Our next meeting will be the day you die.

The curved spear left a purple-black trail in the air. Though its speed was not fast, it carried an unstoppable aura as it hurtled toward that slender figure.

Erieri's mind did not hold so many twists and turns; she only knew she had an agreement with Tang Xi. She would run first, and Tang Xi would come after her very soon, just like playing hide-and-seek on television.

A howling wind sounded behind her, and she instinctively looked back to see Gungnir emerging from behind her, heading straight for her.

Erieri did not dodge, instead reaching out her hand with a hint of eagerness. The next moment, Gungnir's sharp tip grazed her palm, leaving a shallow bloody scratch before all its momentum vanished. At the same time, a familiar voice echoed in Erieri's mind.

"Sorry, once you are locked on as a target, it must hit. That's the characteristic of this weapon."

Erieri nodded vigorously. She whispered that it didn't matter, turned around, and continued running.

The girl was in a complete mess, her clothes and hair soaked through, her small face deathly pale. Even she herself had no idea how long she had been running, but this twisted world seemed endless, and no matter what, she could not escape.

The sound of hooves rang out once more, resembling the footsteps of the Grim Reaper, reminding them that death was drawing close.

Just as Tang Xi's brain was racing at high speed, pondering how to escape, Erieri rounded a certain corner, and the world before them suddenly brightened.

The flashing neon lights pierced the darkness like swords, the sense of absolute silence suddenly vanished, and the distant clamor of the bustling city could even be faintly heard.

It was also at this moment that they discovered,不知何时, that strange heavy rain had miraculously stopped.

Tang Xi looked back. Odin was standing in the darkness behind them, the golden flames resembling the throne of death. Tang Xi could even see the cold light reflecting off Odin's silver mask... the electric arcs spewing from the eight-legged steed transforming into stray lightning...

Yet he did not continue the pursuit. The reaper-like flames slowly descended, much like a dying torch.

Was this... letting them off?

Before Tang Xi could ponder this, she heard that solemn and grandiose voice ring out for the first time, carrying the majesty of a god.

He said: "You cannot escape."

"The next time we meet, I will kill you."

Before his voice completely faded, the eight-legged steed turned and departed, and vanishing along with it were the twisted world and the boundless darkness.

The god had left, delivering a harsh parting threat before going.

The high-strung heart finally dropped. Tang Xi and Erieri let out a simultaneous breath of relief, their tense nerves finally relaxing. Erieri collapsed to the ground, exhausted, still clutching Gungnir tightly in her hand.

In the distance, the commercial street was bustling with voices, and further away, gangs were still engaged in turf wars. The real world was chaotic and noisy. Perhaps due to sheer exhaustion, neither Erieri nor Tang Xi noticed the fleeting figure that vanished into the darkness not far away.

That was the direction Odin had left.

After a long while, Tang Xi finally caught her breath and opened her interface, only to find that she had breathed a sigh of relief far too early.

The durability, already hanging by a thread, had dropped to single digits once again, leaving a mere four points, and her experience points hadn't increased by much either. She had originally intended to come and reap the rewards, but ended up killing only橘政宗 before almost getting reaped by someone else. To put it simply, she had taken a massive loss.

Fortunately, Erieri had neither been harmed nor driven to the point of using Judgment to drain her sanity. Her bloodline was still relatively stable for now, meaning this newly acquired host was successfully preserved.

Tang Xi didn't care at all about Odin's harsh words; encountering him next time was a matter for next time. Regardless of when they met again, Odin would always have designs on Gungnir.

Come to think of it, Odin was also rather unlucky. A perfectly fine weapon had grown legs and run off on its own. As if running off wasn't enough, it might even affect the sealed devil, forcing him to clean up the mess.

After all... if the devil were to be released, Odin would probably be the very first person it killed.

It was precisely because of this reason that Odin could not let Tang Xi go. He simply hadn't figured out yet what kind of connection Tang Xi had with the genuine Gungnir that sealed the devil. Fearing that it might impact the devil's side, he was holding himself back like this.

Otherwise, the combat power of both sides was simply not on the same plane. Dealing with Tang Xi would be an absolute breeze for him. It was also because it would be too effortless that he hadn't taken Tang Xi seriously, which in turn gave her a bit of breathing room.

Yet, it was foreseeable that Odin's tolerance toward Tang Xi was dropping rapidly, especially now that Tang Xi had begun tampering with his arrangements in Japan.

He had spent nearly a century laying out this chess game in Japan, which was even tied to his millennium-long plan. He could not possibly turn a blind eye to Tang Xi as a variable; there would eventually come a time when his patience ran out, and today's sudden assault was proof of that.

For some unknown reason, however, he had temporarily chosen to give up. Otherwise, Tang Xi's situation would have been extremely perilous—though she wasn't exactly safe right now either, because since Odin had made his first move, he would certainly make a second.

And next time, as Odin had said, it wouldn't end so easily.

Quickly sorting out the situation, Tang Xi recognized her own plight and rapidly devised a solution.

Leveling up through experience was far too slow, and Odin was a Dragon King. Relying on experience to level up until she became strong enough to defeat Odin was a path far too sluggish; Odin would absolutely not afford her that kind of time.

Therefore, she had to fight for this time herself. The very first step was to continue disrupting Odin's plans, creating more troubles that he was forced to resolve, leaving him no time to come and bother her.

Besides... who said Dragon Kings had no enemies? A Dragon King's enemies were legion, and the enemy of an enemy was a friend—she might just be able to make use of that.

Thinking along these lines, there was still plenty of room for maneuver, but she needed to speed things up. Odin had set his sights on her and wouldn't grant her much breathing room. She had to take action immediately; otherwise, the next time they crossed paths, she'd really be finished.

Of course, to avoid being finished off before even encountering the Dragon King, the most crucial thing right now was durability, durability, and more goddamn durability!

Amidst her shifting thoughts, Tang Xi had swiftly sorted out the current state of affairs and was just about to call out to Erieri to head back to the Phantoms first, seeing if she could find a few fresh Wang Jiang to kill. But before she could make a move, she suddenly caught sight of something.

Far away in the bustling city street, two figures flashed past.

"Chu Zihang, are you certain this is Shinjuku?" Caesar looked at the street before him and asked uncertainly.

"I am not certain," Chu Zihang replied. "Like you, I don't know Japanese either, but the map Norma provided shows that this is the place."

"Damn it, why can't we connect to Norma? At least provide a translator!" Caesar cursed under his breath. "I can't understand a single word these people are saying; how are we supposed to investigate?"

"I heard there is a supercomputer in Japan called Kaguya. If we connect to Norma right now, she will know we are already within Japanese borders."

Chu Zihang paused here, his voice dropping lower. "Though tomorrow should be fine; by tomorrow they'll know we've come to Japan anyway."

"Therefore, before dawn arrives, we'd better have something to show for it."