BXBX NOVEL volume 3 - 192 – The final moment (8)
Andesha’s voice was like a hissing snake, echoing throughout the courtyard again. The group of people under the cloak did not dare to move.
The Mistress of Withering Decay finally made her move and conjured a whip, but instead of attacking the courtyard, she swung it at the other end of the forest. The vine whip of incredible length swept through the forest, cut through the trees with overwhelming force and uprooted them with thunderous noises.
Soil and dirt fell through the air like rain, while someone emerged from the forest and approached Andesha at lightning speed.
But before Brendel managed to see who the mysterious stranger was, he caught sight of the rain suddenly stopping in its midst. The colors of the area were suddenly changed into greyscale, while Andesha’s whip slowed down as though it was going through a sea of liquid that resisted it.
[The World of Ashes!]
It was a nickname given to Mephisto’s Element Power.
The Grey Realm was a boundary that changed the Laws of the area. It was an Elemental Plane with a high concentration of Shadow Element and Grey Mana that was related to the Earth Element. However, this particular Elemental Plane was destroyed in the Twilight War into many fragments, and they were scattered throughout the continent’s Physical Plane.
Mephisto’s World of Ashes was a powerful ability that projected the Grey World into the continent’s Physical Plane, bringing forth the power that was entrenched within the realm.
The slowing of time was one of them.
It was one of the most unique Element Powers, and Brendel was absolutely certain that it was Mephisto who had appeared.
[Why is he here?]
He took in a deep breath and found his palms to be full of cold sweat. The situation was a little too exciting for him, especially when Andesha took out a whip. Surely no one expected this sudden turn of events.
Andesha frowned as she put in more strength to her whip, causing it to speed up and chase Mephisto like a living snake.
Mephisto had to change his direction in a sharp angle in order to avoid the attack. He did not advance any further and patted the dirt away from his body before he looked up and said:
“Andesha, I presume?”
The Mistress of Withering Decay scoffed: “So it’s the defeated dog from the Kirrlutz Empire. The Sword Saint of Ashes, Mephisto, why are you not going after the citizens of Kirrlutz, but appear in this godforsaken place instead?”
Mephisto ignored her words completely and spoke as though he was talking to himself: “Since you’re Andesha, then I apologize, I’m here to take your life—”
“This man is the infamous demon in our empire, Mephisto? But who does he think he is; he actually dares to look down on that woman......”
Faena was shocked to learn of that man’s name. It was indeed a famous name in the Kirrlutz Empire. Adults even used his name to scare their own children, telling them that the demon Mephisto would kill them if they did not go to sleep early.
Unfortunately, once Faena saw that Mephisto was not a menacing giant with rippling muscles, but someone who looked like a relatively handsome middle-aged man, her opinion of his name dropped.
Andesha was stunned as well. She did not expect Mephisto to fight after speaking twice. The greatsword on his back was pulled out with two hands, its color grey underneath the bright sun, and he pointed it at her.
“Get ready!” Mephisto’s voice was low-pitched.
“You!” Andesha’s wrath was clear: “Such arrogance!”
Dark clouds suddenly gathered out from nowhere in the sky after her furious scream, and it was as though Lightning Dragons were breathing out in the sky; lightning flashes were accompanied with thunders.
Andesha pointed her finger downwards.
Brendel vaguely saw three runes appear around her body before they disappeared—
Countless lightning strikes hammered down from the sky, all of them converging onto a single point as if there was a gigantic lightning rod placed there.
[The Druidic Call Lightning spell. The Runes used were ‘lightning’, ‘Fury’, and ‘Nature’.]
Brendel starting analyzing Andesha’s response. The spell she used could be separated and used as an area-of-effect attack to strike multiple enemies, or it could be used to concentrate the lightning strikes onto a single person. Each peal of lightning could kill a knight, and the spell’s power could be raised accordingly based on the caster’s bloodline.
[As expected from a Tree Shepherd, each strike can easily kill a silver-ranker, and converging every one of them into a single spot would increase its destructive power multiple times. But it’s not as if it can’t be countered—]
But no sooner than Brendel thought about it, Mephisto showed that he had the same idea.
The Sword Saint of Ashes tossed his sword into the air, and it fell down into a neat arc and sank into the ground. The lightning was caught and the laws of physics happened. The sword turned into a blinding lightning rod of light. Normal metal would have been melted by the high temperature, but Mephisto’s weapon was a magical sword capable of absorbing the mana from the lightning.
The spiraling electricity that descended from the sky only lasted for a moment. The ground that the blade sank into was scorched black, while the sword had electricity the size of an arm emitting from it accompanied with startling, cracking noises.
