Chapter 684: Seven!

Chapter 684 Seven! 

“What is the matter? Did the blast earlier scare your pants off?” Nicole looked down at Tian Lie and said, “Are you wondering what would happen to you if you were to get hit by this?”

“There is nothing to be scared of.” Tian Lie shook his head. “In the middle of a fight, there will not be so many immobile targets just waiting for you to shoot. I will admit that the power of that ordnance is very powerful. With my body, I may not be capable of taking even one of its hits. However, if that thing is really so good, you should have used it on me back in the Tokyo fight.”

“Moron! If I had this thing back in Tokyo, you would have died earlier,” answered Nicole as she pursed her lips to the side. Even so, she did not have that much confidence that the ordnance could really do it.

“Enough talk, new opponents have entered.” Tian Lie stretched out his hand to point at the area beneath Nicole. “Surely you don’t plan on dying here.”

“So what if they have entered?” Nicole glanced down and saw that the crater from the earlier explosion had been restored to its original form. The ground was now flat and the earlier explosion had seemingly never happened before.

Of the remaining wooden puppets, eight slowly moved into the red circle.

Nicole aimed at the new group of wooden puppets and carefully assessed the scope of the explosion as she attempted to finish off all eight of her opponents all at once. The muzzle of her ordnance began to shine with light.

After her resurrection, Nicole had snuck back into Zero City before while hiding her identity. The RX-87 Anti-matter Annihilation Ordnance was something she obtained from the West District’s flea market back then.

The Awakened one who opened the stall had managed to destroy a ground support combat fighter of a certain Echo Dragon Fighter. As the necessary trigger had been damaged, the ordnance was practically trash. Thus, Nicole had not required much to buy it up.

The power of the Anti-matter Annihilation Ordnance was truly high to the extreme. Correspondingly, however, it was not a weapon that a lone soldier could use. Not to mention, it had a long charging up time.

For Nicole, who possessed the Floater, the first issue was simple nothing. The only issue restricting her ability to use it was its charging time.

At present, however, she was facing wooden puppets who could only serve as immobile targets…

“Get away!”

Tian Lie’s roar suddenly rang out. The Anti-matter Annihilation Ordnance in Nicole’s hands had yet to finish charging when a dazzling sword shot toward Nicole.

Nicole, who was shocked by the sudden development, activated her thrusters and her figure swiftly moved backward to dodge the incoming sword. Although she managed to dodge the sword, the same could not be said for the Anti-matter Annihilation Ordnance, which was hit by the sword.

The massive barrel of the Anti-matter Annihilation Ordnance was encased by the Floater components. And yet, the sword had easily cut the ordnance into two as though it was tofu.

Following the sword was a second and third sword.

Tian Lie furrowed his brows as he looked at what was happening within the red circle. Nicole had fallen into a dire strait.

After entering the red circle, the eight wooden puppets bowed first. Immediately after that, however, they leapt up high as they unsheathed their swords and swung at Nicole.

As the previous wooden puppets had not jumped up, Nicole had chosen not to hover too high up. She was only 20 metres above ground level. Caught off guard, the encompassing wooden swords nearly hit her.

Having lost the Anti-matter Annihilation Ordnance, Nicole hastily summoned the Floater back to her body and it assumed the mech armour form once more. The Ion Pulse Sword on her right arm ignited once more as it moved to block off the swords that two wooden puppets had swung over.

The wooden puppets appeared incapable of flying. They could only depend on their legs to jump up and attack Nicole. Even so, the eight wooden puppets would take turns to jump up, making sure that there was at least one of them up in the sky at every moment.

Nicole, on the other hand, only possessed an average level of swordsmanship. Using her Ion Pulse Swords, she parried left and right as she desperately defended against their attacks. The cooperation between the eight wooden puppets were spectacular and without equal. Even though none of their attacks hit home, every time Nicole blocked and dodged them, she would be incapable of flying higher into the sky.

