Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The gigantic creature of metal lowered its head and stared at the enemies by his feet. Its six, strong muscular arms widened like thick tree trunks, enveloping everything in darkness and death. The metal and bloody flesh on its body emanated a disturbing radiance and Rhode clearly recognized it.
Centipede Warden—Naxamas.
In the Deepest Labyrinth, the Centipede Warden was the hardest to deal with among the ordinary elite creatures. It was massive in size, strong in magical resistance, and had strong flesh underneath its solid shell. Not only that, but its powerful thunder attacks were also lethal against large groups of players. Countless players underestimated it as a meat shield meant for delaying their time and were taught unforgettable lessons because it possessed a disgusting skill that had a certain probability to reflect all damage.
According to the players, the probability was completely random. All in all, as long as the skill was triggered, their attacks would be reflected completely. Besides, there weren’t any signs before this skill was activated.
In the end, the players came up with a strategy—they would take turns attacking it every 10 seconds. This way, they were confident that the threat of this ‘reflect’ skill was decreased to a minimum. Although this would take a lot of time, this was much more effective than blindly taking it on.
But now…
Tsk. What luck.
Rhode gnashed his teeth and stared at the enormous creature. Not even Serras’s projection was this hard to deal with. This Centipede Warden was different from the one that he met in the game. Back then, the Centipede Warden was a construct fully built from metal with magical properties. But now, this creature was obviously the fusion of a certain creature and magical equipment. Not only that, but Rhode currently also lacked sufficient damage output from his side—wait. This wasn’t the main point. It should be that this Centipede Warden was a level 80 elite construct; an enemy who would only show up in the deeper floors of the Deepest Labyrinth! Rhode was only at level 67, so how could he possibly take it down?
Activate [Self-Affirmation]? What a joke. Wouldn’t he be committing suicide if he triggered its ‘reflect’ skill?
Since that was the case…
Rhode swept a glance at his group before letting out a sigh. He clutched the Illusion Crystal in his right hand and lifted his left arm. Shortly after, summoning cards emerged in midair one by one with glowing radiances. In the blink of an eye, the prairie announced the start of the next battle.
The Spear Defenders in silver, holy armor raised their spears and shields, marching out of the brilliance fearlessly. The Dark Rangers clad in black leather armor that stood up from the grass were at least one meter long. They raised their bows and aimed forward. The Ultimate Judges lifted their scepter, roared, and cast a powerful defense shield over everyone.
On the other hand, the Departed Succubi clad in black dresses and leather boots casually walked out of the black fog and their mesmerizing scarlet eyes emanated an alluring radiance. Above them, the Spirit Bird soared into the air while the Centaur Knight stepped forward and stared at the enemy alongside the Hell Hound. Lastly, the little mermaid emerged in her water ball and the ice-cold air around her brought a layer of frost to the grass.
“Taboo Halo!”
Rhode felt his spiritual energy drained instantly after summoning all his spirits. He gnashed his teeth and used all his strength to activate this skill. Shortly after, a dim yellow halo swept across the field and an incredible burst of strength erupted in his summoned spirits.
Several silver, magical rituals appeared on the Spear Defenders’ white spears, flashing across their entirety. The bows in the Dark Rangers’ hands transformed and in the blink of an eye, became a large bow that was as tall as a human. The forceful upgrade in level instantly doubled their strength, where even Lize and Marlene stared blankly at the sudden emergence of this majestic army. Even though this wasn’t the first time that they witnessed Rhode summoning all the spirits, it was much more magnificent this time as they were upgraded. Currently, they were an army of nearly 100 summoned spirits and even the little mermaid with the lowest level had reached the Peak Master Stage. This army could easily destroy two territories or one nation. But now, they were fully focused on their biggest threat ahead.
Rhode lifted his left hand and swung forward.
“Attack.”
He commanded.
The battle continued.
Christie flipped the page in her hand as her purple pupils emanated a calm, elegant radiance. At this moment, she came to a halt and lifted her head to gaze at the young lady in dissatisfaction.
“Don’t you think this is too much, Darlaston?”
The young lady in the black dress twitched her brow. Then, she arranged the books on the shelf neatly and responded.
“What are you talking about, Nabelis?”
“The Centipede Warden… Is this a taunt to Master?”
Suddenly, ‘Christie’ paused and shook her head with a smile.
“Don’t worry, Christie. An enemy of this caliber won’t threaten Rhode too much.”
After comforting her other half, ‘Christie’ lifted her head and shot a look of resentment at the young lady. Then, a chilly air exuded in the silent library, where even Bell couldn’t help but shiver. Bell quietly puckered her brows and gazed at Christie.
“I don’t have the authority or reason to explain because I’m not in a position to. You’re aware that I’m just a recorder and observer of history. I don’t have the intention of being rude to Master, but it’s a pity that I can’t stop her actions. You should be as clear as me too. She’s only an empty shell now who has lost all restraint and is just a sealed monster in the underground.”
“There are no changes after so many years? She actually has the instinctive will to hang on for so long? She’s our companion indeed.”
