Kingdom's Bloodline, page 200
The tentacle was still retreating, but Giza seemed to be held back by a huge, invisible hand as she was forcibly stopped before a barrier, which was formed by the yellow rays.
The tentacle exerted force, but it had no way of dragging Giza out of the range of the yellow rays!
It seemed as if it was jammed into something.
Giza looked up sharply at the ground in front of her, at the blade that broke off from the Severing Souls Blade.
'It's that blade!
'That's the problematic one.'
Giza did not have much time to ponder. Moments later, the two supreme class warriors broke through the dense crowd. With bodies stained with blood, they ferociously went to attack the Mystic, who could not move an inch backwards!
Ten meters… Five meters… Four meters… Three meters… Both of them were getting closer and closer to Giza!
"Do it!" Nicholas roared as he elbowed away an opponent on the left. He turned with resolution and slashed with his blade. In the midst of the bloody whirlwind, he slaughtered three to four people while he covered Gleeward's back at all costs.
With moist tear tracks and a heart filled with resentment, Gleeward brandished the life-stealing Soul Slayer Pike as he stepped within three meters of the Mystic, and struck!
The flashing of the yellow rays behind the Blood Mystic grew more and more urgent.
They continued to hinder her from retreating to the back.
The pike was about to strike Giza between the eyes.
*Clank!*
In the nick of time, a veteran suddenly emerged next to her. Big Leather Belt firmly grasped the Soul Slayer Pike.
The head of the pike was only an inch away from Giza's face.
The difference from the previous time was that this time, the void behind Giza flashed with a strange light, blocking her from retreating even a little bit!
She could only stay stuck rigidly between the Soul Slayer Pike and the light rays.
She had no room to move, and her situation was incredibly dangerous.
"Chief Gleeward." Big Leather Belt grabbed the Soul Slayer Pike with a face full of tears. "I'm sorry."
Nicholas' figure shifted again. The broken blade whirled as metal clashed, and in a short period of time, Gleeward was protected all around.
"It's nothing." Gleeward gritted his teeth. With hatred in his eyes, he glared at Big Leather Belt, who could not help but stand between the Mystic and the Soul Slayer Pike. "Just another unfortunate battle."
The three of them stood in a deadlock.
The crowd of people surrounding the both of them seemed to have received some sort of order. They stopped abruptly and withdrew amid the terrified wailing of their controller.
Nicholas was finally given a chance to take a breather. He took a step back as he and Gleeward, who was pointing the Soul Slayer Pike at the Mystic stood back-to-back.
Giza bowed her head. Her lips moved slightly as her voice rang in the ears of the two supreme class warriors.
"What is this?" the Mystic plainly asked.
"The ability of Severing Souls Blade..." Nicholas clenched his chest as he glanced at the blade in the ground and then at Big Leather Belt, who was blocking the Soul Slayer Pike. His expression was unpleasant. "With the broken blade as the center, it completely separates an area from the outside world for a short amount of time.
"You can enter, but you can't exit." Nicholas exhaled a visibly warm breath.
Gleeward gritted his teeth, his eyes still filled with hatred. "Enough to trap you here, wh*re."
Giza squinted. The yellow rays behind her remained, firmly blocking her path of retreat. Yet, she seemed indifferent.
Her lips barely moved as she asked, "How rare, yet another piece of equipment I've never seen before."
"It's funny, now that it's being mentioned. This ability has a very upsetting name." Nicholas' face twitched. Eventually, he took a deep breath and said somewhat rigidly, "It's called 'You'll Never Escape'."
A cold wind blew past them. The hydra pulled Giza in vain as the latter was firmly bound by the yellow rays, unable to move.
"Hmph," the Blood Mystic snorted coldly. "Must be the work of that b*tch, Blood Spike."
Nicholas vigilantly monitored the crowd of people around them. Without batting an eyelid, he nudged his partner behind him. "Empress Blood Spike initially created this sword to resist the Virtual Mystic—that illusive, undetectable existence."
