Chapter 102 Chapter 102 Charge.
Su Cheng woke up drowsily. There seemed to be flickering white light in front of his eyes, and his head hurt a little.
She sat on the broad, cold, dark stone platform, watching the runes fade away and return to darkness.
"...What's going on?" She rubbed her temples. "What happened just now?"
"Something went wrong." Kai looked up at the completely darkened archway. "The Trial Gate can no longer be activated. It looks like someone has destroyed it."
Su Cheng nodded and wanted to stand up, but still felt tired, so he subconsciously stretched out his hand.
The black-haired man glanced at her, and his huge figure walked past quietly without responding to her movements.
Su Cheng silently got up and asked, "So, shall we go back?"
This is a relic from thousands of years ago, so it is normal that it cannot be used. Although she feels a little regretful, she is not very sad. It is worthwhile to come and see it.
Kai didn't say anything.
He raised his head slightly and looked upwards. In the cave shrouded in black fog, there seemed to be a slight vibration.
Su Cheng also felt something was wrong.
She seemed to hear some kind of low hum, like a heart buried deep underground began to beat, the platform under her feet trembled slightly, and then the frequency began to accelerate.
Loud noises came from all directions, and the slowly swirling black fog surged like a rising tide, then was torn apart and shattered by some invisible force.
In the dim light, she vaguely saw the dome above, with countless jagged black rocks and inverted dark crystals hanging down, like the mouth of some giant beast.
“…Is this normal?”
Su Cheng looked at the team leader next to him and reached out to tug at the man's wristband.
He immediately raised his hand, as if he didn't like her touching him, or as if it was just an unintentional action.
"No," he whispered, "someone's coming."
Su Cheng frowned and looked at him, silently casting a few spells on himself, "Do you know who it is?"
Before he finished speaking, the archway behind them began to vibrate, and countless spider-web-like cracks appeared on the smooth and flawless obsidian.
Click——
After a crisp sound of breaking, a crack exploded from the top of the arch, spreading rapidly downwards and penetrating the entire platform.
The fog curtain inside the door also began to flicker, as if it would collapse at any time.
But in a flash, the entire cave began to fall apart.
Broken stalagmites and crystal clusters fell like rain, debris flew everywhere, the rock pillars supporting the cave collapsed one after another, and the entire ground began to surge and undulate.
Soon cracks appeared in the ground.
Su Cheng had already floated in the air, thus avoiding falling to his death. He was now casting more protective spells on himself.
Amidst the chaos of the earth-shattering collapse of heaven and earth, a beam of dazzling golden light shone down from above.
The light stretched across the sky and quickly grew thicker, completely piercing through the dome of the cave, sending dust and debris falling like snow.
The falling golden light is like a torrent.
Pure gold without any impurities was burning in the darkness, shattering the thick fog.
It exudes a sacred and majestic absolute will. Just looking at it gives people an eerie feeling of being burned and purified.
A stream of golden light swept through the cave, evaporating all the black mist, shattering the crystals into powder, vaporizing and dissipating the rocks, and everything in sight fell apart.
Su Cheng dodged the golden light in a panic. Although she was not sure what the consequences would be if it hit her, she didn't want to try it.
She stumbled upwards until she saw the gloomy sky of the canyon and the densely packed paladins suspended in the air.
Su Cheng: “…”
Those gorgeous and dazzling platinum armors, under the blessing of holy magic, exude a holy and dazzling luster.
At first glance, there were at least thousands of fully armed knights, all of whom had flying mounts. In the front were several ferocious flying dragons, which were huge in size, with a wingspan of more than 30 meters. Behind them were various magical beasts, like a heavy dark cloud hanging in the sky.
The leading Paladin raised the spear in his hand and pointed it at her from a distance, "Heretic—"
Su Cheng turned his head and looked around.
Kai still didn't show up.
She wondered if the captain had hidden himself in some way since he said he wanted to rest.
Su Cheng: "I'm not a heretic."
After saying this, she suddenly remembered that she had the mark of the phantom god. Although she could not use that power yet, if she was discovered by the people of the Holy See, this title would be confirmed.
She suppressed her guilty conscience and said, "I just stumbled into this place by mistake. I don't really know what's going on here—"
The Paladin in the air sneered, "If you are not a pagan who wants to resurrect a false god, then prove your identity!"
Su Cheng: "Do you want an Imperial Citizen ID? Or do you want me to prove it?"
The man looked down at her, and suddenly raised his hand to cast a healing spell.
Su Cheng felt a golden light passing through his body, and a warm feeling came over him.
——This is indeed just an ordinary healing magic, which does no harm to humans, but for many dark races, this power of light will burn them.
"You are indeed a human," the Paladin leader whispered, "Where is your accomplice? Where did he go?"
