Chapter 481: Disappeared

The Floating Angel charged toward Arte, but the knight was ready – his sword of light rose up.

The sword of light had been cut into two by Chen Xiaolian. However, it was now whole once more. Facing the incoming Floating Angel, Arte moved to swing his sword at her. Unexpectedly, the Floating Angel – in the middle of flying toward him – suddenly folded her wings, causing her velocity to soar. The thruster turbines increased its power and the Floating Angel made an unbelievable turn, turning away from Arte and shooting to his left side.

This turn of event caught Arte off guard. Before he could react, the Floating Angel blasted forward again, bypassing his position like a beam of light.

Nicole’s objective was not Arte. Surprisingly, she was aiming for… … the knights who were kneeling on the floor.

Chen Xiaolian panted while observing the Floating Angel’s movements. He quickly shouted out, “Excellent!”

Chen Xiaolian had also realized it. Although Arte’s angel form was powerful, the knights kneeling on the floor behind him were critical.

Each of the kneeling knights were chanting something, causing holy light to shine from their bodies. The light would then flow toward Arte and seep into his body… … it was as though they were granting him strength.

When the Floating Angel bypassed Arte to target those knights, Chen Xiaolian quickly forced himself up. He quickly produced a dagger in his hand and threw it at Arte with all his might.

He was not hoping to wound Arte, only to distract him. He wanted to give the Floating Angel some time.

He succeeded.

Seeing the dagger fly at him, Arte dared not ignore it… … Chen Xiaolian’s attack earlier had cut off one of his wings after all. Seeing Chen Xiaolian launch another attack at him, Arte dared not ignore it.

With a brandish of his sword of light, Arte easily cut down Chen Xiaolian’s dagger.

Meanwhile, Nicole, who was in Floating Angel form, had reached the knights.

She raised the Beam Blade protruding from her hand and slashed down.

Seeing the incoming attack, the kneeling knight revealed an indifferent expression. He appeared no different from a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. His head was bowed in silence as the blade swung down at his neck. Next, the blade cleaved its way through the knight’s neck.

Blood sprayed out.

The Beam Blade had cut through the knight’s armour, entering through the gap found on the neck area to send the knight’s head flying into the air.

[System prompt: Magic array countdown timer: 1 minute 44 seconds.]

Instantly, the death of the knight caused the countdown timer to decrease by 10 seconds.

[ … timer: 1 minute 34 seconds.]

Nicole took a deep breath. Viewing her personal system, she saw that her Floating Angel’s perfect form could only last for another 21 seconds.

Arte howled furiously and turned away from Chen Xiaolian. He turned and pounced toward Nicole. However, Nicole showed zero interest in fighting Arte. Her turbines operated at full capacity, sending her body backward at full speed.

At the same time, light sparkled out from the flat muzzles protruding from her shoulder plates as the Beam Cannons blasted away at full power.

Several beams of light struck another knight.

When the beams of light struck the knight, the armour he wore glowed and the glowing light seemingly blocked off several of the beams. However, it finally fell apart and the beam from the Beam Cannons finally punched through the armour to inflict damage upon the knight’s body…

Another knight killed.

[ … timer: 1 minute 21 seconds.]

Time left on her Floating Angel’s perfect form: 21 seconds.

Seeing that she had retreated far enough, Nicole quickly stopped the Floating Angel’s maximum operational state. Her armour returned to its normal operational state and her figure landed on the floor.

The time remaining for her armour’s full combat mode stopped ticking down and remained at 21 seconds.

Seeing the two dead knights, Arte released a mad roar. Nicole on the other hand, simply looked indifferently at the raging Arte. She slowly stepped back and the face beneath the visor remained calm.

Roddy, who was watching from a distance, was stunned.

That… … such a proficient level of control…

Once she landed a successful hit, she quickly pulled away to a safe distance and turned off the maximum operational state to save up on energy…

Such a proficient level of control, this woman… … how could she be so familiar with the Floating Angel?

By then, Chen Xiaolian had already shoved down a spicy bar ([Beginner] class Healing Substance) down his throat. After taking a deep breath, he forced himself to stand up and retrieved another blade from his Storage Watch. He held it aloft and shouted, “Come! I am right here!”

This time, Arte only gave Chen Xiaolian a brief glance before turning his gaze away. Arte stared intently at Nicole.

Nicole sneered. Next, she held her left palm upright, all fingers sticking out. Then, one by one, several of those fingers curled.

“Damnation! Damnation!”

Arte howled loudly and his figure leapt into the air. The angel wing on his back flapped and he instantly flew toward the Floating Angel.

