novelraw Chapter 265-1: The Dragon-Slaying Siege Ballistae, Shattering the Demon-Subduing Seal (1)
Chapter 265-1: The Dragon-Slaying Siege Ballistae, Shattering the Demon-Subduing Seal (1)
[Supported by two armored samurai, the Head of the Ogiwara Clan slowly stood up.]
[His expression was sinister, his gaze filled with venomous hatred, as he waved his hand to give the order to fire.]
[Countless arrows wreathed in karmic flame shot toward you. You raised your sword to block most of them, but over a dozen still pierced through your body…]
[You have sustained near-fatal injuries!]
[Severely wounded, you collapsed to the ground, blood gushing forth…]
[At the brink of death, you saw the Head of the Ogiwara Clan draw a sword from a nearby samurai’s waist and walk toward you slowly…]
Lin Xun remained calm. Just as he was about to see the bright red ‘Death’ word appear, he quickly pressed the Shell switching option.
[You have possessed the Shell of the Knowledge-Seeking Primordial Hermit!]
[Your dragon-headed, human-bodied form suddenly appeared atop the Tenshukaku…]
[The Head of the Ogiwara Clan let out a cold laugh. So you were a remnant of the demonic abominations, no wonder you could transform into the likeness of Lord Genichi and that ninja dog.][He took two steps back and ordered the samurai to fire again…]
[You opened your massive jaws full of fangs and released an earth-shaking dragon roar…]
[In the blink of an eye, your Shell swelled like an inflating balloon, growing from human size into a terrifying pitch-black giant dragon!]
[A pair of colossal wings erupted from your scales, easily tearing off the top of the Tenshukaku.]
[With a thunderous crash, you coiled above the keep, your wings stirring a hurricane that swept away the billowing dust…]
[Yet the samurai and the Head of the Ogiwara Clan did not show the fear you expected, especially the daimyo himself, whose one-armed figure twisted with savagery, his eyes glinting with murderous light.]
[You opened your jaws wide over the fortress, gathering pitch-black dragonfire within your maw…]
[The Head of the Ogiwara Clan roared, raising his sword in his remaining left hand to point at you.]
[At his command, you were startled to hear the shouts of samurai from the four watchtowers surrounding the Tenshukaku…]
[Over a dozen colossal ballistae had turned to aim at you, their bolts as thick as tree trunks.]
[The samurai worked the siege engines in unison as black karmic flames surged along their frames…]
[With a deafening blast, more than a dozen flame-wreathed bolts pierced your wings and body in an instant…]
[You let out a wretched cry and plummeted straight down, black blood splattering across the earth…]
[…]
[You have died!]
[…]
[A powerful wandering soul has been reborn at the Deathly Still Port…]
Lin Xun set down his phone and rubbed his forehead.
“The difficulty just spiked through the roof…”
According to the memories of the Palace Master Shell, the daimyo had once been a hatamoto samurai under the Shogun’s command, an extremely powerful warrior.
What did hatamoto mean? Hatamoto were the Shogun’s direct retainers, the elite shock troops who charged at the front carrying the banners during wartime, and the Shogun’s closest guards in peacetime. It could be said that aside from the Shogun himself, they were the strongest force in the army.
Even aged and weakened, no longer possessing the vigor of his youth, his strength was still formidable beyond compare.
If they fought head-on, even the fully restored Ninja Master, empowered by the completed Calamitous Fallen Karmic Fire, would most likely still lose to a hatamoto samurai.
A max-level assassin going head-to-head with a max-level warrior, of course the assassin would lose…
“A pity, if the daimyo hadn’t awakened so suddenly, I might already have succeeded in the assassination.”
And the Tenshukaku’s difficulty wasn’t only the daimyo himself. With the samurai operating the ballistae in concert, even a transformed little dragonkin could be killed.
The little dragonkin Shell was rather weak before transforming, far inferior to the Earth Giant and the President of the Direct Vision Association.
But once transformed into a giant dragon, the little dragonkin’s combat power soared to the pinnacle, even the Earth Giant and the Direct Vision President were outclassed.
Yet even that colossal dragon could not withstand the siege ballistae’s bolts…
“How am I supposed to fight this?”
Lin Xun pondered desperately how to clear the Tenshukaku.
Analyzing carefully, this battle hadn’t been entirely fruitless.
In this cursed game, when an Apostle died or refreshed, ordinary monsters’ health would reset, but elite and boss-class enemies, while they would regain full HP, could not recover severed limbs or other mutilation.
Severing the daimyo’s right arm was the same as crippling most of his combat ability.
Even if he wanted to find a miko to heal the maimed injury, he would be out of luck, because the local No-Illusions Shrine had long since been exterminated by Lin Xun, leaving not a dog or chicken alive.
[You have spent 1 point of Soul Strength to reshape the Knowledge-Seeking Primordial Hermit Shell!]
