Chapter 246

...

The magician leaped from the rooftop, the wind howling through his hair and his clothes fluttering wildly.

The feeling of weightlessness made the whole world spin, and my timid heart seemed unable to withstand this intense stimulation, pounding against my chest in a deafening protest.

The magician burst into laughter, his trembling yet exhilarating laugh drowning out the gale: "Some things are better avoided, but some things will only get worse if you avoid them, and you will lose many important things. This is what I have come to realize now!"

Sometimes it's good to muster up the courage to face things calmly! Look at me, I'm lucky to have met you!

Yes, after the game restarted in this life, the magician was kicked out by his contracted deity because the other party actually wanted to face the challenge head-on, which seriously violated the rat's principles of conduct.

However, He was merciful; He merely angrily withdrew the emblem without imposing any further punishment.

Fortunately, thanks to the remaining divine power, the magician retained his memories and rose to fifth place on the Central Continent's combat power ranking.

The emblem flashed frequently, as if organizing its thoughts. After a long while, Xie Xubai's gentle thoughts echoed in the magician's mind.

The ideas he shared with you back then were also limited by his age and understanding, and may not have been correct.

Congratulations! You've found a way of life that truly suits you.

A whirlwind rose from the ground, catching the magician's rapidly falling body and allowing him to land safely.

The magician quickly tidied his wind-blown hair and enjoyed Xie Xubai's compliment: "Right? I think so too."

"However, I think the young man was right. At that time, there was nothing I could do but run away to protect myself. Thanks to him for saving me and teaching me how to escape, I am who I am today."

The magician let out a deep breath: "...I still really want to see him one more time."

I originally thought it was just a passing thing in my childhood, but I never expected it to take such a deep root in my heart.

The desire to find that person wasn't a momentary impulse or a proactive one; it stemmed from a general indifference towards that person, a lack of talk about them, but an unconscious glance back when hearing a familiar accent while walking down the street.

If you bump into someone with a similar figure in a crowd, you can't help but hurry up and catch up.

In the dead of night, I repeatedly recall the force with which that person gently placed their hand on my head when we met again. It was without malice, like a caress, and their face, with a slight upturn of their lips, was blurred in the sunlight.

Then the man withdrew his hand and resolutely moved forward. The wind, carrying the scent of blood, brushed past him and walked further and further away until he could no longer be seen.

The reason the coward became a magician in this life, abandoning his reclusive style and swaggering into the public eye to increase his fame, was simply because he hoped that White, if still alive, would be able to see him.

Perhaps they could meet because of this, and then he could naturally say the thank you that he couldn't say back then.

This time, he won't run away again.

The iron cavalry is near, and the earth trembles.

The magician instinctively went weak in the knees, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead and back.

He pressed his chest, slowly adjusting his breathing, and took out his signature weapon, playing cards. In a blur of motion, he quickly switched and swapped cards, swiping forward. Several playing cards rapidly grew larger, becoming as tall as buildings in the blink of an eye, resembling battle flags standing between heaven and earth!

The magician licked his dry lips, trying to distract himself, and began to bombard Xie Xubai with questions: "So what do you think is the chance of that person still being alive? Will I be able to find him after this performance?"

The strangest thing is that, perhaps because he was too obsessed, he always felt that Xie Xubai's mental strength was somewhat similar to that of the other party.

It's a pity he doesn't have the keen intuition blessed by the Rat God, otherwise...

Xie Xubai paused for a moment, then suddenly said: "Actually, he's still alive."

The magician's expression changed immediately when he thought he was hallucinating at first, but realized it wasn't an illusion.

The magician stared down at the shimmering golden emblem, incredulous, and blurted out, "How can you be so sure? Do you know him? Where is he? Why haven't I heard anything about him? And—"

Just then, an unusual fluctuation came from underground, and Xie Xubai's consciousness suddenly sharpened: [Watch your step!]

But then the magician leaped up from the spot with the speed of a rabbit, and with a loud crack, a huge, white bone spike grazed his clothes and burst out of the ground, shattering and scattering marble tiles!

The magician didn't even blink when a bone spur sharp enough to pierce a person was pressed against his face. He conjured a dark blue magic hat with star patterns and pulled out a snow-white rabbit from inside.

The rabbit leaped to the ground and instantly split into dozens of white rabbits of the same size. They rushed forward with a whoosh, their front teeth gripping the bone spur. With a single bite and a burst of force, they actually managed to bite out a huge gash.

Crack! Crack! ...

More bone spurs pierced the ground, rapidly approaching the magician like lit fuses, but the little guys nimbly darted away, gnawing away, and in the blink of an eye, only half of them remained, buried in the ground.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of white rabbits split into hundreds, and they all turned over, dug into the soil, and burrowed into the ground.

