Chapter 534: Once Again?

The golden light spread out like a tidal wave. Like a cleansing wave, it swept away every Electronic Guardians within an area of a hundred metres. Amid the radiance of the golden light, all of the mechanical octopuses were shattered into fragments.

The continuous explosive destructions of the Electronic Guardians caused orange coloured flames to erupt throughout the battlefield. It was as though someone had started firing fireworks everywhere.

Angel Wu felt the pressure on his body lighten. The burdensome feeling he had felt despite giving it his all finally lifted and he forced himself up. Then, he saw a small human figure standing no more than five metres away from him.

It was Chen Xiaolian.

…

Chen Xiaolian had entered a strange and wondrous state.

He stood there, his hand wielding the Sword in the Stone. The blade of his sword shone and countless streams of golden light flowed out, sweeping its way into every corner.

As for Chen Xiaolian, he had his eyes closed.

Within his sea of consciousness, he could seemingly ‘see’ a peculiar image.

Within a 100-metre radius area, all was dark. Within the darkness, he saw something resembling a monochromatic movie screen.

He could see the forces on his side, the silhouettes of the battle mechs belonging to the Angel Corps. He could clearly see them all, regardless if they were in front of behind, left or right, near or far.

However, there were also some special existences within the monochromatic screen.

Red coloured clumps of light.

The clumps of light filled the screen. Some of them were latching onto the bodies of the mechs while others wreaked havoc….

Chen Xiaolian knew that those clumps of light represented the Electronic Guardians, the disgusting mechanical octopuses.

Chen Xiaolian could feel a wondrous sensation. He could feel himself controlling the golden sword beams.

This power he acquired from Skyblade was originally a discharge type of explosive power. Presently however, he brandished the Sword in the Stone and the golden light radiating out from the sword became an extension of his will. After flowing out, every sword beam became like one of his fingers, obeying his every command.

It was as though he had created countless doppelgangers of himself. Truly, a wondrous sensation.

Instinctively, one by one, he commanded the sword beams to strike every Electronic Guardian there.

Accurate, swift and ferocious.

…

Angel Wu looked to his side in a stupor. The Electronic Guardians that were latching onto his mech were all destroyed, exploding into fragments under the might of the golden light. As for his own mech, it remained unharmed. The golden light had not inflicted even a scratch upon the surface of his mech.

Such a precise execution! It is as if he knows exactly where each friend and foe lies!

Angel Wu was momentarily taken aback.

As an [S] class expert himself, he understood that such an exquisite level of precision was something so far away, he would never be able to reach. The apex!

Although every leading figure within Zero City was of the [S] class… …

To be able to control this power to such a level of detail, to such a level of precision; to be able to grasp the subtlety of this power to such lofty heights… only one person had ever accomplished this.

Skyblade!

With his strength alone, he brought a Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild that was not that powerful with him, forcing his way into one of the permanent resident seats of Zero City.

…

Since obtaining Skyblade’s power, this was the first time Chen Xiaolian entered such a wondrous state.

This state caused him to forget about everything. At that very moment, he seemingly forgot where he was and what was happening. Instead, he simply immersed himself within the feeling of mastering this power.

Almost joyfully, he controlled every one of the golden beams to attack the clumps of light that represented the Electronic Guardians.

Each time a golden beam destroyed an Electronic Guardian, he felt a joy obtained from reaching a certain comprehension within his sea of consciousness – the more he used it, the higher his comprehension became.

…

The whole process lasted less than 10 seconds.

All the mechanical octopuses within a radius of 100 metres were all cleaned up.

Every battle mech from the Angel Corps that were struggling to get up cast gazes of shock at Chen Xiaolian, who was standing in the middle of it all.

The Force Angel’s shield was already ruined. Only two thirds of the shield surface remained. Even then, there were several holes on them. As for its flail, its chain was broken and Force Angel had to use the other end of the chain to wield it. However, doing so had shortened its range of attack considerably.

The surface of the Force Angel’s mech was also filled with many gouge marks.

The same held true for the Task Angel and Phase Angel. Even the Light Angel, with a body focused on agility, who had only engaged in long-ranged support within the battlefield and not in melee was considerably damaged.

As for the other mechs belonging to the Angel Corps, they were worst off. In the short but brutal exchange earlier, with the exception of the True Angels, four were lost and another four were badly damaged. All the others had taken damage as well.

The four badly damaged mechs had already lost all mobility functions.

If Chen Xiaolian had not acted in time, it was likely that the four badly damaged mechs would end up destroyed.

…

Bluesea himself had forgotten all about firing. He continued standing behind the cannon rack and watched what was happening before him in stupor.

After the cleansing golden light passed through, all was cleared.

The distant Electronic Guardians retreated backward. This alleviated some of the pressure off the Zero City defenders who were firing at them.

There was however, a puzzling question within Bluesea’s mind. When did Chen Xiaolian rush out?

Why did he suddenly rush out?

Bluesea had not known about it. He had failed to notice it as well.

