novelraw Chapter 13: Blood Charge!
Chapter 13: Blood Charge!
Agent Zero stared pale-faced at the monstrous knight before him, his lips trembling. But in the end, he said nothing.
The red glow in the Paladin of Discipline’s eyes gradually dimmed. It turned away and left in silence.
Agent Zero finally lost consciousness, his eyes closing as he slumped to the ground…
—
“Wake up! Zero! Wake up!”
Zero’s eyes fluttered open. His vision was blurred, silhouettes shifting around him.
His knee wounds had been treated and hastily bandaged.
Squinting hard to make out the figures before him, he finally recognized the two women standing at the front, his direct superior Li Xingyue and her colleague Ye Xiaoqi. Behind them stood a group of fully armed Intelligence Division members.
Zero gathered his strength and, to everyone’s surprise, suddenly roared, “Screw this! I quit!”
—Outside the hospital room, separated by glass, Zero lay unconscious.
Li Xingyue flipped through the report in her hands. It detailed the events as recounted by Zero.
“Team Leader, thanks to the Apostle healers in the Logistics Division, Zero’s injuries are now stable. He’ll be walking normally after a few more days of rest,” Ye Xiaoqi reported, dressed in the same black professional suit and skirt.
“Zero’s identity has been exposed. The cleanup operation must proceed immediately,” Li Xingyue said coldly. “Xiaoqi, relay the message to the Armed Division. I need to borrow a few operatives.”
“And also, notify that rookie named Lin Xun. Tell him to report to the organization.”
“Understood!” Ye Xiaoqi replied crisply and turned to leave.
Li Xingyue continued staring at the report, muttering to herself, “Someone managed to possess a Paladin of Discipline in the Blood Sun World… Who could possess such a shell? How?”
“This must be thoroughly investigated!”
—
In his cramped apartment, Lin Xun looked down at his hands and gave a bitter smile.
In the abandoned building, the clown-masked man had tried to kill him with a grenade.
To survive, Lin Xun had been forced to manifest the Paladin of Discipline Shell once again.
Strangely, the moment he faced the clown, a wave of violent, murderous intent welled up within him, overwhelming thoughts of cruelty filled his mind.
He had instinctively used the Shell’s skill: Blood Charge.
And… that was that.
It was blood-soaked, indeed.
Reflecting on his every movement in the abandoned building, Lin Xun realized: The way he stepped, twisted, braced for strikes, wielded the lance—even the use of the crimson energy—these techniques had felt completely natural.
“They’re muscle memories, the combat instincts of the Shell when it was alive. And they remain embedded within. Once manifested, I can use them like second nature…”
“Then… what else could be lingering in the Shell?”
That savage killing intent didn’t dissipate after he killed the clown.
He had nearly lost control and run the lance straight through the helpless Agent Zero.
“Unless absolutely necessary, I must not manifest the Shell again.”
Lin Xun logged back into The Book of Salvation.
[Entering Apocalyptic Chapter]
[Chapter 323]
[You awaken in the familiar church.]
Controlling the Paladin, Lin Xun immediately headed east for his daily monster harvest.
[You head east from the church.]
[The monsters on both sides of the road are nowhere to be found…]
Lines of black stress marks dangled above Lin Xun’s head.
He remembered the first harvest vividly, tons of loot and high drop rates. The second time, just junk. The third time? Nothing dropped.
Now there weren’t even monsters.
“Pah! Trash game! So what if I was farming a bug? You tight-fisted bastard devs!”
Grumbling, Lin Xun returned to the crossroads.
Just as he was about to head north toward the metal gate, he spotted something unusual directly south of the church.
[To the south, at the end of a desolate road, a massive creature blocks the path. A portion of its immense body is visible through the shadows of the ruins. As it moves, the ground trembles with thunderous roars, kicking up waves of crimson energy.]
Should I try fighting the boss?
The Paladin’s strength filled Lin Xun with confidence. He decided to scout ahead and test the boss’s power.
[You proceed south.]
[At the end of the road, you finally see the massive monster hidden in the shadows.]
[It has a mountain-sized body. Decayed, rotting flesh oozes from beneath its peeling scales. Hooked fangs jut from massive jaws. Its fin-like limbs ripple with strength, and its thick tail lashes the ground, carving deep craters into the earth.]
[You have discovered a ‘Corrupted Subspecies Sea Dragon.’]
[Its tail lashes out unintentionally, slamming toward you.]
[You attempt to block with the ‘Broken Dragonhunter Lance,’ but are crushed like a bug.]
[You have died!]
Lin Xun stared at the now-familiar crimson word of “Dead” and sighed.
“Yep… that’s the taste.”
“Never let your confidence balloon in this hell game.”
[You are reborn as a feeble wandering soul in the familiar church…]
“Subspecies Sea Dragon… Sea Dragon…”
“My Dragonhunter Lance, could this be the key to slaying it?”
As a veteran gamer, Lin Xun immediately picked up on the hint.
He reopened his inventory to check the weapon’s description again.
[…For unknown reasons, this Dragonhunter Lance has snapped in half. Only the bare metal shaft remains. If you can find the other half, it may regain its true dragon-slaying power.]
Judging by the current state of things, the Sea Dragon boss far outclassed his level.
He would have to wait—either until he found the missing half of the lance or leveled up significantly.
After being trapped by rain inside the church all day, his soul strength had now fully recovered.
He spent 1 soul point to reshape the Paladin Shell and continued onward.
[To the north behind the church: A heavy metal gate blocks the path. A lever mechanism sits beside it.]
[You proceed north.]
[You arrive at the metal gate.]
[Do you wish to use ‘Lord Fox’s Diamond Key’?]
Now that he had the key, he could unlock the gate and move on.
Lin Xun clicked “Yes.”
[You place the key into the lever’s slot—it fits perfectly.]
[You pull the lever. The gears clank and grind…]
[The metal gate opens slowly. A forked road lies ahead.]
[At the end of the path stands a massive fortress built from stone. Its outer walls are faded and crumbling. Crimson vines twist and writhe around the structure like demonic claws gripping a prison. It appears to have become a playground for the corrupted.]
[To the left is a crude gray-brick shack. A greasy tarp stretched over a few wooden stakes forms a makeshift roof. From within comes the rhythmic clanging of hammer on anvil. It seems to be a temporary blacksmith’s forge.]
[To the right is a pit descending into darkness. Scattered around it are rusty shovels, pickaxes, and a broken wooden mine cart. A narrow, corroded track leads into the depths of the gloomy mine shaft. Perhaps it’s an abandoned mine.]
[Where will you go?]