Nicole reengaged her Floating Angel mech armour’s maximum operational state in a flash and the turbines blasted out at full power once more as she took on an evading stance.

The two angels began flying around the underground palace.

The two Floating Cannons were always hovering beside Nicole’s figure and they darted around like twin beams of light. However, Arte was in no way lacking when it came to speed. He moved at an astonishing pace and continued his pursuit of Nicole.

The two of them made various baffling manoeuvres in the air as they flew around and the two Floating Cannons began firing.

Muzzle flash lit up without respite from the Floating Cannons, forcing Arte to slow down. Holy light emanated from his body to create a shield of light around his body, which negated any damage from the Floating Cannons.

Nicole appeared unconcerned with this. Instead, she continued provoking Arte and pulled him away…

Chen Xiaolian realized what she was trying to do. He raised the blade in his hand and ran toward the kneeling knights…

When he reached one of the knights, he slashed down with the blade in hand.

Although it was an ordinary weapon without any special supplementary skill, it was still an equipment obtained from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s warehouse. It was comparable to [B] class equipment.

With a slash, Chen Xiaolian could feel the blade cut into the knight’s neck…

Blood gushed out and splattered Chen Xiaolian’s body…

Arte, who was pursuing Nicole, suddenly released a roar of grief. He turned around to face Chen Xiaolian, flapped his wing and sped forward. In but an instant, he appeared before Chen Xiaolian.

Arte’s sword of light descended, cutting Chen Xiaolian’s blade and drawing a line across Chen Xiaolian’s chest.

Chen Xiaolian had already snapped his body back as fast as he could, but the sword of light was still able to cut through the protective suit protecting his chest and… … his skin.

Feeling the blood flow out from his chest, Chen Xiaolian’s body tensed up. Next, it loosened up as the sensation of pain flowed forward.

If not for the protective suit, this slash would have cut Chen Xiaolian’s chest open.

Nonetheless, the [A] class protective suit obtained from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild was now cut through.

Seeing that this attack had failed to kill Chen Xiaolian in one hit, Arte wanted to attack again. However, Nicole had descended upon his back.

Her Beam Blade hacked down heavily on the remaining angel wing on Arte’s back.

Feeling the Beam Blade hacking down on his back, Arte bellowed furiously. Unfortunately, the Beam Blade failed to cut the angel wing and Arte turned around to stab his sword of light at the Floating Angel.

This time, Nicole did not dodge… … she did not even try.

As the sword of light shot toward her chest, the glow on the surface of the Floating Angel mech armour increased in intensity.

The tip of the sword of light issued crackling sounds before breaking.

Nicole grunted. Next, two flat shaped muzzle flashed out from her armour.

Main cannons! Fire at full power!

Boom!

Light burst out between the two figures and they were simultaneously blasted away.

Although Arte possessed the angel force, taking the blast from the main cannon of a Floating Angel’s full combat mode at such close distance…

His angel form body flew far away and slammed into the wall. After that, he slowly hovered down. Arte’s whole body was covered in blood. Although holy light was furiously washing over him, at least one third of his body was charred from that confrontation. The holy light worked hard to heal his wounds, but Arte struggled to float in the air.

As for Nicole, she fell to the floor and bounced up and down a few times, skidding away until she reached the corner. After coming to a halt, she forced herself to climb up.

[ … timer: 1 minute 11 seconds.]

Remaining time left for the Floating Angel’s perfect form: 16 seconds.

It was at this moment that the knight whose neck Chen Xiaolian cut finally died.

The time on the countdown timer instantly decreased to: 1 minute 01 seconds.

Likewise, the shockwave from the blast had also sent Chen Xiaolian flying a few metres away. He turned over and gasped for breath.

The countdown timer continued ticking down…

[… timer: 1 minute 00 seconds… … … 0 minute 59 seconds…]

Arte’s chest rose up and down again and again. As for the knights kneeling on the floor, there were only three of them left.

A crack had appeared on the rib area of Nicole’s Floating Angel mech armour and sparks crackled out from the crack.

Nicole took a deep breath and inspected the Floating Angel’s state from her personal system.

[Combat damage received. Parts intact: 74.5 %. Maximum operational state can be maintained for 16 seconds.]

Nicole gave a harrumph and turned to Chen Xiaolian. She shouted, “I will keep him busy! Act quickly!”

After saying that, she charged toward Arte again.

This time, Nicole did not choose to save up on energy anymore. She activated the maximum operational state of her Floating Angel mech armour.

