Monster Human

"What—?!"

The razor edge of that sword wind made Bamu's scalp crawl.

The lead Kaman warrior was already moving.

*Combat Technique: Armor Guardian.*

White light pulsed across his armored body, thickest at the massive black shield in his grip. His face twisted into a snarl as he flung himself at Lu Yuan.

**BOOM.**

The shield buckled and caved. A terrifying force rebounded through the metal like a hammer striking bedrock. The warrior's expression shifted in an instant — ferocious to stunned to hollow terror. His body launched backward, spraying blood, the crunching of nearly every bone in his frame carrying clear across the street.

He hit the ground more than ten meters away. The fear hadn't left his eyes.

He was dead.

Bamu and Yuwu, charging just behind the Guardian line, both saw the Kaman corpse sail past them. They shared a glance, and what they found in each other's eyes wasn't just surprise — it was something colder.

*A single direct collision with a Guardian warrior's tower shield. Caved it in and killed the man outright. What kind of monster IS this?!*

Before they could process it, the other three Guardian warriors came streaking back — faster than they'd charged in — flung by the same crushing force that had killed the first. One of them, a Gnoll in full plate, slammed directly into Yuwu.

Yuwu gritted his teeth and batted him aside with his iron staff.

He glanced down at his hands. Both arms had gone numb.

*Just blocking someone flying at me made my arms go numb?!*

A brief, sharp shock crossed his face.

The other two rebounding Guardians plowed into the Assault Types behind them — three warriors went down like bowling pins, tumbling and crashing across the cobblestones.

Four Guardian Types eliminated. Three Assault Types thrown clear.

Of the original eighteen warriors between both groups, that first exchange had killed four and put three more out of action.

*This is how it's going to go?!*

Every mind on that street screamed the same thing at once.

Far back in the formation, Ningna watched the carnage and felt ice settle into his chest. He looked at the Kaman corpse and the Gnoll warriors groaning on the ground, and his pupils tightened.

*One of the three strongest leaders here — Bamu — is about to get one-shotted.*

Nearby, a Green Demon healer swept a short staff over a critically wounded Gnoll. Streams of pale white light flowed into the man's body; his groaning eased slightly as the healing began to take hold.

Ningna paid it no attention. He set his jaw.

"Use your strongest Combat Techniques! Don't hold back!" His voice cracked across the street like a command. "Guardians charge! Assault cover! Everyone else hold position! Control Types — *pin him down!*"

Gene Warriors mobilized. Spirit Power surged. Battle Techniques began materializing across the entire formation — Water Arrows, Fireballs, Wind Blades crystallizing in midair, already streaking toward Lu Yuan. On the flanks, a Gnoll Assassin Type and two Green Demon Assassin Types slipped toward better positions.

Bamu was already charging, pale blue flames blazing along his battle axe. He roared.

Lu Yuan flashed him a grin.

His greatsword came down.

**CLANG!!**

The axe split in two. The force carried straight up Bamu's arms — bones cracking, guard shattered, chest blown open.

Lu Yuan's next strike came immediately, a flash of dark crimson.

**BOOM.**

Bamu's chest armor caved in. He coughed blood in a spray, his massive body launched airborne, and he crashed down more than ten meters away. He did not move.

Every warrior on that street went rigid.

*One hit. One of the three leaders. Done.*

In the rear, Ningna's dark red eyes flickered. His grip tightened on his Staff. The humiliation of it burned — losing face in front of Bamu and Yuwu both, his own authority undermined in front of every team leader present. That damned human.

He raised his Staff. Brilliant green light blazed from the tip.

*Combat Technique: Demon Arrow Rain.*

A torrent of green arrows crystallized in the air all at once, then streaked down over Lu Yuan's position in a blanketing wave. Cascading explosions cratered the street, shockwaves rolling outward in every direction, dust billowing into a dense wall of haze.

Even from a distance, Bamu and Yuwu could feel the ferocious power rolling off that technique. Every surviving warrior on the street stared at the smoke.

*No one could walk out of that unharmed.*

Ningna's mouth curved.

The smoke cleared.

A figure walked out of it.

Crimson light pulsed softly around his frame. His expression was calm. His armor was pristine.

Not a single mark on him.

Ningna's eyes bulged nearly out of his head.

"How is this *possible?!*" The words left him before he could stop them. "Under Demon Arrow Rain — *my* Demon Arrow Rain — how does he not have a scratch?!"

Lu Yuan looked at Ningna's stunned expression and smiled pleasantly.

"Me? I'm just an ordinary human, aren't I?"

Ningna: "......"

As the Green Demon team leader, his mouth twitched violently.

*Ordinary.*

The word hit the assembled warriors like a physical blow. A chill rippled through everyone who heard it.

*Does this human have some serious delusion about what 'ordinary' means?!*

Thinking about Lu Yuan's terrifying defensive ability, Ningna's expression grew heavy. Direct combat was suicide. These attacks clearly weren't enough. He needed another angle.

His eyes flicked toward the plaza behind him, then to the enormous mechanical warrior standing guard at the hundred-meter tower's entrance. Something cold and slightly unhinged entered his gaze.