Every time one of them jumped up, their attack would force Nicole closer down the ground. After tens of strikes, the distance between Nicole and the ground was reduced from 20 metres to 10 metres.

Tian Lie’s frown grew deeper.

The lower Nicole fell, the easier it became for the eight wooden puppets to attack her. In the beginning, Nicole was able to defend herself, albeit barely. However, following this development, Nicole’s situation grew worse.

Every time Nicole swung her Ion Pulse Sword to block off the wooden sword attacks, she would attempt to fly higher. However, the eight wooden puppets would work together to block off any route she might take to fly up high.

That was not a fight. Rather, it was… a hunt.

“Do not move.”

Zero, who was beside Tian Lie, sensed what he was thinking and said, “The challenger enters the red circle and either defeats the wooden puppets or be defeated by the wooden puppets. This is the fixed process for this stage. It must not be disrupted.”

“Whoever said I am going in to save her?” Tian Lie rolled his eyes. “However, after hearing your words, I can’t help but feel curious about something. What will happen if I enter? Will the match be reset? Do we have to start again?”

“I do not know.” Zero shook his head. “Although these are the blockades protecting Zero City’s core, I am not the one who set them up. I can glean some superficial information, such as the way to pass through the labyrinth and the rules of this sword training stage. However, I do not have the authority to find out what will happen if the rules are broken.”

“In other words, you did not know that those puppets would evolve just now?” Tian Lie observed the fight within red circle. “In the beginning, they can only stand there and await a beating before counter attacking. Now, they move in concert to attack and hunt… … if this is the standard for eight wooden puppets, wouldn’t the fight become much harder when 16 wooden puppets appear?”

“That should be the case. Are you not confident in your abilities?”

“I have no confidence in her.” Tian Lie scoffed. “Although she is not without any melee abilities, a Floating Angel will be in a disadvantage in melee battles. Even if she somehow makes it through this match, she will probably still lose when the final 16 wooden puppets enter the circle. Right…”

Only then did Tian Lie turned around to look at Zero. With a nonchalant tone, he said, “Given how calm you look, losing this training stage will not endanger our lives, will it?”

“As long as you leave the red circle, the training will end. However, if you are killed within the red circle… … naturally, you will die.” Zero replied calmly.

“Oh?” Tian Lie raised his brows. “If she dies, I will be the only one left. Won’t there be an issue in letting me obtain the authority over Zero City? Do not forget, I am a former member of Thorned Flower Guild.”

“That is of no consequence.” Zero shook his head. “It won’t matter even if you are still a member of the guild. The command I received simply states not to let Shen seize the authority. As long as the command can be satisfied, it matters not who obtains the authority. The Floating Angel is a former member of Zero City’s Angel Corps, thereby making her a more suitable option. However, even if she fails, you can still substitute for her.”

“You sure don’t mince your words,” said Tian Lie with a smile. He turned his attention back toward the red circle and shouted at Nicole, “Come on out! Stop fighting! If you die inside, you will really die!”

The wooden puppets had finally forced Nicole down the ground. Her right arm maintained an Ion Pulse Sword while the mech armour on her left arm now formed a large shield.

It was thanks to the shield that Nicole had been able to hold on for so long without getting killed. Even so, three bloody cuts had been left on her body.

Sword marks covered the entire surface of the shield.

As an energy-based weapon, the Ion Pulse Sword could maintain its form as long as there was enough energy. However, the metal shield could not withstand the wooden swords wrapped in silvery luminescence.

Thankfully, Nicole was presently not too far from the red circle. By focusing on self-defence and pushing her thrusters to the maximum, she could escape by taking only a little damage.

However, Nicole simply gritted her teeth, ignoring Tian Lie’s words as she parried the attacks of the eight wooden puppets.

