Chapter 440: Act 192 – The Final Moment (8)
“Who is hiding there?”
Andisha’s cold voice was like a venomous snake hissing, echoing in the square, causing Brendel and the others to freeze in place.
The woman immediately made her move, but surprisingly, her attack was not directed at the square but at the nearby forest. Thick vines swept through the air, uprooting several ancient trees with a thunderous crash.
As dirt rained down, a figure shot out from beneath.
Before Brendel could see the figure clearly, the air in that direction seemed to suddenly come to a halt, and his vision turned gray. Andisha’s whip strikes appeared to slow down within the gray vista, as if they were moving through a thick liquid.
Gray domain.
The gray domain changes the established laws of an area, bringing it into a world called ‘gray’. This world lies at the boundary between the dark energy world and the gray runic plain (earth element), a fragmented sub-world created from the many shattered half-planes during the ‘Dusk War’.
(*The Dusk War refers to the war between the Golden Age and the Duskgazer Dragon, after which Vaunte shattered the sky with the Azure Knights and entered the second epoch.)
However, the ‘Gray World’ of Gray Saint Mephistopheles was not the true gray world but a manifestation of fantasy, projecting the legendary realm into Vaunte’s material world, bringing forth the powers rumored in legends.
Time dulling was one such power.
This was one of the most unique elements in this world. Brendel could
not mistake it; that shadow was Mephistopheles. “How could he be here?” Brendel inhaled, his palms sweaty. This scene was too shocking; no one expected such a turn of events at the end.
Mephistopheles lunged forward, but it was not easy. He rolled on the ground to completely avoid Andisha’s long whip; then he stood up calmly, brushing the dust off himself and gazing at the woman, speaking:
“You are Andisha?”
Andisha snorted coldly: “So it’s the defeated Gray Saint Mephistopheles. Instead of looking for your arch-nemesis the Crusian, what are you doing here making a fuss?”
Mephistopheles ignored her and continued, “Since you are Andisha, I’m sorry to say that I’m here to take your life—”
“Is that the great demon Mephistopheles? Who does he think he is, daring to speak to that woman like this—” Faina was startled when she heard Andisha mentioning his name. The name Gray Saint Mephistopheles was generally well-known, even among the Crusian; adults often used it to warn children, saying things like:
“Troublemaker, if you don’t behave, be careful that the great demon Mephistopheles comes to eat you!”
Unfortunately, when Faina saw Mephistopheles, he did not appear as she had imagined—a green face with fangs. On the contrary, the Gray Saint seemed to be a somewhat handsome middle-aged man.
Andisha was also taken aback; she didn’t expect Mephistopheles to attack so soon. Just as he finished speaking, he drew a long sword from his back; the enormous blade appeared gray beneath the sunlight.
Mephistopheles raised the sword with both hands, aiming at Andisha, his deep voice resounding: “Ready!”
“You—!” Andisha was furious, “Arrogant!” She roared in anger, and suddenly dark clouds gathered above the ruins, rolling like a terrible storm. A lightning bolt as thick as a dragon slid through the clouds with a rumble. She pointed downward, and Brendel vaguely saw three blue mysterious symbols appearing by her side before disappearing—
Then, countless lightning bolts dropped from the sky, like numerous bright electric tongues shooting from the dark clouds, converging into a massive fork of lightning.
Brendel recognized this spell as the Druid’s Lightning Strike, where the three runes represented ‘Lightning’, ‘Fury’, and ‘Nature’. The electric tongues created by the lightning strike could attack each enemy separately or concentrate on one, with each bolt capable of dealing enough damage to kill an ordinary soldier, increasing with the caster’s bloodline attributes.
The spell Andisha unleashed could probably kill a silver-tier warrior with just one bolt, and when concentrated, its power was tremendous.
However, countering this spell was quite simple since all lightning-type spells target metallic objects as conductors. One only needed to throw the most conspicuous object on them away.
But Brendel didn’t expect that Mephistopheles also knew the weakness of this spell. He immediately tossed his sword to the side, and the lightning struck, gathering into a blinding ball of electricity on the sword. Ordinary metal would instantly melt at such temperatures, but magical weapons could absorb the magical energy within the lightning.
The lightning lasted only a moment before disappearing, leaving a charred mark where the sword had struck the ground, but now a lightning bolt as thick as an arm coiled around Mephistopheles’s sword, crackling with energy.
“Now that sword is imbued with 40% electric damage, lasting three rounds, but the damage output does not exceed the total damage of that spell,” Brendel murmured. “I’ve heard that Mephistopheles has been through countless battles against the Crusian, and it seems today’s rumors are true.”
