Act 11: Stayed Gone

[Part 1: Ominous Attack]

"The order in which the four guests attack will be determined by the abundance of their elemental properties."

As the Old Bones spoke, they raised their heads and struck the castanets. The powerful soul force caused the entire cave to change color, and the originally radiant Berloberg dimmed, turning into pure gray.

Clearly, A Xing lost the opportunity to strike first. In the crucial first round, the enemy's Horse-head Ghost was faster and had greater mobility than him.

"Mr. Bohua, it's your turn."

The burly Blood Demon did not approach General of Tears immediately. This businessman, who was active in East Horse Port, actually disliked fighting and risking his life. After carefully examining Berloberg's blade, he talked about the weapon with his motionless singing girl companion.

"Little Sister Bailan, this guy has firearms on him, and the sword he's holding is a heirloom from a gunsmith named Berloberg."

"At least five or six thousand of our comrades have died by this sword. Don't be naive and don't go near this guy."

"I'm betting on [Stayed Gone], it's very powerful and has long-range attack capabilities."

"Now it's up to you, Bailan. If you can hold them off—make them take this hit completely—then the scales of victory will tip in our favor, and the blood feud between Derek and his daughter will be avenged."

After delivering his declaration of attack, the Horse-head Ghost hunched over and squatted, revealing a brownish-yellow spirit within its deformed, half-beast form.

It floated to the edge of the dark, solid stone platform of the arena, transformed into a small, monkey-faced sprite no bigger than a fist, and then kicked the stone hard.

Meteor initially couldn't understand the power of this soul force—when Gloria talked to him about their opponents, she only mentioned Madam Bailan's soul force characteristics, without mentioning a word about what abilities this agent possessed.

At the same time, after [Stayed Gone]'s inexplicable kick worked, the Horse-head Ghost threw a die on its own initiative—the result was [13].

Duran and Meteor were on edge, because this was a counter-dice.

The enemy has launched a Soul Might attack; it's like a ticking time bomb.

Based on a detailed analysis of the knowledge of the spiritual body of meteors, the stronger the destructive power of a soul's might, the more complex its activation ritual—here referring specifically to spiritual energy traits, not the numerical data of the spirit itself.

Take [Heaven's Gate] as an example. As long as Lawrence Madison can find the two gates, his spirit can almost tear space apart. No matter can withstand such an extremely powerful attack. However, the ritual to activate [Heaven's Gate] is very complicated. It is also a kind of pre-set trap that will only take effect after several rounds of action.

Mr. Wood Plark's [Sexy Bomb] is even more complicated. It requires the use of the chiral principle, touching the enemy with one palm and then using the other palm as the detonator. The whole process takes at least two seconds and requires zero-distance contact with the enemy.

If the Horse-head Ghost wasn't lying, and he and his companions attacked according to this coordinated method, then the most deadly thing would be this invisible, intangible, and lurking spirit, [Stayed Gone].

Mr. Bohua politely said, "My turn is over."

From beginning to end, the Horse-head Ghost didn't move an inch, spreading its arms to protect the Bailan the Singer, placing all its bets on the confrontation of soul power abilities—it absolutely did not want to clash head-on with the General of Tears's Berloberg Greatsword.

"The order of attack will be determined by the abundance of elemental essence." The Old Bones floated to Bu Liuxing's side. "It's your turn, General of Tears."

At this moment, A Xing breathed a sigh of relief. The card dealing order of [The Power] yielded an encouraging result—his physical body was stronger than Bailan's, preventing the enemy from unleashing a fatal Soul Fusion skill in the first round.

This kind of combat environment is extremely mentally taxing. In past expeditionary campaigns, there have been instances of cult leaders engaging in close-quarters combat and death battles in groups of five or six Shining Butterflies with Soul Power superpowers fighting each other, often deciding the outcome in an instant.

Due to the destructive power of spirits and the special abilities of psychic energy, the battle became extremely chaotic. Both the physical body and the soul were rapidly torn into a mass of minced meat by all sorts of strange rules and attacks.

That was the kind of terrifying battle situation the gunsmith least wanted to encounter. If he could escape a battle zone with more than four people, the Nameless One would choose to retreat directly and use heavy firepower to sweep the area in this kind of chaotic melee.

Now, let's add the White Snake's [Timeline] and Madam Bailan's [Entertainment].

The soul power of Horse-head Ghost and Meteor has taken effect; the soul power of Gloria and Old Bones forms the basic rules of this game.

There are a total of six spirits causing trouble in the shadows, and four physical bodies are destined to be thrown into this meat grinder.

--A slight misstep could lead to a tragic end, with flesh and blood turned to mush.

"Duran, I have ordered [Mr. Wei Meng Rap] to attach itself to you."