A cold smile crossed his face. He reached into his coat and produced a purple talisman.

*Talisman: Amethyst Guardian.*

He channeled Spirit Power into it. The talisman blazed to life and dissolved into a shell of purple crystal light that sealed around him completely. The instant it closed, a crushing weight seemed to settle onto his body — his movement speed dropped by over ninety percent, immediate and severe. His deep-green complexion took on a violet tint where the light touched him.

This talisman had been specifically prepared for the Aier Mechanical Ruins. He'd paid over a hundred thousand First-rank Spirit Crystals for it, and even at that price it had been steep. He'd planned to save it for the approach to the core area, not burn his trump card on day one.

But the shield could hold against anything below Second-rank strength. Not even a perfect First-rank Boss Grade creature could crack it.

He began moving — slow and ponderous — toward the plaza.

"Even a monster like you," he called out, "can't split your attention to deal with me while being suppressed by this level of firepower, can you?!"

Lu Yuan's speed suddenly erupted. He ducked under a green arrow volley.

Ningna's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.

"What was that you said?" Lu Yuan called back, barely breaking stride. "That I can't focus on you?"

The warriors nearby who heard him felt the temperature drop another degree.

Ningna raised his Staff again — this time sweeping it in a wide arc, deliberately targeting the mechanical patrol units further down the street.

Demon Arrow Rain streaked outward toward the guards.

**Beep. Beep. Life form detected. Confirmed hostile. Initiating purge protocol.**

The mechanical guards' blue eyes flared red in unison.

Every patrol unit on the street turned and charged. Even the enormous mechanical warrior at the tower entrance lifted its head — but it held its position, anchored to its own domain.

The charging guards were already firing. Spirit Power rifles blazed, sending streams of dark blue energy bolts raking down the street in a relentless barrage. These weren't the patrol units Lu Yuan had been dismantling all afternoon — their output registered at First-rank peak Elite level.

A wall of energy tore across every living person on the street.

The other Green Demons and Gnolls could handle a bolt or two. Against a wall-to-wall barrage, they were shredded instantly.

The bolts slammed into Ningna's Amethyst Guardian and stopped dead.

Ningna smirked and lowered his Staff.

"*Can't split your focus now, can you?!*"

Lu Yuan disappeared entirely inside the energy storm. No trace of him visible.

"Lord Ningna?!" one of his subordinates called out in alarm.

"No need to worry about me," Ningna said, not turning. "He'll be dead soon enough. Running fast won't save a damned human."

He kept shuffling toward the plaza.

Then a shape burst out of the storm.

Crimson light blazed around him. Lu Yuan strode forward through the hail of dark blue bolts, expression utterly calm, accelerating directly toward Ningna.

Not a mark on him. Armor gleaming.

Not just Ningna — Bamu and Yuwu and every surviving Gene Warrior on that street gaped, unable to reconcile what they were seeing with what they knew should be possible.

*Our attacks do nothing. He hits you once and you're dead. Every single one of our techniques is useless. How — *how* — do you fight this?!*

Yuwu stared down at his numb hands, something hollow settling into his chest.

*If this weren't the Aier Mechanical Ruins — if only First-rank warriors were allowed inside — I'd have assumed this man was Second-rank high-tier at minimum. Peak Second-rank. With Boss Grade genes inscribed.*

*Just blocking a flying Guardian warrior made my arms go numb. What does that say about him?*

The only escape route was blocked by this human. There was no other play.

Ningna's eyes locked on the enormous mechanical guardian at the tower gate. His gaze went a little unhinged.

He unleashed every scrap of power he had left and charged for the plaza.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan's body blurred.

He appeared in front of Yuwu.

Yuwu's pupils shrank to points. He roared and swung his iron staff to meet him.

Lu Yuan kicked him.

Yuwu was airborne before he finished the swing. He crashed into the Assault Type Gnoll directly behind him — both of them skidding and tumbling more than ten meters across the street before slamming to a brutal stop. The Gnoll writhed beneath him, face white with pain, groaning continuously.

Seeing Lu Yuan step toward him again, Yuwu thrust out a hand.

"Wait! Human — *wait!* I'll give you the tower! Let us leave! No — take everything we've gathered here, all of it!"

Lu Yuan pulled his foot back. He heard Yuwu out.

Then he smiled, bright and unhesitating.

"Stupid mutt. If I kill you, your stuff's mine anyway."

*After all, they'd just entered the Aier Mechanical Ruins, and gains couldn't be taken out — death meant dropping everything. Every last item would end up his.*

*It was going to be a considerable haul.*

The iron staff was knocked aside. Lu Yuan's reverse stroke cut across Yuwu's throat.

Blood poured. Yuwu's body crashed hard to the ground, eyes wide open and fixed on the sky — every line of his face burning with furious, helpless indignation.

Lu Yuan looked at the dead Gnoll's expression for a moment. Something oddly amused crossed his own face.

That left only Ningna's remaining forces in the rear.

And Ningna himself — shielded, reduced to a shambling crawl, eyes locked on the enormous mechanical guardian at the hundred-meter tower's entrance — surging forward with everything he had.

"Human!" His voice tore across the street. "If you want to kill us all — *then we all die together!!*"