After hanging up, Ryan leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and lightly tapped his fingers against the desk.
Tomorrow. Once tomorrow was over, he would finally break free from Adler's control.
Swish!
A silver flash of blade light tore through the night as black flames spread along the dagger, scorching the Evil Spirit's body.
On the screen, 'Lin Qi' darted through the alleys of the slums, swiftly clearing out the Evil Spirits around her. Her Demon Spirit leaped out from the shadows, dealing with several more Evil Spirits.
In an instant, 'Lin Qi' accelerated and made a sharp turn, crossing paths with the Demon Spirit. Her sharp dagger plunged into an elite Evil Spirit's body, while the Demon Spirit's attack struck another Evil Spirit chasing after her.
Interweaving, covering, striking... Ryan realized that as 'Lin Qi' leveled up, her proficiency in fighting alongside the Demon Spirit seemed to be improving rapidly. In the past, there had always been a clear primary attacker—either 'Lin Qi' took the lead, or the Demon Spirit did. Sometimes there would even be moments of 'lag.'
But now, as he watched the battle unfold like a dance performance, Ryan could only describe the scene before him as aesthetic.
Smooth, natural, effortless.
"The Demon Spirit is controlled by the main body. If I were controlling the character myself, I'd probably need time to adapt too, but the AI is much faster than me."
This was basically combat technique. A character's abilities were just stats; if you couldn't bring them out, they were useless as hell.
That was why technique mattered. It was no exaggeration to say that with 'Lin Qi's current combat skills, she could utterly crush the 'Lin Qi' who had just changed jobs, even at the same level.
Bang!~
The elite Demon Spirit dropped two small glowing orbs under 'Lin Qi's pursuit before going off to meet its maker.
One was a Roasted Chicken, and the other was a small piece of equipment.
[Card's Bracelet] [Quality: First Tier · Common] [Effect: Spirit +2, Magic Power +2] [Description: Too lazy to write one.]
There was nothing worth a second look. It did not even have any equipment requirements, but it was still decent for the current 'Lin Qi' and 'Shari.'
After all, they had no room to choose.
Ryan looked further down.
[Your level has increased to Lv. 20.] [You heard the Echo of Time and Space.]
The bell that crossed time and space rang once more. There was no Clock Tower nearby, so the sound had come from some kind of Transcendent Power.
[Shattered ancient spirits wander through the cracks of time and space, peering into a corner of reality through the rifts. The Silent Nun never permits blasphemous things to exist in this world—accept the trial?]
"An Advancement Quest?"
Ryan tapped yes.
The next second, five figures appeared beside 'Lin Qi.'
[Lingering Rift Spirit Lv. 25 · Elite]
"Fuck, this is completely ridiculous."
Cross-level fighting was one thing, but dealing with five level 25 Evil Spirits attacking at once was already troublesome enough, let alone elite monsters. Their damage and health were both greatly increased—especially their health. Once Blade of Erosion reached level 20, it was already starting to fall short.
"I need to change weapons."
Watching 'Lin Qi' start to struggle, Ryan quietly shook his head. She could still kill them mainly because the Silent Nun had high class growth, and because the Demon Spirit was helping her. If it were any other class, he figured he would have turned around and left long ago.
Ryan had even considered having 'Lin Qi' learn Combo, but he ultimately held himself back. 'Lin Qi' was not actually a high attack-speed class. Half of her attack frequency came from the Demon Spirit, and the Demon Spirit's combos probably did not count.
In that case, Combo's advantage would be difficult to bring into play.
Ryan knew of an assassin class, but he had no way of obtaining it for the time being.
Pfft~
Working together with the Demon Spirit, she forcefully took one down.
'Lin Qi's health had remained below half the entire time.
To be safe, Ryan used Ring of Death's immunity skill. This item had been transferred from 'Shari' to 'Lin Qi.' Taking advantage of the twenty seconds of invincibility, she killed another one. Then, after slowly wearing down the remaining three for several minutes, she dealt with them successfully.
[Congratulations, you have passed the trial.] [You have successfully advanced.]
Under the moonlit night, gray-black flames surged out and rose around 'Lin Qi.' Her robes fluttered without wind, while the Demon Spirit circled behind her like a guardian deity. Within the flames, 'Lin Qi' appeared especially cold and ruthless.
[You have learned the Job Skill 'Magic Nullification Domain.'] [Magic Nullification Domain: Nullifies spells within a certain range. The effect is related to the user's attributes.]
Clean Slate! Ryan: Goodbye, Adler—and My Cowardice [8.5k!]
Magic nullification?
Ryan froze.
"This thing... seems kind of badass."
As everyone knew, Transcendent beings were powerful largely because of their use of magic power.
This was especially true for classes specializing in spells. Singers, for example, generally attacked and defended through powerful spells. Once they lost that advantage, their combat ability would plummet.
Not every class had the Silent Nun's dual high growth in both Constitution and Magic Power. Most were heavily specialized, and Magic Nullification Domain clearly existed specifically to deal with classes that had high Magic Power growth but low Constitution growth.
