Chapter 348: Chapter 193: Skin Stripping and Shapeshifting: The God’s Gambit
So many people had shown up, all of a sudden, right after the Teleportation Channel closed.
Such high efficiency, such rapid coordination.
’It seems... this really has been planned for a long time.’
Lu Cang asked himself.
’If it were me, and I knew someone was coming to hunt me down, what would I do?’
’The answer... seemed to be becoming clear.’
’If I had the strength to kill them in return, I would probably use their pursuit as an opportunity to do just that.’
’If I didn’t have that strength.’
’I would do everything in my power to escape with my life.’
’I was arrogant.’
’Arrogant enough to think that with Chi Cheng, Kumironi, and even myself...’
’...the three of us together were practically invincible on this continent.’
’That nothing could possibly go wrong.’
’And that any enemy facing us... would have no choice but to flee for their lives in a panic.’
’The final result could only be a triumphant victory for us, returning laden with spoils.’
’I never even considered the possibility of them turning the tables on us.’
’Careless.’
’Truly, far too careless.’
BOOM!
Lu Cang shot up into the sky!
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—
But, almost at the same instant.
The sky above Sel City was filled in every direction with densely packed figures.
Lu Cang’s gaze swept over them.
As far as he could see, there were thousands of them.
However, it didn’t seem like all of the thousands were above Level 5; most of them were Level 4.
But even so, on the Ruelun Continent, this number was terrifying.
Level 4 was already a major threshold, and Level 5 was one in a hundred million on the Ruelun Continent.
Out of a population of tens of billions, there were only about two hundred publicly known Level 5s.
He didn’t know the total number of the army surrounding Sel City at that moment.
But he figured...
’There’s no way it’s a small number.’
The clothes these people wore were distinctive.
’Clothes from Tengge, Xiangya, and Tarabella.’
’And many outfits I don’t recognize.’
’It seems these people are not from the Ruelun Continent.’
’Of course...’
’If that guy who summoned Demons to attack Ruijia could escape to Tarabella, why couldn’t people from other continents come here?’
’I’ve always thought all these battles were Ruelun Continent’s own internal affairs, completely ignoring the existence of the other continents.’
’Just because I’ve never left the Ruelun Continent, I shouldn’t have assumed I would only ever encounter enemies from the Ruelun Continent.’
Lu Cang’s eyes turned a little colder.
’I have only myself to blame for my shortsightedness.’
The Void Spirit Star Ring Battle Spear materialized in Lu Cang’s right hand. He stood his ground, not making the first move.
The people surrounding Lu Cang were a clamorous mix of intentions.
"That person!"
"It’s the one called Lu Cang!"
"Why is he outside?"
"Heh, who cares why he’s outside? Right now, he’s the only one out here!"
"Lorren’s Chief Mage! The strongest magical genius, second only to Iz!"
"If we can just get his skin!"
CRACK—
But suddenly, an impossibly fast flash of movement exploded before his eyes!
The distant youth was now right in front of him, one hand clamped on his head.
"Is that so."
Name: Nikodi. From Tarabella.
A Level 4 Skin Taker. His parents, also from Tarabella, were killed by his own hand... This was the initiation test for the Skin Takers there.
’What a...’
’...Church devoid of all humanity.’
SPLAT!
With a squeeze of his hand, Lu Cang caused the man’s head to explode.
Lu Cang looked out at the rest of them.
’Their Dates of Death are all quite short. Less than thirty minutes left.’
The Date of Death timer assumes a world where Lu Cang does not exist.
Without Lu Cang, they would have lived that long.
But it seemed that even if he didn’t kill them, they wouldn’t live much longer anyway.
"Kill him!"
WHOOSH!
Dozens of different kinds of Magic formed in the sky above Sel City!
RUMBLE—
In an instant, lightning flashed and thunder roared!
Dozens of extremely violent Wind Howl Cannons blasted toward Lu Cang!
This was a Tier Four Wind Element Skill, considered the most versatile and useful Tier Four Wind Magic.
POP—
Lu Cang’s figure vanished in an instant.
’To think I’m being looked down on like this.’
’Attacked by such inferior Magic, of all things.’
He spun his War Spear casually!
