Can't I Raise Myself? Chapter 42

Without a second thought, Ryan immediately 'broadcast' the message to Jonathan and the others.

Adler, unaware of the reason, saw Jonathan, that persistent nuisance, reappear, his expression darkening to the extreme.

"I'll handle that guy, you take down Caslathdi," Kasa said.

He was confident in dealing with Jonathan, but he wasn't sure about facing Caslathdi.

Adler's eyes flickered slightly, and he finally nodded, "Let's finish this quickly."

He scanned his surroundings, trying to find Ryan's whereabouts, but failed. However, he had already arranged with Ryan to intervene at a critical moment. Although Ryan's strength wasn't that high, Caslathdi trusted him completely. Thinking of this, Adler felt a bit more at ease.

Ryan, it's up to you!

"Achoo!"

"Damn it, who's talking trash about me behind my back?"

In a corner on the top floor of the clock tower, Ryan rubbed his nose, watching the battle below from afar.

It was a 2v2. Jonathan and Kasa were old rivals; neither could get the upper hand on the other. Therefore, the key was between Caslathdi and Adler.

If this were in the game, Caslathdi wouldn't stand a chance against Adler in a 1v1. After all, game characters were conventionally weakened when controlled by players, and even gods fighting mortals could go toe-to-toe.

But now, judging by their performance, Caslathdi's strength was not weaker than Adler's.

Her profession was a Holy Word Speaker on the Janus path, a pure-blooded mage whose offensive spells had extremely high burst damage.

However, Adler's profession was Soul Eater. This thing, apart from its other abilities, had top-notch survivability. Its characteristics of devouring and transforming made players want to curse when fighting Adler.

It wasn't just that; its defense was too thick, and as a boss, its damage wasn't low either. You absolutely had to bring a healer when fighting him, or you wouldn't win.

Ryan watched from afar, waiting for an opportunity.

It would be best if Caslathdi could defeat Adler. If not, he would need to step in, especially to prevent Adler from being captured. Even if Adler wouldn't speak up on his own, it was hard to guarantee that Caslathdi wouldn't have some special methods.

For example, hypnosis.

After all, hypnosis wasn't an uncommon ability in shooting games.

Boom!

An explosion sounded.

In the distance, Jonathan erupted first. His entire body ignited with golden flames, emitting a radiance like the sun.

Among the Son of the Sun's professional skills was an ability to enhance the burning state, which could boost all attributes, but the effect only lasted for a certain period.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each of Jonathan's attacks erupted with terrifying power, making him seem like a completely different person from before.

"You lunatic! The Augustus Empire is like this, what's so worth you risking your life for it!" Kasa grumbled as he fought, increasingly frustrated.

No wonder Ryan said the Whimsical Shadow was a trash profession.

Although the shadow's combat ability was decent, its professional growth was too low. It was completely incomparable to the Silent Nun.

No matter how high your skill was, if they could break all techniques with sheer force, you couldn't play at all!

Jonathan was targeting Kasa's true form. Under his full power, Kasa couldn't resist at all. The shadow's role shifted from offensive support to passive defense.

"I was born a person of the Empire, doing what I do in my position, with a clear conscience! What do you know about honor? What do you know about a sense of mission? You know nothing, you don't understand a damn thing! Why didn't your father shoot you onto the wall!"

Jonathan roared, and his staff ignited with blazing flames.

A skill?

No, just his aura!

The biggest difference between reality and the game was that the performance of professional abilities didn't solely depend on stats. Just as Jonathan had once told Ryan, courage, determination—when you have a strong enough will, perhaps even the gods will cast their gaze upon you.

At this moment, Jonathan wasn't being watched by the Sun God, but his powerful will allowed him to briefly fuse more deeply with the Sun path, unleashing even greater power.

"Haa!"

With this strike, the ground beneath him shattered. The burning staff's shadow broke through the shadow's defense, sending Kasa flying along with it.

"So strong."

Ryan was a little surprised. No wonder the Son of the Sun was so popular despite being an ordinary profession; its professional characteristics were obvious.

Whimsical Shadow, truly trash, pfft! Too trashy!

Seeing that Kasa had fallen into a complete disadvantage, the pressure on Adler instantly intensified. He had been fighting Caslathdi evenly, expecting Kasa to finish off Jonathan and then help him. But now, the situation had completely reversed.

If he had that Tier 3 extraordinary item, the situation might have been different.

"This trash! Can't rely on him for anything!"

Adler cursed inwardly.

"I'll risk it!"

He gritted his teeth and raised his left hand. The dark ring he wore suddenly emitted a brilliant light.

Instantly, darkness enveloped the land. The entire barrier space was covered in a chilling darkness, with wailing sounds like ghostly cries erupting everywhere. Caslathdi took two steps back but was locked at the feet by ghost hands that flew from the ground. These ghost hands were invisible, merely energy constructs. Their strength wasn't high; Caslathdi could break free with a slight exertion of power, but there were simply too many of them.

Endless evil spirits lunged forward. Caslathdi could only cast defensive magic to protect herself, but soon she heard a low chanting voice in her ear.

"Supreme God of Death, great lord who controls the return of all things to oblivion, Your devout follower humbly begs of you, for the souls of the departed..."

