Chapter 616
"Freedom is ultimately gained through strength. So-called wisdom is merely creating preconditions. He wasn't so composed as to be able to outwit us from afar." Aizen gave a bitter smile, finding it ironic, just like Uchiha Madara.
"The Judge have an absolute advantage and can crush all resistance with their strength, but I feel that we are the challengers. We have overcome countless difficulties just for the chance to fight."
Yes, who is the hero? Who is the demon king?
Judging from their strength, they should be the bosses. Why did they go through so much trouble to even qualify to challenge the Demon King? Is there any justice in this world?
"After all, He is Taiyi." Uchiha Madara finally managed to say this after a long pause, then composed himself and said, "Let's wait until after the battle to stop thinking about these things and get the battle plan arranged."
Aizen won the bet and naturally regained trust, but when he did the math, his bitter smile became even more pronounced.
After all that, he only had two and a half Grand Judges at his disposal. But thinking about it again, if it weren't for this prerequisite, Taiyi would never have been able to jump out at all.
The plan was finalized before the gambling took place, and he also received good news.
"Taiyi is no longer in the Judgment Domain; he has devoted all available resources to it."
"Your reserve team doesn't have many people."
"I know, but having one more monster-level player is good for us." Aizen wasn't picky; he raised his head, though the confidence in his eyes wasn't particularly strong.
A fair fight? There's no fairness to speak of; He's still playing tricks!
The Hundred Eyes of True Knowledge the blurry point of light proved that 'Taiyi' hadn't returned to this Outpost at all, but now that things had come to this, he dared not show even a moment's hesitation.
Just as morale would collapse if Yuki didn't appear, the morale of the Judge is also about to explode; continuing to play cat and mouse is a dead end.
He pushed open the door and entered the corridor filled with ruins. Through the holes in the ceiling, he could see countless players taking off, and those players, scattered like sesame seeds, quickly gathered again.
If this formation had been used at the start of the war, the enemy would have been routed long ago. The eight Grand Inquisitors could crush any defense, and thousands of Judge could rush in through the breach. Taiyi had three heads and six arms, he couldn't stop them. Many players would have been so frightened that they would have collapsed on the spot.
"So that's what the fifth layer of geographical advantage means."
Scattering can use space to block fear, just like cutting a sausage into a hundred slices; no matter how good your appetite is, you can only eat one slice.
This preserves troop strength and morale, allowing them to be regrouped at the last moment.
Various signals rose and fell, and players who still had the strength to fight gathered in factions, as did the Judge, who flew out from various independent battlefields.
Neither side has a way out. Taiyi falls, they will surely die. If Taiyi succeeds, all the Judge will be wiped out. Except for players who have suffered a mental breakdown or lost all their combat power, all of them will gather here.
This trick is a tactical one.
Aizen finally gained some confidence; Taiyi definitely there, because he slammed down all his cards. These players weren't stupid; who would risk their lives as a stepping stone?
Returning from hundreds of battlefields to a single Outpost, thousands of players scattered in different directions, forming several disorganized formations. Aizen Uchiha Madara to his own formation. Looking ahead, he saw a black-haired youth holding a long spear, quietly waiting for them.
"We've finally met. Should I call you Taiyi, or Mr. Yuki?" Aizen spoke in a gentle voice, the secret already revealed in the carnage.
Having lost so many powerful warriors who had shattered cities and destroyed lands, they finally saw the enemy's commander-in-chief, which was rather embarrassing.
"Suit yourself." Yuki smiled back and asked, "You've got some nerve. Aren't you afraid I'll use a feint again, and then use the Reincarnation Game to wipe you all out?"
"Why waste words with him! We're running out of time!" Aatrox the Roar, but the blade, about to fly out of his hand, was caught by his own.
"It's not a big deal, Aatrox." Aizen tried his best to remain calm and didn't say anything stupid like, 'If it weren't for that idiot Reincarnation Game, you wouldn't have had a chance to turn the tables.'
