Chapter 217: How Did They Find Such a Bunch of Trash? (13)

A boulder blocked the road.

On both sides of the road were uneven rocky slopes; not even a Black Stone vehicle with virtually no off‑road capability could pass, and even on foot it was hard to walk.

Of course the boulder could be moved.

But it would consume mana and also time; this is a suburban area, with a few pedestrians but not many, making it a good spot for an ambush.

Moreover, a powerful demon was staring at them, leaving no escape.

Because of that, Aliena thought they had reached a dead end.

Luosen, seeing the boulder blocking the way, merely eased the vehicle's speed, then used Mage Hand to shift the driver's corpse from the front passenger seat to the rear seat, and said to Aliena, "Sit up front; we need you to smash those rocks."

He could have done it himself, but his source of power has been cut off, so he saves mana wherever possible.

"They probably won't give us that chance."

Even so, Aliena immediately took the front seat.

Luosen added, "Add some Black Stone to the combustion chamber; the power is a bit low."

Aliena complied.

Just as she finished adding, she saw a spread of black discs about a dozen centimeters in diameter scattered on the ground ahead of the vehicle, and she shouted a warning.

"Careful, those are engineering explosive flame bombs!"

These devices are extremely powerful, used for blasting mountains and carving roads; if one detonated under the vehicle, it would launch them straight into the sky.

Luosen chuckled, "They're duds that won't explode."

The next moment, the Black Stone vehicle rolled over, and the flame bombs indeed did not explode, looking just like ordinary stones on the road.

At the same time, Laifu sent a prompt.

'Fate Interference activated, consuming 2% mana.'

The consumption isn't large, because there was no explosion.

If it had already detonated and we forced interference, it would be like directly intercepting a flash flood; the mana cost would be astronomically huge, almost unacceptable.

Soon, the Black Stone vehicle stopped before the pile of blocking stones.

Aliena, following the concealed magical conduit reserved inside the vehicle, began using the Disintegration Technique on the blocking boulders.

She is a powerful mage of the Ten Rings' ultimate level, so this task was naturally no problem for her.

The boulders were broken down piece by piece into powder by the spell.

But the ambushers in the shadows certainly would not watch them clear the obstacle.

Bang bang bang bang~~

Figures emerged from the rocky slopes on both sides, firing Demon-Expelling Hand Cannons at the Black Stone vehicle.

However, this Black Stone vehicle is a special issue for guardian mages, with astonishing protection; despite the vehicle's body shaking under the Hand Cannon fire, it was not pierced.

Seeing the Hand Cannons ineffective, someone immediately began hurling high‑power explosive flame bombs at the Black Stone vehicle.

Pat~ Ding~ Dang~

The flame bombs struck the Black Stone vehicle with a pebble‑like clatter, but none exploded.

They turned out to be all duds.

Bang~~ Bang~~

They were high‑power sniper magical devices, two of them, whose power far exceeded that of the Demon‑Expelling Hand Cannons.

Bia~~~ Bia~~

The massive bullets did hit the vehicle, but they skimmed off, leaving only two long scratches on the hull and nothing else.

One could see the attackers on the hillside looking as if they'd seen a ghost.

Not to mention them, Aliena herself was puzzled; after disintegrating the boulders she couldn't help but say, "What's up with this demon? How did it find such a bunch of trash?"

They stood still and let them fire, essentially becoming live targets, yet despite the opponent's arsenal of massive weapons, the shots still couldn't pierce.

Of course, Aliena also vaguely sensed fluctuations of Fate's power, but the ripples were obscure and swift, feeling unlike any spell a mortal could wield.

At that moment, attackers in the distance produced a new weapon, its design wildly exaggerated, requiring two very strong bodies to move.

From the corner of her eye Aliena caught sight of it and jumped in fright, "It's the Destruction Light!"

Without thinking, she knew it must be the gear given by those two fallen guardian mages, a super artifact newly developed by Navat, with astonishing power.

Its emitted light is ten million times brighter than the sun, with near‑perfect cohesion, capable of piercing almost any defense in the world.

Luosen glanced and instantly understood it was a rune laser cannon; its power was certainly great, and the Black Stone vehicle might not withstand it.

