Act 12: I'm the One, the Blue One
[Part 1: Rock Musicians]
"My turn! Horse-faced monster!"
A Xing was radiating heat from his entire body.
--Gloria's holy blood and his immune system were locked in a fierce battle. After the Red Stone People entered a state of rage, his cardiopulmonary system began to work overtime as his adrenaline surged.
My muscles are congested with blood and I'm sweating profusely. If I clench my fists even slightly, I can feel my heart pounding.
In this state, Meteor's physical essence output will increase by about 30%, and the holy blood of the Immortals will quickly flow to every cell—it probably won't be long, just a few minutes or half an hour, before he becomes Gloria's Blood-giving Retinue and he has to say goodbye to his Homo sapiens identity.
This is the most common form the General of Tears takes when using knightly combat techniques to deal with Blood-giving Monster. We saw this furious posture in the [Etiquette Class], where the muscles all over the body are engorged with blood, and the latissimus dorsi, shoulders, and neck swell and heat up along with the arms.
Seeing this, Gloria noticed that General of Tears's spiritual pressure was like a blazing, fiery red flower, burning intensely in the arena. Sweat and moisture billowed from the man's shoulders and head. When he made direct contact with [Stayed Gone]'s soul power attack, the boy was injured.
Despite only causing minor superficial wounds, the debris falling from the stone ball still harmed Meteor. It tore through her stab-proof vest, snatching away fabric fibers and flesh, like the claws of a ferocious beast tearing open a vibrant flower of blood.
The smell of blood wafted into Gloria's nose, and she was immediately filled with pleasure and infatuation.
Whether it's a slow-cooked, meticulously prepared dish or a whole piece peeled and swallowed raw.
--Whether it's made into a collectible blood slave for leisurely enjoyment, or into a specimen for museum display.
This is top-quality stuff!
Gloria thought to herself, "The essence of the General of Tears is so tempting! As long as I maintain that furious, blood-pumping form, it probably won't be long before he's completely mine!"
For Meteor, this duel must be resolved quickly, because Duran has no dice.
--The Horse-head Ghost's soul power can be used to roll a reward die based on the accumulated number of rounds. And the Bailan the Singer's wide-range control is something even the Arbiter cannot escape, having to undergo the confrontation and assessment of this bewitching song every round.
The longer the game drags on, the stronger their combined skills become.
In this circular arena, there is ample time and number of turns for the Horse-head Ghost's [Stayed Gone] to accumulate Soul Power. This time, it was just good luck that the Meteor was able to block the beast's advantageous dice.
But what about next time? And the time after that?
If the stone ball is allowed to accumulate for three rounds, the Horse-head Ghost will have three dice to roll for an advantage. At that point, can Berloberg and his brute strength alone really stop it?
What will it become? How big will it roll?
Leaving aside how to avoid such a terrifying crushing attack, Duran will die under the boulder because of the fate dice roll of [Sing For Me].
So A Xing decisively chose to go all in. He quickly poured hemostatic gel into his other ear, and in that instant, everything became vibrant and bright, regaining its color!
Having broken free from the constraints of rounds and no longer hearing the bird demon's song, he wanted to turn the complex gamble into a simple life-or-death struggle. The enemy's strongest attack was this stone ball. Once the Horse-head Ghost was dealt with, the remaining Bailan the Singer would not have the killing power to end the meteor!
A Xing entered a state of flow, his thoughts became increasingly clear, and controlling his anger had become instinctive—that ring-pommel sword alone wasn't enough to cut off my head!
For the General of Tears, the flow of time had returned to normal. He took a step and leaped forward, his sword moving with him, covering more than twenty steps in just two seconds, completely blocking out the bird demon's song and the Hunter King's clappers.
As he raised his sword, his broad back stirred up a cloud of blood and gore along with the blade. When he was completely off the ground, his right arm concealed his slashing intent, and his charging, leaping execution-like movement was full of tension! He was like a fighter jet flying close to the ground!
With both palms working together, they pressed perfectly against the pommel of Berloberg's sword, striking with the force of a meteor falling to earth! The blade, burning at a thousand degrees Celsius, left a dark red trail in the pitch-black arena!
Before the dice for the duel even landed, from the perspective of the Horse-head Ghost, under the influence of [The Power], the General of Tears's charging leap and slash was so slow, yet so terrifying!
