Chapter 18: The Ghost Immortal Altar

“【Listen to me】Kill yourself, Spearman!”

As Cheese parted her cherry lips, a bizarre and unquestionable command was issued.

The Spearman Knight, whose long spear had been severed and whose armor had been breached by Li Yela, froze mid-motion, as if caught in a violent internal struggle.

Then, under Wang De's stunned gaze, the knight raised the two broken segments of his spear and thrust them directly into his ruptured chest armor.

The broken spear pierced his chest, and illusory blood poured out.

“What are you doing?!” Wang De cried in terror, shaking the silver bell again. “Stop! Stop! Come back!”

But the Spearman Knight exerted force with both hands, continuing to drive the broken spear into his chest until it pierced his heart.

In the next second, several rings of golden sigils emerged from the knight's body, only to shatter with a roar.

The Spearman Knight collapsed weakly to his knees before letting out a final, unwilling roar.

He died there, dissolving into scattering ashes.

Wang De stared blankly at the scene. “How is this possible?”

A powerful Spearman Knight had actually committed suicide just because of a single sentence from this girl?

That was the powerful knight's ashes he had spent immense effort and cost to obtain from a certain "existence."

According to the entity carrying the black umbrella, these were high-quality goods from a certain Calamity Forbidden Zone, possessing strength equivalent to a second-awakened psionic.

And now, he was just dead?

The onlookers were also speechless with shock.

The Spearman Knight's battle with Li Yela had only left him heavily wounded; he still possessed formidable combat strength.

Yet now, he was killed by a single sentence?

“Is the Whisper Path this broken? Can I switch to a different path?” Li Yela looked at his bloodied palm, feeling as though his previous struggle had been in vain.

At the same time, he felt a strange chill in his chest.

Perhaps because he was also a Spearman, seeing the Spearman Knight die such a frustrating death made Li Yela feel a sense of lingering fear.

The Spearman died just like that, while he had fought for so long just to break the man's armor. In the end, Cheese settled it with one sentence?

Was this Spearman just too unlucky?

Recalling the hardship of the battle, Li Yela's emotions were complicated.

In reality, without Li Yela's armor-breaking and damage, Cheese's ability likely wouldn't have worked. Li Yela's strikes had caused the Spearman Knight's psionic resistance to plummet, which was the primary reason for Cheese's instant success.

Still, it was truly shocking. The Whisper Path seemed to lack direct combat power, with most abilities being auxiliary, such as hypnosis or suggestion.

But its effectiveness in actual combat was terrifying.

With only the power of words, everything could be cleared away. He wondered just how horrifying "Commandment" would be after a high-level awakening.

While Li Yela mused, his hands did not stop. Seeing that the Spearman Knight was dead, he raised his blade and charged directly at Wang De with his crimson longsword.

Simultaneously, the Detective grabbed a rifle from a corpse and opened fire on Wang De.

This forced the Dual-Blade Knight to step in front of Wang De, raising his blades to resist.

The Dual-Blade Knight moved with fluid grace, easily parrying Li Yela's assault while activating a psionic barrier to block the sweeping gunfire.

After just one exchange, Li Yela knew the Dual-Blade Knight's strength was even higher than that of the Spearman Knight.

However, because he had to protect Wang De, he couldn't easily dodge or create distance, which significantly diminished his combat effectiveness.

He could only defend passively against Li Yela's onslaught.

Taking advantage of this moment, Wang De turned and rushed toward the blue-brick house.

However, Cheese quickly swallowed the saccharin in her mouth to suppress the curse's effects and immediately spoke again: “【Listen to me】Cardiac arrest!”

The Dual-Blade Knight naturally had no reaction; he didn't even have a heart. He was merely ashes summoned by the silver bell.

But Wang De was a different story. Upon hearing the voice, he felt his body sway, his vision went black, and he slammed heavily onto the ground.

He fell with a bloody head, but he managed to crawl painfully to the threshold of the blue-brick house and slammed the door shut with all his might.

From the very beginning, he had hidden one detail from Li Yela and the others.

The blue-brick house indeed possessed the ability to grant a user's wishes by offering sacrifices, but there was actually no time limit.

Through multiple sacrifices, he had discovered a dangerous hidden aspect of the house.

That was: if one closed the door to make a wish but failed to offer any sacrifice...

