Chapter 178: Behind the Mask

Chapter 178: Behind the Mask

One awkward, difficult, piercing word after another, entirely incomprehensible, slowly came from Klein’s mouth. The hurricane created by the bronze doors’ terrifying suction immediately grew quiet, and the already dim surroundings became even deeper and darker.

Only then did he understand that the Beyonder ability Admiral of Hell Ludwell had just used was called Words of the Dead. It could directly bypass the protection of flesh and blood, targeting the spirit body.

It belonged to an advanced form of the Spirit Medium’s ability, elevating direct communication between spirits into a kind of command—even a kind of enslavement!

The language that living beings could not understand echoed over the front deck. Admiral of Hell Ludwell inevitably froze in place. A transparent layer swiftly surfaced over his pirate-captain attire.

His spirit was being pulled out by an illusory force!

At that moment, the square, black, heavy-looking ring on Ludwell’s left index finger shone with faint spectral light.

The spirit that had been forcibly dragged out by a small amount immediately returned to his body. The two merged into one again.

Clang!

Ludwell drew the thin rapier hanging from his waist with his right hand.

Its entire body was iron-black, and its tip gathered the surrounding light into a single dark point.

The Admiral of Hell suddenly stepped forward, carrying a violent gust of wind as he closed the distance between them. The rapier in his hand then stabbed out, swift as lightning!

The bronze doors covered in mysterious patterns still stood where they had first appeared. They had not vanished because Ludwell had withdrawn his left palm and begun moving. That was different from the similar ability Klein had once witnessed from Miss Sharron, which had relied on a mystical item.

Pfft!

The dark rapier pierced Klein with a momentum impossible to dodge.

Klein’s figure quickly shriveled, turning into a thin sheet of paper. Its surface was yellowed and brittle, as though it had weathered for ten thousand years.

The hurricane brought by the bronze doors swept over it, and the paper figurine shattered completely.

In midair, Klein leaped out from the darkness, a handful of charms from the Sea God’s domain already gripped in his palm.

“Storm!”

The urgent and awkward ancient Hermes word burst forth. Pieces of white tin burned one after another, sacrificing themselves to the Sea God. In other words, as long as Klein was willing, he could retrieve most of the material and cycle it repeatedly until the metals could no longer withstand the spirituality.

Woo!

Cyan wind blades shot out. Heavy waves as tall as the cabins rose from the sea around them. Because Klein had not tried—and had no time—to distinguish the types of charms, these attacks covered Ludwell while corresponding supernatural effects also appeared upon the Admiral of Hell. Underwater breathing, free movement, levitating wind, resistance to pressure, and other currently useless influences stacked layer after layer upon him.

Ludwell abruptly opened his mouth and unleashed a silent scream. The waves about to strike him and the countless wind blades briefly froze in midair.

Then this Admiral of Hell raised his left hand. The square black ring on his index finger emitted an eerie, sinister radiance, instantly brightening.

Woo!

The bronze doors, filled with an indescribable feeling, expanded at once, growing twice as tall and twice as wide.

Amid a heavy creaking sound, the crack opened even wider. The already terrifying suction immediately climbed to an unimaginable level.

The cyan wind blades, the black waves, and Klein in midair surged toward the doors at the same time, throwing themselves toward the strange vines and arms slowly unfurling.

Klein was just about to drive the Priest of Light’s soul and use Holy Light to clash with the bronze doors head-on, buying himself a moment to breathe, when he saw a blazing-white fireball half the size…