The Choice

The moment Yaxiu and his companions entered the building, the sniper's gunfire abruptly ceased. Naturally, taking an elevator was out of the question, but they could use the escalators to ascend quickly. The first eight floors were a shopping mall, while the levels above were office spaces. "Do you think he'll run?" Yaxiu asked. "That depends on how badly he wants to kill us," Weixi replied. "As a sorcerer who can conceal himself, his advantage over us is immense. Because neither we nor the Six Nations Legions can spot him, he can cast arts without restriction from the shadows. As long as his magic takes effect before he is witnessed, he can cut us down before we even know what hit us. "Opportunities like this—where demons are sealed and sorcerers can barely fight back—are exceptionally rare. If this were the first angel hunt, a legendary sorcerer specializing in invisibility would be utterly useless; a wide-area map wipe would flush him right out. "If I were him, I would never pass up such an easy chance to eliminate competitors. "The concealment methods capable of eluding even the Six Nations Legions boil down to light arts, shadow arts, earth arts, or illusion arts. But the Six Nations Legions certainly possess high-perception troop types, so light and earth arts, which lack flawless invisibility, are improbable. It's most likely shadow or illusion arts. "Keep a close watch on your shadows. If anything feels off, hurt yourselves to stimulate your senses." Yaxiu asked, "And that breaks shadow and illusion arts?" "No, it just lets you know how you die." Seeing Yaxiu's speechless expression, Weixi huffed in annoyance. "Relax. I've killed legendary sorcerers of every art once—or several times over. Just leave him to me. Besides, with the Six Nations Legions watching down below, he can't use miracles that are too conspicuous or overpowered either." Compared to the four rushing up the escalators, the Six Nations Legions moved slightly slower, but they could scale the exterior walls directly, pouring in from the entrance like a swarm of insects. Just as Yaxiu and the others reached the eighth floor, they heard a crisp ding from behind. At the same time, melodious orchestral music resonated through the building. Turning to look across the floor, they saw a middle-aged man in a black formal suit step out of an elevator. He had medium-length ruffled hair and stubbled cheeks. It was clear he had been remarkably handsome in his youth, and even in middle age, he possessed the distinct charm of a distinguished gentleman. He wheeled two racks out of the elevator, packed with handguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, and various types of magazines and ammunition boxes. Without haste, he drew an assault rifle, clicked an extended magazine into place, retrieved a second assault rifle to load its magazine, and finally took a cigarette from a pack and lit it. Dual-wielding the assault rifles, he aimed straight at Yaxiu's group. "Take cover!" Before Yaxiu's words even faded, gunfire poured down like a torrential rainstorm, seamlessly locking into every beat of the orchestral symphony and throwing open the prelude to this musical feast! Yaxiu and the others immediately ducked behind cover, but they soon realized bullets were ricocheting in from both flanks and even from dead ahead! Ricochets?! Across a straight-line distance of nearly a hundred meters, with obstructions in between, he could still ricochet his shots like this? They crashed straight into a restaurant on the eighth floor. Even with multiple barriers, the four had to huddle close together; otherwise, there was no way to defend against bullets arcing in from every conceivable angle! Clang! Clang! Clink! The black-suited gunner's barrage never paused for a single second. He seemed capable of reloading while continuously firing, and whenever a barrel overheated, he simply swapped weapons. The relentless storm of gunfire paired with the symphony was as suffocating as a nightmare! Such an aggressive offensive naturally drew the Six Nations Legions toward him, yet not a single monster could get within ten meters of his position. The dense, bouncing bullet storm punched through their mouths, eyes, and every vulnerable spot, ripping the beasts apart from the inside out! Weixi raised a handheld mirror to assess the situation. The moment she lifted it, a bullet bounced off the glass and grazed past her face. Even with her demigod reflexes allowing her to dodge in the nick of time, the corner of her eye was cut open! "Divine Prison!" Weixi's face turned grim. "The demigod