Chapter 169: The Endgame
The plan went incredibly smoothly.
Sometimes Ashe couldnt help but admit, the five of them were like a crime syndicate made in heaven. With some quick improvisation, they actually lured Gerard out, creating a gap to break into the Virtual Realm Passage.
The plan was actually quite simple: First, Igor randomly chose an audience member to intimidate. Out of ten adventurers, nine have something to hide and the last one is essentially the scapegoat. Igor didnt need to exert much effort to draw out their deepest fears, making them believe he was the enemy they had been running from. In a state of panic, the chosen one would flee outside.
As the Hunter pursued the Adventurer, Harvey connected a chip using Necromancy, adding a Restriction to everyone present, plunging the adventurers into a state of panic. Meanwhile, Ronald discreetly knocked down several adventurers with steel balls, grazing Ashe and others, so they all naturally fell to the ground.
A recording pen, hastily made by Ashe, would start playing on the Substitute, while Igor activated Mind Miracle to amplify everyones suspicion and panic. The adventurers would quickly sink into a fear of the Hunter, and eventually, under the lead of Ashes Substitute, they would rush out of the camp.
Once Gerard was lured out and the other adventurers had all left, those injured lying on the ground would seize the gap to leap up, rush towards the Passage, and leave Blood Moon behind to start anew!
Ashe didnt hold much hope originally, but this flawed, impromptu plan was executed without a hitch. When Gerard became a shadow, flitting over his body, Ashes heart nearly leapt out of his mouth.
A more ideal scene than Igor had imagined unfolded: Only one Hunter was left on the high platform, and the surrounding Moonshadow Priests seemed to be petrified with fear. After Langna knocked out the Hunter with a punch, the path ahead was clear.
Everything that should have gone wrong went right in the most critical part of the process.
Yet, in the ending, where there should have been no room for error, the unexpected happened.
On the stairs towards the Passage, Ashe suddenly felt a chill, as if someone was gripping his heart tightly. He could even sense a word forming above his head
Danger!
He knew what this meantPrimal Instincts had been triggered.
During his Virtual Realm Adventure, this skill he had acquired from the Sorcerer Handbook had saved him from peril multiple times. This time, Ashe naturally chose to continue trusting it.
Miracle: Sword Barrier!
After his Promotion to Two Wings, Ashe could use Gold arcane energy to activate Earth Sword, and the defensive power of this Miracle had almost tripled.
Bang!
With a noisy blast from the Gun, the warm golden Barrier shattered like glass, and even the ground, tasked with dispersing the destructive force, cracked into a spiderweb!
Ashe didnt even need a direct hit to feel like a mere graze from such an attack could strip flesh and bone, reducing his weight by a good ten pounds or more!
Ashe turned his head slightly and saw the Orc sniper lurking in the shadows of the camp entrance.
Sylins lackey.
He hadnt forgotten about Gersas, but he never imagined Gersas would snuff out his last hope so perfectly. This unexpected bad luck made Ashe feel as if he had exhausted all his fortune escaping from prison.
More importantly, while maintaining the Sword Barrier, he had to keep his sword planted in the ground, unable to move!
After all, the strength of the Swordsmanship Faction ultimately lies in destruction, not protection. That a Swordsmanship-derived Miracle could offer such strong defense, with its only drawback being limited mobility, was already more than one could ask for.
Before this, Ashe hadnt been troubled by this Restriction and naturally hadnt thought about improving the Miracle.
Now, Ashe had to make a cruel choice: give up the Sword Barrier and let Gersas blow away half his body with a single shot; maintain the Sword Barrier, and in a few seconds, Gerard would personally break through it!
But Ashe quickly gave up on choosingbecause Gersas had opened up a third path for him.
Gersas swiftly raised his left hand, thrust out his waist, and positioned his heavy sniper in his left hand and the dual Guns at his waist. All four guns appeared at once, but he didnt lock onto Ashe. Instead, he aimed at the other four Prison Escapees!
He was too greedy, no longer satisfied with Ashe as his only prey. He wanted to take down everyone else as well. Because in just a few seconds, Gerard would arrive and suppress the entire scene with absolute power, and all Gersas would have to spend was a bit of arcane energy.
