Free Web NovelChapter 91: Chapter 87: Combat and Counter
Lucifer hovered high in the sky, looking down below.
Based on the guidance he’d received, he knew the team holding the Holy Grail was somewhere within that vast cloud of smoke. But the sight of numerous participants fleeing from it in terror, combined with the fact that the Holy Grail had yet to change hands, was a clear testament to the Holy Grail Team’s power.
This was perfect.
Lucifer hated fighting the weak. To him, it was an utterly boring affair.
For him, the prospect of clashing with a strong opponent was even more alluring than the Holy Grail itself.
’But before that, I need to clear out these nuisances...’
Lucifer’s gaze fell upon the tightly formed Wolf Pack Team, quickly locking onto the Alpha Wolf. The latter was also watching him, his eyes filled with vigilance.
WHOOSH—!
His black wings beat, and Lucifer dove down at an incredible speed. Before the members of the Wolf Pack Team could even get a clear look, several of them were killed and eliminated.
"Attack!"
At the Alpha Wolf’s command, everyone in the Wolf Pack Team with long-range items or skills unleashed them.
However, Lucifer was flying too fast. All the non-targeted items and skills missed completely. As for the targeted ones that did hit him, they seemed to be absorbed, dealing almost no damage at all.
This left many in the Wolf Pack Team shocked and bewildered.
"What’s going on?!"
"His wings are too fast! We can’t hit him!"
"Damn it, his wings are insane! Something like that should consume a huge amount of Psychic Power, right? How can he keep flying indefinitely!"
Hearing the panicked cries from the Wolf Pack, the Alpha Wolf had a sudden realization: the Tulip Federation’s intelligence agency’s theory might be true!
Ever since the Tulip Federation was founded, its intelligence agency had been dedicated to gathering information on powerful Ascenders across the globe using various means.
Lucifer of the Soloma Empire was undoubtedly one of the top Ascenders, and those black wings had become his personal trademark.
Moreover, this Lucifer had almost no sense of secrecy. He would even intentionally leak his location at times, just to attract strong opponents to battle him.
Thus, after studying the intelligence from several of Lucifer’s battles, the agency had formed a theory.
That Lucifer possessed the ability to replenish his Psychic Power by killing enemies in battle!
"Wolf Pack, hear my command!" Upon this realization, the Alpha Wolf immediately ordered, "Withdraw from the battlefield at once!"
If Lucifer could really replenish his spent Psychic Power by killing enemies, then the members of the Wolf Pack Team would just become Blood Packs to sustain him, providing him with a continuous supply of Psychic Power!
The Wolf Pack Team was disciplined and immediately obeyed the Alpha Wolf’s command, retreating as a whole.
Seeing this, Lucifer didn’t give chase. He turned his gaze to the Alpha Wolf, who was the only one to remain.
"Lucifer, I know you can replenish your Psychic Power by killing enemies. Perhaps those wings of yours have other special abilities, too. But now, it’s just me left. How are you going to replenish it now?"
Lucifer said indifferently, "By using your life, of course."
The Alpha Wolf sneered and rolled up his left sleeve. A goshawk tattoo was revealed on his left arm. As he channeled Psychic Power into it, the tattoo began to glow.
SHING!
The light from the tattoo suddenly enveloped the Alpha Wolf’s entire body. The next moment, the man was gone, replaced by a giant goshawk with a razor-sharp beak and talons!
’A Beastification Ability.’
A glint of excitement flashed in Lucifer’s eyes. The next moment, he took the initiative, beating his wings and charging toward the transformed Alpha Wolf!
After transforming into the giant goshawk, the Alpha Wolf’s Psychic Power began draining away crazily every second. He knew he had 10 seconds at most. If he couldn’t kill Lucifer within those 10 seconds, he would be the one to die!
He let out a high-pitched screech, flapped his massive wings, and collided head-on with the charging Lucifer!
In an instant, they shot past each other.
The goshawk now held a piece of flesh in its beak, torn from Lucifer’s face. However, its original target had been his throat.
And Lucifer’s hand now clutched a severed wing, ripped from the goshawk.
"ROAR!"
A massive roar erupted from behind him. Without even looking back, Lucifer beat his wings and shot upward, evading the pounce from behind.
He glanced down. The former goshawk had now beastified into another animal: a black bear. But this time, the transformation was incomplete. Only its upper body was that of a bear, while its legs remained human!
Lucifer knew this was a sign of insufficient Psychic Power. He was the same; if he couldn’t continuously replenish his Psychic Power in battle, he could only fly for less than half a minute.
’Time to end this.’
Lucifer tossed aside the goshawk wing he had torn off and dove down at full speed!
SQUELCH—!
After they crossed paths once more, the black bear collapsed to the ground, and a heart appeared in Lucifer’s hand.
"Lucifer... I won’t let you get away with this..."
The Alpha Wolf, reverted to his human form, said with difficulty. Having his heart ripped out in his beast form inflicted an equally fatal wound upon returning to his human form, one that couldn’t be healed by ordinary medicine or items.
Lucifer paid him no mind. After the Alpha Wolf died, the wings on his back immediately absorbed the man’s life force, replenishing his spent Psychic Power.
His gaze shifted back to the smoke. He hoped the people on the Holy Grail Team would be stronger than the Alpha Wolf and put him under more pressure.
...
The effect of the Thorn Shadow Killing Array far exceeded Guan Tong’s expectations.
It wasn’t just the number of casualties; more importantly, its visual impact was so intense that it had scared off a large number of participants.
Because of this, he now had a rare moment of peace.
