From his appearance, it could be seen that his opponent put up quite a fight.
They traveled silently and quickly arrived at the bottom of the tall mountain.
The sky was dark red, like frozen blood.
So it was this mountain.
Ivan’s eyes shone as he saw the continuous changes on the mountain. These changes were minute. Without outstanding Perception, people wouldn’t be able to notice.
“This is a crack in the plane?”
Ivan was amazed.
Marvin nodded and explained in a heavy voice, “Bordering Hell.”
Ivan understood. “So that’s why there is a such a thick and sinister aura.”
They continued going forward and soon arrived at a tunnel at the bottom of the mountain.
This obscure tunnel circumvented the 3rd area, [Astral Beast Corpse], and Mills Garden’s protector, leading straight into Mills Garden.
But this path could be very challenging, and if it went poorly they might suddenly end up in Hell.
They could also have a smooth journey and nothing would happen.
This all depended on how the plane’s rules changed, or in other words, luck.
Ivan knew that under the current circumstances he wouldn’t be able to overcome the Nine-Headed Vines, so if he wanted to enter Mills Garden, he would have to take a risk.
Hell’s lifeforms, he should be able to handle.
Generally speaking, powerful Devils wouldn’t be wandering around these cracks.
“Let’s go.”
Ivan stepped forward and entered the obscure tunnel.
…
A nauseating smell filled the strange cave.
But the cave itself was dry.
Marvin was holding his daggers while watching attentively for anomalies.
Ivan looked at the pair of [Azure Leaf]s and was a bit surprised, but he didn’t say anything about them. His father had a strange character. Giving away the Legendary Weapons he had been using all this time wasn’t too unusual, especially if it was to Marvin.
He wouldn’t be surprised by anything that guy did.
Even if he said he was an incarnation of God Lance.
As the two progressed, the cave gradually began to change.
Within a space crack, directions weren’t fixed.
From the direction they initially took, the tunnel had actually been heading toward the first area, the Lost Villa. But Marvin was pretty sure this tunnel led to Mills Garden because it had been confirmed by another source, a lone player that had nothing to do with the guilds.
That player not only shared some more information, but also included a video.
He and his team were killing some Barbazu and Chain Devils before reaching the 4th area.
The video was only about where the path led, and didn’t give much more information.
It was said that people would meet different things on this path.
There was no point in guessing what they might encounter, and they could only adapt to the situation.
Regarding this, Marvin was very confident. With 9 levels in Night Walker and his Desperation Style, he possessed fighting strength comparable to an ordinary Legend.
Moreover, he had Ivan by his side.
This guy basically had a Main Character halo. He was covered in so many buffs that there wouldn’t be anything to worry about in a crisis.
…
As they continued along, howls could be heard in the dark cave, echoing one after the other. It gave a rather ominous feeling.
“Not an illusion,” Ivan said.
Marvin nodded.
He could also feel that these howls came from living beings, and seemed to be howls of pain coming straight from one’s soul.
The path ahead seemed to consist of nothingness.
Ivan frowned, and softly grabbed Marvin’s wrist.
“Careful. That path is a little strange. It won’t be good if we split up.”
Facing Ivan’s unprecedentedly serious expression, Marvin also held his breath.
The two walked forward, stepping onto that nothingness at the same time.
The next second, both their expressions changed!
They saw a crimson world!
A river of blood surged and flowed to some unknown place, disappearing in the distance.
On the blood river, countless small boats were sailing with difficulty.
A lifeform on one boat looked extremely ugly. It was a Barbazu!
Barbazu were also known as Bearded Devils and were mid-ranked Devils!
On the river, many boats had been capsized by the roiling waves and countless souls sank inside.
“Hell… Styx…”
Ivan let out these words.
Marvin paled. “Nine Hells!”
…
The appearance of the Styx let them know where they were. Only in the Nine Hells could one find the River Styx.
The other side of the River Styx was crowded with Amnizu counting the people coming ashore.
These people had been related to Devils during their lives. In fact, in the Prime Material plane, a lot of people had deals with Devils. Their souls would come to Hell after their deaths, unless they were taken away by a Reaper from the Underworld before that.
Even the most common farmer could be tempted by an imp to steal someone else’s orchard.
If the farmer did this, then his soul would come to Hell after his death.
That was the story of a certain Devil Overlord in the Nine Hells.
Hell’s order was very strict and cruel.
The voices the two just heard came from a distant corner where some Erinyes were interrogating people on behalf of their superior.
These souls were still aware of their past life and the Erinyes’ whips could squeeze the power of Order out of them.
Demons liked Chaos while Devils were obsessed with Order. Although both sides were Evil, what they needed was completely different.
Thus, the Demons didn’t need souls.
Gods and Devils thirsted for the souls of the inhabitants of material planes, and naturally the Negative Energy Plane needed souls too.
