Chapter Ninety: The Unknown Land (6) Escape

As the Saint Vail City Association branch was busy preparing a victory banquet for Zhao Tianhe and debating which medal should be awarded to him, the very man at the center of the incident himself stood at the edge of life and death.

By sheer luck he had managed to cast flight magic on himself, but the speed of Zhuo Ke, now inhabiting the enormous body of Old Barton, was still slightly faster than Zhao Tianhe’s own flight.

Feeling the terrifying pressure of the wind closing in behind him, Zhao Tianhe knew he could not keep this up. He had no choice but to drop lower, turn sharply, and plunge into a narrow passage.

From time to time, monsters would burrow out from the caves on either side, but Zhao Tianhe relied on his excellent senses to avoid them at every turn, never daring to let himself be entangled.

No wonder he was a spirit hero from Earth… He had been so useless before, and now he could actually do this. I miscalculated. I should have killed him.

As he sprinted madly onward, Zhuo Ke suddenly thought of something crucial.

But by all rights, my seal should never have been broken without outside interference. Could there be other vermin in here as well?

At that thought, Zhuo Ke immediately grew wary. Since Zhao Tianhe, this anomaly, had appeared, it was hardly strange if more irregularities followed.

Still, it was useless. Here, in this dungeon, I am invincible!

A ferocious smile spread across Zhuo Ke’s aged face, and he accelerated his pursuit of Zhao Tianhe.

The number of lesser monsters and the strength of the elites in this dungeon were still somewhat below those of a Class B dungeon, but there was one respect in which it was no different from a Class B dungeon, and perhaps even superior to one: the boss.

Using technology from the Second Institute, the dungeon’s designer had created Zhuo Ke, a special boss capable of seizing control of every Nightmare Jar in the entire dungeon at will. Through him, the whole dungeon’s power could be merged into one, giving him strength that placed him among the very top tier of Class B bosses.

Of course, Zhuo Ke had not yet reached his peak, because the dungeon was still in its early stages and all the souls had not yet been poured into the Nightmare Jars.

At the end of the passage, Zhuo Ke had no choice but to stop, because Zhao Tianhe had slipped into the hall where countless souls were being imprisoned.

The production of Nightmare Jars in the dungeon was limited, and these souls were not yet needed. But during the brutal infighting, if they were carelessly swallowed by other monsters, it would be equivalent to wasting a valuable material. So Zhuo Ke had temporarily sealed the hall according to the dungeon’s laws. No monster carrying a Nightmare Jar could enter, and that included Zhuo Ke itself.

As the creator of the rules, it only had to slightly alter the barrier’s recognition mechanism to change that. But no matter what, even doing that would take some time.

Did that bastard know this would stop me? No—was he just gambling?

Zhuo Ke thought irritably.

Zhao Tianhe had indeed been gambling, because he had previously seen Elisa being blocked outside.

Good. At this rate, the timing should be just about right.

Feeling Zhuo Ke slow down behind him, Zhao Tianhe finally breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

“Honestly, a guy like you dares to call himself a hero?! Listen to me! If you keep running, I’ll annihilate every soul in this entire hall!”

Zhuo Ke roared at Zhao Tianhe as he was about to burst out of the hall.

At the same time, he tore several souls free and clenched them in his hand, as though he might crush them at any moment.

But Zhao Tianhe could not be bothered to answer him. Without the slightest hesitation, he flew into another opening.

The moment you start thinking of negotiating with trash like this, you’ve basically lost—unless you’re confident you can outwit and destroy it with a scheme.

Zhao Tianhe did not have that confidence, so even if Zhuo Ke truly annihilated the souls in the hall, he would not turn back.

He knew he was the only hope here. If he lost, those children would die too. So there was only one thing he could do: win by any means necessary.

“You...” Seeing Zhao Tianhe’s reaction, Zhuo Ke immediately understood that he was not a rigid fool, and gave up on threatening him that way. It sealed the souls in its hand back into place exactly as before.

“Don’t think you can escape like this...”

Zhuo Ke thrust its right hand into its own chest, fumbled about for a moment, and then its form slowly caved inward and dissolved into a heap of filth.

Within that filthy mass, one arm after another kept thrusting out and clawing at the air, an exceedingly eerie sight.

The next instant, the heap of sludge slowly sank into the floor, becoming a patch of shadow...

Where should I run?

Zhao Tianhe accelerated through a gigantic spider web. In a dim corner, six pairs of dark compound eyes flashed and vanished.

Then, a sudden surge of mortal danger struck. Zhao Tianhe’s body jolted, and he was knocked backward through the web.

The giant spider lurking in the shadows could no longer endure it. It lunged straight along the web to kill him!

Boom!

Yet a wave of darkness surged out from the shadows above, swallowing the entire spider web and the giant spider alike.

Within that black tide were countless arms.

“Hahahaha... You think I really can’t catch you?”

Zhuo Ke’s wild laughter rang out.

Zhao Tianhe turned and fled at once.

“Were you not acting so arrogant just now?! Why have you gone silent now?!”

Zhuo Ke’s furious roar echoed behind him. Zhao Tianhe, expressionless, darted back into the hall and flew toward another passage.

But before he even reached the hall, that sense of danger returned. Strange black mud and arms poured down from above, yet Zhao Tianhe’s sharp sixth sense and hearing allowed him to precisely anticipate where Zhuo Ke would appear.

Black-mud form, the earlier old Barton shape, and the discarded Elisa form...

Zhao Tianhe paid no heed to Zhuo Ke’s provocation and flew off again, turning his back.

It could freely use all the forms and skills of the nightmares, but the transitions between them did not seem especially fluid, and it should only be able to use one at a time.

As long as he remained calm, all of this was easy to judge. After all, if Zhuo Ke could switch forms rapidly, then with a black-mud descent followed by an old Barton charge, Zhao Tianhe would have been killed instantly.

Damn it! There isn’t a suitable tracking skill...

Zhuo Ke thought irritably.

This maggot seems able to predict my attacks too. If this goes on, won’t it never end? Still, once things over there are settled... No, that would be far too embarrassing!

Though they are both me, when I am standing before “myself,” am I not allowed to preserve even a shred of dignity?

Though deeply displeased, Zhuo Ke truly had no answer for Zhao Tianhe. If it switched back into the old Barton form, the speed would be enough, but the distance between them was sufficient for Zhao Tianhe to open it up again and slip back into the hall. And then it would have to alter the barrier’s access permissions all over again, which would only widen the gap further.

As for modifying everything at once, that was impossible. Zhuo Ke did not yet have that level of authority.

But after Zhuo Ke descended once more, Zhao Tianhe, contrary to expectation, did not turn and flee. Instead, he floated in midair with a brazen grin, staring at it.

“Not running anymore?”

Zhuo Ke rose abruptly from the sludge, becoming a pillar-like mass streaked with flowing filth and bristling with countless arms.

“Now, it’s your turn to run.”

Zhao Tianhe said with a cold laugh, “Come out! Artoria! Eresh! Finish this monster off!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Understood! Ahe!”