Life Game In Other World
Chapter 521: I love you

Chapter 521: I love you

He Ao lifted his hand, the hilt of the sword rotating through the opening and closing of his fingers, completing an outward wrist flourish as he transitioned from a forehand to a backhand grip.

Then, he raised his wrist, and the blade instantly stood vertical, slashing diagonally forward.

Under the cover of night, a long, narrow, pitch-black blade suddenly extended from the void, colliding with the invisible sword.

Buzz—

It was the tremor from the clash of knife and sword.

Rhodes and He Ao simultaneously stepped back twice, observing each other.

They were evenly matched.

In that ’test move,’ He Ao had activated his Super Memory, mobilized his Divine Sense, and used skill to concentrate his body’s strength in his wrist.

Meanwhile, Rhodes was a genuine B-level Transcendent.

"Your body is not as frail as it appears on the surface."

Rhodes smiled as he stretched out his hand to loosen the necktie around his collar, allowing this accessory not to impede his movements.

Beneath his feet, a circular Array embedded with a triangular cross pattern slowly lit up.

Behind Rhodes in the city, one after another, green glows shined under the lights.

These glows complemented the Array under his feet, providing coordinates and direction to the Great Being beyond the bounds of endless time and space.

He Ao watched the locations of those glowing lights.

Not all the ’homicide’ scenes were illuminated.

Indeed, because he had destroyed the contaminated World Tree organization and killed the Puppeteer, Rose, and others,

it directly resulted in Rhodes’s inability to carry out his original plan for the ritual; thus, he had to resort to a less than perfect alternative.

Sites once designated for the arrangement were now abandoned.

He Ao had noticed this issue when inspecting the ’homicide’ scenes in the morning.

This also meant that the ritual Rhodes had arranged was actually far more fragile than a standard ritual would have been.

But he was out of time, and as He Ao’s investigation deepened and the time to open the ruins’ passage approached, Rhodes realized that any further delay might expose him. Therefore, he had no choice but to forcefully initiate this imperfect ritual.

As a result, he had to kill He Ao, the only ’informed’ threat.

Because the strength He Ao was currently displaying truly had the potential to destroy his fragile ritual.

This reason was valid for He Ao too, who was already marked by the Mysterious Shadow; if the Mysterious Shadow truly made its Advent, he would immediately become one of the numerous Sacrifices.

Divine Beings do not care for the lives of ants, so the ants must fight for their own survival.

He Ao swung his Shadowless Sword back around, holding the hilt with both hands and positioning the blade horizontally before his brow, readying himself for the next move.

The ritual’s accompanying heartbeat, akin to thunder, still echoed in his ears, growing stronger and more powerful.

He Ao slowly adjusted his stance, keeping his eyes on Rhodes opposite him.

Under the gaze of Divine Sense, Rhodes’s body had only one energy core, located at his heart.

Theoretically, piercing his heart could kill him, but clearly, it wouldn’t be that simple.

Based on the ability that Rhodes was currently displaying, He Ao’s strength was slightly less than Rhodes’s.

After all, at the end of the day, this body was only C-level.

Although He Ao had already maximized the power of the "Ruthless Bandit" Talent Sequence within him through the recent slaughter, he was still only a C-level.

He grasped the Shadowless Sword at its peak, and, in the state of the most formidable Ruthless Bandit, along with the boost from Super Memory, he could barely reach a level close to Rhodes.

Although his strength was slightly weaker, in such a battle where the strengths of both parties were extremely close, strength alone was not the deciding factor of victory or defeat.

Rhodes held his long blade, watching He Ao.

Their gazes met for a moment, and the next second, both figures vanished simultaneously.

This time, it was He Ao who took the offensive, smoothly changing tactics and slashing at Rhodes with his sword, only to be blocked by Rhodes’s horizontal slash.

The collision of sword and blade rang out with a clear clashing sound, He Ao’s attack was parried by Rhodes, who also took half a step back.

Immediately after, Rhodes stepped forward and made a vertical slash at He Ao, who still hadn’t steadied himself, which He Ao blocked with his sword. Utilizing the rebound force from the blade, Rhodes swiftly altered his move, making a horizontal cut towards He Ao’s side, which He Ao again blocked with a backward swing of his sword.

The sword edge collided with the blade.

Both men looked up at each other again, and then separated.

However, this time they did not fully part ways; they each took half a step back, their sword and blade locked together, both lowering their centers of gravity, getting ready to gather force.

The locked blades rubbed against each other, emitting a sizzling sound.

