Chapter 1063
The Death of Count Orléans
Eivass retracted the scythe in his hand as he watched Count Orléans’ frozen and shattered body fall to the ground.
The damage caused by “Death of Withering” directly severed the opponent’s “maximum life.” Although this state could be dispelled by a ritual, it generally prevented the opponent from recovering during battle.
This was especially effective against a Child of the Moon with extremely strong regenerative abilities—if fatal damage was inflicted by this scythe, it meant no more resurrections.
Were it not for the boost from the Box of Nothingness, he would have turned into a stone statue in an instant.
In that regard, the power of the Box of Nothingness was indeed formidable…
This was because Eivass was extremely cautious.
Contrary to his dismissive and composed demeanor, he actually took this enemy very seriously. He didn’t know how high his mastery of the Box of Nothingness was, but it was essentially equivalent to half a god on earth. In terms of priority, it was even higher than a Fallen Heavenly Envoy.
Within the domain of the Box of Nothingness, there were rules similar to a grand competition. Once a move was deciphered, points would be deducted, rendering that move invalid.
This was why it was a “mechanism-based” encounter—deciphering the mechanism was equivalent to “deciphering the opponent’s moves.”
There might only be one opportunity to strike.
To prevent the opponent from having some resistance to illusions or possessing treasures that could resist them, he specifically used the “Yin-Yang Harmony” characteristic and released Star Ice with five times the mana, giving this move an extra energy level priority. This was to ensure his death.
Even so, the Box of Nothingness prevented his death.
It clearly wanted to give Count Orléans a chance—if Count Orléans could break through the illusion himself, calmly accept his death, and forcefully tear through the illusion, he would truly have a chance to win a comeback match on the spot. Death of Withering could indeed erase his maximum life value, but the Box of Nothingness could dispel that effect with a single action.
But clearly, Count Orléans did not fully understand the Box of Nothingness, nor did he possess the disposition to face death without fear.
This was not surprising.
At least nine out of ten Children of the Moon feared death. This was also a similarity between the Path of Love and the Twilight Path—both were paths closest to “nothingness,” and they would both gradually slide into it while fearing it.
His pathetic state in the illusion now caused him to gradually lose the protection of the Box of Nothingness.
Within the ice sculpture, which had been cut in half at the waist, everything was gradually evaporating and shattering.
He still stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, his unseeing pupils fixed upwards. His eyeballs were completely frozen, and his pupils were shattered like crushed contact lenses. His pale skin was covered in cracks, and gray-white petrification marks spread.
When the petrification marks had just spread past his chest, it was as if a certain critical point had been breached—
That invisible resistance finally completely dissipated.
In just an instant, the petrification spread rapidly—Count Orléans’ ice sculpture turned entirely into a cold, grayish-white statue.
The next moment, illusory white light spots gathered.
It wasn’t the almost invisible white light points that had killed the other Children of the Moon previously, but a small, soft ball of light the size of a small tangerine that flew into Eivass’s body.
[Killed a Fifth Tier Extraordinary, gained 1650 Free Experience]
…Oh, wow.
Eivass raised an eyebrow.
He defeated an opponent of the same tier at the Fifth Tier and received over a thousand experience points?
Although he still hadn’t fully figured out the rules for acquiring experience… generally, it followed the principle of “the more thoroughly one dies, the more experience is given,” “the stronger the opponent, the more experience,” and “the stronger the opponent compared to oneself, the more experience.”
Based on this principle, Eivass’s largest experience gain was from the first generation Hong Xiang—as a Child of the Moon, he did not enter the Dream Realm after death, so it could be considered a complete death. However, even so, the experience Count Orléans gave Eivass was more than when he killed Count Dawn back then.
This likely indicated that this guy’s strength was indeed quite good.
—Fortunately, I was more skillful and finished him off immediately upon meeting him.
“He’s completely dead now,” Eivass said with a relaxed smile, turning back. “Let’s go, Sherlock. You handle cleaning up the other Children of the Moon while I go heal the Innocent—that should be fine, right?”
“Of course.”
Sherlock breathed a sigh of relief as the enemy was defeated by Eivass once again.
He had actually been secretly holding his breath.
The moment he saw the opponent, he realized something was wrong.
Eivass hadn’t explained the specific mechanics of the Box of Nothingness to him, but from Eivass’s few words, he could tell it was a power that could “make the Swan King’s wishes come true.” And Count Orléans clearly possessed this power; his strange actions were meant to complete some kind of ritual… and Arsen had charged forward directly.
—In an instant, Sherlock was drenched in sweat.
Because he realized that Arsen’s actions had been manipulated by some power in the unseen.
The Arsen he understood would never act so impulsively—as a phantom thief who had almost never failed, Arsen clearly understood the meaning of “plan before you act.”
Regardless of what grudges he held against Count Orléans…
He should at least have let Eivass make the first move, right?
What was the use of him charging forward himself, other than throwing away his life? It wasn’t even impossible for him to be taken hostage in return.
And neither Eivass, Arsen, nor even Count Orléans thought there was anything wrong with it.
In that instant, Sherlock realized one thing—
They had been infected by the power of “Beauty,” and subconsciously identified the rationality of Arsen’s actions.
In other words, Arsen, without any preparation, charged at his sworn enemy, who was clearly far stronger than him, and was knocked flying with one blow—this was the script subconsciously directed by the Box of Nothingness. Because it anticipated this scene, this scene naturally unfolded.
Conversely, because Sherlock lacked aesthetic sense, he was able to remain sober.
It was for this reason that he hesitated to pursue.
If Eivass had become embroiled in an evenly matched battle, or even fallen into a disadvantage, Sherlock would definitely have attacked the enemy, no matter what. Even if he couldn’t inflict damage on the opponent… spells were never just simple energy blasts.
Even if the opponent had a higher energy level and could be immune to all his direct spells, he still had plenty of auxiliary powers—such as melting the ground into lava or a void, making teammates stronger and faster, or casting protective auxiliary spells on teammates. For example, shields, stone skins, brute strength… it even included precognition and one-time teleportation buffs.
At worst, he could always replenish his teammates’ mana pools from a distance.
But Sherlock did not make a move at all.
It was because he didn’t know if more variables would arise.
Now, he could finally confirm… that everything was under Eivass’s control.
They should be considered the victors now, in the judgment of the Box of Nothingness.
As such, there shouldn’t be any more unexpected events.
So Sherlock secretly wiped his brow, but said very calmly, “Who do you think I am? I can handle this simple task.
“…However, what happens after that?”
Sherlock asked.
(End of Chapter)
