Chapter 172: The Sword of Victory and the Armor of Retaliation

Chapter 172: The Sword of Victory and the Armor of Retaliation

"Are you not worried about me destroying the world if I die now?"

"The power you've shown, given enough time, could indeed destroy the surface, fitting the symbol of the apocalypse."

Anna's cold reply was laced with a mocking tone, "But compared to Derivative One or Derivative Two, you are truly insignificant."

Luk calmly looked at her. His figure seemed to flicker for a moment before he charged straight at Anna, throwing a punch.

The air split with a whistling sound. Despite the speed being beyond human reaction, Anna easily responded. She didn't dodge or evade; instead, she raised her crimson longsword and swung it down with great force.

Luk's punch, powerful enough to shake a mountain, seemed to vanish into the sea. In response, he felt a force ten times greater than his own strike him, leaving no room for evasion. The terrifying impact shattered half of his body.

Luk's still intact hand grabbed the crimson longsword, and he pulled back, dodging several sword beams that followed. A green light flashed, and his nearly destroyed body instantly healed.

Looking at the crimson longsword inches away, Luk's eyes glowed with a deep blue light. The short distance seemed to stretch infinitely, and the crimson longsword moved slower and slower.

Suddenly, the frozen crimson longsword burst into a blinding red light, shattering the surrounding space and even tearing a hole in his domain.

At that moment, Luk felt an inevitable force.

The crimson longsword's strike was bound to hit him, and no amount of evasion could prevent it.

This was not the same level as the guaranteed hits in the Curse Domain; it was an incomprehensible miracle.

"You really can't be underestimated."

Luk flew backward, and the space around him began to fold and loop, forming a barrier. While it couldn't stop the attack, it could delay it.

He then flicked his fingers, sending hundreds of weak slashes at Anna's neck, wrists, and head—areas her armor couldn't protect.

Thud! Thud!

Anna remained unscathed, while hundreds of blood flowers bloomed on Luk's body. He calmly healed his injuries, his mind racing as he watched Anna, who seemed like an invincible warrior.

The high-level combat employee with a sealing item was incredibly strong, putting him at a disadvantage from the start.

And during their brief exchange, he discovered several issues.

First, none of his attacks caused any damage to Anna; instead, they were amplified tenfold and returned to him. If he hadn't held back to test her, his body would have been shattered.

Second, Anna's stats were abnormal. Her constitution, speed, and energy were all similar to his, and in some ways, even exceeded his. However, this world's development of physical and energy capabilities was not advanced enough to surpass his stats.

Luk suspected that she was using some characteristic of a sealing item to replicate his constitution.

The most crucial point was the longsword in Anna's hand. The "inevitable hit" was not a characteristic of the sword itself but a result of its true characteristic.

During their battle, Luk noticed that his causal lines had changed and were now fixed. With his current abilities, he couldn't alter them.

Fate was declaring that he would lose this battle!

"Tsk, this won't do. It's rare to play the villain and boast about destroying the world. How can I fail against a high-level soldier like you?"

Anna was just a supervisor for the Future Fund. Besides the two other supervisors he had taken out before they were fully prepared—Kylie and the two others—there was a higher manager, Prell, and possibly some unknown puppet masters in the thirteenth level.

And the Future Tech wasn't the only large sealing organization. There were also the Story Editing Department, Beacon Co., and the Psychological Treatment Center...

Many enemies!

Luk's gaze turned cold, and he placed his middle finger on the second joint of his index finger.

"Limitless Void."

Inside the Limitless, information flowed and entangled, then poured into Luk's mind. He combined this with his analytical abilities to gather information on Anna's sealing item.

Previously, Luk had entered a blind spot. The key to battling sealing items wasn't the number of techniques or the strength of your stats; it was information.

As long as you didn't collide with the sealing item's information, you could win the battle from the side!

Anna swung her sword, her movements broad and powerful, the crimson sword light seeming to cut through everything.

Just as she was about to strike Luk, he pressed his fingers down, and a green light enveloped the area around them, freezing time.

Luk grabbed Anna's sword, and a stream of information flooded his mind.

Level 3 Sealing Item: The Sword of Victory

Description 1: A crimson longsword discovered by ███ on March 21, 1886, in his lush wheat field. It is said that the sunset that day was as red as blood.

Description 2: Before this, ███ had never received professional training, but with the sword, ███ could wield expert swordsmanship and defeat opponents much stronger than himself.

Description 3: After obtaining the crimson longsword, ███ lost all sexual desire and could not feel attraction to any gender. He divorced his wife and gradually became obsessed with battle.

Description 4: When ███ put down the sword, he suffered a rapid defeat and lost his life even when his opponent held back.

Message: "Cherish life, stay away from women, or men!"

