Chapter 660: Act 22 – The Firmament IV
“Power of Fate, reverse the flow of history!”
Avina’s deep voice buzzed through the hall. Before Brendel, a strange phenomenon appeared; time and space seemed to be a series of continuously replayed images, pierced through by white light pillars, re-integrating the shattering ground layer by layer. The vibrant light formations flowed back, amalgamating broken slabs, soil, and rocks seamlessly back into completeness.
The Dragon Strike Art was like a sheathed platinum blade flowing back from beneath the earth, reclaiming the magic array in Charles’s stunned palm. The reordered magical flow was unfurled into its primal mana, completely reversing the entire process of casting a spell—this was an unprecedented sight.
Anyone with a slight understanding of spell principles would comprehend the magnitude of power contained within this scene. Two outstanding wizards in the crowd, Tanyia and William, displayed both horror and fascination; time, space, and energy were the laws’ most fundamental interpretations of the world, this was the power of existence.
“This is impossible to fight, boss!” Charles exclaimed.
“You cannot defeat me!” the Lightning Maiden proudly declared, thousands of electric arcs suddenly surrounding her, expanding in all directions, each one accurately striking every person in the hall. The first to be hit was, of course, Brendel, held hostage by Avina, sent flying back.
Dierphir, Antinna, and Romaine’s non-combat female members all let out cries of alarm as the expanding electric arcs formed a dazzling net throughout the hall, enveloping everyone and binding them against one wall.
Only William’s eyes flickered with light as he raised the Sky Staff Draka to the sky, a transparent hemispherical shield materializing around him. Hundreds of golden electric arcs glided across the magical barrier, then disintegrated into countless fireworks-like ions.
Brendel, still standing, activated his Fool’s Talent the moment he got up; divine blood ignited within him, forming a nearly visible barrier of will around his body, causing all lightning to dissipate into nothingness before it could approach him.
“Eh?” Avina’s eyes showed a glimmer of curiosity upon seeing this. “This is… the aura of that guy Odin; you really have some oddities about you.”
“This kind of magic is totally ineffective against me!” Brendel unsheathed the Earth Sword, looking up at Avina at the center of the lightning, swinging his sword towards her.
“How ridiculous; even if he comes in person, he wouldn’t stand a chance against me,” the Lightning Maiden scoffed, as all the thunder in the underground hall fell silent in an instant, save for a single beam—the lightning spear in her hand. It was as if she had already seen through Brendel’s offensive trajectory; as the shadowy blade manifested before her, the spear clashed with the broad spine of Brendel’s Earth Sword.
Lightning in her hand was as tangible as physical matter, allowing her to arbitrarily alter the properties of energy, a power that had long since become extinct in this era.
“So you know dragon-style swordsmanship? Should I teach you a few tricks?” Avina seemed entirely unfazed by Brendel’s flashing sword. With a single hand, she deflected his attack, taking a step back to casually maintain her distance from him.
Brendel actually wanted to say ‘Sure,’ thinking that any skills passed down from the Knight of Azure would be astonishing in his game past. But unfortunately, he had no way to voice his thoughts, as Avina’s spear was already lunging towards him like a dragon’s fang.
In that moment, he nearly panicked, the spear’s shadow splitting into four, each swing like a crescent moon, representing the supreme spear technique of the Star Knight: Silent Night. A skill with such an artistic name surely had to be from the royal lineage of the wind elves and was indeed one of the essence of the Star’s legacy.
But the problem was, what about the pre-requisite skills? What about the charging time? How could this woman execute it all without prerequisites? Isn’t this a bug?
The four spear shadows simultaneously struck Brendel’s body, and the technique: Silent Night had the characteristic of boundless darkness—the more one evaded, the more they were pursued; however, once hit, the follow-up would vanish into nothingness.
But merely four spears were enough for Brendel to withstand, given Avina’s strength level. Even she thought he would be utterly defeated—only for the lightning spear to pass through a layer of illusion—
Illusion? A cold light flickered in the Lightning Maiden’s platinum eyes. She saw Brendel’s illusion advancing through the air, lunging towards her with a sword.
“Eh? This isn’t an illusion; this is a magical clone!” Avina’s voice showed a hint of surprise as she took a step back to dodge the strike, asking incredulously, “Is this truly a genius sword technique of your own creation?”
Brendel didn’t answer; Queen Wind Nine Stars instantly formed four to five clones, each clone constituted an attack, as if Brendel’s swordsmanship had formed an overlapped shadow around the Lightning Maiden.
“Tch, do you think this is enough to win?”
The Lightning Maiden coldly scoffed, parrying all attacks with her weapon, never once using her right hand. Then she held the spear horizontally, as her whole body swung like a crescent moon.
“This starting move… Dragon’s Fang of Steel Scales!”
Brendel’s body reacted faster than his mind. He knelt, leaning back, allowing the spear blade to glide past his chin.
The Dragon’s Fang strike was renowned for its single-target armor-breaking capability, and Avina’s execution was terrifying; the sound created as the blade sliced through the air was almost like a high-pitched shriek, causing the space to vibrate. But Brendel knew this skill had a critical weakness in its attack range; familiar with this technique, he made a instinctive reaction before Avina even launched her attack.
