Crystals, flesh, rotting corpses, spiders, beasts, suits of armor. Yaxiu had already forgotten how many enemies he had slain. Almost purely on instinct, he swung his blades in selfless abandon, his arms churning like propellers to slaughter anything that set foot within his sword domain, his footsteps moving in lockstep with Weixi's stride.
They were like a moving reef, braving the wind and breaking the waves amid the golden storm and the deluge of legions.
When his blades dulled, he whetted them against foes with bodies of steel—this was "Hone." When they sank into flesh and were clamped by muscle, a flick of his wrists sent vibrations ripping through to tear them free—this was "Oscillate." Encountering long weapons, he struck at their central line—this was "Cleave." Encountering a heavy hammer slam, he turned aside and let Weixi take the blow.
All the swordsmanship, fist, and claw techniques that Sonia, Diya, and Tamashi had once taught, shared, or demonstrated in actual combat were reproduced by Yaxiu one after another in this high-intensity close-quarters clash.
Yet his style was neither as ferocious as Sonia's, nor as soft and insidious as Diya's, nor as unpredictable as Tamashi's. He merely wielded his twin blades as he pleased, trusting his instincts to trace the most exquisite trajectories until nothing could breach the domain of his dual swords.
Weixi felt this most keenly. From being somewhat clumsy and strained at first, to moving with ease, and now being completely immersed in the rhythm—even though Yaxiu was behind her, she could clearly sense the pleasure radiating through the man's body.
Weixi recalled that back in her era, some legendary sorcerers, in their pursuit of the demigod realm, would voluntarily restrict their sorcery power, braving the deadliest ordeals with mortal bodies to hone away every flaw in their sorcery arts at the precipice of life and death.
Yaxiu hadn't achieved a breakthrough; he was simply bringing forth what he already possessed.
Like a beautiful girl from some backwater hollow: though rustic and plain at the start, once she changed her hair, slipped into flattering clothes, and refined her posture, her innate natural grace shone through in a gorgeous transformation.
Weixi knew full well the true caliber of Yaxiu's status as a legendary sorcerer: put simply, he had no real gold to his name, having stepped onto Ruby Mountain purely by relying on the Path of Origin. Yet the swordsmanship he displayed right now was drawing infinitely close to the legendary rank, lacking only an opportunity for metamorphosis.
*Boom!*
With a sweeping strike of her makeshift spear, Weixi shattered a wolf beast's head. A flush rose to her cheeks, her breath turning shallow and rapid. A demigod would naturally not blush; she was merely exhausted.
The two of them had left countless corpses in their wake, carving a path like a raging storm from one street to the next, doing their best to engage the fewest foes possible at any given moment as they forcibly fought their way out of a heavily encircled intersection.
Had they been facing a real army, had this been a war of weighed pros and cons, the enemy would have discarded their armor and fled for their lives long ago. Unfortunately, standing before them were the legions of the six nations, driven by nothing but slaughtering instincts. They were mountains of corpses and seas of blood, an inescapable destiny for sorcerers.
Interestingly, whenever they passed over slumbering ordinary people, they moved like phantoms, never trampling anyone underfoot. It was almost like the White Bull's final stroke of benevolence: *No matter when you drink from the holy grail, you will remain safe and sound.*
"Can't keep going?" Yaxiu keenly caught the state of the person behind him. "Turns out a demigod isn't all that much."
"Of all the bodies, it had to be this one... of all days, it had to be today..." Weixi glanced at her holy grail, which was not even a third full, her face brimming with unwillingness. "Is this really as far as I can go...?"
Just then, she felt a light pat on her lower back, followed by a warm bath of life energy suffusing her entire body. A healing miracle like Joy Sword, inconspicuous and requiring no sustained channeling, was simply ideal here.
"Find a spot and lie down," Yaxiu said calmly. "The enemies are getting stronger."
They had been fighting for barely ten minutes, yet the wolf beasts that had made up the majority earlier were becoming increasingly rare. Instead, Tier 3 and 4 troop types like Slay All Crows, Bloodmad Hunters, and Gryphon Meteorologists were beginning to dominate. Even stripped of supernatural abilities, these mid-tier troops possessed combat power far beyond low-tier units. Even if Yaxiu and Weixi could defeat them, it cost far more energy.
A mortal body had its limits.