Despite his ability to think at lightning speed, it was precisely this steady pace of thinking and responding in battle that broke down his defenses, leaving him with a deep sense of powerlessness!
He was terrified, completely overwhelmed by the mimicry of the Meteor Knight's combat technique. That greatsword had slaughtered thousands of his comrades, and the swordsman showed no compassion or empathy when killing monsters—he was a savage butcher who had emerged from countless battles and carnage.
It was precisely this excessively long pace of thought, this repeated observation, that allowed the meteor's full glory to be completely exposed to Mr. Bohua's eyes—this was almost a form of mental torture.
"Can you dodge it?"
"My God! He flew over here!"
"How did he do that? He... he..."
"How can he jump so far in one go! Why?! Is this really just one round of action?"
"Old Bones! Save me! Save me!"
The Horse-head Ghost screamed in agony and even began to blame the referee.
"You must be secretly helping him! Right! How can he plug his ears? That's a foul! Why?!"
"If there were no turn limit, wouldn't he be able to..."
During the time the meteor hovered in the sky, Old Bones floated to the side of the Horse-head Ghost, wanting to soothe the Blood-giving Monster's emotions and also to prove his innocence.
"I did not secretly help General of Tears. From the moment he took his self-sacrificing charge to the moment you started spouting nonsense, only a mere 2,455 milliseconds had passed. If I am not senile and still have the ability to keep track of time, then that is the exact number."
"On the contrary, my [The Power] is still helping you, Mr. Bohua."
"You have ample time to devise a strategy, to carefully consider how to counter this attack."
"For General of Tears, he has already burned his bridges, pouring all his courage into a mere few minutes, or even just a few seconds. He is no longer in the middle of a round, having abandoned the super-speed thinking ability [The Power] has given him."
"Perhaps for the Red Stone People, too much thinking is a bad thing. Courage is fleeting, and momentum is hard to sustain. Too much time spent thinking will only deplete his concentration, and the precision of his swordplay and the quality of his attacks will decrease— General of Tears knows his strengths and weaknesses."
"His actions speak for themselves, Mr. Bohua."
"There should be 1,133 milliseconds, or 1.13 seconds, before the sword strikes your head. Your fear has caused you to waste too much time, and you can't dodge this sword no matter what."
"Now you can only pin your hopes on the dice and entrust your life to Gloria Sebastian."
After saying this, the Old Bones deliberately kept his distance to avoid getting splattered with dirty, smelly blood.
It must be said that the arbitrator's words awakened Mr. Bohua, and the horse-faced monster gritted his teeth and threw the dice of fate!
For a meteor--
"--Pfft!"
The blade felt like a hot knife through butter! It cleaved into the Horse-head Ghost's shoulder, catching on the solid bones of his chest!
A Xing didn't even look at the result of the throw. For him, this was the familiar combat environment and the familiar duel process!
Both dice stopped spinning completely, and after comparison, they were found to have the same number, both being [10]!
The greatsword, originally aimed at the head of the horse-faced monster, was a leaping slash that was supposed to kill in one strike, but Bo Hua twisted his body to dodge it, and then it turned into a one-sided beating!
Gloria's Soul Power could indeed save Horse-head Ghost's life, but what happens next? He probably won't have a turn left!
A Xing kicked the Horse-head Ghost in the stomach, about to draw his sword and slash again.
Seeing this, Bailan immediately came to the rescue, her ring-pommel sword falling almost at the same time as A Xing's kick. However, the General of Tears did not dodge; he did not have such a quick reaction or so many distracting thoughts. Instead, the various characteristics brought about by the action cycles of [The Power] gave him a very clear understanding.
Although his thinking speed has slowed down, certainly not as fast as these two Blood-giving Monsters, and it seems that [The Power] is helping these two troublesome enemies, there is one hidden condition that will not change.
The turn order for Bailan the Singer and the Horse-head Ghost is fixed. Bailan can only act after the Horse-head Ghost has completed its action. This is an ironclad rule written by the Soul Power of [The Power].
Meteor hardly needed to think about how to play this turn-based game, directly ignoring Bailan's attack turn, because the counter-dice was guaranteed to take effect. Even without a counter-action, there was a 50% chance that Bailan would not be able to deal damage with this attack—this was another ironclad rule written by Gloria Sebastian.
He has figured out the rules of the game and is trying to use them to brute force his way through.
The long knife left a shallow wound on A Xing's shinbone; the blade stopped just as it pierced the bone.
