Chapter 61: The Bronze-Masked Knight

Rustling filled the air! Immediately afterward, swarms of palm-sized black insects surged toward the Stonefang. Sensing danger by instinct, the Stonefang lashed its massive tail in agitation, attempting to drive away the black bugs. Yet, the insects were far too small, rendering the beast’s efforts futile. The black swarm poured into the monster, crawling through its nostrils and the gaps between its teeth in a frenzied tide.

“Are those Booker Beetles?” Setory turned to Lin Wei with a questioning look.

Lin Wei nodded lightly, his gaze never leaving the Stonefang’s reaction. “Yes, but… they’re not pure Booker Beetles.”

Just a few days prior to their departure, Lin Wei had acquired a large number of Booker Beetles, as well as a piece of fresh flesh taken from a fire-elemental creature. Through the use of alien biology fusion experiments, he had painstakingly dissected the fire-elemental flesh and implanted fragments into each Booker Beetle.

Thus, every Booker Beetle had become a living ignition device.

This was Lin Wei’s final trump card.

A furious roar erupted.

Within moments, the Stonefang was driven to madness. It thrashed and rolled, crashing into anything in its path as it abandoned its assault on the four companions. The group seized the opportunity to distance themselves from the rampaging beast.

Suddenly, a torrent of scorching flames burst from the Stonefang’s throat. Its originally ashen hide now glowed with a reddish hue, as if seared by unbearable heat.

“The Stonefang can breathe fire?!” Qisen gasped, looking at the others in bewilderment.

“No,” said Felinsoya, her expression grave as she cast a deep glance at Lin Wei. “It’s the Booker Beetles, isn’t it?”

Lin Wei responded with a subtle nod.

“But how can Booker Beetles burn?” Qisen was thoroughly confused.

Setory fixed her gaze on the writhing Stonefang, methodically addressing Qisen’s doubt. “As Lin Wei said, these aren’t ordinary Booker Beetles. If I’m not mistaken…” Her eyes grew complicated as she looked at Lin Wei. “They’ve undergone alien biology fusion. Their bodies must have been implanted with cells from a fire-elemental creature…”

At her words, Felinsoya and Qisen both turned sharply toward Lin Wei, their expressions shifting once again.

“Alien biology fusion?” Qisen seemed incredulous. “In basic studies, our instructor told us that even the most gifted experimenters need at least three months to barely attempt the simplest fusion. Transplanting fire-elemental cells into Booker Beetles—how is that even possible…”

Felinsoya’s gaze toward Lin Wei now brimmed with curiosity and a hint of something more elusive.

“Let’s go.”

Lin Wei glanced at the Stonefang.

“Go? Why? If we wait a bit longer, until the flames have completely destroyed its innards, we can harvest its materials—they’re all magic stones!” Qisen pleaded.

“Do as Lin Wei says,” Setory spoke with firm conviction. “Look at the surroundings. In our escape, we’ve already wandered beyond the confines of the mapped territory. It will still be some time before the Stonefang succumbs. We can’t be certain that something even more terrifying won’t appear before then.”

Qisen swallowed nervously, glancing around at the shadowy forest. “Now that you mention it… you might be right.”

Gathering themselves, the four set off on their journey back.

…

Deep within the boundless, tangled forest—

“We may be lost…” the four-man team advanced with utmost caution.

Qisen led the way, with Lin Wei bringing up the rear. Felinsoya and Setory, both drained from the earlier expenditure of spiritual power, were positioned securely in the middle.

“We’ve never been here before,” said Felinsoya, stopping abruptly and surveying their surroundings with a furrowed brow.

“Indeed…” Lin Wei followed closely behind her, scanning the unfamiliar environment. Suddenly, his words trailed off, his pupils contracting sharply.

“This place…”

Lin Wei swallowed hard.

Although they remained within the dense forest, something set this area apart. The trees were snapped and broken, as if rammed by some colossal beast, while a swath of blazing sunlight scorched the earth beneath.

Utter silence.

“This is… the fragment of the future world I saw the first time I used the Shadow of Holy Light—this is the scene behind that man!”

The memory struck Lin Wei instantly.

A figure clad in a dark red robe, face hidden behind a bronze mask, with a jet-black bird perched on his shoulder, its eyes aglow with a chilling crimson light.

“Go! Turn around, now!” Lin Wei’s sudden shout startled his companions.

A powerful sense of dread surged through his chest.

Suddenly.

Lin Wei found his movements sluggish, as though he had sunk into a quagmire from which no force could free him; the harder he struggled, the deeper he was pulled under. Glancing at his companions, he realized with horror that Felinsoya and the others stood frozen, their eyes vacant, bodies motionless, their consciousness seemingly lost in another world.

“Allow me to introduce myself…” A magnetic voice sounded from behind Lin Wei.

Instantly, Lin Wei’s hair stood on end, his pupils tightening to slits.

He turned his head slowly.

There stood a figure in a dark red robe and a bronze mask—a man, by the shape of him. Upon his shoulder perched a jet-black bird, its eyes burning with an unearthly red glow.

He was exactly as depicted in that future world fragment.

“My name is Grieth, from the Bloodshadow Fangs—the world knows me as the Copper-faced Marquis.”

The Copper-faced Marquis, Grieth!

Through the mask’s eyeholes, Lin Wei met a pair of deep, inscrutable eyes.

Suddenly, the oppressive weight around him vanished. Lin Wei collapsed, half-kneeling on the ground, sweat streaming down his forehead and cheeks, his body and spirit trembling alike under the strain.

“Lin Wei of House Nolan, possessor of pure Shadow talent, third-class aptitude, and extraordinary gifts in biology,” Grieth intoned, as if recounting a story.

Slowly, Lin Wei raised his head.

Everything before him matched perfectly with the vision from the future world fragment.

“The power of fate…”

Strangely, Lin Wei’s first thought was not of escape.

“A chance assignment from the academy, the abrupt appearance of the Stonefang, a lost team—every event led to this moment. No… perhaps there are coincidences, but there is also inevitability.”

The realization struck him.

“Fragments of the future world… immutable things… everything under fate’s dominion. What strays from the path will be pulled back; every deviation will be corrected.”

Lin Wei stood up, his gaze calm once more. With a faint smile, he bowed respectfully.

“Honored Marquis Grieth, it is a pleasure to meet you.”