Bu Liuxing wanted to explain the tactical arrangements for this round to Ms. Duran, and it was at this moment that A Xing's gaze toward Old Bones became increasingly respectful.

[The Power]'s ability is very unique. It can clearly explain even the most complicated commands. No matter how urgent the battle is or how precious the fleeting time is, for this Hunter King, as long as the castanets are still in effect, his companions can communicate with each other.

Judging from the organizational structure of the Nameless Ones, this spiritual power is almost the absolute core of the team, enabling individual psionicists to make exquisite coordination.

"The power of [Entertainment] can make people involuntarily move towards Madam Bailan's spirit; it's an extremely powerful allure— Gloria told me this information before the duel began, and I was prepared."

"I will temporarily leave this game, free from the Old Bones's soul power, and also become immune to this mind control."

"I'm going to attack Bailan. It's your turn. Speak to my spirit [Mr. Wei Meng Rap], even if I'm deaf, it can hear me."

As soon as he finished speaking, neither Duran nor Old Bones quite understood what this kid was trying to do.

Unaffected? Leaving turn-based mode?

What should we do?

Meteor first took out a pair of headphones from his bag and put them on in front of Old Bones. Then he turned on his phone's music player, trying to drown out the sound of the castanets with music.

Gloria burst into laughter from the stands. "Hahahaha! He actually thinks this works?"

The Old Bones felt embarrassed. "You possess extraordinary wisdom."

After struggling for a while, Meteor still couldn't escape the constraints of [The Power]. A second before his action points ran out, he made up his mind, found a box of hemostatic gel in his medical kit, and plugged his right ear like cement, ending the round.

Only those who hear the sound of castanets will be affected by [The Power]. Madam Bailan's psychic power is also transmitted through sound—her spirit can sing enchanting songs.

"It's your turn, Lü Piaopiao."

Old Bones harbored a strange expectation: if the General of Tears plugged up his other ear as well, he would gain temporary freedom—at which point, [The Power] would no longer protect him.

For a deaf person, having limited mobility actually puts them in a transcendent state of accelerated thinking. After Meteor voluntarily relinquishes this power, he has to face the enemy of super-fast thinking.

"[Entertainment]!" Bailan pointed at Bu Liuxing: "Make him move forward!"

Suddenly, a cold wind arose, and a lark spirit emerged from the singer's back.

The bird, with its golden and gray feathers fluttering gently, released its song the instant it took effect, causing the Horse-head Ghost to involuntarily tilt towards one side of the arena.

Both Bu Liuxing and Duran were affected, their eyes turning in the direction of the bird demon, their legs pulling their bodies involuntarily to the side, as if they had broken free from the control of gravity. This mind control effect did not affect their brains, but rather worked directly on their motor nerves.

At this moment, Bailan rolls the counter dice.

The result of the throw was [17]--

--A dice fell from the shooting star's sleeve, resulting in [5].

--Duran didn't use dice; his Soul Power took effect immediately.

--Mr Mr. Bohua's resistance failed, and the result was [8].

Both Old Bones and Lady Goelia were affected by [Entertainment], each rolling a counter-dice. However, the result was not important; they remained conscious. Even though their soul power was in effect, they would involuntarily take a few steps toward the location of the Lark's spirit.

After the singer's turn, it was Duran's turn.

She could barely control her body, and the instant [Entertainment] took effect, she and the meteor moved about ten steps to the southwest side of the venue.

At that moment, alarm bells rang in her mind, and the White Snake spirit emerged from her body, biting her neck fiercely!

Her scarlet eyes flashed with iridescent light, her spirit working frantically to calculate the outcome of the next round.

Why? Why this location? It's closer to the southwest! To the right of that Horse-face Freak, this is where the sprite disappeared after its attack when [Stayed Gone] was activated!

With the computational power of the [Timeline], the little White Snake couldn't possibly deduce a Soul Power she'd never seen before. Duran needed more information; she couldn't do anything this round, only foresee a vague scenario—

--She and Meteor would continue walking along the wall of the stands on the southwest side of the arena for a full sixteen steps.

As for what's there? She couldn't figure it out at all! But there was no doubt that [Stayed Gone] was already there waiting for them.

[Part ②: The Rolling Stone]

"Bu Liuxing!"

Duran gripped Mr. Wei Meng's arm, squeezing so hard that the bright red armor creaked and groaned, as if afraid the sound wouldn't reach the meteor's soul.

"We can't go any further! I don't know what's there! But..."

Before the words were even finished, the White Snake's turn had already ended.

--[The Timeline] consumed too much of her mental energy.

"My turn!"

The Horse-head Ghost was smug and looked like he had victory in the bag.

He spread his hands out, palms slightly clenched, and on the southwest side of the arena floor, an inconspicuous mud ball began to roll.