…
The two were standing on a mountain as strange lifeforms were flying over from time to time and carelessly falling in the river Styx.
At that time, a small team of Chain Devils appeared behind them!
A few of them spoke in Infernal:
“Lifeforms invading… It’s surprisingly not just souls.”
“Hahaha, today we can fill up our bellies!”
___________________________
T/N: Devils’ illustrations are on discord at https://discord.gg/j3CuetU in the Illustrations server
Chapter 386: Blade Technique Style Greatmaster [9/10]
Chapter 386: Blade Technique Style Greatmaster [9/10]
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Chain Devils were mid-ranked Devils that were covered in chains and barbs but still looked humanoid.
They had pale white skin with lots of scars, both new and old ones. They were experts at torturing others but also tortured each other.
This group of Chain Devils seemed to be returning from the Shadow Wilderness and they were extremely hungry after paying their soul taxes to their superiors.
The two souls in front of them could definitely satisfy their needs.
Their gazes were especially focused on Marvin’s body.
Devils always had the sharpest awareness toward souls. Even though the other human was a bit more powerful, Marvin had the stronger soul.
This was most likely because his soul had fused with his host’s after transmigrating.
Whatever the case, this group of Chain Devils appearing in front of them wasn’t good news.
A commotion broke out on the distant shore of the River Styx.
Ivan and Marvin’s appearance not only attracted that group of Chain Devils, but many Barbazu were also lured over.
Two
mortals!
They boldly entered the Nine Hells on their own, a very rare occurrence.
Their souls had yet to be affiliated. If they could offer these mortals’ souls to their superiors, they would surely be rewarded, and maybe they would even be promoted. In the very strict world of the Devils, offering bribes and sacrifices was the only way to advance.
…
Ivan frowned. He hadn’t wanted them to carelessly enter the Nine Hells.
He quickly suggested, “Since we are still on the edge of Hell, the space is very unstable, so we will most likely return to the Secret Garden if we keep going.”
Marvin nodded in agreement as he took a deep breath.
The two glanced at each other and didn’t need to say anything else before they acted!
Mortals entering the Nine Hells, what else would they have to say?
They could only cut a bloody path out!
This group of Devils consisted of seven Chain Devils, each of them very tall and covered in iron chains. It seemed like they had no weak points.
In fact, it was so. Chain Devils had no vitals that could be targeted to easily kill them.
Frustratingly, ordinary Chain Devils could control the four iron chains on their bodies to attack, and curved daggers weren’t very effective against these kinds of chains.
But since things had come to this, there wasn’t any point worrying.
This Chain Devil was his first problematic enemy ever since he learnt Desperation Style. Fortunately, the Nine Hells weren’t the Secret Garden, so he was free to use his abilities here.
Shadow Step!
In an instant, Marvin appeared behind a Chain Devil and his dagger swooped down!
The Chain Devil hadn’t reacted, but the iron chain on his back slid up to protect him.
In spite of this, Marvin’s attack still struck firmly!
“Clang!”
Sparks flew in all directions.
Armor Break!
Shatter!
The two properties activated at the same time and the heavy iron chain was split in two by Marvin!
In an instant, the large chain on the Chain Devil’s back came off, exposing his bare skin.
“Aaah!”
Marvin followed up smoothly, ruthlessly slashing over with his second dagger!
This slash was very heavy, almost cutting that Chain Devil in half!
“Hiiissssssss!”
The Chain Devil let out a painful sound as his chains shook.
“Woosh!”
Two thick chains flew over at Marvin!
Marvin calmly used the Demon Hunter Steps to easily dodge them.
Hell’s lifeforms were truly troublesome.
If it was almost any other kind of being, even if they had an immunity to deadly injuries, Marvin’s blow would have already put them near death, possibly incapacitating them.
But that guy still had the energy to fight.
He retreated a few steps as he got ready to counterattack again, but another Chain Devil bellowed in a deep voice and approached to surround Marvin!
“Woosh!”
Sounds of chains flying through the air kept echoing out as Marvin started to have a harder time dodging.
Getting hit by a Chain Devil’s iron chain would seriously endanger his life!
Despite being in this precarious situation, Marvin became calmer and more collected.
His footsteps didn’t falter, and although there were a lot of chains swinging, they took time to change direction. As long as he was careful he would be able to see their trajectories.
In this way, even if he was in a 1 versus 2 situation, he would still be able to turn it around.
He took a quick glance at Ivan and saw that the latter was displaying his overwhelming might.
Marvin was having a hard time dealing with two while Ivan was slaughtering his five.
This was the gap in strength.
There was still a huge difference between Legend and Half-Legend!
But Marvin wasn’t discouraged. Once he advanced to Ruler of the Night, his strength would get a huge boost.
At that time, even if he wasn’t as powerful as Ivan, he would at least be far more powerful than most Legends!
Marvin was spurred on by Ivan’s performance and the curved dagger in his hand attacked even more viciously.