Then... the blue-brick house would undergo a bizarre transformation. Eerie entities would emerge from the house and forcibly seize the flesh and life of those near the wisher.

And this would require far more flesh than a normal sacrifice. A wish that should have been fulfilled by offering a live cow would instead claim the life and flesh of a living human.

It seemed to be a punishment for the wisher trying to "freeload"!

Now, why would Wang De care about such a punishment?

Thus, after closing the door, he roared with all his strength: "Great and just Ghost Immortal, I make a wish to you! I offer a sacrifice! Please let me escape the Megacity!"

Li Yela and the Detective were stunned; they hadn't seen Wang De offer any sacrifice.

Yet, in the next second, the blue-brick house trembled, and the door swung open once more, vomiting out a tide of shadows.

Before anyone could react, the shadows instantly covered the entire basement.

In an instant, countless pitch-black human arms reached out from the shadows, grasping at everyone!

Li Yela, Cheese, the Detective, the other Wang family members, and even the Dual-Blade Knight were suddenly seized by the surging black arms.

The corpses of the fallen armed personnel were also grabbed by the arms, quickly merging into the shadows as if another world existed beneath them.

Li Yela's two lower legs were gripped by seven arms, rendering him completely immobile and making him feel a powerful downward pulling force.

“A foot fetishist?!” Li Yela roared, swinging his longsword to hack at the arms, but more and more arms emerged from the shadows.

Just as he severed the arms gripping him, he saw even more reaching out.

Looking back, the Detective had already been dragged to the ground, his firearms roaring in vain.

The others were in even worse shape, struggling in agony amidst screams.

On the stairs, Cheese, whose arms and shoulders were being ensnored by several hands, struggled to shout: “【Listen to me】Suicide, now!”

The sudden turn of events made her realize that this taboo object had clearly spiraled out of control.

The only way was to kill the wisher to see if it would appease the chaos.

Hearing this, Wang De's body struggled, but with the so-called protection of the "Ghost Immortal," he managed to resist the urge to commit suicide.

He also dodged backward; he wasn't caught by the black hands. Instead, being the most mobile person there, he quickly hid in the deepest part of the basement.

Laughing at everyone, he had finally turned the tide!

After shouting those words, Cheese was dragged down onto the stair treads. The pitch-black hands were pulling her into the other world.

Struggling, she looked at Li Yela and screamed: “【Listen to me】Run!”

“Is that how this ability is meant to be used?!” Li Yela roared in desperation, fighting the urge to flee and forcing himself to stay calm.

He quickly looked toward the distant Wang De and the blue-brick house just ten steps away.

A decision was made instantly.

If the taboo object was out of control, then destroy the taboo object!

In reality, this was an extremely risky move. Taboo objects are physical manifestations of certain powers from the Void; destroying one could lead to catastrophic disasters.

But Li Yela couldn't care less. If they waited any longer, everyone would die!

“Then let Mr. Shadow foot the bill!”

Thinking this, Li Yela summoned his courage.

He swung his longsword rapidly, severing the arms approaching him one by one.

At the same time, he leaped into the air, performing an aerial step. He jumped directly over the entangled Dual-Blade Knight and crashed into the blue-brick house.

Fortunately, no black arms emerged from within the house. Instead, behind the golden altar, a strange, blurred black shadow was floating.

It seemed to sense Li Yela's intentions, gazing at him indifferently before speaking in an archaic tongue: "Presumptuous!"

The voice echoed within the small room, turning into tangible pressure. It pressed down on Li Yela, causing him to instantly bleed from his facial orifices, his knees buckling with the urge to kneel.

Is... this the true form of the blue-brick house?

The Void existence that can fulfill almost any wish?

Li Yela didn't consider this; instead, he pushed through the intense pressure and charged forward with his blade.

Every step made him want to retreat and flee, but thinking of his teammates outside and the threat of death, courage overcame fear once more.

Li Yela gritted his teeth and advanced, his double pupils bloodshot.

“Presumptuous my ass!”

Looking at the black threads radiating from the altar, Li Yela decisively raised his blade and slashed down! A strike against a weakness!

In the next moment, terrifying screams and roars erupted throughout the manor!

Simultaneously, throughout the entire Border City No. 3, every psionic heard that extremely furious roar.