What was he after? The bounty for the Prison Escapees? Or a favor from a Tri-wings Sanctuary Sorcerer?
As an Orc Sorcerer who clawed his way up from the bottom, Gersas had plenty of greedy reasons. Perhaps without meticulous thought, he simply seized every opportunity, every prey, a practice that might have cost him at times, but more often yielded rich rewards. Thus, he instinctively followed these survival Rules.
But his prey this time were the most vicious criminals from Kaimon City.
Harvey, running at the front, suddenly tossed a bone glowing with an inky green light into the air, which exploded the next second, clearly diverting the Shot Bullets meant for Harvey onto the bone! However, Harvey grunted, his left arm going limp and lifeless as if it had lost all bone.
Igor, in an instant, let out a psychic shriek. The intense sonic waves formed a barrier with no dead angles, diverting the Shot Bullets to the right by sheer force. But they were too close, and a bullet grazed his shoulder, ripping a large chunk of flesh away. Igor stumbled to the ground in pain.
Ronald, who specialized in long-range assassination, had no means of defending against such sniper Shot Bullets, but he didnt need toLangna immediately pulled him behind and, with a right hand glowing golden, turned and slashed!
Two Shot Bullets were forcefully deflected by Langnas strikes!
Such was the might of a top-tier Two Wings Physical Sorcerer! Barehandedly intercepting sniper Shot Bullets!
While Ronald was protected by Langna, he didnt idle either, throwing out a bunch of steel beads. The beads accelerated with a sonic boom in midair, like missiles heading straight for Gersas!
Although the process seems long in description, all of this happened in the blink of an eyeAshe erected the Sword Barrier for defense, Gersas raised his four heavy snipers for a point shoot, and the Prison Escapees defended and counterattacked.
As the sole long-range damage dealer, Ronald did not disappoint Ashe. His steel bead storm forced Gersas to defend.
This was the opening Ashe needed!
But after this momentary delay, Ashe had fallen to the back of the group. The high platform was already difficult to climb, and he hadnt even pulled his sword from the ground yet.
It is well known that in an escape, running slowly might keep one alive, but being the last is certain deaththe pursuer will always try their hardest to capture the easiest prey!
He needed a Miracle, something that could at least keep him in step with the team and not become the last one lagging behind!
Heart Sword, Substitute, and Circulationthese three were the spirit techniques he had mastered most proficiently. Sword Barrier was the only Miracle he truly excelled at.
When Ashes mind stirred, the effects of these three spirit techniques swirled incessantly in his mind, and the structure of the Miracle Procedure unfolded before his eyes. His insights into the realms of Swordsmanship and Water Faction blazed like a fierce fire, consuming all his thoughts, leaving only the brightest crystallization of wisdom!
Suddenly, he remembered Valcass final strike, the miraculous moment when the Swordswoman and he soared into the sky.
Then Ashe moved. His right hand still resting on the Honeyed Blade embedded in the ground, his left hand suddenly produced another Honeyed Blade, wrapped in a sharp golden radiance.
Using Substitute on the Honeyed Blade, letting the Heart Sword attach to the Substitute blade.
By now, Harvey had already stepped into the Virtual Realm Passage, and the rest of the team were only a few steps away from it. Ashe, however, remained unmoved, upturning the Substitute blade in a spear-throwing gesture and hurling itit struck precisely at the topmost step of the platform!
Then he simultaneously launched Earth Sword on both the Heart Sword-attached Substitute blade and the Honeyed Blade!
Two warm yellow pillars of light appeared on the platform at the same time. Igor glanced at the light pillar of the Substitute blade as he passed by, and Ashes heart leapedany casual flick from Igor could shatter the Substitute bladebut it seemed Igor didnt plan to waste another moment on Ashe and headed straight for the Virtual Realm Passage.
By this point, Ashe was far behind. He could even hear the sound of Gerard breaking through the moonlight behind him. Ashe had never felt so strongly that his Destiny was in his hands, that any slight mistake would turn his fragile fate into bubbles, to be extinguished by the palm of his hand.
