clipping through game terrain, giving him full oversight of the entire area.
If he sank deeper into the shadow world, the entire area would look like a miniature map tile.
Right now, Wang Qian was fleeing in a panic, as if he’d seen a ghost.
“So this is what the world looks like in the eyes of a god, huh.”
“Shame I can’t attack directly from the shadowstep, otherwise, I’ve got ten thousand ways to make him suffer.”
A-class. A monster with 500 points of eerie power—and yet this was the state he’d been reduced to!
Li Ran remembered clearly: just a few days ago, he had been the one running away.
In the eerie world, without power, all you can do is take a beating.
“You again, damn fox!”
Wang Qian cursed furiously. On the rooftop ahead, Chitong stood there, watching him flee with a mocking fox grin.
This time, Wang Qian didn’t charge recklessly. Instead, he veered into a different alley.
“Whoosh—”
But after just a few steps, a blazing arrow shot toward him.
BOOM!
Another burst of flame exploded. Wang Qian was blown off his feet.
When he got up again, his body was ravaged and scorched, covered in ash—utterly miserable.
“Argh! Get out here! If you’ve got guts, come face me!”
Dealing with one fox was already messing with his head. On top of that, someone in the shadows kept launching sneak attacks.
They were seriously trying to drive him insane.
Just then, a translucent silhouette slowly emerged behind Wang Qian. That shape blended perfectly with the darkness—without focused attention, it was impossible to notice it.
“Shadow Ambush.”
A cold flash—like a shooting star in the night—appeared and vanished in an instant.
A split second later, that cold gleam appeared at Wang Qian’s back and, with lightning speed, stabbed into his spine. Immediately after, a surge of electric arcs spread across his body.
“ARGHH!!”
Wang Qian screamed to the sky, his entire body convulsing violently.
“Backstab with Thunder Mark—paralyze the target, spin, slit the throat—one strike kill!”
A backstab’s critical damage could at most severely wound an A-class mental infection creature—it wasn’t enough to kill outright. Li Ran had already pieced together a full assassination combo in his mind. So far, it had worked every time.
This time was no exception.
Li Ran spun around at blinding speed, appearing in front of Wang Qian. The thunder dagger flashed like lightning as it slashed across Wang Qian’s neck.
CLANG!
Instead of slicing cleanly through, the blade met something hard as iron—sparks flying from the impact.
Li Ran focused his eyes—beneath the torn skin of Wang Qian’s neck was a glint of cold steel.
“Damn it—throat slit failed, invisibility canceled!”
Li Ran cursed under his breath. Since the throat-slitting had failed, the passive invisibility extension from Shadow Assault was immediately nullified. Thunder Mark's paralysis effect lasted only 0.5 seconds.
In such a short span, Wang Qian quickly shook off the paralysis, glaring furiously at the now-exposed Li Ran.
“It’s you!”
He recognized the attacker instantly.
The same guy who ruined his mood that morning.
That punk had pretended to be a neighbor downstairs and messed up his good time. Now he even dared show himself again?
He had even waited in the elevator lobby several times trying to catch this little bastard, but always came up empty.
So it was stealth skills that let him escape every time?
And now he dared to attack him?
This was a rabbit walking into the tiger’s den—bringing himself right to the slaughter!
“You little bastard—I’ve finally got you!”
Wang Qian grinned viciously, raising his massive arm blades and sweeping them toward Li Ran. The terrifying curved blades tore through the air like a devil’s fangs, roaring with a storm of force.
Li Ran dodged quickly, retreating a safe distance.
“Blood Scythe Blade!”
Li Ran retaliated instantly, giving Wang Qian no chance to close the gap.
A blood-red crescent shot forth. Wang Qian had no choice but to block, crossing his massive blades in front of him.
The moment it struck, a massive force knocked him back.
Blood Scythe Blade triggered its knockback effect!
“What the hell? This guy made of steel? That blade can slice through walls but can’t break his defense?”
Li Ran launched a third Blood Scythe Blade.
Wang Qian swung his arm blades, deflecting the attack once again.
Just as he’d suspected—beneath Wang Qian’s skin was some sort of steel-like material, giving him a body as tough as metal. The Blood Scythe Blade couldn’t deal fatal damage.
But on the other side, Wang Qian was shocked. The force behind that strike had numbed his arms.
“When the hell did this brat get so strong?”
Just days ago, the kid looked at him like a terrified rabbit staring down a tiger.
Now he was out here ambushing and assassinating like some kind of assassin—bringing out all sorts of weird tricks.
And he’d even tamed that damn fox!
As Wang Qian studied Li Ran, Li Ran was also sizing him up.
He stood calmly in place, his gaze surprised as it landed on Wang Qian’s neck.
Twin arm blades. A massive broadsword sprouting from the top of his skull. From afar, it looked like someone had cleaved his head in half, but it was actually a blade growing from his skull. And yet his facial features remained completely unaffected. The bizarre sight made Li Ran think of something out of Chainsaw Man.
“No wonder he survived three explosive arrows, three Blood Scythe strikes, plus my backstab and throat slash.”
It was surprising, sure—Li Ran’s current power could easily insta-kill any B-class creature with the same eerie force level.
“So this is what makes A-class infection beasts so terrifying…”
Li Ran had a newfound understanding of A-class monsters.
Even though his eerie power stat exceeded Wang Qian’s by almost 300, and his other attributes completely crushed him—
He still couldn’t deliver an instant kill.
Li Ran was grateful he came to deal with Wang Qian now—if he’d come when his eerie power was still at 500, it might’ve been the end of him.
So what if the guy was all blades and metal?
He now had enough power to end this!
“Bite of the Shadowfang!”
Li Ran growled low, and a surge of black shadow energy erupted from his arms. As the magic shadow spread, his arms transformed—into twin wolves made of shadow flame.
Suddenly, Li Ran exploded with speed and charged straight toward Wang Qian.
Wang Qian’s pupils shrank. Reflected in his eyes were two wolf-shaped shadow spirits lunging straight at him!
(End of Chapter)