Chapter 179: Blue-Colored Catastrophe

Bluebird closed his system window with a surprised expression, which prompted Cheris, or rather Yardpirun, to ask him a question.

“What happened, Bluebird? How is the situation outside?”

“Oh, Swan just sent me a message saying that Sila has already defeated Lost Ghost. He is now heading west, where Shuran is. Swan can’t contact you directly, so she asked me if you have any orders for us.”

White Swan decided to send a message to Bluebird since she knew that he was the only one with enough spare time to check his inbox.

For the record, Yardpirun was still wearing her Cheris disguise. She wondered aloud. “Sila defeated Lost Ghost in ten minutes when Lost Ghost was using Gluttony’s ability? Really?”

“Yes, Swan also told me that there is not a single wound on Sila’s body, and since he killed Lost Ghost while the card’s ability was active, the card fell into his hands.”

“Umm... I knew he was strong, but I didn’t expect him to be this strong. When he fought against Montra in the Town of Beginnings, his strength was still below the Warlords. If he really can win against Lost Ghost this fast, his ability should be on par with the Two Monarchs already.”

“W-Wah? Even with this, he is still below Montra?”

Yardpirun nodded her head. “Unfortunately, he is. If we are talking about the present Montra, Sila will undoubtedly have a chance to win. However, in one week, Montra’s Dragon Ritual will be completed and he will at least double in strength. Moreover, it seems Montra and the Two Monarchs are currently secluding themselves to undergo some secret training.”

“Boss means... Montra and the Two Monarchs will become even stronger? How is that possible? There should be a limit to how strong they can become,” Bluebird said in disbelief.

“You are underestimating Montra far too much, Bluebird. Think about it. How can a person who successfully collected eight gems and five of the Deadly Sins while commanding the largest guild be weak? Montra is strong, I warn you. He is insanely strong, a cut above the rest, in fact.”

“I always thought that Montra, Kawin, and Revin were equally strong. Am I wrong?”

“Not quite. Those two are Montra’s close friends. I think Montra didn’t want himself to be compared with his friends so he hid his real strength. However, the situation has changed. Montra will do anything, both directly and indirectly, to strengthen himself and his allies while weakening his enemies.”

“In any case, Sila is also getting stronger. At an astonishing rate at that. Maybe he can catch up to Montra soon.”

“You are right in that regard. But, don’t forget that Montra is different from Sila. He has an army while Sila is alone. He doesn’t even have to personally take action to win against Sila. Even I can come up with a method to make Sila lose in a war.”

“What do you mean, Boss? What method?”

Yardpirun sighed. “Bluebird... the war is not about individual strength. No matter how strong an individual becomes, it doesn’t mean a single person can win the war by himself, especially when that person is Sila...”

“That is why I’m asking you what do you mean, Boss. If we know what trick Montra will use beforehand, maybe Sila can prevent something from happening.”

“Sila alone can’t fix it, Bluebird. If I’m Montra, I will exploit Sila’s weakness that he isn’t the type to abandon his friends. I will separate him from his allies, then torture his friends one by one, making Sila travel across Monster Soul without resting, greatly weakening him. Finally, when he is weak enough, I will still not fight him alone but gang up on him, along with Revin and Kawin. If it’s three against one, no matter how extraordinary strong Sila becomes, he will lose, undoubtedly.”

Bluebird was silent as he was thinking about the solution. He understood what Boss meant. The problem wasn’t Sila, but his comrades, who were behind him in strength.

He thought for a brief moment before coming up with a solution.

“In that case, all of us should stay close to each other. When the war event starts, we will march together as one.”

“That will only make it easier for Montra. If we are in the same place, he will just use his larger army to conquer the cities surrounding us and completely encircle us. Once that is done, Montra can pressure us from every direction, chipping away our defenses. Sila won’t rest and instead constantly fight to protect his friends. Sooner or later, he will lose.”

“But, the number of our forces and Montra’s are equal, aren’t they?” Bluebird still disagreed.

“No, you are wrong. I’m absolutely sure that the mysterious forces appearing lately belong to Montra. Currently, he is superior to us in all aspects; be it the quality and quantity of forces, wealth, weapons, hidden forces, or even the number of powerhouses. This is not a war anymore but a one-sided slaughter.”

