Chapter 194 - 109: Shadow Flame, Assassination, Great Leap in Power

The moment his mind wavered, a cold, dark wisp gently brushed past his chest.

The next moment, the shadow of a fist, so condensed it seemed solid, suddenly formed before his eyes.

No charging, not even a single wasted motion.

Wielding the power of Flame Burst, the fist had barely touched his opponent’s heart when it caved in the plate of his inner armor. A surge of fiery light erupted from the strike, and his chest dissolved into a bloody mist in the violent explosion.

His ribs were shattered, flesh torn from bone. The head, deprived of its torso’s support, dangled for a moment by a scrap of skin before tumbling down in front of him.

A life was snuffed out, just like that.

The man’s wicked life had come to a silent end.

It was over.

Su Chen didn’t relax his Global Perception. Every inch of the night within a hundred-meter radius was reflected in his mind. The shadows, which should have been still, now swayed gently, as if whispering like phantoms.

Extending his Perception revealed no other disturbances.

Only then did he withdraw his Elemental Resonance. His body, which had been in a state of Elementalization and composed of pure Dark Element particles, instantly reverted to its flesh-and-blood form. His clothes and canvas backpack materialized along with him.

"Surprised?"

Su Chen said coldly to the corpse. He had known all along the man had an Enchanted Pistol in his bag; how could he possibly have let his guard down?

Besides, he had no intention of testing the age-old question of whether a gun or a fist is faster at three paces.

That was why he dared to expose his position and jump so brazenly in front of the man. He had an ace up his sleeve that guaranteed he couldn’t lose.

According to all official information, no class had yet displayed the Elementalization trait. At the very least, the Shadow Warlock class Authority that Xiaoye had obtained by exploiting a bug didn’t have this effect.

Of course, in these early stages of class progression, it was highly likely that all the pure Element classes would eventually unlock their respective Elementalization traits. But that time was not now.

He was thoroughly enjoying this early-patch advantage.

"Are you alright...?"

Yan Ruoruo’s voice reached him from a distance via Mind Transmission.

Her tone, usually flat and emotionless, now held a hint of fluctuation. She had obviously heard the two gunshots and had even imagined the terrifying Penetration Power of two precise shots landing on the exact same spot.

"It’s handled. Don’t worry."

A faint smile touched Su Chen’s lips. ’The big ice block is actually melting.’

"Good." Perhaps realizing she had lost her composure, she said no more.

Soon, with a flick of his hand, Su Chen used his intangible Strong Will to telekinetically pull the fallen silver pistol into his grasp.

’Acceleration Skill.’

Probing it with his Telekinesis, he quickly sensed the profound and intricate patterns of a Wind Element Rune spread throughout the gun’s chamber. It was even Lv5.

It was worth noting that the Acceleration Skill was one of the best Runes for Enchanting weapons, but it had to be done right. It wasn’t an Enchantment on the gun’s frame; for this pistol, it had clearly been disassembled so the Rune could be applied directly to the chamber.

With a slight mental nudge, he could feel the Rune Array open up, creating what felt like an acceleration tunnel devoid of air resistance.

’The muzzle velocity would be faster, but the barrel length probably limits the acceleration distance.’ Su Chen was just speculating. The magazine could clearly fit Enchanted Bullets as well, and the stacked effects would undoubtedly multiply its power.

He’d have Gong Jun take a look at it when he got back.

The officials had released almost no information on the subject, so everything required personal research.

Besides, he’d never practiced his marksmanship. It would take time to become a sharpshooter like that man, and a shotgun for up-close-and-personal work was simply more time-efficient.

’I’ll hang onto it for now.’

After unloading the magazine, Su Chen stuffed both the gun and the mag into his canvas backpack.

’Too bad he didn’t bring the satchel from last night.’

The only real disappointment was that the man hadn’t been carrying any other Rune Essences, which was understandable. You travel light when you’re tracking and assassinating someone.

He did find a key in the man’s pocket, engraved with "205." He had no idea what apartment it belonged to, but there might be a surprise waiting inside.

And in order to preserve the Runes the man would drop, Su Chen, the merciless skull-smasher, had deliberately avoided blowing his head off.

That would have destroyed the loot.

The results were gratifying.

After the small spiritual tree inside the man’s Sea of Consciousness withered away, it transformed into a Spirit Marrow Crystal and two portions of Spiritual Dust Sand.

On top of that, the Dark Warlock had dropped a total of seven Runes.

’The Wind Wolf Summoning Rune is here.’

Su Chen took stock, even using his Strong Will to pry open the man’s skull.

When a contracted summon is killed, its master suffers mental damage. Until the master recovers, the summoning Rune itself remains on the verge of shattering and cannot be used.

The sick joke was that the fastest way to "recover" the Rune was likely to cut it out of the master’s head.

Of course, the next time it was cast, it would summon a new Wind Wolf from its native plane, establishing a new Soul Binding. Because of this, just like Spirit Element Runes, it couldn’t be used in an item that lacked a Spiritual Sense.

’Five Lv5 and two Lv4. A tidy little profit.’ Su Chen was starting to really understand the saying that crime pays. The modified humans he’d killed before didn’t drop Runes with such high Rune Levels.

’This guy had accomplices...’

The proof was obvious: the Runes the man had traded him the first time weren’t the ones he actually used himself.

The five Lv5 Runes were Destruction, Phantom Clone, Invisibility Technique, Wind Wolf Summoning, and Shadow Armor.

Moreover, the Destruction and Invisibility Technique Runes were completely saturated with Spiritual Materials. Their Spiritual Light was brilliant and pulsating, and their structural integrity was on another level compared to other Runes of the same rank.

’Nice.’

Su Chen smiled to himself and immediately devoured the Destruction Rune. For a moment, his Sea of Consciousness felt as if it were being swept away by a dark tide.

The Destruction Rune instantly leveled up to Lv6.

Its trait was upgraded: during the Perception-scrambling effect, there was now a chance to misdirect the target’s sense of hostility, causing them to have trouble distinguishing real threats and even attack their own allies.

’Pairs well with Flame Burst,’ he thought.

In addition, Su Chen immediately fed the Spirit Marrow Crystal he had just acquired to his first Rune.

After Water Mirror Refraction upgraded to Lv6, it unlocked a new trait: ’Precision Deployment’.

Precision Deployment: The Spellcaster may deploy up to two independent, high-strength mirror surfaces simultaneously at any location within a 20-meter radius. The Water Mirrors can be extended into spherical or curved barriers at will.

’Interesting.’

Su Chen immediately grasped the implications. In the past, the Water Mirror Screen had always been a barrier that clung to his body. Now he could detach it and deploy it anywhere in the surrounding area.

He could now shield an ally from a distance, or create a spatial partition to prematurely deflect an incoming attack or block an enemy’s advance.

’Very nice.’

It offered an immense amount of room for tactical maneuvering—Su Chen’s favorite kind of Rune.

After packing up his spoils, Su Chen casually cast a Sun Flame to incinerate the scattered remains, then flew off toward the depths of the forest.

The dead Wind Demon Wolf had already vanished. Once its Soul Contract binding expired, its corpse was forcibly teleported back to its home plane.

"It’s taken care of. Let’s go."

Su Chen picked up the take-out bag and the large satchel again. He had been quick, and warmth still radiated from the food. He led Yan Ruoruo along the foot of the mountain, heading deeper into the forest.

The night wind grew colder, its chill brushing against their skin.

By the time they arrived back at the Qingye Collection campground, fine snowflakes were already beginning to drift silently from the sky.

High in the firmament, an ice-blue stellar path was slowly drawing closer, traversing the night sky.

It was a bitterly cold night.