Chapter 258: Wraiths

"What's wrong?" someone asked the tall man.

The tall man stood frozen in place, offering no response. A jolt of unease ran through the group, and they immediately backed away from him. As experienced Nightmare Apostles, they knew better than to take any abnormality lightly.

Their caution proved justified. A sudden, ceaseless cracking and grinding of bones erupted from the tall man's body, exceptionally grating in the gloomy Dungeon.

He twisted his body into bizarre angles, as if just getting used to it, before whipping around with a savage scowl. Not a shred of human emotion remained in his eyes—only boundless murderous intent.

"Something possessed him!" a Silver 3 Transcendent said grimly.

Roar!

The tall man bellowed and charged at the group. The Silver 3 Transcendent stepped forward to meet him head-on.

Thud!

A pair of bare hands clamped like a vise around the tall man's incoming fist.

"Don't just stand there, restrain him!"

The others hurried forward and firmly pinned the tall man down.

But right at that moment, the fiercely struggling tall man suddenly went still. Clarity returned to his eyes. When he realized his situation, all color drained from his face. "What are you doing!?"

The group faltered in surprise. He was back to normal?

"Watch out!" the Silver 3 Transcendent suddenly roared. A translucent white wraith phased out of the tall man's body and lunged at another person.

The targeted man's expression twisted. He snapped his right hand up, and five trails of searing fire ignited from his fingertips, instantly merging into a roaring pillar of flame that blasted forward.

The white wraith was hit squarely by the fire. It shrieked miserably, its form melting away like snow under the sun.

Phew.

Everyone breathed a small sigh of relief.

"It seems this kind of nightmare monster isn't very strong, but we must carefully guard against possession," the Silver 3 Transcendent warned.

The words had barely left his mouth when a sickening squelch rang out.

A silver shortsword burst right through his chest, the gleaming blade carrying a smear of crimson blood.

"Du Zhen! What are you doing!"

Standing directly behind the Silver 3 Transcendent, Du Zhen revealed an eerie, cold smile.

Bam!

The Silver 3 Transcendent threw a brutal elbow backward, sending Du Zhen flying. He rapidly backed away from the group, a healing potion materializing in his hand, which he immediately chugged down.

The others' eyes flickered with suspicion. Staring warily at their companions, they hastily scattered to put distance between themselves.

It was clear everyone had realized Du Zhen might not be the only one possessed. Any of them could suddenly plunge a knife into a teammate's back; they had to be on guard.

Meanwhile, the knocked-away Du Zhen rubbed his chest and climbed up from the ground with a bewildered look. "What happened to me?"

"Don't come over here!"

Faced with the group's harsh reprimand, Du Zhen froze. Comprehension rapidly dawned on him, and his face turned deathly pale.

For a time, the group fell into a stalemate. Everyone maintained a safe distance, watching each other warily.

They were inherently solitary Nightmare Apostles, possessing little trust for one another. After this incident, what little trust remained plummeted to absolute zero.

Tap, tap, tap...

Amidst their tense standoff, a steady rhythm of footsteps rang out, accompanied by the crisp sound of a Cane lightly tapping the rocky ground.

It was Su Mu.

He didn't seem to care in the slightest about who among them might be possessed.

The crowd watched his departing back with varying expressions, but no one acted rashly.

"Given the current situation, we're better off acting separately, just like him. On your own, you only have to deal with nightmare monsters. But in a group, you have to guard against more than just monsters."

"But if I'm alone, what if I get possessed?"

"Then just keep a safe distance."

"Alright, then who goes first?"

The moment this was said, everyone fell silent. Obviously, no one wanted to leave their back exposed to the others.

"Mr. Su, wait for me!" Lan He took the lead and followed in Su Mu's footsteps. With someone taking the initiative, another naturally followed.

It just happened to be Yan Wu.

For whatever reason, Yan Wu had decided to trail along.

Walking at the front, Su Mu couldn't be bothered with the people behind him. To him, it didn't matter whether they tagged along or not. His singular goal was to place in the top ten and assemble his own team.

Since he was going to explore the Nightmare World, he naturally needed to hold command. He wasn't in the habit of taking orders from others.

After they walked for about five minutes, another fork appeared ahead. This time, however, the path branched into five distinct tunnels.

"Mr. Su, there are so many paths. Which one do we take?"

Lan He's voice called out from just behind Su Mu.

"Does Mr. Lan trust me that much?"

Lan He smiled sheepishly. "Because I think you're different from them, Mr. Su. You're a good person."

Su Mu smiled faintly. Just as he was about to speak, the intense clamor of combat and shouting suddenly erupted from behind them.

"Run!" someone yelled, while others screamed in agony.

Boom!

Fierce flames exploded outward. Several Nightmare Apostles rushed out from the fire—it was the exact same group that had been deadlocked just a moment ago.

Trailing closely behind them was a dense swarm of hundreds of wraiths. Even more of the entities continuously poured out from the surrounding rock walls.

The scene instantly dissolved into chaos. Lan He, who had been following close to Su Mu, was caught up by the surging wraiths.

Su Mu merely threw a single glance before casually picking the leftmost tunnel and stepping into it.

His departure immediately drew the attention of quite a few wraiths. Surging madly into the tunnel, they lunged straight at him.

Facing the incoming wraiths, Su Mu didn't even turn his head. He simply let them phase right into his body. One, two, three...

And then... "Aaaah!!"

Like a string of popping firecrackers, the miserable shrieks of the wraiths continuously erupted from within his body.

Within Su Mu's soul, three different Divinities were emitting their distinct radiances. Any wraith enveloped by that light instantly vanished into thin air.

The others weren't so lucky. Some were entangled by the swarm and ultimately devoured, while others fled blindly into the tunnels, their fates unknown.

Actually, wraiths were not difficult to deal with. They lacked physical bodies, so those Transcendents without intrinsic ranged attacks only needed to use Mithril pistols to fire from a distance.

The reason for the heavy casualties was simply that the terrain here was too perfectly suited for wraiths. They could spontaneously emerge from beneath one's feet, from above, or from the surrounding stone walls, making them virtually impossible to defend against.

Once invaded by a wraith, one's movements would be immediately impaired. A single wraith might not be able to completely control a Transcendent's body, but the others would take advantage of that momentary stiffness to flood in. If enough of them converged, even a Silver 3 would be brought to their knees.