Chapter 62: Bakar's Notes

"90s players having someone carry them, Yanjian 1's Yanji—will these APC-type characters show up? Demon-Shattering Stones can summon abyss demons, but what about invitation letters? I think I still have a few left somewhere..."

Yelin tapped his finger against the abyss pillar, his tone filled with a thick sense of nostalgia.

"Once this pillar is broken, a spatial rift will appear, and a powerful abyss demon will emerge. I surmise that defeating it is equivalent to completing the trial, and it will also yield partial equipment rewards."

Luna, beside him, furrowed her delicate brows. She seemed to recall Granis mentioning this mysterious type of demon-shattering stone and cylinder; they were coordinates used by otherworldly demons to pinpoint locations, and also a manifestation of the transposition phenomenon.

The internal ranks of the clergy had conducted research into these mysterious demon-shattering stones, but their origin had never been clearly unraveled.

"Abyss demons are powerful otherworldly lifeforms. Although they might descend in the form of projections, they still possess extraordinary combat capabilities."

Yelin took out all his G-Series Walkers and Land Runners in one go. Bakal's trial and abyss demons—these were not things to be taken lightly.

"Fall back!"

Everyone retreated to the very edge of this tier. Then, a single Walker waddled toward the abyss pillar and detonated.

Boom!

In a split second, cracks webbed across the surface of the abyss pillar. Mysterious white light gleamed through the fissures as four hunched skeleton soldiers slowly materialized around the pillar.

"I'll take them."

Isabella put on a pair of artifact-grade gauntlets, entered a state of Fierce Strike, activated her Super Armor, and boldly rushed straight toward the skeleton soldiers.

Brawlers pursued the ultimate strength of the physical body, pushing tyrannical punching intent and leg techniques to their absolute limits. Simple, unadorned moves in their hands could unleash fatal effects.

Inch Punch!

With a single blow, a skeleton soldier's head was blasted clean off.

Iron Mountain Back!

Bone Crusher!

"Though Her Highness's moves lack genuine killing intent, as far as the Brawler class goes, she's already quite good," Shiat commented.

"She's a princess, after all; where would she get so much thrilling life-and-death experience? I'm already surprised she doesn't put on too many imperial airs. The real boss is here!"

Isabella smashed the four trash mob skeletons into pieces. Following that, the light of the abyss pillar flared intensely. The segments of the pillar split open completely, and a sudden windstorm of fire whipped through the space.

"Brats, are you the ones challenging me, Brandz?"

A tall, burly figure coalesced within the blinding light. His entire body exuded a scorching aura, his robust muscles rippled with visible lines of flame, a single horn protruded from his head, and golden light flashed within his eyes.

The moment he made his entrance, the entire space grew scorching hot!

"Come, defeat me, Brandz, and I shall grant you rewards. Otherwise, I will take your lives! Hahaha!"

Brandz let out a ferocious laugh, slamming his palms together from either side of his body. Instantly, a colossal meteorite shattered the magical blockade of the Suspension Castle and crashed down right beside the abyss pillar.

"You guys deal with Brandz; I'll go destroy that meteorite. Luna, keep an eye on the buffs."

Brandz's meteorite was merely an illusion. The true terror lay in the elemental lifeforms harbored within the meteor—countless low-tier spirits, the fire-attribute精灵, Adein!

Once swarms of Adeins escaped the meteorite, their scorching aura and rushing flames would easily burn everyone to ashes.

Detonate!

Boom! Boom... Boom...

Land Runners and Walkers detonated en masse. However, the damage dealt by the explosive flames was practically laughable to Brandz, who was a fire demon by nature.

Merge of Man and Sword!

Ice Kalatin!

Shiat grasped her ice-bladed longsword, cold light surging in her eyes. This scorching aura made her deeply uncomfortable, and a violent urge welled up within her heart.

"Big sister, that fire element seems even stronger than you."

Keraha fired off a few icicles from afar, but they melted in mid-air before ever getting close to Brandz.

Holy Summon: Elven Unicorn!

Under Isabella's bewildered gaze, Mielle—who usually looked like a small puppy you could cradle in your arms—had a strange set of magic circles bloom beneath her paws. Then, Mielle grew at blinding speed until she reached the normal size of an ordinary horse.

The broadsword in Mallow's hand vanished, replaced by a holy golden spear. A bizarre floral wreath materialized above Mallow's head, and a natural, refreshing breeze burst forth, carving out a summer-resort oasis amidst Brandz's scorching domain.

"This is a sacred beast unicorn? It can grow this big? That's amazing!" Isabella exclaimed in awe.