The Sword of Unbreakable Singleness.

Lu Ke's lips curled slightly. All he needed to do was take the sword to win.

He was about to snatch the sword from Anna's hand when, in the frozen time, a crimson sword light suddenly blazed!

If the sword were taken, it would mean defeat. Therefore, the Sword of Unbreakable Singleness couldn't be taken. If this continued, the sword might break the frozen time just as it had previously torn through space.

Lu Ke thoughtfully withdrew his hand and placed it on the black armor.

Sealed Artifact Level 3: Vengeance Armor

Description 1: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"

Description 2: "No, why should it be one for one? I want one for ten!"

Description 3: "Since it's one for ten, why not make it zero for ten? That's only fair, right!"

Description 4: "The armor is meant to protect, so why should it only protect the covered areas? I want it all!"

Description 5: "What do you think would happen if you used a sword that reflects damage to strike this armor that also reflects damage?"

Message: Without a doubt, this is the best armor in the village.

—Scientist P

Seeing these stats, Lu Ke couldn't help but frown. The armor provided full-body protection and multiplied reflected damage by ten, essentially making the wearer invincible.

He tried to peel it off, but as he reached out, the crimson sword light blocked him again.

He reached out once more, this time aiming for the emblem on Anna's chest. Just as he was about to touch it, the time spell faltered, and the frozen time resumed its flow. The crimson sword light tore through the space.

"What trick did you use, Derivative Three?"

Anna retracted her earlier dismissive attitude, her eyes now more serious, as she had sensed the frozen time due to the Sword of Unbreakable Singleness.

...

In the third level of the base, in the room where the Fertility Child was sealed.

Xue Pengkai looked at the blood and flesh scattered outside, his face pale.

Just five minutes after he tricked the magic fairy into opening the door for Derivative Three, the entire base turned into a hell on earth. Everyone outside the sealed room was attacked.

No one could survive. The invisible slashes were like the sharpest blades, slicing through bodies. The luckier ones could still be pieced together, while the less fortunate were reduced to seventeen scattered pieces.

Now, the entire base was covered in pools of blood and chunks of flesh.

Beside Xue Pengkai, a handsome young man cut his wrist, letting the blood flow into a bowl. His blood had no stench of iron but instead carried a strange floral fragrance.

"These drops of blood are enough to save ten people on the brink of death. Let's see if there are any survivors outside."

The young man, or the Level 3 Sealed Artifact Fertility Child, spoke calmly.

"Thank you," Xue Pengkai managed a strained smile.

The wound on the young man's wrist healed rapidly, and he replied calmly, "Don't thank me. I am a sacrificial lamb, meant to offer myself for the god's arrival."

"That's perfect. I need a sacrificial lamb! Can you help me?"

A hoarse male voice echoed, and a gate made of white bones suddenly appeared. Wang Lang emerged from the gate, his eyes bloodshot. He held Kelly's body, with a beautiful head on her chest. His eyes, wild and beastly, fixed on the Fertility Child.

"Manager Kelly, Wang Lang, you...?"

"Derivative Three escaped, and Kelly covered my escape, she... she..." Wang Lang's teeth almost ground to dust, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. "I used the Book of the Dead's Hell Gate to escape."

At that moment, he hated his own weakness more than ever.

Xue Pengkai opened his mouth but couldn't find the words. The jealousy he felt at the sight of his fallen colleagues had already been extinguished, and now, seeing Kelly's tragic state, he was overwhelmed with regret.

As if waking from a deep sleep, his mind became crystal clear. He muttered, "What have I done..."

"Wang, the Book of the Dead has a black magic ritual for resurrection. If I have a high-quality sacrifice, I can bring the dead back to life. Give me the Fertility Child, and I'll revive Kelly. Hand him over!"

Wang Lang's emotions grew more intense. "Give me the Fertility Child, and I'll trade you other sealed artifacts!"

Xue Pengkai shook his head, his voice dry. "The sealed artifacts are the property of the Future Fund. We only have management and usage rights. Sacrificing the Fertility Child is considered destruction of the artifact, which is not allowed."

Seeing the bloodshot eyes of Wang Lang, who was about to lose control, he paused for a few seconds and pointed to the scattered blood and flesh outside.

"Would those work? They died less than three minutes ago."

Wang Lang's eyes lit up. "Let's give it a try!"

He rushed over but was stopped by Xue Pengkai.

"Wang, this is desecration of the body."

"Wang, you're wrong. I'm doing this for their revenge!"

Wang Lang's former shyness was gone, replaced by a cold, dark expression. "Kelly is a Level 4 staff member. Her life is more valuable. With the right sealed artifacts, she will be very powerful."

"You want to revive Manager Kelly to fight Derivative Three?"

"No, I'll kill Derivative Three myself!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end