The Ox of the Sky Carriage strode into the distance, and the Flowing Gold River gradually faded away.
Only the souls of the past were being reborn.
Yaxiu donned the armor of the knight, Sonia draped on the coat of the lover, Diya took off the mask of the little sister, and Denzel put away the feelings of the mistress.
"Return the 'Secret Incarnation' to me."
Denzel's voice had once again become utterly flat. Like the rain flowing upward against heaven and earth, it had broken free from emotional momentum, leaving behind only the will to execute her mission.
"Then give me back the 'Avatar of the Stars,'" Yaxiu said in a light tone. "You're not my mistress anymore; you can't just take advantage of me for nothing, can you?"
Although they had never met before, Yaxiu naturally realized immediately that Denzel was the commander of the Heroic Spirit Legion pursuing them. After all, back in the cabin, Denzel had revealed her ability to arm unit types—a unique effect of the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit.
A sorcerer could get lucky and obtain a Soul Summoning sorcery spirit by looting, of course, just as Yaxiu had done. But any sorcerers along the way bold enough to approach Yaxiu had been used by him as expendable rear guards. Therefore, within a one-kilometer radius, the only people who could possess a Soul Summoning sorcery spirit were Yaxiu himself and the Heroic Spirit commander hunting him.
"Mind your position." Denzel applied slight pressure with her right hand. Yaxiu instantly felt as if his neck were a wet towel an ogre was about to wring dry; he could barely breathe.
"Sword Princess, Witch, leave now." Yaxiu grabbed Denzel's right hand and pried her fingers open with all his strength, carving out enough room to speak. "Next is private date time between this Heroic Spirit commander and me. It's not convenient to have bystanders like you watching."
"Ten Years of Sword Sharpening!"
"Torrent Line!"
Sonia and Diya made their stance clear through action. Obviously, they couldn't just stand by and watch Yaxiu have a romantic tryst.
"She's alone." The village girl glanced sideways at the indistinct shapes of the legion retinues lingering outside the fence. "Her army can't get in. We're the ones with numerical superiority right now—"
"Is that so?"
A faint purple flame erupted from Denzel's body, and the hue of her Assassin Specialist attire deepened accordingly, as if countless layers of clothing were piling atop one another. Even though she still wore only the sheer, airy, skin-tight mesh tunic, she projected an impenetrable, crushing weight of oppression.
"Though the Assassin Specialist's armor is the lowest among Tier 4 units, stacking ten troop units is enough to amass thirty layers of armor," Denzel said. "In legion warfare, if a battle comes down to just the commanders, it turns into a pure contest of soul power. Whoever has more soul power can arm themselves with more units. A Heroic Spirit armed with thousands of troop units is an army unto themselves—this is the meaning of an 'Invincible Heroic Spirit.'
"I have no idea how you sorcerers acquired a Soul Summoning sorcery spirit, but do you really want to compete with me in soul power consumption?" Denzel gently stroked Yaxiu's cheek, her razor-sharp nails giving him the sensation of being cut. "It's also been a long time since I personally fought the Star Hall's 'Star Flinger Warriors.' Why don't you turn both of them into Star Flinger Warriors as well?"
Relying on the faint, ethereal connection between Soul Summoning sorcery spirits, Heroic Spirits could recognize one another. However, this recognition was very crude. Those from the same faction could roughly identify a specific identity, while opposing factions could glean almost no additional information. That was why Bledo had mistaken Yaxiu for the logistics commander Demilo, and why Denzel had initially assumed Yaxiu was a Star Hall commander.
Consequently, Denzel saw at a glance that Yaxiu was the only one here who possessed a Soul Summoning sorcery spirit. The other two girls were likely just his combat retinues—or bed warmers.
"Let's not. Having women help me put down my mistress sounds so pathetic. Makes me seem like some vicious, profligate young noble." Yaxiu shrugged, glancing at Sonia and Diya. "Go on, you two. With you here, I'm too embarrassed to grope around and explore every hole."
Yaxiu knew in his heart that they stood absolutely no chance against Denzel. After arming himself as a Star Flinger Warrior, he had exhausted all the soul power resources they had stockpiled over the past few days.
Soul power was a peculiar resource. There was a chance it would drop upon killing knowledge creatures, but the probability was extremely low. Pack creatures almost never dropped it; large creatures had a drop rate around 33%; and only overlord creatures were guaranteed to drop it.
Yet Denzel was an ace commander backed by a divine faction, carrying who knew how much soul power, able to arm herself with dozens or even hundreds of units at any moment. Yaxiu, armed as a Star Flinger Warrior, had only seven layers of armor, while Denzel could swell to seven hundred at a moment's notice. The lengths of their health bars weren't even in the same dimension—how could they possibly fight?
Denzel wasn't some slow, witless boss who would just stand there and let the three of them grind her down. In fact, armed as an Assassin Specialist, Denzel likely viewed the three of them as the sluggish fodder.
No matter what, the Witch and the Sword Princess had to leave first. That way, even if negotiations with his Heroic Spirit lover fell through, the only one who would die would be Yaxiu after a failed tryst!
*If it's to protect you, dying once isn't an unacceptable price to pay.*
Catching the trust in Yaxiu's gaze, Sonia bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth. She scooped Diya up by her slender waist and retreated toward the exterior wall of the wooden cabin, attempting to use the cabin as cover to escape the Heroic Spirit commander's sight—
"Are they your most precious treasures?"
The notes drew closer and louder, like encroaching despair. When the breath of that final question mark brushed against her back, Sonia looked back to see the tall female assassin rushing forward like a shadow blotting out the sky. Yaxiu, dragged along by her right hand, was like a ragdoll. Her left hand thrust toward Sonia—slender, jade-like fingers that ought to have played musical instruments, yet struck colder chills into Sonia's bones than the fangs of a Fishcleaver Dragon!
