Chapter 377

Bai She Street, Wu Chang's physical body was directing the Arcane Knights and police officers to clear the devastated street.

Bai She Street was the political heart of Stilran, housing the headquarters of most government institutions; it could rightly be called Stilran's face.

If people saw Bai She Street in this state at dawn tomorrow, with the World Industrial Exposition about to open, the consequences would be catastrophic.

Cleaning the street, counting the dead, and handling the aftermath fell primarily to the native inhabitants of the realm.

The players faithfully carried out the instructions left by the True Self before departing, guarding Sir Xiao En.

Especially the Divine Tongue and the Wave of Killing Intent, who had become Wu Chang's personal bodyguards, never letting their guard down for a moment.

Acting Prime Minister Grath was dead; the Conservative Party's Chief Justice had just been hanged on a lamppost by their own hands. Having come this far, they had all but secured victory in the side quest confrontation.

Winning the side quest confrontation meant an additional 40% completion rate for the instance.

This was 40% extra completion for an S-class instance—more valuable than an A-class clearance of a normal A-class instance; no one could refuse such a massive reward.

If the faction leader were to die now and cause the faction to collapse, it would be more painful than killing them outright.

Everyone knew that such a massive disturbance tonight meant the Steam Council's target could not possibly have been merely Bai She Street.

Just like the recent Great Stench, which drew everyone's attention but was merely a facade, the Steam Council's true objective had been to attack the Royal Light Arms Factory and seize the core of the Anti-Magic Steam Press.

But knowing it and saying it aloud were two different things; everyone tacitly kept silent.

Even Raventon merely wore a look of concern, without mentioning the topic.

Trapped in thick fog, his transcendental power was completely suppressed; compared to ordinary officers, his only advantage was superior physical conditioning from transcendental enhancement.

Acting rashly under these conditions would lead to no better outcome than the transcendentalists who had died on Bai She Street.

As everyone harbored their own thoughts, heavy hoofbeats emerged from the fog; moments later, Randy charged into Bai She Street on the wind.

Randy dismounted, surveyed the surrounding devastation, then strode purposefully toward Wu Chang.

"The situation here is worse than I imagined."

Randy's massive frame and lion-like ferocity were unmistakable; the Divine Tongue and the Wave of Killing Intent recognized him at once and made no move to block his approach.

Wu Chang said, somewhat helplessly:

"They chose their timing well—attacked Bai She Street while we were away, and by the time we returned, it was already like this."

Randy sensed something, wisely refrained from asking what Wu Chang and his team had been doing, and said:

"The Stilran Palace was also attacked by the Steam Council. Fortunately, Your Majesty Olivia evacuated in time through a secret passage into St. George's Cathedral."

"Zhu Li and I eliminated the attackers. In the final stage of the battle, we encountered an outsider named Phantom, who said Bai She Street had also been attacked, so I came over to check."

Wu Chang was not surprised that Phantom had gone to St. George's Cathedral; from Connor, he had already learned that Phantom was in fact a mole embedded in Olivia's faction.

With Bai She Street fallen and the Free Party's leader dead in the attack, Phantom no longer needed to maintain his disguise.

Wu Chang briefly inquired about the battle at St. George's Cathedral and immediately sensed something odd; he asked:

"Among the attackers at St. George's Cathedral, was there a man carrying a staff marked with a special emblem?"

Randy paused to think; he had killed too quickly to notice any differences among the Steam Council members.

"The attackers at St. George's Cathedral were all mediocre in power—nowhere near the Executioner's rank. You probably didn't find the person you're looking for."

Wu Chang frowned and murmured: "That doesn't add up."

The battle at the Executioner's location had already ended; his True Self had learned from Leng Shan and Sword Star that the Xavier he had seen in the obsessional vision was not only a model employee of the Steam Council, but its leader—Councilor One.

The Executioner's memories within the Realm of Misfortune also confirmed Xavier's status.

With such a massive operation by the Steam Council, Xavier's absence was deeply suspicious.