The earth trembled violently, as if a fierce battle had erupted underground. Before long, several giant skeleton monsters were dragged out of the ground by the red-eyed rabbits and feasted on them.

The magician activated the emblem and used divine power, his toes barely touching the air as he burst forth with a burst of energy, shooting off like a rocket. The moment he landed in the monster horde, he pulled out a deck of cards, flipping his fingers to reveal a heart pattern.

The monsters around him roared and pounced on him, crashing into the heart card that the magician had thrown out.

The crisp sound of gold coins rang out, and they stood still with a ding. They tilted their heads and stuck out their tongues blankly. Their eyes rolled rapidly, changing from fruits to vegetables and finally to two huge red hearts. As if bewitched, they turned around in a daze with a look of intoxication, and then revealed their blood-red mouths to bite the throats of the other monsters!

The charm effect spread among the monster horde, with dozens or even hundreds of monsters turning against them in minutes, but that wasn't the end of it.

The magician leaped into the air, aiming at the largest one-eyed giant in the monster horde. It was greenish-blue, had horns on its head, and stood on all fours, dragging a heavy siege engine with a clang.

He rushed over, pulled a white scarf from his shirt pocket, and under the blessing of the golden light, the palm-sized white scarf instantly became infinitely large!

The thin, flowing edges of the scarf fluttered and danced in the howling wind, like silk falling from the sky, seemingly able to cover half the sky.

The magician, exhausted from his work, was drenched in sweat, his eyes bloodshot, and he pulled down a huge scarf to cover himself.

A burst of dazzling golden light erupted from beneath the scarf, like a black hole from another dimension, swallowing the roaring one-eyed monster whole! In the end, only a thin white cloth remained on the ground!

All was silent.

The monsters seemed to be stunned and stood frozen in place. At this moment, the magician roared and, with a clever move, turned around 360 degrees, causing the huge white cloth to billow up in the wind!

Countless white doves, enveloped in golden light, emerged one after another from under the cloth, flapping their wings and taking flight at the same time. Like a white storm, they swept across the entire battlefield in an instant. Beneath the fluttering, pure white feathers, the enemy soldiers were covered in blood and flesh, screaming in agony. The scene was truly earth-shattering!

The moment the magician turned on the live stream, the viewers and fans who rushed in were suddenly struck by the stunning scene. The magician's powerful and elegant posture was imprinted in their minds, and one after another, they excitedly covered their faces and screamed!

But the magician stood beneath the sky, staring blankly at the golden light swirling in his palm, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

Each person's mental strength is unique; it is a symbol of their will and a mark that no one can fake.

While using this golden divine power, the magician seemed to realize something.

Some sharp-eyed viewers noticed something amiss.

Could the God-Chosen One emblem on the magician's hand be Xie Xubai's?!

It's Xie Xubai! I just came from Xu Ji's live stream! Oh my god! Double fandom joy!!

But the next second they were suddenly stunned.

It was only because the little magician, who was always calm and confident in front of the live broadcast camera, suddenly had red eyes and silently shed tears.

But the young man was also smiling, his lips curving upwards as if he had suddenly encountered a once-in-a-lifetime event, and was weeping with joy: "The Rat God is right, there are always such coincidences in this world, hahaha..."

The magician held up the golden light, making it float in front of him, then stepped back two steps and quickly changed his clothes in less than half a second, wearing a tailcoat and a top hat.

Snow-white dove feathers fluttered down, wiping out all the hideous monsters. The colorful light emanating from the playing cards shone on him like a spotlight. There was no more magnificent and grand stage than this.

The eyes of tens of thousands of people in the live broadcast room were focused on the magician, whose eyes were red and whose lips were smiling. Suddenly, he bowed at a 45-degree angle and solemnly removed his hat to pay his respects to Jin Guang.

"...Actually, there's another reason why I don't want to run away anymore. It stems from a chase I saw on a live stream many years ago. Everyone was running, but no one survived."

"...When I was running away, I didn't care about anything else. My eyes were only focused on what was in front of me. It wasn't until then that I suddenly realized that I was able to escape successfully not because I ran so fast, but because someone hadn't run away and had blocked the dangers coming from behind."

The emblem remained silent, but the magician knew Xie Xubai was listening. His laughter trembled as he finally managed to utter those words.

"Long time no see, I am very grateful."

.

Golden light, following the inheritance of will, shuttles between heaven and earth, its tail flame elongating and scattering fine radiance, like a shooting star breaking through layers of dark clouds.

It soared to the twenty-fifth floor of the Black Tower, witnessing players from all over the world setting aside prejudice and discrimination, putting aside old and new grudges, and working together to resist the attack of the monster horde.

