Chapter 774

“You fellows… know my name?”

Heavenly Attacker halted his steps and turned to look at Chen Xiaolian and Miao Yan.

He was a Player.

More, he possessed a high-level Exclusive Account.

He was something of a renowned figure in the circle of Players. But for the Awakened ones, with the exception of those with a great deal of experience, not many knew him.

Sawakita Mitsuo was one of them.

Heavenly Attacker and Sawakita Mitsuo had once participated in the same instance dungeon.

The instance dungeon was not a competitive-type instance dungeon and the quests given did not require confrontation between the participants. Even so, Heavenly Attacker had still taken action against the Fourth Shogunate Guild’s team.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Sawakita Mitsuo was unlucky.

One of the members in his team had worked as a male host for a club before.

The handsome kind.

Unfortunately, Heavenly Attacker swung that way.

Back then, the team under Sawakita Mitsuo suffered a complete wipeout. No one survived.

As for the male host, he was kidnapped by Heavenly Attacker.

It wasn’t until three days later that Sawakita Mitsuo received a system notification regarding the death of the male host in the guild channel.

One could imagine just what that fellow had to experience during those three days.

That was Sawakita Mitsuo’s biggest setback.

It also formed a grudge that he would never forget.

Heavenly Attacker regarded Chen Xiaolian from head to toe, a slight feeling of puzzlement in his heart.

These two were Sawakita Mitsuo’s team members. Since they knew his name, they must also know of his ‘preference’.

He liked young and handsome boys. He especially liked playing with them until they died.

But if they knew of him, why was there… not a hint of fear from them?

“Shogun, looks like you haven’t told your team members about my strength, and… my favourite hobby.”

Heavenly Attacker turned his gaze to Sawakita Mitsuo and revealed a wide and cruel smile. “Do you… not have the guts to tell them?”

“These two are not my team members.” Sawakita Mitsuo’s face was impassive, but his voice was as cold as ice.

“Although I’ve never met you, I did hear about you before. Following the strength evaluation of the Awakened ones, you have long since reached [S] class.” Miao Yan smiled at Heavenly Attacker. “I believe you must have heard of me before as well. My name is Miao Yan.”

“I… know you.” A hint of surprise flashed across Heavenly Attacker’s face. “Since you fellows are Players, why group up with Awakened ones? This instance dungeon does not have any quest that mandates forming a team with others.”

He had never met Miao Yan before, but he did hear of her name.

“No.” Miao Yan shook her head. “I am the only Player here. Chen Xiaolian is an Awakened.”

The look of doubt in Heavenly Attacker’s eyes grew. “A native? You grouped up with a native?”

“All in order to wait for you.”

Chen Xiaolian had been keeping quiet all this time. Only now did he calmly speak up. “You have something that I need. That’s why I had to specifically come to this instance dungeon, to look for you. At any rate, here in this instance dungeon, you are incapable of discarding your body and log off. Moreover…”

Chen Xiaolian smiled before continuing, “Originally, I was thinking that, as long as you are willing to hand over the item, I can let you go. I don’t like killing people, after all. However, it would appear that you have done something very cruel to Teacher Sawakita in the past. How regretful. He could be considered as one of the elders that I respect. And so… the way I see it, killing you will not make me feel guilty.”

“Kill… me?”

Heavenly Attacker burst into laughter. The cube that he had been holding in his right hand suddenly expanded, growing tens of times bigger. There were tens of uniform and fine gaps on each surface.

Instantly, the cube broke apart into countless smaller parts, which flew towards Heavenly Attacker’s body. The majority of the parts transformed into a set of sleek armoured suit while the rest transformed into a sword.

“Who do you think you are? The Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild? Even he would not have an easy time killing me! If you are willing to serve me and give me a good time, I might consider showing you the item you are looking for, before you die!”

“There are three things I would like to tell you.”

Chen Xiaolian had not taken action to disrupt the cube back when it was disassembling and reassembling itself. Instead, he had his hands clasped behind his back as he calmly said, “Firstly, if Shen doesn’t hide his strength, one finger from him is enough to kill you.

“Secondly, it is true that I cannot compare to Shen. Thus, killing you will take a bit more effort compared to Shen. Even so… it is just a matter of having to use a few more fingers.

“Thirdly, the truth is, the Seeds of the World Tree… are not what you think they are. Even if you manage to gather them all, it will be pointless. It would simply be a pointless endeavour.”

The moment Heavenly Attacker heard Chen Xiaolian talk about the Seeds of the World Tree, his eyes contracted and a terrifying killing intent abruptly burst out from his eyes.