As the three spoke, an abrupt night wind surged over Grimlan.

"The wind has risen."

The Divine Tongue sensed the wind's direction and looked up at the sky.

The already thick smog above began rotating clockwise under the gale, forming a vortex of condensed smog in the heavens.

The smog gathering into the vortex was not mere mist—it represented the realm's Steam Rules.

Vast quantities of Steam Rules coalesced and began to transform.

Listen closely, and you could hear faint thunder rumbling from within the vortex, as if something terrifying was being born inside.

Under the gaze of all, the vortex slowly descended, and when it reached several hundred meters above ground, they saw what lay at its center.

A mysterious figure in the same long robe as the Steam Council members hovered in midair, yet still leaned on his staff as if standing firmly on the ground.

Randy saw the staff and immediately knew the black-robed figure hovering above was Xavier, the man Wu Chang had been searching for.

The moment Xavier appeared, no grand gesture was needed—everyone who saw him felt an odd sensation.

It was as if the entire universe revolved around him, just like the vortex of mist swirling around him.

At this moment, Xavier seemed to have become the center of the realm.

Even though Wu Chang had never seen a Realm Child before, gazing at Xavier now, he understood exactly what a Realm Child was.

Xavier looked down upon them all, like a god surveying mortals.

Vast amounts of Steam Rule-infused mist surged into his black robe, swelling it outward.

Ssssschhh~

With the sound of tearing fabric, a pair of enormous black wings burst through the robe, unfolding behind Xavier.

Xavier's wings differed from Eileen's angelic feathers; his were entirely forged from steel, rugged and angular.

On the pitch-black steel wings were dense clusters of Kong Dong—so numerous that anyone with claustrophobia would explode at a single glance; each Kong Dong was a gun barrel.

Xavier flapped his wings, and thick steam erupted from the barrels, instantly engulfing Bai She Street in dense Steam Rules.

The Divine Tongue, in terror, realized that within Xavier's gushing steam, not only could he not cast skills, but even his Root Power was completely suppressed within his body, unable to manifest outwardly.

Not just the Divine Tongue—even Randy, the pinnacle of native combat strength, was similarly restricted.

Among those present, only a handful with mechanical abilities remained unaffected.

Wu Chang sniffed the air, sensing the mist that now permeated everything.

Xavier's Steam Rule is so tyrannical that it can seal off even a player's Root Power, and the reason is simple: Xavier's Rule has already evolved divinity.

Feeling the divinity in the mist, Wu Chang found Grimlan's nauseating air suddenly sweet.

He loved divinity too much.

Xavier, hovering above everyone, did not notice the change in Wu Chang's expression; he savored the panic on the faces of the adepts below.

Bai She Street is better—here, all are ordinary adepts, like ants, unlike the slums of Gray Church, which hide some strange entity.

That entity possesses power even he finds unbelievable, as if it had severed the slum's space from the world, making it self-contained.

Even with all his strength, he could not penetrate it in the slightest.

Facing the entity in the slums, he had no confidence of victory; the white flame it unleashed, even with his own divinity condensed, still filled him with fear.

If he rashly entered the slums and was cut off from the plane, he might die.

But as long as he did not enter the slums, as the Child of the Plane with nearly infinite Rule Power to sustain him, he need not fear the opponent.

Still, unless absolutely necessary, he did not wish to provoke such a terrifying entity.

He couldn't fight the monsters in the slums—could he not fight ordinary adepts?

Xavier shifted his thoughts instantly, turning his gaze from the slums back to Bai She Street, toward Xiao En and Randy, and the Queen and Zhu Li nearby.

Rather than fight to the death with the creature in the slums, he might as well kill these important figures first, seize Stilan, then play with the opponent slowly.

Thinking this, he immediately arrived above Bai She Street, ready to strike.

Fear, tremble—this is his power, his mission.

Behind him, his steel wings slowly flapped; he opened his mouth and spoke in a cold, mechanical voice:

"The future of the world belongs to industry, to technology. You, adepts of the old era, may now step aside."