Her figure shot forward with a flash and slammed into Arte, entangling him.

Arte had the sword of light in his hand while Nicole had the Beam Blade and Floating Cannons. Sword and blade clashed, the Floating Cannons fired and the two angels fought each other to the point where it became hard to disengage.

Although Chen Xiaolian was already exhausted, seeing the Floating Angel charge forward, he quickly understood what she meant.

He turned to look at the three knights who were kneeling not too far away from his position…

It felt difficult to even more his fingers…

“Goddess of Dawn… … combust!”

Chen Xiaolian forced his body upright as he brought out another sword…

This was the last weapon in his Storage Watch.

Too many of the weapons he obtained from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s warehouse had been damaged. At present, Chen Xiaolian was left with no other weapons but this.

Wielding the sword, he combusted his attributes.

All of Chen Xiaolian’s attributes swiftly fell. All of them were transformed into power and it flowed into the sword.

This normal sword trembled and wailed….

Finally, Chen Xiaolian got down with one knee on the floor and aimed his sword at the three kneeling knights. This was the last attack in his arsenal.

Sword beam!

…

Arte’s sword of light pierced into Nicole’s shoulder, cutting off the cannon muzzle on the shoulder plate and part of her mech armour. The bone on Nicole’s shoulder was laid bare and blood sprayed out…

Chen Xiaolian’s sword beam stabbed into one of the knight’s chest, instantly cleaving his heart.

[ … timer: 0 minute 56 seconds… … 0 minute 46 seconds.]

Arte howled in response and forcefully slammed Nicole away. However, by the time he turned to face Chen Xiaolian, Nicole’s Beam Blade had already shot out toward his back.

Arte screamed in misery. Holy light radiated from his body but the Floating Angel mech armour responded by releasing a scorching radiance. Sparks of electricity were discharged out at the same time.

Chen Xiaolian’s sword beam cut into the second knight’s head.

The sword beam cut through the knight’s armour and hacked into the knight’s forehead, splitting the knight’s head into two.

[ … timer: 0 minute 44 seconds… … 0 minute 34 seconds.]

Arte frantically attempted to throw Nicole off his back. His sword of light succeeded in stabbing into Nicole’s back.

This attack of his succeeded in cutting the Floating Angel. Nicole’s Floating Angel mech armour was only able to withstand this attack for a moment before it cut its way in. As a result, blood sprayed out from Nicole’s back. One of the thrusters on the back of the mech armour was also cut out.

The one remaining thruster only allowed Nicole to hover about shakily. However, Nicole manoeuvred it so that she could make a quick circle and fall upon Arte’s back. Nicole shot out both arms to hug Arte tightly.

Arte howled out again and struggled with all his might. Next, he shot backward, sending the both of them slamming into the wall of the underground palace.

Nicole spat out blood but she refused to let go.

[ … timer: 0 minute 30 seconds… … 0 minute 20 seconds.]

This sword beam from Chen Xiaolian finally reached the last knight’s throat.

It pierced right through the knight’s throat.

Although the knights were wearing armour, the sword beam that had everything put into it became like a drill, piercing through all three knights, killing them all off on the spot.

If not for Nicole entangling Arte, this attack would not have gained such an effect.

In the end, this attack succeeded.

After his last three companions died, the light on Arte’s body suddenly grew dim.

The powers of faith coming from the knights were lost. Although the atmosphere of strength coming off Arte’s body did not diminish, a noticeable change came over his body.

His pale face rapidly grew old and the flesh on his body began to wither. He seemingly grew old in an instant, a process that could be witnessed by the naked eye.

Arte roared again and again and his figure darted about but Nicole refused to let go.

Then, Arte suddenly made a shocking act.

Gripping his sword of light with both hands, he flipped the sword and stabbed it into his own chest.

This was practically an act of suicide.

The sword of light moved unimpeded into Arte’s chest. Then, it continued, making its way out from his back and into Nicole’s body.

It pierced right in. Nicole screamed out wretchedly and finally let go. Arte furiously pulled out the sword of light and turned around to deliver another stab.

Despite the pain, Nicole was still a genius of combat within Zero City’s Angel Corps. Her well-honed combat reflexes allowed her to dodge the incoming attack.

Although she succeeded in evading the stab to her throat, the sword of light struck her arm and the mech armour protecting her arm broke. Her arm hung limply as a result. Arte’s sword stabbed at her once more. This time, it was aimed at her abdomen.

Nicole twisted her body and she fell to the side…

At this moment…

[ … timer: 0 minute 13 seconds.]