But he wasn't worried at all.

Because artifacts of this intricate, power‑laden structure are Laifu's favorite.

So he reassured, "Don't worry, it's a defective product."

"Mage Luosen, the Destruction Light can't have defects; it's the Republic's most advanced Light Element artifact!"

"Clear the way quickly!"

Aliena had no choice but to keep disintegrating the stones.

During the agonizing wait, a sudden 'Boom' roared from afar.

The tremor was so violent that the ground itself shuddered hard.

Aliena turned her head and saw the Destruction Light explode on the spot.

The explosion was extremely powerful, triggering several flame bombs to self‑detonate, blasting the ambushers within a thirty‑meter radius to nothing.

One wave wiped out half of the ambushers.

Clearly they were the attackers, yet the other side stayed still, letting them fire.

Clearly the flame bombs should explode, but when thrown at the opponent they didn't.

Clearly they were perfect marksmen, yet they kept missing the fixed target.

Now, the objective still hasn't achieved anything, yet our side inexplicably lost half its troops.

Anyone would be stunned! The fierce explosion caused the ambushers' morale to plunge like a cliff, and their attack on the Black Stone vehicle almost completely stopped.

Luosen laughed heartily, "See, I told you it was a defective product."

"."

Finally, a path was broken through the blocking boulder, and the Black Stone vehicle passed the obstacle smoothly, accelerating again.

They sped toward Sarin Province east of Anweimar Province, leaving a bewildered group of ambushers far behind.

Luosen checked his mana reserve; that wave had consumed five units of mana, leaving twenty‑five units remaining.

This is only the beginning; if we get intercepted again or face a worse blow, our power will be exhausted in an instant.

Therefore, we must find a power supply.

He finds it hard to obtain a new source of power himself, as he is being closely watched by the Shadow Lord, but Alena beside him can.

"Alena, as a Guardian Mage, you are enveloped by a great amount of guardian belief power; I need you to find a way to lend me that power," he said. Belief power is special—it lacks the 'focus‑without‑breakage' issue, so it can elevate a person to legend.

Luosen said this because he is certain that Navat possesses the technique knowledge to draw belief power.

Alena understood naturally and was willing to help, but a look of difficulty instantly appeared on her face.

"Although I am a candidate for Guardian Archmage, I was only recently selected and have not truly encountered legendary power yet."

"I am still familiarizing myself with the Belief Conversion Artifact's functions, so I fear I cannot help you."

She said, pulling an artifact from the rear seat, "Look, this is my Belief Conversion Artifact; we call it the 'Guardian Wheel'."

Luosen glanced at it and saw the thing was about two handspans across, an oval disc of fused crystal and metal.

One side was smooth, the other bore a spiral pattern that slightly protruded, and the surface was etched with countless runes—most of which Luosen could read, the rest he could not.

But as long as she's willing to help, that's enough.

Luosen used the True Name beacon to secretly contact Mother Nature in the capital Naedlin, explaining his current situation in detail.

After a while, he received a reply.

"Grandmaster Naya says the Guardian Wheel's functions are extremely complex and contain many soul‑binding designs, intended to prevent anyone from stealing the Republic's guardian belief."

"Therefore, only a selected Guardian Archmage can activate and use the Guardian Wheel, and because it is so intricate, mastering it normally takes one to three years. So under normal circumstances, Alena cannot help you."

Luosen immediately realized there was an unconventional method.

Sure enough, Mother Nature's voice returned: "One workaround is for you and Alena to perform a deep soul link, then borrow your legendary control power to extract the guardian belief power on your behalf."

"Alena knows the method for deep soul link; you just need to contact her."

Luosen immediately relayed the information to Alena beside him.

Alena listened and did not answer at once: "I can perform a soul link, but first I need to be sure what you intend to do with this power."

"First, to counter the hunt against us. Second, to strike back at that demon at the crucial moment."

He paused, then said, "You don't think we escaped earlier merely because of luck, do you?"

Seeing Alena's curious expression, he explained, "It was my destiny spell; in less than five minutes, I consumed more than five times the power you have."

