novelraw Chapter 139 : Asura Token
Chapter 139 : Asura Token
Chapter 139: Asura Token
In The Messenger, putting aside anything beyond Foundation Building, Yan Qing had noticed one thing just from observing Messengers from First to Third Job Change: defense outweighed offense.
The vast majority of Messengers had their first Token as a defensive one. Without a defensive Token, a Messenger was no different from an overpowered mortal—no matter how strong they appeared, they were still a fragile bubble easily burst. Only with a defensive Token could a Messenger truly become "non-human," stepping away from the mundane world's dangers.
As levels increased, offensive Tokens never seemed able to catch up to the power of defensive ones. For example, the widely-issued Third-Stage Rare Token of the Liang Kingdom, the Heartguard Mirror, could absorb up to 2800 damage. Meanwhile, Helan Que's core Token, the Soul-Severing Spear, maxed out at ten times base attack—750 damage at best.
Which meant, even if Helan Que could unleash a flurry of sixty-four strikes, it would still take at least four hits to fully shatter the defenses of any Third-Stage from Liang—and that's only if they didn’t replenish the Heartguard Mirror's shield.
So most battles between Messengers devolved into a contest of Spirit Energy. Helan Que had fallen to Medicine Master Wen and Bunny Heroine not just because of the former's explosive burst damage, but more importantly because Helan Que dual-wielded weapons.
He had no free hand to absorb Spirit Jades to replenish Spirit, forcing him to micromanage every ounce of his meter. A moment of stinginess had let Medicine Master Wen blast through his guard.
The reason behind this defense-over-offense design? Simple: fun gameplay.
To make bosses feel challenging and cinematic, they needed strong stats across the board. Bosses had significantly higher numbers than players. If players were wiped out in seconds, they'd quit before even experiencing the boss’s charm. This was, after all, an MMORPG, not a punishing Souls-like. The experience had to cater to most ordinary players.
But optimizing for dungeon runs inevitably sacrificed the PvP experience.
In fighting games or any PvP-focused title, damage design leaned towards offense. Even someone cornered could land a grab for massive damage. But in a defense-heavy system, battles between Messengers felt like slow torture with dull blades. With no way to finish each other before Spirit ran dry, fights lacked any sense of sudden death. It felt less like combat, more like a boring game of asset comparison.
So did The Messenger have PvP?
Hell yes, it did.
When Yan Qing created an alt, there was an option still locked to this day: "Asura Mode." In this mode, players only earned 10% of the usual dungeon rewards, but their battlefield rewards were 200%. More importantly—since everyone in this world played on Real Mode anyway—those who chose to play on the battlefield could acquire Asura Tokens that ignored defenses!
In Asura PvP, fights were over in thirty seconds or less. The strong could even one-combo their peers—a true fighting game "ten-hit kill" experience!
「Just now figuring it out? Too late!」
Ye Kai grinned viciously. 「Poisoned by my Purple Mist, aren’t you dizzy, short of breath, little girl? Don’t fight it. Collapse. Collapse! Grandpa will take good care of you.」
Yan Qing glanced over. Bunny Heroine’s status bar didn’t show any debuffs to combat stats, but after taking a Healing Pill, the combat log showed its effect had been reduced by 70% and couldn’t keep up with the poison's damage.
He wasn’t surprised. If you could just pop pills to stay alive, wouldn't that turn things back into a slow bleed-out again? Maybe even bloodier.
Right now, the only option was offense for offense!
Seeing the little girl stop dodging and close the distance, Ye Kai began to retreat, attacking while backing off. If Bunny Heroine dared try to flee, he instantly stuck to her like a poisonous toad.
「You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. You’re a devil in the making. Call me Grandpa, hand over your Token, kneel and kowtow. I’ll not only spare you, but teach you my unmatched artifact forging arts. How about it?」
Even as he spoke, his hands didn’t stop releasing toxic mist. In this short time, Bunny Heroine had already stacked four poison layers. Her HP was draining like an open faucet.
Yet Yan Qing raised a brow—it wasn’t that impressive.
He'd figured it out. Each poison layer lasted around seven seconds, and new hits didn’t reset the timer. Bunny Heroine had taken nearly eight hits, but only had four stacks, meaning the earlier layers had already expired. Ye Kai’s poison palm had a maximum range of three steps—slightly more than melee.
Long buildup, low base damage, short range—on paper, it was worthless. Yan Qing guessed it cost very little Spirit to cast. After all, unlike reality, games still followed some logic. You wouldn’t get stuck with all downsides.
If Ye Kai knew the Hundred-Poison Silk Palm, the pride of his martial career, was so casually dismissed by Yan Qing, he’d probably burst a vein.
Even though he couldn’t hear Yan Qing’s thoughts, unease settled deeper in his chest—Bunny Heroine was too calm.
Though unknown outside the mountains, Ye Kai was notorious for ruthless killings and never left survivors—not giving the authorities any bounty material.
He had killed many Messengers, even Third-Stage ones. Whether court officials or clan elders, everyone panicked the moment their defensive Token failed. Poisoned? They'd crumble.
The so-called "strength" of the righteous path? Nothing but performances sheltered behind Tokens. Ye Kai loved tearing off their masks, watching them flail in despair.
Foundation bloodlines, family legacies, noble birth—so what?