"Hehe, my younger sister's Astra is even more amazing."

"Mallow, you have a younger sister?" Shiat glanced sideways, having never once heard Mallow mention having a sister.

"Mm-hmm. Although we've never met face to face, we both know each other."

"Uh..."

Luna and the others were left speechless upon hearing this. Unaware of Mallow's background, they naturally found the phrase "never met, but we know each other" completely incomprehensible.

Could it be that Mallow had a tragic background, separated from her sister as an infant? And later, though they corresponded through letters, they had never actually met?

"Too hot!"

Yelin attempted to use the Fifth Element to directly decompose the massive meteorite, but his remote-control effect was negligible, and getting close was far too hot, with tongues of flame occasionally darting out from the pores on the red meteorite's surface.

A wisp of fire spewed outward, transforming into a basketball-sized elemental spirit with eyes and a mouth—an Adein!

"Can't wait any longer."

hardening his resolve, Yelin stepped back a few paces, flicked his wrist, and shot out the Blazing Sun, burying it deep inside the meteorite.

Two distinct sources of flame energy collided violently. The next moment, the entire meteorite blasted apart, and the shockwave blew the Blazing Sun away, lodging it diagonally into one of the Suspension Castle's pillars.

On the other side, even facing a five-person onslaught, Brandz handled them with ease. Scorching heat filled the air, and the temperature continued to climb.

"Not bad, you little brats."

Brandz sidestepped Mallow's charge, batted away Shiat's blade, detonated a ring of fire to force back Isabella's Iron Mountain Back, and countered Keraha's icicles and Pinosia's flames with a single punch that obliterated them all.

"But you cannot defeat me..."

"Hey, muscle-head, let's go fight upstairs. It's too cramped down here."

An idea flashed in Yelin's mind. Several sets of shattered Exterminator armor were condensed by his will into a metal longsword, hovering right above his head.

The so-called trial had no strict criteria; victory was the sole objective, by any means necessary.

The mysterious slumber magic on the top floor was naturally one of the methods they could utilize.

" Brat, there is a very peculiar aura on your body. Not bad..."

Brandz squatted slightly, cracking the floor of the Suspension Castle beneath his feet as he lunged straight for Yelin at the top of the suspension stairs on the final tier.

A single punch!

Crash~

A section of the suspension stairs was pulverized into dust. Yelin projected the metal longsword, hurriedly drank a World Toy, and scrambled right into the middle of the Exterminators.

"Useless. These metal puppets, I can smash them with a single..." Huh?

Brandz caught up to the top floor, suddenly shook his head, his expression twisting ferociously as he roared, "Insect, you tricked me!"

More than a dozen Exterminators melted into liquid iron, but even more Exterminators awoke, launching an attack on Brandz without the slightest hesitation.

Two Eyes of Sin—left and right—simultaneously snapped open. Their intensely evil gazes all locked onto Brandz, while the eyes embedded in the floor shot out beams of light that pierced clean through Brandz's body.

"Your brain is nothing but muscle. If I don't trick you, who am I going to trick?"

"Brat, I remember you. Just you wait..."

Boom~

Brandz transformed into a fiery hurricane and vanished in a flash...

Clang~

An ink-green bracelet dropped from the spot where Brandz had departed. It seemed Brandz was extremely dissatisfied with winning through clever tricks, dropping only a single item.

[Bamboo Bracelet]: (Rare) (Bracelet) (Usable at LV25)
Magic Defense +1400
Stamina +9
Strength +9
Intelligence +9
Spirit +9
Movement Speed +3%
Jump Power +20
Flavor Text: These are discarded tears...

Just as Brandz dissipated, a stunning stream of light shot from the Castle of the Sky straight toward the Suspension Castle, descending upon the top floor in the blink of an eye.

"You guys go back. Leave the rest to me."

Seghart waved his hand, causing the mysterious book and the dragon horn to float right over to Yelin, signaling him to accept them.

[Bakal's Notes] and... [The Mad Dragon King's Horn]!

"I've always felt something was a bit off. The Suspension Castle was my master's creation, and the two eyes' original purpose should have been to monitor the Heavenly Realm. But after a certain night, why did they frequently peer into the Castle of the Sky, peer at me, and now set their sights on adventurers? Heh..."

After Yelin retreated, Seghart's entire body burst with dazzling light. Standing in the center, fierce radiances erupted from both of his hands, obliterating the two Eyes of Sin.

A wisp of black smoke drifted away from both sides. Two finger-sized seeds fell to the ground, which Seghart, with a cold sneer, crushed into powder.