A Xing didn't care about the pain at all. Before Duran could even take his turn, he kicked the Horse-head Ghost away. The moment Berloberg regained his freedom, he once again raised his sword and slashed down!
"Next round!"
Duran's voice echoed in Meteor's mind, transmitted through the spirit of [Mr. Wei Meng Rap].
"I am still under this mind control influence, and I must continue to walk six steps to the southwest!"
"The General of Tears! He's back! He's come rolling back!"
"The stone ball you pulled away and shifted to the other side has rolled back! It's coming towards me! My body is out of my control!"
"I'm afraid you can't hear me in your current state, Bu Liuxing! Bringing me into this duel was a complete mistake."
"I'll die if I don't see Cici again!"
Duran was filled with despair as he recounted this.
To Meteor, this rapid-fire divine speech sounded like a specially edited, sped-up cassette tape recording—completely incapable of conveying any meaningful information.
A Xing left the round of [The Power] and also left Duran's team. Now she can only resign herself to fate and watch her body slowly head towards death.
This crucial second round has ended, and the third round is yet to come.
Duran knew only one thing: the Bailan the Singer had led her to her doom, but Meteor seemed completely unconcerned. He was blinded by rage and wanted to end the battle as quickly as possible.
But
Is that really the case?
Duran channeled his Soul Power, using his remaining energy to calculate the future.
She looked around the arena, trying to find a way out, and suddenly spotted the viewing platform where Gloria Sebastian was.
"Oh! General of Tears!"
"My hero!"
Ms. Duran couldn't help but gasp in surprise, the fleeting thoughts in her eyes finally settling down!
At this moment, she had to complete the last task assigned by the [Timeline].
Even without dice, she still had to throw out a stubborn stone to change her fate, and took out a gemstone jewelry from her pocket—it was a green stone incense burner that the BOSS had personally inspected and that Ling Weng had given her, and it was the same type of gemstone as Bailu's.
The enormous stone sphere had accumulated unimaginable potential energy; it was nearly four meters tall and was about to roll back and crush Duran's location.
Ms. Duran remained calm and composed, swinging the rope and throwing stones to test the waters, entrusting her final fate to her own talisman.
"Everything is ready, everything is arranged," the Old Bones said. "Witness this!"
"Your partner is about to die!" Despite his severe injuries, the Horse-head Ghost remained defiant. After a brief exchange with the Bailan the Singer, he began to devise his final soul-power attack. "As long as I survive two action cycles, Bailan will be able to pinpoint your Achilles tendon! You'll never be able to catch us again!"
Hahahaha!
The horse-faced monster, while clutching his ruptured chest and spitting blood, still managed to laugh with an air of nonchalance.
He staggered backward, trying to curl up as much as possible to avoid taking full damage from the slashes during the fight, and then tried to get up again to dodge more nimbly.
This moment--
--Death God is coming!
The gleaming blade relentlessly pursued the Horse-face Freak's escape route!
Sword rises and falls! A meteor strikes through the air! The Horse-head Ghost barely dodges the fierce blow, leaving a deep slash mark on Berloberg stone pavement.
But Meteor didn't hesitate at all and still didn't look at the dice.
The Bailan the Singer, hot on his heels, calculated the distance precisely, chose her route, and with a flourish of her hand, changed her sword-wielding posture, slashing horizontally at the heel of the General of Tears. It had an immediate effect!
"Hahahaha!" Madam Bailan exclaimed excitedly, her smile twisted in a grimace. "You're such a jinx! Fate is on our side!"
Yes, she's right, Lady Luck has long since left General of Tears's side.
This is the worst possible outcome: a fruitless pursuit, followed by a fatal crippling attack from the enemy exploiting a weakness.
[Part ② - Reckless Charge]
Meteor felt a pain in his heel and lost his balance. He quickly regained his center of gravity by using his sword, still ignoring the Bailan the Singer behind him—he believed in the White Snake's abilities and in the luminous green gemstone amulet. He believed it would produce a result, even if Duran didn't have the dice.
He didn't stop attacking; the pain in his heel only caused him to lose weight on one leg, allowing him to continue his pursuit even with just that one leg.
"I'm covered in blood!"
The meteor's eyes widened in fury, and it roared with a thunderous voice.
"Where's yours?!"
The Horse-head Ghost was so shocked by the terrifying roar that it almost stumbled and slipped.