He had an odd feeling.
These two Chain Devils’ sinister expressions didn’t affect him at all, and he felt as if he had returned to the Ice Monster Cave, holding his wooden daggers and fighting 64 Ice Monsters.
It was as if Kangen’s voice echoed beside his ear, “If you are in desperate straits, you have no choice but to show the limits of your potential to defeat your enemies. Each attack must be faster than the last.”
Each attack must be faster than the last…
“Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!”
Suddenly, Marvin’s movements seemed to become even more refined. He dodged one Chain Devil’s attack and launched a risky attack on the other one.
His attacks were becoming increasingly faster!
The Chain Devil was caught off guard and simply didn’t have time to defend.
Moreover, Marvin’s earlier blow had already cut his body open, making moving more troublesome.
Marvin’s Reckless Dual Wielder property came into full effect, his daggers leaving afterimages. In a few moments, Marvin slashed about fifty times!
“Clang! Clang!”
The chains on the enemy were completely broken, exposing his weakened body.
Marvin wasn’t lenient and while making sure to dodge the other Chain Devil’s attack, he completely destroyed this Devil with his rain of slashes!
He seemed to have reached the quintessence of the Desperation Style.
Seeing his companion collapsing, the other Chain Devil was frightened.
Not giving him the chance to recover, Marvin focused on him with his murderous eyes and once again raised his daggers, attacking at lightning speed.
…
Ten seconds later, the other Chain Devil collapsed, his chains also completely shattered!
Marvin was a bit startled as his arm ached.
This burst power used a lot of physical strength.
But he was overjoyed.
He looked at his interface and not only had his Curved Dagger Mastery reached Greatmaster, but even his recently learned Desperation Style reached Greatmaster level!
This progress would shock the creator of the Desperation Style, Kangen.
The Ice Monster Cave was customized to temper Blade Techniques and was extremely suitable for the Desperation Style, so Marvin had managed to reach Master level by relying on it.
But being able to understand something so soon in this fight against two Chain Devils, this was a bit too exaggerated.
Marvin himself was a bit confounded by his progress.
He quickly inspected his interface more closely and found another detail.
Something was blinking at the end of the status window before disappearing… [Swimming Fish Blessing].
It was replaced by another line:
[Comprehension substantially increased]
There was a countdown after that, for about three days.
Marvin understood.
When he prayed for a blessing on his birthday, the Swimming Fish Constellation really granted him a blessing, but it never triggered, to the point that Marvin had almost forgotten about it.
In his past, this was a privilege only the players and a few natives could get and it would usually temporarily raise some attributes or some other status.
Blessings like Marvin’s, even if they were rare, weren’t nonexistent.
For these three days, Marvin would require less effort to gain more progress when studying something or training himself.
No wonder Desperation Style leveled up once more.
Greatmaster Desperation Style had one more property!
[Blade Shadow]: When using Desperation, after
activating Blade Shadow, Attack Speed increases by 30% and Stamina consumption is doubled.
It was an active effect!
Desperation Style’s benefits made Marvin’s fighting strength soar continuously. If he weren’t in the Nine Hells, he would be looking for a place to better comprehend this style of the Martial Path. If he could reach Grandmaster and become a Legend, his melee ability would reach a very frightening realm.
With a first-rate Blade Technique Style plus a PK expert’s experience, he was bound to be the nightmare of many people, and even Gods!
Marvin sighed in regret.
What would he be able to understand in these three days? He had to leave Hell first, returning to the Secret Garden to deal with Eric, and it would be best if he could also get the Underworld River Water.
…
After Marvin got rid of the two Chain Devils, he didn’t have to wait more than half a minute before Ivan easily finished the five Chain Devils on his side.
Regarding Marvin’s current fighting strength, Ivan was already very impressed.
But now wasn’t the time to discuss it.
Many Barbazu were rowing their boats on the River Styx and they could see even more Devils rushing over from the Shadow Wilderness in the distance.
The Devils had sharp senses and the aura of humans drew them over.
Although Devils were different from Demons and might not all attack Marvin and Ivan directly like those Chain Devils did, these guys were definitely interested in their souls.
They had to leave immediately!
Ivan took a deep breath and silently sensed the direction before pointing to one side. “That way!”
His buffed Perception was simply heaven-defying and a masterpiece of the Great Elven King, and let him feel the direction of the exit.
Marvin followed behind.
In this situation, he didn’t have another choice.
The two rushed across and climbed over the hill.
But the next instant, both of them drew a cold breath.
What they saw at the bottom of the hill was a dense gathering of souls!
Many Erinyes were ordering them in formation, while some looked coldly up at Marvin and Ivan.
And behind them, Chain Devils, Barbazu, and others were hurrying over.
It looked like a hopeless situation.
Chapter 387: Corps Contract [10/10]
Night Ranger - Full Series - 735 Chapters Page 226