In demonic duels, there was no kindness like in Secret Realm battles. Only blood and agony. The weak died in terror to nourish the strong.
So why weren’t you afraid yet?
Don’t you feel pain?
Right then, the girl suddenly sped up, darting through the mist. Her sword shot toward Ye Kai's throat, blue light dancing along the blade—like a streak of sapphire lightning through the dark.
Even Helan Que would struggle to dodge from this distance. But not Ye Kai. His Third-Stage class, Poison-Binding Messenger, let him sense poisoned enemies' actions, making them easier to hit or avoid. The moment Bunny Heroine moved her shoulder, he sensed the sword's path.
From the moment she was poisoned, she was prey.
But his attention was abruptly stolen by her gauntlets. When Bunny Heroine unleashed her thrust, the Hands of Hundredfold Refinement could no longer hide its Legendary brilliance. That radiant orange glow lit up Ye Kai’s murky eyes!
Legendary Token!
So that’s why the poison hadn’t hurt her—must be the Token’s power!
Of course. How could a mere girl endure such agony through sheer will?
Heaven offers fortune to the bold!
This was his destined moment. He had to seize it!
While dodging the stab, Ye Kai lashed out with a palm, spewing thick purple mist.
He saw her leap sideways to evade, and sneered. The poison was already coursing through her. At this point, dodging was meaningless—
Shua!
Suddenly, a dazzling blue glow pierced Ye Kai's eyes. In the air—where launching an attack should be hardest—Bunny Heroine unleashed nine rapid thrusts at blinding speed and terrifying strength!
She moved so fast, it looked like a single strike!
Crack!
Ye Kai stared in disbelief as his protective shield shattered. Even his Second-Stage defensive Token, Emerald Pendant, broke apart!
But there was no time to mourn. The blue blade was already inches away, its icy gleam like a snake’s tongue, about to pierce his throat!
Pfft. Ye Kai swatted the blade aside with Hundred-Poison Silk Palm, narrowly dodging the fatal blow. Still, the tip grazed his cheek, leaving a fresh red cut on his scarred face.
He didn’t even notice. He stared at Bunny Heroine in horror, like she was a monster.
「You're... the Storm Messenger!?」 he stammered. 「But how are you unhurt? A Storm Messenger attacking that many times should be bleeding all over. How are you fine!?」
Yan Qing raised an eyebrow. This was the first time someone had guessed his class in-game.
「Storm Messenger (Rare)」
「Stat Bonus: Vital Energy and Blood +8, Spirit +2, Dexterity +10」
「Rainfall (Blue Trait): While wielding a weapon in both hands, base attack +5, attack speed +40.」
「Storm (Blue Trait): After a Perfect Dodge, your attack speed increases by 1000% for 0.35 seconds. This effect can only trigger once every 30 seconds.」
Bunny Heroine had just unleashed nine stabs in a second thanks to the Storm effect.
Though it had a thirty-second cooldown, it perfectly synergized with Seven-Step Buddha Recitation's cumulative damage burst. When combined with Hands of Hundredfold Refinement's "Direct Hit" bonus to attack speed, it formed a combo capable of pouring damage in seconds.
Dodge to enter Storm, speed up again with Direct Hit, then unload damage to trigger Seven-Step Buddha Recitation’s critical hit burst!
Yan Qing had specifically assembled this high-speed burst combo build. He hadn't expected it to perform this well, instantly blowing up Ye Kai's defensive Token. He was secretly thrilled—all that effort to piece together this build had paid off!
He regretted not using it against Helan Que earlier. The man’s slightly longer range had kept Bunny Heroine out of reach even with Storm active. Range was the build’s main limitation.
But why had Ye Kai said Storm Messengers would bleed from repeated attacks? The class didn’t have any negative self-harm effects.
No matter—he wasn’t interested in asking. Bunny Heroine advanced lightly, dragging Seven-Step Buddha Recitation behind her, looking as gleeful as someone heading to slaughter a chicken.
Ye Kai felt a chill. If he hadn’t just seen her nine-strike flurry, he’d never believe this girl—shorter than him—was the infamously ruthless Storm Messenger of the demonic path.
If regular demonic Messengers were cruel to others, Storm Messengers were cruel to themselves. They no longer considered themselves human, willing to torture their own bodies for power!
And her Legendary Token clearly resisted poison. Otherwise, how could she still show no signs of toxin buildup after all this time?
Anyone else would be writhing in agony by now!
They say the older the fighter, the more cautious he becomes. Tonight had shown Ye Kai too many unimaginable things. He began to waver. He struck out once, then turned to flee.
Now Yan Qing had a headache. Ye Kai was still flinging poison palms while retreating. If Bunny Heroine chased him, it’d be a toss-up: stab first, or die to poison?
Just then, a noise came from the nearby bushes.
Both Ye Kai and Bunny Heroine turned. Chen Afu emerged, and Ye Kai's face lit up with joy.
「Over here! Help your master take down this girl!」
His greed for the Legendary Token surged again. Two against one was always a win. But now his thoughts turned not to defeating the girl—but how to betray his disciple.
For a Legendary Token, forget master and student—even father and son would turn on each other!
「Run—」
Chen Afu only managed to shout a single word before his large body was driven into the dirt. A figure stepped on his back, leaping forward ten paces, spear aimed straight at Ye Kai!