Chapter 72

Yet another living person has come to die.

As the smoke and dust cleared, her slender figure came into view.

She was an extremely beautiful young girl.

Cherry blossom pink hair, a blue and white robe, pure white knee-high socks, and...

A pair of pointed fox ears and nine fluffy, deep blue fox tails.

"My dear, I've arrived."

The familiar voice rang out, and Chen Ce was momentarily stunned.

He certainly recognized the fox girl in front of him, but... she wasn't the same Ahri as before.

The Ahri used to have long, straight, black hair, but the Ahri before us... has she evolved? Has she undergone Digimon Mega Evolution?

Has Ahri into Spirit Blossom Ahri?

"My dear, don't be surprised, because..." Ahri approached with elegant steps, and the powerful magic emanating from her startled Chen Ce once again.

"Because I was also surprised."

"This..." Chen Ce was at a loss for words.

Kindred, who also has the "Spirit Blossom" skin, noticed something amiss. "You succeeded, Ahri —you inherited the 'Gatekeeper' title, didn't you?"

"Perhaps." Ahri nodded slightly, exuding endless charm with every gesture—even more so than before. "But now is not the time to talk about those things."

"I agree..." The Wolf Spirit, still in the pit, gave a thumbs-up with its ears.

Chen Ce and Kindred quickly joined forces to rescue the injured Wolf Spirit.

Mordekaiser wasn't in a hurry. He simply carried Nightfall on his shoulder with an air of haughtiness, then swept his gaze over the crowd with a look of utter disdain, like that of a king looking down on everything.

"Lambs, stupid wolves, foxes, and even deer from the Spirit Realm... are you planning to open a zoo in my Death Realm?"

As he spoke, he released another powerful aura of death, and all the ghosts within a radius of several miles immediately began to wail in agony.

"If so, then I admit you put on a very good animal show for me..."

"There's more to come." Kindred's tone remained calm, without a trace of anger in her words, but her hand holding the bow spoke volumes.

Several more light arrows shot out, their extreme speed and penetrating power instantly piercing Mordekaiser's body—of course, this was because the latter neither dodged nor blocked them.

He was too lazy to make any defensive moves.

Anyway, he has plenty of supplies in this Death Realm.

"Ineffective attack, futile struggle, foolish life..." Mordekaiser sneered as he absorbed the energy of the surrounding wraiths. The wounds on his armor quickly healed, leaving no trace of the damage.

Upon seeing this, Kindred couldn't help but frown.

Ahri was standing nearby, noticed something interesting.

"Does this big tin man heal his injuries by absorbing those ghosts?" she asked softly.

"Yes." Kindred nodded.

"If we get rid of those ghosts, will he be unable to recover from his injuries?"

"Hmm... theoretically speaking, yes."

"Why don't you just get rid of those ghosts? Why don't you do that?"

"That's easier said than done..." Kindred shook her head again, a hint of helplessness in her voice. "The Death Realm is filled with countless ghosts— Mordekaiser once slaughtered almost an entire generation, and those ghosts were all imprisoned here and used by him. How easy is it to sever their connection?"

Upon hearing this, Ahri nodded thoughtfully.

But soon, a new question arose, "Wouldn't it be enough to just dispel the ghosts near him?"

"Theoretically feasible, but..." Kindred looked at the thick fog beside Mordekaiser —those were all wraiths, numerous and gathering extremely quickly.

"It would be difficult for my light arrows alone to clear a vacuum area in a short time."

"May I do it?" Ahri tilted her head in confusion again.

"Hmm?" Kindred was even more puzzled.

Before she could ask another question, Ahri had already slowly walked towards Mordekaiser.

Just as the group was about to stop her, several terrifying red and blue energy flames suddenly erupted from Ahri's body.

The next moment, those energy fireballs hurtled toward Mordekaiser —or rather, the thick fog beside Mordekaiser— at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Whoa--!

In the blink of an eye, the fireballs exploded in the thick fog, and a soul-piercing attack instantly dispelled the surrounding ghosts—their wailing desire to flee even outweighed their fear of Mordekaiser.

This is the power of the "Gatekeeper".

A power specifically designed to target spirits.

"An evolved version of the Fox-Fire... truly remarkable..." Chen Ce watched as the swarms of wraiths beside Mordekaiser fled, a mixture of surprise and delight.

Surprisingly, that so-called "Gatekeeper" actually managed to pass on his power to Ahri, even allowing Ahri to evolve into "Spirit Blossom Ahri"...

Therefore, the mystery of Ahri's origins... may indeed be intricately related to that "Gatekeeper".

Hmm... but now is not the time to think about those things.

There are more important things to solve right now.

Most of the wraiths around Mordekaiser had fled, so his recovery speed had naturally slowed down. Now was a good time to do something.

"Well done, Ahri." Kindred also realized what was happening and immediately drew her bow again.