After this assassination attempt, the Tenshukaku’s defense would surely rise to its maximum. It was likely that even when the daimyo went to relieve himself, a circle of samurai would surround him.
Lin Xun thought it over for a long time. He still had trump cards in hand, still had the strength for another fight.
But if he wanted to finish off the daimyo, he would first have to deal with the threat of the four watchtowers.
The dozen siege ballistae were simply too great a danger. If he didn’t destroy them, even using his trump cards would probably end in failure.
“I’ll wait for night… Only in the dead of night will it be time to strike!”
—
Special Office of the Cultural Bureau, third-floor conference room.
Seven Star Lord Apostles gathered together.
After defending against yesterday’s Outer Demon invasion, they were no longer strangers. Everyone chatted freely, talking and laughing as they discussed today’s strategy.
Perhaps because the three waves of Outer Demon attacks had been repelled almost effortlessly, the atmosphere in the conference room was relaxed.
It was true, the three elite Apostles had hardly needed to exert themselves yesterday. Most of the Outer Demons had been snatched up by Lin Xun. The others felt like they were playing some idle clicker game.
Seeing that everyone was ready, Lin Xun began the Easter Egg Chapter again.
[You have entered the Easter Egg Chapter.]
[Chapter 8715, Seven-Star Guardians!]
[A powerful wandering soul awakens beside the Demon-Subduing Stele…]
[You have possessed the Shell of the Knowledge-Seeking President of the Direct Vision Association!]
[You placed your hand on the ancient Demon-Subduing Stele, your divine sense radiating in all directions as you called to the distant six Star Lords…]
[Apostle Star Glaze has answered the summons!]
[Apostle Little White Deer has answered the summons!]
[…]
[Six mighty Star Lords of differing appearances heeded your call and stepped across the stars to your side!]
[The massive Demon-Subduing Stele suddenly cracked open. In a fissure as wide as a man’s shoulders, you beheld the sealing core that suppressed the Outer Demons.]
[The sealing core was a jade seal, flowing with divine light, shining brilliantly.]
[Powerful Apostle, will you destroy the Forbidden Jade Seal and cause the next three waves of Outer Demons to pour forth at once?]
[Please note: If you destroy the Forbidden Jade Seal, this chapter’s difficulty will increase dramatically. In exchange, the rewards for interpreting the chapter will also rise accordingly.]
[Please choose carefully…]
“Lin Xun, why haven’t you started the raid yet?”
Across the conference table, Shangguan Yu had already reached the sealing point at the front of the Cloud Bridge. Seeing no sign of the Outer Demons, he couldn’t help but ask.
Lin Xun explained the unexpected situation to everyone. They were all veteran Apostles; as soon as they heard this, they understood the meaning behind those few lines of text.
“It must be because we wiped out the Outer Demons too quickly yesterday, so now there’s this difficulty escalation option,” said Du Cheng, the Songjiang Surveillance Division leader beside him, adjusting his glasses as he analyzed.
Li Xingyue said, “That’s right, but if we break the seal, we’ll have to face all three waves of Outer Demons at once. With their numbers surging, the difficulty will rise steeply…”
Everyone turned to look at Lin Xun. He was the host of this Easter Egg Chapter and the strongest force among the Seven Star Lords. Whether or not to raise the difficulty was naturally up to him.
“Increase the difficulty then! There were too few monsters yesterday, it wasn’t satisfying at all!”
Wang Zong was the first to speak up. Then Shangguan Yu and Yin Linlin also voiced their support.
“It’s not as simple as just raising the difficulty,” Li Xingyue countered. “The game only says today’s three waves will come all at once, but it doesn’t say what will happen tomorrow.” She paused, her tone thoughtful. “Going by the game’s usual style, we should consider the worst possibility… Very likely when we defend the Celestial Palaces tomorrow, all three waves will appear together again.”
“If the last three waves attack as one, the scale of that challenge goes without saying…”
Her meaning was to err on the side of caution. At the current difficulty, clearing the Easter Egg Chapter was almost a sure thing.
Raising the difficulty suddenly was not prudent. If they failed to secure the final rewards, the game’s punishment would follow instead.
Her words made Du Cheng nod repeatedly. Clearly, the two of them belonged to the cautious camp.
“I’ll go with whatever you decide.”
Lu Caiyi finally spoke, but her tone was the most resolute of all.
Lin Xun, of course, also intended to raise the difficulty. He was used to high-difficulty challenges, and suddenly playing a normal-difficulty Easter Egg Chapter felt like a max-level boss stomping through a rookie village.
Though the slaughter was satisfying, something felt lacking.
He quickly made up his mind. “I’ve decided, we’ll raise the difficulty. If any of you feel you can’t hold out, call for help at once, and I’ll come support immediately.”