It is the Soul Power attack of [Stayed Gone].

It started as a small pebble, only a few millimeters in diameter, which was kicked out by the spirit of the Horse-head Ghost.

Then it rolled and spun on the platform, like a snowball, getting covered in a layer of yellow dust and absorbing the rock material. After rolling only ten meters or so, it became a stone ball with a diameter of more than two meters.

Duran and Meteor remained motionless, only then realizing the true meaning of the Horse-head Ghost's name.

This [Stayed Gone] is truly gone.

Anything that comes into contact with this strange stone sphere will become part of it, becoming the smooth, flat skin on the sphere!

It rolled over the southwest side of the stands, leaving a terrifying crater that kept getting bigger and bigger!

"General of Tears, you have nowhere to retreat!"

The Horse-head Ghost was extremely excited and passionately explained this powerful soul force.

"Before [Stayed Gone] crushes you to pieces, repent properly!"

"You just wasted your precious energy like that! You did something completely meaningless in the crucial first round! You deserve to die!"

"I really don't understand how you climbed to the position of leader of the anonymous people!"

"Perhaps it's like this stone, perhaps it's like my soul power; after all, this world is just a rolling ball!"

"No matter what position or job you hold, you have to keep pushing forward, no matter how small the task."

"You don't know why this ball can move, nor do you know what kind of person is sitting on your head. Maybe your domineering boss just rolled into the ball a little earlier than you."

"Reality is cruel and boring—it keeps running, breathing, and can completely kill your life."

"Disappear! [Stayed Gone]!"

"A desperate gamble!"

The mines planted in the previous round have already detonated.

--When the stone ball of [Stayed Gone] rolled in front of the shooting star, the second counter die popped out of Mr. Bohua's front tooth.

It landed with a pitiful [3] point, but that doesn't matter.

The stone balls accumulated astonishing potential energy over two consecutive rounds. It was a premeditated "all-or-nothing" gamble, similar to Gloria's cheating. This was a reward die created by Mr. Bohua over two rounds, based on the rule of choosing the larger of the two dice.

To dodge this Soul Might attack and fight against this unstoppable stone ball, Meteor and Duran would have to throw at least [14] points.

But Duran doesn't have dice; if she takes the crushing damage head-on, she'll immediately turn into a dried snake.

In a split second, A Xing's opposition dice landed on the ground.

--It's [16] points!

"Tch," the Horse-head Ghost scoffed at the result, glancing at Lady Gloria in the stands. Looking at the high and mighty God of Wine, he thought, "Perhaps this is life; there are always lucky guys who can easily negate all your efforts."

But it doesn't matter--

"--What about your companion? The General of Tears? She's going to die."

Instead of dodging, Meteor raised his sword and charged forward!

"Are you crazy?!" The Horse-head Ghost couldn't understand this suicidal behavior.

After accumulating immense potential energy, [Stayed Gone] swallowed the arena's rocky platform, creating a massive rolling sphere weighing at least six tons. It was like an unstoppable dump truck, impossible to halt by human power alone!

Could a shooting star do that?!

With the incredible luck brought by Gloria's [Sing For Me], can he stop this extremely destructive soul attack?

The answer is yes! Absolutely!

The General of Tears's hair radiated heat from his body, his muscles bulged, his latissimus dorsi muscles became engorged with blood, and the red stone on his chest burned fiercely in sync with his furious gaze and earth-shattering battle roar.

Berloberg is like a steel nail in the face of this boulder; stopping it or halting it is probably a pipe dream, but prying it and turning it around is another matter entirely.

The greatsword struck the stone ball hard on its side and below, like whipping a spinning top, bringing it back to its normal spinning motion!

In that instant, the new Berloberg Spike Greatsword that the gunsmith had just picked up was instantly ripped apart!

[Stayed Gone] fiercely gnawed a piece of steel off the blade. It could roll almost any matter in the world into this chaotic sphere. Struck by the immense force of the blow, it changed direction, carrying a wisp of sword material that looked like an LED light, and wobbled away towards the side road. Its speed slowed down.

The sword strikes unleashed a torrent of sparks, while the psionic energy of [Stayed Gone] continued to work, slicing a fiery streak from the stone sphere. These mud splattered onto Meteor's clothes like the claws of a beast tearing through fabric and stripping away flesh. A series of mud balls slowly took shape in mid-air, consuming a bit of A Xing's blood. After landing, they continued to roll, becoming about a dozen Thumb- sized spheres that collided with each other and then clung together again, as if defying gravity, clinging to the walls and devouring the arena walls, only returning after completing a full circle.

Duran escaped death; if General of Tears had simply made way for her, she would have certainly died.

Bu Liuxing regrouped, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.

"My turn!"