? Prince CH 5 (2/2)
Still, the pain! Unable to bear it, I curled up in agony, kneeling on the ground withdown my face…
“Prince…” Gui looked at me helplessly, clearly at a loss as to what to do Then, he stood up and faced the cool-looking girl His gaze was merciless and as cold as ice, and his entire person radiated a freezing chill Even Lolidragon and Ugly Wolf – who had been about to respond swiftly to the affront – were du this cold?
Pak! Gui gave the cool-looking girl a vicious slap, knocking her to the ground He then pinned her forcefully to the earth with his right foot, and spoke in a bitingly cold tone “I don’t kno Prince ht have offended you, but nobody should ever treat him like that”
Iirl’s tearoup drew his longsword, leveling it at Gui “Release him”
Seeing the situation, Lolidragon drew her daggers Wolf-dàgē picked Meatbun up frohtly Doll summoned her Flae, are you all right?” she asked urgently in a voice filled with concern
At that moment, both parties immediately drew their weapons and took ai critical and since I was the only warrior on our side, I hurriedly wipedup with red-rimmed eyes, I drew out my level 20 Black Dao, which now had an attack power of 65
I looked at the girl, as still pinned to the ground by Gui, with hatred and a desire for vengeance To think that she actually uy could ever experience… damn her!
Still, there was one thing that puzzled ?”
The girl looked at me, infuriated “F you! You’re an air-headed sissy who can’t distinguish uy?! Calling lare at Gui, and began to cuss again “Let o!”
Gui, however, merely increased the pressure of his foot, and spoke in an unrelenting tone “How dare you call Prince an air-headed sissy? Why don’t you look at yourself first – what sort of guy would actually kick another guy in the nuts? As for letting you go… When you turn into a pillar of white light, I’ll let you go”
…A guy? I was flabbergasted I then closely exairl” as he lay on the floor No matter how I looked at hiuy, with the exception of his level brows His face was even heart-shaped, his eyes were fra lashes, and his physique was slender Plus, he was dressed in a e’s robes, so I couldn’t tell if he had a chest or not…
“Let go of Ming Huang” This time, the dark elf dashed forward With a cry of “Sword of the Flawless Circle”, the longsword in his hand pierced Gui mercilessly from five different directions
<gui hp=”” -500,=”” 1000=”” 1500=””>
“Urgh!” Gui bit back a cry of pain even as he was flung onto his back by the impact
Not having expected that the opponent would actually attack when he said so, I was completely unprepared to catch Gui as he fell I kneeled down hurriedly to take a look at Gui’s injuries Wolf-dàgē rushed over as well, casting a healing spell to help Gui recover his health
With Gui’s foot no longer resting on hi a poisonous look at Gui, he began to chant an incantation “Elf of lightning…”
Hearing the words of his incantation, Lolidragon shouted, “Prince, stop hiic is exceptionally powerful At this rate, Gui will be killed!”
As soon as I heard Lolidragon’s warning, I raisedto run hi any further However, the longsielding dark elf immediately blocked my path
I swung ripped by anxiety He did not retreat an inch, countering ed blow after blow, attacking and defending in turn, but I was actually frantic by then
“…Divine Lightning Strike!” Ming Huang had finally finished the incantation, and a bolt of lightning struck Gui
“A-argh…urgh,” Gui cried out, his voice laced with pain Meanwhile, Wolf-dàgē continued to cast his healingto restore some of Gui’s HP in time
<guiliastes’s hp=”” 350=”” 1500=””>
At least he’s still alive, I thought
Just as I turned lance for Gui, however, the dark elf’s longsword pierced me twice Soain and began to focusthe dark elf
“Twin Shot!” The enemy’s elf archer actually dared to take the opportunity to shoot at the already injured Gui I ignored the dark elf’s blade and began dashi+ng towards Gui Still, how can anyone hope to be faster than an arrow?
“Skeletons, protect Gui-gēgē” Luckily for us, Doll was right beside Gui, and she instantly directed her skeletons to stand in front of Gui, blocking any inco attacks
Seeing how things were, I was deeply relieved – to the point where I actually forgot that there was an enemy behind me The dark elf cried out, “Sword of the Flawless Circle,” and brought his blade down on my back
“Uhn…” I winced
“Prince!” My teammates shouted, clearly worried Doll even directed three of her skeletons to co as the Flame-armored Skeletons shi+elded ē heal me
My wounds weren’t heavy, so Wolf-dàgē only had to use a medium heal to restore me to max HP However, when I looked at Gui – his expression twisted as he fought to endure to pain – a killing intent rose in , my voice was soft – quiet like the lull before a storm
“I adirl wass Gui did slap you, but he had no intention of killing you Now you want to take his life? Aren’t you going overboard?”