‘Christie’ quietly swept a glance at the young lady. The latter didn’t respond as she continued to place the final book into the shelf.
“Do you think that the ‘original form’ can beat ‘instincts’, Nabelis? According to my observations, the probabilities of devour, control, and elimination are high. Perhaps the only thing that we can do is fall back on the choice we made a thousand year ago. Are you sure this is the only solution?”
“…”
‘Christie’ didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she lowered her head and continued to flip the page in her hand. Her fair, slender, finger slid across the page quietly while the bombarding continued outside the window. Half a day had gone but the Chaos Creatures didn’t seem to be stopping anytime. Although the strength of Order had an advantage in the Tinder Origin, everyone knew that sooner or later, the tinder would be extinguished if this continued.
“…”
The sound of flipping pages resounded in the library.
“Christie has once shown me how determined a human can be. It is a necessary test for her to go through in order to stay by Master’s side. I trust her feelings for Master. If the ‘original form’ is eventually defeated, it can only be explained as the plan has utterly failed. But I think that since she was willing to make such a decision by giving up her status and coming to the main plane of existence to take the test, you and I should believe that she’s confident of the outcome.”
‘Christie’ shut her eyes.
“I believe that Sister Marlene will not fail.”
She murmured.
The blinding flares, lightning, thunder, and ice enveloped the entire field. The Centipede Warden swung its six arms and reached out for the attacker in midair—the Spirit Bird soared across the night sky and released a massive lightning web to stop the giant in motion. Then, explosions erupted.
Several magic beams blasted out of the ground and struck the enemy. At the same time, blazing flames and countless meteors descended from the sky and brought about a chain reaction of crises that could destroy thousands of humans.
But this was an utterly inadequate measure to the enemy. The flame curtains were ripped away by it mercilessly and the powerful thunder strikes merely damaged the outer layer of its flesh. The enemy howled furiously. It raised and brandished its arms to the ground. Shortly after, deep explosions erupted with black smoke and firm soil smashed into dust. The glaring radiance on the back of Rhode’s hand flickered continuously. Then, the tri-headed Hell Hound and Spear Defenders reappeared out of nowhere and charged forward.
Celestina flapped her wings across the air, striking her black chain sword for the enemy’s eye. In an instant, the dark flames from her blade splashed and enveloped the enemy. But the enemy’s arms broke the barrier coalesced from the dark flames and grabbed her. At that moment, Celia darted and struck her sacred blade into one of the arms and erupted silver flames to force it back. At the same time, Shira swung her large blade and penetrated the enemy’s chest.
Suddenly, a strange brilliance flashed and reflected the massive attack onto Shira. In the blink of an eye, she was entirely ripped apart with blood splashing everywhere.
Rhode was in a state of overload. He relied on the Illusion Crystal to sustain his army of undead. No matter what sort of summoned spirits they were or even if they were eliminated instantly, he could gain spiritual powers from the Illusion Crystal to summon them again. But this was an equally painful situation for him. He felt as though his entire body had been connected to countless puppet strings or a little boy who carefully supported a stack of blocks that reached 30 storeys high. Currently, he couldn’t move at all.
Ordinary summoned spirits couldn’t handle this enemy and he was clear of that. But after considering its special ability, he had to continue launching attacks from all directions. Just as he imagined, the ridiculous ability had reflected several attacks, but he was long ready for it.
“Argh…”
Lize stared at the ground in embarrassment as though there was a beautiful flower that caught her attention. On the other hand, Marlene’s eyes wandered around awkwardly. Anne raised her shield to defend them while gazing ahead curiously.
In the near distance, several large shields had formed an incredibly solid barrier to take the reflected damage. It would be fine if this was all. But after taking a closer look at the graphic on the shield, Lize felt incredibly uncomfortable. On the surface of the pitch-black shield, there was a naked young lady with her legs spread apart and was flirtatious as though waiting to be violated by others. Although her face had been covered by her golden hair, her identity was apparent from her overall figure. But, this wasn’t the only problem.
At this moment, several magical arrows were released at the Centipede Warden and reflected again. The barrier shifted its position and in dazzling flashes, a dozen of similar shields emerged before the Dark Rangers. Then, the reflected arrows struck the shields and were absorbed entirely.
“Ah… Ah…!”
The young lady’s graphic on the shield moaned in pleasure as it took in the damage and Lize covered her ears and buried her head like an ostrich escaping from reality.
Prison of Mad Love.
Rhode gazed at the utterly embarrassed Lize and shrugged helplessly. Even though this amazing card created from Lize’s extreme personality was indeed strong in defense and perfect for this scenario, this was just too shameful for her. Rhode was glad that he didn’t summon this card before any outsiders, if not… His reputation would all go down the drain.
But not everyone noticed that Lize was on the verge of falling apart.
“Sigh. How terrible. Anne feels that Lize sounds much nicer when she calls for Leader in bed…”
At this moment, Anne dealt a fatal blow to Lize’s already shattered soul.