“Is there really no way for us to win?”

“There is a way... but it will be extremely difficult,” said Yardpirun.

Bluebird’s eyes filled with hope. “What is the way, Boss? As long as it’s possible, no matter how difficult it is, I think we can make it by working together.”

“The method I’m about to say is far, far easier said than done. First, since our side is too far behind in numerical advantage, we’d be better off forgetting that and focusing on improving our quality instead. We have to come up with a way for everyone on our side to become stronger than the players on Montra’s side, who will mostly be Marquis Rank. We have to compensate for having less fighters with skills and proficiency.

“Next, wealth. We will need to acquire an enormous amount of money by selling an item that is superior to the Cloudy Baby Dragon Ring. In this regard, Montra is indeed terrifying. By selling the rings, not only can he rake in profits and elevate the level of his troops, but the rings will also be harmful to his opponents. If we simply sell good items, Montra can just buy them. Although we get the money, Montra will get good items in return. The product that we’ll sell will have to meet these three criteria: good price, good quality, and useless to our enemies. The hardest part will be the last criteria, which Montra managed to achieve with the Cloudy Baby Dragon Ring.

“For weapons, this part looks the most promising since Sila conquered Lost Grea City. You should go and ask him to negotiate a discount with the Android King. It will be even better if we can hoard a large number of powerful weapons ourselves without selling them to others.

“As for hidden forces, I mean a secret group that Montra doesn't expect us to have. It will be a secret troop that moves independently in order to help up gain the upper hand in the war event. The important point about this troop should be secrecy. No one, especially Montra, should know that this force belongs to our side until the decisive moment comes.

“Lastly, the number of powerhouses... this will be quite hard. Compared to our side, Montra has more skilled players under his wings, and he is recruiting more. Two weeks from now, in Alkedia City, he will be holding a tournament to recruit more players into the upper positions of his guild. We should hinder the tournament if we can afford to, like what he is doing with us in this very assembling party. Meanwhile, we better recruit more skilled players. It can be difficult, but I suggest some of us go to Belacia City to invite the players there to join our side.”

Processing what Yardpirun just said, Bluebird totally understood what she meant. What she said made sense; they should just be doing everything to become superior to Montra. However, practically, it was close to impossible to accomplish all those things she said.

Furthermore, Bluebird was surprised at Yardpirun’s last suggestion.

“Belacia City? Should we really attempt that? The players in that city are all guildless. They don’t care about guilds or reputation, only striving to become stronger. I won’t even be surprised if there are two or three people at the same level as the Four Emperors living in the city. Everyone knows they hate associating themselves with any guilds or even groups.”

“Yes, as even the Heavenly Dragon Guild’s influence cannot reach there. There are sure to be many crouching tigers and hidden dragons. However, it’s up to our efforts as to whether we can convince them to join us.”

“Well, Boss, I will keep all of your advice in mind and pass them to Sila and the others. We may come up with a method to do all those things you said if we put our heads together.”

“That’s good. Anyway, now... it’s time for you to kill me, Bluebird,” Yardpirun said, startling Bluebird.

“What?! Me? It will be totally weird if I survive when facing against you, Boss. Rather, you should be the one to kill me.”

“No, this is for the best. If I win, I will have to go out and kill the players on our side.”

Bluebird had totally forgotten about this fact. Yardpirun’s current identity wasn’t his Boss, but Cheris, the Star-Finishing Warlord.

“But... no one will believe it. I’m not that strong...”

“Just lie, then. It will be even better. They will think that you are stronger than you look. Montra will have another person to be wary of.”

“But... if Boss dies, won’t Montra suspect you?”

“Under normal circumstances, it may be so, but not anymore. Lost Ghost also died. I won’t be the only one to fail him.”

Bluebird couldn’t make a decision. He wanted to decline, but his body suddenly refused to move. It seemed Yardpirun did something to him.

“Boss, what are you doing? I can’t move...”

Yardpirun changed back to her original appearance and calmly approached Bluebird.

