I was caught between a rock and a hard place, so I had no choice but to brace myself and brandish my Heaven-stealing Sword as I yelled, “Comrades, we need to go and protect Chengfeng! Charge! Our first target is Candle Dragon and after that, we’ll deal with the Great Earth Wind Dragon! Remember, we need to be careful of its dragon breath attack!”

Whoosh!

I rushed out like a howling gale and Gui Guzi had already started charging forward with his troop of cavalry behind me. Chaos Moon and High Fighting Spirits were also running in with a group of players on foot.

The jaws of everyone present hit the ground. No one had expected that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls would launch the attack first and even Stranger of Three Lifetimes desperately tried to grab the corner of my clothes. “Hey, hey! Don’t do anything impulsive, you bunch of idiots…”

I couldn’t help but grin. If we are idiots, then so be it! There’s no way I will let Li Chengfeng rush in all by himself.

……

Lin Yixin flipped onto her Frostscythe Warhorse as she stared at our mad charge. Disbelief filled her delicate face as she exclaimed, "Hmph, why did that bastard Lu Chen choose to launch his attack now? He really does have a terrible sense of timing! Snowy Cathaya, prepare for battle! Let’s go grab the boss's dragon scale and help protect our allies from Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls while we’re at it!"

Purple Marquis and the rest of Snowy Cathaya drew their sharp blades as they waited for Lin Yixin’s command.

……

"Oh, what exactly is happening here? How come that brat Lu Chen lost his nerve all of a sudden? Even I haven’t gotten anxious yet, so why is he all worked up for…" Luo River God of the Capital raised her magic staff in the air as she spat out those incredulous words. After that, she turned around and shouted toward the Purple Lily players, "Prepare to attack! Our goal is to steal the boss's dragon scale. Purple Lily must have a role to play when we reach the B9 floor!"

"Yes!"

Purple Lily also prepared themselves for battle.

……

Our actions truly had a domino effect on the rest of our allies. The moment Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls charged into battle, Snowy Cathaya, The Monarch Descends, and Purple Lily immediately sprang into action as well.

"Charge!”

Warsky raised his sharp blade in the air as he ordered nearly one thousand Warsky Alliance players to launch a sudden attack. The boss's health had dropped below 20%, and if everyone launched their attacks in unison, it wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer. The dragon scale was right in front of us, so no one was going to let the chance to grab this precious item slip by.

Blue Sky Scar brandished his longsword as bloodlust flashed through his eyes. He spun around and clashed swords with Li Chengfeng. When it came to mechanical skill, Li Chengfeng was slightly superior to Blue Sky Scar. However, the latter had the support of an entire party of players behind him, so he still managed to fight Li Chengfeng to a standstill. Unfortunately for him, Li Chengfeng’s cavalry had arrived!

"Kill God’s Dance first!” I yelled.

Beiming Xue swiftly shot off a Shock Arrow, but a huge "MISS" flew up above God’s Dance’s head. The mage had some pretty good resistances, and Magic Shield made it extremely likely for CC effects to MISS as well, allowing God’s Dance to shrug off that Shock Arrow. This was also the reason I didn’t bother using God Binding Art either. A restriction-type skill would rarely bother a mage whose shield wasn’t broken. For mages, there was one rule to live by. The second your shield breaks, you are dead. But as long as their shield is up, killing them is a tall task.

Rustle...

God’s Dance’s feet rustled against the sand as she backpedaled. She seemed to be in peak condition. As she weaved along the frontlines, she shot an Ice Arrow Spell at both High Fighting Spirits and Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun, stalling their advance considerably.

Tempest Shadow rushed through our lines on his valiant-looking warhorse as his spear cut left and right. It weaved a dance of blood and death until Gui Guzi smashed straight into him. Both of them started exchanging blows with both spear and shield, causing brilliant sparks to fly in the air whenever one magic knight smashed his spear into the other’s shield. Their battle looked incredibly intense, but since both of them were magic knights, there was no way that a victor would be decided any time soon. After all, duels between magic knights were battles of attrition, and it was very common for arena battles between them to last for the full ten minutes.

……

Whoosh!

I made a beeline for God’s Dance as a blazing spiral of indigo energy started swirling around the edge of my Heaven-stealing Sword. An Eight Trigrams formation appeared beneath my feet when I stabbed my sword at the location that God’s Dance appeared to be twirling toward. If this Universe Break hit God’s Dance, it would be just about enough to break her shield and kill her. After all, my Universe Break largely ignored the durability of any Magic Shield, so it was mags’ worst nightmare!