It flew over the twenty-sixth floor of the Black Tower and saw the player, covered in wounds and lying on the ground, struggling to get up from the pile of corpses once again. The hideous wounds healed and regenerated, and the broken spine straightened up again and again.

The points panel was constantly filled with donations, as viewers outside the live stream were cheering wildly for the warriors.

It swooped down from the twenty-seventh floor of the Black Tower, disappearing into the exhausted ranks, passing over the warriors' blood-stained faces and violently heaving chests.

The medical team was busy coming and going, and the light of healing flickered in the billowing black smoke, illuminating the bloodied and mangled bodies before them.

Some of them were so exhausted that their legs trembled and their fingers spasmed reflexively, and they sat on the ground covered in dust.

Some people have only one leg left, or neither leg at all. Their only movable hand is either gripping a staff tightly or pulling the trigger of an enchanted gun.

They blinked rapidly, their eyes drenched in sweat, trying to shake off the drowsiness brought on by their injuries. They looked up, their sharp gazes fixed on the mission panel in mid-air.

In about five minutes, the lord of this level will lead the enemy army in a full-scale attack.

Someone shouted, "Sir, say a few more words!"

The general, addressed as "commander," raised his head. His face was covered in blood, whether from the enemy or himself, mixed with black mud, making his features unrecognizable. He looked extremely disheveled.

Yet those eyes remained bright and resolute, still radiating a sharp and determined light.

He said in a hoarse, deep voice, "Unlike other players selected by the All-Out War mode, everyone here is a warrior who voluntarily entered this trial through a show of hands at the mobilization meeting. So I won't go into too much detail about everyone's determination to fight against the game."

“I really like a saying that came from the Central Continent. It’s also popular in our continent. Some of you may have heard of it: ‘Every generation has its own Long March.’”

“I hate the system, I despise this world where we have to survive through killing, deception and betrayal, but complaining won’t solve anything.”

“We must look back at the bewildered and frightened faces of the children, at the worried and sorrowful eyes of the elderly, and then calm down at this moment, stand up like our predecessors, and take up arms.”

The countdown to the mission is drawing to a close, the seconds ticking away crisply.

The flow of time seemed to be dragged on infinitely.

Everyone's heart pounded, their breathing quickened, and beads of sweat gathered on their taut jawlines before slamming heavily to the ground.

Rolling dark clouds obscured the sky, and vast swathes of darkness spread like a tide, until the last ray of light shone into their eyes, shining brightly.

"The Infinite Game is a hardship we must face. Someone has to do it. If it's not you, not me, it will be someone else."

"This also means that if you fall, if I fall, someone else will rise up, raise the weapons in our hands, and repeat the path we are walking."

The general said, "But before that, we will fall first to pave the way for them."

From afar came the monstrous roars of rampage, and iron hooves kicked up clouds of sand that shot straight into the sky, like a black tsunami crashing down.

"Now obey my orders!"

The general stood up, looked around at every face before him, and roared: "Fight to the very end, never surrender!"

From all directions, countless soldiers responded with thunderous shouts: "We will never surrender!!"

.

Golden light traced the emblem of will on the backs of the warriors' hands, then soared into the sky once more, arriving at the twenty-eighth floor of the Black Tower.

The blonde girl in the wheelchair looked down at the pollutants rushing towards her from below the cliff, rolled up her heavy skirt to her knees, and tapped her knees lightly with her fingers.

*Snap*

This strike seemed to shatter some kind of disguised restriction.

The girl's legs flickered incessantly, transforming from legs into slices of leg bones, revealing clearly the blood-red veins and white marrow. In the blink of an eye, they were divided into several segments, rapidly switching like blocks of flesh.

She said casually, "I'm not in pain. All this trouble you're causing is exhausting for yourself and disgusting to others."

The movement of the legs stopped, and a roar of a trapped beast, filled with rage and shame, came from beneath the skin.

Something was sealed beneath those legs!

"Alright, alright," Lilith said casually, a fluorescent light of spiritual energy appearing in her palm. "Get out there and get to work. I'm warning you in advance: if you don't want me to give you to the lambs as a supplement, don't try anything funny."

Her demeanor at this moment was no different from when she was facing Xu Qingran; her eyes were smiling, elegant, and poised, and even her tone was gentle.

The sealed beast shuddered violently, and after a long while, it snorted reluctantly, as if in response to compromise.

"That's a good child."

A perfectly curved smile played on her lips, as if drawn with a ruler, as she slowly and methodically used her mental power to put the reins on the giant beast.

Golden light descended and lingered beside the wheelchair.

Lilith paused as if sensing something.

After a while, she naturally leaned back in her wheelchair, seemingly unconcerned about the sudden appearance of the golden light—provided that one could ignore the smile that had vanished from the corners of her mouth.