Su Cheng blinked blankly, "What accomplice?"
"Stop pretending! Without a dragon or a dragonborn leading the way, with your strength, there's no way you'd reach this place alive!"
The Paladin sneered contemptuously, "And you still have the breath of dragons on you—"
Su Cheng: "Is it possible that this place is full of dead dragon bones? If you stand here for a while, you will be full of the aura of the dragon clan."
The Paladin seemed to be enraged by her and swung his spear violently. "Are you going to tell me or not?"
Su Cheng: "I really don't know anything. I didn't see anyone running away or hiding anywhere. I can swear -"
Before he could finish his words, two huge flying dragons suddenly swooped down, their terrifying screams coming from far away, and their broad wings cast terrifying shadows.
It was difficult for Su Cheng to describe the feeling.
Speaking of powerful beings, she had faced gods more than once, and their pressure was naturally not comparable to that of this dragon clan.
However, even the Pure God who treated her the worst—
It was more of a threat and dissatisfaction, and he didn't actually attack her.
"Die, heretic!"
The paladin on the dragon's back drew out his long sword, golden-red flames flickered on the blade, and his fighting spirit condensed into numerous sword shadows in the air.
At the same time, the flying dragon opened its sharp claws, and the huge claws chopped down like a sickle, looking like they could easily cut a person into pieces.
At this moment, time was stretched sticky and slow.
Su Cheng heard his own heartbeat, which almost tore his chest apart due to tension and fear.
She tried to call upon the power of the gods but failed, perhaps because she failed to meet the necessary conditions or perhaps because she was too distracted.
She had no time to figure it all out.
The brain seemed to have fallen into a brief blank and could no longer think about tactics.
——Perhaps it was because she knew that with her magic power and fighting spirit, she could not cause any substantial damage to the flying dragon.
This no longer felt like a battle.
She felt like weeds preparing for a flash flood, or gravel about to be buried by a tsunami.
The flying dragon roared loudly, and the crimson dragon breath brewed in its abdomen. A little light could be vaguely seen through the gaps between its tight scales.
This fire-attributed dragon flame is enough to burn warriors below level five into ashes.
It was a landslide rushing towards a weed, a tsunami rushing towards a grain of sand.
She heard the sound of a flying dragon's wings flapping through the air, and a roar rolling from deep in its throat, and the gravel on the ground seemed to be rustling and jumping.
The terrifying wind pressure approached her head, and she staggered back a few steps, almost unable to stand.
At that moment, Su Cheng felt as if he had seen his own ending.
She will die like this.
In this cruel world, like countless lives that wither like weeds, death is trivial and meaningless.
——But when I think about it this way, it seems that there is no problem.
Why do you think you are special?
Why do you feel like you should have a different ending?
Su Cheng drew the big sword behind him.
Even without hope, even with fear—
But there are always those who are destined to fail and charge towards an invincible enemy.
It’s like trying to write a perfect final chapter for your life in the last possible time.
That's it.
Thoughts flashed very quickly, countless ideas went through my mind, but in reality only a short time had passed.
She gripped the hilt tightly, and the surging fighting spirit poured in quickly and smoothly. A pitch-black flame ignited on the dark long blade, drawing a crescent arc in the air.
Su Cheng never wanted to be a hero.
She just wants to survive, but in this world, this may not be a simple wish -
The life she wanted was probably to study magic in a leisurely manner, enjoy delicious food from time to time, and raise a few cute magical beasts.
However, even if there were no troubles or inexplicable curses, there were countless magicians who died due to failure in advancement or loss of control of forbidden techniques.
So who can guarantee that everything will go smoothly?
If she is destined to face death, she must do so with a calm attitude and end it like a warrior.
The roaring dragons were already within reach, her hair was flying in the strong wind, the world before her eyes was filled with dark red scales, and a heat wave hit her face.
Then--
Time seemed to freeze again.
Su Cheng felt a strange and familiar power surging from the cracked and collapsed ruins beneath his feet, and then pouring into his legs.
She saw countless black mists that were evaporated and crushed by the golden light, spreading out from the cracks in the ground, like thousands of wriggling tentacles, rushing in from all directions.
They are like streams returning to the sea, converging onto the heavy sword in the center of the storm.
The mist sank into the black fire rising from the sword blade. The flame burned more and more vigorously, and in an instant it turned into a huge ball, like a black sun burning in the wasteland.
The flying dragon's sharp claws hit the fireball and were instantly burned to ashes, and even its strong feet lost most of their flesh and blood.
Miserable wails echoed among the ruins.
Amid the Paladin's exclamations, the dragon screamed and fell to the side. The pain of the broken limbs made it impossible for it to fly anymore, and it could only roll back and forth among the rubble.
