The Boundary Between Hunter and Prey

"My Seven-Colored Wings are still here." Amid the chaotic melee, Weixi swung a barbell bar, holding off an offensive from the flank. There happened to be a gym on the ground floor of the mall, and the twenty-kilogram barbell was the ideal heavy long weapon for her. Unfortunately, Weixi was exhausted and wounded; even with Yaxiu's Joy Sword sustaining her, she could no longer smash enemies' heads in like she had at the start and could only focus on defense. Yet Yaxiu could still clearly feel Weixi's formidable prowess. Standing at around one meter sixty, she swung the 2.2-meter barbell with astonishingly little effort. She was especially in her element during the chaotic melee, spinning the barbell by deflecting off the recoil of enemy attacks; in her hands, the heavy metal bar seemed just as nimble and agile as she was. Whether it was Yaxiu or Niya, there were always moments in battle when they had no choice but to clash head-on, trading raw strength against the enemy's stamina. Weixi, however, was different. Her combat was like a perfectly oiled machine: every gear turned with flawless precision, and every ounce of force was transmitted to its final point without the slightest loss, exactly according to her will. Even without deploying a single miracle, she was a miracle in her own right. Among the people Yaxiu knew, perhaps only Tamashi could rival her in this regard. And polearms were merely one of Weixi's legendary sorcery masteries. Yaxiu had once asked Weixi why she liked using long weapons, and she had replied that she just liked things that were long and big. Honestly, Yaxiu felt that reason might actually be true, rather than just Weixi teasing him. Precisely because her true form was rather petite, and her primary studies lay in the academic sorceries like soul and prophecy, only by crushing enemies with massive weapons could she satisfy the sadistic desires lurking deep within her heart. A sorcerer: observe their blade, see their heart. Yaxiu repeatedly reminded himself in his heart that no matter how Weixi behaved, she was always a heartless viper, a vicious python. The Ruby Chains had given Yaxiu a maid at his beck and call, but they had also created an irreconcilable, mortal enemy. Weixi paid no heed to Yaxiu's internal musings and continued, "The mysterious chains only snapped my exposed Silver Wings and Golden Wings, and the Knowing and Guarding Fire sorcery spirit is still inside my soul. In other words, the mechanism of the mysterious chains targets the supernatural itself rather than individuals directly. That's why my Seven-Colored Wings and Heterochromatic Wings remained unscathed." "Then what about Sanctuary—" "Whatever color of sorcery mana you use to drive your Sanctuary, the mysterious chains will target that color of void wings," Weixi deduced. "It might even be the same for miracles. When we cast spells, the sorcery spirits don't manifest externally; they remain hidden in our souls. If the mysterious chains trace back along supernatural phenomena, it's very likely they will only trace back to the void wings in our souls." Yaxiu nodded silently. As a direct victim and a reincarnated demigod, Weixi's conjectures could practically be treated as conclusions. Although the mysterious chains did not directly annihilate individuals, the fact that they could snap void wings alone was enough to terrify any sorcerer. If Niya hadn't appeared, Yaxiu would have had to lose at least his rainbow void wings and heterochromatic void wings earlier just to break through the predicament. "Can your Silver Wings and Golden Wings still recover?" Yaxiu asked. Weixi's expression was indifferent. "Theoretically, it's impossible. Sorcerers cannot return to the lower layers of the Void Realm, so naturally, there's no way to regrow void wings. The path of a sorcerer has always been a point of no return. Only a tiny handful of sorcerers can freely travel back and forth between different layers of the Void Realm—and if I could do that, void wings wouldn't matter anyway." "Can't you seize the souls of other sorcerers?" Yaxiu asked. "You're only lacking some soul sorcery spirits, right?" Hearing this, Weixi couldn't help but glare at Yaxiu and explained faintly, "Ordinary soul seizure is relatively simple, but because the soul and body are incompatible, my intellect, memories, and even my sorcery attainments would continuously decline. Achieving a perfect soul seizure requires an extremely precious sorcery spirit—one that I had to create myself. In the Spectre Inheritance, I only left behind enough materials for a single casting. Furthermore, because I had never used it before, I only discovered upon casting it for the first time that the spell had major flaws, forcing me to expend three thousand