Chapter 497 Tragic Lovers, Part 2

The group left in the same way they came, slow. Lee Seng was on high alert until he knew they were gone. He stepped out of the shadows of the forest and let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought they said animals like dogs and cats and children could see me…" Lwe Seng whispered to himself. He brushed his chin as he stood there and thought. "Aren't there people who see ghosts and stuff all the time? Wouldn't they be able to see me…? You don't really hear about adventurers fighting ghosts all the time… So I guess that might be true. I'll just have to be careful."

Lee Seng wandered into the forest city. Nature had taken back one of the places the Old World Humans claimed for themselves. Old cars littered the city. Nature had taken over, climbing up the rusted cars and the large buildings.

'These could be very unstable.' Lee Seng thought to himself as he continued to follow the broken road. 'I should be careful.' He wandered through the city, hoping he would eventually find any markers that would guide him in the right direction. He went for about thirty minutes before he heard the ground crunch off to his right. His eyes turned to look and noticed one of the half-crumbled shops.

Something was moving in there. That much, he was sure of. Lee Seng's eyes narrowed as he continued to hear the rustle of debris and rusted metal move around. Lee Seng's hand hovered over to his side. Even though his katana wasn't there, he learned to bind the weapon to himself. He didn't know how he could do it, but he accidentally found out. As Lee Seng wrapped his fingers over air, the katana appeared strapped to his side.

The rustling noise grew loud as an unknown quadrupedal creature leaped out of the shadows and into the sunlit road. It was the size of a wolf. It had metal plates attached to its body. Gray eyes looked over at him. Lee Seng instinctively shifted backwards, doing the opposite of what he wanted – to not catch the attention of the beast Debris moved, catching the attention of the metallic beast as it growled. The beast launched itself into the air, spinning rapidly through the air. The metal plates rattled and hissed as the beast launched itself straight for Lee Seng.

'It can see me?' Lee Seng thought. The ground ripped as the beast tore the debris up and flew straight for Lee Seng. Lee Seng dodged to the side, the beast flying past and turning around. Lee Seng stood up, only to dodge to the side, again. The beast was somehow picking up speed. Lee Seng rolled onto his feet and watched as the beast flew straight for him. He lifted his hand away from the katana and blasted the roly-poly wolf-looking thing away from him. The beast flew backwards, slamming into a rusted car as the metal sparked against the rust, tearing bits of it away.

Lee Seng's form shimmered, releasing two Echo images of him. The three pulled their katanas out and dashed straight for the beast.

[Echoed Hits has been activated.]

The Echoes flew at the beast, swinging down at it. The beast turned to its side, metal platings growing large as it hissed. The first two Echoes swung straight through it, blowing up in light as Lee Seng swung downwards. A burst of gravity sliced the metal plating. The hit barely made it halfway as Lee Seng watched the metal beast swing its tail straight for him. Lee Seng pulled away, watching the Echoed Hits take action. Another blow interrupted the beast from whatever it was going to do, cutting through the rest of the metal. Lee Seng lifted his katana as Twin Suns enveloped him.

"Gravitum: Piercing Flash." Lee Seng pierced the air, watching the blade release a condensed beam of light and gravity at the beast. A loud explosion lit the building up into smoke as it crumbled.

[Unknown Metal Beast has been slain! 2 Souls have been added!]

'Shit. I overdid it. I gave my position away.' Lee Seng thought as he quickly sheathed the blade. He turned and ran, disappearing from his spot.

He moved for a while, fading the light of the Twin Suns so he could possibly not get caught. The forest city was hard to navigate. Some parts had eroded and gathered large amounts of water while other parts seemed to have clumped up rusted cars together. It looked like there were people who were still living and scavenging the area. Lee Seng hoped the other beasts and humans saw him. He slid to a stop, casually spinning around. He took a look around and noticed the familiar area.

'I was here before with the spirit.' Lee Seng recalled. He immediately looked in the direction the spirit took him. 'He went that way for a while and eventually curved out of the city and into the forest.' Lee Seng jumped backwards, listening to a bullet hit the spot he was at.