…

Chen Xiaolian stood on the same spot, the Sword in the Stone in his hand was lowered and the tip of the sword touched the ground.

However, his eyes remained closed.

He then received a prompt from his personal system.

[????: Damaged Electronic Guardians X 236, captured cognizant organic electronic life form X 6. Target objective complete.]

Chen Xiaolian was stunned.

It was at this moment that he realized the issue.

I… … why did I rush out just now?

…

Shen’s eyes were shining.

He stood and looked into the distant south street area, at where the battle was taking place.

The look in his eyes… it was as though he was going to devour someone. He really looked as if he wanted to swallow something whole.

“This… … this is the power I need!” His eyes shone with excitement.

…

“Chen Xiaolian, thank you.” Angel Wu struggled just to speak up. His communication device had taken damage earlier and he could now only use his external loudspeaker to communicate with Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and nodded his head in confusion.

“You… … that move, that is Skyblade’s power, isn’t it? He passed his power over to you?” Angel Wu gave a wry smile and said, “Back in the competition arena, I had felt it. However, I never expected that you would be able to utilize his power to such a degree. This level of mastery is in no way inferior to Skyblade himself.”

The Force Angel, Light Angel, Phase Angel and Task Angel simultaneously turned to face Chen Xiaolian. They raised their left arm and performed a gesture resembling that used by the military during ceremonies. The True Angels from the Angel Corps used that gesture to thank Chen Xiaolian for saving them just now.

Chen Xiaolian, who had finally recollected himself, felt a sudden burst of fatigue throughout his body. His mind was extremely exhausted. It was as though he had not slept for three days and nights.

He clenched his teeth with all he had and forced his eyelids to remain open. However, his legs were beginning to tremble slightly.

His arm, which was holding the Sword in the Stone, was also bombarded by wave after wave of aching pain.

He felt utterly dumbfounded.

He himself had no idea what he had done earlier.

He could not begin to understand how he had even accomplished that feat.

Suddenly, something else happened.

…

Everyone on the Player faction, Shen included, received a system prompt from the system.

When Shen read the contents of the prompt, his face turned exceptionally excited.

[System prompt: Quest revised!

[System prompt: Irregular variable detected! System has locked down on the target. Lock down duration: 1,040 seconds (~17 minutes). All Players’ quest now revised to: Kill the irregular variable! Reminder, the quest for this battle has been revised. Primary objective is now the killing of the irregular variable. The destruction of Zero City is now the secondary objective!

[By completing the primary objective, you will receive the following reward!

[Reward for killing the primary objective:

[A . Unconditional instance dungeon exemption x 20.

[B . Experience the power of [S] class for 100 seconds. (If your body is already in [A+] class, you will be enhanced to [S] class. If your body is already in [S] class, the system will immediately grant you an [S] class attack equipment.)

[C . Entry to a [Legend] class instance dungeon x 1. You will also receive an assisting outline of the instance dungeon from the system. Note: There is a probability of obtaining [S] class equipment inside [Legend] class instance dungeons! You will also be exempted from punishment should you fail to complete this instance dungeon.

[Only one person can acquire the reward for killing the primary objective.

[Condition for killing primary objective: Kill the target irregular variable; end the target’s living status.

[Reward for heavily wounding primary objective:

[A . Unconditional instance dungeon exemption x 5.

[B . Experience the power of [S] class for 20 seconds or instant enhancement to [A] class. (If your body is already in [A] class, you will be enhanced to [A+] class.)

[C . Entry to [Legend] class instance dungeon x 1. No assisting outline will be given. You will also be exempted from punishment should you fail to complete this instance dungeon.

[Reward for heavily wounding the primary objective is limited to 5 people.

[Reward for lightly wounding the primary objective:

[A . Unconditional instance dungeon exemption x 1.

[B . An [A] class equipment from the Exchange System. You may select which equipment you want.

[Reward for lightly wounding the primary objective is limited to 10 people.

[Should the primary objective die within a chaotic situation, the system will calculate the damage dealt to the primary objective by the participants. The participants who dealt the highest damaged and the lowest damage will be calculated out and the rewards will be distributed accordingly.]

After receiving and reading through the system prompt… …

All the Players entered a frenzy state.

Issuing out such a lucrative reward was an unprecedented action by the system.

In but an instant, all the Players’ eyes turned bloodshot and their rate of breathing grew ragged. The desire for battle surged through their hearts as they rubbed their fists and turned to look at the south street.

An eye-catching red dot had appeared on their personal radar. It was within the south street area, somewhere not too far away from the Board of Patriarchs’ building.

The lucrative reward.

The reward was so lucrative it would lead any Player to throw their lives away for it.

It could give any Player the chance to rise up the ranks of power.

Among them all, Shen was the only one to stand quietly.

There was a tangled expression on his face.

Next, this mysterious Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild spoke to himself again. He was the only one who could hear what he said.

“As expected, it is happening … … once again, humph!”