He wanted to retort, but now was not the time for him to act, and a rift formed within him.
He could only watch helplessly as the General of Tears continued to swing his sword, continuing to slash down as if bowing in worship!
"This guy"
"Does this guy completely disregard the lives of his companions?"
"Right now! My [Stayed Gone] will crush Ars Claudia Duran into a human skin!"
"Why is he still chasing me? Why is he relentlessly pursuing me?!"
Bo Hua was on the verge of collapse, involuntarily looking in the direction of Gloria Sebastian.
He missed his master and prayed to Dionysus for some luck, hoping that Lady Gloria would favor him and change the outcome of the dice rolls.
No.
No no no no!
No!
He only realized what was happening when he saw the viewing platform.
At the end of the first round, the tiny specks of mud that had escaped from the General of Tears, along with the sparks and fragments stained with blood, had now transformed into another stone sphere!
Under the influence of [Stayed Gone], it grew larger and larger, rushing towards the platform where Gloria Sebastian was!
"Why! Why!" Bo Hua was almost going crazy. "Why is it rolling towards the direction of Dionysus?!"
"If I release my Soul Power now, won't all the energy I've been preparing for this attack be wasted?"
"Your time is running out," the Old Bones reminded him at the right moment. "Blood, lots and lots of blood, dripping like castanets."
"Shut up, Hunter King! Stop putting pressure on me! Stop putting pressure on me!" Horse-head Ghost's face turned ashen, almost crushed by this mental pressure.
On one side was Dionysus, and on the other was Duran. This bitter choice made his mind rust and unable to think.
If time could pass more quickly, perhaps he wouldn't have hesitated, and he wouldn't have been in so much pain.
Could it be that...?
"Could it be that this guy did it on purpose?"
"This seemingly dim-witted guy... he did something inexplicable in the first round, but actually..."
The Horse-head Ghost froze, carefully examining the stone sphere hurtling towards the viewing platform.
--Then a bright red spirit appeared, like Sisyphus pushing a boulder, shoving the devastating weapon created by [Stayed Gone] toward Gloria's location!
"How could this happen?! [Wham Mr. Wei Meng] has always been on Duran, hasn't it?! Why?!"
Originally, Mr. Bohua intended to destroy Duran's physical body and the General of Tears's spirit in one fell swoop using a charged attack. Not only did Meteor obtain information about the Songstress's soul power in advance, but Bo Hua also obtained information about [Mr. Wei Meng Rap] in advance.
The unicorn warrior with a guardian spirit can unleash astonishing power, Bo Hua is extremely wary of this kind of spirit. Therefore, he did not directly launch a soul-power attack on Duran.
This caution, ironically, gave Meteor precious time to use his blood as a psychic medium, transforming the [Stayed Gone] mudball blood sphere into a deadly attack aimed at Gloria.
"Gloria! Get out of the way!"
The Horse-head Ghost was unable to utter a single word; his mobility was nearly exhausted. Overwhelmed by this series of immense pressures, his mind descended into utter chaos.
"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" The Bailan the Singer Songstress was also struck dumb. The reason why Gloria couldn't move was probably due to the influence of [Entertainment]. Even though the God of Wine had the advantage dice, it was reasonable for him to be tempted by the harpy song after three rounds of assessment.
However, Bailan cannot dispel the psychic power, so it's not her turn yet.
"Are you just going to watch? Do nothing?" After saying this, the Old Bones let time continue to move forward.
"My light is like a sword! My strength is like iron!" Meteor swung his sword, the quality of the strike was still terrifyingly high, even though he was advancing on one leg, his center of gravity remained completely unbalanced.
In that instant, the Horse-head Ghost released his supernatural powers, his face turning ashen—he dared not harm a deity! Even attacking the God of Wine would be an unforgivable sin!
Berloberg slashed open his face, hacked into his mouth, and broke into the bridge of his nose. He struggled to tilt his head back to protect his skull, fearing a fatal brain injury!
The subsequent executions went exceptionally smoothly! Because Duran had taken over the game—
--Swathes of mud and sand rushed over her body, and the moment the stone sphere shattered and crumbled, she knew she was saved. Her body was trapped in the rock fragments and dust, carried to the northeast, as if she had plunged into a sandy river.
In that instant, she threw the second rock!
Meteor was wounded again by Bailan, this time his only remaining good leg was severed.
