Ark Undead

When he finally realized what was happening and raised his shield, he only managed to block a large amount of liquid from splashing onto it.

He lowered his shield and saw only a still-wriggling body and a huge head that had been separated from his body.

Ace suddenly turned his head, looking in the direction he had come from.

A petite figure appeared ten meters behind him, in the spot where Ace had been standing.

All the abyssal creations between the two figures were cleaved in two.

At this moment, patterns resembling lava appeared on the surface of the petite figure's clothes.

Golden flames ignited from the tip of the knife held in his right hand, burning upwards along the blood on the blade.

Boiling embers mingled with crimson patterns, burning Ace's eyes.

In a daze, Ace thought he had returned to Chernobog and was seeing the man standing in front of everyone in such a posture for the first time, reaching out to grasp the lightning spear that pierced the sky.

But Ace was startled when the girl's soft voice rang in her ears.

Melantha's eyes lit up with gold, and she opened her mouth slightly, no longer showing the shyness and timidity of the past.

"Ace-senpai, it's been a long time."

496. The Sun Six Thousand

The badge on his left hand was still radiating a little warmth.

Only after the power had fully entered her body did Melantha exhale softly, swing her right hand to shake off the remaining liquid, and sheathed the sword with one hand.

His movements were fluid and graceful, as if he were a master who had become one with the weapon itself.

"Melantha?"

Ace's intuition told him that the girl in front of him was no longer the Melantha he knew. But what he saw was still Melantha's appearance, and the voice he heard was no different from Melantha's original voice.

But in those words, there was an added power and will that she had never possessed before.

Like a quietly burning flame, warm yet intense.

"Yes, it's me, Ace-senpai."

Despite the urgency of the situation, Melantha still smiled at Ace and then spoke calmly.

"But some things might be different from the 'me' you remember. I need to check with you what time it is."

As Melanie spoke, she slowly approached Ace.

All the abyssal creations that originally existed between the two were sliced ​​in two by Melantha's slash in the blink of an eye.

However, other monsters pounced on Melantha from the side and behind as she seemed to put down her burden and walk lightly toward Ace.

Just as Ace was about to speak up to remind her, he saw Melantha's right hand seem to move slightly, followed by the sound of steel being sheathed.

After that, the monster, which had been several dozen centimeters behind Melantha, was split in two, with the center of its head as the base point.

With a precise strike, Ace only saw Melantha sheath her sword.

In a daze, Ace even thought he was seeing things, that the monster hadn't pounced on Melantha at all.

"You're bothering me too much."

Melantha had originally intended to talk to Ace. But as she instinctively slashed away the hostility coming from behind, she turned around and noticed the monsters that were continuously emerging from the hole.

And behind Ace, Scout, who is struggling to break through, Huang, and Logos.

"Scout-senpai, Huang-jie-jie, and Logos-san."

Melantha's gaze faltered slightly, then she gave a complex, nostalgic smile.

Are they all still here? That's good.

"In short, Ace, please take a break and leave the rest to me. On our way out, I'd like to ask you what we're doing."

The words were still echoing in the air when Melanza's figure disappeared again after she slightly lowered her upper body.

A gust of wind flashed past Ace, and he only saw a dark shadow. The wind whipped up Ace's hair that was hanging on his forehead, and the next moment, he heard Huang's exclamation from behind.

"Melantha?!"

"Sister Huang, you go and help Senior Ace hold off the monsters behind us. Leave the front to me!"

Ace turned his head and saw that in just that one second, several more monsters were split in two from the midline by sharp blades.

This is the swordsmanship that Melantha honed to its peak.

Day after day, he wielded the sword, relentlessly honing the power of each strike.

Finally, at some point, she merged with the power that had always existed within her body.

From that moment on, she was able to see the essence of life and the slit that the blade in her hand could cut.

That is the essence bestowed by the teacher as a gift.

As she was about to take over the flame, she was able to glimpse the existence of the soul in that moment.

She also saw the golden fire hidden in her heart.

From then on, her sword could cut through anything.

