Chapter 222: Chapter 222 – “The Mage Under The World Tree” Cleared!
In the seventh checkpoint, Zach, the commander of the Watchmen of the Federation, stood on the tall platform in the middle of the black sea. He looked at the scene unfolding in the middle of the battlefield and was visibly perplexed. Eventually, he asked the blond mage: [Sir Mage, is she also from the World Tree?]
The other Extraordinaire commanders also heard the question and moved closer to listen to Mage’s answer.
They were naturally very curious about that.
That was because… the battle this time seemed unexpectedly easy.
The enemy—who was named ‘The Ultimate Evil’—had already been trapped in his original position. For safety reasons, the Extraordinaire forces remained on the sidelines and simply shot at the enemy with their weapons.
What they were surprised at, was the person who was currently in the fight.
That was because they all recognized that person.
It was her, the one and only female character in “A Strong Warrior Ascends 10,000 Meters”. Known as the strongest human on the earth, she was the Goddess who climbed to the mountain peak without any sleep or rest for five days and five nights straight!
In those videos, her shocking combat ability was not fully displayed. It even seemed like she was not much different from an ordinary person.
However, in this mystery realm, the ‘Goddess’ suddenly turned into a true goddess. She had an invisible energy shield around her, and her attacks were able to impact and disrupt that of ‘The Ultimate Evil’. She was chasing and attacking the enemy single-handedly, with barely any chance for the enemy to retaliate.
The enemy still managed to cast occasional attacks, such as Springs of Blood Knives, which caused great damage to the Extraordinaire forces, further highlighting the power of the goddess to the Extraordinaire commanders.
The enemy was fast, had an extremely high defense ability, and the effects of his magic spells were also widespread and extremely brutal. Without Mage and the Goddess, the Extraordinaire forces could not possibly defeat the enemy.
Apart from the angel Zach, virtually no one else could fight against Merlin face-to-face—and even for Zach, he had to focus on dodging Merlin’s attacks, or else he would be split into multiple corpses by Merlin’s Blood Knife.
That was why Zack was the most surprised amongst all of the Extraordinaires there. He certainly could not understand how the Goddess, who was at most an expert in surviving in the wild just over two months ago, could have turned into a master at battle in such a short period of time.
Even Zach himself had spent more than half a year developing a set of fighting styles and techniques, to adapt to his Angel Awakening.
However, if Zach knew the truth, he might jump in fury—it actually only took three seconds for the Seeker to become the strong warrior she was in the battle at present.
Upon entering the seventh checkpoint, Ren Suo spent three seconds to equip the Seeker with Fighter Novice, the Allure of Sweet Dreams, Ability: Clothes, Ability: Lock, Ability: Heal, Heart-Strengthening Ability, Touch of Recovery, the Secret Records of Glorious Xuan: Chapter 1, as well as other abilities.
Following this, the Seeker turned into the terrifying warrior she was currently.
Her entire body was covered with the most durable [Clothes], and her hands were lined with the sharpest [Clothes], as well as a [Lock] which could restrict the movement of the enemy. When she was hurt, she could instantly perform [Heal] on herself. Furthermore, in close combat, [Fighter Novice] allowed her to continuously target Merlin’s joints and impact the direction of his attacks—after all, Merlin still took the form of a human, even though he was a monster.
Although the Seeker’s combat power was certainly still not as strong as ‘Ren Woxing’ or ‘The All-Devouring Spirit’, Ren Suo already saw through the potential of her character. She was the only one of the available characters who could neglect the restriction of the ability slot and was a special unit who was able to utilize all of the abilities Ren Suo possessed.
In a MOBA game, she would be equivalent to a champion who was able to use any skill in the game.
The strength of the Seeker depended entirely on Ren Suo. When the Seeker was weak, she would be a mere mortal, but when Ren Suo acquired sufficient and strong abilities, the Seeker could become a terrifying character.
Amongst the game characters which Ren Suo possessed, the potential of the Seeker was certainly comparable to Ren Woxing and The All-Devouring Spirit, other than Irina—Ren Suo had never used Irina to fight in reality, so he could not ascertain her relative strength.
The silver-haired mage said: [There are only mages in the World Tree, so she is naturally not from the World Tree.]
Zach asked: [Why did she appear here then?]