The Lightning Spear swept past like a fleeting shadow while Brendel’s left hand pushed against the ground, and with his right hand, he swung the Earth Sword back to cut at the Lightning Maiden holding the spear.
This maneuver was the simplest and most effective way to counter a warrior employing the Dragon’s Fang strike.
Of course, it was also the most effective counterattack compiled by players after hundreds of battles.
In the past, Brendel was always victorious whenever he employed it.
But Avina extended her right hand and grabbed, the sound of ‘crack’ resonating as she firmly grasped Brendel’s sword blade. Clenching the dark spine of the Earth Sword with three fingers caused Brendel to feel like his longsword was stuck in steel, frozen in place.
The Lightning Maiden smiled slightly. “Your reaction is quite fast; for your age, you must have considerable combat experience.”
With that, she raised her spear, thrusting it toward Brendel. The strike seemed merely a straightforward lunge, but its initiation distinctly bore the hallmark of the Earth Knight’s Rock Resonance Spear. Sure enough, once she unleashed the thrust, the ground beneath her feet trembled and shattered, rock fragments lifting off, carried away by the shockwave.
Avina had executed only three strikes, each time showcasing techniques from the pinnacle of the warrior profession, yet in her hands, they appeared as ordinary skills, tossed out one after another like they were free.
This truly felt like facing someone using cheats! Brendel thought, his mind only flashing that one idea as he watched the spear glide toward his throat, unable to move.
Rock Resonance Spear, as a signature technique of the Earth Knight, possessed the ability to lock onto the enemy’s evasion range by utilizing spatial shock. In the game, it merely represented an absence of dexterity, but in Avina’s possession, it effectively rendered his dexterity zero.
Was this even humanly possible?
But at that moment, a loud rumble suddenly shook the ground beneath Brendel’s feet, causing it to crack. His whole body sank downwards, and the Lightning Spear lost its original target, grazing his scalp.
The Lightning Maiden immediately turned her head, looking toward the direction of Great Mage William, and coldly asked, “Earthquake Technique?”
William set down the Sky Staff, placing the staff tip on the ground, politely nodding to Avina. “That’s right, Lady Knight of Azure.”
“Do you intend to take two against one? No problem!”
Avina turned around, no longer facing Brendel, and snapped her fingers. “Fate, the miracle of time!”
An extraordinary spectacle unfolded in the hall, seven colors of light pierced through the darkness like sunlight through a prism, forming pages of colorful strata, mesmerizing to behold. But ensnared within it, Brendel felt no beauty, only a tingling annoyance at the scalp.
For those flowing prismatic lights were fragments of time; inside this hall, the flow of time had completely disrupted.
He found that his and William’s movements suddenly slowed down.
Brendel felt a bit frantic; how could the Knight of Azure so effortlessly manipulate time and space, wasn’t the element of fate supposed to include this function?
But Avina seemed to see through his confusion, responding in a low voice, “Those shattered times and experiences are themselves part of memory in history; the destinies of people outline this world itself; there is nothing the laws cannot manipulate.”
“You still have a rather shallow understanding of the elements.”
“Now, it’s my turn to attack.”
The Lightning Maiden raised her spear; boundless power seemed to converge at the tip, forming a singularity that was invisible to the naked eye in an instant. The singularity bore no color and was pitch black, with lightning flickering at its edges. Although Brendel had never seen such a technique, he understood it was undoubtedly formidable.
This was also the first time he saw Avina charging her attack.
How did he end up facing such a freak? Brendel found himself at a loss for words. He glanced back at William, realizing that the only chance of victory lay in forcing Avina out of the hall; otherwise, battling with the Knight of Azure would only be a joke. The Great Mage of the Silver Alliance clearly realized this too, giving him a nod.
“I’ll distract her!” Brendel shouted.
To be honest, he had no idea if he could succeed. But thankfully, he discovered that all of Avina’s previous attacks were completely harmless, meaning that due to some kind of law constraint, this spirit bound to this place couldn’t actually kill challengers.
As long as he wouldn’t die, Brendel could handle anything.
The gathering power had already stirred a whirlwind in the hall; Brendel raised his head, taking a look at Avina situated in the center of the whirlwind, slowly approaching with the Earth Sword.
This wasn’t his intention to approach so sluggishly, but the time miracle that Avina created was too overpowering, applying a slowing effect on everyone while simultaneously accelerating herself, far stronger than the twelfth-ring spell, “Time Prison,” claimed by the law wizards.
Yet Brendel knew he still had a slim chance.
He still had the Flash Sword, which could ignore space and time; if he could just get a bit closer, he could strike. He raised his head and fixed his gaze on every move of Avina, hoping she would become entirely focused on unleashing that ultimate move, which would give him the perfect opening.
Of course, he didn’t expect a single sword strike to have any significant effect, as long as he could create the slightest disruption.
As one of the twelve leaders of the male wizards of Drolara, William’s casting speed was no small feat, even under the slow-time condition.
Brendel silently calculated the distance. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it with recommendation and monthly votes at qidian.com; your support is my greatest motivation.)
