Chapter 408
The Slothful Bishop activated his spatial artifact the instant the lightning appeared and fled to a distance, but before he could take the opportunity to withdraw from the battlefield, he was blocked by the red-clad heroic spirit.
The bishop's expression was one of madness and incomprehension, for the sounds of battle continued to echo through the thick fog; some of the four factions were not fleeing at full speed, but instead taking the opportunity to pursue and kill.
Emiya remained silent, slowly drawing his black and white twin swords. This made the Sloth Archbishop's expression even more interesting; his lips twitched uncontrollably as he realized he had overlooked an unbelievable possibility:
Valhalla, the Night Watchers, and the Nameless King are in cahoots; was this battle staged from the very beginning?
Impossible, impossible, how could they be in cahoots? No, no, no, it's possible. The Nameless King is collecting powerful Soul Lamp to complete the main quest. So, in this instance, who has the deepest understanding of the Night, and who is focused on eliminating it?
Yes, the Night Watchers.
This conjecture was chilling, especially when he turned his head to look at the heart of the battlefield, dozens of kilometers away.
The gray fog obscured the view, allowing only flashes of lightning to be seen. However, the Night Watchers, Mena Ryougi, and the Nameless King were not engaged in fierce combat, nor were they even visible. This bizarre scene left the players scattered across the battlefield bewildered, exceeding everyone's expectations.
A chill ran down to the tips of his hair, causing his brain to tremble violently. The Slothful Bishop didn't know the reason for this, but that didn't stop him from making the most shocking guess:
"You... are in cahoots?"
No one can take away or trap an epic-level player, whether it's Spatial Severance or a temporal cage, because thin ropes cannot restrain a beast; an epic-level player can easily break free, unless—
This Hainawa is also of epic quality.
Yuki and the Nameless King are definitely not on the same side, or rather, the Nameless King is currently confused.
He surveyed the Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea before him, and it took a full second for his frozen mind to connect everything.
Moments ago, the Nameless King made his move, unleashing his full power. His golden lightning pierced through the thick fog, and his terrifying sword and spear slashed directly at Yuki.
In His plan, this Night Watchers wouldn't survive a second; once He dealt with him, He would sweep across the entire battlefield.
Because the battlefield was too large and too chaotic, with dozens of players scattered over a range of hundreds of kilometers, even an epic-level player known for his speed could not possibly annihilate them all.
Having observed for a long time, the Nameless King had already chosen his targets, intending to hunt down only the strong. Even if some players escaped, it wouldn't matter much.
The plan was meticulous, anticipating the psychological state of the other players after his appearance. He couldn't defeat these monster-level powerhouses working together, but if they were forced to flee, they would become his prey.
There's no way around it; being faster than your teammates is the safest option. This is a Reincarnation Game. What he wants to do is create an avalanche, replacing resistance with the instinct for survival. So, in essence, this isn't about using someone else to do the dirty work at all.
Then, the plan ran into problems right from the very first step.
"You... are a player?"
The king looked at the Night Watchers, his mind freezing again, his reason telling him that this was impossible.
He was very careful, observing for a long time, repeatedly confirming that this was indeed a Night Watchers, whose strength was similar to what the Sloth Bishop had described, surpassing that of a typical Monster IV, yet still not qualified to fight him one-on-one.
But when the sword and spear struck, the Roar lightning did not instantly kill the opponent. Instead, the space itself was torn apart, pulling the attacker into the Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea.
Spatial Severance mutation items are extremely rare, and it's even less likely that they would appear in the hands of dungeon characters.
"Certainly."
Yuki's body flickered with residual electricity. He placed Mona, whom he was holding, aside. In order to give the players time to escape, he did not use any Transcendental Grade powers or Chaos Item when facing the Nameless King who had transformed into lightning.
This was all planned in advance; the Manas Consciousness will take effect at the crucial moment, selecting the most favorable future.
The sword and spear missed their target, blasting a bottomless crater into the earth. The residual electricity was enough to carbonize any player below Monster III, but he withstood it. Just as the Nameless King, astonished, swung his sword a second time—
The Night Furnace Domain has been activated.
Everything was that simple, so fast that even the Nameless King didn't have time to react, and the timing was perfect, giving the Sloth Bishop and the others ample time to escape.
"A brilliant plan, though I don't know what the point of such a complicated scheme is." The Nameless King offered his praise, knowing that Yuki went beyond simply luring him out. "You started planning this as soon as you entered the instance, didn't you? Hmm, very meticulous, Limit the use of coincidences."
Without soul energy, Yuki could not have impersonated Night Watchers; without the Hunter's Blunderbuss, his disguise would have been exposed long ago. It was precisely because the two were combined that even the Nameless King failed to see through his disguise.
It's a very clever yet standard tactic. For example, players of 'Aether Particles' like to impersonate characters in fantasy-themed dungeons. The challenge lies in not missing a single clue.
