There were a couple of questions that I had asked myself many times in the past: Why do we live? What am I afraid of?
I was afraid of poverty, but I could never escape it. I was afraid of loneliness, but I couldn't escape that as well.
In the end, I managed to find my own answer. There were many people who taught me many things since I was young, but this one was something that I had learned completely on my own—I will do what I want to do even if the sky were to fall on my head!
……
"Aaaah…"
Xinran continued to scream in pain as the holy light burned more and more of her body. But even in her condition, she was able to stab the eighth Red Deacon right through the chest!
Archbishop Alves was still sustaining the holy spell even though his face was growing paler and paler over time. Clearly, the forbidden spell was eating away at his energy and his life!
I raised the Purgatory Sword and stared at him with chilly eyes.
Charge!
Whoos.h.!.+
I was beyond caring who he was or what level he was at. At this moment, nothing else mattered besides saving Xinran!
MISS!
The skill missed, but that was within my expectations. The archbishop's level was just too high for me!
Anxious, I backed up several steps before raising my sword again. I shouted, "Purple Dragon Howl!"
Swhoos.h.!.+
Purple energy gathered at the tip of my blade before taking the image of a giant purple dragon. Then, I threw both the dragon and my sword at the archbishop!
Puchi!
The Purgatory Sword stabbed into his Magic s.h.i.+eld as Purple Dragon Howl came active. Three seconds later, the Magic s.h.i.+eld actually crumbled into nothing under the devastating spell! I charged him again and grabbed the hilt of my sword firmly!
Zzzt!
Under the cover of the Purple Dragon Howl, I pulled out my sword and slashed with him Pardon, followed by a critical basic attack!
MISS!
7654!
The boss's level was way higher than mine, but he was a mage. He mainly relied on his Magic s.h.i.+eld to tank damage, not his physical Defense!
The archbishop's spell was finally interrupted after my attack connected.
"Ugh…"
Not letting the golden opportunity pa.s.s her by, Xinran extinguished the last of the holy flames on her body and stabbed the ninth Red Deacon in the chest. Then, she extended her arm and shouted, "Storm!"
Boom!
A giant wind blade appeared out of nowhere and engulfed the last Red Deacon before he could do anything. He was only able to let out a scream before he was shredded into a mess of flesh and bones. b.l.o.o.d.y tang hung in the air of the holy sanctuary for a time.
Buck and the templars he led were stunned by the scene. It was as if the idea that the powerful Red Deacons could be killed never crossed their minds until today. Even better, their murderer was a beautiful girl who looked like she wouldn't harm a fly. No one would ever make the connection if she wasn't covered in blood and holding a spear.
……
"Watch out, big brother!" Xinran suddenly cried out to me.
I looked up and saw a savage expression on Archbishop Alves's face. He raised his scepter and shouted loudly, "Even the legendary hero is just an accomplice of the devil. It looks like I must tie you to the iron stakes of Floating Ice City and burn you myself!"
Boom!
A cold chill suddenly rushed toward me. I wasn't expecting the archbishop to know Ice Blast, much less be thrown into the air by the spell like a ragged doll. When I checked my health, I was shocked and frightened to see that I had less than 100 HP left!
4321!
What a monster! He almost one-shot me!
I hurriedly climbed to my feet and healed myself with Tenacity of the Dead and a Rank 8 Health Potion. Two green numbers appeared on my head instantly.
+1102!
+2500!
Just like that, I was back at full health. Unfortunately, as amazing as my recovery ability was, I couldn't outheal the archbishop's damage all the time!
Xinran looked at me for a long time before saying, "Keep the templars busy while I kill Alves. I promise you he'll be dead within a minute!"
"Got it!"
At this point, I was in the same boat as Xinran. My relations.h.i.+p with the Silver Moon Alliance was torn into pieces, and I had no idea if I would be able to walk out of Floating Ice City alive. h.e.l.l, would the return scroll in my bag even work if I used it right now?
From the moment I made up my mind to help Xinran kill the archbishop of the Holy Temple of Light, I had become the sworn enemy of Floating Ice City. That, I had absolutely no doubt of.
I turned toward the templars as their names turned blood-red in color. I summoned the Dark Wasp and pointed my sword at them with a cold expression.
Templar Captain Buck said, "Young warrior, you saved Princess Karinshan's life, and I have no wish to become your enemy. Back off now so we may kill that devil behind you!"
I shook my head and replied in an indifferent tone, "She is not a devil."
"How so? She has the blood of ten Red Deacons on her hands!" Buck shouted almost on top of his lungs.