He knelt on the ground, relentlessly attacking as if possessed by a demon, his fist pounding the Horse-face Freak's chin. Then, Berloberg regained his freedom and prepared to deliver the final blow.
Mr. Bohua had no time to think—his brain had stopped working due to the pain, and his body had lost most of its mobility due to excessive blood loss; all he wanted was to escape! Escape from General of Tears's attack range! As long as he could get out.
Just as he tried to get up, his body swayed to the side!
It braced its torso with its palms and slammed it down onto the round incense burner!
His head slammed hard against the floor again.
"You're finished! I'm here to take your life!" Meteor raised his sword to strike again, but he knelt on the ground, unable to draw strength from the earth, and his sword strikes lost their aim.
The greatsword struck Bo Hua in the face, breaking the horse-faced monster's neck, but it wasn't completely dead!
The Bailan the Singer, sword in hand, intended to finish off the General of Tears. With the advantage of her superior position, she executed the decapitation without hesitation!
"It's a duel! Don't get in the way!" A crimson unicorn warrior emerged from the back of the meteor.
No matter how the dice spin, how they land, or what the result is, this blow to [Mr. Wei Meng] is merely a minor, psychological injury to Meteor!
The punch that just landed on the horse-faced monster has already secured the victory for the General of Tears!
There is one last chance; it is one last chance for Mr. Bohua.
Unable to rise, facing the General of Tears's execution attack, he grabbed a nearby stone—
--Grabbing the stubborn rock of fate thrown by Duran, from this angle, he couldn't deliver a fatal blow, couldn't throw the rock at the General of Tears's head. He was too tired, and could only lie paralyzed on the ground with his head tilted to the side. The slightest movement caused excruciating pain in his broken spine.
"[Stayed Gone]! Tear this guy's fingers off!"
If this stone can tear off General of Tears's finger and make that terrifying greatsword lose its aim, perhaps I can survive!
Yes, Bo Hua! Wake up!
As long as I survive, my self-healing ability as a blood donor far surpasses that of this bastard!
Break his fingers, preferably his Thumb! Then he'll never be able to hold Berloberg again!
Just as Mr. Bohua had predicted, [Stayed Gone] transformed into a little sprite, carrying it as it flew away. When it touched Meteor's Thumb, it bit off a piece of bone, then rapidly expanded and swallowed A Xing's right Thumb, index finger, and middle finger!
It seemed that nothing in the world could stop this terrifying rolling stone.
--It continued forward, seemingly starving, completely penetrating A Xing's abdominal cavity, striking his soft ribs, tearing through his ribs and muscles, covering them with a layer of bloody mud.
"Yes! Yes! Okay!"
When the dice landed, Bo Hua was overjoyed!
"Twenty points! Twenty points! Twenty points! A great success! Let's absorb it all! Let's absorb all the damage from this Soul Might attack!"
When it left the meteor's body, it turned into a fist-sized "ball of flesh." Thanks to its owner's overwhelming luck, it ate its fill and then crashed into the body of the Bailan the Singer who was raising her butcher's knife—hitting her right in the sternum.
Bailan couldn't utter a word, because it wasn't her turn yet.
The Horse-head Ghost couldn't see his companion's face either, as a burly giant stood between them.
In the rules of dice, as long as a big win is rolled, the attack will be successful regardless of the outcome, and will achieve a highly effective result.
When [Stayed Gone] left Bailan's body, she was already completely dead!
The rolling stone grew to almost the size of a basketball, carrying away her entire chest cavity. In the instant her spinal cord stopped functioning, she went to meet the goddess Amon without even reacting.
"Bailan! Finish him off! Cut off his head!" The Horse-head Ghost, still unaware of the situation, issued commands to his companions.
He waited and waited, but the Bailan the Singer never returned.
--We waited until that blue man changed his sword-wielding posture, and even with a missing finger, he could still lift the greatsword, transforming his vigorous slashes into steady, stabbing strikes.
With a single, sharp thrust, Berloberg's blade, aimed straight at the throat, struck the very core of the brain, causing the horse-faced skull to emit the acrid smell of roasted brains.
The next second, Meteor finally had a free hand, grabbed Coyote Ace, aimed his gun, and gave the corpse no chance to revive!
He's missing three fingers, but that doesn't matter. As long as he has one finger left, he can be executed by shooting!
The scorching shot shattered the horse-faced monster's head!
Yes--
He's dead!