In the night, the alleyway is surrounded by cold, detached apartments and courtyards, with old discarded hoverbikes parked about, and assorted items lying underneath the buildings nearby. The only source of commotion might be the supermarket and the small street-side shops about a hundred meters away from the alley.
However, all of this has nothing to do with what is happening inside the alley, where a barrier-like 'membrane' blocks out the noises and flashes of the battle from those outside, making it difficult for anyone to notice.
Tilan gently lands on the wall at the edge of the alley, frowning slightly as she hears the words of the blood-flesh monster below. She is not the type of saint with an excess of unchecked benevolence, but she feels a physiological discomfort at such rhetoric.
No wonder the Federation's laws on human genetic modification are so strict; it's probably because of such severe cases that have emerged.
Deciding to take action, the girl no longer conceals her figure, gradually exiting her phased state and reappearing in the material world.
The sudden appearance of the figure startles the blood-flesh monster, which quickly turns and launches a tendril in an attack.
With a light step, Tilan easily dodges the attack, landing within the alley. Her gaze sweeps over the Autonomous Units shattered into pieces, some of which are still relatively intact, though their ammunition is spent.
Overall, given the size of the Autonomous Units, they can't carry much ammunition, and with their high rate of fire, they can run out in ten seconds, after which they become useless decor.
His gaze follows the girl as she easily evades his tendril attack; the blood-flesh monster twists again, part of it entangling the struggling grey pine man inside, the other part coalescing into a complete humanoid form.
Its muscles inflate like being pumped with air, and sharp claws extend from its fingertips, a faint purple-red cold gleam emerging from them. Having completed its transformation, the blood-flesh monster launches at Tilan at a speed like a residual shadow, placing it at the forefront of even the quickest Sequence 6 Transcendents.
But well, when it reaches out with its purple-red claws to rip through the girl's figure, it finds only an illusion, an afterimage. As it turns back around, it finds the girl now crouched beside the ensnared grey pine man.
With a flick of her finger, an invisible, intangible sharp blade slices through the blood-flesh monster on the man, avoiding him precisely, without causing a scratch – a model example of surgical scalpel use.
In order to solidify her foundation and to avoid drawing undue attention, Tilan has not been in a rush to advance to Sequence 6. Over the past two years, she has been learning various Secret Techniques of her lineage, and her control and precision over Magic Power have vastly improved.
Spitting out a vague clump of blood, the man kneels on the ground, then reaches into his abdomen and pulls out a squirming piece of flesh. Soon after, boiling pale flames rise, burning it to a crisp, and then engulfing his whole body, continuously scorching the infected parts within.
The potion that the clown-faced man fed him was meant to corrupt and transform him, but it also genuinely replenished much of his exhausted magic power.
His brain is still in severe pain and foggy; hallucinations and strange voices emerge, but the man struggles to stand.
"You go call the police, I'll handle things here." His partner already made the police alert earlier; he said this just to urge the girl beside him to hurry away.
He sensed that this girl beside him is only at Sequence 5. Although her dodging movements just now were very smooth, possibly a genius from a prestigious school, facing an enemy at the high rank of Sequence 6, a dangerous individual who is of a bizarre form and has harmed countless people, is still too risky.
The knowledge learned in school and the dangers in real combat hold an immense chasm between them. Having dealt with many vicious people, he knows the danger involved is not something that an ordinary Sequence 6 Transcendent can compare with.
"I've already alerted the police." The girl blinks and replies. She called the police on her way here, but today being a festival day, the response might not be very prompt, and ordinary Riot Control Units wouldn't be able to handle an enemy one.
"Then hurry up and leave!"
The man is rather irritated by the girl's seemingly dismissive attitude, thinking she's just staying because she finds it amusing.
"Uh... actually, I think the Uncle is about to give in."
Tilan, previously aspiring to be a doctor, is quite aware of the grey pine man's condition: he wouldn't last many moves in a fight against the blood-flesh monster.
As the two converse, the blood-flesh monster charges again. This time it seems to have made some adjustments to its body, reducing muscle mass but moving even faster.
The purple-red claw slashes diagonally, the grey pine man's pupils contract sharply, he lunges forward, dodging the attack with a brief misalignment, then crashes into the monster's embrace, subsequently pressing his left hand on the monster's shoulder, and delivering a thunderous right hook, echoing like a cannon.
With the punch thrown, a massive rip appears in the chest of the blood-flesh monster, all around the wound is charred.
After landing the punch, taking advantage of the enemy's weakened moment, the grey pine man presses down on its head, then drives his knee up, smashing its skull like a watermelon.
Pale flames once again sweep over, enveloping the monster's body, and then the grey pine man hurls it against a wall.
Having finished, he collapses from exhaustion, breathes heavily on the ground, and starts to experience hallucinations before his eyes and ears.
The potion he had just absorbed indeed restored his strength, but the side effects began to emerge, an indescribable restlessness rising in his heart. It seems he grows irritable towards everyone, and his rational mind keeps telling him there's something wrong with these thoughts. Then familiar faces from the past start appearing, standing by him and talking to him.