Chapter 277

Chapter 278: Metal Doll

To be honest, just looking at the Metal Doll, Yu Sheng felt a strange, dangerous pressure wash over him. The white, cast-metal smiling face held no human warmth, yet he could tell this thing was staring at him, radiating a cold, emotionless urge to attack.

But “she” did not rush in. She stayed a few meters away and shifted in small, odd dance steps, as if searching for the best angle to strike.

The sharp edges on her fingertips stirred the thin fog, and now and then a Chilling Light flashed.

Yu Sheng’s nerves were tight. In their brief clash just now, he had already felt her amazing speed and strength. Those thin Fingertip Blades could block the Spiked Mace in his hands. Just that alone made her more dangerous than most Evil Wolf he had met in the Black Forest.

Foxy also moved in, staring like a hunting cat at the strange figure with the black head veil. Gold-red light filled her eyes, and buds of Fox Fire quietly bloomed in the air.

Yu Sheng muttered: “Irene, is this your relative?”

“Impossible!” the little Doll snapped, furious: “I am a noble and elegant ball-jointed doll. This thing is the wicked C Buckle. It is not worthy to be kin with Alice’s Doll.”

Yu Sheng twitched a smile. He had only asked casually, but he did not expect Irene’s answer to go that way. Almost at the same time, he noticed a brief hitch in the steel figure’s steps.

Spiritual Intuition flared a warning. He had no time to think about moves or counters. He raised his arm on instinct to block, and in the same split second, the tall, slender “woman” rushed in like a ghost. Several blades drew short, deadly arcs through the air.

Metal slammed on metal. Sparks flew. Yu Sheng’s arm went numb. In the blink of an eye the Metal Doll sprang back like a dancer. Though she looked hard and heavy, she moved as light as the wind. She slipped past his counter, then another afterimage sliced the air as she closed in again. The Fingertip Blades, glittering with Chilling Light, kept slashing and stabbing, a storm so constant and so fast the naked eye could not catch it.

From the fog came nonstop clangs and the keen hiss of blades ripping air. Yu Sheng barely blocked the first chain of attacks and staggered back a few steps. Then bursts of Fox Fire flowered before him. The burning barrage wove a net around the Metal Doll. Right after that, Irene locked on, and layers of Black Spider Silk appeared out of thin air, dropping like a grim web over the monster.

But right as the threads were about to bind her limbs, the monster twisted hard to the side. Her joints bent to impossible angles, like they had been snapped and reset. She slipped through the only gap in the Spiderweb. A few more dodges left streaks in the air. She found a seam through the Fox Fire barrage and drove the Fingertip Blades straight for Yu Sheng’s chest. Swift, silent, powerful, with no blood and no tears.

This Metal Doll had picked out the “leader” among her enemies. Every strike angled for Yu Sheng. She made almost no extra moves and uttered not a sound beyond the brush of her body in motion.

An elegant, perfect killing machine.

Sweat ran down Yu Sheng’s back. It was his first time fighting something like this. He was relying on his enhanced body, far beyond a normal Human, plus Foxy and Irene’s support, to barely keep up with her rhythm. At such close range and speed, Foxy’s big moves were useless, and even Irene’s summoned threads could not match the monster’s ghostly pace.

[What is this thing?] Was it also an Entity formed by the thick fog? Yet her movements were not muddled or purely instinctive like the Entities he had seen before. She fought with clear skill and a plan. But she was clearly not Human. Irene’s attitude also made it plain: this Doll-like monster was not an Alice’s Doll.

He shouted as he raised the Tetanus Staff high: “What on earth is this!” Luck favored him. His swing finally hammered the monster’s shoulder, breaking her endless ghostly “dance.” While she stumbled, Irene seized the opening, and black threads lashed the joints.

“Who knows! I really don’t know this thing!” the little Doll cried, nearly frantic.

“Then tear her apart first!”

Yu Sheng roared and charged with the Spiked Mace while the Metal Doll was still straining to break the Spiderweb.

