Monster Soul Online Chapter 258

Chapter 258: The City Sleeps in Flames

Revin laid down on top of a ruined building in the old residential zone. The restoration of the city hadn't reached this section yet. They didn't have a lot of time, so Sebastian focused the construction on the important areas first, meaning there were temporarily abandoned parts of the city that Revin could hide in.

"Phew... That was close." Revin released a sigh of relief as he looked at the Moon Amethyst, which had lost its light. "It would be super cool if I could always use it."

The Moon Amethyst, one of the Gems of Catastrophe. The conceptual ability it possessed was 'Recovery.'

Each of the Gems of Catastrophe held a different power and had different methods of utilization. A few of them could be used directly, while others needed to be processed into an item. There were also ones that automatically activated, and some that could only be activated when the conditions were met. The Moon Amethyst was in the last category.

It wasn't an item that could be used anywhere and anytime. The user needed to be on the brink of death from heavy injuries, poison, curses, or some other kind of harmful abnormal condition. Upon activation, all of the negative effects on the user would be converted into a wave that spreads outward, dealing damage to anyone nearby. Meanwhile, all of the injuries on the user's body would vanish, though their health points would be unchanged.

After being used, the Moon Amethyst requires some time to recharge, depending on the damage it converted.

Revin's senses were keener than Kawin's, so Montra left it in his care.

"I talked tough, but they were definitely Lord Rank monsters. If I don't use my head, I won't even make it to tomorrow."

Revin drank a high-grade health potion and sat down, circulating Triple Sky Energy to regain his strength and stamina. As he did this, his head tried to come up with a way to survive this Borderless City full of monsters.

"The number of enemies is a problem. I can fight one of them, but any more than that and I probably won't stand a chance."

Revin waited nearly half an hour for the Moon Amethyst to regain its l.u.s.ter. He was aware that his opponents must be worried about the Gem of Catastrophe, and that granted him time to sit comfortably like this. However, once they came up with a plan or a countermeasure, he wouldn't even have time to sleep. The hotel would become the last place he visited. If he were in their shoes, the first place he would send monsters to guard would be the hotel.

"I'm alone, so I need to use guerrilla warfare tactics, causing chaos before seizing a chance to kill them one by one. It seems the time has come for me to use this."

Revin opened his system window and took out a brown metal plate with the appearance of a cage. He hid it inside his sleeve so he could use it immediately once the need arose.

Revin stood up and swept the dust off his lap. "I have to start before they make a move. Those guys won't expect me to strike instead of hiding. I have to buy time for Montra. The day after tomorrow is an important day, so I can't afford to fail."

The Explosia Sword grew in length and reached one-and-half meters. It responded to Revin's fire magic by giving off an orange glow.

Revin dragged the sword along with the ground while moving at high speed by strengthening his feet through fire magic power. Every step he took left a flame behind him.

There were many spells that could achieve the result Revin desired. However, unlike Montra, Revin wasn't good at using magic spells. Solaria possessed dozens of spells, but Revin only took a liking to two or three mid-tier ones and a few low-tier ones. The high-tier spells that required a long casting time were out of the question. He was a swordsman. He had no desire to stop his feet to cast spells. That style of fighting should be left to the magicians.

"Fortunately, the city is already in a ruined state due to Sila. The citizens won't feel angry at me if I ruin it even further."

Revin ran and leaped toward the shopping zone, which was under construction. The flames obediently followed him while creating a trail of fire. Solaria's flames were fiercer than normal fires, causing the Borderless City to soon be enveloped in chaotic flames.

'Extinguish those flames first.' Kuroha ordered his subordinates through their mental connection. A group of hundreds of rays a.s.sembled and poured water on the fire engulfing one of the newly built buildings.

Sadly, these flames were h.e.l.lfire that belonged to the h.e.l.lfire Dragon, Solaria. It was impossible to extinguish them with normal water. To get rid of them, they required special items, water-element magic power, cold-element qi, or water-attributed psychic power. The mantra ray race was considered half-water and half-lightning, so their powers were not enough to completely put out any of the fires.

The construction was important work, so Sebastian had no choice but to reduce the force responsible for hunting Revin and instruct them to take care of the flames and the damage they had caused.

The giants had to take some buildings down to prevent the fire from spreading. The rest of the monsters received Freezing Potions, a popular item sold at Sebastian's old shop, in order to extinguish small groups of fire. As for the big flames, it was Franz's job to swallow the Snow Crystal before circulating Seven-Form Serpent Qi, exerting the full potential of the pellet to extinguish the violent flames.

Staring at the chaos in front of him, Sebastian pondered.

'I can't afford to take this man lightly. He saw through the weakness in our messy chain of command and exploited it by causing damage that we didn't expect. With no crisis management, we were in a state of chaos until just a moment ago. Even worse, he is holding the entire city hostage. He knows we have to protect the city, so he dares to burn it. Not only does his action reduce the manpower dedicated to hunting him, but it also brings chaos, creating a chance for him to turn the tables on us.'

