Wasteland Hideout: Upgrading from the Sewers

Artus watched Shadow Wolf rapidly fleeing and snorted coldly.

"I knew you were hiding in the shadows! Now I've finally forced you out."

The black staff in his hand pointed remotely in Shadow Wolf's direction, and he began chanting a cryptic incantation.

A strange aura tore through the dimensional barrier and descended upon this Civilization Relic.

In the sky, the death aura that had been churning with black mist from the very beginning began to rotate counterclockwise.

Like a storm cloud, an eye constructed from death aura formed at the center.

In that amber-colored eye, a vertical black fissure split the eye into two halves, its gaze cold and unyielding.

Completely devoid of any emotional color.

Amid Artus's sinister laughter.

An indistinct yet spine-chilling sound echoed throughout the entire Civilization Relic.

With this roar, the black mist condensed from death aura gradually took on the form of a serpent's body, with clearly visible scales covering its surface.

The black mist, which had originally resembled a millstone, now transformed into a massive, coiled snake slowly writhing.

If Yu Yuan were here, he would immediately recognize that this snake was the 'Snake of Rebirth' worshipped by the 'Snake Kiss' organization.

The 'Snake of Rebirth's pupil locked onto the fleeing Shadow Wolf.

Immediately after, over a dozen dark green rays shot from that single eye toward Shadow Wolf's position.

Completely sealing off all his escape routes.

Thump, thump, thump—

Despite dodging with all his might as a shadow, Shadow Wolf was still hit by several rays.

With a scream of agony, Shadow Wolf was forced out of his shadow form.

A rather noticeable large hole appeared in his black cloak, death aura spreading across the fabric.

Shadow Wolf clutched his abdomen, an expression of disbelief on his face.

He quickly dodged behind cover and performed emergency treatment, pulling a bottle of radiant red potion from his pocket and drinking it down.

Then he poured another potion shimmering with golden light onto his wound.

Sizzle—

Like cold water falling on a red-hot iron plate, the wound sizzled loudly.

Shadow Wolf grimaced in pain but breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the wound begin to wriggle and heal.

Thump, thump—

Several more rays pierced through the fleshy building where Shadow Wolf was hiding, passing right by him.

Shadow Wolf counted silently in his heart!

"3... 2... 1..."

From the moment Artus discovered his trail, he had already understood.

Although there was a gap between his combat power and Artus's,

When it came to escaping and hiding, Artus had no advantage.

If Artus wanted to take him down, he would have to go all out.

And as long as he attacked with full force, it would inevitably cause large-scale damage to this Civilization Relic.

That would certainly trigger the Relic's counterattack.

This was inevitable, just like with Demon Anta earlier.

And this was Shadow Wolf's only chance to turn the tables.

A nearly imperceptible clicking sound came from the bracer on his right arm, and a hand crossbow engraved with complex runes appeared on his forearm.

His left hand stroked the crossbow, and a faint silver pattern emerged on the bolt before instantly disappearing.

At almost the same moment his countdown ended,

The sky of the Civilization Relic shook once more, and then hundreds, even thousands of gray beams descended from the sky.

The beams broke through the death aura's blockade of the sky, riddling the 'Snake of Rebirth' with holes.

With an unwilling roar, it rapidly dissipated.

The death aura's blockade of the sky vanished.

"Now!"

Shadow Wolf slipped out from behind his current cover, his right hand already raised, ready to deliver a killing blow to Artus.

But when he looked at the sky, he froze.

"Where is he?"

There was only the 'giant snake' pierced by beams in the sky; Artus was nowhere to be seen.

A sense of unease flashed through Shadow Wolf's mind.

But it was already too late.

Two black chains formed from resentful spirits, accompanied by thick black mist, appeared beneath Shadow Wolf.

Clank—

Shadow Wolf's feet were bound by the chains.

The next moment, with a powerful tug, Shadow Wolf was dragged into the air.

Whipped around wildly.

In the distance, Artus wore a smug expression.

His staff pointed faintly.

Three bone spears materialized and shot straight toward Shadow Wolf's location with a swing.

"Fool, did you really think I didn't know about the defense mechanism here?"

But to his surprise, just as the bone spears struck, Shadow Wolf popped like a pierced balloon.

With a soft "puff," he vanished directly.

"Hm?"

Artus's expression shifted instantly.

He immediately moved to swing his staff, but at this critical moment, the staff was snagged by the hem of his wizard robe.

And that momentary delay—

Pfft.

Artus only felt a powerful force coming from behind, followed by a sharp object piercing his back, passing through his body, and flying out from his abdomen.

It was a bolt gleaming with silver light!

Burning pain and unbearable agony followed immediately.

Along with it came a white flame clinging to the wound.

"Urgh..."

A thick black mist surged continuously from Artus's wound, suppressing the white flame's burning of his body.

In an instant, it enveloped his body entirely.

Shadow Wolf's follow-up scarlet claw strike hit the black mist but failed to connect with anything.

Shadow Wolf only felt a chilling, sinister aura beginning to corrode his body.

Shadow Wolf dared not linger and quickly retreated to distance himself.

He cautiously searched for any trace of Artus, but found none at all.

"Damn it! I still didn't kill him even like this."

Shadow Wolf knew this was his only opportunity.

But it seemed he had wasted it.

Pfft—

He spat out a mouthful of blood.

He had used a secret technique earlier to break free from the chains' restraint, which had somewhat affected his strength.

"I coated that bolt with Dawnlight's flame just now; it should have some effect on Artus, right?"

"Forget it, I need to get out of here first!"

Unable to find Artus, Shadow Wolf noticed that the dozens of bugs had once again set their sights on him.

"Damn it!"

Shadow Wolf had no choice but to leave first.

The bugs chased after Shadow Wolf once more, leaving only three to five that burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

-

Artus's condition at this moment was indeed as Shadow Wolf had guessed, quite terrible.

The intense burning sensation from his lower abdomen and back, the white flame continuously burning at the wound like a stubborn bone infection.

If not for the death aura frantically suppressing it,

Artus's injuries would have been even more severe.

[Affected by 'Dawnlight's flame,' entered 'Dawn's Dusk' abnormal state. Physical functions -30%, Maximum Life -30%, Energy Circulation Speed -30%, All Attribute Resistances -50%]

"Damn it, damn Shadow Wolf!"

Artus stared at the abnormal status displayed on the virtual light screen.

Rage burned in his heart.

He had been so careful, and yet he still fell for Shadow Wolf's scheme.

He never expected that guy had so much 'Dawnlight's flame.' He had kept an eye on Shadow Wolf when he attacked Demon Anta before.

He never thought Shadow Wolf still had some left after using two bottles.

It was fortunate that Shadow Wolf had only coated the bolt with a little; if he had poured an entire bottle on him, Artus might have actually been killed instead.

"That bastard didn't discover a world shard of the Lord of Dawn, did he? But that shouldn't be possible; I haven't heard of any Civilization Relic of the Lord of Dawn appearing recently..."

Artus was very attentive to information about Civilization Relics, confident that he would know if one appeared.

The source of Shadow Wolf's Dawnlight's flame was obviously highly questionable.

Artus frowned as he looked at the wound on his abdomen.

"Damn it, I need to remove this thing quickly. I'll have to use that thing."

He looked at the spatial pouch at his waist, a trace of reluctance and reluctance in his eyes...

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