Chapter 478: Incessant Battles

Nicole looked at the candle in her hand.

The underground palace was well illuminated and she was able to immediately notice Roddy, who was standing beside Chen Xiaolian.

Nearly everyone from Meteor Rock Guild was here and Nicole thought to herself: As expected.

Roddy cast a frown at this woman who had just appeared within the underground palace.

Naturally, Nicole was still using a face-changing prop. She had an ordinary and unrecognizable face.

Seeing how everyone there was looking at her, Nicole smiled and said loudly, “Demon Faction.”

Chen Xiaolian quickly put the Lifehymn Music Score in his hand away. After that, he studied Nicole deeply.

Nicole leaned against the wall of the underground palace and did nothing in order to avoid any misunderstanding.

A few seconds later, the second figure emerged from the relief.

It was the knight known as Arte.

He was tall and beefy and wore a knightly armour over his body. He checked his surroundings. When he saw the members from Meteor Rock Guild, Arte did not appear surprised. His expression remained cold and he stared icily at Chen Xiaolian…

“I remember you from back in Jerusalem.” Arte sneered. “You killed my companion.”

Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes and the two of them stared at each other. Lun Tai quickly moved to stand before little Will.

Arte showed no hesitation. He raised his knightly sword and charged.

Lun Tai rushed forward to meet him head-on.

Lun Tai howled as he activated his Muscle Fruit skill, causing his physical attributes to soar. Wielding a war blade, he moved to block Arte’s path.

A silvery glow shone from Arte’s body. The silvery glow lit up every corner, illuminating the underground palace even further. To everyone’s surprise, the silvery light seemed to contain some magical powers. Wherever the light reached, be it the tiles or walls of the underground palace, it would cause them to crack.

“Careful! This fellow is of the light attribute! Just by standing here, he would inflict damage upon the magic array.” Nicole, who was standing close to the wall, shouted a warning.

Lun Tai rushed forward.

His blade swung toward Arte. It met the knight’s sword and a loud collision could be heard.

Shockingly, Arte’s body simply staggered lightly after receiving the blow. As for the mighty Lun Tai, his figure was sent flying backward.

This development left everyone from Meteor Rock Guild’s team, Chen Xiaolian included, shocked.

Lun Tai’s strength may not be of the apex, but after utilizing the Muscle Fruit skill, his strength was close to that of [A+] class.

After taking this one attack, Lun Tai… … was sent flying?

Arte howled and the intensity of the silver glow emanating from his body soared. Lun Tai, who was sent flying by Arte’s attack, fell to the floor, smashing the tiles before spitting out a mouthful of blood. Arte began chanting loudly in a strange language and strode toward little Will.

His movement speed was very slow. A word would accompany each step.

For every step he took, the tile beneath his feet would be pulverized.

Chen Xiaolian recalled Nicole’s warning.

Clearly, there was something strange about the knight’s attribute.

“Kill him quick!” Chen Xiaolian bellowed. Then, he raised the Sword in the Stone and charged forward.

Arte suddenly halted his steps and stopped moving. Next, he made a peculiar move.

He thrust his sword deep into the ground.

Next, he summoned something into his hand.

It was… … a long and narrow box.

The box was none other than the one Shen had produced when he personally visited Mene’s abode. It was the one he returned to Mene before this instance dungeon began.

Surprisingly, the box was now in Arte’s hands.

By then, Chen Xiaolian was already before Arte, the Sword in the Stone in his hand raised. Arte watched as Chen Xiaolian charged him, but all he did was sneer in response. Next, he opened the box slightly… … the small crack was opened before Chen Xiaolian.

An incomparably dazzling light shone out instantly from the tiny crack, shining upon Chen Xiaolian’s body.

Chen Xiaolian felt everything before him turning white. In an instant, he felt all his desire for battle fading, replaced with a desire to kneel down instead.

He was startled… … this is… … spiritual attack?

However, he had the Sword in the Stone in his hand. Why did the Sword in the Stone’s ability to dispel negative effects not activate?

Chen Xiaolian’s body turned limp and he was unable to muster up any desire to do battle. He fell to the floor on his knees.

He was still wielding the Sword in the Stone. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to swing it down.

It was as though his mind, body, hands, sword, all of them were… …

Resisting!

Despite all that, the Sword in the Stone was not reacting.

Chen Xiaolian had bravely charged forward only to fall down to his knees in an instant. This spectacle stunned the members from Meteor Rock Guild’s team.

Qiao Qiao screamed sharply as she leapt forward. She placed herself between Chen Xiaolian and the box. When the light from the tiny crack shone upon her body, Qiao Qiao promptly shrieked in misery.

When the light struck Qiao Qiao’s body, silver coloured flames erupted and enveloped her body.

Black smoke wafted up amid the silver flames.

