Chapter 18: The Traitor's Task

Chapter 18: The Traitor's Task

Huang Mao's forehead broke into a cold sweat as he tried to hide his inner panic, shouting loudly, "You all heard him! He doesn't care about the facts and just wants to frame me!"

Hu Biao and the others frowned, unsure whom to believe.

From the current confrontation, it seemed that Lu Heng's statements were mere speculations without any evidence to support them.

However, if Lu Heng was telling the truth, leaving Huang Mao in Forge Castle would be too dangerous.

Thus, Hu Biao and his team were undecided.

Lu Heng was in no mood for idle chatter. He walked up to Huang Mao, grabbed the gauze on his arm, and yanked it off.

The gauze fell away, revealing a horrifying scar on his arm.

"The claw marks of a Clawhorn Demon. You all know what it means to be clamped by its claws, right?" Lu Heng looked at Hu Biao and the others.

Hu Biao and his team were all too familiar with the consequences of being clamped by a Clawhorn Demon. Their team had originally consisted of fifteen members, and several of them had been killed by the Clawhorn Demon.

Once clamped by the demon's claws, even if the demon was killed, the claws would not loosen their grip.

So, how did Huang Mao manage to escape the demon's grasp? The answer was becoming apparent.

Huang Mao's traitorous identity was exposed, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He tried to argue, "Brother Biao, let me explain..."

Lu Heng had no interest in listening to their team's internal affairs. He directly addressed Hu Biao, "This is someone from your team. If Forge Castle is breached by the Horned Demon Commander because of your teammate, you know what will happen."

Hu Biao's face turned ashen. "I'll handle this," he said.

As he spoke, he walked towards Huang Mao.

"Brother Biao..." Huang Mao knew that further arguments were futile, so he immediately activated his invisibility ability and tried to escape.

Hu Biao took a quick step forward, grabbed him by the neck, and dragged him out of the castle.

Huang Mao struggled desperately, but to no avail.

As he struggled, a red crystal fell from his body.

Lu Heng picked up the crystal and showed it to the others.

[Red Beacon Crystal: A special crystal used in the Abyssal World to transmit signals. When ignited, it emits a strong red light that can be seen by demons within visual range.]



The sight of this signal crystal further confirmed Lu Heng's suspicions.

This signal crystal was meant to reveal the location of Forge Castle.

Once ignited, it wouldn't take long for the Horned Demon Commander to lead a large number of low-rank demons to attack.

Lu Heng took the signal crystal and went to explain the situation to Grumble:

"There's a traitor among us, and this was found on his body."

"Damn it! This is a demon's signal crystal. The Horned Demon Commander must have his eyes on Forge Castle," Grumble panicked.

"I can help block the Horned Demon Commander, but I'll need some items to execute the plan," Lu Heng volunteered.

"That's great! Feel free to use any items available in Forge Castle," Grumble could only pin his hopes on these guests from different worlds.

"Do you have any powerful explosives?" Lu Heng asked.

"Yes, but this stuff is a bit dangerous," Grumble said as he led Lu Heng to the backyard of the castle, where they dug out several boxes of unstable forge slag.

Lu Heng picked up a piece and examined it, noting its properties.

[Unstable Explosive: Unstable forge slag with a strong explosive power but poor stability. It may explode at any moment.]



Indeed, this stuff was dangerous; it might explode even while being moved.

However, Lu Heng wasn't worried. With the explosives, he could proceed with his plan.

"Master Grumble, leave the task of blocking the Horned Demon Commander to me," Lu Heng promised.

"Thank you so much, my friend. If Forge Castle manages to escape the Abyss, all future weapon forging services will be provided to you for free," Grumble guaranteed.

Lu Heng had not expected such a pleasant surprise.

In his previous life, metahumans who completed the series hidden quest "Forge Castle's Peril" could gain the friendship of Master Grumble and receive a 50% discount on weapon forging services.

Unexpectedly, the appearance of the traitor had pushed Grumble to the brink, and he had raised the reward from a 50% discount to completely free services.

With two hours left until midnight, Lu Heng needed to prepare quickly.

First, he had Su Muyu release the scout eagle to find a suitable ambush location. Eventually, they chose a commercial building one kilometer away from Forge Castle as their ambush point.

Next, he released his shadow clone to transport the unstable explosives.

Everything was prepared, and they quietly awaited midnight.

As midnight approached, the fog in the city thinned, and for once, a few stars were visible in the sky.

