So All That Was Left Was to Burn...

"Hahahahaha!" Su Li let out a frenzied laugh.

She raised her greatsword high with both hands, then brought it crashing down on Vivian in front of her!

Raise the sword, then—smash it down!

This was the ultimate, back-to-basics technique beloved by all action-game players: New Year Greetings Swordplay!

It used no skill whatsoever, relying purely on the weapon's weight and the wielder's strength to batter the enemy without pause!

"Clang!" A deafening clash of metal rang out.

Vivian held her greatsword crosswise in both hands and barely managed to block the overhead blow.

The enormous recoil traveled along the blade and into her arms, making her vision go black.

But before she could catch her breath, Su Li's second strike came crashing down!

"Clang—"

"Clang, clang, clang!" The rapid clang of metal rang out again and again.

Vivian felt as if she were facing a maddened giant dragon. She couldn't find the slightest opening to counterattack and could only raise her sword to defend herself.

Su Li's attacks came too fast, and hit too hard!

Each time the greatsword came down, the ground beneath Vivian's feet gave a low groan as it strained under the impact.

Her boots sank inch by inch into the earth, until the mud reached from her ankles to her calves.

Dirt flew everywhere. The shock waves from their clash had churned the surrounding ground into a wasteland.

"Damn it! Is this thing a monster?!" Vivian gritted her teeth.

If not for the all-around boost to her attributes from Seraphina's Divine Fusion, along with the Stamina Recovery Potions and High-Grade Mana Recovery Potions she kept chugging, the monster in front of her would have cleaved her in two long ago.

"Clang!" Another crushing blow came down.

But this time, Vivian keenly sensed something was off.

Su Li had been unleashing New Year Greetings Swordplay nonstop, and she'd poured too much force into this strike. After swinging the incredibly heavy blow, the recoil left Su Li's body rigid for an instant!

"Now!" The moment Vivian had been waiting for!

She put all her strength into her arms and forcibly knocked Su Li's greatsword aside.

"Fina!" Vivian shouted.

"Got it!" At the reply, Seraphina's figure appeared behind Vivian in an instant.

"In the name of the God of Light, I call forth the holy light of judgment to burn away all filth!"

As the chant ended, an enormous golden flame gathered in an instant, like a golden meteor hurtling toward Su Li, who was still frozen in place!

"It hit!" A surge of joy rose in Vivian and Seraphina's hearts at the same time.

This was Seraphina's most powerful single-target Light attribute ultimate move: Holy Flame Judgment!

Only white-haired Red-robed Archbishops in the Church could usually manage to cast a spell of this level.

Only a genius like Seraphina could master it at a lower level, far ahead of her peers.

And the most terrifying thing about this move was its Special Attack against the undead.

Against an ordinary monster, it might only have the power of a regular Fireball Technique. But against an undead creature, its damage would multiply exponentially!

Even though Seraphina was still low-level and the spell's power was greatly diminished, it could still instantly kill an undead creature above level 20.

"We won!" Vivian breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next second, something that left both of them dumbfounded happened.

"Whoosh—" The golden holy flames dissipated.

The silver-armored girl still stood there, completely unharmed.

"What?!" The smile froze on Vivian's face. She looked as if she'd just witnessed the most unbelievable sight of her life.

That was a Light attribute ultimate move! It had an overwhelming advantage against undead creatures!

Yet this bizarre undead could not only use Divine Judgment, but even withstand a Light Killing Move head-on?!

No, on closer inspection, it had caused some damage after all!

One of the plates of armor on Su Li's left shoulder had been singed black, but that was all.

"Hahahaha! Are you trying to tickle me?"

Su Li lowered her head and glanced at the Black Mark on her shoulder armor. The Soul Fire in her eye sockets flickered violently with excitement.

What a joke! Her Light Resistance was extremely high! It wasn't enough to make her recover health from the attack, but the damage had been no more than a scratch.

"Done tickling me? Then it's my turn!"

Su Li let out another wild laugh and charged forward again!

"Clang, clang, clang, clang!" The sound of metal clashing rang out once more.

Vivian's expression grew more and more grim. Sweat and blood blurred her vision.

Damn it! Didn't she ever get tired?!

Vivian had lost track of how many bottles of High-Grade Mana Recovery Potion and Stamina Recovery Potion she'd drunk since the battle began.

And only the endless supply of strength from Divine Fusion had let her hold out this long.

But now, her arms were completely numb, her lungs felt as if they were filled with lead, and her stamina was nearly spent.

But the silver-haired girl in front of her? Not only had her sword swings failed to slow down, they were growing heavier!

"Vivian, we can't keep this up..." Seraphina's weak voice sounded in Vivian's mind.

"Her stamina is endless, and we're nearly out of potions... We have to use that."

"What? No!" Vivian's expression changed at once.

"Have you lost your mind? If you use that move, you'll..."

But it was already too late to stop her.

"Vmmm—"

A force of repulsion surged between them, forcibly separating Seraphina from Vivian's body!

Without Divine Fusion, Vivian's legs gave out and she collapsed onto the ground.

"Fina! Don't!" Vivian cried out hoarsely, reaching for the hem of Seraphina's clothes.

But Seraphina was already floating in midair, her eyes closed and her face set with determination.

In an instant, golden flames a hundred times denser than those of Holy Flame Judgment began to rise slowly from the soles of her feet.

She was burning her own memories!

Seraphina gripped her staff in her left hand, ignoring the greatsword whistling toward her from below.

"O great God of Light, hear the prayers of your faithful!"

"Let my memories be the fuel!"

"Let my soul be the offering!"

"Shattering Realm Journey—!"

As she spoke the incantation, the golden flames around her surged. The entire sky seemed to blaze with holy radiance.

But Su Li wasn't the sort of player who'd obediently stand around and wait for a boss to finish its transformation cutscene!

"Channeling freak, die!" Su Li roared, kicking off the ground and launching herself into the air.

"Shhk—!"

As Vivian watched in despair, time seemed to stretch endlessly.

She saw Su Li appear in front of Seraphina.

She saw the greatsword carve a cold arc through the air...

Blood sprayed. A fair left hand spun through the air.

"No!!!" Vivian let out a heart-wrenching scream.

But—the spell's activation had already completed!

With her arm severed, Seraphina smiled.

"Boom—!!!"

A blinding sea of golden fire erupted around Seraphina.

Then, in an instant, it swallowed every living thing on the battlefield!