I watched the icy crystal closer. It was completely stained with poison, and even Binglan’s skin was turning a shade of purple not unlike the poison itself. An evil soul aura also permeated the entire crystal.
“Oh no…”
Sophie frowned a little. “That’s… the Soul Stealing Fruit. It’s something that should only exist in legends. Where on earth did the devil find such a thing?”
I asked, “What is the Soul Stealing Fruit?”
Xinran gritted her teeth. “The Soul Stealing Fruit is an object that can completely transform a person’s spirituality, big brother. In the case of a god, it can transform the purity of their divinity into something else entirely. A long time ago, the Godking himself was transformed into a devil of darkness after a thousand years of corruption by the Soul Stealing Fruit. As for Binglan… this corruption must have been seeping into her mind for at least 10,000 years. What… what do we do?”
Xinran was clearly panicking when she reached the end of her sentence.
I myself was chilled from the bottom of my heart. Perhaps our journey here really was a mistake.
……
Thud!
Xinran tossed Michael’s head on the floor before asking, “Is this your goal, Mingyu?”
Mingyu watched Michael’s head emotionlessly for a second. Then, he rose to his feet and crushed it beneath his boots. He said after letting out a chuckle, “Useless thing. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. When Binglan awakens, none of you will leave this place alive. Hahaha! Really, who else can face me when Binglan herself is on my side?”
Karinshan took a step forward and yelled at Mingyu, “You were a Dragon Speaker once, Mingyu! The protector of Dragon Domain and the human realms! How can you allow your soul to succumb to depravity and transform into a wanton murderer!?”
Mingyu laughed so hard that tears formed in his eyes. It was like he had heard the funniest joke in the world. “Protector, you say? If I was a protector, then what did I protect, exactly? I protected the royal power, but the nobles themselves harassed, shamed, and killed the commoners under my protection. If I had killed them, then I would have broken the law and been punished for my transgressions. But if I didn’t, how could I call myself a protector? Protector of what? Royal power? More like royal hypocrisy, hahaha! Now that I think about it, you are currently the supreme commander of the Silver Moon Alliance, aren’t you? That’s right, you are a little princess who didn’t need to worry about basic necessities from a young age. You can never imagine what it’s like to be one of those people who didn’t have even a sliver of pride or status to their name. I, Mingyu, am a Dragon Speaker, but I am also the man who will break this rotten order! The reason I commit evil and kill is because I have seen through all this hypocrisy!”
A tear slowly slid down Karinshan’s cheek as she looked up at the slumbering Binglan. She dropped to one knee and said in a sobbing voice, “Binglan, you were once the greatest protector of humanity. No one loved this continent as much as you do. That is why you must not become a devil no matter what… I beg you to maintain the purity and integrity of your divinity. I beg you to fight for humanity and all who are weak once more. You can never become a devil, you musn’t…”
Mingyu sneered, “Is this how you beg for your future, regent of Sky City and greatest expert of the current humanity?”
Chiang!
Sophie unsheathed her sword and said quietly, “Move out of the way, Karinshan. If this is how it must be, then allow me to shatter the crystal and kill Binglan now before she is fully corrupted. Only then the Silver Moon Alliance may continue to exist on this continent!”
Karinshan abruptly turned around and spread her arms wide. “No! No… you cannot. Binglan is our god, our eternal protector. You cannot kill her no matter what…”
Queen Sophia frowned and took a step forward as well. “Karinshan, your emotions are overtaking your reason. You are not fit to be the supreme commander at this moment. Please move out of the way so that we may do what we must. I, Sophia, will bear the sin you cannot bring yourself to bear!”
Karinshan gritted her teeth. “We aren’t at that point yet, Sophia. We cannot sacrifice Binglan for our convenience, you understand? We cannot!”
Sophie nodded. “I know…”
……
A grim-faced Gui Guzi asked my opinion, “What do we do now, Boss Broken Halberd? We’re in a deadlock here. Anyway, is this woman really that powerful? I’m going to be honest, but she looks cuter than she is threatening. Surely she can’t be that powerful?”
I gritted my teeth. “That will be a terrible mistake. Binglan can literally one-shot all of us with a single fingersnap…”
He Yi: “…”
It was at this moment Lin Yixin looked up at Binglan and said something unexpected, “I know her… she’s the one who taught me my class and Holy Energy…”
I turned toward her immediately. “Are you sure, Yiyi? Are you saying that Binglan awoke from her slumber earlier?”
“Mn! Absolutely!” Lin Yixin nodded strongly.
Hesitation filled my mind. Even I wasn’t sure what to do now.
It was at this moment Li Chengfeng declared, “If we can’t decide if we have to defeat Binglan, then we may as well delay that decision until later and take out the mastermind behind everything, Mingyu, first! If he’s dead, then she won’t need to obey anyone’s orders, am I right?”
He Yi nodded. “It’s not a bad idea, but it is difficult to execute…”
It was at this moment Beiming Xue pointed to the distance. “Look! The Northern Alliance is about to make a move!”
……
About a hundred meters away to our right, Vienna’s Sorrow and a group of 300 or so Northern Alliance players were glaring at Mingyu with fury. The guild leader uttered, “Knight of Stars and Riverside, the three of us will be the main tanks for this boss fight! The rest of you will attack the boss from a safe distance. Priests, split into teams, lock your target on us and heal us with everything you’ve got. Archers, CC the boss as best you can. Alright, let’s go! This motherfucker destroyed our Sainthelm City in the past. Now is the time to take back everything with interest!”
