232 Chapter 232: Breaking Through (1/2)
Lionel Stuart blasted the gigantic Shaggrowth back with another wave of his sword, a blizzard of petals slicing through its misshapen mass. A little ahead of him, Yuan Dao Yue Guang punched through the bulk of Ying Bu Si's shadows as he advanced toward the desperately retreating Assassin, destroying his spells with sheer force.
Or Ba Qi, but you know what I mean.
The purple Ghost-type Soul Beast tackled the Vermillion Phoenix soaring high in the air, and Michael swung his sword, clashing against the blades of the Umbra Assassin who had summoned it. The two exchanged a flurry of strikes that sent sparks spiraling through the air.
”Go!” Michael shouted.
For a moment, Shun Yin didn't react. He was too busily engaging the Assassins in front of him to pay attention to whatever the others said. Then Glen and White Tiger smashed through the trio of Umbra Assassins attacking him, scattering them with terrifying lightning spells.
”Go!” Michael shouted again. ”Shun Yin, you go ahead! We'll take care of the Assassins here!”
”Go ahead, where?” Shun Yin blurted out, puzzled.
”The ritual is taking place the temple! Further back in the main hall, there should be a hatch somewhere! It should have a set of stairs leading to the basement. If all their forces are here to stop us, then there shouldn't be much Assassins or mages left guarding the device they are using to artificially trigger an Emergence event!”
”You're gambling quite a bit on that,” Lionel remarked as he dodged one tentacle before cutting another apart. ”If he goes alone, there won't be anybody to support him…especially if there happens to be another group of enemies waiting down there.”
”But he's the only one who can convince Angie to stop this madness.” Michael took a deep breath, his expression bitter. ”He's the only one she would never hurt. If he can talk to her, he might be able to change her mind and put a stop to all this!”
”What makes you think Angie is the one behind all this?” Glen muttered as he ducked under the shadowy blade of an Umbra Assassin before slamming his palm into his opponent's chest and electrocuting him. Despite lethal voltage running through his body, the Assassin was able to resist the spell and continued to fight on, retaliating with a slash that forced Glen back.
”You are right. Angie really isn't behind this.” Michael smiled wryly as he combated against the grim Umbra Assassin who had summoned the ghost-type Soul Beast. ”But if there's anyone who can persuade her to turn against whoever is behind this, it will be him.”
”You put too much faith in me,” Shun Yin replied bitterly. ”I couldn't even convince Angelica to give up on her insane goal of destroying the Porter clan.”
”You didn't try,” Michael pointed out as he rolled his eyes. ”And now that the Porter clan has been all but annihilated, she has already achieved her goal. There is no longer any reason for her to continue siding with whoever she joined up with.”
”Then why is she still with them?”
”Remember what I told you, about a month ago? The message she asked me to pass on to you?”
Shun Yin blinked in surprise. He did indeed recall the letter that Michael delivered to him on behalf of Angelica.
”Please don't join the Assassins Guild. I intend to betray the organization hiring them. All I desire is more power…that way, I will be able to be together with you. Our paths may be different, but our destination is definitely the same. I'm sure we'll arrive there together…eventually.”
His eyes widened. Michael was definitely giving him a hint somewhere, reminding him of Angelica's plans. She didn't stay with the mastermind behind this artificial apocalyptic Emergence event after the demise of her clan to destroy the world. She was planning to betray the organization who had schemed the end of the world all this time. And what better way to obstruct their plans than from doing it within their organization?
That was why she stuck with them after she achieved her goal of assassinating her family and clan elders. To stop them from destroying the world. Still, Shun Yin had to admit that she had a really convoluted way of doing this. And why even bother with wiping out the majority of the Porter clan when you were going to destroy the world anyway?
Well, whatever. He was never going to find out unless he asked her directly. And the only way to do that was to meet her.
”I'll be counting on you then.”
Gathering mana into his sword, Shun Yin launched himself forward. Three of the Umbra Assassins lunged at him, determined to halt his advance, but his blade erupted into a hellish inferno before washing over the three of them. Two of the Umbra Assassins retreated in reflex, avoiding a fiery death, but their third comrade was instantly incinerated.
Without missing a beat, Shun Yin surged into the back of the main hall where they had been fighting in all this while. The two Umbra Assassins spun around and pursued him, their blades flashing downward dangerously.
”Oh no, you don't!”
”!!!”
The two Assassins were forced to dive to the side as jagged bolts of golden lightning struck the space where they would have occupied if they continued on their trajectory toward their target. Flanked by his growling White Tiger, Glen approached them.
”Your opponent is me!”
Shun Yin didn't even turn back, trusting his friend to watch his back. He cleaved through a pile of rubble that was in his way, almost on intuition, and spotted the hatch that Michael was talking about. He yanked it open with his free hand, the trapdoor swinging upward to reveal a set of stairs leading to the darkness below.
Without any hesitation, he plunged downward, leaving the fighting behind him.
Eventually, he reached the bottom of the stairs, which then tapered off into a long corridor. Slowing down, he proceeded cautiously, aware that there would be traps planted between here and his destination.
”!!”
As he took a single step forward, he sensed something enormous. An awfully potent source of mana that hummed and thrummed from deep within the temple. Michael was correct. Whatever they planned on doing, it was being carried out in the bowels of the Phoenix Temple, its sacred grounds desecrated by lunatics.
”…this is…”
Shun Yin was sure that the source of the mana was what the enemy used to artificially trigger the Emergence event. Such tremendous amounts of energies were required to rip open the fabric of time-space and cause a rupture between the two dimensions. It was unlike the miniaturized devices that the Dark Church eventually developed in the present, but back then the technology was still young and undeveloped.
These were pretty much the prototypes that they used.
However, it was clear that they needed a lot of mana to power the device that they used to artificially trigger the Emergence event. That was why Shun Yin knew he was on the right track. He began to hasten his pace.
”!!!”