Miracle: Water Moon!
Miracle: Strangulation Line!
The village girl opted to confront her head-on with a counter-miracle, returning all of the commander's kinetic energy; the Secret Princess assisted from the flank, sending multiple line-nooses capable of dicing large creatures into dozens of pieces snaring toward the Heroic Spirit like a trap!
*Clang!*
*Boom!*
Counter: ineffective!
Strangulation: lines snapped!
With one hand, Denzel grabbed Sonia by the neck and slammed her hard against the ground! Pale-purple nails dug into the village girl's flesh, continually draining her soul like virulent poison!
Yet the more chaotic and bloody the situation grew, the calmer Sonia's light-red eyes became. Quickly bracing herself against the ground, she swung her sword at Denzel, and countless threads enveloped the commander's body!
Miracle: Blood Flower Water—
Her strongest sword-killing miracle came to an abrupt halt.
"Why did you stop?"
Denzel hoisted Yaxiu in front of herself; those Water Moon threads that had been coiling toward her were now wrapped around Yaxiu as well.
"A Star Flinger Warrior has seven layers of armor," Denzel said. "A Two-Winged Sorcerer lacks the ability to punch through seven layers in a single strike. Feel free to attack—don't hold back."
"Let them go!" Diya strained with all her might to drive her Water-Born Line, looping thirteen coils around Denzel's neck before hauling backward with all her strength. Yet a decapitation miracle that could make anyone say goodbye to their body only wore away a single layer of armor on Denzel. She completely ignored the Witch giving her a neck massage.
As her soul was drained, Sonia's figure grew increasingly translucent, but she had zero intention of begging for mercy. Now that Yaxiu was being held in front of Denzel as a meat shield, she used her feet to kick the Empress in the crotch. She kicked hard, kicked with all her strength, aiming for the nastiest, most vicious spots.
*Even if I can't hurt you, I'll still gross you out!*
Just as they seemed on the verge of a total team wipe, Yaxiu suddenly spoke up: "If you don't want to kill me, you'd better stop. She and I share the 'Shared Life' blessing."
At these words, Sonia immediately felt the nails embedded in her neck pull out. Even with all her experience from hundreds of battles in the Void Realm, being pinned to the ground and ground to death bit by bit was a first. Yet what surged in the heart of the President of the Paw-Stretching Club right now wasn't fear or lingering dread, but intense humiliation—
She had actually... let the Watcher see her in such a helpless state!
"I'm helping you, you know," Denzel said. "If I trigger 'Shared Life' and then stop, wouldn't that remove this shackle for you? All it takes is a little more force. Are you sure you want me to stop?"
Yaxiu ignored Denzel's provocation and continued on his own: "As expected, you don't want to kill me. Death is merely my escape route, and your goal is to seize the 'Secret Incarnation' from me.
"You can't kill me, and you can't kill her. You can't even kill the Witch who's massaging your neck right now—she has the 'Shared Death' curse, which will randomly pick one lucky person among the four of us to die in her place. If you're lucky enough, you'll achieve the 'I killed myself' achievement.
"You can't threaten anyone," Yaxiu said calmly. "Let us go, my unknown mistress."
"You are both right and wrong," Denzel said. "If I want to reclaim the 'Secret Incarnation,' it is true that I cannot kill anyone. But—if you refuse to give it up no matter what, then your lives will be completely meaningless to me."
Denzel hoisted Sonia up as well and walked straight to the fence. Straining with virtually all the strength she possessed, Diya leaped directly onto Denzel's back, pulling the Water-Born Line tight. However, the Water-Born Line only served the function of a baby carrier at that moment, leaving Diya dangling from Denzel's back like an infant.
With both hands, Denzel lifted Sonia and Yaxiu into midair, forcing them to face the wild world beyond the fence. A colossal Eight-Eyed Weaving Spider broke through the curtain of rain. Its ruby-like pupils fixed intently upon the two fragile sorcerers, its mouthparts trembling slightly as if offering thanks for today's gift from the Void Realm.
Beyond the Eight-Eyed Weaving Spider, numerous shadowy silhouettes paced behind the veil of rain. Going by numbers alone, Yaxiu and Sonia wouldn't even be enough to pick their teeth with.
"Though we usually do not deliberately obliterate a sorcerer's soul," Denzel's voice sounded behind them, "we don't mind letting our retinues enjoy a feast once in a while.
"If I throw you out there, your souls will be torn and gnawed by dozens of Void Realm creatures. You won't even have time to return to reality; you will only be able to watch helplessly as you feel the agonizing pain of your souls rending, the despair of your consciousness fading, and the loneliness of your spirits annihilating. Your physical bodies will never wake again. You won't even have the qualification to fall into hell—you will simply dissolve into phantoms of the Void Realm. When I pass by, I'll be sure to say hello."
Looking at the Eight-Eyed Weaving Spider before her, Sonia's body instantly froze stiff. The breath of death rushed at her, so heavy it was nearly suffocating. Countless lessons from textbooks surged into her mind, tormenting her fragile soul.
She was, after all, only an eighteen-year-old girl.
Sonia's lips trembled faintly, and an almost imperceptible choke rose in her throat. She fought to control the tremor in her eyes, desperately holding back the humiliating tears welling in them. Yet whether from spasms of terror or the struggle born of a desire to survive, her hands flailed uselessly, fumbling futilely, desperately trying to grasp at some straw that might save her.
She caught something.
When the knight took her hand, the grievances in her eyes finally condensed into mist and flowed down her cheeks.
Chapter 316