"Hmph!"

God’s Dance gave a disdainful little laugh as she suddenly spun in another direction. Her shoes danced on top of a bunch of rocky protrusions that were sticking out of the ground as she retreated swiftly, causing my Universe Break to just barely scratch the surface of her shield as she twirled backward. She’d actually managed to dodge my attack!

"Woah, that little girlie actually dodged Lu Chen’s attack. What a beast…" High Fighting Spirits yelled.

However, I had already rushed forward before God’s Dance even had a chance to reply. I swiftly slashed downward, causing three fiery blades of sword energy to smash against her Magic Shield. I had managed to connect with my flurry skill, Burning Blade Slash!

1792!

2809!

5891!

My three consecutive strikes hacked God’s Dance’s Magic Shield apart. All the color drained from her pretty face. The best mage in Candle Dragon knew that even an archer would be able to one-shot her once her shield was broken.

"Kill!" High Fighting Spirits roared in fury as he smashed down with Invincible. A cone of blazing energy appeared in front of his axe once he used his Barrier Break skill. The muscles of his arms suddenly bulged as the long blade of his axe came to a stop just millimeters above God’s Dance’s chest. As long as he twitched a muscle, God’s Dance would die where she was standing.

It was at this exact moment that a dark-red figure suddenly launched a surprise attack from the side. He smashed into High Fighting Spirits, sending him reeling backward and when the assailant sprang to his feet, I realized that it was Candlelight Shadow!

"I’m gonna kill you!" Candlelight Shadow yelled as a look of fury crossed his face. He spun on his heel as his blade flashed out thrice. He used Blazing Purgatory Slash! His sword hit High Fighting Spirits from three different angles and he had even altered the strength with which he had swung his sword all three times. His attack had made High Fighting Spirits look foolish as he tried to parry those three sword strikes and three lines of blood exploded across his chest as the sound of flesh rending filled the air. His HP plummeted as a string of damage numbers popped up above his head.

8902!

10981!

+7098!

+4890!

10229!

Fortunately for him, Murong Mingyue had reacted with lightning quickness and she had already popped off two heals on High Fighting Spirits before Candlelight Shadow had even landed his third blow. If it wasn’t for her incredibly fast reaction speed, High Fighting Spirits would have been one-shot by Candlelight Shadow. This bastard’s attack power was simply incredible, it wasn’t something that any of us could really defend against.

Boom!

A beam of sword energy shot through our ranks. Blue Sky Scar had launched his attack and it had been shot off from an extremely sublime angle. His line attack hit both High Fighting Spirits and Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun, dropping High Fighting Spirits’ health dangerously low once more. However, Moon Dew was ready with a Greater Heal, so he managed to survive once more. At this point, all of Candle Dragon’s attacks seemed to be focused on High Fighting Spirits.

“Get rid of the Berserker! The axe in his hand is an Outstanding Invincible axe! Make sure he drops it!" Candlelight Shadow roared.

Several of the core fighters of Candle Dragon immediately turned their blades toward High Fighting Spirits.

I flew forward and used Thousand Ice Slash, freezing more than a dozen Candle Dragon fighters in their tracks. I roared back, "Fuck your moms! Anyone who wants to touch a hair on his head can come try me!"

I brandished my sword as I moved to High Fighting Spirits’ side. Given my temper, skill, and reaction speed, no one could even dream of killing our Berserker while I was by his side. If not, my title as the vice leader would be meaningless.

Candlelight Shadow flew into a rage as he leapt forward and thrust his sword out. A cone of blazing energy started spiraling around his blade mid-thrust. Barrier Break!

My eyes widened in shock as I hurriedly moved my sword to parry his strike. However, I saw a trace of satisfaction flash through Candlelight Shadow’s eyes when I lifted my sword to defend myself. Just as I crossed paths with him, Candlelight Shadow suddenly pivoted at lightning speed as he used the helix maneuver to curve around me. I had never imagined that he would dare to pull off such a mechanically difficult move in the midst of this crowded battlefield, so I had been caught completely off-guard. He had actually managed to shake me off!

Whoosh!