Chen Xiaolian watched as Qiao Qiao stood before him. After the light was blocked off, he felt his strength returning. However, seeing Qiao Qiao shrieking in pain, Chen Xiaolian quickly pounced her, embracing her as they rolled across the floor to the side.

“Natasha! Attack that knight!”

Nicole’s voice could be heard.

Just then, the newcomer from the Demon Faction had emerged from the relief. It was none other than Natasha.

Although Natasha did not know what was going on, she trusted Nicole. Hearing Nicole’s words, Natasha raised both hands and a continuous stream of frost power shot toward Arte.

Arte sneered and moved the box in his hand slightly. The light from the crack shone at the incoming attack and before it could reach Arte, all of the frost power dissipated.

When the light shone upon Natasha, she screamed out wretchedly. Her body was scorched and she rolled on the floor in pain.

Nicole quickly moved over to grab Natasha and pull her to the corner.

Then, the second knight emerged from the relief. The moment he appeared, he rushed to Arte’s side. Despite being shone upon by the light from the opening of the box, he appeared unaffected. He raised his sword and stabbed at Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao, who were on the floor.

Chen Xiaolian used one hand to hug Qiao Qiao while his other hand held the Sword in the Stone.

Golden coloured light glowed upon the surface of the Sword in the Stone.

Skyblade’s power burst forward.

A clear sound echoed out and the sword in the knight’s hand was cut in half. The knight staggered backward as the golden light struck his body. His visor cracked open with a snap.

Next, a bloody scar appeared on his chest.

At that moment, Arte, who was behind him, suddenly directed the light from the box’s opening over. When the light shone upon the injured knight, his body promptly gave a shudder. The blood trickling down his forehead quickly disappeared; at the same time, the wound and armour opening on his chest rapidly healed up.

“What the Hell is that prop?” Chen Xiaolian, who was on the ground, took a deep breath.

Soo Soo rushed forward.

As she was running toward Chen Xiaolian, Chen Xiaolian shouted loudly, “Protect little Will!”

There was a peculiar smile on Arte’s face as he raised the box and directed the light escaping from the lightly opened box at little Will. Seeing that, Soo Soo chose to listen to Chen Xiaolian’s command and moved to stand before Arte.

The little girl spread open both hands and a column of flames rose to the sky. The flames then formed a Blazing Phoenix. Issuing a loud cry, the Blazing Phoenix charged Arte.

Arte continued raising the box.

Light shone from the box once more. When the Blazing Phoenix arrived before Arte, it was as though a power was blocking it.

The Blazing Phoenix cried out. Although it was still loud, there was a faint atmosphere of… … submission.

Next, it swiftly flew up to the air. It circled around the ceiling of the underground palace a few times and disappeared with a bang.

Soo Soo was dumbfounded.

She had used the Blazing Phoenix skill many times. However, she had never encountered such a scenario.

The enemy would have to either block the Blazing Phoenix or disperse it with their attacks.

There was never a scenario where the Blazing Phoenix would back off without a fight.

That moment of shock gave Arte the opening to arrive before Soo Soo.

Arte lowered his head and looked at Soo Soo. A veiled look of anger was etched on his face. “As someone with light attributes, you actually fell into darkness!”

While he spoke, his other hand raised his sword to stab toward Soo Soo.

Qiao Qiao, who saw what was happening, screamed out sharply. Just as the tip of Arte’s sword was about to pierce Soo Soo’s chest, a “ding” sound rang out.

A dazzling sword flash descended right upon the blade of Arte’s sword, deflecting it. Like a ray of light, Bai Qi landed beside Soo Soo.

Arte was furious. He raised the box and shone the light out once more. Bai Qi had already picked Soo Soo up with an embrace, his body shooting through the air as he escaped with Soo Soo. However, the light from the box made contact with his leg and Bai Qi, who was in the middle of the air, flinched.

With Soo Soo in his embrace, Bai Qi fell to the floor. Silver coloured flames erupted from his legs.

His pale face remained calm, but a faint look of pain could be seen within his eyes.

“Vengeful spirit! You do not belong to this world! You dared to profane the Lord’s glory! You must be purified!” Arte shouted. The light from the box swept over, moving toward Bai Qi.

Bai Qi grunted. Suddenly, his sword slashed out and his burning legs were cut off. After cutting off his legs that were being burnt by the silver flames, Bai Qi picked Soo Soo up again and dashed away. His body shot away with a swoosh.

However, he was still a little too slow.

The light shone upon his arm and Bai Qi fell beside Chen Xiaolian. Then, he looked at his now burning arm with a frown.

“What is going on?” Chen Xiaolian looked at him. Before the might of the light, the powerful Bai Qi was unable to even move.

“That light, overcomes me.” Bai Qi frowned. After saying those few words, he shook his head. “I am leaving, don’t die.”