Alena's face showed shock.

Now that things have reached this point, their fates are intertwined, and Luosen does not intend to hide his trump card.

He pointed to the Crystal Flood Staff beside him.

"This thing can store legendary mana, a great amount. If filled and used properly, it can pose a massive threat to our enemies, possibly even"

Luosen made a throat‑slashing gesture and asked, "Got it?"

Alena slowly nodded, "Understood, but I must tell you that deep soul link will share power and may also share parts of our memories."

Luosen felt a slight stir in his mind, "Shared memories?"

"Yes, it's due to soul resonance—similar to mind resonance but deeper. It's uncontrollable and highly random."

Luosen understood and said plainly, "If you're okay with it, then let's link."

He had studied soul resonance and understood the phenomenon deeply, confirming it would not expose Laifu, the being hidden deep within the soul.

"Alright then. You focus on driving; I'll perform the deep soul link."

As she spoke, she began to act.

She raised both hands, the right tracing various sigils, the left moving back and forth between her forehead and Luosen's, while chanting incantations.

About five minutes later, Luosen clearly felt a massive surge of belief power nearby, realizing it was the guardian belief enveloping Alena's soul.

He immediately tried to channel this power, and after several attempts succeeded in drawing it into his own soul.

The power was immense, hundreds of times stronger than the faith power supplied by the Natural Church; what once took hours to fill a mana unit now took less than a minute.

With this power replenishing it, the Crystal Flood Staff's internal energy began to surge rapidly.

That would have been all, but as the power surged, Luosen suddenly felt a slight jolt in his head and gained a piece of knowledge.

Upon close inspection, he found it was knowledge of legendary mana focus, with a focus intensity of +3.8, and many of the techniques used were unknown to Luosen.

This focus knowledge has a name: the latest edition of 'Soul Oath Sword'.

Luosen thought briefly and understood the reason.

"Navat's Soul Oath Sword is continuously evolving."

"And I've been researching legendary focus lately, and Alena happened to have that knowledge, which caused the soul resonance."

"It's likely Alena also obtained my focus knowledge because of this."

Sure enough, he sensed Alena's gaze was off, and the next moment she said, "Mage Luosen, it seems you have many unique insights on legendary focus."

Luosen plainly admitted, "But the effect is still not as good as Alena's knowledge."

Alena nodded, "Originally this knowledge was the Republic's top secret and not easily shared, but given the special circumstances, consider it a high‑level magical exchange, though I hope Mage Luosen won't spread it to many others."

"Of course."

Since the knowledge is mature, Luosen immediately intended to put it to use.

After all, a strong enemy is right ahead; being a bit stronger is better.

So, he handed over the two simple tasks of driving and guiding power to Laifu, while he himself focused on digesting the brand-new spell knowledge.

Probably because their moving speed was too fast, exceeding the limit of mortal power that the Lord of Nether Shadow could mobilize in a short time, so the next hour was very calm.

Just as the power inside the Crystal Torrent Staff was nearly full, the situation underwent another change.

In the distant sky, two tiny black dots appeared.

Luosen narrowed his eyes and looked, confirming they were two airships.

From their flight trajectory, it was likely they were coming to intercept him.

Alena released a detection spell, drawing more conclusions: "Seglin and Dato have personally come after us."

These two are fallen guardian mages; their personal pursuit shows this is the Lord of Nether Shadow's last resort.

Immediately after, Alena reported a new situation: "Black Stone fuel is running low; at most we can go another hundred kilometers."

Luosen nodded to indicate understanding.

He turned his head to survey the surrounding terrain, and combined with the map from the Nawat Travel Guide, he roughly determined his current location.

Coincidentally, there was a fork ahead; he turned the rudder, changing from heading straight east to heading straight south.

He turned quite naturally, appearing to be just to dodge the airship interception.

The airships in the sky immediately adjusted their course as well.

Luosen watched the relentlessly pursuing airships, and via the soul link, he detailed the subsequent plan to Alena.

This was a plan he had worked out with the Grand Guardian Mage through the True Name Beacon.

Alena listened attentively, her eyes growing brighter.

(End of chapter)