Advancing to Demigod

Bang! Bang! Bang! The gunshots rained down from above with rhythmic precision, easily parried by Yaxiu and Weixi. Even though he knew they were closing in, the demigod gunner felt not the slightest sense of urgency. His shots were less an attack than a casual greeting. There were undoubtedly traps laid by the demigod gunner up ahead, but Yaxiu and his companions had no other choice. From the moment they entered the high-rise, they had stepped into a deadly trap meticulously orchestrated by the gunner. Had they chosen to flee toward the main entrance earlier, the doorway itself might have collapsed. Sorcerers could crave life and fear death, but they could never shrink back and flee from battle. More importantly, even at this very moment, Yaxiu and Weixi still believed they had a chance at victory. As long as they could close to within seven paces of the demigod gunner, their sword and spear would definitely be faster than bullets! From the start, only one side between them and the demigod gunner would walk away alive. "How many virtual wings do you have left?" Weixi suddenly asked. Deflecting a bullet, Yaxiu replied offhandedly, "Just the sword-colored virtual wing." "What about the silver and gold? Gone?" "Gone." Weixi glanced at Niya. "Just to save her?" Niya pressed her lips tight. Though she said nothing, she did not look away either, staring straight at the maid. "If you were the one over there back then, I would have flown over to save you too," Yaxiu replied. "Though I'd definitely feel like an idiot afterward." "I wouldn't have broken two of your virtual wings," Weixi said. "Was it her who triggered the mysterious chains, or the other six nations?" "It was because the Divine Lord of Stars triggered the mysterious chains." Yaxiu enunciated every word: "If you want to avenge me that badly, I don't mind if you go cause trouble for the Divine Lord of Stars." His implied meaning was clear: he minded if she gave Niya trouble. Weixi naturally caught his subtext and knitted her brows. But just then, Feili tugged at the corner of her hem. The maid could only pout and take advantage of parrying another bullet to drop the subject. Yaxiu looked suspiciously at Weixi. If Weixi gave him trouble, he wouldn't find it strange in the slightest. But just now, she had been targeting Niya both overtly and covertly, which was very bizarre. Niya hadn't offended her at all. On second thought, however, she was going through consecutive battles during her period, coupled with her inherently capricious temperament. She might simply have found an opportunity to snap at someone and wanted to drive the nail home, or perhaps she was anxious about the upcoming battle and grew irritable upon discovering that Yaxiu's combat capability was compromised. If each virtual wing was a chance to strike, then Yaxiu, with only his sword-colored virtual wing remaining, could strike at most once more. And so Yaxiu said, "When the time comes, I won't be stingy with my virtual wing." "But if you lose all your virtual wings, you'll become a mortal again just like me," Weixi said. "If you were a Silver, Gold, or Sanctuary Sorcerer, it might be fine—you could still condense virtual wings through non-combat means. But you're a legendary sorcerer. Without a shred of sorcery power, even if you could enter Ruby Mountain before, you wouldn't be able to condense a fourth virtual wing through battle." "Reduced to a cripple—can you accept that?" "Accept it? No. But I haven't given up," Yaxiu replied. "As long as I stay alive, there's always a chance." "Even if you return to the other world then, do you think the Sword Princess and the Witch will still want you?" Weixi countered. "Back in my era, when one half of a couple became a sorcerer, they often abandoned the other. As the saying went: 'The sorcerer's first stroke strikes down the beloved.' And here you are, falling from a legend back to a mortal. As legends themselves, can the Sword Princess and the Witch truly accept the mediocrity of their partner?" Feili jerked her head up, staring intently at Yaxiu as she waited for his answer. Niya didn't move, yet her ears perked up unconsciously. "What do I usually do?" Yaxiu asked. Weixi gave an unsparing reply: "Eat, drink, and fool around." "If I go back to reality, what do you think I'd do?" "Eat, drink, fool around, and sleep with the Sword Princess and the Witch?" "If I go back to reality as a cripple, what do you think I'd do?" "...Eat, drink, fool around, and sleep with the Sword Princess and the Witch?" Yaxiu wore an expression that said 'that's me all right': "I think they accepted their partner's mediocrity a long time ago." As they spoke, they had already reached the fifth floor. Beyond lay the sixth and seventh floors, followed by the eighth floor where the demigod gunner was stationed. Yaxiu gestured for everyone to halt. After waiting for a moment, when the wail of a gryphon being shot down echoed from the eighth floor, he swung his arm vigorously, leading everyone in an all-out charge upward! The sixth