Greedy though Yaxiu was, he was not stupid enough to gamble his life. If push came to shove, he would drink from the holy grail. Leaving life and death to fate was helpless, but it still beat being swallowed whole by the legions of the six nations.
"Hold on a little longer!" Weixi gritted her teeth. "At least until the holy grail is half full!"
"You know full well that even half full, it's hardly possible—"
"Even if it's just a sliver more hope of reaching the supreme peak, a sliver more chance of breaking these chains, it's worth throwing away my life for!" Weixi drove her spear through a gryphon's throat, hot beast blood splattering across her face. "Did you really think I'd obediently be your maid? If you want to hear fawning flattery, you'll have to wait until tomorrow! It's still my day off!"
"Do you think I'd agree?"
"Well, at least I tried."
Yaxiu sighed. "Well, I never complain about having too many gifts for the Sword Princess and the Witch anyway."
"You'll regret this," Weixi took a deep breath, sweat trailing down her burning face. "I'll definitely make you regret it!"
*Roar!*
Just then, a colossal corpse wolf formed from countless human remains crept along the side of a building, rapidly closing in on them.
Blood Tomb Tier 4 troops—Coffin-Guarding Corpse Wolf!
Yaxiu's expression instantly turned grim. "Watch out," he warned.
To be fair, Blood Tomb's Tier 4 troop type was actually the weakest among the six nations because it possessed zero supernatural traits—only pure physical destructive power. On the battlefield, it was either carved up by Slay All Crows or kite-flown by Gryphon Meteorologists.
Yet at this moment, when all supernatural traits were neutralized, the corpse wolf reached the zenith of its historical relevance! Facing the pouncing corpse wolf, Yaxiu reversed his grip on his twin swords, bracing for the impact—
*Bang!*
The chilling dread of being targeted by a gun barrel and the report of gunfire were separated by less than a second. Yaxiu barely managed to angle his blade up in time, successfully deflecting the bullet so that the shot aimed at his head only tore away a thick chunk of flesh from his arm!
And right then, the corpse wolf was already swiping down its claw—
*Boom!*
Weixi spun around in an instant to absorb the corpse wolf's strike for him, though it cost her a torn web between her thumb and forefinger. Neither dared linger, immediately ducking into an arcade beneath the colonnade to flee.
"Did you see the enemy?"
"No!" Yaxiu's face was exceedingly grim. He glanced at the distant rooftop of a high-rise, finding that although monsters teemed over it, not a single sound of combat broke out.
Yet he was certain the bullet that wounded him had been fired from that very spot.
Which meant there was a sorcerer there who hadn't drunk from a holy grail, yet wasn't being attacked by the legions of the six nations! This was the worst possible situation: hunted by the legions, stripped of their legendary combat strength, without Feili by their side, and with a legendary sorcerer sniping at them from nearby!
"Strange," Weixi analyzed calmly. "If it were a sorcerer who has spiritized, even without using their own spirit abilities, they could unleash legendary sorceries without restraint. No matter the faction, we wouldn't stand a chance of surviving a legendary sorcery."
"Therefore, they definitely haven't spiritized, which is why they fear the scrutiny of the surrounding six nations' legions and have no choice but to attack us with a sniper rifle."
Yaxiu asked, "Then if they haven't spiritized, why aren't the monsters attacking them?"
"Because their own sorcery arts allow them to conceal themselves without triggering the mysterious chains," Weixi said. "Light, illusion, earth, shadow... While not a hundred percent safe, if they can take the chance to eliminate two competitors, it's well worth the gamble."
A shopping mall came into view. Without hesitation, they dashed toward it, hoping to take cover inside against the sniper fire even if it meant being cornered.
Just then, the corpse wolf caught up. Yaxiu and Weixi immediately went on high alert.
*Bang!*
Another distant sniper shot. The unknown sorcerer was exceptionally skilled, locking onto Yaxiu only a second before firing. But to a sword sorcerer endowed with feral instinct, one second of muzzle sense was enough to react!
*Clang!*
As the bullet ricocheted away, Weixi spun and thrusted to meet the corpse wolf's descending claws!
Yet the metal frame Weixi had ripped from a shop to use as a spear had already overperformed far too long on a battlefield it never belonged to. Coupled with the slight distortion in Weixi's movements due to fatigue, the makeshift spear took the brunt of a full-force blow from a Tier 4 troop.