“Others might see you as incompetent, but I see the real you. You are a sincere person with great ability. You just haven’t shown it yet. You are great and strong, this is a fact. Only, it’s a fact that will be proven in the future. I know I’ve picked the right man.”

She gently grabbed Bluebird’s palm and placed it on her heart. The rhythm of her heartbeat was loud but calm, and Bluebird clearly felt it through his hand. Seeing this, he blushed. He had always half-respected and half-feared Yardpirun. However, now, one more emotion was added.

Yardpirun materialized a dagger from her psychic power. Bluebird could tell what she intended to do and tried to resist. However, since Yardpirun was stronger than him by a great margin, he couldn’t do anything to prevent what was about to unfold. All he could do was shout at her.

“No, Boss! Not this method...!”

“Bluebird... Sometimes, we have to do things for the greater good instead of for ourselves. Anyway, dying by your hand won’t make me lose too many levels, don’t you agree? Since you are not that strong yet.” She tried to liven the mood by throwing a joke.

“How many levels you will lose doesn’t matter... I just don’t want to harm you, Boss.”

“This method is the best, Bluebird. If you feel like atoning, just work hard, okay, Vice-Leader?”

Without waiting for Bluebird to respond, Yardpirun used the dagger to stab her defenseless heart through Bluebird’s hand.

Yardpirun collapsed on the floor. Bluebird was released from the psychic power that had oppressed his movement and embraced her. However, three seconds was too short. Her body was enveloped by a white light before disappearing.

The system sound that went off when someone leveled up or obtained an item was normally welcomed by all players. However, the current Bluebird couldn’t hear any of it.

[You have achieved a certain condition; Defeating the user of the Lust Card while the Lust ability is active. You have obtained (S) Lust Card - Level 1.]

[The Lust Card is cursed and therefore forces you to equip it, and it cannot be unequipped. You will earn only 10% of all experience points from now on.]

[You have achieved a certain condition. Your status and rank have been promoted to Lightning Tailorbird, Level 1 Marquis Rank.]

Bluebird looked vacantly at the bleeding wound on his left palm. His blood flowed out from the wound to his elbow before dripping on the floor, though he didn’t care.

“Why am I so weak...? Just because I run and hide doesn’t mean I never have to fight. Boss needed to sacrifice herself because of me...”

Bluebird slowly moved toward the exit, one step at a time, like the entire world was waiting for him.

He stepped out of the gate and stood there, but no one had noticed him yet.

“I won’t let Boss down anymore... If I can’t avoid fighting, I will just plunge myself into it...”

White Swan was the first to notice Bluebird. She shouted at him.

“Bluebird?! Why you...? What about... Cheris?”

She wondered what happened to Boss. It was at that moment that most players turned their attention to Bluebird.

“She died...”

Bluebird’s reply was as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz. However, everybody heard it clearly. The opposing party’s morale dropped sharply. Not only had Sila killed Lost Ghost within a short time, but even someone they didn’t know could manage to kill Cheris in a one-on-one fight.

The panic was like a plague, spreading around quickly.

White Swan was shocked to hear that Boss had died. She was about to curse at Bluebird but noticed his abnormal state of mind, so she decided not to ask him about what happened yet.

Meanwhile, the opposing party began to search for information regarding Bluebird. How did a player of this caliber exist without them knowing?

Bluebird gnashed his teeth. “You... all of you will have to pay for it!!” he shouted, and his body released blue vapor with the shape of a naked, long-haired woman.

Sebastian frowned. ‘Asmodeus... How can she be there? Did Mister Bluebird use the card...? No, looking closely, that’s only her Psychic Body. It seems she found the gaps in Mister Bluebird’s heart and is trying to take control. She is that kind of demon.’

Sebastian didn’t hesitate to shout at Bluebird. “Mister Blue! Please focus on the enemies! Only the enemies!!”

Bluebird muttered to himself. “The enemies... Boss’ enemies are my enemies... Every single one from the Heavenly Dragon Guild has to die!!”

If what they saw wasn’t a hallucination or an illusion, then they didn’t know what to make of it. What was unfolding before their eyes was the vapor with the shape of a woman embracing Bluebird’s neck from behind, like a woman in love whispering the words of affection near his ear, for him to hear them alone.