This person's strength lies in gaining the approval of the Night Watchers and even the entire native population of the Dark Night Continent. Wait, why did I accept this premise so easily?
"That's the charm of journalism, making you form a preconceived notion." Yuki spread his hands. He wasn't in a hurry because the wound on the Nameless King's left rib was bleeding. It was a wound left by a jungler who fought to the death, and the cursed power prevented the wound from healing.
Arcs of lightning spread Nameless King scanned this strange area, taking no time to spare.
He didn't understand what the Charms of Journalism was, but he understood its meaning.
"Misleading skills based on causality?"
"More or less, so I have to correct you." Yuki spread his hands, picked up the Bloodblade, and said, "There are no coincidences in this world. If there are, it's because my calculations were superior to yours."
The king fell silent. He withdrew the spreading arc of electricity, which had already pierced through the maze and touched the boundary of the domain, so he was too lazy to waste any more words.
"I agree with your plan, but don't forget, in the Reincarnation Game, strength is what matters."
Epic Metamorphosis. The Storm Lord.
The howling wind and thunder made the entire space tremble, and countless golden snakes danced wildly, carving deep cuts into the Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea.
His strength was almost equal to that of the previous guest, the Witch God, who had already proven that the level 6 item "Universe in the Sleeve" could not deceive epic-level powerhouses at all; they would tear the maze apart with the simplest and most direct violence.
Transforming into lightning, it approached at a speed that even an eighth-level physique couldn't catch, and then struck.
Swish--
The sea of blood was split apart, and the Furnace was cut open into a canyon that was a thousand meters long, several meters wide, and bottomless. The Nameless King did not have as many fancy powers Witch God, but only the most fierce storms and thunder.
The hurricane was His wings, the thunder was His coat, and His whole being was like a giant golden flower, completely covering the place where Yuki stood.
Um?
A purple barrier of light blocked the sword and spear. The point of contact was riddled with cracks, and countless arcs of electricity seeped in, only to be reduced to the most basic soul energy, making the barrier of light even thicker.
Absorption-type Transcendental Grade skills? No, such skills are not even qualified to contend for control, unless—
Bang!
Gunshots rang out, and armor-piercing bullets shattered the Petal formed by lightning. With a clang, the bullets were split apart by the sword and spear. The same shot, but with several times the power.
This is Chaos Item; it doesn't have any special functions, it's just that the user fills it with more souls.
The nameless king retreated to a distance and saw the white smoke from the muzzle of the musket. The young man holding the gun straightened his tricorn hat and gave a Night Watchers salute.
"To correct your second point, I am indeed a player." Yuki looked at the damage on the nameless breastplate and the wound under his ribs that was bleeding continuously.
"But to be precise, you are the Storm Lord, and I—"
With a reach, the remaining golden lightning arcs within a hundred meters melted in the void, transforming into streaks of purple light that were then inserted into the shotgun. Without the need for the Demon Heart, the powerful bullets were fully loaded.
"It is the Soul King."
Chapter Seventeen: The Epic Battle!
Storm Lord.
Soul King.
Two epic-level players wreaked havoc in the Furnace, causing this Alienated Grade artifact, which had buried countless lives, to finally break down. Large swathes of the labyrinth were destroyed, and the Asura Witch Spirit, barely able to rise, was blasted apart by flashing lightning.
Damn it, he got away with it.
Mona carefully hid in the maze. In this fierce battle, she didn't have much of a role, but it was difficult for the aftershocks to hurt her.
Bloodline Skill: Particleized Organism.
Transcendental Grade skill: Space Blink.
The girl moved through the maze like an elf. Two epic-level players were too fast and would occasionally appear nearby. Stray bullets landed beside her, and the dirt they kicked up made her spit out a few times.
She carried a suitcase, occasionally pulling out strange gadgets from it, such as a bronze cannon, a black disc, or a futuristic-looking door.
More and more props appeared, and the scattered arcs of lightning acted like invisible eyes, quickly fixing their gaze on her.
The Nameless King had no idea what the brat was doing, but it certainly wasn't anything good. His sword and spear swept through the Yuki and merged into the storm.
In an instant, he vanished without a trace. Yuki exhaled a breath of stale air. This Nameless King, a veteran of countless battles, immediately changed his tactics after discovering that his area-of-effect attacks could be Void Conversion.
Focus on one point and see how you adapt.
He transformed from a mage into a powerful warrior, shattering the Bloodblade, cleaving through the insect armor, his wounds crackling with lightning, but his Regenerative Tail instantly healed them.
"This is the place I chose. You think you can take on two opponents at once?"
Moonlit Ghost Step.
Yuki appeared above Mona's head, a howling wind and a huge Tatsumaki engulfing him. The Red Lotus Fire quickly overflowed from the storm, forcefully annihilating it.