"Not just you—this street's decaying institutions must perish with you. Upon their ruins, I shall build a true Stilan Empire, one the world will look up to." As he spoke, countless Kong Dong within his steel wings began to glow with dangerous light.

Randy, the strongest Root Power user present and the only one who could barely resist Xavier's divinity, sensed the terrifying power Xavier was gathering.

He grabbed the panicked Raventon, seized Wu Chang's wrist with his other hand, and sprinted toward the Police Hall, shouting all the while:

"Find cover!"

The next instant, countless beams erupted from Xavier's wings, shooting downward at the crowd.

Xavier's attack was far more treacherous than the bullet rain used by the Executioner; each projectile became a bolt of light shaped like a crossbow arrow, carrying the scent of steam explosives.

Where the light arrows struck buildings, massive explosions erupted; under the dense barrage, Bai She Street looked as if it had been shelled.

The Parliament Building, the Prime Minister's Residence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs—including the Police Hall where Wu Chang and others stood—all were reduced to rubble by the violent bombardment.

Fortunately, it was midnight; there were no casualties. Had it been daytime, Stilan's upper and lower houses, along with the entire government system, could have been rebuilt outright.

Xavier's light arrows simulated divine crossbow bolts using Steam Rule and arcane energy; besides the explosion of steam explosives, they carried the properties of divine bullets that attacked the Root and divinity that could not be resisted.

Several light arrows shattered windows and flew toward the group; Randy, relying on the formidable physique of a Mystic Knight, raised his sword to intercept them.

But the moment his greatsword touched the light arrow, it exploded and shattered; worse, the anti-divine force within the arrow, fused with divinity, did not wait for Randy to release his sword—it traveled up the blade and into his body.

The fusion of anti-divine force and divinity inflicted horrific damage; even Randy, whose body was stronger than any human's and who carried the Mystic Knight lineage, could only let out a muffled groan before collapsing, losing control of his body.

As two more light arrows followed, smashing through glass toward them, the faces of the Mystic Knights turned ashen.

Earlier, while clearing corpses, they had doubted whether the adepts of Bai She Street died so easily because they were too weak—now, just minutes later, they felt the despair those adepts had faced.

Especially White Horse and Veronika, targeted by the light arrows, overwhelmed by the threat, unable to even summon the desire to flee—their vision already flickered with life flashes.

White Horse, staring at the brilliant light, recalled the summer sun of his childhood…

Before he could clearly see that childhood sun, he saw a dark cloud—no, a figure standing before him.

He snapped back to awareness: the figure before him was Xiao En, the knight who was supposed to be protected by the players.

Wu Chang held the Lake Light Sacred Sword; the blade glowed over half a meter in radiance.

The light seemed faint, yet utterly resolute.

Wu Chang slashed at Xavier's light arrow, extinguishing it as easily as snuffing out a candle.

Then he reversed the blade and intercepted the arrow aimed at Veronika.

He glanced at the blade: after cutting through two beams, it still shone brightly, its edge unchipped, unmarked.

No wonder it was the Perfect Sword.

"Item Skill: Perfect Sword."

"Skill Description: The Sacred Sword blessed by the Lake Maiden who guarded Stiven. As long as the Root within the Sacred Sword remains undamaged, its blade cannot be destroyed."

He turned to the Mystic Knights and shouted:

"Hold firm! There are no knights who fear death—only knights who die fighting!"

The Perfect Sword, combined with his Heretic, could temporarily intercept every stray attack.

But intercepting alone was not enough—he had to find a way to kill Xavier.

Good news: Xavier had gained divinity; if he could get close enough, killing him would not be difficult.

Bad news: Xavier floated constantly in the sky, and Wu Chang could not fly.

With space manipulation sealed by Steam Rule, Wu Chang lost mobility and teleportation skills—he had no way to approach Xavier.

As he pondered how to reach him while slashing another incoming light arrow, he suddenly saw the Divine Tongue dart out from the side, snatch a fragment from the tip of the arrow just before it dissipated, and swallow it whole.

