Chapter 399: Rushing the Job (3k)
“I will wait for you, wait for you to become a great hero, able to cut through everything that blocks us with a single sword.”
“My knight, I believe that day will come, you will be like your grandfather, aweing the heavens and quelling the wicked with your peerless strength.”
Before parting, the young girl paused slightly. Only after disappearing into the darkness did her final words drift out, tinged with an inexplicable sadness. But this was Vivian’s first direct confession—”Just like Gemini’s books, a princess doesn’t always marry a prince, because… she will forever fall for the knight in her heart.”
“That day will not be long.”
As if her presence had completely vanished from the air, Su Jiu finally came to his senses. He let out a sigh and then took out the worn guitar from his ring, gently strumming its silver strings.
…
“Are you going to Scarborough Fair?”
“Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.”
…
A delicate and lingering melody echoed through the empty streets, accompanied by the slightly mismatched sound of the guitar, creating a subtle, melancholic atmosphere.
“Vivian has completely left… Then… I don’t need to stay in the World Competition for too long either. After clearing this beast tide, I probably won’t need to participate in the second team competition.”
His voice gradually faded into the distance, a solitary figure walking towards the city’s outskirts with a worn guitar on his back. A sharp sword aura faintly surrounded him, deterring others from approaching. He was like a swordsman who had been dormant for a long time and needed to vent, for a sword requires blood.
The monsters outside the city were the best outlet. Killing them not only provided magic crystals but also helped clear a significant portion of the beast tide. Gathering materials for alchemy was also a plus; it was truly killing three birds with one stone.
At the border of Seattle, the city guards leaned against the wall, secretly sipping strong liquor to warm themselves. In the center, they had placed a leather chair resembling a Grand Tutor’s chair, with several deputy officers standing beside it.
The city guard officer from before reclined in the chair, looking worriedly towards a spot a few kilometers away. There, the special nightmare monster was still crawling, carrying a giant whirlwind. Sandstorms swept through, and surrounding trees seemed on the verge of being swallowed.
“Report!”
Suddenly, a soldier emerged from the staircase within the inner attic, striking a formal pose. He then presented a report, seemingly awaiting further instructions from the officer.
“As expected.”
Taking the report and glancing at it casually, the officer lit a thick pipe, exhaling a smoke ring slowly. He then turned to the approaching soldier with a hint of helplessness and asked, “Are the strong individuals from the World Competition still not planning to engage that nightmare monster?”
The soldier nodded, his gaze shifting back to the report as he answered earnestly, “Officer, the World Competition organizers are more inclined to keep these monsters lingering around the city and use them during the second team competition seven days later.”
The officer sighed again, his face etched with worry as he looked towards the special nightmare monster in the distance. He tapped the armrest twice with his pipe, took another draw, and continued, “Don’t be fooled by our ability to fight these monsters to a standstill. The truth is, that nightmare monster is carrying countless other monsters. If a lord-level monster with high-rank battle king strength appears, it could breach our defenses in an instant.”
“It’s not just the nightmare monster we’re worried about; look at this…”
One of the deputy officers beside him rubbed a storage bag at this moment, pulling out a piece of white bone about 10 cm in radius. He rubbed it in his hand, his expression grave, saying, “More and more undead monsters have appeared these days. I suspect that intelligent, high-level lord monsters are behind this.”
The commander also reached behind him, touching the white bone and looking at its sheen. He said with a hint of interest, “The bones of these high-rank battle generals can be used to forge low-level equipment. We should be able to sell them to alchemists at a low price and earn some extra money.”
After chuckling, the latter sat up straighter, took another puff of his pipe, and murmured to himself, looking into the distance, “But we really can’t delay anymore. That nightmare monster’s movements are getting slower. There must be something more powerful within it.”
“Roar—”
The soldier fell silent. Just as the officer stood up, the patrol eagles circling in the sky suddenly let out urgent cries. An urgent alarm sounded throughout the entire city wall, its tone rapid and brief.
“It’s three consecutive rings! A top-tier monster of Battle King level or higher has appeared!”
The officer, who was at the initial stage of Battle King level, immediately straightened his back. His gaze followed the direction of the patrol eagles, towards the other side of the sky. A Western Bone Dragon, radiating a blue-black glow, was rapidly approaching the city with its massive wings spread. Two dim ghost fires burned in its skeletal head, seemingly fixated on the city…
Behind the Bone Dragon, dense black shadows followed, seemingly bone birds of the same origin. Their eyes glowed with different colored lights, making the city feel precarious.
“The monster horde is coming! It’s an intermediate Battle King level monster, we can’t resist at all!”
Those in the outer city tents felt the oppressive pressure of the encroaching dark clouds. They hastily transformed into streaks of light and fled towards the city, fearing they would be left behind.