After saying that, Bai Qi gave Chen Xiaolian a glance before rapidly disappearing as he returned into Chen Xiaolian’s personal system.

Chen Xiaolian was stunned. He checked his personal system and found that ‘Warsoul Bai Qi’ had returned. However, it was ‘Suffering from combat damage. In the middle of healing. Cannot be summoned’.

The box in Arte’s hand was simply too profound. Once it was brought out, no one from Meteor Rock Guild’s team was able to go against it.

Xia Xiaolei and Qimu Xi ran toward Lun Tai and Chen Xiaolian respectively and they tried to prop up their injured teammates.

Roddy swiftly pulled out a rifle and ran forward, opening fire at Arte and the other knight.

Hearing the sound of incoming bullet fire, the knight raised his shield to protect Arte. At the same time, he moved forward to force Roddy off. As for Arte, he continued raising his shield and strode toward little Will.

“Natasha! Go help!” Nicole pointed at Roddy as she ran toward the knight.

Wielding a military blade in her hand, Nicole attacked the knight a few times. However, it was clear that the knight was very proficient in swordsmanship. After exchanging blows with Nicole a few times, he summoned out a shield in his hand. With the armour and shield in hand, he was able to deflect all of Nicole’s attacks.

Natasha unleashed her frost powers continuously, but the knight was covered with a sphere of silver coloured glow. He casually dispersed Natasha’s frost powers.

“All that power can be contained by them!” Nicole furiously howled out. Seeing Natasha fall down after taking a kick from the knight, Nicole quickly charged forward. She blocked the knight’s sword blow and kicked Natasha’s body away.

At that moment, the blade-wielding tough guy from the four-man team emerged from the relief.

As soon as he appeared, he noticed the chaotic mess unfolding within the underground palace. He heard Natasha and Nicole shouting in unison. “Help quick! Protect the middle…”

The blade-wielding man was quick to notice little Will, who was in the middle of the underground palace. He also noticed Arte stepping toward little Will. He immediately raised his blade and charged at Arte.

Seeing the blade-wielding man charging him, Arte sneered and sent the light sweeping at the man.

It was at this moment that something strange occurred.

When the all-conquering light that not even Bai Qi and Chen Xiaolian could fight off landed upon the blade-wielding man’s body, nothing happened!

Arte frowned. He kept the box and raised his sword to block the incoming attack.

Bang!

The same thing that happened to Lun Tai happened once more and the blade-wielding man was sent flying.

In addition to the all-conquering light from the box in Arte’s hand… … Arte’s strength was also simply astounding.

The blade-wielding man’s body struck the wall of the underground palace and fell to the floor, blood flowing out from his mouth without respite.

On the other side, Lun Tai had gotten up once more. He pushed Xia Xiaolei, who was propping him up aside, and said, “You open fire from a distance to harass him.”

After saying that, Lun Tai stoked his Muscle Fruit skill and charged forward once more.

He rushed toward Arte. This time however, he did not fight Arte head-on. Instead, he sent his blade slashing toward Arte’s back.

When Arte turned around and swung his sword, Lun Tai quickly jumped back. Next, he rapidly darted to Arte’s side again and launched another attack.

Lun Tai did his best to harass Arte. However, on the fourth try, Arte managed to send him flying once more.

Two minutes later, even more figures appeared inside the underground palace. The knights arrived one after another. As for the Demon Faction, the blade-wielding man, his three subordinates and the solo participant had made it inside.

The underground palace became a scene of an all-out chaotic battle.

After Arte appeared, another six knights from the Light Faction appeared. These six knights formed a circle around Arte, who raised the long and narrow box as he moved toward little Will. The other knights protected Arte closely.

There was something peculiar about the box that Arte was holding. He was unable to move quickly while holding the box. For every step he took, he grew slower. In the end, every step he took required at least 20 seconds of resting time.

Nonetheless, Arte was getting closer to little Will’s position.

The light coming off the box was too magical!

Chen Xiaolian, Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo’s skills were all defeated by the light. Be it the Sword in the Stone, Qiao Qiao’s power of darkness or Soo Soo’s Child of Light’s Blazing Phoenix, all of them were powerless before it.

As for his other teammates, Lun Tai was unaffected by it. However, Lun Tai’s melee abilities gave them almost no advantage against Arte and the other knights. Xia Xiaolei, Qimu Xi and Roddy were too reliant on equipment. Even now, they could only attack with firearms, to limited effect.

As for the newcomers from the Demon Faction, the four-man team was not affected by the light. However, their combat strength was limited and they were unable to break through the battle formation of the knights…

Natasha had been seriously wounded during the fight. If not for her frost armour and Nicole dragging her away, this Diamond Barbie would have died.

Arte was only 10 steps away from little Will.

