Chapter 476: Lifehymn Music Score

“Bai Qi?”

Lefty froze for an instant. Suddenly, his face contorted and he exerted his all to flip his body to the back.

A shining blade shot down from the sky, striking where Lefty had been standing. The resulting sword beam was like a dazzling and humongous blade, which slashed open a gully on the surface of the floor.

The areas on Lefty’s skin that were not covered by any clothes felt as though needles were pricking them. Facing this atmosphere of sharpness, for the first time since entering this magic array area, Lefty felt the risk of dying.

His heart shivered.

This… … what kind of power is this?

Lefty rolled in a wretched manner. He looked through the corner of his eyes to see a man in white standing before Chen Xiaolian. The man had long, black hair and his hand held a translucent short sword. His entire being resembled an unsheathed sword.

What a powerful killing intent!

“Charge together! Kill him!”

Chen Xiaolian shouted and charged forward once more. As for Bai Qi, his entire being transformed into a blade beam and he shot forward.

Bai Qi’s figure grew within Lefty’s eyes as he approached him quickly. He barely had time to gasp as he stretched open both hands to activate his skill.

Bai Qi, who was shooting through the air, suddenly slowed down. In the next instant however, a spurt of blood came out from Lefty’s mouth. As expected of the power of Bai Qi’s aura of sharpness.

Lefty screamed out in misery and pushed himself to the side. Next, Bai Qi’s sword blade pierced through his shoulder and pinned his body on the floor.

At the same time, the three Garfield doppelgangers pounced down. Their arrival was like the descent of Mount Tai.

A look of utter determination flashed across Lefty’s eyes.

At that instant, he clenched his fists and roared, “Aagh!”

Suddenly, the space around his body slowed down in such a way that it was discernible to the naked eye.

The speed at which the three Garfield doppelgangers was charging became slow and Lefty quickly got up. After that, he swiftly dodged to the side.

Bai Qi’s sword was slashing down, but by then, Lefty had already slipped past the range of the slash…

Booom!

Stones scattered under the might of the flashing sword.

Lefty gasped heavily for breath. Clearly, using that skill was taking a lot out of him. His face grew even more savage. Both his hands promptly slid into the other hand’s sleeve and they pulled out two sharp needles that he placed between his fingers.

“Chrono Chasm! Ignite!”

In an instant, a reddish look of bloodthirstiness flashed across Lefty’s eyes and his legs darted toward Bai Qi.

He knew which enemy was the most dangerous one.

By then, Chen Xiaolian had pounced to the side, where he grabbed the Sword in the Stone that had fallen to the floor earlier. After pulling the sword from the floor, he saw Lefty making it to Bai Qi’s side.

Bai Qi performed a thrust, causing shards of sword beams to erupt.

However, Lefty casually avoided each of the sword beams, slipping past them to arrive before Bai Qi.

This time, Chen Xiaolian was able to clearly witness Lefty’s movements.

Lefty closed in on Bai Qi and his hand rose up at a disproportionate pace. Next, he swung his hand down, bringing his iron needle down toward Bai Qi’s chest.

Time suddenly moved at a faster rate.

Bai Qi staggered and fell to the floor on one knee as he thrust his sword into the floor. Lefty, on the other hand, had quickly retreated, putting some distance between him and Bai Qi.

“Your pet is very strange and powerful, however… … like I said before, the power of time is unbeatable!”

Blood flowed down the iron needle in Lefty’s hand. And yet, despite his smile, there was disorder in his rate of breathing. Chen Xiaolian had already raised the Sword in the Stone and swung down at Lefty. However, Lefty casually used his skill on Chen Xiaolian before dodging the incoming attack. At the same time, he struck Chen Xiaolian’s waist with another needle stab.

This attack pierced through his defence, going into his kidney. Chen Xiaolian was gripped by an intense sensation of pain and he bellowed out in response.

The Sword in the Stone slashed out.

A golden coloured light descended like a falling waterfall.

That was… … Skyblade’s power!

Witnessing the arrival of the golden coloured light, Lefty’s pupils contracted to their utmost limits. He howled loudly, causing blood to be ejected from his mouth in succession. Once again, the flow of time changed and Lefty threw himself to the floor again, rolling away to the side…

Ca!

When the golden coloured light descended, a large portion of the other end of the palace where the golden light struck was instantly sheared off. The relief on the surface of the wall fell to the floor.

“You… … what level is that power at?!” Lefty raged. “Impossible! How could you be at that level?!”

Chen Xiaolian forced his shaky body upright, using his sword to prop him up. He ignored the question. Instead, he turned toward Bai Qi and saw that Bai Qi had managed to get up somewhat. There on Bai Qi’s chest, blood trickled out, dying his clothes red.

Chen Xiaolian then turned to look at Lefty. He looked at Lefty’s trembling shoulders and the ragged rate of breathing. He knew that his opponent was not having an easy time.

That time-controlling skill was powerful to the point of despairing to face. However, the cost of using it was certainly unbearably vast.

Additionally, Chen Xiaolian had come to another conclusion after those several confrontations.