*Snap!*
The spear shattered completely, but the two of them narrowly evaded the swipe and successfully made it into the mall. Yet the moment they looked inside, they sucked in a cold breath—the interior was likewise crammed with all manner of legion monsters. As the two charged in, the monsters turned their heads in unison, like a grand sacrificial rite that had finally welcomed its two offerings.
"Can you still fight?" Yaxiu said. "Now isn't really a good time to sleep."
With a sniper lurking outside, if Yaxiu and Weixi dared drink from their holy grails and fall asleep, they would only be waiting to have their heads blown off in their slumber.
Weixi rubbed her bleeding wrist. "Find me a weapon."
"Stay close to me." Yaxiu took a deep breath and plunged straight into the horde of monsters, Weixi following hot on his heels.
Just as Yaxiu cut down another Gryphon Meteorologist, an unarmed combatant clad in deep blue armor appeared before him.
Star Hall Tier 6 troops—Starshot Warrior!
Yaxiu's heart sank. A brief exchange of blows told him that even without supernatural traits, this foe was formidable, and it was coordinating its assault with a gryphon. Yet it was ultimately humanoid. Yaxiu feigned an opening to bait it and the Gryphon Meteorologist into attacking, then swept his twin swords toward their throats.
*Bang!*
A third sudden gunshot echoed faintly, audible even through the walls.
Being indoors, Yaxiu had never expected the unknown sorcerer outside would still be able to snipe him. After all, with no miracles imbued into the bullets, he had assumed the assassin had merely picked up a sniper rifle on the fly, with a gun sorcery mastery at silver rank at best.
If the unknown sorcerer truly hadn't used any miracles and yet could find a clean angle across the plaza to shoot... then their gun sorcery was at least Sanctuary rank, if not legendary!
Yaxiu had no time to think. Almost purely on instinct, he raised a blade. His wrist jolted, a cold gust brushed his face, and a fiery pain told him clearly that he had successfully deflected the bullet once more.
Yet against the Starshot Warrior and the gryphon lunging before him, he had no means left to defend.
*Whoosh!*
Everything before his eyes suddenly hurtled away. Yaxiu narrowly escaped the fatal pincer attack of the Starshot Warrior and the gryphon, then crashed to the floor.
He turned his head to see Weixi sitting on the ground, clinging tight to him, gold and silver wings of void unfurled from the maid's back. Clearly, Weixi had relied on her wings of void to fly and pull him out of harm's way in the nick of time.
Yet Yaxiu felt little joy at surviving. His eyes widened. "You..."
Weixi seemed dazed. At that moment, the sliding rattle of countless chains rang out, and dozens of invisible chains sprang from the void, locking down her gold and silver wings of void.
*Crack.*
Like shattered glass, the gold and silver wings crumbled into countless fragments, dissolving into speckles of light. Weixi's body shuddered as though struck in the soul by a heavy hammer, barely bracing herself against the floor with one hand to keep from collapsing.
Yaxiu had no time for words, for the corpse wolf had already pursued them inside from the exterior, crashing forward like a chariot, like heavy cavalry. And behind them, the Starshot Warrior and the gryphon were closing in as well.
Weixi had merely delayed their peril by a few breaths; what awaited them was still an inescapable dead end. Leaving aside the assassin outside, Yaxiu couldn't resolve this crisis on his own.
Wings of void, miracles, Sanctuaries—none of these could solve the problem. They could only buy time, and the instant they appeared, they were doomed to wither away.
Still, living a few seconds longer was better than dying on the spot.
Taking a deep breath, Yaxiu rose to face the joint assault of the corpse wolf and the Starshot Warrior. The sorcery power quietly flowing in his soul suddenly surged. But right then, a voice called down from above:
"Leave the wolf to me."
Without a shred of hesitation, Yaxiu turned and swung his swords, instantly slaying the charging Starshot Warrior and Gryphon Meteorologist. Behind him, the colossal corpse wolf was decapitated by a devastating slash dropping from above. The red-haired swordswoman landed soundlessly, snapping her blade with a flick of her wrist to shed the foul blood from the steel.
The two slowly backed up until they stood back-to-back. Niya cast a glance at Weixi, who was slowly recovering. "Who's she?"
"Weixi." Yaxiu paused, adding, "A maid."
"Oh."
Niya offered no comment, swinging her blade to cleave the still-twitching head of the corpse wolf in two.
Chapter 869