The Eldritch Files

In that instant, even Han Su felt his scalp tingle as he noticed the abnormality in the Drunkard’s body.

The power of the Mechanical Ghost Sequence.

The moment the Ghost Truck hit him, the Drunkard had used a temporary modification ability from the Mechanical Ghost Sequence.

He had mechanically altered every muscle, bone, and tendon in his body, drastically transforming himself to withstand the Ghost Truck’s impact head-on.

This leader of the four great Investigators wasn’t from the Banshee Sequence, nor had he merely mastered the abilities of a Sea Beast.

He knew all three Sequences!

”Vicious attacks and flashy abilities...”

In the dead silence, the Drunkard spoke, his voice carrying a metallic quality:

”But for two people of your Level to think you can kill me... that’s disrespecting the Mysterious Powers!”

As he spoke, he suddenly exerted his strength. A sound like hydraulics came from his arms as his bones shifted section by section.

He actually managed to shove the Ghost Truck, forcing it to slide back half a meter.

Using that opening, he spun around abruptly.

His body now seemed stiff and heavy, but it was immensely powerful. With a cold, metallic hardness, he stomped his feet, leaving two craters in the ground. His form, like a clumsy but weighty machine, launched itself toward Han Su.

”BANG! BANG! BANG!”

Han Su fired three consecutive shots at him, but the bullets only sparked against his body, failing to even break his skin.

But the Drunkard charged forward through the roar of the gunfire, his voice filled with a suppressed, ultimate madness:

”You give your all and can only master one of the three Sequences!”

”But I helped develop all three of the Disaster Management Bureau’s Encrypted Spells...”

”...”

With a roar, he leaped high into the air and slammed a fist into the ground.

In an instant, rolling arcs of blue electricity flashed, burning all the wild grass within a ten-meter radius to ash. His punch carved a deep crater into the earth and rock.

But Han Su was agile. He instantly pulled back and retreated, dodging from a distance. However, the moment the Drunkard landed, his form shifted again. Sharp nails suddenly grew from the fingers of his right hand as he charged at Han Su.

As he looked up, his pupils narrowed to pinpricks, as if they were physically nailing Han Su in place.

Han Su’s movements were affected, as if his body had been pierced by several nails, impeding his actions.

The Drunkard closed the distance to Han Su in a flash, thrusting his fists straight forward in a blur of afterimages.

His movements were wooden now. His fists didn’t swing like a normal person’s; instead, they rapidly retracted and shot out, seeming to lengthen and shorten. Each punch seemed to be hydraulically driven, and his fists themselves had become like metal, hard to the extreme.

It was less like facing a human and more like confronting a mechanical monster.

This was the most durable and terrifying move of the Mechanical Ghost Sequence, privately known as ”Hydraulic Boxing.”

”Damn it!”

As Han Su felt a shadow fall over him, he grit his teeth and pushed his Spiritual Activity to its absolute limit.

He knew that a single one of the Drunkard’s punches would shatter his bones and tear his tendons, so he pushed his agility to the max.

Swaying left and right, he dodged several punches in a row and took the opportunity to kick the Drunkard in the chest. Unexpectedly, the Drunkard’s entire body had undergone some kind of metallic transformation. The impact sent Han Su flying back. The Drunkard immediately pounced again, throwing a Superman Punch at his face.

”If you’re really so capable, why are you still just an ordinary Investigator?”

Rage flared up in Han Su.

Sent flying back, the moment he regained his footing, he planted his feet, arched his body like a bow, and launched his left fist like a cannonball.

Copper-colored blood was already seeping from the back of his left hand. The more blood that emerged, the heavier his punch became.

When he first threw the punch, it had the standard weight of an adult’s, merely solid like a man swinging a sledgehammer.

But midway through the swing, as the copper seeped out, the punch became several times heavier.

By the time this calculated punch reached its optimal point of force, its power had surpassed the limits of ordinary imagination. It solidly collided with the Drunkard’s mid-air strike.

Sparks flew. Han Su was once again sent flying back uncontrollably by the force of the Drunkard’s punch.

The Drunkard’s right arm also showed signs of cracking.

An indescribably strange expression instantly appeared on his face. He stared grimly at Han Su. ”What Sequence are you?”

’This doesn’t make sense. The Mechanical Ghost’s ability is to mechanize the body. How could someone possibly match my strength and suppress me?’

From that last punch Han Su threw, he sensed a power that, while weaker than his own, possessed an incredibly terrifying status.

”You know all three Sequences?”

In that same instant, Han Su charged forward again to attack. ”But we’ve studied all three Sequences!”

Now, he was getting vicious. As he rushed forward, he drew a plain longsword from his back. The copper-colored blood continued to seep from the back of his left hand, flowing down his arm and onto the blade.