The silver-haired mage replied: [It is because The Ultimate Evil is too strong. Even with your help, in addition to us, mages, we may not be able to defeat him for certain. The Seeker was still in the present world recently, so the mages at the top of the World Tree discussed with the Heavenly Palace and decided to have her help us out this time.]
When the words ‘Seeker’, ‘mages at the top of the World Tree’, and ‘Heavenly Palace’ were mentioned, all of the commanders were visibly shaken.
Caroline had communicated with Mage on numerous occasions and knew that he would not beat around the bush, so she asked: [Does the ‘Seeker’ refer to that strong, blonde girl? Why is she called the ‘Seeker’?]
The blond mage replied: [Yes, she is. That is not a name decided by us, but by the Heavenly Palace. It refers to those who perfectly understood the will of the heavens and became one with the heavens based on their own efforts—not that I know what that means exactly. Regardless, such talents are one in a million, and they will be directly accepted by the Heavenly Palace as one of its members. They all have a common name: Seeker.]
The commander of the Changjiang team had a mysterious look on his face. He asked: [I have this feeling that the abilities that the Seeker are using seem to be…]
The blond mage said initiatively: [The Seeker came from Xuan Nation. I do not know the specifics of the Seeker’s abilities either, but it is said that the Seeker’s learning ability is extremely strong. She is capable of learning anything, and she is able to master all that she learns.]
The message was very clear: while the Seeker was extremely powerful now, her abilities were all learned from Xuan Nation.
The other Extraordinaire commanders cast glances at the commander of the Changjiang team—who knew that Xuan Nation was so great!
Although the commander of the Changjiang team was slightly embarrassed, he merely pretended to calmly accept the praise: ‘Indeed, that’s how great we are.’
However, he was also determined to investigate when he returned: Who exactly imparted the abilities to the Seeker! The identity of anyone who logged onto the Knowledge Web clearly had to be authenticated! There had to be a traitor inside!
In the meantime, the traitor Ren Suo was deliberating if he should purchase a few more abilities as a backup. However, he was no longer interested in tier 1 abilities, but tier 2 abilities were probably still out of his league… Even if he could buy them in the Knowledge Web, he might not even be able to have a basic grasp of them.
If he could not have a basic grasp of the abilities, they would not become an ability in the [Equipment] interface.
Fortunately, the accumulated abilities he had acquired thus far were sufficient for the Seeker to suppress Merlin!
When Merlin’s remaining health dropped to 50%, the book made of human skin was sacrificed, and Librom was summoned!
That was a challenge that was almost impossible to overcome. No matter how strong the Seeker was, she could only deal with one enemy at a time. It was not possible for her to deal with two enemies at the same time.
If it were over ten days ago, Ren Suo might well have needed to sacrifice the mages, in order to attain victory while minimizing the number of sacrifices that had to be made. Only then would Ren Suo be able to kill one of the two enemies at once, by using the dozen Forbidden Spells the mages possessed. Afterwhich, the Seeker and the other people would be able to deal with the remaining enemy.
However, that was no longer required!
On the screen, the figure of the Seeker flickered, and another ‘Seeker’ appeared!
It was the effect of [Combat Fighter (Partial)]!
Since there were two bosses—Merlin and Librom—naturally, there had to be two Seekers to fight against them!
There was essentially no suspense in the remaining battle. Suddenly, Zach asked: [Why did the World Tree have to require assistance from the Heavenly Palace? Don’t you still have the mages at the top of the World Tree?]
The blond mage replied: [No, it’s not time yet.]
[Just like how the strong beings of the Heavenly Palace would not descend, the mages at the top of the World Tree would naturally not appear either.]
[That is because they would easily destroy the world.]
Ten minutes later, Merlin and Librom, who were completely suppressed by the two Seekers, finally collapsed.
Librom said: [I have been waiting for this moment… for a very long time.]
Ren Suo saw the seven female mages gathering around Librom. He was an entity that was composed of thoughts glued together. As he was turning into light, before he vanished, he bid an emotional farewell to the female mages: [Ah… I am already dead… You may all be sad for me for a short while, but do not remain sad for too long…]
[Amongst all my thoughts, the memories I have with all of you are the most important…]
Not wanting to continue listening to the endearments from the harem king, Ren Suo controlled the blond mage to approach Merlin. Merlin had now reverted back to his original human appearance as he knelt on the ground. On the ground beneath him was a circle of purification, and black smoke was billowing out of it.
At that juncture, however, the defeated Merlin said: [Your hand is a hand of salvation which has never been stained with even a drop of blood.]
