Slick... slick... slick...

The sound of a blade piercing flesh, accompanied by unbearable pain, jolted Yang Lie awake.

He suddenly realized that everything he had just experienced seemed to be... all within Yun You's plan!

First, using the Giant Claw to initially make him believe that this move had a fixed shape and couldn't be altered.

Then, sacrificing a claw swipe aimed at his chest rather than an easier fatal strike to his head, deliberately allowing him to block it.

Lastly... letting herself be caught by him, with him gripping her throat, appearing weak and powerless, to make him lower his guard and underestimate her, all to fully prepare for the final "form change."

It can be said that Yun You did almost everything she could to set up this strike.

From the design of her actions to the calculations of the mindset...

"You little girl... truly terrifying!"

Yang Lie sincerely marveled and felt a hint of admiration in his heart.

He extremely despised the weak, but greatly respected the strong, especially those like Yun You, who would create opportunities even when at a disadvantage.

Of course, Yun You obviously wouldn't care about what he thought.

Taking advantage of the moment when Yang Lie was in a daze, she casually retrieved a bag of high-concentration alcohol from her pocket, gulped it down, and then steadied the blade to keep it balanced.

And the still slowly shaping scimitar once again pierced half an inch into Black Tiger's chest cavity.

Indeed, in that split second, Yun You had used [Future Sight].

The blue light flickering on her body was a sign of the activation of a Talent Ability—the burning of Sur Particles.

Yang Lie was truly too powerful; it wasn't easy to devise a perfect strategy.

No matter how meticulously Yun You calculated, there could still be errors.

So, she used [Future Sight].

After seeing Yang Lie's movements for the next 35 seconds in the future, she made this plan.

The Mad Dog Sequence granted Yang Lie an indestructible body and strength that completely overwhelmed Yun You.

Conventional combat methods usually failed to be effective.

Even if she didn't dodge at all, Yun You's scimitar could not cut through this guy's body... because the strength simply wasn't enough.

But there was a way to forcibly break through Yang Lie's defense with the Red Scale Scimitar.

That was using the "unstoppable" characteristic during Red Scale's form transformation.

The Red Scale generally wouldn't harm Yun You herself, so if it encountered an obstruction during form transformation, it would usually prioritize harming other obstructing objects instead of tearing open Yun You's own shoulder joints.

This was why Yun You could wound Yang Lie.

"Good move... truly a good move!"

Yang Lie gritted his teeth, but still had that irritating smile on his face.

"If we were of the same level, I certainly wouldn't be your match...."

"But unfortunately, there's no 'if' in this world, nor is there so much fairness."

"So... sorry!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the red wolf pattern on his forehead lit up again!

Whoosh~!

This time, only one wolf head from the Mad Dog pattern, actually began to change...

From the red wolf's mouth, two fangs slowly started to grow, and wild, blood-stained fur also sprouted atop its head.

"Sequence Two: Mad Dog, second rank branching ability..."

"Wolf Blood Pursuit."

As he finished speaking, the blood that was supposed to drip from Yang Lie's wound began to float... and then coalesced into a fist-sized red sphere...

Immediately after, the sphere cut through the air, carrying terrifying power and searing heat, directly hitting Yun You's abdomen!

Boom—

A shockwave so immense as to be unimaginable blasted Yun You, her body and blade, nearly 100 meters away!

The little girl rolled on the ground for more than a dozen rounds before she barely managed to stop the impact, ending up in a small dirt pit.

"Ugh...!"

Yun You couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Unlike before, where she had been blasted away due to recoil, this time, Yang Lie's attack had truly hit Yun You, striking her vulnerable abdomen.

At the moment of impact, the little girl felt her breathing and heartbeat momentarily cease...

Yang Lie's control over the power was excessively strong, as the blood globe hadn't left Yun You with a single exterior wound, yet had scrambled her internal organs into a mess.

Even her spinal cord was likely fractured.

This was not an effect that an ordinary move could achieve, definitely not.

Yang Lie had used the "Sequence Ability," the second-rank sequence ability.

With this move, the red-haired Death God had completely turned the tables, rendering the little girl's calculations futile.

No...

Strictly speaking, he had never fallen behind nor been forced into a life-and-death crisis.

The Black Tiger Yang Lie had always possessed the strength to easily end the fight.

"Wolf Blood Pursuit, a branch ability of the second rank of the Mad Dog Sequence."

Yang Lie toyed with the blood-red sphere and leisurely said, "The effect is simple; it can temporarily 'tool-ize' one's own blood, transforming it into a weapon or tool, even an artificial being."

"It's a rather convenient ability."

"Though it may not rival purely combat-focused skills in battle, it's more than sufficient to handle a little novice still in the internship period..."

"Incidentally, there's a commonly acknowledged concept in the academy for training Apprentice Death Gods—"

"The abilities bestowed by a second-rank sequence are often at least 10 times stronger than those of a first-rank."

"Little one, you have no grievance in losing."

Saying that, he cheerfully put away the blood sphere and walked step by step towards Yun You.

"..."

The little girl gritted her teeth, trying to crawl out of the pit.

But her arms felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, unable to lift... and the Giant Claw on her right hand had dissipated on its own.

Her physical strength was completely exhausted, leaving not a trace.

This was only natural.

Three consecutive life-threatening battles had thoroughly exhausted her.

The injuries Yang Lie had just inflicted on her, along with the unbearable pain, further accelerated the loss of her strength.

She wanted to recover through [Eating], but the Tai Sui Heart in her hand had already fallen to the ground the first time she was blasted away.

Moreover... even if it hadn't fallen, Yang Lie wouldn't give her a chance to continue eating.

This was an undeniable deadlock... the little girl felt her vision blur, as her consciousness gradually faded.

She thought back to that damnable night... remembered hiding in the crevices of buildings, witnessing the massacre of her family.

Back then, she could do nothing.

And now... after much circling around, she found herself back at square one...

Yang Lie was getting closer and closer to her.

The little girl's heart sank into despair.

She believed there was no one capable of stopping Yang Lie's advance.

Yet at this moment, a figure suddenly stood in front of her.

The owner of the figure was not strong, far from possessing Yang Lie's intimidating power.

But his steps were resolute, without the slightest hint of retreat.

It was Jack.

In this despair, the mercenary did not abandon the girl.

Knowing he was outmatched, he still stood up.

"Oh?"

Looking at the expressionless Jack, Yang Lie was a bit surprised.

In his impression, mercenaries were all profit-driven individuals.

In an overwhelmingly unwinnable situation like this, why would such a person stand up?

He didn't quite understand, but at the same time, a hint of interest arose.

An idea filled with a malicious sense of humor slowly formed in his mind.

"Professor Xie mentioned that you seem to share a friendship beyond profit."

"But I don't believe it."

"In this world, there's nothing truly sincere... It's all just business."

"So I think your so-called companionship is nothing more than a façade."

"However, to confirm this, I have to conduct a small experiment."

With that, he suddenly withdrew a small knife from his waist and casually tossed it to Jack.

Then... he sneered and said...

"Kill her."

"Kill your employer, kill that little girl, and I'll let you go. I swear by the name of the Apprentice Death God."

"How about this game, does it interest you?"

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