"I found him!" A voice shouted.

"Tch!" Lee Seng clicked his tongue. "How am I being seen?"

"Get him!" Another voice shouted. A group of people ran at him. Lee Seng wrapped his hand around the handle of his katana. It vibrated as he filled the blade with some of his energy. Another gunshot flew up as he simply watched. The bullets came to a complete stop in front of him, dropping to the ground.

"Shoot him!" A voice from behind him shouted. Bullets flew at him as the guys on the ground grew very close. Lee Seng whipped himself around and slashed where the voice came from. A loud explosion erupted as bullets flew to a complete stop around him.

[5 Humans were slain. 20 souls added!] (A/N: Human souls are originally worth 2 souls. Because Lee Seng has the 'Vessel' skill passive buff through Magical Rewrite, the souls double, again.)

'Gravitum: Flick of Light.' Lee Seng flicked his wrist and watched as the gravity bubble exploded around him, shoving everything backwards.

"Now!" Three gunshots pierced the air, quickly rocking his shoulders backwards. Lee Seng winced as the bullets flew out of his body and instantly healed the wound.

"Dragon fire!" A blast of flames flew at him.

"Lightning Strike!"

"Earth Shatter!"

[Gravity Bubble has been used.]

Flames flew all around him as the earth tried to squeeze him into his hot grave. Lightning slammed on top of him, cracking the gravity bubble in an instant. Lee Seng squeezed his fist, repairing the bubble as the sounds of rushing footsteps flew straight for him.

"Shattering Strike!" A woman flew out of the flames and swung down on the bubble, instantly shattering it and catching Lee Seng by surprise. She quickly landed and swung straight for Lee Seng's neck. The blade connected and blood spilled as Lee Seng clutched his neck, stumbling backwards. Bullets flew into his body as more humans rushed past the woman. Lee Seng's form shimmered as three tails lashed out at the crowd. Gravity exploded everywhere as his tail ruthlessly protected its master.

[Three Humans were slain. 12 souls added.]

'Protect.' Lee Seng pulled the tail in front of him creating a growing barrier as bullets and magic flew at him. He slid to a stop, clutching his neck as it continued to bleed. 'Shit… She somehow negated my barrier with ease.' The wound slowly closed as he flicked the blood off of him.

"What the hell is that?!?" A man screamed. "Is it a high ranking monster?"

"What do we do?" Another asked.

"Hold your positions!" The woman shouted. "It probably doesn't know we took it by surprise! It's wary of me now! We'll use that to overpower it. Get ready everyone!"

'You speak your whole plan in front of me.' Lee Seng shook his head. 'Bad idea.'

"Go!" The woman shouted. She dashed forward as bullets and magic continued to hit Lee Seng's tails.

"Flashbang." Lee Seng whispered. His tails lit up and exploded in front of him. Cries grew loud as Lee Seng pulled his tails away. The woman flew at him, swinging her sword downwards at him as he dodged. Lee Seng shot out gravity blasts at her teammates, watching the woman catch on, quickly. The air shimmered like it was distorting and catching the attacks.

"Tch." Lee Seng clicked his tongue. He spun the katana in his hand as the cries started to die down. "The serum really blessed you with the ability to negate others' abilities… I wish I had that." The woman didn't seem surprised he could talk. She was smart. She knew high ranking "monsters" had intelligence to converse in their many languages.

"Beast, you're in our territory. You shouldn't have come here." She pointed her sword at him. Lee Seng gulped as he held the katana in his left hand. He pulled the sheathe off of his side and spun it around. "You think changing your fighting stance will prove anything?"

Lee Seng didn't respond. He didn't like the needless talk. He honestly didn't want to kill people without a reason but when the only reason was "to survive," he couldn't really argue with it. He could hear people starting to run and ready themselves. He wasn't going to have enough time to do all of this. He needed to get rid of the woman somehow, but also get rid of the guys in the back. He gritted his teeth as his grip tightened.