and seventh floors were definitely the zones where the demigod gunner was most likely to launch an ambush. They had to seize the moment when the Six Nations Legion distracted the demigod gunner to rush through! Yet just as they stepped onto the stairs of the sixth floor, the previously leisurely gunfire abruptly exploded in fury. Bang! Bang! Bang! The continuously lit, uninterrupted emergency lights were shattered. The demigod gunner hadn't attacked them; instead, he had shattered all the emergency lights first. Because the fire doors on every floor were closed, the lack of emergency lights plunged the entire fire escape into complete darkness, without a single sliver of light filtering in. No light, no vision... Every hair on Yaxiu's body stood on end in an instant. With a surge of thought, his Sanctuary unfolded to its utmost limit, shielding everyone. Then, relying on what pitiful sword intuition he had, he brandished his short sword— Clang! "Oh? Sword Flash?" Rajesh lowered his pistol, blowing at the gunmetal-colored sorcery power smoke curling from the barrel, and chuckled. "But my penetrating bullet isn't something a mere Sword Flash can break." In the darkness, the moment Yaxiu groaned and fell, Niya immediately caught him in her arms. Reaching out to touch him, she began trembling all over: "Your chest..." "Grazed my heart... not fatal," Yaxiu said, struggling to steady his breathing, though he still coughed up a mouthful of frothy blood. "Sanctuary was useless... It was a bullet that pierces space... In the pitch-black environment, he can use miracles to his heart's content..." Even though it hadn't hit his heart, it had pierced clean through his body and severed his spine. Even with Joy Sword dulling the pain, the spinal damage was enough to leave Yaxiu temporarily paralyzed... Feili fumbled over to help support Yaxiu, easing him down against the wall. Reaching out, her hands were immediately slick with blood, and she nearly burst into tears from sheer panic. "You're bleeding so much..." This was no ordinary gunshot wound; it had punched a circular hole straight through Yaxiu's chest. His muscles couldn't automatically close up to staunch the bleeding, so blood poured out unrestrained. Almost instinctively, Feili reached out to plug the wound, only to touch another wet, trembling hand. Taking a deep breath, she took hold of Niya's hand, and together they pressed down hard on Yaxiu's wound, as if uniting their strength could defy enigmatic, unpredictable destiny. Yet Yaxiu remained remarkably calm. With no virtual wings left to spare, his Sanctuary useless, and his body paralyzed, he could no longer escape. In the eyes of the demigod gunner, he was nothing more than a sitting duck. Funnily enough, when truly facing impending death, Yaxiu felt very little fear. He only worried that he would cause trouble for Igola, Harvey, the Sword Princess, the Witch, and the others. The world has a Hell, so one day I'll be reunited with you all, won't I...? "Weixi, take them and go," Yaxiu said softly. "This is my final order." Gunfire rang out from the eighth floor, obviously from the demigod gunner dealing with the Six Nations Legion closing in on him. Once he freed up his hands, a true storm of bullets would descend. The demigod gunner had fired only a single miracle bullet just now—not because of any limitation, much less to slowly torment them, but simply to test whether the mysterious chains would take effect. If Yaxiu guessed correctly, that penetrating bullet had been cast using silver sorcery power; even if it triggered the mysterious chains, it would only break the demigod gunner's silver virtual wing. Since it hadn't triggered the mysterious chains, the demigod gunner could now act without restraint. Yaxiu could no longer leave, but Weixi and the others might still have a sliver of hope to survive—as long as they could breach the fire door and rush out— Tap. A foot stomped onto the floor in front of Yaxiu. Even though it was so dark that nothing could be seen, relying solely on the movement of air, Yaxiu could faintly sense a figure standing before him. "If you want me to die with you, just say so," Weixi said, her voice still airy. "I might not even manage to escape on my own, let alone dragging these two burdens along. Besides, do they look like they'd ever be willing to throw away a piece of trash like you?" "Then escape by yourself," Yaxiu coughed twice, smiling weakly. "Letting a poisonous snake like you live on to avenge me doesn't sound half bad either." Weixi paused. "You should've said so earlier." Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Bullets collided with the spiked steel pipe in a metallic symphony. Fleeting bursts of sparks burned through the darkness for a split second. The turbulent shockwaves alone blew against Yaxiu and the others like a howling gale— The opponent indeed possessed demigod-tier marksmanship, but Weixi's spear and halberd faction was also at the legendary realm! If Yaxiu's senses weren't mistaken, Weixi possessed a technique similar to Sword Flash, capable of endlessly parrying any miracle with a cold weapon! The petite maid standing before them now seemed as towering as a mountain fortress, not letting a single penetrating bullet harm the three behind her! Suddenly, the roar of a Star-Bouncing Warrior came from the eighth floor. The demigod gunner had no choice but to halt his barrage of penetrating bullets and turn to deal with the Six Nations Legion. Yaxiu said at once, "Weixi, quickly smash open the fire door and run! Maybe—" Yet Weixi neither moved nor answered, merely standing dumbly in front of them. Yaxiu froze. He suddenly remembered something: Sword Flash not only required a cold weapon, but also needed sorcery power to strengthen the body. Without sorcery power to cushion the impact, the kinetic energy released from deflecting miracles was simply beyond what a mortal body could endure. And all four of Weixi's virtual wings had been completely broken prior to this. Plop. Weixi collapsed limply into Yaxiu's embrace, the spiked steel pipe clattering to the floor. Feili tried to reach out and support her, but Weixi pulled away from Feili's grasp. Turning around, she threw her arms around Yaxiu's neck, gasping with bloody breaths. In a raspy voice, she asked right in Yaxiu's ear, "Tell me... do you want to die?" "No." "Then there's no way. I don't have a way for you to survive. But if you're willing to die, I can give you a path to live." "What do you mean?" "I have a way to make that bastard die right now." Weixi's blood-scented breath blew against Yaxiu's earlobe: "I can't shout loudly. I'll say a line, and you repeat it..." Weixi said weakly. "The only method to advance to demigod..." "The only method to advance to demigod is, after condensing the fourth virtual wing, to find the angel at the summit of Ruby Mountain and accept the trial." Having just gunned down all the Six Nations Legion soldiers charging at him, Rajesh suddenly heard this sentence drift up from below. Are they trying to buy time with chatter in their death throes...? "Yet no sorcerer has ever been able to reach the summit of Ruby Mountain again after condensing the fourth virtual wing," the voice continued. "Evidently, 'the summit of Ruby Mountain' is not a literal place; it can even be treated as a misleading factor that can be temporarily ignored when understanding the phrase." "Therefore, the only method to advance to demigod is: after condensing the fourth virtual wing, find the angel and accept the trial." Even though Rajesh had wiped out all the legionnaires charging at him, he couldn't help listening. No legendary sorcerer could resist the temptation of stepping into the realm of the divine. "Since 'the summit of Ruby Mountain' is not literal, then 'the angel' naturally does not refer to the Prime Angel either. At this point, simply re-reading the prerequisite clarifies everything." "No matter which realm's legends you consult, the most defining mark of an angel is possessing wings." "And does not a sorcerer who has condensed four complete virtual wings look exactly like an angel?" "Therefore, the only method to advance to demigod is: once a Four-Winged Sorcerer realizes that they are the angel, wherever they stand becomes the summit of Ruby Mountain, and then—" "The trial descends." Halfway through listening, Rajesh had already acutely sensed the danger, yet he still could not resist the temptation to advance to demigod— "And does not a sorcerer who has condensed four complete virtual wings look exactly like an angel?" "Therefore, the only method to advance to demigod is: once a Four-Winged Sorcerer realizes that they are the angel, wherever they stand becomes the summit of Ruby Mountain, and then—" "The trial descends." Halfway through listening, Rajesh had already acutely sensed the danger, yet he still could not resist the immense temptation of advancing to demigod. And once he finished hearing the final sentence, he found that his four virtual wings had unfolded silently. He slowly raised his head. The ceiling and upper stories that should have been there had vanished without a trace. Churning, tumultuous darkness—heavier than mountains, vaster than oceans. It pressed down from the sky curtain; if no one stood against it, everything in creation would be ground to dust. Rajesh looked around and found that he was currently standing at the highest point. Nothing in the entire world stood higher than him. Wherever he stood was the highest peak—the summit of Ruby Mountain. He was the angel. Yaxiu stared blankly up at the abyssal darkness towering over all things. The building hadn't disappeared, and the ceiling was still there, yet they could clearly see this mass of darkness. Even if they closed their eyes, they could still see it. It ignored insignificant obstacles like light, matter, entropic force, time, and space. Even the Country of All Stars—this vast cage—was utterly trivial before it. "Is that...?" "That's right," Weixi said weakly, her arms wrapped around his neck. "That is the fifth layer of the Void Realm—" "Hell."