Kilika released an enraged howl from its flesh and blood, though the meaning was unknown.
"Just to defeat Zarkel?" the Blood Mystic shook her head slowly. "How sad that fool will be when he hears that you've said that."
Nicholas turned his head around and stared at Giza. "Of course, we only realized later that the Severing Souls Blade can be pretty useful against most calamities when paired with other equipment."
"Such as right now… You'll never be escape now."
The Blood Mystic fixed her gaze on them as her expression stiffened.
"Game over, wh*re." Gleeward looked formidable while holding up the Soul Slayer Pike. It looked like he wanted to just chop the Mystic up with his eyes.
"Let's attack." Nicholas coldly urged his partner. "Let's finish this."
"Are you ready, Big Leather Belt?" Gleeward nodded. Looking at his controlled former colleague, fury and oppression flashed across his eyes.
"Of course, chief." Big Leather Belt first smiled in distress, then his face stiffened as he said somehow sorrowfully, "I have a daughter…"
Gleeward furrowed his brows upon hearing those words.
'Shield District is almost completely ruined.
'Only a small percentage of residents living outside the city were evacuated.
'I'm afraid, his daughter may…'
Yet, Gleeward took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. "I'll take care of her for you."
A translucent sparkle flashed across Big Leather Belt's eyes. At that moment, he had a serene smile on his face. "Thank you."
The next second, under Big Leather Belt's relieved gaze, Gleeward's body resounded with an explosive crack.
As if with great force, the Soul Slayer Pike in his hands vibrated as it was set free from Big Leather Belt's hands and stabbed straight forward!
*Rip!*
The Soul Slayer Pike pierced through Big Leather Belt's chest. It reverberated with the muffled sound of metal grinding against his sternum.
The smile of relief remained frozen on Big Leather Belt's face as he turned into a withered corpse.
The rays of light behind the Mystic flashed more and more urgently!
It still hindered her from retreating.
*Shick!*
The pike went deeper through Big Leather Belt's back.
Then, it pierced the Mystic, right between her eyes...
And through the back of her head.
In that moment, the Mystic hung her mouth wide open. She trembled, yet she could not utter a single word.
It seemed as though she was experiencing endless pain.
Behind her, Kilika emitted a terrifying squishing sound. Its gigantic body slowly slumped.
The crowd of people around them stopped moving.
Giza's face began to blacken and crisp up. Like a chapped, and cracked piece of dead wood, fragments fell off from her.
Nicholas exhaled.
He was gasping for breath as he staggered two steps forward. He picked up the blade that was stuck in the ground and slowly secured it on the broken end of the Severing Souls Blade.
The broken end flashed with a glaring yellow ray as the two pieces of metal seamlessly fused back together.
It was bright and as good as new, like it was never broken.
Gleeward closed his eyes. He propped his pike barrel on the ground and knelt on one knee in exhaustion.
It had ended.
Nicholas turned around and looked at the collapsing hydra.
"Wait a minute!"
Gleeward's explosive shout rang at this moment!
Nicholas immediately peered at him with a surprised look on his face.
'How can this be?'
"The Soul Slayer Pike… It's still vibrating!" The crippled veteran hung his mouth open in disbelief. He looked at Giza, who was shattered like pieces of pottery. He pulled the pike strenuously and yanked it out.
"This isn't her!" Gleeward exclaimed with grief. "It's not the wh*re!"
Nicholas was startled!
Under their shocked gazes, fragments fell from 'Giza''s face. It revealed a delicate face, which had long been silenced.
After the Mystic's outer appearance peeled off, an innocent girl materialized before their eyes.
Gleeward narrowed his pupils instantly!
'No.'
He shuddered along with the pike in his hand.
It was like looking at the world's most terrible tragedy.
'No.'
Tears spilled uncontrollably from the veteran's face.
'No.