elf archer I once met was just like this. Everything within shooting range becomes their Divine Prison! These ranged sorcerers can gather every shred of environmental information through their ammunition and exploit it. Not a single bullet is wasted, and each can be utilized multiple times—annihilating legendaries purely through ranged weaponry! The pinnacle of physical arts is Divine Might; the pinnacle of marksmanship is Divine Prison! "He is a legendary sorcerer who wields demigod-level arts! "He was never hiding at all—he was quietly shooting down every flying monster that came near him! Nor was he trying to keep us from reaching this building; he deliberately baited us inside. The range of his Divine Prison is probably around a hundred meters... "How is the suppressive force of a modern archer this absurd?! How are any other arts supposed to compete in this version?!" It was little wonder Weixi was so astonished. In her era, ranged arts relied almost entirely on cold weapons like bows and arrows; firearms had not yet been invented. Still, her shock led her to overestimate gun arts. While marksmanship held supreme dominance at the Silver and Gold ranks, the price was that advancing to the Sanctuary and Legendary realms was exceedingly difficult, let alone reaching Demigod. Furthermore, to produce such suppressive power, gun arts demanded colossal amounts of ammunition. Legendary archers, on the other hand, had no need for actual arrows; they mastered a technique called Dry Fire, capable of loosing sharp arrows of compressed air without any concern for ammunition. More importantly, a Sanctuary heavily countered gun arts. It was only because they couldn't deploy their Sanctuaries right now that they were cornered so miserably. "Calm down," Yaxiu said, inhaling deeply. "His ammunition is limited, and he has to keep shooting to hold off the Six Nations Legions. Once he runs dry, that'll be our chance to—" Crack! The marble counter they were hiding behind was blasted apart. As they scrambled to move, the gas line below suddenly detonated, and before they could get clear, they plunged downward along with the crumbling rubble! Clang! Clink! Clang! Even battered and disoriented from the fall, Yaxiu kept swinging his sword, but he couldn't deflect every bullet. Rounds struck his arms and abdomen one after another. The pain drained the strength from his body, yet he couldn't find a single opening to heal himself! Clink! A red-haired figure suddenly blocked in front of him, her longsword weaving like an unfurled curtain. Yaxiu immediately slapped a Joy Sword miracle onto himself, and while no one was looking, slapped one onto Niya as well. "Don't touch my waist!" "You still have the luxury to care about that right now?!" Rather than mending wounds, the pain-suppressing effect of Joy Sword was what they needed most. Rushing back to regroup with Weixi and Feili, they found them hunkered behind a massive slab of debris. Weixi went without saying—she could hold out even after taking hits—but Feili, battered and bruised, was also clutching a short sword to defend a small perimeter, persisting even with blood pouring from bullet wounds in both legs. "Niya, watch our flank, don't look back—" Yaxiu instructed before rushing over to treat them. Then, dragging their injured bodies, the four barely managed to slip into another shop, retreating to a corner with the densest cover to guard every opening back-to-back. Suddenly, the gunfire thinned out. Not a single bullet curved into their corner anymore. The symphony grew languid, drifting quietly through the air. Is he out of ammunition? Is he retreating? Though that was possible, the oppressive weight of a demigod-level gun art was enough to crush any premature optimism. Right now, they only hoped the gunner would leave quickly so they could nurse their wounds in peace. "Weixi, didn't you say you've killed legendary sorcerers of every art and that we should leave it to you?" Yaxiu's breathing was shallow and rapid. Weixi gritted her teeth. "Weren't you acting so confident about dueling a sniper earlier? Master, it's time you showed your true capabilities." Gunshots continued to ring out intermittently outside. They could hear windows shattering and the relentless advance of the Six Nations Legions. A growing sense of foreboding tightened in everyone's chest. Weixi let out a long breath. "We can't stay in one place for too long. We have to move—" Boom! The floor beneath them blew apart once more! But as they plunged to the floor below this time, what appeared before their eyes were Corpse Wolves, Star