She was not just utilizing the Ion Pulse Sword on her right hand and the shield on her left. Even the energy blasters on her mech armour had popped back up. Every now and again, they would fire out energy blasts at the nearby wooden puppets. Although the wooden puppets were capable of deflecting all of the blasts, their offensive abilities were hampered as a result.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and get out of there!” The brows on Tian Lie’s face knitted tighter. In that earlier moment, Tian Lie had noticed three opportunities for Nicole to rush out from the red circle. However, Nicole had chosen not to do so. 

Instead, she suffered from several more sword wounds on her body.

“Damn it! Hurry up and get out from the red circle! This training session is over! Do you want to die!” Tian Lie’s face finally sank.

“Enough nonsense! I told you before, this stage is mine! Mine!” Despite the intense battle, Nicole turned around to shout at Tian Lie.

“You moron!” Tian Lie gritted his teeth and bellowed, “Why are you so angry at me?”

“I like it! So what…” Nicole had only just uttered those words when she heard a “bang” from behind her.

A gust of wind blasted forward as a fist nearly grazed past her face to heavily strike the upper chest area of one of the wooden puppets.

“What an annoying woman.”  As the wooden puppet was sent flying from Tian Lie’s punch, his eyes swivelled to look at Nicole and he immediately sent a kick out at Nicole’s chest.

Thankfully for Nicole, her body was protected by the Floater mech armour. Thus, Tian Lie’s foot did not make contact with a certain soft and protruding part of Nicole’s body.

The kick by Tian Lie was not too heavy and Nicole was only sent flying backward, landing beside Zero. She did not suffer any injuries from the kick.

Nicole flipped herself back up. As she was thinking of rushing back into the red circle, she saw that the red circle had disappeared.

As for Zero, he had both his hands crossed as he stood there quietly with an impassive face.

“The red circle… … why did it disappear?” Nicole was quick to ask.

Zero glanced at Nicole and shook his head softly. “You two broke the rules.”

“Broke the rules?” Nicole was taken aback. “What will happen then?”

“I do not know,” answered Zero calmly. “You will have to see for yourself what will happen next.” 

Since the beginning, Zero had shown neither joy nor sorrow on his face and had spoken with a monotonous voice. This time, however, Nicole could sense a trace of helplessness in his tone.

Tian Lie’s earlier punch had only sent the wooden puppet flying. Although it left a crack on the wooden puppet’s chest, it was not fatal.

The wooden puppet tumbled upon the ground a few times before quickly jumping back to its feet like a fish. Gripping its sword, it rushed forward once more.

As for the remaining seven wooden puppets, they had besieged Tian Lie the moment he kicked Nicole out of the red circle.

Earlier, Tian Lie’s arm had been cut by Nicole’s Ion Pulse Sword. In face of the wooden swords encased with silver luminescence, swords capable of clashing against the Ion Pulse Sword, Tian Lie chose not to face them head on. He was not that dumb.

“There is no metal in this space, how vexing.” Tian Lie’s face darkened. With a speed that did not match his stature, he dodged the sword attacks from the wooden puppets while his right hand rapidly condensed out a black-coloured sword.

As he was still forming the black sword, Tian Lie’s right hand turned with a crafty angle to stab toward the left chest area of one of the wooden puppets. The wooden puppet had no time to block the attack and was pierced by the sword attack.

The black sword released a sound, causing sound waves to spread out from the sword, shattering the wooden puppet into pieces.

There were still… … seven left.

Tian Lie pulled back the black sword while twisting his waist to dodge the attacks from the other wooden puppets. As he was about to counter attack, he suddenly noticed something. From the corner of his eyes, he saw something moving in the distance.

After the red circle disappeared, the remaining 16 wooden puppets, who had been standing outside the red circle began moving.

Meanwhile, bits and pieces of their remains left on the surrounding area began to gather and re-form, restoring the destroyed wooden puppets to a wholesome state.

The number of re-formed wooden puppets fitted the number of puppets that Nicole had destroyed earlier.

…