[However, please sacrifice me.]
The blond mage asked: [Why?]
Merlin replied: [The Holy Grail is inside me, or rather… I am the Holy Grail.]
[The Holy Grail lives within a mage. If the mage is unable to bear this power, the mage will turn into an evil monster. In contrast, if the mage is able to bear this power, the mage would be able to stop the wishes of the world. The Holy Grail embodies the thoughts of all living beings.]
[Sacrifice me, and the Holy Grail will become the power of your right hand. You will become the source of all mages, and you will also become the carrier of both hope and despair. However… through your numerous trades with the Holy Grail, I can feel that you have the ‘strength’ to bear the power of the Holy Grail. You are sufficiently qualified.]
Trades with the Holy Grail… Was that not just spending merit points? Was this a post-victory scene which only appeared because he had spent too many merit points in the game?
[On the other hand, if you grant me salvation, the Holy Grail would turn into thoughts and fuse with your left hand, while I… will remain alive. It is very natural for a mage who had become depraved in the past to fall again. I will only turn into a monster that cannot be killed and a monster who attempts to chase after the Holy Grail. I do not think that you would want to face my attacks all day long, no?]
The blond mage replied: [I do.]
The blond mage’s reply was completely out of Merlin’s expectations.
Nonetheless, that was what Ren Suo truly thought: If additional content was added to “The Mage Under the World Tree” due to that, he would be elated. His [Jade Pendant of the Goddess of River Luo] was still ‘thirsty’! Where would he find a similarly good opportunity where the [Jade Pendant of the Goddess of River Luo] would be activated from him killing Merlin time and again?
The blonde mage extended his left hand of salvation to Merlin. A white glow of light exploded from Merlin’s body, revealing his thoughts—or rather, it portrayed the kind thoughts of the corrupted Holy Grail:
[Humans will never give up their wishes for the future.]
[With every gain, there is a loss.]
[The distress that comes when hope shatters might well be its price.]
[It’s because humans have too many desires.]
[No matter how hard times are, humans always hold on to their hopes and dreams for the future.]
[Only those who have suffered disappointment and yet continue to hope are able to change their destiny. The only thing that cannot be given up is to wish.]
[Believe in yourself, and one day, your wish would be fulfilled!]
The white glow on Merlin’s body converged, lifting his body into the air, then letting it fall to the ground gently.
On the screen, the female mages and the Extraordinaire forces were stunned as they stared blankly at Merlin.
Behind the screen, Ren Suo also stared at Merlin on the screen with his mouth wide open—it was so wide a duck egg could be stuffed into it.
The silver-haired Merlin, who wore a gray robe, walked slowly over to the blond mage. With an elegant and suave voice, Merlin said: [Your strength commanded my admiration, and your prop completely eliminated the lingering thoughts within me… I, Merlin, am willing to become your strength.]
Indeed, Merlin, who was granted salvation by Mage, had turned into a beautiful and curvy silver-haired lady!
A message appeared in the game: [The thoughts acquired by the player during the process of salvation received the acknowledgment of the Holy Grail. In accordance with the actions of the player in the game, the Holy Grail has realized some of the player’s wishes.]
The actions of the player?!
What did I say?!
Ren Suo’s eyes widened as he read the message which popped up in the game:
[Wish ①: The eight characters, including Merlin, will become special followers of ‘Mage’. When ‘Mage’ is in action, he can bring along one or more of his followers.]
[Wish ②: The special followers must be women.]
Ren Suo thought to himself, “Could it be… After I blindly made up a story about the system of mages in the World Tree, and about the fact that mages would eventually turn into females, the Holy Grail realized these wishes?”
He blinked and muttered, “Can I change the wishes… to something like ‘Ren Suo will be loved by all, even cars and coffins’…”
However, there were only a few days left to the deadline to upload the game score. There was insufficient time for Ren Suo to complete the game once more, even if he wanted to.
On the screen, the dark clouds in the sky dissipated in silence, and bright rays of sunlight fell on what remained of the tall platform.
In the seventh checkpoint, the black sea dissipated like smoke into the air to reveal the golden fields on the land beneath.
All of the female mages and Extraordinaire forces had survived. They surrounded Mage and Merlin as they bathed in the golden brilliance of the sun. Remaining still, the entire scene froze into a painting.
[All Forbidden Fruits have been purified!]
[Mission Complete!]