[Should I say that this is to be expected from the legendary swordsman who fought off the pursuers from Kirrlutz countless times? Now his sword is actually enchanted from Andesha’s spell instead. That sword is going to cause some serious damage for the next three strikes.]
“Why are you lost in your thoughts?” Faena pulled his sleeves and mouthed urgently: “Start moving!”
“You’re right. Let’s go. This is a chance for us,” Brendel patted Sifrid’s head and answered.
Faena nodded to acknowledge his words with lingering fear as she glanced at Andesha. Even though that woman’s spell did not do its desired effect, it was a spectacular feat. The environment actually appeared dim because the light was too overwhelmingly bright.
Mephisto did not even walk to his sword. He merely stretched out his hand and the greatsword returned to him. In the next second, he faded into a blurry image and blazed towards where Andesha was.
Brendel noted Mephisto’s speed was slower than before when the latter chased him. It was probably because Mephisto had to maintain the World of Ashes.
Andesha immediately cast a second spell, summoning Spirits of Darkness and Decay. Wild deformed beasts with blood oozing out from every crevice burst out from the ground like an exploding spring. The largest creature looked like a buffalo with the size of a huge elephant, but there were bones protruding out at many sections of its body, which were also covered with thorn-like protrusions.
It was a spell unique to the Tree Shepherds. It was similar to how Druids were able to summon holy beasts to aid them, while the Tree Shepherds corrupted these holy beasts with the Blood of Gods and bound them to do their bidding.
Andesha pointed at Mephisto and the creatures rampaged towards him, destroying the pebbles under their feet and knocking down trees. There were even shockwaves coming from their feet. If a soldier were to stand within ten meters of the creatures, they would be instantly killed even without being trampled on.
But these creatures were merely capable of impeding Mephisto’s progress. Andesha did not rely on them to subdue him. She waved her hand again. Countless vines sprang out from the ground and parted to reveal a staff that had squirming vines. It was a little revolting as they flailed about like a sea creature’s tentacles.
The Mistress of Withering Decay grabbed the staff and waved it. Her lower legs that were made out of green vines turned into tough brown bark and extended outwards, covering her slim belly and chest to create a suit of hardened armor. Even her hair had a layer of protection.
This was the first time she prepared to defend herself.
She raised her staff as her Medusa-like hair danced against the wind that was picking up, appearing strikingly abominable like an evil deity that was only mentioned in myths.
[Shit, that crazy bitch is going all out! I know that Mephisto’s stronger than Veronica, but is he really that strong to force her hand like this?]
Brendel and the others were hurriedly moving across the ground, feeling a sense of great trepidation washing over them.
Mephisto’s method of killing the buffalo was of brutal efficiency. He did not even bother to get out of its charging path. Once the creature lowered its horn to target him, he grabbed by its horn without even dodging. There was a loud explosion of noise—
The seemingly unstoppable charge was halted with just a single hand.
The powerful speeding creature that changed into a frozen state made everyone feel like their eyes had been deceived, but the gigantic buffalo actually knelt down despite its muscular limbs. Another loud crack reached everyone’s ears as the ground split in several directions.
Not a moment later, the creature was swung left and right, knocking away the other unholy spirits into piles of bloody flesh. When Mephisto finally released his hand, the buffalo’s head was bleeding from all its orifices, apparently killed at the very first moment when it was forced down onto the ground.
[Holy shit, is this guy still a human? This middle-aged man looks like a gentleman, but he’s such a violent fighter when he doesn’t use his weapon...... Though I did do it rarely during certain occasions when I was level 120 and above.]
Brendel was suddenly feeling a little battle-thirsty. This was how warriors should fight, advancing without stopping and fighting till they reached their limits. Once they charged forward, the enemies would shrink in fear.
Andesha was not afraid, but she was surprised at Mephisto’s strength. The majority of her face was covered by the armored vines and there was no emotion that could be seen, but her eyes glinted once. She clenched her teeth and hissed, waving her staff once: “Go forth, my children!”
An earthquake commenced. The buildings in the area started to shake and many of them crumbled into broken rocks, including the building that Andesha was standing on. Massive roots broke through from the ground and formed into something that resembled a gargantuan Sandworm, reaching for the sky before it arched towards Mephisto.
“Conjure Greater Plant Wyrm!” Brendel remarked while his feet continued moving. The quality of the duel was nearly causing him to stay right where he was to watch them. The standard of the battle was the highest he had seen thus far after he arrived in this world.
Both parties were incredibly experienced in combat.
The normal players in the game could never be as good in battle as the famous NPCs in the game, and even skilled players could learn a few tricks from them.