'This is…'
He stared blankly at the girl's face.
'This is…
'This is Big Leather Belt's daughter!
'That girl, who always had a smile on her face each and every day; that girl who went back and forth across Shield District, collecting old clothes to make new ones…'
"No!"
Gleeward's face twisted to the extreme. With absolute despair, he howled in devastation.
"Wh*re!"
The battle-seasoned Nicholas had a steely look on his face. He spread his arms out at the speed of a thunderbolt as he turned around to face the surrounding crowd of people!
But it was too late.
The countless crowd of people instantly moved and rushed towards Nicholas, who had let his guard down.
He was engulfed by a mass of humans.
The next moment, a tentacle quietly flew out from within the crowd in the twinkling of an eye.
*Bang!*
Reacting too slow, Gleeward was firmly hit by the tentacle!
Due to its boundless strength, the crippled veteran was flung dozens of meters away.
*Whump!*
Like a broken sack, Gleeward slammed into a pile of wreckage. His body rolled several times as earth and stone flew into the air before he lay motionlessly on the ground.
It seemed like he had lost all consciousness.
His Soul Slayer Pike flew in a different direction. It rolled across the ground as it made a dull clattering sound.
"No!"
Nicholas' roar of indignation broke through the crowd.
Beaten black and blue, he fought through the crowd of people who possessed inexhaustible strength, speed and extraordinary reflexes.
Blood splattered as the Star Killer rolled a few meters away. With his hand propped on the ground, he raised his head powerlessly and looked at Gleeward, not knowing if he was dead or alive.
Kilika, who had originally been swaying, leaped up with life again as a tentacle extended and split open. A gentle, bright and beautiful lady—the real Blood Mystic appeared atop the tentacle. She radiated with a pleasant smile.
With a dull expression, Nicholas looked at Giza, and then at the substitute who had fallen under the Soul Slayer Pike.
"No… You… When did you switch bodies?" Nicholas trembled in disbelief.
Giza just looked at him with a smile, as if she were looking at a mischievous child.
Nicholas closed his eyes as he punched the ground and shouted towards the sky in sorrow.
'It's my fault.
'I should have known.
'From the very beginning, that Mystic never smiled, moved her lips or made any exaggerated expressions!
'Thinking back now, she's been a substitute all along!'
The Blood Mystic's gentle voice came from afar.
"See, it's not that difficult to alter someone's appearance with a little dead skin, right?" Giza tilted her head mischievously. "It saved my cute, little creatures from being attacked by the Soul Slayer Pike, and saved me from being endangered as well…
"I even got to admire your exciting performance while you were both being deceived."
Giza giggled as she looked at Nicholas' resentful expression. She waved her hand.
"And all I had to do was stand in the same line as my substitute. Even the Soul Slayer Pike that can position a Mystic can't differentiate a substitute from the real person.
"The Soul Slayer Pike is now out of the game." The Mystic squinted as she looked at Gleeward in the distance. "Listen well now. This is a lesson from the wh*re."
At that instant, Giza's expression became incomparably icy. "Never ever let your guard down."
"Aargh!" Nicholas shouted in pain and grievance.
The next moment, like a turbulent flood breaking through the embankment, overwhelming the heavens and earth, countless tentacles and crowds of controlled people rushed towards the unconscious Gleeward, and Nicholas, who was riddled with wounds!
The two wielders of the legendary anti-mystic equipment had finally fallen at the hands of the Mystic.
Nicholas gritted his teeth, his hand gripping his blade as he trembled with fury.
He staggered up and watched his enemies come from all directions. He lifted his blade powerlessly.
The blade slashed into a tentacle, turning it into ashes.
Its hilt knocked away a wailing child, who pounced on him like a falcon hunting its prey. He fell to the ground.
'No, Gleeward.'
Nicholas felt the blood dripping from his forehead and pondered in despair.
'We...
'Lost.'