Buzz!~

A soul-piercing shriek echoed through the air. Caslathdi immediately raised her staff, and the relic she had hidden beforehand vibrated in response. The soul attacks canceled each other out, preventing her from being affected.

"It's useless, Caslathdi!"

Adler's furious voice came from the surroundings. A chilling aura spread across the ground like mist, and a massive figure emerged from the black fog—Adler's distorted features, bloated body, and completely disproportionate limbs made him look like a deformed monster!

Ugly, incredibly ugly. Under the erosion of death's power, Adler's body was gradually being contaminated, beginning to transform into a monster.

This was the side effect of the relic he used. High-tier relics were undoubtedly powerful, but the risk of using them was extremely high. While both were tier-three relics, Kasa's wasn't very powerful, so he could use it without being affected.

As for Adler's, if he had a choice, he wouldn't want to use it at all!

"To the point of offering your soul to the Outer Gods, Adler, you've truly abandoned your dignity as a human," Caslathdi said with disgust.

"Shut up! You don't understand our resolve at all!"

Boom!

A punch landed.

The terrifying power almost shattered the defensive magic Caslathdi had cast.

She unleashed a holy word attack. Milky white light dispelled the black fog, turning into a light wave that shot out.

But Adler simply opened his mouth and swallowed the attack whole!

The Soul Eater's class ability had canceled out most of the damage for him. The remaining power, amplified by the relic, couldn't harm Adler at all.

Realizing this, Caslathdi quickly retreated to create distance.

Adler pressed his advantage. His body exceeded three meters, and he might weigh four to five hundred pounds. His bloated body resembled a pig piled high with fat, but he possessed immense strength and wasn't slow. Every step could shatter the ground, and every punch could create a large crater.

Caslathdi fought and retreated, but her attacks were all absorbed by Adler.

Soul Eaters didn't need weapons; every part of their body could absorb and convert magic.

It sounded strong, but the class's ceiling wasn't very high, which was why Ryan found it mediocre.

However, if considered purely as a meat shield, it was indeed quite good.

"What's going on, Caslathdi can't win??"

Ryan, hiding in the clock tower, couldn't see clearly due to the thick fog, but he could vaguely hear Adler's arrogant laughter and the occasional figure appearing in the mist. It was clear that Adler was chasing Caslathdi.

Just as Ryan was considering whether to have 'Lin Qi' intervene, a white holy light suddenly pierced the black fog, followed by Adler's shrill scream.

"Ughhhhhhhh!!!"

"Adler, did you really think you were the only one with a relic?"

Sizzle!

The sound of burning.

A colossal greatsword appeared in the sky.

Kael's Sword of Judgment.

Ryan recognized it. It was a signature relic that Caslathdi would use in the game's storyline.

Its power was immense; in the story, once she used it, she could kill anyone in sight.

But the infuriating thing was that once Caslathdi was controlled by players, this thing was completely unusable.

Seeing this sword appear, Ryan immediately felt relieved—it was stable now.

Boom!!!

The Sword of Judgment descended, creating a massive roar in the plaza.

"Adler should be dead now."

As soon as he finished speaking, a violent surge of magic suddenly rippled around Ryan, and then Adler was flung out of thin air with a bang.

He had returned to his normal size, covered in wounds and bleeding. There were even burn marks on his skin.

"Hmph, hmph... ahhh"

Adler let out a low groan of unbearable pain.

"Lord Adler?"

"Ryan?!" Adler turned his head, his expression brightening: "Quick! Take me and get me out of here!"

"How did you end up here?"

"I used an escape relic... Never mind that, Caslathdi will definitely catch up soon!"

He had used an escape puppet, but it was only a tier-one relic. It could leave a fake body of his at the original spot, allowing him to instantly teleport to a nearby location.

"Wait, this is... where is this? Why are you here?"

Adler looked around and realized they were on top of the clock tower.

"Oh, Caslathdi asked me to stay here and wait for you," Ryan said, slowly taking out his gun. "But Lord Adler, don't worry, they won't be able to find us here for now."

"Is that so? But I can't get out of here either..." Adler, dragging his injured body, cautiously moved to the edge of the clock tower and looked down. The black mist was too thick to see what was happening. "Ryan, the plan failed. We have two options now: either find a way to escape with all our might, or you take this chance to kill Caslathdi. What do you think?"

Capturing Caslathdi was now impossible, and escaping carried a high risk. If Ryan was willing, he could use Caslathdi's trust in him to kill her... Anyway, when the Grand Duke asked about it later, he could just say it was out of necessity, that it was Ryan's decision.

"I think there's a third option," Ryan said leisurely.

"A third option? What is it..."

Bang!

As soon as Adler turned his head, a gunshot suddenly rang out. The bullet flew out and hit him between the eyes!

Adler's pupils contracted violently.

"You... why???" he asked in disbelief.

Ryan shrugged. "Sorry, Adler. I'm a good person."

"Good person... good person... good person..."

"Ughhhhh!!!"

Boom!

Even though the bullet had hit him between the eyes and lodged in his head, Adler wasn't dead. With a roar, his originally slender body began to swell.

He was transforming again!

Even if he couldn't withstand the side effects of mental erosion again, his rage would make him kill Ryan!

"Traitor! I'll kill you!!!"

Swish~

A black shadow suddenly shot out from Ryan's shadow.