Smack
With a snap of his fingers, more than a dozen round mirrors appeared one after another in front of Mona, and then were shattered one by one by the golden lightning spear that was thrown at him.
The level 5 item couldn't stop the king's full-force attack, and Yuki didn't go to help, because the sword and spear emerged from the remaining storm and struck the raised fist.
Clang--
The sparks had barely ignited when a whip kick and an elbow strike slammed into each other, and Yuki, Yuuki saw the lightning bolt suddenly transform into a human figure, a golden greatsword slashing towards Mona.
Storm Clone?
The king is the storm; this qualitative change is beyond words, but the girl only revealed a sly smile.
Boom!
The compass exploded. It was a level 4 consumable item. The sudden burst of nuclear energy blasted the figure into pieces with a towering mushroom cloud.
But it was no use. Nuclear bombs were child's play for epic-level players. The lightning bolt split into several beams, turning into Sunlight Spear. The girl remained calm, her particle-like body scattering like dandelions.
Bloodline Skill: Particle Disintegration.
When the Sunlight Spear lost its target, a blast furnace appeared in the void, pouring in molten steel that caused the spears suspended in the air to disintegrate, and the scattered energy particles concentrated towards Yuki.
"Trouble, where did she get so many props?"
"And then there's him; this absorption transformation is very difficult to deal with."
At the same moment, the Nameless King had exchanged dozens of punches with Yuki. His golden armor was blasted with many shallow craters, which quickly recovered amidst the flashing arcs of lightning, but the wound under his ribs was torn open, and golden blood flowed out continuously.
The wound wouldn't have been anything special, but now it became Achilles' heel, Yuki was willing to take the hits head-on to concentrate firepower on that spot.
Epic-level players are very difficult to kill; each of them has extremely strong regenerative abilities. Even though the King knew that Mona was problematic, he couldn't spare the time to deal with her. If he went all out, Yuki, and his clones would suffer the same fate as before.
"The core of a true epic player's transformation lies in soul energy, and absorbing other energies to replenish themselves."
He looked towards the Yuki hundreds of meters away. The black uniform had long since vanished, revealing black scales covered in wounds. The shoulder that had been slashed by swords and spears was regenerating rapidly, soon returning to its original state. Meanwhile, the lightning arc that was supposed to stop the regeneration ability had annihilated on its own and been absorbed by the opponent.
Energy conversion, and that insect armor has the ability to adaptively increase defense, and the energy consumed is replenished through qualitative changes. The same goes for the Red Lotus Fire, oh, and that Transcendental Grade skill of instant teleportation.
The king showed some interest; this was a true epic-level player. At the same rating, he was far superior to those nameless idiots. The reason was simple—
All of a player's Transcendental Grade abilities revolve around this core, forming a self-contained system.
"You use energy as the core of qualitative change, but I also use rules as the core of qualitative change."
Storm God Body.
Unlike before, when his attack covered several square kilometers at once, this time the golden lightning and gray storm mingled, giving the king another layer of protection. The energy was more concentrated than ever before, making the surrounding moonlight disappear without a trace. Then he raised his sword and spear. The golden-gray blade was not huge, but it was concentrated into a single line.
The probing ended after a few minutes. The King chose to go all out, having discovered that the domain's capacity was almost limitless. He either had to break through or kill the user.
"I just leveled up and already encountered a true epic-level powerhouse. What bad luck," Yuki muttered, slowly bending down.
As expected of the Nameless King, he recognized me as a sustain-focused player at a glance.
The wind arrived as quickly as the person; it wasn't teleportation, yet it was faster than teleportation. Time became meaningless, and the three-meter-tall king appeared directly in front of him.
Storm Domain.
The condensed energy utterly shattered the moonlight; the spreading arc of lightning covered only a kilometer, but its intensity far exceeded the control range of 'Void Conversion'.
Not a single ounce of energy leaked out, nor was any energy given away. The whistling sword and spear magnified in Yuki's eyes, Piercer the overflowing energy, grazing his chest, and leaving a thin mark on his black armor.
Focus on one point, and you'll reach the pinnacle.
The overwhelming destructive power forced Yuki to retreat slightly. The Bloodblade collided with the horizontal slash of the sword and spear, causing the level 5 item to emit a piercing wail. Yuki pointed his fingers like a blade, crept closer, and while Piercer the storm, he was also struck heavily on the back by the spear shaft.
Thump--boom--
The black armor on his entire back cracked, and Yuki's hand slash pierced the wound under the king's ribs. The raised knee collided with the wound, creating a pale white ring in the air.
Blood-Burning Heart, Wildfire.
The storm's body was swirling and chaotic.
Both sides' speed, strength, and recovery increased simultaneously. The two epic melee players clashed with all their might, which had a somewhat back-to-basics feel to it.