He Ao suddenly exerted force, pushing away Rhodes’s long blade, and thrust forward at Rhodes’s chest.

Rhodes also sidestepped, steering his long blade towards the Shadowless Sword.

The phantom images of the sword and blade collided in the air, and after several exchanges, the two shifted their positions, standing back to back, each in the other’s former spot.

Then He Ao immediately turned around, slashing at Rhodes.

Rhodes spun and leaped back, dodging He Ao’s attack while delivering a cut to He Ao’s back.

Thump—

He Ao defended against the strike with his sword, but the diagonally angled blade still tore through his clothes and skin, and the blood glowing with a red sheen soaked the black long blade.

Under the impact of Rhodes’s attack, He Ao staggered forward a few steps, turned around, raised his Shadowless Sword, and looked at Rhodes.

An invisible force seeped through the black long blade into his body, eroding his flesh and blood.

The surrounding transparent and clear glass curtain walls were now covered in fine cracks, turning into mottled white.

This was due to the disruption from the stray Qi emitted during their battle.

Although both men had strong control over their power, the mere loss of Qi was enough to cause a devastating impact on the glass curtain walls.

Rhodes stood in place, without following up on his attack. He lifted his blade, glanced at the blood slowly dripping down the black blade, and looked at He Ao,

"I take back what I said earlier—your body is indeed weak. If this is all you’ve got, it makes me think Puppeteers are foolishly naive."

He raised his blade and stepped forward, the edge slicing through the void with a piercing sonic boom.

Thump—

The blade and sword clashed once more.

Despite the injuries to his body, He Ao’s grip did not weaken. Because of the continuous combat, he had become more adept at channeling the energy within his body, and now he began to adjust the method of channeling energy according to the patterns he had discerned.

In a split second, the blade and sword collided several more times.

Rhodes’s offensive was fierce; within a few moves, he had closed in on He Ao’s neck.

Just as the black long blade was blocked by the Shadowless Sword in front of his shoulder, a massive energy gathered in He Ao’s hands.

Now!

He violently pushed away Rhodes’s long blade. The tremendous force, far beyond Rhodes’s expectations, caused Rhodes to recoil, losing his balance in an instant, and he spun his body, trying to deflect the force.

And at that moment, He Ao leaned down, his Shadowless Sword slicing through the void.

Bang—

The glass curtain wall, already riddled with cracks, could no longer withstand the presence of the two, and it shattered with a boom.

Swish—

Blood tinged with a pale green glow splattered onto the pieces of glass falling like raindrops.

Rhodes staggered backward two steps, looked down, and saw a narrow wound gushing blood, covering most of his right calf.

He Ao stood up, standing amidst the rain of glass shards reflecting light like a cluster of stars, looked up at Rhodes, and revealed a smile.

He raised his fingertip, flicked the blade of the Shadowless Sword, and with a faint ’hum’, the blood on the blade was flung off, and the sword returned to its shadowless, formless state.

"Are you ready?"

He lifted his head, looking at Rhodes as he steadied his stance.

"I’m ready."

Rhodes raised his long knife.

The cold wind outside blew past their cheeks.

Amid the tinkling sound of falling glass shards, their swords clashed once again, and the Ritual Array beneath their feet shone with dazzling light.

Rhodes, with his calf wounded, was greatly hindered in his movement. After several exchanges, He Ao once again pushed his energy to the limit, parried Rhodes’ long knife, and stabbed his sword into Rhodes’ heart.

Rhodes’ body stiffened, frozen in place.

He Ao pulled out the Shadowless Sword and stumbled backward a few steps, quietly watching him.

This method of pushing energy to the extreme to temporarily enhance strength, after all, was a tactic He Ao had devised in the heat of battle; it had significant side effects and caused severe damage to the body.

Blood spurted from Rhodes’ chest; he reached out his hand, pressed against his chest, and fell to his knees. Looking at He Ao, he said, "You are strong."

Then he showed a helpless smile, "Indeed, the power of humankind has its limits."

A huge black vortex appeared in the air behind him, and soon after, a monstrous triangular head emerged from the vortex; it opened its mouth, extended its bright red tongue, and swept Rhodes from the ground into its jaws.

"Hao Yi, your strength has earned my respect. You still have one more chance to serve my lord."

Rhodes’ aged voice emanated from the fearsome head as its form continued to stretch out of the vortex, and the twisted, trembling murmur echoed in He Ao’s ears.

That feeling, like falling into an abyss, once again rose in He Ao’s heart.

