True Solution of the Sword Dao

"What are you trying to force me to merge with demonic power for?" Lin Fei said indifferently, his headband already broken, soft black hair slowly spreading out under the grey-white carapace, occasionally lifted by the breeze.

The two stood atop a pile of rubble in the street block.

From a distance, fierce roars and howls could be heard intermittently.

Now and then, one could also see streaks of angels’ white halos and wings. Powerful forces radiated out, and anything that touched it would instantly be annihilated, turning into flying ash.

Yet, where the two were, it was extremely quiet, devoid of any sound.

"For what?" The humanoid began to chuckle lightly.

A breeze passed by, carrying the sound of the humanoid’s chuckle far into the surrounding emptiness, echoing continuously.

"As long as I devour you... I can resurrect again..." the humanoid murmured, "Devour the activated demonic power, and all your demonic power will become my supplement..."

He wildly spread his arms.

"I!!"

"Black Flame Demon Lord! Will embark on the path of the Monster Clan’s revival in this new era... The entire universe will... Hiss!!"

Lin Fei slowly sheathed his sword, looking at the humanoid that was split in half in front of him.

"You talk too much..." he said indifferently.

The humanoid’s originally transparent form slowly began to steam, and in an instant, it turned into white smoke and dissipated.

Hiss!

With a slight sound, Lin Fei vanished on the spot. He knew that the Black Flame Demon Lord was far from dead; the one just now was only one of his demonic power avatars.

*****************

On three crooked buildings, three groups stood on their respective rooftops, sizing each other up.

The three parties faced off against each other. The atmosphere was exceptionally tense.

The gloomy sky grew even darker. The wind grew stronger, whistling through the cracks of the broken windows of the buildings, sounding almost like ghostly wails.

"To think that Shining Knight Lophista himself would take part in the battle for the mark, the Holy See really seems to have gone all out this time."

On the rooftop of one building, a figure in a black robe said in a hoarse voice.

On the rooftop opposite them.

A towering figure clad in silver armor edged with gold stood silently, like an iron tower. With a stature equal to the height of two people, the body was entirely covered by armor, not a bit of skin was visible. The head, too, was completely concealed by the helmet. Only around the eyes and nose were there several thin black lines, presumably for breathing.

If this person stood still, perhaps no one would think they were a living being; instead, they might mistake them for a medieval suit of armor sculpture.

"Is this person the legendary Shining Knight Lophista, who is also the vice-captain of the Holy War Knight Order?" asked a figure in a black robe, stepping forward and speaking in a low voice from behind the leader.

"Of course, Lophista, the legendary Broker, played the role of a slaughterman in several holy wars. Two hundred years ago, his name struck terror in the hearts of all the powerful from the Inner World across Europe. He is a butcher with tens of thousands of lives on his hands," the leader in the black robe replied quietly.

"This is just perfect... I’ve also heard of Lophista’s fame quite some time ago," said the inquiring figure in black, chuckling softly before taking another step forward.

Whoosh!

His black robe was suddenly flung open and cast aside.

There stood a man also in full armor, but his was black with blood-red edges. It had a deep, dark, and bloody aura. On his back he carried an enormous two-handed sword, also black with red edges, which stood against his back like a monumental door.

"I am Grisnan, currently the Captain of the Guards for the Archbishop of Constantinople," said the man in the black and red armor casually. "Lophista, I’ve wanted to know what your blood tastes like for quite some time..."

On the other side, a blond man wearing sunglasses watched the standoff between the two with a cold eye, accompanied by two others.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the victor of this battle for the mark should emerge from among our three teams," said the man in sunglasses gravely. "The Holy See has lost a lot of people and now only these two are left: the Shining Knight and the last combatant." His gaze fell on a young knight standing behind the Shining Knight, whose face was stern. The knight had a determined look, with a hint of fanatical zeal in his eyes, and his body was constantly emitting waves of a special pure strength.

"Another idiot brainwashed by the Holy See..."

"You can’t really say that, being able to brainwash such high-end warriors is a skill in itself," the black woman behind the man in sunglasses laughed. "What’s the plan now, Krei?"

Krei smiled. "Let’s not be hasty; we are the weakest in power. On one side, there are people from the Eastern Orthodox Archbishop’s district, and on the other, those from the Holy See. Neither side is easy to mess with." His eyes shifted to the man in the black and red armor.

"If I remember correctly, this man who dares to challenge Lophista should be at the vice-captain level of the Blood Curtain Knight Order. This guy... Twenty-one years ago, he directly killed one of the high elders of our heretical faction. His strength is immeasurable. At least a B-level Peak," he said.

"So what? Lophista is the legendary Butcher, Broker, with the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands. Compared to such an opponent, no matter how strong, other achievements don’t stand out," said a bald strong man with a grin.

Krei nodded. "As long as Lophista is here, even if the Holy See only had him left, no one would dare say they will be defeated. There are too many variables in this small city during this day."

The other two laughed nonchalantly.

"Even if he’s strong, all we have to do is avoid him and secretly assist the people from the Eastern Orthodox Cult. It doesn’t matter if they don’t get the control of the mark. It’s fine if Elisa’s Gate ends up with the Eastern Orthodox Cult. This place doesn’t look like it’s anywhere near the already explored areas of the Inner World," the black woman said casually.

