novelraw Chapter 417: A Curtain for Lu Li
Chapter 417: A Curtain for Lu Li
The shards of shadow beneath Lu Li's feet resembled lonely islands in a vast, dark sea.
And sharks were circling all around.
The enemies had already appeared. The Face-Worms, surging from the dense blood vessels like a swarm of bees, maintained an eerie silence as they advanced on Lu Li like a tidal wave.
If Anna were here, she would have easily dealt with these petty creatures.
With two Spirit Guns in his hands, Lu Li stood alone, cornered.
"Come closer to me... they won't dare approach..." whispered the Mother of the Swamp.
"I don't dare either," Lu Li replied.
The Mother of the Swamp's aura repelled the Face-Worms, but it was also dangerous for Lu Li. His Mind Level was at its limit; the shift to the next stage could happen at any moment.
Nevertheless, facing the advancing wave of Face-Worms, Lu Li backed away toward the Mother of the Swamp.
Death was a far greater threat than a drop in his Mind Level.Ignoring the clicks of the Contamination Detector, Lu Li raised the Second and Third Pistols.
Suddenly, he froze.
On one of the Face-Worms, right where the Third Pistol was aimed, Lu Li saw... Oliver's face.
His face, like all the other Face-Worms, was twisted with malice and hatred, but upon seeing Lu Li, it showed a flicker of human confusion.
After a second's hesitation, Oliver lunged unthinkingly at a neighboring Face-Worm and was instantly swallowed by the wave of other creatures, vanishing from sight.
Wordlessly, Lu Li adjusted his aim and pulled the trigger.
Crack!
Crack!
Plumes of smoke rose. Two piercing threads of light tore through the wave of insects, only to be instantly swallowed by more Face-Worms.
It was like punching water.
Holstering the Spirit Guns, he drew the First Pistol, but didn't fire.
The death visions could overwhelm his consciousness, and thousands of Face-Worms stood before him.
The Face-Worms continued to advance, but it seemed Lu Li would reach the Mother of the Swamp before they could surround him. Suddenly, the shadow stopped spreading, and as he retreated, Lu Li stepped onto flesh.
The slick, cold sensation was all too familiar, as if the scene of sinking into the mire was repeating itself.
Lu Li's feet sank into the flesh beyond the shadow's edge. Like a bog, it consumed his legs, rising higher and higher.
"The Old Mother of the Swamp is suppressing me... She is getting closer..." whispered the Mother of the Swamp. The shadow beneath Lu Li's feet instantly disintegrated.
The advancing Face-Worms froze, their thousands of faces surrounding Lu Li and the Mother of the Swamp at the center.
They were silent. The echoes of the gunshots faded, and the brain-like shell, filled with grotesque figures, plunged into a sinister quiet.
Lu Li continued to sink. The flesh, like a viscous lake, pulled him down without malice or emotion.
This was the shell of the Old Mother of the Swamp. In a way, Lu Li was becoming a part of her body.
Just like these Face-Worms.
When the flesh had swallowed him to his waist, Lu Li sensed something was wrong and turned to his right.
Toward the direction the sealed shell of the Mother of the Swamp was facing.
The Face-Worms parted. In the gap they created, a hazy silhouette appeared, distorting the space around it as it slowly approached.
A whisper, like a prayer, emanated from around the silhouette.
Watching the spatial distortions around the silhouette, Lu Li realized it was the Old Mother of the Swamp.
The prayer-like whisper grew louder, the malice and hatred within it more distinct. The distorted silhouette of the Old Mother of the Swamp became even more ghastly, and the space around it trembled as if in an earthquake. The moment Lu Li closed his eyes, the mental distortion vanished.
A fragile human could not withstand even the gaze of an evil god.
Even Lu Li, who was immune to the aura of the In-Between that all exorcists feared, could not look for long.
When Lu Li opened his eyes again, the prayer had subsided to a whisper, and the silhouette of the Old Mother of the Swamp had stopped trembling.
But as soon as Lu Li's gaze lingered on it again...
"You managed to get here..." a whisper full of malice echoed in Lu Li's head, as if searing the words into his consciousness.
"But now, the guest who carries their aura, and the traitor..." The distorted silhouette of the Old Mother of the Swamp turned toward the Mother of the Swamp. She wasted no time on unnecessary words.
"...must leave the stage."
The Mother of the Swamp was silent. Lu Li, now almost completely submerged in the flesh, answered by aiming the First Pistol at the silhouette and pulling the trigger.
Bang!
The roar of the shot, like a dragon's bellow, left a searing trail through the space.
The silhouette of the Old Mother of the Swamp wavered slightly, but it was only an illusion created by the superheated bullet distorting the air.
Lu Li closed his eyes and was completely submerged in the flesh, leaving not the slightest ripple behind.
All his actions had been useless, meaningless, in vain.
...
Thump!
Anna, waiting anxiously beneath the ficus tree, snapped her head up. A flash of disbelief crossed the depths of her shimmering crimson eyes.
She had just felt her own heart beat.
It was a bad sign. A wave of sorrow and anxiety washed over her.
She knew... it most likely meant... that something had happened to Lu Li.
An icy aura began to spread from her involuntarily. Anna turned to the figure in the black cloak. "What's happening in there?!"
The figure silently turned to Anna. Sad eyes peered out from under the hood. A voice full of sorrow, nearly drowned out by a multitude of sobs and whimpers, replied, "Our mistress and the guest have been defeated..."
Anna's thoughts froze.
The spreading aura began to transform into a dark, malevolent force.
"If I don't come back, find Aunt Mary. Go with her to Tesla; he'll help you get to the Lennon Archipelago." Lu Li's words, spoken before he left, echoed in her mind.
Along with her own reply, which Lu Li had silently accepted.
"If you don't come back, I'll destroy this place." The cold words fell slowly from her lips.
...
Lu Li felt as if he had sunk into a viscous, dark sea.
It was not as he had imagined. Merging with the shell of the Old Mother of the Swamp was like entering another dimension.
Lu Li looked up. His view was unobstructed; he could clearly see the Mother of the Swamp and the Old Mother of the Swamp facing each other above the flesh.
He tried to surface, but something was pulling him down. The surface receded until it dissolved into the darkness, vanishing from sight.
Endless darkness closed in from all sides, enveloping Lu Li.
He slowly lowered his head. Below him lay an even denser blackness, like an abyss.
From the depths of the abyss, a whisper drifted up, calling his name.
"Lu Li..."
The air left his lungs, and Lu Li felt himself suffocating.
But he remained calm. Frowning, he gripped the Spirit Gun and looked around.
He was not alone in this viscous sea.
In the distance, tiny shadows were visible, resembling people or insects.
Suddenly, Lu Li sensed danger and slowly turned.
A Face-Worm was flying straight toward him.
As if in slow motion, Lu Li raised the Spirit Gun to block the attack. An expression of relief flashed across the Face-Worm's features before it vanished. In that same instant, Lu Li was plunged into a death vision.
His furrowed brow smoothed, and his fading consciousness freed him from the pain of suffocation and pressure.
Losing control of his body, Lu Li began to fall slowly downward. His hair and black cloak billowed gently as he descended.
Lu Li looked as if he were peacefully asleep.