wraiths just to barely trigger the miracle. In every sense, I cannot perform a second soul seizure." "I see," Yaxiu said. "If you had brought those wraiths out with you, Silver Lantern and I would've been dead meat in the Silent Spiral, wouldn't we?" "Not just you—those three gods would have fallen into my hands as well," Weixi said coldly. "However, Master, why are you actively suggesting I seize the souls of other sorcerers? Haven't you always restrained me from committing evil? Or do you also want to learn the most treacherous, inscrutable soul sorceries?" Hearing the address "Master," Niya turned her head and gave them a look. "I was just worried your combat strength would drop too much and make you a burden. Besides, finding a heinous Sanctuary sorcerer shouldn't be difficult." Yaxiu slashed and killed a Bloodmad Hunter with his twin swords, adding, "Since it's so troublesome, forget it." Silver void wings and golden void wings were vital to a sorcerer. Even if a sorcerer lacked the secret poisons to convert sorcery mana, those two void wings were still their most flawless flight and mobility abilities. Having lost these two pairs of void wings, Weixi would have to wait until she condensed a complete fourth pair of void wings before regaining innate flight; until then, she could only rely on miracles and sorcery spirits for aerial maneuverability. Moreover, even a mudblood sorcerer like Yaxiu could faintly sense that a complete set of void wings was crucial to a sorcerer. It was just like a human having ten fingers: though some fingers were rarely used, losing them would drastically impair one's quality of life. "Wouldn't it be better the weaker I am?" Weixi smashed a griffin's head with her pole, speaking sarcastically: "It would be best if I completely turned into a mortal and meowed like a pet in front of you every day. A maid like that would be Master's favorite, wouldn't she?" "No matter how weak you are, you're still a vicious beast," Yaxiu retorted. "I'm only worried that if you're too weak, you'll die suddenly, reincarnate from the Soul Box, and break free of the chains. I don't want to worry about your vengeance every single day." Weixi shot back, "And you don't worry about my vengeance while I'm chained?" By tacit agreement, neither mentioned Weixi's intervention just now. Perhaps both knew it was merely the effect of the Ruby Chains—when Yaxiu was in danger, Weixi was both his lethal spear and his self-sacrificing shield—or perhaps neither had figured out how to address it. "Can neither of you use those superpowers?" Niya, who had been quietly listening while cutting down foes at their side, suddenly asked. "At least not right now. We have to fulfill certain conditions before we can use those abilities," Yaxiu finally found the chance to ask. "Niya, how did you end up here?" "I don't recall us being close enough to be on a first-name basis." "Miss Cervi," Yaxiu readily conceded. "Why didn't you drink from the holy grail, and why did you appear above the plaza?" After a moment of silence, Niya said, "I wanted to gain your superpowers too, so I kept waiting for the holy grail to fill. Then those monsters appeared. I fought as I fled, and ended up on top of the plaza, using the terrain to fend off the monsters." No wonder that commercial plaza had been swarming with monsters; turns out they had all been simping after Niya. As for why she was in this neighborhood in the first place, she didn't say, and Yaxiu didn't press. This was a commercial district, after all; perhaps her hideout was nearby, or perhaps even serial killers liked to go shopping? "You were able to resist the temptation of the holy grail?" Yaxiu was somewhat surprised. Other mortals hadn't succumbed and collapsed immediately because of poor self-control; even sorcerers like them had to concentrate their willpower to resist the aroma of the holy grail's nectar. Of course, it was also possible Yaxiu's nose had been dulled from smelling the stench of corpses for too long. "It was hard, but you get used to it." Niya looked at him earnestly. "If I drink it, can I become 'special' like you guys?" As expected. Yaxiu sighed inward and answered, "I don't know either, but you'll at least benefit from it." Feili had taken a sip from a silver holy grail and hadn't grown a seventh pair of void wings, only gaining a noticeable boost in physical constitution. Niya's hopes for the golden holy grail would likely come to nothing as well. Ultimately, they were not the originals. No matter how hard they strove, they were merely shadows unworthy of the rewards. Yaxiu brushed past the topic and said, "Be careful. There's another enemy hiding in the shadows, skilled with a sniper rifle. He only aims a single second before firing. Can you handle that?" Niya hadn't