Chapter 500: Act 248 – The Graveyard Rebirth, Victory on the Line
“Damn it,” the Centaur Lamia (Senior Sister, Female) complained as she sighed and turned back, looking somewhat dejected. “Actually, that Pendulum Man isn’t wrong. The Pure White Paradise has strong defenses but lacks offensive power, and I’ve never beaten him. Young Boy, you’ve been watching for a while, shouldn’t you take action now?”
Brendel nodded, the ghostly green projection making his eyelids appear as if covered in fluorescence, the data from the fate cards flowing quietly across it. He placed his hand on a card, pressed down gently, and looked up. “It can be done, but can you hold on a bit longer?”
The Centaur Lamia glanced at him. “Then I’ll try to reduce the number of Nightmare Furnaces, but it will come at a great cost.” She pointed her hand, and the Platinum Dragon recklessly flew toward the Pendulum Man. Behind her, the Abomination wielding a cold-fire giant sword cleaved her back, and the Platinum Dragon let out a heart-wrenching howl, yet still madly crashed into the ground. The Pendulum Man dared not stop her, only letting her crash and be sucked into the Nightmare Furnace Construct, which was significantly more powerful, instantly taking out a small portion of the Platinum Dragon.
However, such actions were not without a cost. A demon engulfed in blue-green flames had already stepped up behind the Platinum Dragon, and golden blood flowed from the wound on the Platinum Dragon’s back, only to be struck hard again — the Abomination raised its giant sword and plunged it deep into her wound, the cold flames seizing her heart. This beautiful creature raised her head, and Brendel could even see the unwillingness in her eyes, the golden fury burning fiercely. She turned back to bite the demon’s musculature-filled neck, but unfortunately, she had already lost her strength, and her bite slipped away, leaving only a shallow wound.
Then, she fell heavily to the ground, quietly lying like a mountain in a shimmering golden lake.
“Yilian, that young man has made you impulsive, something you normally lack. But letting the Platinum Dragon exit prematurely will only hasten your defeat,” the Pendulum Man said coldly.
Brendel suddenly felt the Centaur Lamia beside him was unusually quiet. He looked up and saw this neighborly older sister biting her teeth.
“I’m sorry,” Brendel said.
“It’s fine.” Yilian exhaled. “That Pendulum Man’s lifeless appearance is what makes me angry, as if it can represent the master. The master is nothing like that. The traveling mages I know can have noble beliefs and persistence; only calm calculations mean nothing! I have to teach it a lesson, so it knows where it’s wrong.”
As she spoke, she clenched her fists, and Brendel read her unwillingness in her bright, fiery eyes.
For the first time, Brendel found this lady not so annoying.
He placed his hand on his card again; one of his many cards — a pitch-black one, resembling flames that burn souls in the abyss, exuding an eye-catching color, connected to some kind of pact. His hand rested on the cold surface of this card, establishing a connection between the traveling mage and the rules — this card was not his only pure black creature card, depicting a dragon resurrected from a skeleton, carrying a meaning of death and decay in its massive shadow.
This was the Graveyard Rebirth —
Shadow elements flowed as Brendel tapped a Root Swamp, Ethereal Waters, and Death Forest (Card sources see Act 139, Woodland Front). The Ethereal Waters produced 2 points of dark elements, and the Death Forest produced 2 points, a total of 5 dark elements flowing into his elemental pool. Then, the rules were pushed by the power of the elements, opening a door to another world.
The cards flew out of the graveyard, and Brendel’s gaze skipped over the strongest Fire Claw Lord and the Wind Spider he used most often, pulling the purest white card from among them, the Holy Archangel. The Graveyard Rebirth felt like a black force injecting into this card, the decayed power urging this corpse to rise from the murky grave, with jet-black wings, a pallid body, and blood-red eyes like honey on its slender skull, the once-holy angel now entering as a black Spirit Doll.
A mercury sphere surrounded by several rings of brass tracks flew out from under Brendel’s cloak. Brendel placed his thumb, index finger, and middle finger on the mercury sphere, choosing to tap it and paying five points of fire elements. The Eternal Sphere displayed the reflection of the archangel, as two angelic corpses entered the scene, their powers also taking effect.
“When the Holy Archangel enters the scene, choose a non-black card from your graveyard and shuffle it into your deck.”
The Fire Claw Lord Repal entered.
The Wind Spider swarm entered.
It must have been a spectacular sight, the teal teleportation circle seemed like stars covering half the sky, one after another the Wind Spiders emerged into this world. The first traveling mage who entered this underground place centuries ago, Brendel’s summoned creatures were entering, and both the Pendulum Man and Yilian raised their heads, gazing at this army.