Nicole’s figure was on the floor and her Floating Angel mech armour’s thruster blasted out at full power to push her away, creating a distance between her and Arte.

Finally…

[Floating Angel maximum operational state ended. Now turning off.]

The Floating Angel mech armour on Nicole transformed into a beam of light and disappeared, leaving Nicole, whose entire body was covered with wounds.

As Nicole lay there, Roddy struggled to crawl up to her. Without giving any explanation, he shoved a healing substance down her throat.

“Swallow it!”

Arte gasped. His face now resembled that of a sixty-year-old man. He had long since lost his helmet in the earlier battle and his hair was now all white.

Moreover, they were devoid of lustre like withered grass.

“All of you! All of you will die!”

Arte first charged toward Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian no longer had the strength to even move. After using the Goddess of Dawn skill, which had combusted all his attributes, it was considered a miracle for him to remain conscious. Where was he to find the strength to evade this attack?

Although Arte’s movements were shaky, he continued charging at him. Chen Xiaolian looked at the countdown timer.

[ … timer: 0 minute 8 seconds.]

Arte arrived before Chen Xiaolian and his sword of light stabbed toward him…

[ … timer: 0 minute 7 seconds.]

Chen Xiaolian exhaled and forced himself to raise his hand. He summoned Garfield out once more.

The sword of light hacked one of the Garfield doppelgangers, sending whatever was left flying. Another doppelganger was caught in a chokehold and Arte threw it away.

[ … timer: 0 minute 5 seconds.]

The two Garfield doppelgangers fell to the floor in a near death state before returning into the system.

Arte raised his sword again and stabbed at Chen Xiaolian once more.

[ … timer: 0 minute 4 seconds.]

Chen Xiaolian could feel the tip of the sword of light piercing his chest. He could feel the pain coming from his pierced ribs.

Perhaps… this is death… … however… even by killing me, he won’t have enough time to get to the others… … everyone… … will probably be safe…

Chen Xiaolian closed his eyes.

However… … the final moment that he was expecting did not come.

Chen Xialian opened his eyes and was greeted by a scene of absolute despair.

Qiao Qiao!

Unknown to him, Qiao Qiao had managed to climb to his side. She was on her knees and both her hands tightly gripped… …

Arte’s sword of light.

Both her hands had become charred. Before the light from the angel force, her Child of Darkness skill quickly fell apart.

She bit her lips and blood stained the corners of her mouth. Despite all that, she continued to grip the blade of the sword of light, not letting it pierce into Chen Xiaolian’s body.

Holy light!

Holy light!

The holy light seemingly found a place to vent. Seemingly very responsive toward the scent of darkness coming off Qiao Qiao’s body, it unleashed a dazzling radiance as a tidal wave like holy light invaded Qiao Qiao’s body through the blade of the sword.

Boom!

Amid the brilliant radiance of light, a powerful force blew Chen Xiaolian, Qiao Qiao and Arte away and they were sent rolling on the floor until they were tens of metres away.

Chen Xiaolian lay with his back against the floor. He forced himself to turn over and direct his eyes at Qiao Qiao…

In the afterglow of the light, he could faintly make out Qiao Qiao’s figure.

A clump of holy light enveloped her body.

Little by little, the holy light broke her body apart as it devoured her…

Bit by bit, her body deteriorated.

Qiao Qiao’s body gradually turned transparent.

Chen Xiaolian howled with all his might, but no sound could come out from his battered body. His mouth was opened as he attempted to scream. However, there was only silence.

His fingers clawed the floor as he forced himself forward, trying to move toward Qiao Qiao.

Qiao Qiao straightened her body and looked at Chen Xiaolian.

Her body began disappearing from within the clump of light… … threads of black smoke swirled about… … that was… …

A power that was burning out!

“Actually… … the moment I found out about my skill, I realized one thing.”

Qiao Qiao’s body was bathed in holy light and she became even more translucent to the eye. Even so, she smiled at Chen Xiaolian.

Blood trickled down her charming face.

“ … I realized that … … I would likely be unable to accompany you till the end… …

“Xiaolian… … take care, you must…

“Live…

“Like what you said back on the roof that day….

“Must…

“Live.”

Finally, the beautiful yet poignant face disappeared into the nimbus of holy light.

Completely…

Disappeared.

No more.

…

[ … timer: 0 minute 0 second.

[ Quest complete.]

Chen Xiaolian lost the ability to see anything. All he could see was the place Qiao Qiao was at when she disappeared.

Then… … everything disappeared.

His eyes fell shut.

…