“Damn, something happened!” In the East Branch, Moon Shadow activated her ability, instantly transforming into lightning and soaring into the sky.

Yang Chen, who was rushing to another battlefield, also changed expression and leaped up.

His skin turned crimson as he kicked out, creating a sonic boom.

Almost all psionics were alerted.

In a corner of the Megacity, a young man holding a black umbrella gazed toward the New District and spoke softly: “Attacking the Ghost Immortal altar? It seems that kid Wang De is in trouble. To think a knight equivalent to a second-awakening could actually lose...”

At this moment, Li Yela was unaware of the external commotion, focusing all his strength on slashing the altar.

This altar possessed an incredibly powerful and sturdy psionic barrier.

Li Yela's forceful strike failed to cut through immediately!

The blade left a small scratch on the altar, and the scratch expanded, but he could not continue the downward strike; the blade even began to be pushed back!

He lacked the strength!

It was infuriating—it was right in front of him, he could see the weakness of this thing!

Yet he was blocked by the psionic barrier, unable to shatter it!

“Too bad, times have changed!”

Li Yela roared, pulling his jet-powered steel axe from behind his back with his left hand.

He then struck the back of his crimson longsword with great force.

Simultaneously, he pressed the button on the axe handle, and a flame nearly a meter long erupted from the jet nozzle.

*Damn, what did the equipment department put in here?* Li Yela felt his left hand instantly lose control as it slammed down, feeling as if it had dislocated.

The axe accelerated violently because of this, smashing heavily against the back of the longsword!

With a loud *crack*, the golden altar was sliced completely in two by the accelerated longsword!

Outside the blue-brick house, the arms reaching out from the shadows vanished instantly along with the shadows, leaving behind a group of disheveled people.

But this undoubtedly enraged a certain terrifying existence.

The moment Li Yela severed the altar, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a mountain-like, giant shadow appearing before his Soul Well.

The entity wore white and black Taoist robes, possessing an immortal aura, yet was surrounded by countless vengeful spirits.

Was that... the Ghost Immortal? A human?

He had actually found Li Yela's Soul Well directly from the Void!

The massive body even obscured the sky as it looked down upon Li Yela.

“How dare you?” The Ghost Immortal looked down at Li Yela, reaching out with his right hand, appearing extremely enraged.

But soon, the Ghost Immortal seemed to sense something. He abandoned Li Yela and looked upward instead.

He saw only pitch blackness. No, where had the Void starry sky gone?

The Ghost Immortal's gaze slowly moved upward, but he still could not see the stars, until he saw a colossal eyeball that blotted out the heavens.

No wonder he couldn't see the stars; he was standing before a massive existence capable of obscuring the entire sky, like an ant that had arrived at a human's dining table.

And that existence was sitting at the table, watching him with great interest.

It seemed to be asking: *Where the hell did you come from?*

“No, I meant no offense... I did not know this human was invited by you...” The Ghost Immortal's voice trembled, but before he could finish a single sentence, he was entwined by a tentacle as massive as a mountain range and dragged into the darkness.

Then came the bone-chilling sounds of screaming and chewing.

Seeing this, Li Yela was filled with shock. Was that... "Mr. Shadow"?

He had actually swallowed the Ghost Immortal directly? That was a Ghost Immortal capable of fulfilling any wish!

He was far more terrifying than Li Yela had imagined!

But... he hadn't even made a deal with Him yet, and He had already handled the matter.

Then... maybe he shouldn't make the deal? That wouldn't count as freeloading, right? Even the Ghost Immortal didn't say anything!

As Li Yela thought this, he heard an obscure, incomprehensible voice: “This time... I won't give it to you...”

Give what? Oh... the blank mask?

Li Yela was surprised, then understood.

Although the process was a bit troublesome, this Ghost Immortal had become the sacrifice offered by Li Yela. By offering enough sacrifices previously, he had obtained a new mask, or rather, a facial pattern.

But because the black shadow had saved his life, it didn't count as an act of service, and He had no intention of giving Li Yela any reward.

Great! Such a good thing happened! My luck is turning around!

As Li Yela thought this, his consciousness returned to reality.

“Phew, finally...” Li Yela breathed a sigh of relief.

However, his expression quickly changed again.

Because the entire ceiling beam of the blue-brick house suddenly collapsed upon him.

“F***!”