Exploiting the enemy's weaknesses is a fundamental element of warfare.
"Because I suddenly realized that you are not as great as I thought. Perhaps I've guessed a thousand times, and the answer lies in the very beginning. Your wishes are in stark contrast to the name Taiyi. Even if I find the real answer, I can't convince myself."
Yuki's expression shifted slightly, and he swiftly thrust out his spear. Without warning, a phantom appeared behind Hayasaka Ai, its blade aimed at the girl's chest.
Puff.
The illusory image was shattered, and only then did Hayasaka Ai belatedly turn her head.
"Don't think about anything related to him, or he will jump out of your memory and attack you!"
"You see, the answer is so simple. This is all that Taiyi truly pursues." Aizen smiled. He had been observing for so long, waiting for this verification. All the Judge showed two completely opposite expressions: one of sudden realization and the other of difficulty in implementing the judgment.
So many players died before, but Taiyi didn't even blink. His act of covering for them just now seemed more like instinct, and the person who triggered that instinct must be someone very important.
"The Thorny Rose is never just a battleground; it is where you came from, and it is where you return."
"Interesting! Compared to those idiots running around like headless flies, you pay attention to observation?" Yuki didn't refute, ignoring the disgusted expressions on Solomon and the others' faces, as if they'd swallowed flies. "Sōsuke Aizen, you're more interesting than I thought."
He didn't ask stupid questions like "How do you know?" The truth lies in the details. Clues can be found in searching the memories of local players and in Yuki leading the team as a whole. But the most crucial and impossible-to-hide detail is the skill allocation of the senior and others.
It's a meticulously planned player type with a huge gap between their potential and limitations, a type of player that rarely appears in Reincarnation Game. Normal players will try their best to develop in all aspects, no matter how short the time, to ensure they can cope with any type of dungeon.
But the upperclassmen are different. In order to inflict damage, Hayasaka Ai wished she could blow up the entire planet with one shot, but she had no strong defense or detection capabilities. Shiina Hiyori wished she could read everything in the world, but she couldn't beat a Monster III player.
Even glass cannons have their Limit. It's abnormal that you can blast a planet apart but still be killed by a much weaker melee player.
"Extreme imbalance requires teammates to make up for it, but the first lesson every player learns from the newbie quests is that you can't trust any player unless you have a strong and powerful core." Aizen clenched his raised fist, somewhat resentful. He had known about his senior and the others for a long time, but in his eyes, women were worthless, and teammates were just for betraying. And his teammates weren't stupid; the stronger they were, the more effort it took to sell them.
Until he discovered the skill set of these women, he realized that, as an epic-level player, this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a deliberate plan that had been in the works for a very long time.
"And the core of this is you. You can unite them both militarily and psychologically, and they don't seem like fools. There must be a reason why they're so devoted to you."
Brilliant! This psychological analysis is brilliant.
Yuki almost clapped. "Confessing to me in front of so many people, huh?" But Aizen was right.
Everyone for me, and I for everyone—this trust is always mutual. If there were even the slightest falsehood, the senior students and others would never have taken this path of advancement.
Everything can be faked, but the Reincarnation Game cannot be reset; this can never be hidden.
"It's a pity you understood this too late. If you had understood it earlier, I wouldn't have been able to defeat you one by one so easily."
"It's not too late. I never expected a crushing victory. Besides, the script you wrote is very ingenious. It's already quite good that you were able to find the key point. Do you know what I'm thinking?" Aizen enjoyed Taiyi's praise, and Aatrox in his hand stopped struggling, as if he had been convinced by this analysis.
The two high judges merged into one, with a gentle wave of his hand.
Swish--
The blizzard evaporated, the sound of the wind and life vanished together, and a crack appeared on a teetering high-rise building, which then collapsed.
"Only when you have nowhere left to retreat will I have a chance to kill you."
Such immense power.