BOOM!
「Source·Wind Heaven-Shaking Roar (Tier Four) (Level 301)」
Wind Stream Explosion!
In an instant, it covered more than half the sky!
Countless figures in the sky all plummeted toward the earth in unison.
Their souls had already scattered, and Lu Cang gathered them into his hand. He watched the countdown timers above their heads hit zero.
’It seems that when the other party’s death is directly related to me, this Date of Death countdown is pretty accurate.’
With just a single strike.
The powerful experts who had been about to charge Lu Cang were stopped dead in their tracks.
They began to weigh the risks...
If they were the first to rush in now, would they be anything more than fodder for the man before them?
In this brief lull.
Lu Cang’s gaze fell upon a man who was supposed to live for two hours.
’Two hours?’
’Everyone else only has thirty minutes. What makes you special enough to live so long?’
Lu Cang stared at him intently.
「Date of Death: 2 hours >> 0」
"Ah! Aaaaaaah!"
Suddenly, he clutched his neck in agony as the skin all over his body began to dissolve!
"No!"
"Wh... Why!"
His struggle lasted only a brief moment.
His skin melted away.
The flesh underneath gradually turned black, completely devoid of life, and plummeted to the earth.
"Melt... Melting Skin?"
"Why? Why would the Elder’s skin suddenly melt like that?"
"The great Elder loved skin as if it were his own life! Why would his skin turn against him!"
"Without the Level 6 great Elder, how are we supposed to fight this monster in front of us!"
Lu Cang’s Perception turned downwards.
’Are all you Churches playing dead?’
’And Ruijia, where are your guards?’
WHOOSH!
Suddenly—a fierce wind erupted!
In the four cardinal directions—east, west, north, and south—a blood-red creature appeared in each.
These creatures resembled bipedal flowers.
But they were blood-red all over, with the texture of muscle.
"Lu Cang? You’re that Chief Mage from Lorren?"
"Today’s matter has nothing to do with you!"
"Since you’ve already escaped, we advise you not to seek your own death."
"Do you really think by standing in our way, you can save those people who are trapped?"
"If you slip away quietly right now, we can turn a blind eye."
"Otherwise, even if Izparut himself came, we would kill him too!"
Lu Cang’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Lu Cang saw through its mental fluctuations; it had no confidence in its own words.
’Such big talk.’
’Daring to claim they could even kill Izparut.’
’Still, I have to be careful...’
’I’ve already paid the price for underestimating my enemy once. I can’t make the same mistake again.’
Lu Cang had no desire to face Reincarnation just yet.
A hundred-layered Shield was already raised around Lu Cang.
These four bipedal, flesh-and-blood Flower Demon-like creatures.
Their Dates of Death were also two hours away.
Lu Cang fell silent for a brief moment.
Then he replied, "Oh... in that case, I’m leaving."
Lu Cang vanished in an instant!
Everyone present completely forgot who they had just been speaking to.
They only had a vague feeling that someone had been standing in their way a moment ago.
The next moment, Lu Cang reappeared silently beside one of the Flower Demons!
「Extreme Battle Intent—Fourth Layer!」
In that instant, all four layers of Extreme Battle Intent activated at once!
Beside the creature, Lu Cang’s movements were gentle and ethereal, as if he were sleepwalking.
「Azure Sky Stream—Third Form: Illusion Strike」
Combat Skill and Magic erupted in an instant!
Ten thousand strikes in a flash!
BANG!
The Flower Demon before him was instantly pulverized into a bloody pulp in mid-air!
Lu Cang raised his hand and extracted something.
He pulled out its soul.
"You—!"
Lu Cang placed one hand on its body while simultaneously taking its Storage Flower Leaf.
Countless pieces of information also flooded into Lu Cang’s mind.
"Die!"
RUMBLE—
Lu Cang looked down at the earth as the ground trembled!
Countless flowering vines shot up from the ground!
The Blood-eating Flowers.
This race specialized in devouring the flesh of intelligent creatures.
Especially the fresh flesh of living beings.
But before the countless vines below could reach the sky and entangle Lu Cang’s body...
...a stream of light flashed across the sky!
BANG—
A hole was instantly punched through the bodies of the three remaining Flower Demons.