He immediately flipped the Wordless Book to the third page and began to continuously convert his Psychic Power into reserve Psychic Power.
This was undoubtedly preparation for after the competition. The more he stored, the more confident he would be.
The key was that using the Holy Grail’s buff here to store more would save him a great deal of time.
For instance, successfully writing and manifesting the "All-In-One Sanctuary" had already saved him several months. If he could store some more Psychic Power and a few more Silver Hunter bullets, these short 30 minutes could save him a whole year’s worth of time!
In other words, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that through this challenge, he had accelerated his growth by a full year compared to other Ascenders.
This was undoubtedly very important to Guan Tong. He had no organization or faction to back him, so he could only rely on himself.
Therefore, he had to firmly seize opportunities like this. Only then could he continue to operate independently and have the confidence to confront those malicious organizations and groups on his own.
[Time until Holy Grail ownership is decided: 18 minutes]
Guan Tong enjoyed just over three minutes of peace, quietly converting 800 points of reserve Psychic Power.
Just then, the low growls of the Living Dead came from the edge of the smoke.
Guan Tong opened his eyes.
’Someone else is here?’
’He had thought he’d have more quiet time after clearing the area, but he hadn’t expected another team so soon... Huh? Is it just one person?’
Through the vision provided by his Shadows, he saw only one person entering the smoke.
The man was tall, appearing to be close to 1.9 meters, and was walking steadily toward the center after entering the smoke.
Guan Tong raised his Silver Hunter, aimed in that direction, and fired a No. 3 round.
"BOOM!"
The instant the explosion went off, the figure suddenly flew up. Guan Tong was surprised to see a pair of black wings unfurl from the man’s back.
"...First a Mecha, now someone with wings. Participating in this challenge has really been an eye-opener."
Guan Tong thought to himself, not feeling particularly nervous.
’I know that no matter how flashy an ability is, it’s all driven by Psychic Power. The more powerful the ability or item, the more Psychic Power it consumes. That’s practically a fundamental law.’
’This guy can fly with his wings, but his Psychic Power consumption must be extremely high while airborne. It’ll be hard for him to keep it up for long.’
SWOOSH—
The next moment, the figure high in the sky beat its wings and dove at high speed toward the center of the smoke.
"Shadow, grab this Birdman for me."
At Guan Tong’s thought, a multitude of Shadows instantly formed several giant black hands, reaching out to grab the diving figure.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
The giant Shadow hands reaching for Lucifer were all sliced apart by his wings the next moment. Although they quickly reformed, he had already carved a path straight to Guan Tong.
Furthermore, by beating his wings at a high frequency, he used the resulting airflow to blow away the surrounding smoke, allowing him to see his surroundings clearly.
’Those wings can’t just fly, they’re also that sharp? And they even blew away the smoke.’
Guan Tong now knew that this newcomer was no ordinary person, but likely a top-tier Ascender.
He immediately commanded a large number of Shadows to erect wall after wall in front of him, blocking Lucifer’s approach.
Lucifer didn’t hesitate, directly slicing through the walls with his wings and charging in. But he immediately realized it was a trap.
Beyond the walls were more walls, layer upon layer, seemingly endless. Similar black walls also appeared above, behind, and to his sides, sealing him in and instantly cutting off all light.
Lucifer’s vision was plunged into complete darkness; he couldn’t see a thing.
This was the same move Guan Tong had used against the team that had first entered the church. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
’No matter how strong you are, once your vision is gone, you’re immediately in a desperate situation, ready to be suffocated and killed by the Shadows.’
But Lucifer was indeed powerful. He broke through more than a dozen black walls in succession, but no matter how fast he destroyed them, he couldn’t keep up with how fast Guan Tong could create them.
In the time it took him to destroy one Shadow Wall, Guan Tong could create ten more.
By the time Lucifer broke through the twentieth Shadow Wall, his Psychic Power finally gave out, depleted with no way to replenish it.
With no Psychic Power to supply them, the "Fallen Angel’s Wings" on his back automatically retracted. Lucifer looked up and said, "To have so much Psychic Power, you must be buffed by the Holy Grail’s special effect."
"In a fair fight, I don’t believe I would lose to you. Your ability is formidable, but it’s countered by my Fallen Angel’s Wings."
"But a win is a win, and a loss is a loss. If there’s a next time, I will definitely win. Remember my name. I am Lucifer."
’Lucifer?’
Hearing the voice from within the Shadow Wall, Guan Tong’s expression turned a little strange. He remembered the second Apocalypse Rule, "Extreme Marathon," where the nickname in second place was Lucifer. Could it be the same person?
’It must be him... With those wings that allow him to fly at extreme speeds, it’s not surprising he’d get a good score in a running-based rule.’
Furthermore, Guan Tong didn’t think Lucifer was wrong. Without the Holy Grail’s buff, Lucifer’s incredibly fast and razor-sharp wings would indeed be a counter to his Shadows.
’But clearly, there was no such thing as fairness in this era of Apocalypse Rules. You can use your wings to counter my Shadows, and I can use my ability to see the hidden rules to seize the initiative.’
If possible, Guan Tong would have liked to chat with this Lucifer, but his time was extremely valuable. With only a little over ten minutes left on the Holy Grail’s buff, he really didn’t have time for small talk.
"See you at the next challenge, if there is one." After speaking, Guan Tong activated the Thorn Shadow Killing Array again. Trapped within the Shadow Wall, Lucifer was instantly impaled by several spiked shadows, dying and being eliminated.
After dealing with this troublesome enemy, Guan Tong glanced at the timer. 16 minutes remaining.
"Time’s almost up. I need to hurry."