The entire blade, coated in the copper-colored blood, took on a bizarre, glistening yellowish hue, as if it were plated with a layer of copper. It not only became more solid but also began to possess an uncanny sharpness.

”SWISH! SWISH! SWISH...”

He viciously hacked at the Drunkard’s joints, his attacks coming one after another.

Annoyed, the Drunkard could only retreat for the moment, but his expression soon changed drastically.

His body had undergone a temporary modification, making it immensely strong and incredibly durable, but also heavy, slow, and less agile. Normally, this wasn’t a problem, as few people could harm him in this state.

But Han Su’s saber—or rather, the copper on the saber—completely suppressed his current form. Wherever the blade slashed across his body, bloody gashes appeared.

Since they had decided to eliminate the Drunkard, how could they not prepare by gathering intelligence?

This task naturally fell to Wei Lan, the candidate from the Queen’s Organization. While Han Su acted as the bait, she was responsible for investigating the Drunkard’s strengths and weaknesses.

But the security classification on the Drunkard’s personal files was too high to uncover anything. However, while the Disaster Management Bureau’s three Sequences were also highly classified, too many Investigators and personnel had access to them. The secrets simply couldn’t be kept.

Ironically, an Investigator club like Dingxiang Mansion, founded by the Drunkard himself, became one of Wei Lan’s sources of intelligence due to its rampant and unchecked information exchange.

And at the same moment Han Su was locked in combat with the Drunkard, Wei Lan grit her teeth, quickly pressed her hands together, and chanted a Spell.

Three mirrors appeared in front of her, each one as tall as a person.

Their angles were adjusted so that all three mirrors perfectly reflected the Drunkard, capturing his image.

The strangest part was that only the Drunkard’s reflection appeared; Han Su was not reflected at all.

As his image appeared in the mirrors, the metallic transformation of the Drunkard’s body visibly faded. Even the blue electrical arcs Flashing around him grew faintly dimmer.

Spiritual Stealing!

Number 03 of the Empress Sequence: using mirrors to steal an opponent’s Spiritual Power. For each reflection captured, a portion of their Spiritual Power is stolen.

Only by breaking the mirrors can the Spiritual Power be returned.

Wei Lan was also going all out now. Disregarding the danger of the backlash, she was using an ability normally reserved for sneak attacks in a direct confrontation. The effect was extremely clear: in an instant, she had stolen a third of the Drunkard’s Spiritual Power.

”He possesses the Upper-Rank Power of copper!”

After just a few exchanges, the Drunkard’s wariness of Han Su had reached its peak.

His own Spiritual Activity and mastery of the three Sequences should have been able to suppress his opponent in every way.

Yet Han Su’s Divine Power was too bizarre. Under his suppression, it had instead revealed a sharp edge.

’Most importantly, he couldn’t help but make a connection. He can summon the Ghost Truck and wield the power of ”copper”—a power that can even suppress my own Mechanical Ghost. In that case, back at Dingxiang Mansion, that Living Copper Puppet...’

This speculation was enough to send a chill down his spine.

With Han Su locking him in close combat and Wei Lan stealing his power from a distance, he began to feel a faint sense of helplessness.

’I can’t let this drag on!’

The thought flashed through his mind, and he voluntarily shed the power of the Mechanical Ghost. Becoming agile again, he dodged left and right, evading two of Han Su’s slashes before leaping up and kicking the incoming Copper Saber.

The moment his body shot backward, he once again summoned the power of the Banshee. His figure was Flashing as he prepared to accelerate, intending to use the Banshee’s advantage to escape the battle. ’As long as I have the Banshee’s speed, whether I escape or attack, the initiative will be mine.’

”Still think you can run?”

Han Su’s Spiritual Activity and combat experience were inferior to the Drunkard’s, but his fighting reflexes had been honed in the Ancient Castle.

The moment the Drunkard kicked out, Han Su guessed his intention and slammed a mechanism on his weapon.

”CRACKLE!” The Drunkard’s foot landed on the longsword, but a strong electric current instantly made his body convulse.

Han Su’s reaction was even faster than the Drunkard’s. He slammed his right hand onto the ground in front of him. With a HISS, flames erupted. The burn scars on his body seemed to come to life, turning into fire that rapidly burned forward and formed a ring of flames.

The Drunkard found himself surrounded by a blinding glare, unable to use the Banshee’s speed. All he heard was a loud RUMBLE.

The Ghost Truck charged over again, barreling straight through the ring of fire. It caught him off guard and solidly ground him under its wheels, using every bit of its momentum to run him down.

”BEEP BEEP—”

The Drunkard, now under the truck, was like a rag doll being savaged back and forth by the huge, monstrous wheels.

Having finally pinned the Drunkard underneath, the Ghost Truck was both excited and agitated.

It rolled back and forth, reversing and advancing.

It even shook its enormous truck bed as it continued to run him over.