—Give your power to me... Your enemies are my enemies. Release me more, and I will take revenge on your behalf. Entrust your skills to me, and I will use them for your sake. The skill that you are still scared to use, I will use it in your place. If it’s me, I will not miss the timing even by a millisecond.

Bluebird spread his arms and thousands of tailorbird flew out from his body, covering the sky. Everybody looked at the tailorbirds while feeling dumbfounded. They had never seen someone controlling them before.

Each of the birds spewed something similar to plasma before turning into feathers, dropping from the sky. The small globs of plasma started to merge together, forming one large piece, while the sky-blue feathers slowly drifted downward.

“What are you waiting for?! Attack the spellcaster!!” Someone shouted. Then, the people who had been attacking Sebastian changed their target to Bluebird. Arrows and long-ranged magic spells were flying toward him with no sign of stopping.

—Don’t be a hindrance when lovers are cuddling together~

The blue woman said as she smirked. She changed her shape back into vapor surrounding Bluebird. When the attacks came into contact with the blue vapor, they came to an abrupt stop and lost their momentum, the arrows dropping to the ground while the magic spells vanishing.

Bluebird’s eyes were shining with a blue glow. He seemed dazed as if he had already lost consciousness. The rain of feathers finally touched the ground. Now, only the giant and dazzling plasma remained in the sky like it was a blue sun hanging above Zhongsuyuan City.

The blue plasma shrunk and descended down from the sky. The pressure it exerted was so great that everyone felt everything would instantly be wiped out as soon as it touched the ground. Even Sebastian frowned but couldn’t think of a way to prevent it from happening.

It was at that moment when Bluebird jumped at the blue energy ball amidst everyone’s confusion. That transcendent magic spell was cast by himself, formed by himself, then jumped at by himself. No one could understand what Bluebird was thinking. Was he trying to commit suicide?

In the instant when Bluebird’s body was very close to touching the lightning energy, moments away from what surely would be disintegration, the blue vapor surrounding him changed its shape and became the woman again. Bluebird and her voice rang out simultaneously, coming out as a single sound which no one could hear, muttering the name of the skill.

“Psychic Nest-Returning Bird...”

A bright light engulfed the entire Zhongsuyuan City for a brief moment. The ones who didn’t manage to close their eyes in time were blinded temporarily. After, the enemies found that they were still alive and well, and that meant Bluebird had died in the previous flash of light.

“Huh. What did that stupid man do? Was he crazy? It seems—”

The man hadn’t finished speaking yet when his head was blown away and his body was struck down by a lightning strike.

Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!

The sound of lightning strikes raining down continued, along with the sight of people collapsing down one by one under the rumbling lightning strikes. No one could see what was really happening. All they saw was the glimpse of a sky-blue flash.

Sebastian released a sigh of relief. ‘It seems the attacks are only striking the enemies as I suggested. This means Mister Bluebird still has some consciousness left.’

People started to realize that the lightning strikes were, in fact, Bluebird. Even Varee, Sangdao, and Nednapha couldn’t follow his movement speed at all. His current speed was comparable to Zero’s, no, it was even beyond that.

White Swan gaped. She didn’t know that Bluebird was capable of performing such a feat.

Suddenly, someone with their system window open in front of them shouted.

“I found his name! He is Bluebird, a vice-leader of the Blue Pigeon Guild. His title is... Blue-Colored Catastrophe!!”

Blue-Colored Catastrophe. Rumor had it that, everyone who got close to this man, be it friend or foe, would inevitably perish and meet with a catastrophic end.

There was a rumor that, once upon a time, one particular player had become his close acquaintance. However, that person soon became a freak who would scream every time he heard the name Blue-Colored Catastrophe. That person even deleted his avatar and quit the game forever in order to escape from the Blue-Colored Catastrophe’s clutch.

Prior to this moment, everyone always thought that the rumor was just a baseless story. However, now that they had personally witnessed Bluebird’s true might, they couldn’t help but all agree on one thing: that the title Blue-Colored Catastrophe was the most suitable title for him.