Although this Lefty fellow was terrifyingly powerful, he was what you would call… … an overspecialist.

Among all the enemies that Chen Xiaolian had faced before, the one to make him feel most helpless was Lefty’s time-controlling skill. Through his power over time, Lefty was able to make himself invincible. No matter how powerful or fast his opponent may be, when faced with Lefty’s Chrono Chasm skill, they would be unable to threaten Lefty.

This skill could utterly dominate the battlefield.

However, Lefty’s other aspects were lacking.

His offensive capabilities, his strength, his speed, his defensive aspect, all of them were very average.

Lefty was also staring at Chen Xiaolian.

Truth was, he was presently beginning to regret.

Too careless!

He had not expected his opponent to be this strong.

Although his Chrono Chasm skill was terrifyingly powerful and omnipotent, the cost of using it was also astonishingly high. That was especially true when he was using it on powerful opponents. The more powerful his opponent, the more it would cost to lock down that opponent longer.

The instant that Chen Xiaolian unleashed Skyblade’s power, the level of strength that was let loose caused Lefty to suffocate. Targeting Chen Xiaolian with his skill when he utilized Skyblade’s power to dodge the attack caused Lefty to puke blood.

Additionally, there was Bai Qi.

The cost involved to lock down Bai Qi to control his time was no less than the cost needed to target Chen Xiaolian.

How could a nameless Guild Leader possess such a kind of power? Such a kind of power should only belong to the most powerful characters within the Awakened circle. Someone like this should only exist among those experts residing within Zero City.

Lefty could feel himself reaching the limit of his skill.

Thankfully, he had seriously injured these two powerful opponents. Lefty narrowed his eyes and slowly stepped toward Chen Xiaolian.

He felt thankful… … his enemies had set up different planes of existence for him to go through. Back then, if they had chosen to come at him together, he would have to spend another portion of strength to use Chrono Chasm on the other members. If that were the case, he would likely be incapable of holding on.

“It is time. You all can go die now!” Lefty bit his own tongue and rushed toward Chen Xiaolian.

His objective was obvious.

Regardless of those few Four-eyed War Cats or Bai Qi, they were all Chen Xiaolian’s pets.

As long as he killed their host, Chen Xiaolian, the pets would automatically die off.

Thus… … he just needed to kill Chen Xiaolian.

Lefty utilized his skill. He targeted all three War Cats, Bai Qi and Chen Xiaolian – all five at once. In that one instant, Lefty felt his vision turning black. However, he bit his tongue to force himself onward. The mental strength resulting from the pain caused him to howl out as he charged forward.

This time, the target of his iron needle was the area between Chen Xiaolian’s brows.

He wanted to inflict a one-hit kill!

Chen Xiaolian… … was retreating.

The instant Lefty’s feet stepped toward him, Chen Xiaolian had begun retreating. He backed away quickly. At the same time, he raised the Sword in the Stone and exerted his all to observe Lefty’s actions. By the time Lefty began slowing down the flow of time, Chen Xiaolian had retreated a distance of 10 metres and the Sword in the Stone was covering his forehead. Under those circumstances, Lefty was left with no choice but to strike somewhere else. His iron needle stabbed toward Chen Xiaolian’s throat instead.

At that moment, Bai Qi’s sword was already upon Lefty’s back. So too were the paws of the three Four-eyed War Cats.

This time however, Lefty decided not to dodge the attacks.

By killing Chen Xiaolian, those pets of his would disappear.

Lefty gripped his iron needle tightly and slammed it down viciously.

The needle that was as thick as a finger pierced through Chen Xiaolian’s neck.

When the tip of the needle emerged from the back of Chen Xiaolian’s neck, Lefty became excited.

Success!

The next instant however, Lefty saw Chen Xiaolian’s mouth forming a peculiar smile.

The warped expression on his face was obvious proof of the pain that he was feeling, but Chen Xiaolian’s smile caused Lefty’s heart to sink.

Next… … he could clearly sense it… the life force of this opponent he faced was not falling. Rather, it was rising.

[System prompt: The Sword in the Stone’s skill activated. All negative state and injuries have been healed and host attributes are temporarily pushed to peak state.]

After reading the prompt in his personal system, Chen Xiaolian said.

“You are dead.”

Pu!

As Chen Xiaolian did not die, Bai Qi, who was right behind Lefty, did not disappear.

The instant Bai Qi’s sword blade stabbed into Lefty’s shoulder, he screamed out in misery.

Despite making a last minute attempt to dodge, he was still too late.

Bai Qi’s sword stabbed through the left shoulder. Then, with a whirl of his sword, that arm flew into the air.

Lefty screamed wretchedly and bellowed as he quickly rolled to the other side.

The three Garfield doppelgangers pounced on him successively, but he dodged them again and again. After escaping the Garfield doppelgangers’ attacks, he rolled to a certain area.

Before Lefty could do anything else, a hand suddenly descended, grabbing his ankle.

He raised his head and saw a muscular, iron-built man. The man was glaring at him murderously.

This fellow… … what is his name?