Ordinary epic players can only blast through the outer walls of tall buildings, but Yuuki could cut it in half with a single strike. Yuki suddenly remembered that Aizen had never been serious from beginning to end. He was observing him while hiding himself, all for this very moment.
But as he said, at this point, there was no turning back.
With their right hands raised, countless Transcendental Grade skills lit up behind them like neon lights, and the players displayed their abilities, beginning high-speed maneuvers.
Regression is the final result, while the process—
It means to kill you all.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Never Enough!
The final battle!
The crack in the sky has penetrated deep into the 'bones,' and the link point is just around the corner. Let alone the current Judge, even if all of them arrived at the start of the war, the remaining players would dare to fight to the bitter end.
The saying goes, "Looking at plums quenches thirst," but now that we've seen the plum grove, how can we possibly back down?
Kill them, kill these bastards who are standing in our way of escaping this nightmare.
Thousands of players scattered like celestial maidens, following behind their respective faction's epic players as they charged towards the Judge. Multicolored beams of light tore through the sky, and countless missiles exploded throughout the city.
Mechs were reduced to parts and used as projectiles by the Gravity Aura. The battered Giant fell backward, and the lich turned it into an immortal puppet. Hundreds of squads clashed between buildings and streets, and those sturdy high-rises still became effective tools for dividing the battlefield.
Without them, this level of energy exchange would make you and your bunker as ridiculous, but with these 'permanent fortifications,' you'll at least have a place to catch your breath and recover if things get really bad.
"Now this should look like a final battle!"
Yuki stood on the rooftop, looking at the dazzling battlefield, unable to find an accurate adjective to describe it.
The Freedom Gundam was firing its colorful cannons when a black dragon swooped down. Its breath was blocked by its superpowers, and then a dense barrage of flying swords came hurtling towards it. It spun around to dodge the swords, and then a sword-wielding guy jumped down from the rooftop and came straight at it.
Science fiction, fantasy, cultivation, superpowers—any imaginable power system appears on the battlefield.
There are no formations; they fight in small teams of 5-8 people, supporting each other. For example, this guy with a katana cuts off a dragon's wing but clutches his chest and dies on the spot. The ship girl Nagato behind him ignores her grief and aims her 410mm main gun at a certain area, firing angry shells at the boy holding the diary.
The bullets were deflected by gravity and exploded in mid-air. The other Nagato, who had his hands raised, frowned as several people suddenly rushed out from the exploding barrage.
Skadi and Blaze descended from the sky aboard cannonballs, slashing at the boy wielding the Death Note with their greatswords and chainsaws. However, Shanks Battosai appeared, his exquisite swordsmanship holding his own against the two until he was blasted away by a girl's Railgun.
The Espers have entered the arena. Led by Misaka Mikoto, they rush towards another battlefield, where a crazed boy is sending everything around him flying.
"This is so messy."
Yuki glanced across the battlefield, unable to distinguish how many familiar faces or Destiny were present. They were all fighting in pairs, seeking revenge for every grudge. Just like this group of Espers immediately confronted Accelerator upon entering the arena. Looking at the vortex, third-party players were also entering. Yuki had already spotted the formation of the Furnace Knights and the Black Knights, as well as the players from the Hero Kingdom.
Fortunately, we killed the Soul of Cinder first; otherwise, this Epic Tier IV player would have been a variable. In the Hero Kingdom, good and evil are irreconcilable, so let's settle this here.
He realized that ordinary epic-level players couldn't control the battlefield, just like Accelerator, who was clearly stronger, was still being pushed back by hundreds of players.
"Let Frieren continue, throw all those hesitant idiots in." Yuki continued to pour water into the pool. In terms of potential, he was far inferior to Reincarnation Game, but at this moment he could gather more people.
Following Taiyi will surely allow us to escape the nightmare; otherwise, the Judge won't offer much benefit, and it's not just a matter of returning now.