Flinger Warriors, and Eight-Eyed Weaver Spiders! That gunner had actually blasted an express corridor open for the Six Nations Legions, dropping Yaxiu and his companions right into their midst! At that exact moment, the brain-rattling gunfire locked back into the rhythm of the symphony. Bullets whipped through the narrow gaps between the monsters—a flawless coordination of infantry and ranged fire! "Flame of Knowing and Guarding!" A ring of fire incinerated the legion monsters closest to them, burning even the incoming bullets to ash, but that was all it could do. As the cost, Weixi's fourth void wing was snapped by the mysterious chains, inflicting severe trauma on her soul once again. Still, it bought them a sliver of time to recover and catch their breath. Yaxiu stepped in front of Weixi, brandishing his short sword to deflect bullets, but his arms were growing heavier and slower. In high-intensity combat with zero reprieve, even with Joy Sword sustaining his endurance, his physical body was pushed to its breaking point. Right then, a second wave of legion monsters charged in. The foremost Star Flinger Warrior hurtled toward them like a falling star, and Yaxiu was powerless to stop it. Is it time to sacrifice a void wing— Clang! Clink! A red-haired figure and a blonde figure stepped into the breach before him. Though battered and covered in blood, resembling a fragile yet stunning defensive line, they forcibly held off the combined assault of monsters and bullets, even at the cost of sustaining several more bullet wounds. Seizing that brief window, Yaxiu and Weixi caught their breath and gritted their teeth to relieve them at the front line. Then, dragging their battered bodies, the four retreated deeper into the floor in search of a safe zone. Clatter! Just then, Yaxiu knocked something over. Looking down, he saw a platter of raw meat. Raw meat? Yaxiu scanned their surroundings. Though dust and massive structural damage had coated everything in gray, he could still tell this was a kitchen. After all, the only area that could produce a gas explosion was a kitchen fitted with gas lines. Yet the question was, why did this section seem relatively intact? In a flash of realization, Yaxiu noticed that the legion monsters were all congregating on the opposite side, which was why they had almost instinctively fled toward this direction. When Yaxiu turned to look at Weixi, he saw the ferocious, ruthless glint belonging to the Spectre Prophet flare in her eyes. Boom! A kitchen explosion detonated right beside them, collapsing the floor even further. Yet neither Yaxiu nor Niya was harmed, nor were Weixi and Feili. Because the two sorcerers had deployed their Sanctuaries without hesitation! And so, the mysterious chains arrived right on cue. When the mysterious chains snapped Yaxiu's rainbow void wings, he finally experienced the excruciating agony of the soul that even Weixi could hardly endure. His thoughts scattered into a haze, and he sank to his knees in the rubble. Niya, whom he had shielded, hurried over to haul him upright. "Yaxiu—" Smack! A Corpse Wolf that had been lying in wait on this floor swiped its massive paw. Niya barely had time to raise her sword before being hurled aside, slamming heavily into a wall and coughing up bloody foam laced with visceral fragments. The Corpse Wolf raised its other paw, poised to crush Yaxiu, the overreaching sorcerer, where he knelt. Thwack! Niya hurled her longsword with everything she had. The blade pierced straight through both of the Corpse Wolf's eyes, sending it thrashing and clawing at its face in agony. Barely clinging to consciousness under the continuous healing of his Sever Self miracle, Yaxiu leaped up, seized the hilt lodged in the beast's eyes, and split its skull in two! Rumble! Before Yaxiu could even draw a breath, violent tremors rumbled from above. Anyone looking from the other side of the building would have seen the upper floors collapsing in massive swaths, cascading downward like an avalanche. As the orchestral symphony reached its final drumbeat, the concrete collapse swept down to Yaxiu's floor—the very roar vibrating through his ears. "Yaxiu... Sister Weixi... Sister Weixi, she..." Yaxiu turned his head. In the rubble not far away, Feili was cradling the unconscious Weixi, her voice so faint it was nearly swallowed by the roar of destruction. At the same time, the ceiling across the entire floor fractured completely, crashing down to bury everything beneath it. The only one left who could still cast a miracle was Yaxiu. To his left were Feili and Weixi. To his right was Niya.