Vogue was one of the monsters with the duty of hunting Revin. However, Revin's flames were considered as part of himself, so the Evil Eye King couldn't find the man easily.

Revin was like a leaf hiding in a forest—or rather a cl.u.s.ter of fire hiding within a sea of flames.

The Evil Eye King stood alone in a place far from the chaos in order to focus. He concentrated and activated Psychic Enlightenment, opening his third eye to look for traces of the Flame Monarch. Even though it would be hard to find him, it was still within his capability. Finding him was just a matter of time.

'This human didn't use Solaria's Dragon Domain which has a larger radius in order to conceal his presence. Still... the fires are suddenly appearing in several places at once. What does this mean?'

Vogue used his evil eye to stare at one of the origin points he discovered, and the designated area appeared in front of him as if he was standing next to it.

A sword made of magic power was floating and dragging itself along the ground in no detectable patterns. It left a trail of flames along the course it took and immediately exploded into flames as soon as it approached any monster.

'I see. He is using the dragon race's ability to manipulate the results of spells. He must have summoned several Flaming Blades of the Underworld and scattered them all over the place, setting them to explode if the conditions were met. What a terrifyingly smart strategy.'

Vogue clapped his hands once, and the One-Eyed Bats soon flew toward him and flapped their wings around his body. Spoken words were unneeded as they quickly departed and scattered to find the target their king desired. As for Vogue himself, he simply closed his eyes and borrowed the sights of all the bats to look around.

Suddenly, he detected a presence nearby.

"Finally, we meet again. I take it that you are a monster that specializes in searching, right?" The voice of the man he was looking for rang out from his left, along with the swinging blade cutting through the air. Vogue was busy searching far and wide. He didn't expect the enemy to be this close without him noticing.

'I see. He was walking in the flames.' Vogue could come up with the answer in no time. It was the only method Revin could use to approach him—by reducing his power and concealing his presence in the flames, he could silently and slowly move around the place.

Even though the Evil Eye King had tried to evade, the flame blade still managed to sever his left arm. Vogue fired a laser from his eyes.

"Oops!" Revin didn't dodge but lifted his sword to block the laser, which got absorbed by the Explosia Sword, making it shine brighter.

Spotting the sword, Vogue was aware of its ability and immediately stopped firing. He jumped backward as he spread his bat wings, using Psychic Impact in order to escape.

Revin ignited flames on his feet, launching himself after the Evil Eye King as if he had become a comet. His whole body was engulfed in flames.

He didn't want Vogue to be successful in his escape, thus there was no mercy.

Flame Phoenix Sword Art — Phoenix Sears the Sky.

Lines of flames beautifully curved in the air, going around Vogue and blocking his path. Additionally, Revin's attacks continued with him activating the item skill he had gotten from the Explosia Sword.

"Bomb Blast!"

The grenade darted forward like a bullet. It was the moment that Revin was certain of his victory. Nevertheless, Vogue turned his head and stared into Revin's eyes. The eye on the Evil Eye King's forehead blinked once, and the situation was overturned.

Revin ended up being surrounded by the flames. The grenade that should have been flying at Vogue was instead flying toward him.

Revin quickly raised his sword to block the grenade while strengthening his h.e.l.lfire Dragon Scales using magic power.

The sound of the explosion was loud and clear, like a big firework in the sky.

—BOOM!!!

Floating in the sky, Vogue showed a stern expression. According to his calculations, thirty seconds were required for the reinforcements to arrive after hearing the explosion. By himself, he didn't have the capability to take down a dragon, especially a human who had inherited powers from Solaria—rumored to be the most aggressive dragon—through its Dragon Ritual.

The smoke from the explosion was blown away by the cold winds, revealing Revin standing in the sky. His body was covered in cuts and his left arm was slightly burnt. He looked at Vogue with eyes full of excitement.

"A skill that can swap places with the target, it seems? That was my first time seeing it. Well, such a gimmick guarantees that you are a technique-type. Even if your rank is Lord, your overall strength should be lower than mine—that of a Marquis Rank combat-type dragon. Victory will be mine if I can force you to fight me head-on," Revin speculated.

Vogue didn't reply to Revin's words, though it was exactly as the human had said. The dragons were an almighty race in Monster Soul. Most dragons possessed the strength to fight on par with opponents of a higher rank.

More importantly, Solaria was the strongest dragon out of the mid-cla.s.s dragons. Solaria's flames were deeply connected to its life force. The more injured Solaria was, the stronger and the hotter its flames would become.

Revin's body was covered in flames once more. Time was short, so he no longer had the intention to conceal his position. Dragon Domain was activated. The atmosphere became so hot it felt like volcanoes were erupting nearby, and the heat constantly damaged Vogue's health points.

Revin soared at Vogue by creating a mini-explosion below his shoes. He executed one of the strongest moves of his sword art.

Flame Phoenix Sword Art — Phoenix Sacrifice.

Triple Sky Energy surged and overflew. Cracks appeared on Revin's skin, covering his entire body in red blood. Hundreds of sword waves exploded and blew off in all directions. The waves not only surrounded the enemy, but also the user.