"Scout, and Logos, you two should conserve your power for now!"

Although Scout was also in a state of shock, he quickly realized that Melantha's current combat power was perhaps beyond their imagination.

"understood."

Melantha's judgment was indeed correct. Like Scout, the level-headed Logos took two steps back and moved to Ace's side, joining Blaze, who was already blocking the Abyss Creatures from behind, to suppress the monsters that were spreading out from the depths.

"what happened?"

Back at the scene, Scout was panting. Now that he didn't have to fight off the monsters, he finally had time to take out two more bundles of crossbow bolts from his backpack and put them into his quiver.

"How come this child suddenly became so bright?"

Without a doubt, Scout was referring to Melantha.

"I don't know, to be honest, I didn't even realize it."

Ace was also a little confused. He had witnessed Melantha's sudden transformation, and it was precisely because he saw Melantha unleash such powerful strength with just a blink of an eye that he found it even more incomprehensible.

Logos, on the other hand, glanced back a couple more times before speaking, only when he turned back to help Huang suppress another monster that emerged from the abyss.

"The essence of her life has changed."

He is a Sarkaz, and the rightful successor of the Banshee race in the Ten Kings' Court.

As a master of sorcery, one possesses a keen insight into all kinds of energy.

"Who cares! Let's get out of here first!"

Huang, as the main force of the resistance, was quite clear-headed. She knew that this was not the time to discuss these things.

Regardless, the changes that have occurred in Melantha are all good things.

"Doctor! Doctor!"

While calming herself down, Ace tried to get in touch with the doctor.

But no matter how he shouted, the communication channel remained silent, with only diminished static echoing through it.

"Communications were blocked; there's no doubt this is a trap."

Scout said.

"Follow Melantha back first, rejoin my team, and then we'll talk about contacting the Doctor!"

"can."

After a few seconds of composing themselves, the four of them adjusted their mindset and formed a formation with Huang and Ace taking turns bringing up the rear, following behind Melantha in front.

As Melantha, who is at the very front of the formation, she is like a solid shield all by herself.

They crushed the monsters surging in from the exit bit by bit, leaving none for Scout and Logos behind them to deal with.

With each swing of her sword, she could cut through everything in her path.

And those wounds will be covered by flames on the blade in the blink of an eye.

Monsters that roost in the abyss are like sheep encountering lions when they encounter flames on a blade.

The flames devoured the monsters born from the filth, plundering the remaining souls from their bodies, and then returned to Melantha's body unnoticed by the four elite operators behind her.

The wounds inflicted in the explosion were gradually healed and scabbed over by the devouring soul.

With each step Melantha took, the scabs on her body hardened a little more, until they detached from her body during a violent movement, revealing flawless skin beneath.

The flames in her eyes grew ever stronger, like a storm brewing.

Without a doubt, this power originally belonged to the undead, and to this day, the undead have never seen a body that can attract souls.

But Melanza did it.

As the flames burned, the straight knife in Melantha's hand gradually bent towards the spine.

The blade, which had been polished to a gleaming shine by the Vulcan, turned black in the flames, and seemingly living lava extended forward from the hilt.

As the Undead said, the best name for a weapon is always that of its owner, not some fancy name.

Today, Melantha's straight knife is undergoing such a transformation.

Ace and his group followed Melantha. After a brief attempt to block her, they were surprised to find that Melantha had advanced nearly a hundred meters in just a few minutes.

The corpses along the way still bore traces of flames, but were reduced to useless white ash during the looting and burning, falling apart as people moved and being blown into the air.

They had no choice but to speed up their retreat.

When they came in, Melanie was treated like a precious treasure, protected in the middle of them.

But when they went outside, this stance was completely reversed.

This disparity left all four of them with varying degrees of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, mixed feelings of emotion and reflection), along with some unspeakable strangeness.

After they advanced into another room, the number of monsters remaining on the path finally decreased.

At that moment, Melantha strolled outside, glancing back at Ace.

"Ace, let's talk as we walk out."