“It’s a commander-level intermediate Battle King monster, possibly even a Little Sovereign! And so many monsters behind it—this is a direct all-out assault on the city!”
On the city wall, the officer’s face showed a look of horror. His first reaction was to instantly extinguish his pipe and then wave frantically at the soldiers, shouting, “Quickly, get the strong individuals from the World Competition to act! This is no longer something we can intervene in.”
Monsters below the Battle King level as leaders were collectively called lords, while Battle King level monster leaders were referred to as Little Sovereigns. Above Demigod was called Sovereign. Bai Zhi was once a Sovereign-level monster.
“Officer, those strong individuals should be able to hear the alarm and come. Let’s defend with magic crystal cannons first—the widespread appearance of these undead monsters suggests that some War God-level Sovereign monster might have the intention of slaughtering the city.” His deputy officer, also staring blankly at the sky, gritted his teeth, grabbed a cannon, and aimed it at the sky, injecting magic crystals before firing.
“Boom!”
A laser beam descended upon the Bone Dragon at extreme speed, emitting a brilliant light. However, there was no positive feedback at all. The Bone Dragon’s speed remained undiminished, continuing its direct charge, accompanied by a fierce and strange roar:
“Human… kill… kill!”
“This matter must be reported to the State Councilor. The appearance of an intermediate Battle King-level monster is no longer something we can handle alone.” Hearing his deputy’s words, and looking at the Bone Dragon, now only a few hundred meters from the city, the guard officer said sternly, “But for now, we have to hold the city wall.”
He then summoned his beast pet, an Earth Dragon with spikes all over its back. The Earth Dragon understood and transformed into a shield blade, attaching itself to his arm.
“Rushing the job, rushing the job, clear the way.”
Just as he was about to step forward to face the Bone Dragon, a figure slowly approached under the moonlight, ethereal and seemingly merged with the moonlight in the sky and the continuous city wall. His sleeves fluttered, and he held his long sword half-raised, yet he exuded an aura that made one feel as if their back were being pricked.
“Rushing the job? What does that mean?”
The officer looked up suddenly, seeing the slender figure blocking the colossal entity in front of him. He couldn’t help but look at his stunned deputy and smile with relief, “Although I don’t know which judge has come to support us, the opponent’s strength is far superior to mine. Dealing with this Bone Dragon should be no problem.”
The figure, hovering slightly in mid-air, exuded a commanding aura, clearly an extraordinary swordsman with peerless strength and swordsmanship!
“Roar!”
Suddenly, a sword light flashed in the sky, followed by a dragon’s roar different from the previous Bone Dragon, like a thunderclap. A powerful surge of energy rippled rapidly from mid-air, agitating the surrounding energy in the air.
The Bone Dragon’s body stopped hovering five to six hundred meters above the city. Then, the flames in its eyes gradually dissipated, and its movements seemed to slow down considerably. Piles of snowflakes began to fall from the sky, and a sense of coldness once again enveloped everyone’s faces, as if the recent events were but a fleeting dream.
When people’s eyes fell on the Bone Dragon in the sky again, they noticed a petite figure on its forehead. The figure had used her sword to pry out a glowing crystal, and the Bone Dragon, losing its “propulsion,” crashed heavily onto the ground.
After Su Jiu swallowed the magic crystal, he transformed into a meteor shower of swords, slicing through the bone monsters in the sky and shattering them. It seemed he didn’t forget to collect the magic crystals along the way, causing the opportunistic scavengers to stomp their feet in frustration, only able to watch wistfully.
Suddenly, someone thought that these bones might also be good alchemy materials, and their interest was piqued by the important parts of the bones. Just as they were about to step forward, they noticed that the sword-carrying figure was also collecting—dragon teeth, dragon claws, bird beaks, and other important alchemy materials.
Their steps halted again, for no other reason than—a pair of dead fish-like eyes were glaring at each of them, as if saying, “If you dare to come closer, I’ll break your legs.”
The leading scavenger, seeing the girl in front of him staring with dead fish eyes, swallowed hard and took a few steps back before letting out a sigh of relief.
After dealing with the scattered bones on the ground, Su Jiu’s gaze fell upon the special nightmare monster. He looked at the ring in his hand, a slight grin appearing on his lips, “So many alchemy bones…”
About fifteen minutes passed. Many judges from the World Competition also arrived on the city wall. They looked at the few remaining monsters in the sky with some confusion, but they didn’t ask why—after all, they had also sensed the aura of a monster horde attack earlier.
“Who was it?! Who managed to kill so many undead monsters in less than fifteen minutes!!”
However, as they got closer and saw the mountain of white bones on the ground, their faces showed astonishment. Suddenly, someone pointed towards the special nightmare monster and asked with some uncertainty, “Is someone heading towards our ‘competition props’?”
