But You Won't Win Even Once

Victory. Amilo collapsing to the floor was also Amilo crashing onto the scales, tilting the melee decisively in their favor. Yaxiu still maintained peak combat strength. No one knew how he had managed to severely wound Amilo at the cost of merely a few broken ribs. This man, lazy, childish, and vulgar to the absolute extreme, failed catastrophically when it came to life's petty details, but on matters of true consequence, he had never once let anyone down. Igola's heart trembled. He knew what remained was mere garbage time. Even the young Abyss sorcerer who could use sorcery spirits would face only defeat under the pincer attack of the scumbag master-servant duo, Weixi and Yaxiu—to say nothing of the Curse Elf female sorcerer and the Coffin-Bearing Maiden, Tiramisu. They had won, and they had won by overwhelming, absolute might, defeating these legendary sorcerers fair and square. Fugitives hounded from place to place by fate, drifting through life on the run, they had lost in the Blood Moon, lost in the Gospel, lost in Senluo, and lost in All Stars. They had lost again and again, yet without realizing it, even the legends of the mortal realm were no longer their match. When he had first met Yaxiu in Shattered Lake Prison, Igola had thought the man was a born loser—and had maintained that belief even after getting beaten up by him. But when this cult leader had tried every trick to recruit him and laid out his plan to put the mayor on trial under the Blood Moon, Igola suddenly felt he might have been wrong about him. There were far too many losers trampled and ravaged by fate; he was one, Harvey was another, and everyone in Shattered Lake Prison had been the same. But someone like Yaxiu—who had been battered to near ruin yet refused to be a docile puppet, who instead quietly gathered strength with his mind set only on throwing a counterpunch—would not stay a loser forever. Because men like him should have died long ago. Yet if by some miracle he survived, living through defeat after defeat, outlasting bitter frustration after bitter frustration, then one day... Even fate itself would no longer be able to defeat him. The era of Yaxiu Heath was about to begin. As Yaxiu strode forward, the Abyss youth, Tiramisu, and the Curse Elf simultaneously abandoned their current opponents, wheeling around to converge on him in a coordinated strike! They all knew how formidable Amilo was, which meant they fully understood just how monstrous Yaxiu had to be to severely wound him. If they didn't put everything on the line to eliminate him right now, they would only be picked off one by one! Though Igola and the others immediately moved to intercept, the legends did not break stride despite their injuries. Unveiled killing intent swept alongside the howling wind toward Yaxiu, who had just emerged from his bloody duel. They struck almost in unison at his vital spots; unless Yaxiu had already mastered Divine Might, no matter how formidable he was, he could only execute Sword Flash once at a time, making it impossible to defend against attacks from every direction! Facing the siege of legends, Yaxiu's blood-splattered face showed no emotion. Calmly, he crossed his twin swords. The clash of steel rang out like a frigid proclamation, and then— He took a giant stride forward! Clang! With a chime of swords like a dragon's roar, Yaxiu's Sword Flash violently slashed the Abyss youth in a lethal riposte, using the momentum to leap into midair and slip past the pincer attack of the Curse Elf and Tiramisu! He had certainly not mastered Divine Might, but why would he need Divine Might to deal with legends! In grandeur and majesty, he fell short of the Sword Princess; in agile cunning, he fell short of the Witch; in tactical analysis and scheming, he fell short of Weise; in savage brutality, he fell short of Weixi. Yet it was precisely because he fell short of all of them that he could recognize where their true strengths lay, absorb their techniques into his own repertoire, and ultimately forge a style tailored perfectly to himself! In combat, as majestic as the Sword Princess; in variation, as nimble as the Witch; in defense, analyzing opportunities like Weise; in offense, brutally crushing like Weixi! Yaxiu spiraled through the air, his twin swords drawing a flawless circle. The glowing edges of the arc gleamed crimson and silver, brushing lightly past Tiramisu and the Curse Elf. As Yaxiu spun down to land, plumes of blood erupted from both their bodies! At this moment, he was unstoppable. Igola, Harvey, Niya, and Weixi hesitated not a moment, immediately stepping forward to deliver the finishing blows and send these legends' souls straight to Hell. Amilo was in hemorrhagic shock; the Curse Elf, the Abyss youth, and Tiramisu were covered in wounds. The goddess of victory was smiling upon them— "Pathetic." But smiling alongside the goddess of victory were demons. Engaged in a sky-high death match, Yinzhi glanced down at the Canaan. With a flick of her finger, a beam of light landed upon Amilo. And not just her—Longyuan, Lehuai, and Yejian also cast long-range healing upon their respective pursuers amidst the lulls in battle. Thump! Amilo's thunderous heartbeat detonated almost right beside their ears. When he leaped violently to his feet, the entire carriage jolted, as if a colossal beast were trampling the earth! A stifling pressure instantly seized the throats of Igola and the others. They had no doubt Amilo could crush flesh and bone like a dump truck! Clang! Yaxiu blocked Amilo head-on, but his twin swords could only cut shallowly into the white-haired brute's forearms. Even restricted to the mortal tier, a legendary fist-and-claw sorcerer could harden his bones to withstand blades without fear! "Do you have a grudge against Yinzhi?" "Why ask that?" "If she didn't hate you," Yaxiu gave a cold laugh, "why would she let you be sliced to ribbons by me all over again?!" "You only cut me twenty-five times just now." Amilo slammed forward with explosive inch-power at point-blank range, his brute force ramming Yaxiu straight into Car 1 in an instant! "To reach