His sword instantly slashed towards Chen Xiaolian.

At the same time, tens of the armour plates on his body rose to reveal a black gun barrel.

The equipment that Heavenly Attacker was using was called the Tactical Rubik’s Cube. It was capable of – depending of the state of the battle – automatically coming up with suitable tactical gears.

The suit of armour and sword that he was presently using was a general-purpose tactical suit capable of both melee and ranged combat.

Even though this Awakened named Chen Xiaolian was very much to his taste, Heavenly Attacker had completely given up the plan to capture him alive.

A mere native actually knew of the Seeds of the World Tree!

Additionally… this native also knew that he had already obtained one.

He could not allow this native to continue living.

Fire everything!

Beams and artillery were fired at the same time, all aimed at Chen Xiaolian, who was only a short distance away.

A series of explosions engulfed Chen Xiaolian and his whole body became like a huge fireball.

Heavenly Attacker’s sword followed swiftly as it slashed down.

Dang!

Heavenly Attacker, however, heard a colliding sound.

There was also the strong shock running through his sword.

Heavenly Attacker had already enhanced his Physique to a very high level. And yet, he was still incapable of enduring the backlash. The sword was knocked away alongside the other debris, creating an arc in the air before stabbing into a beam inside the hall.

After the flames had dissipated, Heavenly Attacker saw Chen Xiaolian standing safely before him. He had not moved in the slightest.

Furthermore, he was now in a suit of armour.

The suit of armour shone with multi-coloured light, sporting a pair of wings on its back.

Despite taking the concentrated bombardment at such a short distance, the armour was not broken. Rather, there wasn’t even a hint of a scratch on it.

Be it in instance dungeons or the system’s exchange list, Heavenly Attacker had never seen such an armour before.

In a flash, he grew certain that this was a top-grade gear.

It might even be… of a higher grade than his Tactical Rubik’s Cube.

The foreboding sensation had only just emerged from Heavenly Attacker’s heart when Chen Xiaolian’s hand shot forward with lightning-like speed to grab his neck.

Before Heavenly Attacker could even find the time to struggle, something impacted his lower body area and a heart-rending pain assailed him.

Gripping Heavenly Attacker’s neck, Chen Xiaolian had unleashed a heavy kick up the area between Heavenly Attacker’s legs.

The Tactical Rubik’s Cube that Heavenly Attacker took pride in was a top-grade equipment capable of both offence and defence. It even possessed energy and spiritual attributes. Yet, it could not defend against this single casual kick from Chen Xiaolian.

Fragments scattered about and the lower body part of Heavenly Attacker’s body became a bloody mess.

Boom!

Heavenly Attacker’s whole body was smashed into the ground, going all the way through the wooden flooring of the hall and leaving a large crater of soil there.

“Get up, you're not dead yet.”

Chen Xiaolian stood at the edge of the crater, looking coldly at the body that was partially covered in soil. Heavenly Attacker was so badly beaten that he could no longer recollect himself.

Chen Xiaolian was not a cruel person. Whenever it was possible to not kill, he would always do his best to not kill.

However, this person before him was an exception.

Although Sawakita Mitsuo did not say anything to Chen Xiaolian, based on the short exchange between him and Heavenly Attacker, Chen Xiaolian could tell what Heavenly Attacker did to his guild members.

Also… Heavenly Attacker was planning on doing that to him.

He had no intentions of showing mercy to such a scumbag.

“Magical! Dragon! Transformation!”

A roar suddenly rang out from the crater.

Heavenly Attacker, who was inside the crater, suddenly ballooned in size. A pair of wings swiftly grew from his back. Then, slapping the ground forcefully, his figure punched out from the crater like a meteor.

Although the area occupied by this hall in the Izumo-taisha was quite sizable, it was not too high. There was only a distance of around 10 metres between the ground and the roof. With a boom, Heavenly Attacker smashed a large hole through the roof.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Heavenly Attacker flew up in the sky. He no longer looked like a human. Instead, he had transformed into a colossal, three-headed dragon. Tens of metres long, his body was completely covered in black scales.

All three of his heads had their mouths wide open, breathing out red, yellow and green flames respectively.

“Oh, a traffic light?” Chen Xiaolian raised his head to look at Heavenly Attacker with interest. There was no trace of anxiousness in the face of this colossal existence.

As expected, this fellow still has a hidden trump card.

