135: Visitors to Crystal Lake

The sound approached from the distance, growing louder and louder.

Screeech... clack!

Screeech... clack!

Screeech-clack!

It sounded like someone was angrily dragging a blunt knife across the ground.

The newcomer was Jason, who had sensed the aura of his beloved mask and swam thousands of miles to get here.

In the dark, hollow, and deep passage,

Jason's silhouette grew from small to large, slowly emerging from the shadows into Locke's view.

The moment Locke saw him, his expression immediately became solemn.

Jason was burly, no smaller in stature than Locke after his transformation.

He wore tattered overalls, and a broken, rusty iron chain was fastened around his neck.

Although Locke had taken his most iconic mask, he had somehow found a low-quality replica to wear on his face,

hiding his ugly features, which had been scorched by fire, beneath it.

However, judging by his bald head covered in tumors, this guy was definitely not one to be trifled with.

Not to mention, he was currently dragging a large machete in his hand and had a giant axe tucked into his waist.

Both the machete and the giant axe were covered in scratches from use, and their color appeared oily and black.

But Locke knew that was actually a coating caused by the long-term accumulation and erosion of victims' blood on the surface.

The dangerous aura emanating from him far exceeded Sequence 9, causing Locke to narrow his eyes. He immediately stepped forward to block Serena behind him,

observing the newcomer with extreme caution.

"How did he get here? Didn't I already put the mask into my Personal Space?"

Serena's expression also turned solemn. Leaning behind Locke, she asked in a low voice, "Locke, do you know this big guy?"

Locke shook his head, then nodded. "I suppose you could say I know him."

"Then is he here to cause us trouble?"

"He's probably here for me." Locke turned his head and instructed, "You retreat to the back with Alfred first. He shouldn't target you guys."

After a moment, Locke guessed that because he had used the mask for a long Time,

even though he had stored it in his Personal Space, his body inevitably retained the residual transcendent aura from the mask.

This was what had drawn the slasher, Jason, here.

Locke immediately sent a voice transmission to Alfred, who had yet to show himself: "Alfred, follow Serena. You two hide in the back first. Let me handle him."

"My Lord, do you really not need my help?" Alfred could also sense the dangerous aura coming from Jason, so he couldn't help but feel worried.

"No need. Even if I can't beat him, I have a way to get away from him."

Since the opponent could track him all the way from the distant Crystal Lake, running away was certainly useless.

This Time, he could only face him head-on.

Locke had already made up his mind.

He would first exchange blows with the opponent using his full strength. If he truly had no power to resist, he would have to painfully hand over the lacrosse mask to Jason.

He would wait until his strength surpassed the opponent's before taking it back.

Serena wanted to say something more, but Locke smiled and shook his head, then gave her a gentle push.

"Go. Don't worry, I really have a way."

"Fine. No matter what, prioritize your life." Serena nodded heavily at him. "If you die, I won't live on alone either."

With that, she retreated into the passage behind them, looking back every three steps.

Locke waved at her, then turned his gaze back.

Jason stood at the entrance of the passage holding his large machete. He didn't speak, just stared blankly at him,

then pointed at the mask on his own face.

Locke understood his meaning, but he shook his head, activated Great Muscle Tyrant again, and shouted at Jason:

"If you want it, then come and take it yourself."

Since crossing over to this world, he had never once been a coward before a fight.

So how could he possibly choose to wimp out and hand over the treasure he had worked hard to get from a mission just because Jason stood before him and moved a finger?

Perhaps that mask once belonged to Jason, but now it belonged to him.

Additionally, it was because this mask was too useful; it had already saved him twice since he got it.

It was completely worthy of being called a life-saving transcendent item, and he was somewhat reluctant to part with it.

Therefore, he decided that no matter what, he had to exchange a few moves with the opponent first. Even if the opponent's strength seemed greater than his,

he would not back down.

Jason paused for a moment, then tilted his head slightly to look at where Time was hiding.

After confirming that Time had no intention of intervening, he finally began to move,

charging toward Locke at a run.

Although his speed wasn't fast, the momentum he created was even greater than Locke's or the mutated Marcus's.

Like an out-of-control heavy truck, his speed increased as he charged straight at him.

Rumble!

Locke felt as if the room shook slightly with every step the opponent took, and quite a bit of dust even fell from the ceiling.

Facing him directly, the pressure in Locke's heart could well be imagined. "This guy is way scarier than he looks in the movies."

The pressure and impact carried by Jason once he started moving far exceeded all the opponents he had encountered so far,

excluding the mastermind and that unseen Old Man Time, of course.

These violent movements made him involuntarily think of the feeling of encountering a Tyrant for the first Time while playing Resident Evil.

Though he was somewhat alarmed, the word 'give up' did not exist in Locke's dictionary.

Whether he won or lost would only be known after a fight.

His legs bent slightly, and then he suddenly launched himself forward, charging straight at Jason.

Seeing him charge barehanded, Jason seemed even more excited. He tucked the machete back into his waist

and assumed a fighting stance as he lunged toward him.

Old Man Time, hidden in the darkness, watched Locke's refusal to back down even when facing a strong enemy and inexplicably thought of his former self.

"This little fellow really has some guts."

He only needed one look to know who would win and who would lose.

After all, Jason's aura had already reached Sequence 7, and he even showed signs of progressing toward Sequence 6.

While the aura on Locke was not weak, it was merely at the point of being about to break through to Sequence 8.

The gap between the two was much larger than the gap between Locke and Marcus.

After all, on the path to becoming a god, the higher one went in the transcendent sequences, the larger the gap between each sequence became.

Time estimated that once the two engaged, the result would definitely be a complete landslide.

It would be just like how Locke handled Marcus; Locke would be easily suppressed by Jason.

"Ah, well, he is a member of my Cult of the Goddess of Night after all. Once he's suffered a bit, I'll step in and save him."

Who could have known that the scene after the two collided would completely exceed his expectations, nearly causing his jaw to drop to the floor.

"What? This works too!"