Yet Ashe felt neither fear nor excitement, nor could he be considered calm.
He was just very quiet.
He quietly appreciated what kind of story Ashe would unfold next.
With the Substitute blade as the target coordinate, the Honeyed Blade as the starting coordinate, Heart Sword as the guide, Earth Sword to pave the way, Circulation to change the law!
Miracle!
Between the two warm yellow pillars of light, a faint yellow shadow flickered, and then nothing else stirredit was as if nothing had changed. But in that brief moment of breath, Ashe had already reached the uppermost step of the platform. He pulled out the Honeyed Blade from the ground, and the Substitute blade below turned into a wisp of smoke and dissipated.
Success!
Earth Sword became the path, Circulation eliminated friction, and with Heart Sword as the guide, Ashe, clutching the Honeyed Blade, successfully switched places with the Substitute blade in an instant!
This Miracle is called Bidirectional Rush!
Langna and Ronald saw Ashe suddenly appear before them, their expressions slightly astonished, but they didnt ponder over it much, assuming it was Ashes hidden trump cardindeed, such a short-distance movement Miracle didnt seem to necessitate secrecy.
The three of them were only ten steps away from the Virtual Realm Passage, and Igor, who had half a foot in the passage, looked back at them, his pupils suddenly dilating.
Although Primal Instincts werent triggered, Ashe didnt hesitate; he directly used the Slay Me Miracle on himself, cutting down the illusory Substitute, Purifying all Abnormal Statuses within his body! The blood that was about to stagnate inside him instantly returned to normal, and so Ashe only staggered slightly, without falling flat on his face.
It seemed Langna also had a Miracle to dispel Abnormal Statuses and was completely unaffected, but only Ronald screamed as he fell to the ground, his entire body convulsing and paralyzed.
And Igor himself took a nosedive into the Virtual Realm Passage, evidently afflicted at the last moment.
Behind them, Gerards Chain Sword had extended to its longest state, tearing through the air with mournful screams, carrying a brutal trail of blood as it barreled forward!
Undoubtedly, the blood-related Abnormal Status they were experiencing was Gerards doing.
As a member of the sacred bloodline with Tri-wings, Gerard might not favor the Blood Magic Faction, but that didnt mean he wasnt proficient in it!
When it comes to dealing with any flesh and blood creature, the Blood Magic Faction is the true specialist!
Langna reacted extremely fast, kicking Ronald away with one swift kick. Ronalds abdomen emitted a dull crack, clearly indicating several broken ribs.
The bald man turned around and headed back. Shadows on the ground swarmed over him like a horde of black cats, equipping him with a suit of shadow armor that made his already towering and burly figure appear even more colossal, chilling, and fierce, as imposing as a pitch-black Abyss.
Boom!
Langna blocked Gerards strike with his arms, the shadow armor almost completely shattered, and his left foot carved a dent in the stone-bricked ground. Despite the damage, he managed to hold his ground, even sending Gerards Chain Sword flying upwards!
On the other side, Ashe took hold of Ronald and, with astonishing speed, cast the Slay Me Miracle on him, dragging him by the collar as he sprinted away. Ronald, also known as the Woodpecker with the Golden Beak, quickly regained control of his body and stood up, the severe pain in his abdomen not affecting his movements.
But he didnt rush to flee with Ashe; instead, he glanced back.
Gerard had emerged from the moonlight, his Chain Sword morphing into a longsword, his anger and humiliation making his already unhandsome face even more contorted. Langna stood silently, ready to face Gerards outburst.
Everyone could predict the scene that would followno one believed Langna could withstand Gerards full-powered strike. The previous attack with the Chain Sword was weakened due to the distance, but now that Gerard had arrived at the scene, there was no need to bypass Langna; with one strike, he could tear Langna, Ronald, and Ashe to shreds!
There was no better opportunity than now.
This is my last chance.
Its over.
After murmuring this to himself, determination flashed in Ronalds eyes. He suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around with a flick of his right hand, and shot out a steel ball.
The steel ball accelerated furiously in mid-air, turning into a meteor that struck towards Langna!
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