This was indeed Rhodes’ true form, the real form of a B-level Transcendent who serves a Divine Being.

The body of this monster resembled a huge snake cloaked in pitch black scales; it coiled around the pointed tower, spiraling higher, then raised its triangular head adorned with fin-like scales, looking down from above, its cold green vertical pupils fixed on He Ao.

He Ao didn’t respond to Rhodes but raised the Shadowless Sword again.

He tried to sense the Velora, and with the appearance of Rhodes’ true form, the lockdown of the surrounding space had also disappeared.

This meant that Rhodes had gathered all his power to deal with He Ao.

It also meant that He Ao could now use some other props.

The building hadn’t only been locked spatially just now; it also blocked other powers and life forms from entering, completely turning it into an enclosed ritual site. Breaking directly into this ritual space from the outside would have been costly.

But now, with Rhodes having lifted the lockdown himself, He Ao could use his powers without obstruction.

In fact, He Ao had anticipated that the human form of Rhodes was not his true body because that human ’Rhodes’ had only one energy core, unlike the Puppeteer and Rose whom He Ao had previously met.

Only shadow creatures have a single energy core due to their unique body structure, but clearly, Rhodes in his complete form did not need to worry about this issue.

He Ao looked up at the enormous creature that sprawled across the entire rooftop.

Under the scope of his Divine Sense, the densely packed energy cores were making him somewhat dizzy.

However, the good news was that the giant serpent’s movements were hindered, which proved that the damage He Ao had inflicted on the humanoid Rhodes also affected Rhodes’s true body.

Clearly, after He Ao entered this building, Rhodes had made a basic assessment of He Ao’s strength, believing that the humanoid form alone could take care of He Ao, thus utilizing the power of his true body to lock down the space and prevent He Ao from drawing on the power of the Velora.

But as it turned out, his judgment was slightly off.

The luminescence of the Ritual Array beneath his feet grew stronger and stronger, leaving He Ao with very little time.

For Rhodes, no matter the method, as long as the ritual was completed successfully, that would be his victory.

And He Ao’s goal was also to destroy this Ritual Array.

So he didn’t attack the massive serpent but directly lifted his sword, aiming to stab the Ritual Array beneath his feet.

In that instant, he realized something and abruptly dashed to the side.

The flickering black brilliance passed by He Ao’s side, entering the pitch-black night sky, and pierced through another building not far away.

He Ao raised his head, looking towards the open mouth of the serpent’s head.

Following that, a giant snake’s tail came flying from behind, slapping towards the spot where He Ao stood.

He Ao leapt up, dodging the incoming tail, but at the same time, the wound on his back tore further open due to the violent action, sending blood spraying out.

Intense pain assaulted He Ao’s mind.

At this moment, the open serpent’s mouth had already locked onto He Ao in mid-air, gathering black brilliance inside its maw.

Woo—

The booming whistle tore through the space as the speeding Velora burst forth from the void. He Ao reached out to grab the door of the Velora, his arm muscles bulging as he forcefully pulled himself into the fast-moving train.

The next second, the black brilliance followed closely, striking the Velora’s carriage that looked full of a sense of the era.

The surrounding space dramatically writhed, the whole train trembling under the force of the powerful attack.

But the attack did not continue to hit the Velora, and soon, the train entered the void, with the black brilliance once again passing through the night sky, opening another hole in the building behind.

"Troublesome thing,"

The giant serpent opened its massive mouth, looking around.

This was why it had used its true body with the power of the Divine Being to form a special ritual venue and lock down the surrounding space—because items like the Velora, which possessed strong spatial mobility, would make it almost impossible to fulfill the objective of killing He Ao.

However, as He Ao displayed his power, his strategic goal had shifted—from eliminating He Ao once and for all to ensuring the ritual proceeded normally, for once the Divine Being descended, all problems would become non-issues.

As the Velora entered the space, the surroundings once again fell into an eerie silence.

The serpent glanced all around, but found no trace of the Velora.

It looked as if He Ao had already given up on the attack and fled.

But just as the giant serpent relaxed its guard for a moment, the ancient train appeared behind the serpent’s head. He Ao’s figure leaped directly atop the serpent’s skull, thrusting his sword through it.

With the energy core beneath the skull collapsing, the giant serpent let out a violent scream, shaking its head vigorously in an attempt to throw He Ao off.

At that moment, the Velora in the sky had not disappeared.

Mountain Collapse Tsunami!

Target selected, Ritual Array!

The howling wind swept past He Ao’s ears, the trembling of the earth echoing throughout the whole world.