Chapter 99: A Desperate Battle Against the Ghoul King

When the Ghoul King crawled out from beneath the lone grave, Jiang Kai and the others immediately noticed that its legs were completely severed.

Its dark red armor was riddled with massive cracks, falling apart and revealing blackish-purple, desiccated skin underneath.

Especially glaring was a gaping hole in its chest. Through its brittle, skeletal ribcage and the rotten, foul-smelling flesh connected by a few sinewy tendons, a gray-black heart could be seen slowly contracting and expanding.

The peculiar color of its skin made it stand out among other Ghoul Kings, whose primary hue was typically cyan. This indicated that the corpse had likely been dormant underground for far longer than most commander-tier Ghoul Kings.

Aside from its ancient armor, reinforced skin, and incredible defenses, Ghoul Kings were notoriously known for their "immortality."

No matter how severe the damage to its body, killing it outright was nearly impossible—unless its heart was destroyed.

From the extent of its injuries, it was evident that the Bright Guild had realized this during their battle. They had gone all out, not only severing its legs but also piercing its chest armor.

Jiang Kai's eyes locked onto the gaping hole in the Ghoul King's chest. He tightly gripped his throwing knives.

"This is a total steal; we don't even need to break its armor!" he muttered, preparing to attack.

But just as he was about to strike, the Ghoul King raised one of its massive arms and slammed it into the ground.

Instead of attacking Yuan Zhu, who stood directly in front of it, the creature drove its arm deep into the earth.

"What's it doing?" Jiang Kai wondered, momentarily confused.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him loosened. Before he could react, a thick, powerful arm burst through the soil.

Jiang Kai instinctively leapt to the side, but the arm—several meters long and unnaturally fast—caught him in an instant. In a blink, its five massive fingers wrapped around him, squeezing him tightly in its grasp.

The attack had come too suddenly, and the gap in agility between them was immense. Jiang Kai had no chance to escape.

What shocked him even more was that despite being hidden, the Ghoul King had bypassed Yuan Zhu and located him with precision.

With Jiang Kai firmly in its grasp, the arm retracted into the ground, and the Ghoul King pulled him up into the air. No matter how much he struggled, Jiang Kai couldn't break free from the creature's iron grip.

The Ghoul King raised its hand, its grotesque, elongated tongue slithering out as it brought Jiang Kai closer to its mouth.

"Captain Kai!" Ruan Yu's eyes widened in shock. None of them had anticipated that the Ghoul King would prioritize capturing Jiang Kai.

Yuan Zhu's eyes turned red with rage. Even in his drunken state, his instincts told him he had to save Jiang Kai.

"Let go of him!" Yuan Zhu roared, charging toward the Ghoul King with his sword raised high.

The creature glanced at him briefly, seemingly annoyed but unwilling to delay its meal. It swung its other arm, releasing a thick, dark purple mist in Yuan Zhu's direction.

"Dark purple corpse poison!" Su Nuannuan gasped, alarmed.

The deeper the color of the corpse mist, the more potent its corrosiveness and toxicity. While king-tier Ghoul Kings could emit deadly black mist, most commander-tier variants only produced dark blue. This dark purple mist was incredibly rare and dangerously close to black.

"YUAN ZHU, WATCH OUT FOR THE POISON!" Su Nuannuan shouted a warning.

But Yuan Zhu was too consumed by fury to heed her words.

Moments later, the sound of clashing steel echoed from within the mist. Yuan Zhu had engaged the Ghoul King.

"Damn it…" Su Nuannuan muttered, frustrated by her inability to help directly.

Just then, a voice rang out beside her.

"No one eats Captain Kai on my watch!"

She turned to see Ruan Yu downing an entire bottle of liquor in one gulp. His eyes turned bloodshot almost immediately.

"I, Ruan Yu, bow to no one!" he declared, grabbing his frost shield and charging into the mist without hesitation.

Su Nuannuan watched in shock. Despite knowing the immense danger, Ruan Yu had still rushed in, determined to save Jiang Kai.

"Don't be reckless! This mist is lethal!" Hu Yan's voice called out from behind her. "You might be our last hope if things go south!"

Su Nuannuan nodded firmly, understanding her responsibility as a healer.

To her astonishment, Hu Yan also began running toward the mist.

"Hu Yan!" she cried out in disbelief.

"The mist is too widespread. I need to get closer to cast my spells!" he shouted back, disappearing into the toxic fog.

Within moments, Su Nuannuan heard Hu Yan's voice echo through the mist.

"Rain, come forth!"

The dark purple fog obscured the battlefield, but Su Nuannuan could still hear the sounds of battle from within.

"Let him go, monster!" Yuan Zhu bellowed, followed by a loud crash and a pained grunt.

Ruan Yu's voice rang out next, slurred but defiant.

"What a beauty you are, Ghoul King! How could I, Ruan Yu, resist you?"

Moments later, his body was flung out of the mist, landing hard on the ground.

Su Nuannuan gasped. Ruan Yu's armor was in tatters, his face badly corroded, and his flesh visibly decaying. Only his frost shield remained intact.

Despite his grievous injuries, he climbed to his feet and charged back into the fray, shouting, "So smooth and supple—I love it!"

Finally, Hu Yan's rain spell took effect.

Dark clouds gathered overhead, lightning crackled, and torrential rain poured down.

Though the rain couldn't harm the Ghoul King directly, it began to dissipate the toxic mist, and the thunderclaps seemed to unnerve the creature.

Amid the chaos, Su Nuannuan saw Hu Yan stumble and fall to one knee. The rain had come at a great cost—he'd been severely corroded by the mist.

Realizing this, the Ghoul King spat a concentrated jet of black mist directly at Hu Yan.

The dense, deadly cloud struck him, shredding his armor and leaving his flesh in tatters.

Even as he collapsed into the mud, Hu Yan gripped his staff tightly, glaring defiantly at the monster.

"Release… Kai…" he croaked before losing consciousness.

Weakened and surrounded, the Ghoul King hesitated. Rain and thunder battered it relentlessly, washing away its toxic mist. Already severely injured from its battle with the Bright Guild, the creature was now at its limit.

Seizing the moment, Yuan Zhu and Ruan Yu attacked together. Yuan Zhu slashed at its fingers with his greatsword, while Ruan Yu slammed into it with his shield.

Under their combined assault, the Ghoul King's grip finally loosened, and Jiang Kai fell from its grasp.

Badly injured and barely conscious, Jiang Kai instinctively gasped for air as he fell.

His eyes snapped open, and with his remaining strength, he hurled all nine of his throwing knives directly into the creature's exposed chest.

The knives struck true, piercing its heart.

As Jiang Kai collapsed to the ground, he managed to utter a final, faint plea.

"Nuannuan… save everyone…"

And then, everything went black.

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