“What are you saying?” Faina didn’t catch that and couldn’t help but turn her head to ask.
“Nothing,” Brendel patted Funiya’s head and replied, “Let’s hurry while they’re still fighting; this opportunity is rare, and we must seize it.”
Faina glanced towards the battlefield, nodding in agreement despite her lingering fears. Although Andisha’s spell didn’t cause any actual effects, the scene was too magnificent. The gathering lightning was so bright it seemed to plunge the whole world into darkness; such a sight would inspire awe in any normal person.
At that moment, Mephistopheles recalled his long sword and, raising his head, transformed into a gray shadow, shooting towards the building where Andisha was. However, due to the domain’s influence, his speed was not fast. Andisha immediately cast her second spell.
She summoned the spirit of decay and darkness, and a bloody beast suddenly burst forth from the ground. This massive creature resembled a rhinoceros, with its body covered in bony plates and spikes, and it was as large as an elephant.
This was the unique spell of the Tree Shepherd, Dark Ally; it was similar to the Druid’s Animal Ally summoning method, but the creatures summoned were all transformed beast spirits infused with divine blood.
She pointed forward, and the rhinoceros charged towards Mephistopheles, crashing through the shattered rocks. With every step of its four hooves, shockwaves radiated around it; any ordinary soldier within ten meters would likely be immediately killed, not to mention being directly trampled.
Yet, for Mephistopheles, such an attack could only hinder his advance. Andisha didn’t expect to subdue the Gray Saint with merely a Dark Ally; she reached behind herself as countless vines parted to reveal a wooden wand—this wand looked slightly grotesque, the vines swaying as if alive, resembling tentacles.
Andisha grasped the wand; this was her first time using a weapon. She raised it, and a layer of wooden vines instantly spread from her lower body upwards, wrapping around her flat abdomen, breasts, and neck to her cheeks, fully enclosing her in a layer of wooden armor, even her hair being wrapped to form snake-like tendrils.
With the wand raised, the snake-like hair danced above her in stark contrast against the dark clouds, appearing particularly eerie, like an evil goddess from mythology.
Brendel and Faina rushed forward while turning to look back at the situation. When they witnessed this scene, they couldn’t help but gasp, “Wow, that crazy woman is going all out!” Brendel was astonished; he never expected the Gray Saint Mephistopheles to be so formidable.
He had always thought that Mephistopheles must be slightly stronger than the Goddess of War of the Crusian Empire, the Azure Sword Saint Veronika, but not by much.
After casting a protection spell, Andisha raised her head just in time to see Mephistopheles slaying her summoned dark ally. The way he killed the rhinoceros was incredibly simple; when the dark ally charged at him, it lowered its head, pointing its sharp horn at him, but the Gray Saint did not evade. Instead, he directly grabbed the horn with one hand, and with a thunderous roar, the enormous rhinoceros’s powerful charge was forcibly halted.
In that moment of stillness, everyone present nearly thought they were seeing things. The immense backlash even forced the dark ally’s thick legs to buckle, causing it to kneel. Then, with another thunderous crash, the ground beneath them shattered under the force, trapping the dark ally in a deep pit.
When Mephistopheles loosened his grip, blood flowed from the creature’s eyes, mouth, nose, and ears; the massive beast had just been crushed to death.
Brendel and Faina watched, dumbfounded. Was this even human? Although his own strength at his peak could easily surpass this, he had rarely fought so barbarically. Unexpectedly, the seemingly refined and gentle middle-aged man Mephistopheles turned out to be so violent in battle.
But suddenly, Brendel felt a surge of heat in his blood; he couldn’t help but think that this was what a warrior should be—undaunted and reveling in the fray.
Once charging, one should instill fear in the opponent.
Andisha was not frightened but was also surprised. There were no visible expressions on her face wrapped in vines, but her exposed eyes gleamed.
With a wave of her wand, she gritted her teeth and said, “Go forth, my children.”
The earth trembled suddenly as the massive building behind her disintegrated. Countless dragon-like vines surged from the ground, curving in the air to form a ‘U’ shape before crashing down towards Mephistopheles.
“Enlarged plants!” Though Brendel kept moving, he couldn’t help but be captivated by the level of this battle. It had been a long time since he had seen this degree of conflict since crossing over, and both combatants had such rich battle experience.
Because of the renowned NPC’s combat experience, ordinary players would often find it hard to compete. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to support with recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