His black dragon roared, and the Northern Alliance players charged toward Mingyu. I swore inside my head, “Oh no, these impulsive youngsters! They’re literally making our choice for us…”
“Lowly humans!” Mingyu abruptly rose to his feet and unsheathed a blade with starlight flying around it. Heaven knows where the boss got it, but it didn’t look like a weak weapon at all. He swung it at the direction of the Northern Alliance party and discharged an energy blast that contained the power of the stars!
Boom!
The attack had an area of effect of almost 40 yards, and it dealt millions of damage per person. That simple attack alone had killed over 50 Northern Alliance players in one go, and even Vienna’s Sorrow and his dragon were sent flying back where they came from. The power gap between Mingyu and us players looked insurmountable right now.
The Northern Alliance’s attack was the spark that lit the fuse, and now Mingyu was about to go all out!
Swhoosh!
The boss suddenly jumped into a group of players before raising his blade, growling, “Bloodblade Storm!”
Boom!
Countless bloody blades manifested into existence before spinning themselves into a deadly cyclone. Not only did it kill countless Northern Alliance players, the closest Candle Dragon and Warsky Alliance’s players were caught up in it as well. Mingyu had transformed into a full-blown killer at this point.
……
Chiang!
I unsheathed the Chill of the Nine Provinces and said reluctantly, “There’s no way to settle this ‘peacefully’ anymore, I guess. All units, change your attack mode and suppress Mingyu with all you’ve got! As Chengfeng says, we can decide what to do after we kill Mingyu! Let’s go!”
I used Thunderous Charged and zapped toward the boss before I even finished my sentence!
Swhoosh!
After I got close to the boss, I stabbed him beneath the armpit and injected him with Purple Frost Concentration. After the skill had reduced his Defense by 12.9%, I executed Burning Blade Slash that dealt a ton of damage—
312,772!
431,634!
992,778!
The last hit was a crit, but I wasn’t happy at all. Since I was the one who dealt the most damage to him, the boss was surely going to focus on me now!
“How dare you!”
Mingyu turned around and glared at me with red eyes. As he reached out to grab my weapon, I leaned in and tried to cast a point-blank God Binding Art to no avail. The next moment, he executed a triple slash of his own that shredded my Battle Astral Wind on the first hit, and wounded me severely on the second and third—
MISS!
1,127,434!
1,736,767!
I flew like a broken kite before crashing hard against the wall. When I looked up, I saw him summoning a storm that killed Yu Tong, Moonlight Stone, Tiger Leopard Knight and more instantly. Goddammit! Not even our greatest elites can withstand a single hit!
……
Swhoosh!
Sophie charged and formed a cross with her sword. She swung three times at Mingyu’s starry blade, but the blade flashed three times and negated all of her attacks like they never existed in the first place. Sophie’s mouth fell open. “Heavens, that weapon is—Starlight!!”
“Correct!”
Mingyu cackled sinisterly as he kicked Sophie hard in the chest and launched her into the wall behind her. It was a grievous blow.
Pu!
Although Mingyu managed to deal a serious blow to Sophie, a spear tip emerged from his chest at the exact same time. It was none other than the blade of the Dragonbone Spear!
Xinran pressed her palm against Mingyu’s back and summoned multiple icicles at once. They skewered Mingyu’s heart and caused him to let out a terrible cry of pain!
In retaliation, he sent Xinran skidding dozens of steps away with a powerful back kick. She was clearly surprised by the force behind the blow.
Mingyu then raised his weapon and chanted, “Starlight!”
Starlight gathered around his wounds and began healing him at a visible rate. Mingyu’s smile grew even more sinister than before as he said, “Did you think I was still the same as before, Wind Singer?”
……
The boss abruptly expanded his arms and detonated his bloody energy. The entire cavern was shaking from his power as he roared, “Be turned into dust!”
A powerful storm swept through the tiny space in an instant, hitting the players of Cyan Earth City first before anyone else. Breeze and Rain and God of War managed to activate their invincibility shields in time, but the several hundred players they brought with them were all killed in an instant. No elite could withstand Mingyu’s forbidden spell!
“Watch out! Back off now!”
The warning was too late by the time it escaped my mouth. Lian Xin and Beiming Xue were just a few steps slower than the others, but that was enough to make them Mingyu’s next target. He let out a mad cackle and swung his blade at them!
“Fuck!”
I hurriedly charged the boss and activated my Cold of the Nine Provinces. Unfortunately, it could only freeze Mingyu’s legs. He abruptly seized me by the throat and thrust his sword at me, yelling, “Die, boy!”
Xinran tried to come to my rescue, but Mingyu abruptly turned around and pointed his palm at her, shouting, “Hold!”
“…”
Xinran froze in midair, unable to move a muscle as Mingyue stabbed me through the chest. “Big brother, no!!”
……
Pu!
2,182,773!
It was a grievous blow. Not done yet, Mingyu kicked me in the stomach while growling, “Do me a favor and wake up my good little daughter, will you boy?”
Bang!
There was nothing I could do to stop my momentum. I was launched into the crystal like a cannonball!
There was an explosion of pain from my back, and the ice crystal shattered. The next thing I knew, both me and Binglan had become wedged inside a wall of ice. Miraculously, I was able to survive with a tiny sliver of HP.
……
“Ugh…”
There was a quiet sigh, and Binglan slowly opened her eyes and watched me coolly.
