The Screaming Earl swiftly withdrew the claws embedded in Jiang Chi's shoulders, then seized Jiang Chi's left hand with crushing force — nearly shattering the man's wrist bones. His other hand followed up imdiately, snatching at the pocket watch.
Just as Gongyang Jiao was about to succeed, Jiang Chi showed no panic. Instead, with cold composure, he twisted his arm and used the opponent's own imnse force to rotate their positions. Seizing the single timing window within this crushing pressure — before Da Yi's Iron Thorns could land — his free hand ripped the short blade from Gongyang Jiao's chest and severed his own left arm in a single stroke. Simultaneously, core and legs exploded with power as he curled inward, planted both feet against Gongyang Jiao's midsection, and launched himself backward with terrifying force — tearing free from the [War] Gap Light Trap and sprinting frantically in the direction Gongyang Jiao had co from.
The exquisite timing and the courage to amputate his own arm left everyone stunned. Gongyang Jiao himself was sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut — hurtling straight toward Cheng Shi.
Da Yi landed, found his target gone, and spared an unhesitating complint — "Hot damn, impressive!" — before his expression darkened and he gave chase.
The Chaleon peppered Jiang Chi with cold arrows to slow his retreat, clearly impressed by the escape as well.
Seeing the man sohow slip away even from this, Cheng Shi frowned slightly and tossed a healing spell at the injured employee.
'This employee wasn't performing well...'
Gongyang Jiao was indeed not performing well — he was furious!
The instant he was kicked back to Lord Yu Xi's feet, the snarling Screaming Earl couldn't contain his rage. He threw back his head toward Jiang Chi's fleeing direction and unleashed the most blood-curdling scream of the entire trial — a howl channeling every ounce of [Corruption] power!
That piercing detonation raked across everyone's psyche like claws dragging across the tip of one's heart. A single syllable was enough to send consciousness reeling, as though your deepest, most primal terror had materialized before your eyes.
The attack was devastatingly effective. Good news: the blast radius was enormous and lethally potent. Jiang Chi coughed blood on the spot.
Bad news: the scream made no distinction between friend and foe. The pursuing assassin, the flanking hunter, and even Lord Yu Xi standing right beside the Screaming Earl — all were stunned for an instant.
Cheng Shi got hit worst. He was too close — close enough that it felt like a sledgehamr had slamd into his sternum. Sweetness rose in his throat and blood nearly spilled from the corner of his mouth. He forced himself to swallow the bloody foam, only to find that the single Gongyang Jiao before him had split into three overlapping ghosts. anwhile, his heart hamred violently, as if only by pumping this hard could it suppress the surging tide of terror.
"..." Cheng Shi's gaze froze. His face darkened. 'You didn't do that on purpose, did you, Mr. Ram the Employee?'
But while this sudden friendly fire was bad news, for certain parties it served as a perfect signal. Jiang Chi, for instance. And...
The Screaming Earl who'd issued the howl!
Yes — Gongyang Jiao didn't consider friendly fire a problem. Because from the mont he was kicked back, he had no more allies!
Because this was deliberate!
Everything changed in an instant!!
A grin more savage than before crawled across the Screaming Earl's face. He wiped blood from his lips and, snarling, extended his right hand.
Don't forget — Jiang Chi's severed arm, the one holding the pocket watch, was still in his grip. So when Gongyang Jiao raised it, the disembodied limb suddenly twitched as if by reflex, fingers peeling open to reveal the crushed, deford pocket watch. And the instant that watch appeared before Cheng Shi—
'Bad. This was very bad!!'
Cheng Shi recognized the danger. But it was too late. Far too late.
[Ti]'s power erupted. The entire area plunged into stagnation.
And Cheng Shi stood at the very edge of that frozen space!
Which ant Gongyang Jiao on the outside could still move freely. But Cheng Shi had beco a sitting target!
This was a flawlessly executed, brilliantly coordinated assassination. The instigator was Gongyang Jiao. The perfect assist ca from the fleeing Jiang Chi. And the mark... was Cheng Shi, who'd been kept in the dark until the very last second!
Gongyang Jiao had turned!
No — "turned" wasn't the right word. The desire he could no longer suppress had simply told him: that ring, so perfectly attuned to the Screaming Earl, should never have been on soone else's finger. He was its rightful owner!
And so, in the instant Gongyang Jiao had collided with Jiang Chi, he'd offered the Pointer Knight a new deal.
Jiang Chi could scarcely believe Gongyang Jiao would choose to cooperate at a ti like this. But he had no other choice!
If he wanted to live — wanted to gamble — he could only trust Gongyang Jiao. Things couldn't possibly get worse than they already were!
So who said only Pointer Knights had a gift for timing? Every person here was a true master of timing!
And so these two warriors, under everyone's noses, executed a reverse assassination more stunning than anything their assassin counterpart could have managed. Right now, the target — Cheng Shi — was frozen in place by a pocket watch, unable to move a muscle.
Gongyang Jiao spun. He was fast. A single lethal thrust aid straight at Cheng Shi's heart — no hesitation, no wasted motion.
In Cheng Shi's eyes, the grotesque grin drew closer and closer. Unable to move, he could only stare forward, forced to observe every wrinkle at the corner of those eyes, every fine hair along those lips — in excruciating detail.
But the finer the detail, the closer the distance.
When Cheng Shi felt the Screaming Earl's exhaled breath brush against his face, his heart plumted.
'Careless.'
He'd never identified the mont he'd shown a crack in front of Gongyang Jiao — the crack that let the man see through his identity.
But just as panic and bewildernt churned together in his chest, his mind buzzing too loudly to reach any conclusion, he heard Gongyang Jiao's voice, inches from his ear:
"Farewell, Lord Yu Xi! An Envoy? So what — when it's ti to die... you still die, don't you?
"Exquisite — I can feel your fear!"
The words barely faded before talons pierced flesh and drove straight into his heart. The warrior's powerful arm clenched instantly, crushing the still-beating organ—
SPLAT.
Obliterated.
And in that sa instant, [Ti]'s stagnation dissolved. A body hit the ground with a thud. The savage grin on Gongyang Jiao's face froze solid.
He stared at Cheng Shi — still standing upright before him — and his expression twisted. Another earth-shaking scream tore from his throat:
"IMPOSSIBLE!!!"
Gongyang Jiao went berserk. He'd never imagined that at this mont — this razor-thin, life-or-death, god-slaying mont — soone could still save Cheng Shi. Could take the blow for him!
'Was she insane!?'
She wasn't insane.
She had never — not for a single second — been insane!
Don't forget: this hunt didn't involve just four hunters. There was a fifth, pinned high on the city wall, seemingly out of action.
Poison!
The [Corruption] Chosen — no one should ever have ignored her presence.
Everyone knew Jiang Chi's sword couldn't truly kill her. But in their minds, hanging on that wall was simply her way of avoiding the hassle of combat.
Not a soul expected that at this mont — the very instant Cheng Shi was about to die — Poison would reappear.
Just as she had at the Rosna Recruitnt Square — wounded and all — she materialized before Cheng Shi in a flash, intercepting the killing blow ant for him.
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