49 Apocalypse Rules

"Captain..."

The voice of Silver Fox from behind made Dragon Soul pull his gaze back from the "Black Realm" in the sky.

He turned to look, his eyes lingering for a moment on the empty space where Silver Fox’s right shoulder should have been. "Why are you back? Where’s Chen Na?"

"I told her to hide. What’s the situation now? That pitch-black thing is..."

Silver Fox gazed at the sky. The massive, constantly shifting, pitch-black entity sent a chill down her spine.

"It’s something ’Shadow’ created. I don’t know what it is," Dragon Soul guessed. "Right now, it has Lucifer trapped inside. The situation is unclear."

Silver Fox was stunned. "’Shadow’ has appeared?"

"Yes. I don’t know how he found this place, but his arrival is crucial."

"Captain, you..."

It was only when Silver Fox walked up to Dragon Soul that she saw the ghastly, long wound on his chest and abdomen.

"I’m fine. You Hao... Lucifer killed him."

Silver Fox looked over at Jiang Lanying not far away, her eyes filled with unconcealed killing intent.

"Don’t be rash," Dragon Soul reminded her. "Our mission is to bring the target back."

"...But Captain, Shadow is the one binding her now. Will he agree to it?"

Dragon Soul didn’t answer, because he didn’t know.

...

Within the Shadow Realm, Lucifer floated in the darkness, panting and drenched in sweat.

He had been dashing for who knows how long, changing directions several times, but he could never reach the end or touch the tangible Shadow Layer.

He found it hard to believe, and the confidence he once held began to waver.

This seemingly endless darkness made him feel that everything he was doing was futile.

Worst of all, he had very little Psychic Power left.

Through his extensive development of the "Fallen Angel’s Wings," he had already significantly reduced their consumption of Psychic Power. However, due to their inherent nature, they still consumed far more than most items.

This was also why he rarely used items; he didn’t believe any item’s effect could compare to his own wings.

But with the Psychic Power he had left, he could barely stay airborne for another minute. To make matters worse, for every extra second he spent in this darkness, his Psychic Power drained a little more, which infuriated him the most.

’If I were in perfect condition, I wouldn’t be in such a passive position.’

Lucifer had fought a battle with Dragon Soul earlier and was already injured, his left wing broken. Even though he had killed that guy who was playing dead to absorb some Psychic Power for replenishment and recovery, his condition was still far from its peak.

And of all times, this is when Shadow had to appear.

’Shadow must have been hiding nearby for a while,’ Lucifer thought, ’deliberately waiting for Dragon Soul to wear me down before revealing himself and striking with the advantage of a fresh fighter.’

His guess was spot on.

Guan Tong had indeed arrived at the battlefield long ago. He hadn’t acted immediately because he wanted to assess Dragon Soul’s and Lucifer’s conditions, as well as the state of their abilities.

He and Lucifer had crossed paths once on Holy Grail Island, so he had some understanding of him. But he had never seen Dragon Soul use his powers before; today was the first time he learned that his ability was to manipulate his own body’s muscles.

The reason he had stepped in to save Dragon Soul wasn’t that the latter was a member of the Official Team, but because during the previous earthquake event, Dragon Soul had left a good impression on him as a responsible person.

Conversely, if it had been a scumbag like Gu Fei, Guan Tong wouldn’t have lifted a finger to help, even if he were part of the Official Team. He would have just waited for him to drain a little more of Lucifer’s Psychic Power before dying.

Even though Guan Tong was confident he could handle Lucifer, it was always better to have someone else wear him down first. When dealing with enemies, he couldn’t care less about a fair fight. Victory was all that mattered.

"I can’t let myself be trapped and killed here..."

Lucifer, trapped in the darkness, knew that if he couldn’t break this stalemate, only death awaited him.

And he couldn’t die here. He was on the verge of a breakthrough, of raising his power to the next level. He absolutely would not accept being cut down halfway.

Lucifer took a deep breath, and his pair of wings suddenly folded, enclosing his entire upper body.

’What is he doing?’

Guan Tong watched Lucifer’s move to wrap himself in his wings, puzzled.

But in the next moment, he realized—the guy was trying to escape!

VMMMM—!

A brilliant light refracted through the gaps in his wings. It was clearly some kind of Teleportation Item activating.

Lucifer’s purpose in wrapping himself in his wings wasn’t to charge up some ultimate move, but simply to hide the fact that he was secretly using an item.

Before the light could fully erupt, everything around him froze.

Only a giant Shadow Thorn, controlled by Guan Tong, continued to advance.

’Will I make it in time?’

The next second, the frozen space-time resumed. Just as the Shadow Thorn pierced through Lucifer’s unwrapped lower body, the teleportation light engulfed him.

"Ugh... I’ll be back for you... Shadow!"

Lucifer’s pained voice vanished into the Shadow Realm along with the light.

Guan Tong glanced at the [Hourglass of Time] in his hand. It had 3 uses remaining. He had just used this item, a gift from Yelena, to stop time for one second.

But the fact that Lucifer could still speak before disappearing meant his attack hadn’t been fast enough to finish him off. At most, he had only been severely injured.

After Lucifer teleported away, Guan Tong didn’t immediately dispel the Shadow Realm. Instead, he began to reflect.

The Shadow Realm couldn’t prevent a trapped person from using Teleportation Items to escape. This would be a major vulnerability when fighting powerful opponents.

Because anyone strong was bound to acquire a large amount of Sublimation Coins. And with a lot of Sublimation Coins, they would definitely buy Teleportation Items from the market to keep on hand for life-or-death situations.