Chapter 1352 - City of the Decisive Battle (9) (1/2)

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A series of rasps rang out in the clash of blades. Sparks after sparks splashed and illuminated the dim hall. The two figures collided heavily with a shimmering scythe and sword in hand, sending airwaves rushing in all directions.

“Hoo-hoo, Human. I didn’t think you were this skillful.”

After letting out a crisp, bell-like chuckle, Eleanor dodged Rhode’s attack again as if she were weightless. In the face of her remarks, Rhode swept an unpleasant glance at her. At that moment, he realized that besides her odd scythe, her body was the most troublesome to deal with. Logically speaking, although this young lady supposedly owned a human body, the problem was that she was like a deep sea mollusk; whenever she moved, her body was so soft and flexible as if she had no bones.

There was once when Rhode stabbed at her and she abruptly bent backward into an inverted ‘L’ to avoid his attack. That wasn’t impossible to achieve. After all, one who practiced gymnastics could also bend back that far. But the problem was that he was dashing ahead at that time, while she was also backing off. What was even more bizarre was that after she bent backward, she suddenly leaped back to change from an inverted ‘L’ to a straight line with her body to draw a distance away from him as if she were swimming backward in the sea. After looking at this scene, Rhode was stunned. And he was almost killed by her scythe.

He finally understood that ‘Grim Reaper’ wasn’t actually a title, but a race instead. Judging from her flexibility, she was the true definition of ‘as soft as a bone’. Not only that, but she was also quick in battle like a fish swimming in the sea and could do anything she wanted. Combined with the scythe’s lethality, it made it impossible for Rhode to secure a win anytime soon.

“You too, Miss Eleanor.”

In response to her exclamation, Rhode responded sincerely. As the previous ‘test’ was messed up by Lapis, they weren’t really serious in dueling with each other. Of course, Eleanor didn’t show such traits back then, which was normal as under the overwhelming bombardment of Lapis, even if she were to dance around happily, she would still be blown to pieces.

“It was Catherine who went up earlier, right? I didn’t expect her to turn out this way… Hoo-hoo…”

The Grim Reaper said, covering her mouth to chuckle as if she were feeling relaxed. And upon hearing her words, Rhode raised his eyebrows. He finally knew which team was standing in front of him now. It was a team of three made up of the serious Catherine, lively Eleanor, and another Little Five. However, when they fought for the first mental crystal earlier, their Catherine was absorbed by the Catherine on Rhode’s team. Rhode initially thought that the two remaining members of that team would split up, but never did he expect them to stick together. Not only that, but they also went ahead of him to activate the second mental crystal, which was out of his calculations.

But now, it seemed like this Eleanor also wasn’t the core personality. After all, even though she was the Grim Reaper, her smiley personality gave him an impression of her being a rather frisky character. If that was the character of the core personality, Rhode would definitely have an impression. On the other hand, the Eleanor who ambushed him earlier was filled with the aura of death and fitted the image of the core personality more. But in terms of who had given him the better first impression, this smiling Eleanor was more endearing to him.

At this thought, Rhode narrowed his eyes and lay down the sword in his hand. Upon seeing his action, the Grim Reaper blinked curiously. Despite that, she didn’t put away her weapon. Instead, she continued gripping the scythe and looked at the young man cautiously.

“Do we still have to keep fighting, Miss Eleanor?”

“Hmm?”

Upon hearing Rhode’s words, Eleanor was taken aback. Soon after, that soft, cheery smile that was characteristic of a young lady appeared on her face once again.

“It isn’t like we don’t have to, Mr. Human. Little missy (Little Five) asked me to help her stop someone here. After all, you can’t fall twice in the same place, can you? Just in case, we’ll have to be prepared for that too. Besides, there’s nothing to do up there anyway, so it’s good to pass the time here, don’t you think?”

“…”

Upon hearing Eleanor’s reply, there was nothing that Rhode could do. However, he keenly realized a hidden message in her words. It seemed like Eleanor and Little Five knew who that mental crystal belonged to, which was why one of them activated the crystal, while the other stopped intruders. Otherwise, if they didn’t know who the mental crystal belonged to, they would have gone and activated it together, wouldn’t they?

“In that case…”

At that thought, Rhode didn’t say anything more but raised his sword instead. He didn’t want to destroy the Eleanor in front of him. After all, this was also one of the Grim Reaper’s personalities, so it would be a problem if he killed her. But then again, there were still benefits for strengthening the communication between him and her.

Rumble…!

But what Rhode didn’t expect was that just as he lifted his sword to ‘communicate’ with Eleanor again, a series of deep rumbles sounded all of a sudden. The stable tower trembled as if an earthquake of magnitude 10 struck. The solid ground rose and fell like ocean waves. A crack appeared like a spiderweb on the wall, gradually extending in all directions. From time to time, gravel dropped as if the building were on the verge of collapsing.

What? The battle up there has ended already?

Realizing that possibility, Rhode shifted his gaze to the top floor in astonishment. It would be a lie if he said that he wasn’t worried. Even players who randomly teamed up for a dungeon raid would add one another as friends as long as they didn’t get along too badly, not to mention that Rhode had teamed up with Little Five and Catherine for a while and got along well.

At that moment, he was a little concerned about whether it was Little Five or her other self who won the battle. But unfortunately, he was unable to confirm who the winner was because while the building crumbled, a glow that he couldn’t be more familiar with enveloped his vision. At the next moment, his world plunged into the same pitch-blackness as before once again.

“Argh… Here we go again…”

Before Rhode opened his eyes, he already felt the damp and moist air around him and heard the sound of waves crashing onto the shore. Hence, without even looking at his surroundings, he was somewhat certain of where he was. As a matter of fact, right after he opened his eyes, the first thing that came into sight was a deep and dark ocean. At his feet was a small observation platform with a spectacular view.

The moment he confirmed his position, he turned around and looked at the nearby tower immediately. Only seven mental crystals were left. The mental crystals were getting fewer and fewer, which also meant that time was running out. Of course, in addition to that, the amount of time needed to search and obtain the crystals were also limited. However…

“Looks like it’s just me now.”

Unlike before, this time there were no Catherine and Little Five around. Rhode couldn’t help but let out a sigh. But as soon as he muttered those words, he heard a soft and somewhat familiar voice from behind.

“Gee, Mr. Human, you can’t say that; I’m with you, aren’t I?”

“Huh?”

Upon hearing that voice, Rhode turned around and gripped his sword instinctively, only to find that Eleanor, the Grim Reaper he fought earlier, ‘floating at the edge of the observation deck and looking a little terrifying and eerie. But shortly after, she let out a string of laughter that diminished the bizarre atmosphere. Staring at Eleanor, Rhode felt nervous at first. But soon, he felt more relaxed.

“Oh, it’s Miss Eleanor…”