“Overboard? For stepping onHuang replied coolly
I took a deep breath, struggling to containparty chat, I asked the rest of the team, “Guys, what shall we do?”
“Yo! The other party’s been all courtesy; how can we not reciprocate?” Lolidragon said acerbically
“RO-O-AR! Those who hurt ē bellowed
“They’re too ē as well! For love and justice, Doll shall punish thenation
“Dàgē, hurry and heal me! I will repay them for the hurt they’ve caused Prince,” Gui said, his face still pale as a sheet
I smiled faintly
“Odd Squad, five tealy Wolf, priest Doll, necromancer Guiliastes, bard Kindly report your names,” I said coldly
With a “H replied, “Dark Ee (human) Wicked, warrior (dark elf) Ael) Playboy Lord, thief (human)”
A very well-balanced tea off that sense of respect, I silently listened as Wolf-dàgē gave his instructions over party chat
“Well… There’s not ainst Playboy Lord Gui, your task is to interfere with Aet the chance to shoot at anyone on our side! You’ll have to protect Doll and Lolidragon in particular…
“Doll, your task is very ie doesn’t have the chance to harm anyone from our team Otherwise, the situation will be critical Don’t worry; I’ll be there to help you”
The two parties all stood quietly facing each other, except for the priests, ere busy buffing their teammates up
The situation had quickly beconited Finally, I ly at Wicked, who had ed to score on sword at the ready
“Nine-headed Dragon Strike,” I said as I rushed forward
“Flawless Frenzied Blade-Dance” Wicked too, ca in
My dao and his longsword ainst on Strike and Wicked’s Flawless Frenzied Blade-Dance were blocked by one another With neither having been successfully executed, we both quickly guessed that the other was also a warrior skilled in swift yet powerful attacks
Our blades flashed as we continued our fight, yet neither of us could overpower the other
As Wicked and I coan to enter coainst Playboy Lord He atteon, but none of theility was clearly way above Playboy Lord’s I orried, however, since that probably reater than hers
Luckily, Lolidragon see that Playboy Lord had pu head-to-head with hi for the perfect moment to strike
Doll had directed two of her Fla, while keeping two skeletons at hand to protect her, Ugly Wolf, and Gui I had engaged Wicked, their only warrior, in coe – with no warrior to protect hiainst the skeletons Things were to our advantage here
As Doll was controlling the skeletons, their archer – Aht to take her down At first, he fired arrows like mad, but Doll was shi+elded by her skeletons Moreover, Gui was anything but idle all this while SupreSupersonic Soul-chasing Arrow over and over again like a
Ming Huang, in turn, was so terrified that he could only hide behind A Huang’s defensive spells to protect hi hi two Flame-armored Skeletons, Ambusher could only fire Twin Shot like a man possessed in order to block their attacks
Since Gui’s attacks were blocked by Ming Huang’s Ie Entrance Huang dropped the Impenetrable Wall in order to cast offensive spells, however, Gui would i Flurry of Musical Notes continuously
As for Wolf-dàgē, his role was the same as the enemy priest’s: to stand to one side and heal any injured party members
With Gui’s occasional Sheng-ge Entrancement Technique, an to retreat step by step, his body covered with nu their priest Black Lily flustered as she atte-ge Entrancereatly outstrip Playboy Lord in ter it possible for her to occasionally attack hi any injury herself
We have the upper hand now! Our tea It would only be aas there were no sudden changes…
“Lily, heal me! Wicked, Playboy Lord, co instructed his team mates
“Attack! Don’t let hient voice
I immediately rushed forward, but that bastard Wicked kept blockingcompletely on the defensive, I was unable to quickly overcome him While the two of us were locked in an i The HP of the members of Dark Emperor dropped quickly and even Black Lily could not restore their health quickly enough
Still, theirincantation, the strength of the spell… We did not dare to so ine it
At long last, I—
“…Wrath of the Nine Heavens!”