At this moment, the Blood Mystic's expression changed!
She turned her head suddenly and looked in another direction.
There, two of Kilika's gigantic tentacles shuddered almost at the same time!
They turned into billowing ashes one after the other.
A figure breached into the hydra's range, causing it to stir restlessly.
Giza narrowed her eyes and observed the ashy pieces of flesh billowing in the air.
'Legendary anti-mystic equipment?
'A third one?'
Very quickly, the Mystic recognized the incoming figure.
"You?" Giza's eyebrows twitched. It was an old acquaintance.
Less than twenty meters away from her, Black Sword's figure vaguely appeared amid the siege of dense tentacles.
But wherever he went, the Blood Mystic's flesh creations turned into billowing ash.
Black Sword advanced courageously towards Giza in a position of assault. He whispered to Thales, who had the Blade of Purification in his embrace, "Mark my words, we only have one chance.
"We are approaching it now."
Thales took a deep breath. With resolution in his eyes, he slowly nodded.
At this moment, Black Sword and Thales burst into the battlefield.
Chapter 178: True Form |
'"The battle will be intense. It's normal to feel nervous or scared, and feel stiffness in your limbs. That's normal among new recruits.
'"When the time comes, there's only one thing you should do: recall what I am telling you repeatedly to stay focus."'
Black Sword hurtled through several obstacles as he headed towards the Blood Mystic in an incredible speed. The movement of his sword vaguely resembled the Northland Military Sword Style.
Thales was held close to the man's chest in one arm. He looked up as the air current swooshed past his ears. Clasping the oddly-shaped Blade of Purification in his hand, Thales moved forward at the speed of the wind along with Black Sword.
'"Although those two men are the very few supreme class warriors we can find, I have a feeling that they will lose the fight despite their powerful anti-mystic equipment.
'"The Blood Mystic, who looks like a seemingly harmless girl is a frightening opponent. For the past twelve years, I've never met an enemy who made me feel fearful and anxious—until she appeared."'
Amid the whirring chilly wind, the prince could not open his eyes. Instead, he kept his mouth open wide, gasping for air to maintain his breathing rate.
He could not help but recall Black Sword's words before they left for Giza.
'"What makes her formidable is not her grotesque sorcery or limitless power, but the fact that she truly owns— what I would like to call— the heart of a strong fighter. As powerful as she is, she is also cautious and decisive. She refuses to let go of any opportunity, and never looks down on any opponent, always quick to respond and always prepared for a change of plan.
'"Although some of her actions may seem close to insanity, they don't affect her ability and her commitment to the battle.
'"That monster has deep insight when it comes to combat. She apprehends every aspect of it and is highly experienced. I've met very few people who possess such tactical mastery."'
When Black Sword started to run with Thales in his arm, the prince's mind went blank. It felt like the time when he was falling from the Cliff of the Sky, which was several hundred meters high.
The first tentacle from the hydra appeared before them, and Thales heard the hissing sound of human tissues brushing up against one another.
Black Sword held the prince's hand and swung the Blade of Purification.
*Hisss!*
The tentacle fell apart and turned into ashes.
Thales regained his ability to breathe. His heart swelled with all sorts of emotions— anxiety, fear, agitation, and excitement.
'"The first thing we need to acknowledge is that the Blood Mystic has never appeared before us in her true form."'
Thinking of this, Thales clenched his teeth slightly.
He reflected on what Black Sword had told him, slowly taking in the shock it delivered.
'What we're seeing is a body double created from the flesh of others.
'This is what I learned from fighting her twice—it was information I exchanged with my blood as I walked the tightrope between life and death.'
'"In other words, it's false to assume that legendary anti-mystic equipment cannot seal that monster, just as you've said.
'"The real reason is, the people who have tried to put a seal on her couldn't identify her true form amid the ocean of flesh and blood."'
Thales frowned slightly, peering at the sweet-looking girl from far.
'Not her true form?'
