Chapter 100: “Provocation”

Chapter 100: “Provocation”

Tracy saw two bolts of lightning suddenly blaze in “Elaine’s” emerald-like eyes, silver-white and dazzling, completely occupying her field of vision.

Her beautifully curved chin abruptly lifted, as if she were about to release an agonized scream.

But she stiffened in place and shattered like an illusion. The full-length mirror set inside the room cracked with a snap, rapidly collapsing and scattering all over the floor.

Mirror Substitution!

Tracy’s figure, wearing a pure white shirt, beige trousers, and black leather boots, appeared in the corner on the same side as the full-length mirror. Before she could even catch her breath, she heard the heavy thud, thud, thud of footsteps. She saw the red-haired Elaine charging over like a chariot, long dress trailing behind, the glove on her left palm pale with a faint green tinge.

Klein had already switched to Living Corpse state. His muscles tensed in the dark, and his strength surged.

The ruffles at his cuff fluttered as he clenched his fist and smashed it toward Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy like an iron hammer.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Although he still maintained Elaine’s appearance, his movements were like those of a ferocious beast—fierce and forceful. Punch after punch, kick after kick, he battered Tracy until she could only desperately parry, unable to find any opening to use other Beyonder powers.

If not for the fact that the Sequence 9 corresponding to the Witch of Pain was Assassin, giving her extraordinary skill in melee combat and evasion, this tempest-like wave of attacks would have already inflicted heavy injuries on Tracy.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Frost-white mist spread from Klein’s fists. Every collision with Maiden of Sickness Tracy made her tremble slightly, while floating ice gradually condensed on her skin.

This was the Living Corpse’s command of frost power!

Seeing her blood gradually stiffen, Tracy no longer hesitated and endured a punch head-on.

Her whitening lips parted slightly, releasing an invisible scream.

Along with that scream, a deep-blue illusory halo surged outward from inside her body. Wherever it passed, frost condensed in layer after layer.

In only one or two seconds, she and Klein were both inside a frozen world. Around them were thick, transparent blocks of ice, covered externally by soft white frost. The two of them seemed very close, yet had to break through multiple barriers before they could meet again.

A smile appeared on Tracy’s valiant, gorgeous face. Quiet black flames began burning from the inside of her body outward.

They rapidly melted the frost around her, opening a path for the Maiden of Sickness to counterattack and seize the initiative.

Just then, she saw Elaine, who had often been weak and not firm enough, snap her fingers without changing expression.

An unnoticed match ignited. Crimson streams of flame leaped up, instantly covering the red-haired figure in the long dress.

Tracy’s pupils contracted. Her spiritual intuition gave her an extremely bad premonition.

From the quiet black flames behind her, Klein, still in Elaine’s appearance, leaped out. His arms stretched forward and wrapped around Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy, firmly pinning her arms in place.

At the same time, he opened his mouth and made a sound:

“Bang!”

An invisible air bullet shot out, with power surpassing a revolver and comparable to the newest rifles.

It crossed empty space and accurately struck the back of Tracy’s head.

Pff!

The bullet tore open the skull and drilled inside. But Vice Admiral Ailment’s figure abruptly shrank, turning into a broken black wand.

Wand Substitution!

Tracy quickly appeared diagonally opposite him. The buttons of her shirt had fallen off, revealing snow-white, enticing scenery.

Yet what attracted Klein’s gaze was not that, but the smear of blood on the other party’s palm!

When Klein had restrained Tracy, the other party had also clawed backward, tearing off a piece of his dress fabric and scratching his thigh.

At that moment, Tracy’s mouth rapidly opened and closed twice. Illusory black flames suddenly sprang from her palm and burned the smear of blood.

This was black magic. This was a Witch’s curse!

Klein’s figure trembled uncontrollably. From inside to outside, from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, black flames ignited simultaneously. His entire body rapidly turned into scraps of paper.

Just as he appeared in another corner, he sensed countless invisible spider threads winding toward him from every direction. Some were hard, trying to bind him. Others were soft, teasing different parts of his body, making even a Beyonder as calm in battle as Klein feel his heartbeat quicken, his ears warm, and his body faintly numb and tingling. There was discomfort like catching a cold, as well as an impulse of blood rushing downward.

Compared to the Madam Sharon of Tingen, Tracy’s ability with spider silk was terrifying by more than just one level!

Klein did not dare be careless. He immediately snapped his fingers.

With a crack, all nearby spider silk caught fire. The red flames extended in reverse, surging toward Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy like a tide.

Back in Tingen, Klein had already known that a Demoness of Pleasure’s spider silk feared fire!

For a moment, the central area of the room became a massive burning spiderweb. Tracy, caught off guard, had already been swept by scorching waves of fire.

“Hmph!” She exhaled through her nose. A deep-blue illusory radiance once again surged from within her, sealing her inside a transparent, enormous crystal.

Crimson flames rushed over, constantly melting the outer layer of the ice, while they themselves grew weaker and weaker.

Klein did not pick up the diamond-studded bracelet, because he did not understand what negative effects that thing had.

To use a mystical item rashly without sufficient understanding was, in all likelihood, harm rather than aid!

He straightened his body and spread his arms. The glove on his left palm became dyed with the color of the sun.