The fragment exploded inside the Divine Tongue's mouth, nearly shattering his skull.

Wu Chang was startled by the Divine Tongue's action and snapped: "Are you insane?"

The Divine Tongue offered a bitter smile, spat out a wisp of black smoke, and said: "I thought it was just ordinary Root Power—didn't realize it hit so hard."

As he spoke, his gums and mouth were visibly torn, blood gushing out—but his tongue remained pink, its taste buds untouched.

The name "Divine Tongue" was truly deserved.

He swiftly pulled out two dozen vials and bottles, mixing potions as he spoke:

"The process had an accident—but I gained something after all."

As he spoke, he had already brewed a vial of strangely colored potion, lifted Randy, and forced it down his throat.

After drinking the potion brewed by Xiao En, Randy began to regain his strength and reclaimed control of his body.

The primordial force and divine force that had invaded Randy's body were neutralized by Xiao En's potion.

That can't be right—can something like that be undone by a potion?

Wu Chang wanted to protest, but he held his tongue; watching Randy regain his vitality, a thought surfaced in his mind.

He pointed at Xavier floating in the sky and said, "Can you throw me over there?"

Randy quickly estimated the distance and nodded. "Should be fine, but are you really planning to go like that?"

Xavier in the sky acted like an infinite-ammo artillery platform, continuously firing explosive light arrows in all directions.

To approach Xavier, you'd likely have to endure at least a dozen attacks midair.

Even if Wu Chang could block them, he'd still be blasted back to the ground—there'd be no way to close the distance.

Wu Chang said, "Just throw me over. The rest I'll handle myself."

Randy took a deep breath and said, "I need ten seconds to prepare."

Wu Chang nodded. "Good—I need to prepare too."

He turned his back to the others, pulled out the Favor of the Goddess of Luck, activated the Lead Dice skill, and rolled three ones, triggering the Lucky Effect.

Then he took out a white belt and fastened it beneath his clothes.

This belt was called White Phantom, dropped from the Blood Testament of Bai Lao's boss during the Curse-Bound instance.

After fastening it, he activated its namesake skill.

"Item Skill: White Phantom"

"Skill Description: Upon activation, you briefly enter the White Phantom state. While active, you cannot be locked onto or targeted by any tech-based weapons, and have a 30% chance to negate damage from tech-based area attacks."

Ten seconds later, Randy returned to the group, fully prepared.

According to him, he had been suppressing his physical form with his extraordinary ability, making himself appear as ordinary as possible; to hurl Wu Chang to Xavier, he needed to release this suppression.

Freed from his physical restraint, Randy's height surged to an astonishing 3.5 meters; his body was covered in thick, lush fur—he no longer resembled a human.

Wu Chang suspected Randy hadn't merely unbound his body—he'd activated some kind of transformation skill.

Randy asked, "Are you ready?"

Wu Chang nodded. "Go."

Wu Chang gave Randy a glance; both burst from the doorway. In the instant they charged forward, Randy seized Wu Chang's left hand, spun twice on the spot like a discus thrower, and hurled Wu Chang toward Xavier in the sky.

Xavier noticed their movement and instantly redirected his fire, locking onto Wu Chang and unleashing a barrage of light arrows.

But with the Lucky Effect from the Favor of the Goddess of Luck, Wu Chang's 30% damage immunity temporarily spiked to 100%.

The Lucky Effect lasted only a short time—but it was enough for Wu Chang to close the distance to Xavier.

If he were using True Self right now, he'd let out a triumphant "Man!" and deliver a brutal elbow strike to Xavier's face.

But he couldn't shout it now.

If Xiao En suddenly threw an elbow, even the dumbest other players would notice something was wrong.

Still, he had another surprise prepared for Xavier—he gripped the Lake Light Sacred Sword in one hand, pulled out a knight's plate gauntlet with the other, and hurled it at Xavier, shouting:

"Cunning villain! Face me in a fair duel!"

(End of Chapter)