Right, according to Thirteen, he is the team’s Deputy Guild Leader. His name is… … Lun Tai (round tire)? What a ridiculous name…

That was the thought flashing through his head at that moment.

However…

Isn’t he supposed to be waiting in another plane of existence?

How could he catch me? Attack me?

Lun Tai’s fist came smashing down and Lefty screamed out wretchedly yet again as his knee was broken. Lefty’s struggles caused the part of his bloody leg – from the knee down – to fall off.

Lefty’s screams were like those of a wolf howling in the middle of the night. He rolled about madly. Lun Tai, who was still holding on to the bloody stump, was about to toss the stump away when he saw a black haired lady catching Lefty. A delicate palm infiltrated the surface of Lefty’s chest, causing him to bounce up in response.

The attack earlier caused Lefty’s body to collapse like a sand castle.

From another corner of the underground palace, a pillar of flames roared forward.

The Blazing Phoenix let out a clear cry and its flames enveloped the airborne Lefty before slamming him down the floor.

Lefty rolled about as the flames licked his body. As expected, he possessed other life-saving equipment on him. As the flames were about to engulf him completely, his body suddenly released a brilliant light, which extinguished the flames. After that, he staggered and fell down, rolling all the way to the corner of the wall.

“You… you people… …” Lefty’s eyes were full of resentment. His eyes finally fell upon Chen Xiaolian. “Your teammates were here all this time? Didn’t you say there are in a different plane of existence?”

Chen Xiaolian had already pulled out the iron needle from his throat. Thanks to the Sword in the Stone’s skill, his flesh healed quickly. After coughing a bit, he stared at the cornered and miserable looking Lefty. “Just because I said that, you decided to trust me?”

Lefty’s heart plummeted.

He knew that he had been fooled.

These fellows… … sure are capable!

Back when he was confronting Chen Xiaolian earlier, Chen Xiaolian himself was badly wounded. The same was true for his pets. He had fallen into a desperate situation… … and yet, his teammates could still stand there pretending without taking action against Lefty.

That was for the sake of making him let his guard down. Therefore, he would be left defenceless against those who were in ‘another plane of existence’.

Now the situation was completely overturned.

Lefty had lost an arm and a leg. He had become disabled.

As for his opponent, Chen Xiaolian, he had utilized an unknown skill to heal up all his wounds and returned to his peak state.

Add the terrifying man in white… … and his other teammates to the equation…

The cost of using his skill was huge. Not to mention, he was now disabled…

“I lost. I lost because I was too careless.” Lefty smiled bitterly.

Chen Xiaolian did not let his guard down. Everyone in his team slowly converged on Lefty.

“Next time, I will not be so careless. The next time we meet is the day I kill you,” Lefty said in a strange tone. Next, an odd look crossed his eyes.

He raised his one good hand and fiercely slammed the iron needle in that hand into his heart.

After a brief struggle, blood gushed out from Lefty’s mouth. With eyes still staring forward, he died.

Chen Xiaolian raised his sword and strode forward. He did not move up close. Instead, he stabbed Lefty’s chest with his sword. Only after seeing that Lefty was not reacting to the stab did Chen Xiaolian crouch down to check him.

“Suicide?” Chen Xiaolian frowned.

“It… … doesn’t feel right.” Lun Tai mumbled. “Just now, he mentioned meeting us again…”

“He must still be alive then. It seems this fellow possesses some strange means to escape,” said Chen Xiaolian with knitted eyebrows.

He checked the countdown timer.

The time on the countdown timer did not decrease by 10 seconds.

In other words…

“He didn’t die. He escaped.” Chen Xiaolian exhaled. “Damn it. Just what is this resurrection deal?”

Qiao Qiao, who was standing behind Chen Xiaolian, suddenly spoke up, “Maybe… you all should look at this.”

As she spoke, she stretched her hand out. There on her palm was an object.

Earlier, Qiao Qiao had attacked Lefty using the power of darkness, phasing through Lefty’s chest. When she was pulling her hand back, she accidentally pulled something out of Lefty’s chest area.

It was a piece of… … cloth.

Chen Xiaolian gave Qiao Qiao a glance before accepting the cloth. He opened up the cloth with his hands and examined it. Next, a puzzling expression washed over his face.

It was more accurate to call it a parchment made from sheepskin.

On its surface were two names.

The first one was… … One-eye.

Surprisingly, the second one was Thirteen.

[System prompt: You have picked up the special prop ‘Lifehymn Music Score (fragment)’

[Lifehymn Music Score: Record down the name of a designated person and the designated person’s life will be temporarily stored within this music score. The designated person’s outside body will become a puppet, under the control of the designated person but only capable of unleashing 70 % of his or her full power. After the puppet dies, the one holding the music score may choose to resurrect the person stored inside it.

[Note: This prop is a ‘fragment’ and part of its functions is restricted. The number of lives it can store is (2/2).

[Scanning Lifehymn Music Score. There are presently (2/2) lives stored inside. Do you wish to resurrect them?]

After the shock wore off, an earthquake shook Chen Xiaolian’s mind.

…