Priest of Light!

At that moment, Tracy, hidden within the ice, felt that Elaine, familiar to the extreme, had gained a sacred brilliance she had never possessed before. Her brows and eyes brimmed with unprecedented determination. Her beauty was no longer weak, but more like a blooming sunflower—a battlefield flower stained with blood.

Tracy shouted hoarsely, “Who exactly are you?

“Why do you not dare show your true appearance?”

Wearing a dress while using my own appearance would be way too incongruous. Elaine’s appearance is more suitable… Klein’s mind remained detached, that thought flashing past.

Immediately afterward, he praised the sun.

A grand, clear pillar of light descended out of nowhere, coiled with golden flames, completely enveloping the ice block and Tracy within it.

The ice layer rapidly dissolved and vanished at visible speed. The brilliant, sacred light then dimmed, collapsing and shattering.

Tracy’s face paled. She rolled nimbly, evading the Mental Pierce that Klein had unleashed after switching to the Interrogator. From the outside, it was impossible to tell exactly what injuries she had suffered within the light pillar.

Holy Light countered the undead and filth. Against a Witch, it could only be counted as a normal Sequence 5 strike.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Tracy rolled repeatedly, dodging the air bullets Klein fired. Hole after hole appeared in the carpet.

During her rolling, Tracy’s figure abruptly vanished, disappearing from the enemy’s sight.

A Witch’s invisibility… Klein bent his back slightly, heightened his vigilance, and relied on his own spiritual intuition and a Clown’s danger premonition to search for Tracy’s traces.

Yet for a brief time, he discovered nothing. Meanwhile, his forehead grew increasingly hot, his lungs felt as though they were burning, and his throat became sore and itchy, almost making him unable to control a cough.

No, this cannot drag on any longer! Klein’s thoughts raced. Suddenly, he laughed low and switched to a stiff male voice.

“Elaine told me all of your secrets.

“She also told me all of her own secrets…”

Before his words had fully faded, his inspiration suddenly reacted, because a certain corner had erupted with intense emotional fluctuations. The fury and hatred there were impossible to conceal.

Klein immediately half turned and looked over.

His left-hand glove instantly sprouted layer after layer of golden scales. His eyes were also dyed pale gold, as though the pupils had turned vertical.

Without any sound or warning, Tracy’s figure was outlined at once, her expression pained and distorted.

Her highly feminine black curls grew wildly, spreading in every direction.

Psychiatrist’s Frenzy!

Facing such an attack while her emotions had already been stirred, Tracy nearly collapsed on the spot, briefly losing her reason.

Klein seized the opportunity and snapped his fingers with a crack.

An air bullet shot across the distance between them, heading straight for Tracy’s beautiful face, which remained lovely even while twisted.

Suddenly, a thick strand of black hair swept past. The air bullet changed direction and struck Tracy’s left shoulder with a bang, tearing her shirt apart, sending flesh flying, and exposing white bone.

“Ah!”

Tracy released a shrill scream. Endless black flames surged from within her body, completely enveloping her.

Immediately afterward, thick ice crystals formed over the black flames.

Outside that, the wildly growing black hair rolled backward, wrapping layer upon layer around Tracy, the black flames, and the ice crystals, as though weaving a giant cocoon made of human hair.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Klein fired air bullets in succession, but they could only pierce through the black hair and sink into the ice crystals.

He paused, letting his left-hand glove glow with the radiance of the sun.

Just then, his throat suddenly itched. He could no longer control himself and began coughing violently, causing the attack he had prepared to fail.

Inside the black-haired cocoon, Tracy had already recovered her reason. Raising her voice, she shouted sharply, “Enemy attack!

“Enemy attack!”

For a moment, Klein actually froze for one second. In a trance, he seemed to return to Backlund, to the first time he encountered the devilish dog. Knowing he could not win, he had been forced to shout “Murder!” and “Help!” while fleeing madly, finally succeeding in shaking off danger.

At this moment, Tracy’s cry of “enemy attack” was quite similar in effect.

There might not be a full dozen Beyonders aboard the Black Death, but there would not be far fewer, and many of them were at comparatively high Sequences.

As expected, killing a pirate admiral quickly is still too difficult, even by assassination… Klein coughed twice, snapped his fingers, stopped attacking, stopped hesitating, and turned to run toward the captain’s cabin window.

His final gaze fell on the diamond-studded bracelet, but he did not dare pick it up.

First, he feared that its strong negative effects would interfere with his escape. Second, he worried that after Tracy recovered, she might lead a group of Beyonders and, using that item, lock onto him, turning this into a grand chase across the sea.

Do not be greedy! Klein turned his head back, smashed through the window with a bang, and dropped toward the deck.

Two pirates happened to rush over, stabbing forward with their swords at the same time.

Pff! Pff!

What their swords pierced was a paper figurine.

Klein’s figure instantly appeared behind one of the pirates. His left hand reached out, and a sinister, wicked mouth split open in its palm.

Creeping Hunger bit into its “food” in a single gulp. Then, before the Beyonders could surround him, Klein lifted that pirate and strode to the ship’s rail. Amid the bang, bang, bang of gunshots, he jumped with a splash into the dark sea beneath the night.