Lu Cang stood high in the sky, allowing their corpses to fall to the earth.
In the instant he killed them, Lu Cang had also touched them.
From them, he uncovered even more of the conspiracy.
WHOOSH—
A blood-colored leaf flashed briefly in Lu Cang’s hand, and then his fingers closed around a secret order that felt like it was made of bloody skin.
「Creator: God of Skinning and Transformation—Aertemi」
’A backwater god I’ve never heard of. I never saw any record of it in the White Tower.’
Lu Cang used his Perception, instantly scanning the entire secret order.
The order contained Restrictions and a secret code.
However, the moment he got his hands on it, Lu Cang deciphered everything.
"Capture Kumironi alive and bring her to the Place of Blood and Succession."
This was the only content in the entire secret order.
But the order was genuine.
An order issued by a being known as a god.
Moreover, from the Flower Demons, he had also obtained a piece of information.
The Rose of Shedding Skin was not just a force on Ruelun.
They had taken root in every corner of the world.
In some places, they were even considered an Orthodoxy.
The scope of their influence far exceeded the Secret Sea, even covering the Muddy Sea, the Moon Sea, and even Boundaryless Mountain.
Above their Sect, there was also a Divine Spirit.
’And a rather active Divine Spirit at that?’
For the past two years, in order to capture Kumironi, a steady stream of elites had been arriving on the Ruelun continent.
At the same time, Lu Cang also saw more of the truth about Ruijia...
"In other words."
Lu Cang suddenly sidestepped.
SWISH!
A cold Dagger grazed past his side.
Lu Cang’s eyes were like ice.
He stared at the Assassin who had appeared without a sound.
BOOM!
Lu Cang brought a single leg down in a crushing axe kick!
The blow smashed the Assassin before him, driving him deep into the earth.
He raised his hand and pulled.
Another wisp of a soul flew out.
It landed in Lu Cang’s hand.
"So this is the so-called... grand design of a god?"
’The grand design of a god. It always sounded so distant.’
’Like it had nothing to do with me.’
’At most, I’d hear it from Kumironi’s mouth when she told Chum, "This is all Lady Sophia’s grand design."’
’But it never felt real.’
’But after killing these five...’
’No, including the one I stared to death, that person should have also been Level 6.’
’So that makes six of them.’
’After killing six Level 6 Reincarnators, a sense of crisis began to rise in his heart.’
’This feeling of danger, far from diminishing as he killed his enemies, was actually growing stronger.’
Looking around again, he saw more and more people rising into the air from the distant mountain forests beyond Sel City.
More people.
’What just happened was merely a probe. There are still more eyes watching me.’
’Waiting for an opportunity to strike.’
His Perception Range was only two hundred kilometers.
Located in the center of Sel City, his Perception couldn’t reach beyond the city walls. He could only see with his naked eye the vast mountain forests, from which flesh-colored figures were rising one after another.
And among them, many things that didn’t look human at all.
His Perception swept down into the city below.
In one Church after another, numerous Divine Officers were taking off their holy vestments, and some were even shedding their own skin on the spot.
One after another, the city patrol guards put their hands to their cheeks and ripped their own faces off.
In one patrol squad, only one soldier hadn’t torn off his face. He stared in terror at his teammates.
His brothers-in-arms, whom he saw day in and day out, had suddenly gone slack-jawed and expressionless, tearing off their faces in unison.
The shock sent him stumbling to the ground, landing hard on his backside!
The Blacksmith in the city, the receptionist at the War God Arena, a teacher at the Warrior Academy...
One after another, they shed their skin.
As Lu Cang’s Perception swept across them, the scene of the entire city’s population shedding their skin flooded his mind.
It was as if the entire city had been flayed, a layer of bloody outer skin peeled away.
Unconsciously, the mist of the Forgotten Moon had also changed from a faint pink to a crimson that smelled faintly of rust.
The bright sun in the sky was also gradually setting, as if it too had been stripped of its outer layer.
Revealing a ball of flesh.
Sel City.
It wasn’t just some government officials or the core of power that had been replaced by Skin Takers.
It was the entire city, the entire Capital.
All of it had already been replaced by the Skin Takers.
Comments