Chapter Eighty-Two: Battle with the Illusory Moon Once More

Hazy Moon stepped out of the castle, her boots crunching on the snow with a sound even more terrifying than the boss’s colossal footfalls. With a gesture, her blue katana flew back into her hand, and she surveyed her surroundings before fixing her gaze on Firebrand and me.

She stood in the wind and snow for a long moment before finally speaking. “Not bad. Only thirty-some people and you managed to bring down that boss. And that brother of yours who self-destructed must be over level thirty, right?”

Firebrand was silent for a while, then a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “To earn your praise is indeed a rare thing.”

Hazy Moon replied, “I have no intention of praising you. I know what you’re after.” As she spoke, she produced a luxurious-looking seal.

Firebrand said, “Damn, you got here before me. Though it’s unwise to oppose you, if you make an enemy of us, your fate will be far worse.”

Hazy Moon said nothing, not even moving her feet.

Firebrand continued, “Rest assured, if you don’t hand over the Imperial Jade Seal, I’ll rally every member of the Firebrand clan the moment I die and return. However you kill me, I’ll pay you back a hundredfold.”

Hazy Moon replied coolly, “Just you?”

“That’s right!” Firebrand retorted.

She sneered, “Do you think I’d fear your clan? How laughable. When I return, I’ll slaughter your entire clan and show you the true meaning of incompetence.”

Firebrand shot back, “You brat, don’t think being a few levels higher makes you something special—” But before he could finish, a flash of blood appeared. Firebrand let out a scream and collapsed into the snow. I saw that his right arm had been severed, blood pouring across the pure white snow, staining it red.

I immediately dragged Firebrand backward, putting distance between us and Hazy Moon. As I did, Firebrand asked, “Why didn’t you kill me?”

She answered coldly, “I didn’t kill you because you’re simply not my match.”

Firebrand replied, “Your strength is your confidence. Your flaw is being overconfident. You think too highly of yourself and can’t stand others looking down on you. There are plenty in this world stronger than you—don’t get too full of yourself... Ow! Hey, brother, why are you hitting me?”

I said, “Brother, can you keep your mouth shut for once? Look at the state you’re in—what can you even do? Talking tough? You’re no stand-up comedian.” As I spoke, I took out a roll of bandages and wrapped his arm to stop the bleeding.

A cold wind swept through, and the snow fell even harder.

Hazy Moon ignored Firebrand and began walking slowly toward us. When she was less than twenty meters away, she stopped. Facing her, Dragonwar planted his greatsword in the snow and said, “No passage beyond this point.”

“It’s been a long time,” Hazy Moon called out to me, halting as well.

“Almost half a month,” I replied.

She examined me and said, “It seems you’ve been doing well these past two weeks. You’ve grown stronger—your last failure must have spurred you on.”

I smiled. “Thanks for your concern. Meeting you now is a stroke of luck—I’m here to settle our previous score.”

She replied, “Then come.” With that, she suddenly leapt backward, drawing another red katana. Looking at me coldly, she said, “Let’s see just how much you’ve improved.”

“As you wish. Dragonwar!”

“Yes, master!” he answered. With that, he brought his sword down in a heavy slash. Hazy Moon blocked with her katana, and a burst of sparks lit up the snowy twilight. But Dragonwar immediately followed up, punching with his left fist. She had no time to react and took the blow head-on.

A damage number—3311—flashed up. Dragonwar swept his tail; Hazy Moon tried to block with her sword but couldn’t withstand the force. She skidded back seven or eight meters, another 1788 points of damage appearing.

Seizing the chance, I scanned her with my Fire-Eye, and what I saw stunned me: Class—Phantom Knight. Level—45. HP—4401/9500. Equipment: Snowdance (green) katana, Phoenix Blade (green) katana, others unknown.

Seeing these stats nearly made me want to die. Two green-grade weapons, a sky-high level 45, and a staggering 9500 HP. With my own total HP over 6000, I was already considered a tank among warriors, but with 9500 HP, Hazy Moon was less a tank and more a walking blood bank. No wonder Dragonwar’s 3000-point attacks couldn’t take her out in a single blow.

Still, I wasn’t without hope. Amaterasu and Dragonwar were with me, and their fighting power was nothing to scoff at.

Hazy Moon’s eyes flashed with surprise. “Impressive. Your dragon is indeed troublesome.”

Of course he was. If Dragonwar landed three solid hits, she’d be finished. But this proved a point: There’s no such thing as the strongest—there’s always someone stronger. In a flash, Hazy Moon charged forward and leapt high, her twin katanas slicing the air, blue and red auras swirling as she targeted Dragonwar.

Dragonwar met her attack with his sword, but Hazy Moon, instead of evading, landed directly atop his blade, then, moving with astonishing speed, ran up the blade to his forehead, slapped a long, blue talisman on it, and leapt away. Instantly, a blizzard enveloped Dragonwar, and within seconds, his massive form was frozen solid. I was so shocked I tried to use Reverse Summon, but the system told me it was impossible. Hazy Moon landed lightly, kicked off, and with a trailing afterimage, charged at me at breakneck speed.

Amaterasu, sensing danger, leapt in front of me, raising her twin blades to block. Sparks showered as their weapons clashed. With a powerful shove, Amaterasu forced Hazy Moon back several steps, then pressed the attack, her Blood Storm blades crossing against Hazy Moon’s katanas. In a cold voice, she said, “Don’t you dare touch my Dragon brother—I’ll tear you apart!” With that, she pressed forward with even greater strength.

Hazy Moon ducked low as Amaterasu unleashed a Death Cross Slash, deftly dodging into its blind spot. In a blur, she crossed her blades, vanished, and reappeared behind Amaterasu. A scream rang out as blood gushed from Amaterasu’s chest—a 3100 damage number flashed, and Amaterasu fell back into the snow, whispering, “Sorry, Dragon brother,” before vanishing into the air.

In an instant, I’d lost my two most powerful allies. The Hurricane Wolf King was still evolving and out of commission. All that remained on the battlefield was me and the nearly incapacitated Firebrand. But Hazy Moon gave us no respite; she executed a series of forward flips, then sprang high into the air, her katana gathering white energy as she descended.

I immediately looked up and hurled the Wishful Staff like a javelin.

Smack!

—820! The damage number popped up as Hazy Moon crashed to the ground like a broken kite, landing face-down in a snowdrift and not moving.

But rather than joy at hitting my enemy, my face twisted in embarrassment. I couldn’t help but recall the last time I’d thrown the staff and accidentally hit Silvermoon’s feminine pride. This time, by some terrible luck, I’d struck Hazy Moon in her most sensitive and private spot. She must have been writhing in pain, unable to get up for a long while.

I didn’t press the attack. I knew she wasn’t that fragile. If a top-tier expert like her could be taken out so easily, she’d have lost her place at the top of the rankings long ago.

Meanwhile, Firebrand quickly crawled up a snowbank to watch the scene unfold. He was more than a little shocked—never in his life would he have believed that the number one ranked expert could be brought down by a single staff strike, unless he’d seen it with his own eyes. Of course, where exactly she was struck might explain it. Now, all he wanted to do was record this fight—if he posted it on the forum, he might make a tidy profit.