Chapter 69: Act 9: A Future of Light for All

Werewolf Romeo acted as if facing a formidable enemy, throwing off Blaze and instantly retreating into the moonlight.

The moonlight healed the piercing wound on its claws, but the stinging pain still lingered where it had been injured.

That was because the Filthy Blood had been subjected to Purification; the soul representing the Pure Blood was emerging.

Greenland immediately noticed the effective damage Blaze had caused. Feeling a bit exasperated, she yelled, "Silver?! You should have told us sooner!"

But as soon as she yelled, Greenland felt a pang of regret. First of all, it was common knowledge that Werewolves feared silver. Secondly, even if Blaze had mentioned it earlier, it wouldn’t have helped.

Vice Players couldn’t trade with NPCs. They had nowhere to sell the materials they got from killing Monsters, and even if they robbed Robber dens or similar places, they wouldn’t get much money.

Let alone silver weapons, her entire current set of weapons had been stripped off corpses in the wild. It was pathetic just thinking about it.

But the good days were right around the corner. With Herbie Hermes’s help, they would have a bright future of Light!

"Betting tomorrow’s underwear and bed on this, we must succeed!" Greenland raised her hand high, pointed at Werewolf Romeo, and let out a loud roar.

"Messing with me means you’ve stepped into a real sticky mess!"

The six of them swarmed forward. Blaze was a bit rusty in terms of coordination, but the other five were top-tier experts who didn’t need him to coordinate with them at all. He just needed to give it his all.

"Romeo! I know you’re in there! I’ll get you out!"

Using Butterfly Dance to close the distance, Blaze threw punches with Silver Needles clamped between his fingers. His Bee Sting Fists truly transformed into dancing venomous bees, leaving bloody holes all over Werewolf Romeo’s body.

Blaze glanced at the Silver Needles; their weight was decreasing. Although he didn’t know how silver achieved Purification of the Filthy Blood, the process undoubtedly consumed the silver itself.

Werewolf Romeo’s wails gradually turned into roars. Its body suddenly expanded in size, emitting a red mist.

This was [Blood Fury]. After taking a certain amount of damage, it would enter a state of Anger, increasing its toughness and damage output.

SQUELCH—

Blaze punched an entire Silver Needle right into Werewolf Romeo’s shoulder. Logically, this punch should have forced Werewolf Romeo back, but in its state of Anger, the creature’s toughness was extremely high.

It raised its other arm and brought it down in a fierce Chop toward Blaze.

Greenland silently appeared beside Blaze like a Ghost. Her hands thrust out like lightning, and the extended claws from her fluffy cat paws tapped across half of Werewolf Romeo’s body.

Werewolf Romeo’s body suddenly slumped on one side. No matter how much it angrily tugged and pulled, half of its body didn’t respond at all.

"This is the Acupoint Master, meow~"

Entering her peak element, Greenland, in order to better utilize the racial traits of a Cat Beastman, fully threw herself into role-playing, twitching her cat ears and licking her own claws.

"Patient, you seem to be experiencing some hemiplegia. Let me give you an examination." Ripper stood behind Werewolf Romeo, holding two Surgical Blades and elegantly painting on the dark silver fur.

Except it was a splatter painting of splashing flesh and blood.

"Hey, isn’t this guy a surgeon in real life? Isn’t it a bit messed up for him to immerse himself in the role of Ripper?"

"It’s fine. When he commits a crime, it’ll just become my first-class merit."

Electric Saw Demon and Cannibal exchanged a smiling, eyebrow-raising glance. Without the slightest hesitation in their movements, they unleashed their combat Skills on Werewolf Romeo with absolute Madness.

ROAR—

Werewolf Romeo let out a low growl, and the fur all over its body began to puff up and shake. This was the precursor to using the immensely powerful Wolf Howl.

"Don’t even think about it!" Blaze grabbed Werewolf Romeo’s paralyzed arm and used a shoulder throw to smash the beast right into the radius of the moonlight.

The moonlight began to heal Werewolf Romeo once again, interrupting the Wolf Howl in the process.

This was a pattern Blaze and the others had discovered. Once the moonlight started healing Werewolf Romeo, the creature would prioritize the respect for God flowing in its blood.

Although it wouldn’t go as far as making highly vulnerable movements like praying or kneeling, it would definitely cease all disrespectful combat actions.

Claire silently appeared. The Murder Doll Bear in her hand let out a creepy laugh, and Werewolf Romeo’s Shadow cast under the moonlight began to twist bizarrely, turning into sharp spikes that executed a Piercing strike through Werewolf Romeo’s body.