thought much of it at first, but hearing that the enemy only aimed one second before firing, she instantly grew solemn. After pondering for a moment, she nodded. "No problem." "Come to think of it, even though we've broken out into the open, that sniper hasn't made a move," Weixi remarked. "Did he leave?" The three of them hadn't stubbornly held out inside the plaza. Relying on the strength of their three-way coordination, they had fought their way back out. Staying in one place for too long made it far too easy to be cornered by higher-tier troops, whereas mobile warfare played far better to their strengths. Besides, that sniper could shoot through walls, so indoors and outdoors made no difference anyway. With Niya joining the fray, they could now handle the legion of monsters with room to spare. Thus, Yaxiu and Weixi immediately shifted their strategy—they wanted to bait the sniper into firing again to pinpoint his position, charge in, and force him out into the open! Weixi was inherently a ruthless fanatic who repaid every slight; having already accumulated a mountain of resentment under Yaxiu's leash, how could she ever tolerate someone ambushing her from the dark? Yaxiu understood just as well that against a sniper of this caliber, hiding was merely slow suicide—only by dragging the shooter into the mud of close combat could they maximize their chances of survival! In the Cage of All Stars, the boundary between hunter and prey was inherently blurred. Yet the sniper seemed to have realized he could no longer pose a threat to them and decisively ceased his fire. Perhaps he was lying in wait for an opportunity, or perhaps he had gone off in search of other prey. Right at that moment, a rainbow pillar of light appeared in the distance. Unlike the pillars where the six nations' legions spawned, this rainbow pillar was extremely thin—if their eyes hadn't been sharp, they might not have spotted it at all. A few seconds later, Yaxiu and Weixi sensed a distinctly palpable ripple of a miracle; judging by its scale, it was at least of the legendary rank. Simultaneously, a colossal Black Coffin appeared where the rainbow pillar stood. Though it vanished after a single breath, all the skyscrapers in that sector were reduced to ash! "A legendary spell of shadow sorcery!" Weixi recognized it at once. Then, they all saw the rainbow pillar moving—looking very much like a desperate flight. Niya suddenly tapped Yaxiu on the shoulder. Yaxiu turned his head to look, only to discover another rainbow pillar of light appearing in a different location. "That's the phenomenon from drinking the holy grail!" Weixi blurted out, "It might be due to sorcery mana, but it's more likely a qualitative leap caused by the accumulation of Rainbow Nectar. The hidden mechanism of the golden holy grail must be that once Rainbow Nectar accumulates to a certain threshold, it can grow a seventh pair of void wings—but if you only drink from the grail at that point, a glaringly obvious rainbow pillar of light erupts around you!" "Even if the monster legions spare the drinker as a result, everyone else can see that rainbow pillar! Anyone who could hold out until now before drinking from the holy grail can essentially be treated as a sorcerer or demon from another team!" "This is the Prime Angel's true finishing move. Our struggle against the six nations' legions was merely the opening act on this stage; our mutual slaughter is the grand finale the Prime Angel truly wants to see!" Only now did Yaxiu and the others glimpse the true scope of the second Angel Hunt. Unlike the first, the prey of the second hunt, the 'White Bull,' was already dead from the very start. Yet the hunt had only just begun—the sorcerers were both hunters and prey. The Prime Angel had ingeniously divided the sorcerers from ordinary mortals. Mortals drank from the holy grail right at the beginning and fell into a deep slumber; only sorcerers possessed both the strength and the greed to hold out until the grail was full, thereby forfeiting their final route of retreat! As things stood, Yaxiu and his companions had to endure until the very end; otherwise, they would turn into sleeping Easter eggs whose locations were broadcast to the entire server! The thundering footsteps of a charging legion echoed from the alley ahead. Yaxiu and the others gripped their weapons, bracing to break through the interception. Yet sprinting out of the alley was none other than the blonde girl holding a bamboo sword. When she turned and spotted Yaxiu, she froze in surprise, then cried out in delighted shock, "Ya—" "Watch out for the sniper!" Yaxiu bellowed, reversing his grip on his twin swords as he charged forward. The sniper seized the opportunity with pinpoint precision, and a lethal bullet streaked across the sky!