I glared at him and shouted right back, "If that's your criterion, then why aren't you calling your own archbishop a devil? Why is he allowed to burn innocent people at stakes!? Is it because he has authority over others? Does that mean you're allowed to kill anyone as long as you have higher authority?"
"I…"
Buck couldn't say anything. He was clearly one of those extremely straightforward types who had zero talent or skill in debates. It took him a long while to recover and say, "Archbishop Alves is the most famous prophet in the Floating Ice City. As the oracle and the messenger of the G.o.ds, it is his duty to punish evil and slay evil spirits on the G.o.ds' behalf! Hmph! Those evil spirits all deserved to die!"
His retort abruptly made me recall my own death. Burning with fury, I shouted at him, "On the G.o.ds' behalf? Those G.o.ds can go f.u.c.k themselves! If they're so great, then why didn't they slay evil themselves? Who said the undead must be evil, and who gave you the right to enact punishment upon them?!"
"We… we…"
Again, Buck couldn't say anything except turn red in the face. In the end, he raised his sword and shouted, "Templars of the Holy Temple, slay the evil spirit that is encroaching upon our sanctuary and kill anyone who tries to stop us!"
……
In the end, our differences could only be sorted out through violence.
I charged Buck without hesitation and clashed swords with him. However, the knockback was so powerful that I was launched into the air. The impact was so huge that the pillar my back crashed into actually cracked a little!
Buck walked toward me with eyes full of anger. "Are you really going to betray the human alliance? Or maybe, you're not even a human in the first place?"
I patted away the dust on my equipment and stood straight. Then, I opened my eyes and revealed their true color. They were red as blood, just like Xinran's, a sign that I was a high-rank undead.
Behind Buck, a templar pointed his sword at me and yelled, "Look, Captain Buck! His eyes are blood-red in color! The only creatures with this eye color are the molten dwarves of the distant mountains or high-rank undead! He is no dwarf, so he has to be a high-rank undead! He has been hiding under our noses all this time!"
Buck turned furious. "No wonder! you are a filthy undead yourself! Prepare to die!"
I clenched my teeth and shouted, "Go f.u.c.k yourself, idiot Buck!"
The Purgatory Sword turned cold in my hand. It was a sign that I had triggered its Outstanding property! I immediately fired Purgatory Slash at Buck, eliciting a painful groan from the man's throat and deleting a huge chunk of his HP!
4102!
Tsk tsk, what an impressive damage! It's almost as good as a Pardon-empowered attack!
At the same time, the Dark Wasp flew toward Buck and stung him, causing the man's complexion to turn a horrible green. He was poisoned! The Dark Wasp was on a roll today!
Unfortunately, Buck wasn't the only enemy in the temple. The templars swarmed the little wasp like tidewater and deleted it from existence in just a couple of hits!
Soon, I myself was knee-deep in enemies as I tried to fend off hostiles from every angle. I didn't try to kill any of them because it was plainly an impossible task. I might have over 1000 points of Defense, but there was no way I could defeat all these Level 90 elite mobs before they killed me. My HP started dropping, the loss accelerating with each pa.s.sing moment—
375!
411!
398!
……
Even a swarm of ants could kill an elephant if there were enough of them, and these templars were no ants. They kept raining judgement on my undead a.s.s like I was that one thing blocking their way to heaven!
I was down to one-third of my HP and panicking when a powerful wind suddenly pa.s.sed me by. Everyone except me was sent tumbling across the ground.
I turned around in a hurry and saw Xinran. She was the one who manipulated gusts of wind with her left hand and saved me just now. In her right hand was the b.l.o.o.d.y head of Archbishop Alves!
Heavens, she actually managed to kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d in less than one minute. Just who on earth was she? Why did she have the power to crush a human elite like they were nothing?
I stared dumbly at her until she said, "Well? What are you waiting for?"
"Ah?"
I broke out of my reverie and charged out of the temple. My name was blood-red even though I was inside the city, meaning that any player could PK me despite this place being a safe zone!
I shot Xinran a sideways glance and saw her picking up the archbishop's scepter. She then ripped off the gem and tossed the scepter to a side. "Hmph!"
……
The moment I appeared at the eastern plaza, almost every player turned to stare at me. "WTF? How is a red name inside the city? Wait a second, this ID looks familiar… The heck? Isn't he Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, the number one player of Floating Ice City?"
At the same time, the system dinged and announced the verdict.
System Announcement: All players, please be informed that the Holy Temple of Light in Floating Ice City has set up a 10-hour bounty for Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand. If the target player is killed during this time, they will lose 10 levels instead of 1, and the killer will gain 50% of the experience they lost!