AWOOO—

Werewolf Romeo tilted its head back and howled. A sense of crisis filled everyone’s hearts. The Shadow controlled by Claire began to writhe, and hazy, black silhouettes of Werewolves crawled out from it.

"Watch out, it’s Summoning Followers!"

Realizing it was outnumbered, Werewolf Romeo used the Skill for Summoning Shadow Followers, calling forth a number of Followers matching the number of its enemies.

With this, their numerical advantage instantly turned into a disadvantage.

"Claire, you and the others hold off those Shadow Werewolves. Blaze and I will deal with the main body."

Greenland immediately issued the order. The others nodded in agreement right away. Three people dividing up six Shadow Werewolves among themselves was by no means an easy task.

Blaze and Greenland faced off against Werewolf Romeo. Because they were missing the help of three people, their pressure spiked drastically.

Greenland tensed her nerves, arranging various tactical combinations in her head. But Blaze was entirely free of stray thoughts, keeping his eyes solely on Werewolf Romeo’s.

CRACK—

Werewolf Romeo’s claws slashed into Blaze’s shoulder. However, in return, Blaze viciously drove a Silver Needle straight into Werewolf Romeo’s right chest.

Werewolf Romeo shrieked in agony and forcefully swung its arm down, tearing a massive gash from Blaze’s shoulder all the way to his Waist.

As if completely oblivious to the pain, Blaze retreated, threw a punch, and aimed at all the non-lethal spots to thrust in the Silver Needles. He couldn’t attack Werewolf Romeo’s vitals, otherwise, [Lethal Execution] would outright claim Romeo’s Life.

Werewolf Romeo jerked its head back and let out a ferocious wolf howl. [Intimidation], forcing all surrounding Life into a state of cowardice.

Even Greenland uncontrollably lowered her body, but Blaze delivered a savage punch to Werewolf Romeo, beating it senseless.

[Adrenaline F]

[When health is below 50%, all mental status anomalies are Invalid. Power, speed, and Intelligence are increased according to the percentage of health lost, and Faith values are nullified. This state lasts for 10 minutes. After the state ends, Attributes are halved for 24 hours, and a state of weakness is applied.]

"Romeo! Do you really want to rot inside a Werewolf’s body?!"

Bloodshot veins appeared in Blaze’s golden eyes. A left hook, an uppercut, a Straight Punch—he swung his fists as if he knew no fatigue, beating Werewolf Romeo into a steady retreat.

SMACK—

Werewolf Romeo abruptly caught Blaze’s fist. With just a squeeze, the sorrowful wail of bones cracking echoed from within his Armor.

The Acupoint Strike control time of [Acupoint Master] had expired.

SPIT—

Werewolf Romeo spat out a broken tooth, staring down at Blaze from above.

"He... is... already... not... here..."

Today, a regional boss would indeed be born, but it wouldn’t be Romeo. Instead, it would be a filthy Wild Beast brimming with bloodlust and barbarism.

"Is that so!"

Blaze ignored the pain radiating from his fist. He stood up straight and violently headbutted toward Werewolf Romeo’s face, but the height difference between the two was too vast. Even with his right arm stretched taut, he was still far off.

Blaze glared dead into those silver pupils that held nothing but coldness and cruelty. His golden eyes allowed him to see even deeper.

He could see it. Romeo was right in front of him; he was merely hiding beneath the Werewolf’s shell, just as he had described.

No, it would be more accurate to say he was trapped inside.

Swallowed up by the quagmire formed by his own fear and bestial nature, not wanting to struggle in the slightest.

That look, that expression—it was exactly as if he were saying, *[It’s already too late], [I can’t go on], [Kill me], [I’m sorry], [This is an inescapable fate].*

"That’s why I’m so incredibly pissed off, you bastard who makes women cry!"

CRACK—

A horrifying sound of dislocation came from Blaze’s arm as his hard helmet slammed right into Werewolf Romeo’s face.

CRUNCH—

That was the shattering sound of the incomparably hard Soul Steel Helmet.

Blaze headbutted so hard he saw stars, but [Adrenaline] prevented him from blacking out.

Werewolf Romeo clutched its face, retreating step by step. Greenland immediately arrived behind Blaze, grabbed his right hand with both of hers, and gave it a forceful shove. The arm popped back into place.

The moment his arm recovered, Blaze instantly charged forward again.

"Ugh! What are you, some hot-blooded teenager?!"

Greenland stomped her feet in anger and had no choice but to charge in right after him.