Candlelight Shadow’s sword drove straight toward High Fighting Spirits’ chest. But High Fighting Spirits was at full health now and he raised his battle axe to defend himself. A huge damage number popped up above his head as the sword collided into the axe, but he managed to just barely survive!

20981!

That had nearly taken off all of his health with one strike and Candlelight Shadow only needed one scratch to finish him off.

It was at this moment that a delicate figure suddenly swooped in from the side and crashed into High Fighting Spirits. The sword in her hand trembled as it shot out at full speed. This girl had actually managed to strike Candlelight Shadow in the chest with a Barrier Break!

17892!

Candlelight Shadow’s eyes widened in shock when he stared at the pretty girl in front of him. He could scarcely believe what had just happened. This was precisely our Chaos Moon, and she was currently decked out in a full set of Bone Scythe armor, so a single blow from her had shaved off most of Candlelight Shadow’s life. This was something Candlelight Shadow never dreamed could happen. After all, he was decked out in a full set of high-Defense items.

……

"Candlelight Shadow, watch out!" God’s Dance yelled in a loud and frightened voice.

Candlelight Shadow went pale but he immediately unleashed Earth Shattering Slash. The fan-shaped attack struck everyone in front of him and he took this opportunity to swiftly retreat. He yelled, "Comrades, give up on the boss! Everyone who is strong enough, enter my party! We’re heading to the B9 floor!"

Even as he spoke, Candlelight Shadow raised his hand, and the image of a ghost god appeared above his sword. It let out a terrifying screech which reverberated in the air and the Ghost God Prophecy debuff appeared over Chaos Moon’s head in the very next instant. Unfortunately for her, she had been the closest to Candlelight Shadow, so she had also just been in the range of his skill.

……

I charged forward and killed off a few straggling Candle Dragon players, but I couldn’t stop them from withdrawing in good fashion. In the next moment, Blue Sky Scar, Tempest Shadow, Transient Smoke and Clouds, and God’s Dance all joined the Candlelight Shadow’s party and he immediately used the scroll to teleport to the B9 floor. Thus, his party became the first party to reach the ninth floor.

A bunch of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players were simply standing there and staring at Chaos Moon. As they looked at the Ghost God Prophecy debuff above her head, they exchanged glances helplessly.

He Yi asked, "Shall we go and take down the boss as well?"

I stared into the distance and saw that Warsky Alliance, Snowy Cathaya, and Purple Lily were furiously fighting over this boss. Their casualties were extremely heavy and this Great Earth Wind Dragon wasn’t just any simple boss itself.

"Forget it, we don’t have much strength left. Let’s split ourselves into three parties and head to the B9 floor. Remember, the last boss is our real target."

"Yeah."

……

"Then what about me?" Chaos Moon shot both He Yi and I puppy eyes before she turned to look at the timer above her head. She wailed unhappily, "I’m really gonna die this time…"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, it’s for real this time. Do you have any last words?"

Chaos Moon blinked before she nodded her head and replied, "Yeah, I have one request…"

"What request?" He Yi asked. "As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll do everything I can to fulfill it!"

"Really?" Chaos Moon’s eyes turned starry.

He Yi nodded her head assertively. ‘Of course!"

"Okay…" Chaos Moon glanced at me before saying, "Ask Lu Chen to hug me…"

I spat out, "Fuck! I knew it wouldn’t be anything proper…"

He Yi couldn’t help but laugh. "Oh, Chaos Moon, you! This girl is really way too wild… But Lu Chen, you should hurry up and fulfill her request. We need to go down to the ninth floor as soon as possible! Time is of the essence!"

"Yeah."

I walked forward and stretched out my arms to hug Chaos Moon. She giggled and her face instantly turned as red as a tomato. She teased Pure Love by saying, "So? Are you so jealous that you’re going to die? Hahaha!"

Pure Love sulked and said, "I also want to…"

I cut her off, "What do you mean ‘I also want to’. Forget it! Let’s go to the B9 floor!"

I let go of Chaos Moon and gave her a piece of sound advice. "You should go back to the city and put your equipment and everything in your inventory into your warehouse. If you do that, you won’t drop any items even if you die in the city…"

Chaos Moon’s face went even redder as she exclaimed, "No way! I don’t wanna be naked…"

"Then have fun losing your equipment!"

"Fine, fine! I’ll just go naked then! It was gonna happen sooner or later…"