The wounds burned by the black flames were even spreading, and the fighting spirit continued to invade the remaining flesh and blood, gnawing at the exposed bones and blood like a living worm.
Su Cheng had no time to watch this scene.
More mist poured into her limbs and spine, entangled with her blood vessels and bones, and the severe pain of tearing and fusion instantly ran through her body.
She seemed to hear a lot of whispers, those voices were male and female, some hoarse and some soft, overlapping and intersecting with each other, and then rising higher and higher in the void.
They repeated certain words, like oaths or curses, and a kind of strong resentment and hatred pierced into the brain like a sharp knife.
The air around the sword began to distort.
The other dragon knight was startled and pulled the reins hard, causing the dragon to turn slightly. He then drew his warhammer and smashed it towards her.
Su Cheng swung the second sword.
Her posture wasn't even quite right, probably just a half-assed imitation.
A long, narrow streak of black lightning flashed across the sky.
It seemed as if the black flames could devour everything, with arcs of light constantly jumping around its edges, like a sharp blade made of anger and chaos, cutting the entire world apart.
The dragon and knight before him, the light, the sound, the dust, and even space itself were split in two.
Su Cheng took a few steps back in severe pain, closed his eyes, and sank into the darkness in a daze.
“…”
Kai raised his head and looked at the trial gate that began to tremble, then looked at the black mist rising from the platform until it all poured into the body of the girl next to him.
She began to tremble violently, the blood vessels on her skin bulged, and even layers of black scales appeared, and the bones of her hands and feet lengthened and turned into sharp claws.
The girl slowly leaned to the side and rested on his arm.
Kai wordlessly stretched out his arms and held her in his arms, then watched her frown as she woke up, dark vertical pupils appearing in her amber-gold eyes.
Su Cheng blinked, "Hmm? Have you rested well?"
Kai gently touched her head, "I don't need to rest - whatever you heard 'me' say during the trial, it's not true."
Su Cheng looked at him for two seconds, then suddenly reached out and grabbed his wristband.
He remained motionless and let her do what she wanted.
She touched the hard leather twice, pulled it a few times, and then went to untie the strap with the metal buckle.
Kai still didn't move, and even wanted to help her, "If you want to take it off, you have to cut this side first--"
"No need," Su Cheng raised his head with a smile, "I was just confirming some things... Well, now that I think about it, I was pretty stupid. I didn't realize it was fake."
"That's not your problem," he shook his head. "No matter what you say, some of your memories and perceptions will be different from reality. The only things that won't change are your personality traits. Well, it looks like you've accomplished it?"
Su Cheng looked down at his hands.
She had never felt so much power contained in her body—not just fighting spirit, but a thorough and deep strengthening that completely transformed her.
It's like it's been remade in a sense.
She thought about her previous experience and couldn't help but find it a little funny, so she simply told it to the team leader.
"...Actually, if I were in a normal state, I would definitely start by talking to the high-ranking clergy I know. These paladins would definitely give me some respect and not just come up and kill people."
Su Cheng couldn't help but complain about himself, "I seemed to have suddenly become stupid before, and I couldn't think of many things, but now I understand now that you put it that way..."
She paused mid-sentence, "Wait, what if I betray you? Then I won't be able to pass? Although I can't think of how I could betray you, and I don't even know where 'you' went..." "Well, then it should be considered a failure," Kai thought for a moment, "I don't think compromising to save your life means you don't have courage - but the Trial Gate may not think so. In fact, the difficulties it makes you face, the things it thinks you will fear, are not limited to that one battle. It also includes the indifference shown by the people you care about, facing danger alone, the choice between others and yourself, and the fear of death."
He paused. "Of course, because it still has to connect to reality, that probably limits its potential."
Su Cheng couldn't help laughing. "So you can't come up with a dilemma like 'I suddenly lost all my gold coins', right?"
Kai also subconsciously curled his lips, "So that's what you're afraid of? Actually, I have some savings, and I don't spend money much-"
Su Cheng was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that this conversation was familiar. "Wait, didn't I say before that I would give you money? And you drink all day, who said you don't spend money! Keep it for yourself! The material of the sword you made for me must be very expensive, what is it made of?"
"...It didn't cost much, actually." He smiled slightly. "Most of the materials are readily available. I just need to process them."
Su Cheng was about to speak when he suddenly heard the sound of fighting spirit colliding in the distance.
——That distance is really far.
Maybe a few kilometers away.
She once again realized that her senses had become much sharper, and just as she was about to stand up, she was suddenly picked up by the man next to her.
"Besides," Kai looked down at her, "I will never reject you. If one day I don't respond to your outstretched hand, that person must not be me."
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