The severely wounded Wolf Spirit struggled to its feet, preparing to attack, its two rows of blood-stained fangs fully bared.

Chen Ce immediately reassembled the broken Black Stone Rune Greatsword, preparing for a desperate fight.

"Face the storm!" Ahri jokingly stole Chen Ce's line, then threw the Twin Gemstone at Mordekaiser.

Having inherited the power of the "Gatekeeper," she is no longer the same as before.

The energy contained within the Twin Gemstone was so great that even Mordekaiser dared not be careless.

Foxfire dispelled the ghosts, but the attacks of the three humans and the wolf came simultaneously, and even Mordekaiser could no longer stroll around as leisurely as before.

Boom--!

The energy of the arrow of light and the Twin Gemstone exploded simultaneously, knocking Mordekaiser to the ground as he was pierced through.

"Aww--!"

Clang--!

The Wolf Spirit's bite and Chen Ce's sword strike followed closely, tearing Mordekaiser's right arm armor off.

The Nightfall in his hand fell to the ground.

Lacking the supplies of ghosts, he finally felt the pain he hadn't felt in a long time—the last time was when he was "betrayed" by LeBlanc and entered the Death Realm for the second time.

"Pain... deception... makes me nostalgic..."

Mordekaiser slowly stood up, and a more terrifying green light burst forth from his eyes beneath his armor.

He ignored the Wolf Spirit biting his arm and stopped trying to heal himself with his ghostly spirit, instead closing in on Chen Ce step by step.

Seeing this, Ahri and Kindred immediately continued their attack, with blinding flashes of light and deafening explosions resounding around Mordekaiser.

But he still showed no intention of blocking or dodging.

He even continued walking towards Chen Ce despite the attacks.

"You cannot kill me... even the gods... must kneel before me!"

Boom! A burst of green light erupted, and the aura of death swept over everyone. Mordekaiser's [Indestructible Body] provided him with an incredibly hard shield.

Chen Ce dared not fight head-on and decisively retreated.

Kindred no longer held back, directly mobilizing all the remaining magic power within her body, and several dazzling light arrows were generated one after another on the bowstring.

This is their last chance.

We either defeat Mordekaiser in one fell swoop, or we'll be worn down and die here.

"Ahri..." Kindred stretched the bowstring to its maximum tension, even her delicate fingers trembled slightly as she drew it. "Give it your all, go all out..."

"Mm!" Ahri nodded vigorously, and dozens of Fox-Fire burst forth from her body once again.

The next moment, the full force of their attacks was unleashed simultaneously.

Boom--!

A terrifying energy exploded from Mordekaiser's body, successfully halting Mordekaiser advance after a brief moment of stagnation.

But it only forced a halt.

His [Indestructible Body] was still intact, though a few cracks had appeared.

That's not enough...

The power is still a little lacking...

With just a little more strength, we could shatter his armor...

Chen Ce gritted his teeth and swung his sword with all his might, but the blade was stuck in the gaps in Mordekaiser's armor and could not advance even an inch.

In contrast, Mordekaiser overwhelmed by endless pain, which brought him boundless power, and the stagnation that had halted his progress was slowly being broken.

He'll probably be able to move forward again soon.

Chen Ce suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness, and even wanted to give up.

Until he caught a glimpse of something strange out of the corner of his eye.

A... mask.

A demon mask lying flat on the ground.

That's... Azakana.

Azakana, who was smashed into "rat pieces" by Mordekaiser, turned into a mask.

Chen Ce suddenly thought of something.

He decisively abandoned the attack and turned to charge towards Azakana.

"Chen Ce?!" Kindred, who was on the verge of collapse, exclaimed in shock.

Without Chen Ce's help, Mordekaiser immediately reversed the tie and began to move forward again.

But Chen Ce still rushed off in the other direction as if he wanted to escape alone.

"Darling...?" Ahri was also quite surprised.

Until Chen Ce picked up the mask, turned around and shouted at her, "Fire Foxfire this way!"

"Eh... eh...?" Ahri was even more confused.

But she had no time to think.

Despite Chen Ce's repeated prompting, she still launched a ball of foxfire at the other party.

Just before the foxfire was about to strike, Chen Ce decisively raised the Azakana mask in his hand.

The foxfire, which has a "special damage bonus" against spirits, instantly ignited the mask.

Then...

Azakana screamed.

It was awakened from its slumber by the foxfire.

"Well done, one more shot!" Chen Ce shouted.

This time, Ahri didn't hesitate and fired another shot at the opponent.

Chen Ce raised his mask again to block the foxfire.

Azakana screamed again—slightly softer than before, but even more piercing.

Then, it was burned by the foxfire and completely lost its self-awareness.

He won't die, but it probably won't be easy for him to wake up again.

Seeing this, Chen Ce put the mask on his face without hesitation.