a thousand cuts, you have to win forty times. To reach ten thousand, you have to win four hundred times." Yaxiu plunged both swords into the floor to arrest his momentum, coughing up a mouthful of bloody froth with a choked gasp. He wiped the corner of his mouth and carried his swords past Rose, from whom the Supreme Holy Grail was crystallizing. Weixi and the others moved to help, but the restored legends stepped forward once again to block their path. "Forty times or four hundred times," Yaxiu exhaled a bloody mist. "As many times as you stand up, that's how many times I will beat you!" "Don't blame me for fighting dirty." Amilo uttered those strange words and came crushing in again like a battle chariot. But Yaxiu soon understood what he meant—Amilo had switched fighting styles. When Yaxiu's sword slid through the gaps between his ribs to pierce his internal organs, Amilo's hand slammed into Yaxiu's shoulder, nearly dislocating his right arm! If Yaxiu hadn't undergone martial training back in Senluo, learning Tamashi's borderline absurd combat techniques and popping the joint back into place the very instant it dislocated, that single strike from Amilo would have stripped him of half his combat power! Yet even if trading half his combat power for Amilo suffering severe wounds and massive blood loss would have been a worthy trade for Yaxiu, the problem was that just as Amilo was about to collapse, the demon's boon descended upon him once more, reviving him to full health on the spot! No wonder he said he was fighting dirty. The rules of the game had changed. He didn't need to fight Yaxiu in an honest duel at all; trading blow for blow was more than enough. After all, his own injuries would be wiped clean, while Yaxiu's would only accumulate! Yaxiu stole a glance outside and saw that even Igola had stepped forward to help shoulder the pressure off Niya. Knowing the demons would heal them, the legends fought with total abandon, and the pressure on Igola and the others multiplied! Thus, Yaxiu had to be the one to break the deadlock—and only he could! Infinite healing was not invulnerability. As long as Yaxiu could strike instantly fatal spots such as the head, throat, or heart, not even demons could bring Amilo back from the dead right now. But Amilo was a veteran legend of a hundred battles; how could he not know his own vulnerabilities? Yaxiu had no openings at all! When Yaxiu finally seized a fleeting opportunity and swung his sword in an attempt to behead Amilo, he caught a glimpse of fierce cunning in the white-haired brute's eyes! Boom! Yaxiu crashed into the wall with enough force to leave a man-shaped dent, vomiting up bloody foam mingled with bits of internal organs. Yet Amilo was in no better shape; though he immediately clutched his slashed windpipe, blood bubbled vigorously through his fingers. His spine had also been half-severed by Yaxiu's blade, leaving his head attached to his torso by barely more than a strip of skin, looking as if it might topple off at any second! Yet when the demon's boon rained down once more, Amilo's head stood firm upon his shoulders. He looked at Yaxiu with an apologetic gaze, but charged forward without the slightest hesitation! Yaxiu dragged himself to his feet, his lungs wheezing like a broken bellows. Having fought up to this point, barely an inch of his body remained uninjured; he felt like a rickety machine whose bolts had all sheared off, on the verge of falling apart at any second. And yet— Clang! Amilo was driven back, his forearms slashed deeply twice. But he cared not in the slightest about his wounds, calmly staring at Yaxiu, who was bleeding from the mouth. Not just Yaxiu—Igola, Weixi, Harvey, and Niya were all nearing their limits as well. If a miracle did not occur soon, someone would fall before long. Yet Yaxiu grew calm instead. Without the slightest hint of discouragement on his face, he took the initiative to charge Amilo. An ironclad will that even reality could not stem surged within him, and deep in his body, he felt a warm energy welling up again, dulling even the pain— No, the warm energy was real! It was the Joy Sword! Just then, a violent explosion erupted beside the Canaan, rocking the train so violently it nearly overturned. Through the window, Yaxiu caught a fleeting glimpse of Feili, seemingly trying to deliver Joy Swords to Igola and the others. But right then, a flower of blood blossomed across her back, forcing her into Observer Mode! "Don't heal us!" Yaxiu roared. "You'll die!" Feili had no way to compete on the same stage as the other demons, even after months of special training from Yaxiu and Weixi. She couldn't even deploy her sanctuary to endure attacks; every one of the demons had mastered spatial damage techniques that bypassed sanctuaries, leaving Feili's defenses to crumble virtually on contact on a direct battlefield. Yet Feili held one supreme advantage: Magic: Observer Mode, derived from Yaxiu's sorcery spirit transformation! She could hide within the linear space to evade all harm—not even the demons could hurt her there. At the same time, however, she could not interact with physical reality. The demons ignored her for the moment; they saw through her at a glance, knowing her threat was virtually zero, and that their primary rivals were each other. But if Feili dropped Observer Mode to heal them, the demons would mercilessly gang up to slaughter her—weakness was the greatest original sin. And if she sneaked into the train to help Yaxiu and the others dispatch their foes, the demons would immediately shift the battlefield into the carriages, at which point no one but demons would survive. Whether Feili heard him or not, she did not appear again. Yaxiu glanced at Amilo, who had been waiting nearby, and said, "Thanks." "Don't mention it," Amilo replied. "I'd rather you didn't get healed either." He sighed. "Let's bring this nightmare to an end already." Yaxiu shook his head. "The only one who's going to lose is you." "I can lose—ten times, a hundred times, countless times. I can afford to lose as many times as it takes." Amilo said impassively, "But you won't win even once."