Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 456 - 23 - Dried Corpse_1

Chapter 456: Chapter 23 - Dried Corpse_1

Unexpectedly, the unimaginable happened. Nobody could foresee that just after passing through the dangerous area, when everybody had let out a sigh of relief, Pannis suddenly launched an unprovoked attack. The girls didn’t know how powerful Pannis’ attack would be, but in that moment, all they saw on Pannis’ face was a chilling, deadly killing intent.

"Tsk." His palm was solid like a blade, aiming straight for River’s heart from behind. River also had not expected Pannis to attack suddenly, but his body twisted abruptly, dodging a few steps aside, narrowly avoiding Pannis’ attack. Only his clothing was affected by the remnant shockwave, leaving a neat cut on the fabric, as if sliced by a sharp blade.

Not hitting his target didn’t deter Pannis. Like he had anticipated it, he shadowed River closely, a dagger suddenly appearing in his left hand, aiming a horizontal slash at River’s neck.

"Pannis, what are you doing? Why are you attacking him unprovoked?" Catherine was briefly taken aback when Pannis suddenly attacked River, but she was the first to respond. In the split second after gathering her wits, Catherine drew the slender sword hidden inside her long skirt, slashing a fold line in the air. Surprisingly, her target was River’s thigh. Despite the words she had spoken in confusion, criticizing Pannis for his actions, her actual movement had perfectly coordinated with Pannis’ attack.

"Lethal attack." Pannis sticking closely to River’s side, practically used all attack strategies associated with physical combat professions on him. Every part of his body became a weapon, as he launched dozens of attacks in a few seconds. The flurry of attacks left River unable to break away in the short span and retaliate; he could only fend off the fierce onslaught helter-skelter.

"Holy words, bind." "Oracle, gravity of earth." Lina had not moved for a few seconds, but when she did, it was with two different divine spells cast simultaneously. The increased gravity in the area and the binding force suddenly fell on River. But River only casually lifted a leg, and it easily shattered the two overlapping divine spells.

"How is that possible, even a legendary rank couldn’t..." Seeing her divine spell forcefully obliterated, Lina stepped back, her hands forcefully meeting the ground, and thus several light curtains appeared besides River and Pannis, striving to constrict River’s evasive space. She had a clear view of the situation with River striving to put distance between them and Pannis trying to prevent it. So, she shrunk the space around them, forcing them closer together, leaving River with no excess distance to widen the gap. But River backed off again, the light curtain broke into pieces after a momentary pause as his body made contact with it.

"Lightning net." Without any preparatory gestures, Vivian pointed a finger and a barrier formed by thunder and lightning appeared behind River. Due to Lina’s divine spell being instantly destroyed earlier, and short conversation with Pannis in the ship’s cabin warning her of some potential issues, Vivian didn’t pause after casting the spell. Making several complicated chants in the air with her hands, she spread her arms wide, and a strong light burst out from her body: "Prison of Light."

The lightning didn’t even make River pause, but the Prison of Light wrinkled his brow for a moment. While retreating, he kicked back at the incoming light prison, shattering it. But that brief pause gave Pannis the opening he needed. He landed four consecutive attacks on River’s body, leaving several bloody holes on his front. At the same time, Catherine’s second attack from behind succeeded, her sword imbued with aggression piercing through River’s torso from back to front. Regrettably, River twisted his body the moment the sword pierced him, only allowing the sword to pass through his abdomen.

"Boom." A grunt escaped River just before his body exploded like a balloon, with flesh and guts flying everywhere, similar to a shattered crystal bomb, each piece carrying destructive power. The sudden explosion forced the girls to back off, each defending themselves from the flying flesh with their shields, no one having time to even consider protecting the innocent bystanders. However, the girls weren’t anxious, as they knew well that they didn’t need to worry about protecting the innocent.

Before the captain and Maggie, who were already scared senseless by the sudden changes, Freya’s large body stood protectively like a wall. Around her, four fist-sized metal devices floated in the air, forming a pyramid with her at the center, providing full protection, rendering the scattering flesh harmless.

The blood mist in the air dispersed quickly, and River who should have been shattered still stood at his original place, though much slimmer. He wore a pitch-black robe tightly wrapped around his body, revealing a skeleton-like figure underneath.