"That’s true. That’s our original aim," the bald man agreed. "Once this matter is settled, I need to take a good break; things have been far too busy lately. The Inner World is in an uproar, and I’ve heard that the three great legion commanders have decided to fully engage. If I don’t take a break now, I’ll end up drafted as free labor, which would be a big loss."

"Let’s take one together. Last time was Houston, so let’s go to Las Vegas this time. Time to relax properly," the black woman suggested, stretching lazily.

She shook her neck, loosening the joints, but suddenly, her gaze swept over a figure below the building.

It was a shadow that seemed to have detached itself from the darkness, almost as if it were a part of the darkness itself. It was slowly moving among a pile of ruins. The shadow of the dark clouds completely covered him, providing the best concealment. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The black woman couldn’t see the person’s appearance clearly. As she focused intently, her eyes suddenly took on a green sheen.

"Eh?"

"What’s wrong, Sophia?" Krei and the others glanced over slightly.

"There’s actually someone else here?" The black woman, Sophia, said in confusion, "There are only five marks for Elisa’s Gate: us, the Holy See, the Eastern Orthodox Cult, and the Tower of Wisdom. And then there’s one unknown force. Could this person be from that last force?"

"The Tower of Wisdom just made a token effort, sending rubbish they were willing to discard. We can ignore them, after all, the major forces have reached an agreement. But for a person from this last unknown force to dare to show up... "

Krei also looked in that direction.

The person walked in the shadows, their face obscured. They were surrounded only by a swirling black mist.

But it seemed the person had noticed the scrutiny from the psychics. They paused slightly in their steps.

Boom!

Everyone turned their heads simultaneously.

In the area between the priests of the Holy See and the black-robed figures of the Eastern Orthodox Cult.

A blood-red light screen slowly rippled, creating waves like those on water, emerging behind the knight of the Eastern Orthodox Cult.

On the opposing side, Lophista from the Holy See slowly lowered his right hand, which still emitted faint traces of blue smoke. Apparently, the Eastern Orthodox knight had attacked first but seemed to have been easily countered by Lophista.

"Not bad, to be able to block my Arrow of Red." The knight in black and red armor calmly walked step by step towards the building where Lophista was.

"Leave. Otherwise, die!" Lophista said in a deep voice, his voice extremely muffled, as if there were many layers between them, making him sound nasal.

"Try it?" The black and red knight said with an unconcerned smile. The blood-red light screen behind him suddenly rolled up, directly covering him, turning into two pairs of blood-red wings.

Whoosh!

The black and red knight turned into a red streak as he fiercely collided with Lophista.

Clang!

A blinding flash of white light exploded at the very moment the two clashed.

The strong fighters automatically shielded their eyes with a layer of energy protection.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With each clash, a dazzling flash of white light accompanied it. With each flash, everything around became as clear as lightning had passed over, as if it had been coated in a layer of white.

"That’s where the Shining Knight Lophista gets his title," Krei said gravely. "Neither party in the duel has let out even a bit of energy. These are two terrifying individuals."

"Can you tell how strong they are?" asked the bald strongman.

"No. It’s very difficult to discern with such high-level masters, unless you face them yourself. How condensed their energy is, that’s something hard to distinguish. The same ray of light might have vastly different levels of energy concentrated within it. It’s impossible to know without experiencing it firsthand. Even I’m no different. For a duel of this level, where the energy dissipation is so well controlled, there are only two reasons."

"Which two?" Sophia and the strongman both looked towards Captain Krei.

"They might be holding back, consciously controlling their power. Or..." Krei’s expression grew somber, "their strength might be a level above mine..."

The three fell silent.

"Surpassing the captain... that could only mean they are A-level..." Sophia said with a solemn expression.

The other two slowly nodded in agreement.

"No matter what, we can only wait until the day passes before we can leave. Those are the rules of the Mark Battlefield. Without spatiotemporal positioning, we don’t even know where we are, let alone how to return to the Outer World," Krei said in a low voice. "Anyway, we didn’t come here to compete, so let’s just watch how things unfold."

In the arena, a red shadow repeatedly slammed into Lophista on the building. Blinding white light burst forth continuously from the two, but not a bit of energy leaked out, as if it were an ordinary battle between low-level psychics.

Even the ground of the building beneath Lophista’s feet showed no signs of damage.

The heavy and grating sound of metal clashing echoed.

Everyone else watched quietly.

No one made a move. It was as if they were deliberately clearing space for the two combatants.

Time slowly passed...

*******************

Fifteen kilometers away at a crossroads.

The wrecked cars were all squeezed together, quietly parked in the middle of the intersection, as if it were the scene of a car accident. Some cars were completely crushed flat, stuck in the center with their interiors squished out like the filling of a dumpling.

The tops of the colorfully painted vehicles formed a solid surface that one could walk on.

A small, dark figure stood quietly atop the cars. The figure wore a black robe that enveloped their entire body, with only a pair of withered hands tightly gripping a staff taller than their head. At the top of the staff, there seemed to be a cobra’s head standing erect, its eyes gleaming with an eerie green light.

The figure faced calmly in the direction of the ongoing flashes in the distance. The black robe on their body began to fade in color, turning into a gray robe.

"Medusa, got any results?"

A voice suddenly sounded. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for the Monthly Ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)