With the appearance of Bologue and Aimou, the Wolf Spider seemed attracted to a more valuable target, thus changing its course.
This made Lebius breathe a sigh of relief; the situation didn’t seem so bad after all, but Bologue and his group didn’t think so at all.
"What the hell is that?! Why is it coming this way?!"
Palmer kept screaming. In theory, he had just woken up, and facing such a complex situation right after waking was a harsh penalty for someone with such little brain power.
Bologue was also stunned for a few seconds, but when he saw clearly the tattered mask, and the mad eyes beneath it, a vague sadness rose in Bologue’s heart.
Perhaps it was Bologue who was sad, or maybe it was Aimou, but the two emotions mixed together, making it hard even for Bologue to tell them apart.
"Has it really come to this?"
Bologue muttered, shaking his head, his gaze slightly dim.
The target of the Delusional was himself, the Aimou hidden beneath him, and that extremely precious Philosopher’s Stone in the Constant Motion Core, wrapped in layers.
Roaring explosions continued, as spilled blood scattered into a scarlet mist, swallowing the sky and the earth.
"Keep moving, lead it to the uninhabited area!"
Lebi’s voice echoed in his mind, instructing Bologue, "We need to keep the battlefield under control and in a safe zone."
Bologue understood what Lebius meant, tensing his nerves, and cautiously keeping a safe distance from the Wolf Spider, neither too close nor too far. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveI-Fire.ɴet
"Has Teda gone completely insane?" Palmer cursed.
"What do you think?" Bologue said, "The facts are right before your eyes, aren’t they?"
Throwing out a grappling hook, Bologue moved with the agility of a flying swallow avoiding rain. From the moment he faced the Delusional, Aimou had remained silent and speechless.
Aimou said nothing, but Bologue could feel the emotions growing from his heart, like wild weeds, impossible to completely suppress.
They filled the heart, stretching out the skin, growing out of the mouth and nose, with sticky, fresh blood.
"Want to say something? Don’t suppress yourself," Bologue said softly.
"I... I’m just a bit sad."
After a while, Aimou’s voice finally came through.
"It’s not your fault."
Bologue wanted to say something comforting, but when the words left his mouth, they seemed extremely powerless. Bologue was never someone skilled at comforting others.
Everyone has their own reasons, nobody is wrong, yet it created the current situation.
Bologue said again, "We have to do this."
"I understand... just do what you need to."
Aimou’s words carried determination, but Bologue understood she was only pretending to be strong. He could sense her emotions, the immense sorrow lingering in his heart, even affecting Bologue, bringing a trace of hesitation and compassion towards that scarlet figure.
"We can separate," Bologue said, "if you don’t want to face this."
Aimou remained silent for a while, then said, "I’ve come this far, I have to face it all, don’t I?"
This time, Bologue believed Aimou had made up her mind. He was somewhat happy that Aimou had taken that step, but also somewhat sad about the father-daughter enmity narrative, even if Teda never saw it that way—they were supposed to be father and daughter.
The struggling forward Wolf Spider, like a collapsing meat wall, Bucker had tried using Secret Energy·Refuse to repel it, but it was so massive that the Secret Energy’s range couldn’t encompass the Wolf Spider, merely carving out a huge bloody hole that would then swallow Bucker whole.
The Blade-Biting Wolves followed the Wolf Spider, occasionally swinging blades to sever frenzied limbs. The attacks of the wolves were lethal but mere scratches to the Wolf Spider.
Its size was too massive, and it possessed powerful regenerative abilities, making conventional attacks difficult to affect it.
Palmer rode the wind, throwing Red Mercury Grenades at the sprawling moss of flesh and blood. The blazing firelight spread wantonly, dealing significant damage to the flesh creatures, but they didn’t have enough of these weapons to influence the course of the battle.
Bologue looked at the maniacal figure in the bloody nest, knowing full well that to resolve it all, he had to kill the Delusional and retrieve the Immortal Heart.
Bologue was about to discuss the next move with Lebius, but he was interrupted by a roaring explosion.
Below the Great Rift, smoke and dust billowed; dark shadows mixed with Canyin’s light swept the dust away with roaring sound waves. As the dust settled, four figures stood confronting each other.
Bucker frowned, looking deeply at Lebius and Geoffrey, never expecting to encounter the wolf-tiger duo again after so many years.
"We can’t let them disrupt the operation."
Bucker said softly to Hood. The two abandoned their attack on the Wolf Spider, turning to intercept Lebius and Geoffrey, leaving the critical battle to the Silver Knight behind them.
"The situation is really ever-changing..."
Hood sighed wearily. He thought the power of the King’s Shield Guards was strong enough, but with all these setbacks, everything seemed to return to square one, with the situation worsening over time.
The Blade-Biting Wolves charged at the two, Bucker raised his hand, refusing anyone’s approach. The wolves’ attack stopped in place, with Geoffrey stepping forward, Canyin’s gaze fixed on Bucker.
"Don’t make eye contact with him!" Hood warned.
Bucker responded loudly, having fought the wolf-tiger duo before, clearly aware of their strength.
From a distance, Bologue watched the battle below. It was clearly impossible to seek Lebius’s assistance; the two were held back by the King’s Shield Guards.
Ether ripples flickered in the air; at other times, Bologue wouldn’t notice these subtle changes, but now he was in a Shared Chord Body state, with Aimou’s Perception of Ether transferred to him.
With a light sidestep in mid-air, an invisible force seemed to hit the rock wall behind Bologue, causing bursts of loud noise.
Following the Ether reaction, Fast launched an offensive against Bologue.
Now everyone was engaged in battle, and Fast couldn’t remain idle. However, due to his Prayer Believer Tier, he couldn’t join the fight against Lebius or cooperate with the Silver Knight in hunting the Delusional... he couldn’t even get near the bloody nest.
Thus, Fast focused on Bologue; although a Condenser could not play a pivotal role in the battle, he intended to eliminate these nuisances.
Seeing that approaching figure, Bologue’s eyes revealed a strange joy.
Bologue pulled out a shotgun, firing at Fast. The scorching stream of fire crossed the battlefield, but before it could hit Fast, it was easily deflected by the Shadowless Barrier.
Fast didn’t understand Bologue’s words. Palmer didn’t quite get it either.
"You brat!" Palmer shouted. If it weren’t for their long-term partnership, he would have pointed his gun at Bologue’s head. "How do you know people from the King’s Shield Guards?"
Bologue couldn’t be bothered to deal with Palmer’s madness. The scorching flow of fire outlined the contours of the Shadowless Barrier, stacking around Fast to protect him securely.
"I not only remember you..."
Bologue said, as the distance between him and Fast grew closer. Bologue could clearly sense the air around him solidifying, like hardening cement, trying to smother him within.
Uttering words as cold as ice, from Bologue’s mouth came the formation of slender Dual Blades from Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid in his hands.
"I’ve also killed you."
Bologue said words that others didn’t understand, his blue eyes emotionlessly gazing at Fast as if looking at a corpse.
To fight a Prayer Believer one tier above him, others might feel pressured or panicked, but not Bologue. During the previous Time Reversal, he had already fought Fast.
Not only that, Bologue had personally killed Fast once. If he could kill Fast once, he could kill him a second time, a third time, countless times.
The scarlet Wolf Spider swung its limbs clumsily towards Bologue. Against this scarlet backdrop, Bologue swung his Dual Blades, drawing out trails of blazing white light.