"Clack clack clack." River’s jaw opened and closed, emitting a tooth-aching laughter as if a metal blade was grinding against a smooth surface. The face only held a skeleton like the rest of the body. No, it was not just a skeleton; it was more like a mummy, with dried wrinkled skin wrapped snugly around the bones, evoking fear in anyone who saw it. "Unexpectedly, it didn’t take long for me to be discovered, ha ha ha. You lot are ruthless too. We’ve known each other for a while, yet the moment he attacked me without warning, you joined him in wanting to kill me without even asking for an explanation."

"Because we know Pannis." River’s shrill laughter made Catherine frown, however she replied, "He wouldn’t attack anyone without reason. If he chose to attack you, it could only mean that you’re an enemy. As teammates, we trust his judgment, just as he trusted that we would assist him promptly."

"Ha ha ha, know him? Ha ha ha, you don’t even know his real name and you claim to know him." River sneered, his mouth stretching wide in a silent laugh. "I don’t know whether to call you foolish or naive."

"Speaking as if you’re in the know." As the mist of blood splattered, the young girls had quickly assembled, with Pannis stepping forward to shield the girls and facing River directly, "Long time no see, Mr. Lost Soul who escaped from the temple. If I’m not mistaken, the three High Priests of the Divine Servants are you three, whose states of existence are ambiguous."

"Cackles, don’t forget how many years we’ve been out, we can guess who you are." River’s dark eye sockets stared at Pannis. A grisly grin surfaced on his withered face, "Didn’t expect you to still be alive. Cackle."

In the eyes of the young girls, Pannis had suddenly changed. Not physically, but under their newly acquired perception at the Legendary Rank, they felt an extremely unique energy field surrounding Pannis’ body, making him incomparably different from before. The girls didn’t know what it was, but it didn’t prevent them from sensing Pannis’ power becoming incomprehensible.

"Oh? Is this your so-called Inherent Psychic Domain? How interesting." River flexed his pitch-black and withered fingers, pointing at Pannis, "Why don’t you use it in the extended way? It would enhance your battle capabilities even more, wouldn’t it?"

"Quit the chatter, this isn’t our first fight." Pannis scoffed coldly, "You clowns who have long been weeded out can’t be pulled into the realm, it’s not like I don’t know that. What’s the point in wasting breath?"

"Alright then, let’s drop the idle talk." River stopped cackling aimlessly, pointing to Pannis and asked, "I’m curious about how you discovered me? My disguise can’t be said to be imperfect."

"I must admit, it was perfect." Pannis nodded, "Had you not shown up at the Hot Spring Inn in Senaya City, I might not have discovered your identity now."

"So you did catch sight of me." River extended his shriveled black tongue and licked his fingers, "I initially went there to retrieve a lost item from countless years ago, didn’t expect you to be there, gave me quite the scare."

"Even though I only caught a glimpse of your silhouette, I’ve seen such effect many times - it’s glaringly familiar." Pannis didn’t look at Vivian, but she understood what he was saying, and she didn’t know whether to be happy or upset. Pannis continued, "I didn’t realize it at first, but the moment I saw that silhouette again, I knew what I could be up against. As for you, I don’t know how you managed to hollow out River’s bones or how you stuffed his flesh onto yourself, but you must have used some kind of potion when disposing of his body, right? The faint smell was there, and it was a scent that had never been on him before, which gave you away. I suppose you’re also the one who wanted to steal the Floating Ship, right? Did you rush over and murder him the night before last to replace him?"

"Cackles, quite intelligent indeed." River clapped with a sound like rotten wood being struck, "Only a silhouette and you figured out this much, you are truly the one who stopped us before."

"I should have guessed that you three are the High Priests behind the Divine Servant." Pannis glared at River, grinding his teeth, "Besides you three, I fear no one else would want to open Death’s Gate."

"Cackles, you’re mistaken there." River abruptly lifted the hood of his long robe, revealing his full appearance. The young girls gasped uncontrollably. On River’s forehead, the hollow left by the withered third eye was just there, declaring his identity as a Deity. "Don’t forget, the first time Death’s Gate was opened had nothing to do with us three."

"Yes, it had nothing to do with you three." Pannis scoffed coldly, "It was the doing of the followers of your Deities."

"Cackles, cackles, you guessed right again." River laughed uproariously, "Now that you know all of this, what can you do about it? Cackles, back then so many of you attacked us, but now you’re alone, even if you know that I want to seize this Floating Ship, what can you do by yourself?"

"You can take a guess." Pannis retorted with similar laughter, clenching his fists tightly. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read at m.qidian.com.)