Back in World’s End, Chen Xiaolian had seen Wu Ya using a transformation skill with the same name. Still, it was clear that Heavenly Attacker’s Magical Dragon Transformation was not completely the same as Wu Ya’s skill. Not only was Heavenly Attacker bigger, his shape was also closer to that of a dragon.

Judging by this, Heavenly Attacker’s skill was up to standard, the ‘genuine’ one.

Just an incomplete version of the Magical Dragon Transformation skill had been enough for Wu Ya to reach [S] class, nearly killing Chen Xiaolian back when he still possessed Skyblade’s power. At that very moment, however, the aura that Heavenly Attacker exuded was several times stronger compared to Wu Ya’s aura.

Sawakita Mitsuo had a great deal of confidence in Chen Xiaolian’s strength. But in the face of the monstrous aura emanating from Heavenly Attacker’s body, he was still incapable of stopping several beads of sweat from oozing out from his forehead.

Nagase Komi’s face was completely pale. Naito, on the other hand, felt his knees go weak and he slumped to the ground.

Even though he had inadvertently obtained a high-grade mech, he was still just a newbie in the end. This was his first time witnessing such a great battle. Thinking back to the conversation between Sawakita Mitsuo and Heavenly Attacker, the feeling of fear within him grew increasingly strong.

If even Chen Xiaolian could not beat Heavenly Attacker, the fate awaiting him…

After Heavenly Attacker transformed, the Tactical Rubik’s Cube swiftly disassembled, reassembling instead into pieces of armour plates, covering him from head to toe.

He raised his three heads up. Then, the blazing tri-colour flames coming from his mouths moved to intertwine each other as they shot furiously towards Chen Xiaolian, who was on the ground.

Chen Xiaolian continued to stand there. In the face of the coming fire attack, he did not move, not even half a step. He simply raised the Sword in the Stone in his hand.

Slash!

The edge of the sword struck the pillar of fire that Heavenly Attacker had fired at him, but it did not cut the pillar of fire. Instead, it deflected it back to Heavenly Attacker at an even greater velocity.

Boom!

Before Heavenly Attacker could even dodge, the pillar of fire struck his abdomen, leaving a see-through hole the size of a washbasin. It even tore off one of his wings. And so, Heavenly Attacker fell to the ground with a wail.

The roof, already having to endure a large hole from the previous smashing action from Heavenly Attacker, now had to take on yet another smashing attack from an even bigger Heavenly Attacker. And so, the entire roof and even the beams collapsed and all of them came crashing to the ground.

As the roof was collapsing, Sawakita Mitsuo quickly swung his folding fan, summoning out tens of silvery beams that shot up like agile snakes. The beams blocked the wooden beams that were falling down, protecting him and the other two on his side.

Heavenly Attacker’s two companions who had been standing behind him just now did not even have the time to cooperate with Heavenly Attacker to attack Chen Xiaolian before Heavenly Attacker, their Guild Leader, smashed heavily into the ground. They grew dumbfounded and stood still, uncertain if they should attack or run.

Heavenly Attacker, who smashed into the ground, had been forced out of his Magical Dragon Transformation form. His body was half buried beneath a pile of wooden boards. Meanwhile, the Tactical Rubik’s Cube had automatically transformed into a suit of armour that covered his whole body.

Chen Xiaolian took a few steps forward. Kicking away a few wooden boards, he looked down on Heavenly Attacker. “Have you used all your skills?”

Gritting his teeth, Heavenly Attacker turned over and struggled to stand up. He threw a punch only for Chen Xiaolian to catch it with one hand.

“I wonder… did you ever purchase a skill to block pain?”

Chen Xiaolian tightened his grip. With a wretched heart-rending scream, Heavenly Attacker’s right arm and the layer of armour protecting it were ripped apart.

He tossed Heavenly Attacker’s arm aside.

“A pity. It would appear you did not.” Chen Xiaolian shrugged before turning to look at the two fellows behind him.

One of them had a blade of light jutting out from each of his arms while the other one had summoned out several skeletal-like phantoms that swirled around him. However, they merely stood there. There was a blank stare on their faces as they watched Chen Xiaolian and Heavenly Attacker, who was already in a near-dead state from the previous beating.

Fear had left them in utter shock.

This fellow… just what kind of monster was he?

“Great Teacher, in the past… did these two had any part in it?”

Even though Chen Xiaolian was looking at Heavenly Attacker’s two team members, his questions was directed at Sawakita Mitsuo.

“… yes.”

Sawakita Mitsuo, who was standing not far away from them, slowly nodded, a stern look on his face.

“Very well. In that case… … together, then.”