“Master, where is my enemy?” the Lizardman Lord Repal held a blazing trident today, its jagged and diamond-like pupils glimmering with the cold light typical of cold-blooded creatures. When it glared, even the Doom Guards stopped in their tracks. Entities of darkness are often afraid of flames; even though the undead has no intellect, it still succumbs to its instincts.
“So you still have powerful summons!” The Senior Sister’s eyes glimmered. “Great, attack those Nightmare Furnace Constructs! I’ll handle the defense, you take the offensive, Young Boy, as long as you can break through the defense of that Pendulum Man, we still have a chance to win!”
“Attack the Nightmare Furnace Constructs!” Brendel commanded.
Repal turned and charged into the enemy line, a storm of flames tearing through, although it was only a tier above the Doom Guards, the inherent suppression of flames against darkness amplified this advantage, and most Doom Guards were no match for it. “Trivial skills!” the Pendulum Man gritted its teeth, raising its hand and pressing the last Doom Guard onto the scale.
The battlefield was thick with Doom Guards forming a black tide, as the Pendulum Man sought to compensate for quality with quantity, yet before it could gloat, a flashing purple net descended from the sky, ensnaring the Doom Guards in a mire. Andrigraphis finally regained her strength during this time, rejoining the battlefield; of course, the Vampire Maiden remained as indifferent as ever, as if this pivotal spell was merely a trivial matter for her.
The battle reached a stalemate, but soon, the Abomination burning with green flames found Repal. Brendel’s expression changed, knowing this was dangerous. Although the Abomination had been wounded in battle with the Platinum Dragon, its awakened elements were still not something Repal could compete with. Just as he thought to summon two Undead Angels to distract the demon, Yilian spoke up: “Leave that demon to me.”
She placed her hand on the Life Codex, saying, “Sacrifice.”
Brendel was taken aback; this Life Codex was the core artifact in Pure White Paradise, capable of restoring the health and stamina of all allied forces on the field. The Centaur Lamia had relied on its continuous supply of power to hold on until now; if the Codex was destroyed and victory wasn’t achieved in a short time, defeat would be imminent.
However, this Senior Sister was resolute, displaying great determination as she demolished the codex without blinking. The power of the Codex’s sacrifice sent down a beam of golden light from the heavens; within the range illuminated by this golden light, all the creatures that had perished on Yilian’s side stood up unharmed, even the Platinum Dragon, which let out a long cry and spread its wings, fully revived on the spot.
“Holy crap, believe in the spring brother!” Brendel exclaimed inwardly.
Yet when the Centaur Lamia turned back, her brow tightened. “Without the Life Codex, my deck has lost its core competitiveness; defeat is at hand. But Young Boy, I’ve created the opportunity; can you break down that Pendulum Man’s defenses in a short time? If not, I think we should run.”
But Brendel looked into the eyes of this Senior Sister, his hand resting on the hilt of the Earth Sword, feeling hesitant. There was an opportunity, but it still needed a bit more time.
“What are you waiting for?” The Senior Sister was calmer than Brendel imagined. As a traveling mage, she saw through his thoughts, “Are you waiting for a card-draw opportunity?”
“Next phase?”
“Do you have a game-winning card in your deck?” A series of questions. The Senior Sister’s eyes brightened as she realized.
What a shrewd woman, Brendel nodded.
“What’s the probability?”
Brendel was waiting for the Holy Sword.
He realized that the Pendulum Man was extremely devoted to the power of traveling mages, and although it sounded ridiculous, its actual power was much stronger than the so-called traveled mage powers it was currently wielding. But this gave Brendel a chance; he had an idea — if he could defeat the core cards in the Pendulum Man’s deck, he and this Senior Sister might just reverse their fortunes in this mage battle.
“My hand is small; there’s basically no other cards in my deck, so the chance of drawing what I want in the next phase is very high.” That was his answer.
“There are still 15 minutes until the next phase. We can’t hold out that long. Damn it, but I can’t help you filter cards,” the Centaur Lamia bit her lip. “There’s only one opportunity… if there’s only one chance, then!” She suddenly said, “Look at my barrier.”
A white light curtain rose behind the Senior Sister.
Accelerated Thinking (Adversity Paradise VIII), 22 Light/Dark; [Barrier]; Effect: Any player casts a spell, the holder draws three cards from the top of their deck. Before the next activation of Accelerated Thinking, any player with more than eight cards in hand shuffles them back into their deck. ‘The advantage on the battlefield is to seize the initiative.’
(Note: Light/Dark represents either Light or Dark, allowing the traveling mage to freely choose one to pay.)
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