It was an extremely thrilling and dangerous martial move that left the user only one way to survive, which was to break through the enemy and soar through a single opening behind them.

Calmly, Vogue widened three of his eyes. The eyes rolled around and calculated the sequence of the sword waves. He unleashed psychic power and proceeded to move in a weird pattern, which allowed him to miraculously evade the 'net' of sword waves.

The soaring Revin charged his Explosia Sword using his own attacks before activating its item skill again. Four giant grenades circulated around the battlefield, ready to explode. His actions rendered Vogue's swapping ability useless as their positions were equally deadly.

"Flaming Blades of the Underworld!" Revin summoned flame blades made of magic power on top of the Explosia Sword. He brandished his sword at Vogue without minding the sharp blade energies covering the s.p.a.ce, even blocking the only way to escape.

Vogue materialized a shield from his psychic power to block Revin's sword which was surrounded by several flame blades. The clash made the two of them end up being caged by the sword waves, which came crashing toward them.

Their blood was spilled and their flesh was cut over and over. They both lost a lot of health points.

Considering the number of wounds on Vogue's body, the Evil Eye King had become weaker. On the contrary, Revin's strength only increased the closer he was to death.

Vogue's psychic shield began to crack. Witnessing it, Revin grinned happily.

"Bomb Blast!" The flame blades surrounding the Explosia Sword were absorbed and transformed into bombs. The explosion chained with the previous grenades, heavily injuring both combatants.

The explosion occurred right on Revin's hand, so he received more damage from it than Vogue, who resisted by materializing a barrier around his body.

At that time, Revin weakly raised his burnt left hand and grabbed onto Vogue's remaining arm.

The Evil Eye King tried to shake it off, but that was hardly possible because he only had one arm. Furthermore, with his arm being physically seized, he couldn't use Psychic Astral to escape from the next attack.

Gem of Catastrophe — Moon Amethyst.

Seizing the perfect timing, Revin used the Moon Amethyst to convert all of his injuries into damage. Seven rings blew outward with him as the center. Vogue was unable to dodge as he received all of the attacks at close range. Each explosion burned a batch of his health points divided by Psychic Dividing Life. After the smoke cleared, all that was left of Vogue was his charred torso. His legs were nowhere to be seen.

Revin reappeared on a nearby roof, looking perfectly healthy. His hand was still holding onto the half-dead Vogue.

"That was super close. If I had been two seconds too slow, I would have died," Revin remarked as he took a look at the Gem of Catastrophe in his possession, which had just lost its light again.

Vogue had a difficult time moving his mouth. "It's too soon to... celebrate. This king has obtained all of your information. The next time this king comes back... it will be your turn to die."

The Evil Eye King's dying words were right. He was one of the monsters players tended to avoid fighting against. The reason was he could come back with a perfect a.n.a.lysis of his previous opponent. Furthermore, his resp.a.w.n time was extremely short due to his skill, Psychic Preserve, which also saved him from losing levels upon dying. (It was different than the undead race's pa.s.sive skill in a sense that Psychic Preserve was an active skill that could be learned, though it had a long cooldown time of one month.)

"I expected as much... that's why I will be using this."

The clock was ticking. Revin sensed several strong presences leaping toward them at high speed. He quickly took the metal plate out of his sleeve.

Seeing it for the first time, Vogue frowned as he didn't understand Revin's intentions. However, after he inspected it, his eyes almost popped out.

"Wait!! No! I don't want to go there—!"

Revin interrupted, "Sorry. It's as Sebastian said. It's natural for humans to kill monsters and monsters to kill humans. I will have a hard time in this city if you come back."

The metal plate emitted light as it released the upper body of the giant werewolf restrained by chains. The werewolf was obviously in a berserk state with its eyes flashing red. Spotting something lying in front of it, it immediately bared its claw and struck the Evil Eye King, sending Vogue flying and ending up motionless.

Revin pulled the metal plate back, jerking the werewolf to come back into it, before returning it to his sleeve.

"A wild monster won't resp.a.w.n if killed by another wild monster. Farewell, Three-Eyes."

What was in Revin's hand just now was the Taming Plate, one of the new purchasable items available in the Floating Magic Kingdom. It could be used to keep a monster inside in order to tame them, slowly persuading them to become a pet.

Montra used it to store the Werewolf King from the Town of Beginnings inside. He intended to make it his pet at first, but he later found that the Werewolf King was extremely rebellious and refused to obey any orders. In the end, he simply left it imprisoned in the plate.

Hearing that Sila had several monsters following him, Montra adapted the utility of the Taming Plate, using it as a weapon. As long as the Werewolf King dealt the last strike, even though Revin wouldn't get any items nor experience points, Sila's monster follower would die and wouldn't be able to resp.a.w.n.

Inspecting his health points, Revin found it was at the very bottom. He had to flee before the enemy's reinforcements arrived. Igniting flames with h.e.l.lfire Dragon Scale, he jumped into the sea of fire and disappeared.