Ming Huang raised both arms He chanted the final line of the incantation, even as he was turned into a pillar of white light by my strike By that point, his teammates Black Lily, Playboy Lord and Ambusher had already taken a free airplane ride back to the city as well
His spell, however, was still in ed, turned o the dark clouds Suddenly, the first bolt of lightning struck, hitting Doll Before we could even shout,a single enor down on our heads
“Prince…” Even in the ē was still casting a healing spell on me
As the piercingly bright lightning vanished, I foundwith 450/3000 health Wolf-dàgē’s final, high-level healing spell must have saved my life
I was at a loss My eyes filled with tears as I thought, I’d much rather experience the awfulness of death with everyone else than survive all by myself…
“Come back to your senses and drink up,” Wicked’s cold voice came to me from behind
I was alarmed that Wicked was still alive, but there was astonishment as well Wicked didn’t try to attackexpression
“You guys are the ht look very weird, but you’re actually really strong,” Wicked said with a shred of respect in his cold eyes “I will consider you and your team our sworn enemies I hope you won’t disappoint me”
“You wish to continue fighting?” I was rather sick of fighting
“No, let’s stop here for today,” Wicked replied wearily as he sheathed his longsword “I have to get back and console Ming Huang”
“Is Ming Huang really a guy?” I asked, curious
“…Yes, he is He is er brother in real life,” Wicked explained, his tone a tad embarrassed
“…” I looked at the icily cool dark elf and thought, They sure aren’t like a pair of brothers – but then again, I’m not like my brother myself…
Just then, I thought of a pressing question Since Ming Huang is a guy…
“Why did you guys first tell us to hold up?” …And cause this huge fight
It was a rare sight as Wicked’s expression revealed a hint of embarrassuys used to lure so uys to teach us”
“…” I stared at Wicked with a dumbfounded expression
“…If there’s nothing else, I’ first”
“Wait up, Wicked, don’t leave” I grabbed a corner of Wicked’s shi+rt and looked at hiaze
“Is soly, an odd sort of feeling stirring in his heart
“You e of tears
“…?”
“I— I don’t remember the way back to Star City…” With one hand held to the back of my head, I sē who led the way here…
“…Follow me then”
[½ Prince Volume 1 Chapter 5 End]
Footnotes
1 Odd Squad: Written in Chinese as “非常队” (prn fēi cháng duì)
2 ‘Fēi, Cháng Duì’ … ‘Fēi Cháng, Duì’: Both are written and pronounced as “非常队” (prn fēi cháng duì), but their“Not, Nor “Very, Squad” (which is nonsensical) The reason for the difference is because the sarouped differently, have different s In the first one, “fēi” stands on its own, and ular” or “norrouped with “duì”, which means “squad”, hence the result is “not, normal squad”, or “Odd Squad” In the second version, “fēi” and “cháng” have been grouped together and together they actually h this is the incorrect interpretation of Odd Squad’s name, most of the other players in Second Life believed this to be Odd Squad’s naht they eird)
3 Debuff: A debuff is the opposite of a buff – while it lasts, it haility or strength (as opposed to increasing them)
4 Flurry of Musical Notes: In Chinese, this is written as “群音乱舞” (prn qún yīng luàn wŭ) – thelike a flock of ducks scattering in panic (but substitute the ducks with musical notes) Thisluàn wŭ, pronunciation is exactly the sa of unchaste wo) here refers to a type of bird, but is also used when referring to prostitutes The skill appears to be an offensive-type spell, but this is not clearly stated
5 “The hero leaves, and will never return!” …Ah, the piercing winds: This is a reference to Jing Ke (荊軻, prn jīng kē), an assassin who lived during the Warring States Period He was sent by Yan Dan (燕丹, prn yàn dān), crown prince of Yan, to assassinate Qin shi+ Huang (秦始皇, prn qín shĭ huáng), e Ke supposedly came up with this impromptu poem as he bade farewell to his friends on the banks of the river Yi – “风潇潇兮，易水寒，壮士一去兮不复返!” (prn fēng xiāo xiāo xí, yì shuĭ hán, zhuàng shì yì qù xí bù fù făn), which can be translated as, “The piercing winds, ah, the freezing waters of the river Yi, the hero leaves, and he will never return!” So in the sa Lolidragon farewell
6 Dragon’s XX: When it comes to herbs and tonics, there are all kinds of weird Chinese recipes involving all kinds of weird ingredients, such as on’s XX is basically a cure for iame developers in Second Lifeh, the word used here for “XX” actually means “whip”
7 Exploding Punch: Just a generic attack name Similarly naahters
8 Whip: In case you didn’t read footnote 6, the word used for “XX” in “Dragon’s XX” actually means “whip”
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