But just as he reached her, the Metal Doll suddenly lifted her head. The pale face still wore that “gentle” smile. Plates over her chest and belly snapped open.

A dark red glow swelled and shrank inside metal that writhed like flesh. A screen lit up in the red light. The numbers on it were rushing toward zero.

“…What the heck?!” Yu Sheng blurted.

He tried to brake, but it was too late to stop. Irene reacted at once. The instant she saw the glow, she pulled back the Spider Silk and rewove it into ropes, yanking herself and Yu Sheng hard to the rear. Foxy dashed in from the side to help drag him away.

In the next instant, the countdown inside the Metal Doll stopped.

Her belly plates snapped shut. While Yu Sheng, Foxy, and Irene were still off-balance, she tore free and flashed in.

Yu Sheng only had time to shift his stance and guard his vitals with one arm. A ripping pain burst through him.

Two blades drove deep into his flesh, spearing through his arm and pinning into his chest. Time seemed to freeze. The scene went oddly quiet.

He lifted his head. At point-blank range he locked eyes with the elegant, terrifying machine. The pale smiling face hovered inches away.

He said with disbelief twitching across his face: “You can take back your self-destruct?”

The Metal Doll did not answer. She tilted her head, as if confused by his calm.

He looked down at the two “fingers” buried in his chest and thought it over. He decided it should be a fatal wound.

[Maybe I’ve died so many times that I’m resistant. The death symptoms aren’t kicking in yet.]

He raised his eyes again and said to the Metal Doll, serious and steady: “Your blades are great. Give them to me.”

Blood began to soak along the edges.

The Metal Doll finally sensed something. Though her face did not change, her next move held a hint of panic. She yanked both Fingertip Blades free and, with two sharp clicks of her heels, hopped back nearly ten meters.

Yu Sheng reached to grab her but only managed to snatch off her black Head Veil.

Not far away, the Metal Doll lifted her arms again, as if to pose for another fight, but one forearm lagged half a beat behind.

She froze, then started whipping that arm like it was stained with something filthy she had to fling off.

But the loss of control spread quickly. First the fingers, then the whole hand, then the forearm, then the elbow.

Yu Sheng felt his head swim. He swayed, and a white figure rushed to his side. Foxy steadied his shoulder, worry written all over her face: “Benefactor, dying again?”

He waved her off, eyes still locked on the monster struggling against the pull: “Wait. A little longer.”

Irene grumbled: “Next time this happens, don’t fight at all. Just rush in and sell blood. Saves a lot of work.”

“At least trade a few moves to test things, and I need to perform a little. What if I can win?” He shot her a look, then hissed as pain stabbed his chest and arm. Feeling he was about to give out, he shoved the Head Veil he had snatched into Foxy’s arms and spoke fast: “You two get back now. If I die, that thing might go out of control. I also don’t know what other nasty stuff the fog might spit out. It’s not safe to keep wandering.”

Irene stared and pointed at the Metal Doll, still not free: “We’re not taking this chance to take her apart?”

“No,” Yu Sheng said, shaking his head slowly: “She’s strange. She doesn’t feel like a normal Entity. Don’t kill her. Let my blood soak a bit longer…”

Before he finished, Foxy and Irene answered together: “Okay.”

Yu Sheng wasted no time. He pulled open a Door to Wutong Road 66.

Foxy and Irene dashed through without a second thought.

This was the trust forged inside the Hotel. At key moments there was no extra fuss, no “I’ll stay behind,” no time wasted on drama. Only steady, unshakable trust.

Yu Sheng trusted Foxy and Irene to be cool and decisive. Foxy and Irene trusted that Yu Sheng was about to die.

As the Door vanished, a harsh snap of metal rang out in front of him.

He looked up, shocked. The tall Metal Doll was savagely ripping at her failing arm. After a few wrenching pulls it dangled by a strip. Then she lifted her good hand, stabbed a blade-finger into the joint, and, with a crisp twist, popped the arm clean off.