"When do we move out?" Ikaros stared into the distance, her eyes filled with hatred. With Motoko's death, all she wanted now was revenge.
The Susanoo from the front. Its eight giant blades were deadly if they touched it, and wounded if they grazed it. Fortunately, the tall buildings provided cover; otherwise, a single strike could have instantly killed dozens of people.
In terms of sheer power, each strike could slice through a city. Skyscrapers were riddled with holes from the blows, and the flames that erupted were like ocean waves, sweeping down the streets. Without a defensive item of level 5 or higher, anyone would be reduced to ashes on the spot.
Centered around it, hundreds of players were locked in a bloody battle, while further away, Valhalla was already fighting Solomon, with hundreds of Noble Phantasms flashing and burning the eyes.
"Don't worry, even if you don't go looking for him, he will come looking for us."
Yuki raised his hand, and a figure stood on the shoulder of Susanoo, Sōsuke Aizen in white, holding a demonic sword burning with jet-black flames. The three Grand Inquisitors charged forward.
Hundreds of Judge surrounded them, preventing them from wasting too much energy; like a mountain collapsing, no one could stop them.
They didn't seem to consider Solomon at all; it seems they were determined to avoid any interference.
Yuki read the determination in that sentence and then sensed something was amiss.
Knowing full well that I have more reserves, why hasn't Faction Judgment been initiated? Is this some kind of closed-off space?
The mystery has been solved, so there seems to be no need to hesitate. Could it be that Aizen can really reverse his senses and see through my disguise as his 'true self'?
"Ten minutes left, let's go, everyone."
"How... how do we get up here?" the True Ancestor asked, as the three Grand Judges approached hand in hand, offering absolutely no opportunity.
"Of course, we'll go head-to-head." Yuki gripped his spear and was the first to leap out, while the others hesitated for a moment before following suit.
"They're here."
Uchiha Madara kept a close eye on the enemy's main force. The grunts around him couldn't even break through Susanoo's defenses. When dozens of players rushed in, he combined his four swords into one, forming a giant blade that was thousands of meters long.
Cut!
The city was almost cleaved in two; even the most sturdy buildings couldn't withstand the force and collapsed one after another. The spatial walls shattered, throwing all the players hiding inside out.
Before these people could figure out what was going on, the azure lightning arc exploded with each strike, reducing both sides to particles.
Only epic-level players could react; they circled around the sides of the giant blade and watched as Susanoo hand seals, its four hands forming a mudra.
Tengai Shinsei!
A black meteorite with a diameter of ten kilometers fell, like a falling Black Hole, sucking in all the players fighting in the sky and falling with it. But just then, an equally huge meteorite appeared next to it and crashed into it.
Fantasy materializes. Moon falls.
Arcueid all his strength and finally managed to knock the meteorite apart. The two enormous objects played like bumper balls in the sky, and the shockwaves they sent down were so powerful that people couldn't even lift their heads.
"Why haven't you used the Faction Judgment? Aren't you afraid he'll escape?" Uchiha Madara locked onto Taiyi in front of him, manipulating Susanoo hand seals.
Flames, water explosions, and lightning illuminated Aizen's face as he stared intently ahead, gently shaking his head.
"It's not time yet; he still has a way out."
"Didn't you say this faction was incredibly important?!" Aatrox roared, nearly flying out to kill Taiyi.
"Yes, but you don't necessarily have to kill us yourself." He raised his hand, pointing to Yuki, who had shattered the water dragon. "He is still not the real thing, at least I can't be sure."
What? You still can't be sure at this point?
The two were taken aback, but fortunately they already knew where Taiyi's lair was. Regardless of whether it was true or not, they just needed to kill all the players, especially those women.
"Target those women; that's His weakness. Force Him to reveal His true form!"
"I know."
No matter where Taiyi hides, no matter how special his clones are, killing Hayasaka Ai and the others will force him out. Although they are epics, they are much easier to deal with than Taiyi.