Simply put, it hard-countered Mages.
Even high-level Transcendent beings would have difficulty bringing out more than half their strength if they could not use spells in battle.
Cassidy was a typical Mage, for example. If he nullified her magic, she could only obediently hand over a Defeat CG.
"Wait, this thing restricts me too, doesn't it?"
Ryan activated Magic Nullification Domain and had 'Lin Qi' try to use Purification Spell. The system indicated that she could not use it.
"I'm dumbfounded. What kind of stupid skill is this? Hurt the enemy for a thousand and yourself for eight hundred."
"Huh? The Demon Spirit didn't disappear?"
Ryan saw that the Demon Spirit remained beside 'Lin Qi,' guarding her like a bodyguard.
"Hmm... I take back one 'stupid.'"
What did the Silent Nun mainly rely on? The Demon Spirit, obviously!
As long as the Demon Spirit was unaffected, with 'Lin Qi's high attribute growth, she could still steadily suppress her opponents even without using other spells.
"I wonder whether all Job Skills are unaffected, or whether it's only the Demon Spirit. I'll find a chance to test it later."
Ryan opened the new status panel—
[ Name: Lin Qi Gender: Female Class: Silent Nun Level: 20 Constitution: 28.7+3 Spirit: 25.4+3 Magic Power: 37.6+5 Comprehension: 12 Charm: 16 Skills: Swiftness Lv. 3, Purification Lv. 2 Job Skills: Summon Demon Spirit, Demon Spirit Entanglement, Magic Nullification Domain Equipment: Blade of Erosion, Black Gloves, Ring of Death ... ... ]
The large attribute boost after advancing had been directly added to the panel, but the most important thing was still skill acquisition. Overall, 'Lin Qi's combat power had improved considerably after advancing.
No wonder so many people were still willing to take the risk, even though advancement rituals were so dangerous.
"Everything is ready. All I need is the east wind."
After setting 'Lin Qi' to AI Standby, Ryan washed up and went straight to sleep.
Tomorrow, he would clear his name. He needed to get himself into peak condition.
The next day.
Early in the morning, Ryan set out from the Department General Bureau and led the security officers to guard Janus Church inside and out.
"Ah, Captain Ryan. May Janus bless you."
At the church entrance, Father Peter, who was preparing for the ceremony, smiled and greeted Ryan.
"Good morning, Father." Ryan nodded. "Where is the Priestess?"
"The Priestess is inside the church."
"Preparing for Mass?"
"Ah, no. I'll be presiding over the Mass."
Peter did not know how to explain it either. In theory, it should have been the Priestess's duty, but 'Lin Qi' said she did not want to go, and High Priest Lia had actually agreed?
Still, it was a good thing for Peter. Presiding over a Sacrificial Ritual was an honor, after all. In other churches, a mere Priest would never get such an opportunity.
If he did well, perhaps he would even have a chance to be promoted to Priestess in a few years.
Ryan walked to the church doors and saw 'Lin Qi' talking with Lia inside. The latter sensed someone approaching, said a few brief words to 'Lin Qi,' then left through the side entrance.
Although her identity had not been made public, Lia had been counted among Janus Church's personnel. However, Ryan had learned from 'Lin Qi' that Lia would not participate in the plan to arrest Adler.
After all, people from Gate of Janus could not interfere in the Empire's internal affairs in principle. Adler was, at the very least, a Secretary-General. Though he was not particularly important, it would still inevitably cause trouble if someone made an issue of it.
As for 'Lin Qi,' her status was not high to begin with, and she was personally Cassidy's friend.
Who could criticize her for helping out a friend?
"Hey, Ryan!"
About half an hour later, Jonathan arrived with his people as well.
He walked over to Ryan with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and raised a hand in greeting.
"So, are you nervous?"
"Adler's the one who should be nervous." Ryan chuckled. "We're the good guys. Good guys catch bad guys. What is there to be nervous about?"
"Haha, I like that attitude." Jonathan patted Ryan on the shoulder and lowered his voice. "Remember, safety comes first. Her Highness the Princess wants to arrest Adler—that's her business. This is a struggle for the throne. We'll do our best, but don't risk your life."
The Empire did not belong to any Prince or Princess. The League of Fire only pledged loyalty to the Emperor. If this had not involved Hand of Darkness, Jonathan would not have agreed so readily.
But in his eyes, arresting Adler and exposing the people behind him were clearly less important than Ryan's safety.
At nine thirty in the morning, people gradually began arriving outside Janus Church. Some of those chosen to participate in the ceremony were allowed inside, while everyone else could only stand outside and soak in the atmosphere.
As for who had been selected, that question was as obvious as asking whether someone preferred royal pastries or cold bread.
"Her Highness the Princess is here!"
At that moment, someone in the crowd called out in a low voice.
Before long, Cassidy appeared before the church surrounded by guards. Mayor Bill was with her, and Ryan spotted Adler, dressed in formal attire and following Bill. He looked calm and composed.
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