Lu Heng and Hu Biao's group discussed and learned that they would immediately return to the Main World right after midnight, not participating in the task of blocking the Horned Demon Commander.

That was for the best; having more people for the task of blocking the Horned Demon Commander was useless.

Time gradually approached midnight, and Master Grumble officially activated the large spatial device in Forge Castle, beginning the process of detaching from the Abyss.

Meanwhile, Hu Biao's group, upon completing the primary mission, chose to return at the first opportunity.

On Lu Heng and Su Muyu's data panels, the option to return also appeared, but both chose to stay.

Aside from Lu Heng's group, Chen Zihan also decided to stay, wanting to participate in the final task of blocking the Horned Demon Commander.

The three arrived at the ambush point, ready to engage the Horned Demon Commander.

As Forge Castle experienced intense spatial fluctuations, the entire city trembled slightly.

The Horned Demon Commander sensed this disturbance and roared from ten kilometers away, piercing through the clouds.

Lu Heng stood on the first floor of the building and ignited the red beacon crystal.

Roar!

The Horned Demon Commander roared, leading a horde of low-rank demons towards the direction of the red light.

Not long after.

Low-rank demons began to appear near the building, their eyes glowing red, looking incredibly terrifying in the night.

Roar!

The Horned Demon Commander charged to the front of the building and let out a roar towards the inside.

Lu Heng drew the Aurora Blade and kicked the beacon crystal away.

The Horned Demon Commander, followed by hundreds of low-rank demons, rushed into the building and pounced towards Lu Heng, raising its forearm and smashing it down at Lu Heng's position.

Bang!

Lu Heng activated Gale Step, dodging the attack by flying into the air. The Horned Demon Commander's punch landed on the ground, creating a five-meter-wide spiderweb-like crater.

Having missed with its first strike, the Horned Demon Commander continued its pursuit of Lu Heng.

Although Gale Step increased Lu Heng's speed, it was still not enough against a high-rank demon like the Horned Demon Commander.

In the instant the second claw was about to strike, Lu Heng immediately released a Shadow Clone, and they fled in different directions.

Seeing Lu Heng split into two, the Horned Demon Commander couldn't discern which was the real body and chose to pursue one of them.

50% chance, and Lu Heng was chosen.

Some bad luck.

However, Lu Heng had already prepared for this situation.

Before the battle, he had taught Su Muyu how to use Skill Synergy.

As the Horned Demon Commander lunged towards Lu Heng's real body, a Scout Eagle flew in from outside the building, heading towards the Shadow Clone and dispersing into an Invisible Veil, enveloping the clone.

This was the Skill Synergy of the Scout Eagle and Invisible Veil.

Under the coverage of the invisible energy layer, the Shadow Clone quickly entered the invisible state.

The Horned Demon Commander, originally pursuing Lu Heng's real body, noticed that the other Shadow Clone had entered the invisible state.

It couldn't tell which was the real body and which was the fake, but one of them had become invisible.

The Horned Demon Commander had a sudden realization, as if it had seen through everything.

Moreover, the one that entered the invisible state had to be killed immediately; otherwise, after a few seconds, it would be impossible to catch.

So, the Horned Demon Commander immediately changed direction and pounced towards the location of the invisible Shadow Clone, striking it with its claw.

Bang!

The ground shattered, and the Shadow Clone was blasted away by the powerful shockwave, its invisible energy layer breaking and revealing its form. The clone couldn't withstand the power of the shockwave and exploded.

Realizing it had been tricked, the Horned Demon Commander roared with anger, turning to pursue Lu Heng's real body, vowing to tear that damn mouse to shreds.

Just then.

Reinforced steel bars extended from the ground, ceiling, and pillars, binding the Horned Demon Commander's limbs.

This was none other than Chen Zihan's Metal Manipulation ability, and his power had increased significantly.

The steel bar bindings couldn't hold the Horned Demon Commander for long.

With two loud bangs, the Horned Demon Commander broke free from the steel bar restraints, but Lu Heng had already taken the opportunity to rush out of the building.

In the instant he burst out of the building, he ignited all the unstable explosives installed inside.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

The load-bearing columns of the building exploded one after another, and the entire structure collapsed, burying the Horned Demon Commander and the low-rank demons that had rushed in under the rubble.

As the building crumbled, debris flew everywhere, and thick smoke and dust rolled along the ground.

Lu Heng pulled Su Muyu and fled into the distance, while their data panels were flooded with hundreds of notifications.

[Kill a demon, absorb 10 points of demon energy.]



[Kill a demon, absorb 10 points of demon energy.]



...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end