Chapter 557 If You Can't Win...Don't Lose
"We can't win."
I grumbled as I stood up, Lian Yu and Yuyu alongside Dao Shen were right next to me, I can't remember when Dao Shen arrived but he was there helping heal Liang Yu's eyes. She was burnt. The Fire Lord's control over fire is way too powerful to vie for it with a lack of understanding.
Liang Yu's knowledge of Fire is amazing, I've seen it firsthand, and although she has a medium level of power, her control is second to none of any I've seen at her level. But the problem was facing the Fire Lord who is undoubtedly the strongest fire user.
Yuyu's ice key is helping with mitigating the flames of the Fire Lord so I suppose with some pills and some recovery she can regain her sight.
Now, looking at the situation from a broader perspective.
We're fucked.
Royally so.
We're so fucked it's not even funny.
The Fire Lord is currently using three keys, somehow, I don't know how he's still able to fully control all three of them.
While on our side, we have two keys, the Wind King is using his well, but Yuyu just obtained it not even a month ago, so I'm sure as hell she is unable to use it fully.
We have five people, me included. Master Rain, the Wind King, the Queen, the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Academy, they are all at the top of the Emperor rank, and me, though I'm not near the peak of the Emperor rank, I'm pretty powered up thanks to the blood of the Primordial Serpent God.
And we still can't even deal a dent in his defenses let alone win.
Not adding the fact that there is an issue with me. I'm currently paralyzed. My body is in a state of complete exhaustion and unending pain because every muscle fiber on my body has been strained and torn.
So, the chances of us winning, are close to none, if not nil.
so… how are we winning this you say?
We don't.
"Shen Bao, can you move?!" the queen asked.
"Not a finger…"
"I'll protect you, you need to recover for now, we'll hold him down."
"No need," I said.
"Why? You have an idea?" she asked.
"Nope,"
"…"
"Yeah, we can't win," I said, my words were however spread in a divine sense to everyone fighting.
They all subconsciously knew it. But they didn't want to believe it until I told them.
The words were heavy, but the words were true. They all knew, deep down, we were in the shitter.
This world created a monster. A monster of pride and power, that's not willing to let anyone live if they themselves didn't rule over them.
The Fire Lord was able to use his heritage of the Imperials to cement his position as one of the rulers of the Vast Expanse, and now with him spearheading this revolution against the Vast Expanse, his goal of obtaining full control over it is bearing fruits.
The last stand, I guess. Since the Heavenly Academy is the last bulwark for anyone who's fighting for their freedom from the Fire Lord's oppression.
But this resistance is looking pretty grim.
The odds of winning are turning unfavorable to us pretty damn fast.
"You never speak words for the sake of speaking them, what do you mean by, we can't win," the Queen said.
I smiled, and she caught on.
"We really can't win," I confirmed once more, "But that doesn't mean that the Fire Lord will win," I said and closed my eyes.
Suddenly I was in full control of my avatar.
Shen Mo's body was weak, incredibly so, I single sneeze from the Fire Lord and it would pretty much perish, but at least it can move.
"Look at the Fire Lords, he's not in the best condition right now," I said.
Everyone took note of my words and their gazes focused on the Fire Lord who was fighting and looked to be having the upper hand against the Wind King.
But at the same time, his veins seemed to be disturbed, and the Qi around him wasn't stable.
"The Keys…" the Queen muttered.
"Yes, the Keys, they're giving him power, but there is no such thing as power without a price. I don't know how he's able to control all three of them, but it's clear to the eyes, that he can't keep doing it for long."
"So instead of beating him in a match of power…"
"We have to defeat him in a match of attrition…" I finished her sentence.
She looked a bit worried though, because I knew for a fact that my suggestion, although reasonable, it was not great. Because, even right now, we can't afford to fight a battle of attrition. The Fire Lord is already too damn strong.
"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!" the Fire Lord's power kept spiking as the flames around him turned brighter and brighter.
The heat from the Fire Jewel seemed hot enough to slightly distort space around the Fire Lord and was affecting the Wind King to a certain degree.
His wind blade started distorting whenever it came with the Fire Lord's spear, causing every impact to recoil badly against the Wind King.
"Wind of the North! Roar!"
"That again!" the fire Lord pointed with his free arm and manifested a massive spike of stone that tore apart the incoming wind, he then stabbed his flame spear into the base of the earth spike, shattering it and turning the fragments into sharp metal projectiles that caught on fire and flew forward.
The Wind Lord groaned as he parried every fragment as fast as he could, showing incredible dexterity and control over his blade slashing and swatting away thousands of fragments in mere moments.
But the fragments were heavy, and hot so every impact and parry caused him to be rocked back a bit and then the Fire Lord followed for a heavy swing that for a second was too much for the wind blade to block, it broke instantly and the spear's shaft struck the Wind Lord in the chest.
The sound of bones breaking could be heard all the way from there and the impact was strong enough to send the wind king flying as he was leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
The Wind King was losing…
The Queen tried to assist, flying forward and striking with a fist mightier than a mountain's descent upon the back of the Fire Lord. But the blow only had sound in it, as the impact was immediately absorbed by a shield of stone and metal that materialized out of nowhere.
The Fire Lord wasn't keen on letting easy opportunities to retaliate go, so he kicked the Queen in the stomach instantly and swung his spear up, manifesting a blade of fire that chased after the Queen.
Master Rain arrived instantly with his hammer and nail and struck at space itself, forcing it to reverberate and dissipate the incoming blade of fire.
The Grand Elder joined the fray, though with only one arm remaining he was still able to use his darkness attribute, creating ghosts and shadows that went to stall and halt the Fire Lord.
As for the Poison Clan and Demonic Clan, as much as I appreciate their arrival, they were completely out of their depth in this fight.
The blood moths, although a dangerous foe would simply be moths drawn to a flame if they were to come closer to the fire lord, they'd burn and die.
The rest of the beasts were unable to fight, for the mere fact that the energy the emperor-level cultivators were releasing was more than they could ever hope to contend with.
We were out of options…
"There is a way…" I heard.
Looking behind me, someone I didn't expect showed up, and I grinned at this.
"You're not strong enough," I said.
"I know," he replied.
"Nor fast enough," I added.
"I know…" he replied.
"More reasons for this to work I suppose," I said.
"Indeed…"
"You will die…" The Queen, having withdrawn enough to hear our conversation interjected as she understood what he meant…
"He will not," I smiled confidently.
"I don't know where you get that confidence, but he's barely at the peak of the saint class… "He'll burn to a crisp before he even reaches the Fire Lord."
And she was right, the Fire Lord's body temperature was comparable to a small star. If not for an Emperor's Divine Sense protecting one's body, approaching him meant instant death.
"Let's assist him then," I said.
Yuyu clenched her hands tightly and said, "Godspeed, it should help you get closer," she said as she handed him something.
"We only have one shot! Make it work Meng Hao!" I said as I flew forward.
Meng Hao nodded and followed after me, the two of us flew forward like loose arrows.
We were too weak, too powerless to join the fight of Emperors. But we had an idea… an idea too crazy, that it might just work.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m