At that moment, Nicole turned to look at Chen Xiaolian, who had been forced back by the light countless times. She shouted, “Chen Xiaolian! If the quest fails, then just let it fail! You are not a match for him! The box in his hand must certainly be sacred relic! It is the pinnacle of light-based power!”

When he heard Nicole’s words, Chen Xiaolian was startled and he looked at the woman.

How did she know my name?

Next, he thought: Sacred relic? The pinnacle of light-based power?

Chen Xiaolian immediately understood.

He finally understood why he, Qiao Qiao and the others would be forced back by the light.

Although his Sword in the Stone was a holy artefact, it was essentially another sacred relic of the light attribute – the Sword in the Stone originated from King Arthur and its powers came from the faith in the Lord of Light.

Since they shared the same attributes, if the enemy side’s item was of a higher grade than his, it made sense that the Sword in the Stone was unable to attack them.

There was no need to explain much about Qiao Qiao’s situation. Her powers were of the darkness attribute and the level of her skill was clearly lower than the box. As her level was lower, it was only natural that her power of darkness would be useless against it.

Soo Soo’s case was probably similar. Soo Soo was the Child of Light and her Blazing Phoenix was of the light attribute. However, it was clear that the level of the box was higher than her.

If so… … give up on this quest?

Of course not!

The other members of the Demon Faction may not be facing any restrictions, but not Meteor Rock Guild’s team.

Because their team had completed this instance dungeon’s branch quest and obtained the Demon King’s feather.

The price of obtaining that was… … they had to complete this instance dungeon.

Should little Will die, two of Meteor Rock Guild’s team members will be forcibly killed off.

Chen Xiaolian was unwilling to pay that price.

After reaching that line of thought, Chen Xiaolian forced the knight before him back with a slash. He watched as the knight, who was wounded by his slash, moved back to Arte’s side. There, the power of the box’s light rapidly healed him up…

Chen Xiaolian turned toward Nicole and shouted, “Just who are you? If you have any ideas, hurry up and say it! We cannot give up this quest!”

“Why won’t you give it up!” Nicole shouted anxiously.

Chen Xiaolian grunted.

On the other side, Roddy fired out consecutively, luring the attention of a knight, who charged him. As someone with an enhanced body, Roddy was able to exchange blows with the knight before retreating. Then, he turned to look at the Nicole and shouted, “Hey, woman! We cannot give up on this quest!”

“Idiots!” Nicole was unable to understand them. “Could a punishment instance dungeon be more difficult than this? The fellow is holding a sacred relic in his hand!”

Roddy ran to Nicole’s side and fought beside her. He panted and said, “The conditions of our quest is different from yours… … the punishment is too severe. It is too much… … also, who are you?”

Roddy stood beside Nicole, who turned to look at him. Seeing the face that was covered with blood and sweat, a strange feeling bubbled up from Nicole’s heart. After seeing the familiar face, Nicole took a deep breath and retorted, “Who cares about that?!”

Even as she snapped, Nicole attacked, deflecting a sword blow from a knight who was attacking Roddy. “Don’t just stand there! Do you have a death wish?”

“Thank you…” Roddy exhaled. After pondering for a moment, he whispered, “If we fail this quest, some of our members will die as punishment! That is why we cannot give up this quest!”

Nicole was stunned. “Death as punishment? What the Hell did you do?”

Roddy laughed dryly.

Nicole quickly shook her head. “Our chances are too small!”

She grabbed Roddy and dragged him to the back. Then, she pointed at Arte and said, “The sacred relic in his hand is countering and subduing your core combat powers! At the same time, it also possesses super-grade healing powers! Even if you manage to critically wound one of them, they would be healed back immediately… in other words, they are in an invincible position! As long as they have that sacred relic!”

“Is there no power that is immune to its effects?” asked Roddy with a frown.

“Difficult.” Nicole shook her head. “Unless… … the source of that power has nothing to do with religion. See, Lun Tai is not affected. However, since he could not defeat them, his immunity becomes pointless. Those other fellows are also not affected, but their level of strength is too low.”

Roddy’s eyes swivelled back and he asked, “How did you know Lun Tai?”

“I also know your name is Roddy,” Nicole answered with a sneer.

Roddy frowned as he looked at Nicole. Then, he quickly continued, “Fine. Let us not go there first… … so, what if we have a power that is unrelated to religion, unaffected by that sacred relic and can break through their defence?”

“You cannot defeat them,” Nicole retorted angrily. “Even if you possess that type of power and can fight them… … you still cannot emerge victorious! With that sacred relic in hand, they can regenerate continuously! Do you understand?!”

“There is no need to win… … we just need to buy time.” A look of determination flashed across Roddy’s eyes.

“You…” A bad feeling rose from Nicole’s heart. “Are you planning to…”

Roddy charged forward!

…