111: Chapter 111 [Soul Blade: One Person]

"So, my dear survival maintenance system, where is my blade?" Mia searched through her inventory for a long time but couldn't find her [Soul Blade: One Person]. Instead, the two ceremonial daggers she had repeatedly refined—the [zhongzheng sword modified ex]—were lying quietly in her inventory.

"Oh, respected host, the Soul Blade is bound to your soul, so it's perfectly normal for it not to be in your inventory. You can either use the [zhongzheng sword modified ex] to fight the enemy, which would also be quite easy, or you can consider my suggestion."

"I'm all ears." The enemy was rushing towards her, yet she remained composed, continuing to speak with the survival maintenance system.

"It is no longer in your inventory, and neither is the equipment you're wearing right now—your clothes, gloves, stockings, belt, and leg spikes." The survival maintenance system's tone sounded somewhat smug.

"Are they all like me, having escaped from the Paradise Lost System?" Mia's eyelashes fluttered slightly, as if she had recalled some unpleasant memories.

"Correct. There are always various ways to bring things out of Paradise Lost, but mine is relatively more advanced. The Coordination Office's methods are a bit mediocre; otherwise, where do you think the equipment the Coordination Office provides you comes from?"

"So, what should I do?" Mia's tone remained gentle.

"Place your hand on the black lace choker that has transformed from your cross pendant into one inlaid with a blood-red gemstone, and call out [Soul Blade: One Person] in your heart, and you will be able to obtain it. The equipment on your body is even simpler; whenever you wish, just brush your hand over the area where the equipment should be worn, and you can stow away your current clothing and equip them instead. I'm off to recharge, bye-bye!"

Mia felt somewhat helpless; this method of drawing the blade sounded problematic from the start. The way to summon the equipment sounded embarrassing just thinking about it. But since she was under someone else's roof, forget it, she would just do as instructed.

Mia's bone-armored fingertips brushed over the lace at her neck, and the blood-red gemstone suddenly erupted with an eerie red light. The blade was drawn from between her sternum—first the tip pierced her skin, but no blood flowed; instead, silver light mist surged like liquid. Then, as the entire Tang dao was slowly drawn out, mercury-like ripples flowed across the blade's surface, and every movement stirred up tiny residual images of souls.

Tuaner's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Holy crap, is this actually drawing a blade from the chest?!" She grabbed Ryan Nephalem's arm beside her and shook it frantically, "Look! Mia's move is even more outrageous than the Raiden Shogun's! This is the real 'Milky Blade'!"

"We're rich, we're rich! With this 'Milky Blade' that can perfectly pass for the real thing, once this move is performed, throw on the Raiden Shogun outfit Li Qianzhou (Tuaner's ex-boyfriend) gave me, puff out the chest, draw the blade, and recite a few lines. Forget about just the same platform, even across the entire internet, given that Mia's beauty is already beyond human, throw on a wig and some natural makeup, and she'll likely sweep everyone away!" Tuaner, whose eyes had turned into the shape of money signs, wasn't worried about Mia's safety in the slightest and had already started fantasizing about the happy, wealthy life the two of them would have in the future.

"So, I was still teased by the survival maintenance system..." Mia sighed inwardly. She actually had no expectations for the outcome of this deathmatch; there was only one result: the two swordsmen opposite her—death!

She activated the innate skill of [Soul Blade: One Person], [Hundred People: Summon one hundred clones of herself with 15% of her original strength, wielding Tang daos to participate in the battle.]

Mia suddenly released the hilt.

[Soul Blade: One Person] fell straight down, but the moment it touched the ground, it turned into mercury-like liquid. The instant the ripples spread, the arena floor turned into a deep blue mirror—one hundred translucent "Mia" clones emerged from the mirror. They had the same eerie heterochromatic eyes and the same bone-armored gloves, but their bodies seemed to be composed of liquid soul light, moving in a graceful yet eerie manner.

The most terrifying part was that when these one hundred Tang daos were raised simultaneously, the humming sound produced by the vibrating blades converged into a single, shrill— "Kill!"

"Is it an illusion?" Uesugi Ryosuke felt a trace of hesitation.

Shimazu Hayato, on the other hand, immediately activated [Wrathful Form] (Active/Transformation).

He tore apart his upper garment, revealing the tattoo of the acala engraved on his back.

He entered the 45-second [acala Descent] state: his body size expanded to 3 meters, and his skin hardened like rock.

The [acala] great blade also evolved into the [Thousand-Catty Precept Blade], with all basic attacks carrying knock-up and armor-piercing effects.

(Side effect: After the transformation ends, he falls into a 5-second [Collapse] state where his defense drops to zero.)

Shimazu Hayato bypassed Uesugi Ryosuke, and the [Thousand-Catty Precept Blade] swept forward, successfully knocking back several [Hundred People] clones, but failing to kill them.

"These are all real, not illusions, Uesugi-kun. We are facing an unprecedentedly difficult battle! Please take care of yourself!" After saying this, Shimazu Hayato brandished the [Thousand-Catty Precept Blade] and charged straight towards Mia.

Shimazu Hayato's second killing move, [Hell Wheel] (Tactical Displacement), was also activated during his charge. Shimazu held the great blade and, using the blade as an axis, launched a spiral charge (maximum charge distance 30 meters). All enemies in the path were forcibly drawn to the area around the blade, ending with an upward slash (Damage = Strength Value x10). (Cooldown 20 seconds, but reduced by 5 seconds for every kill.)

A small portion of Mia's [Hundred People] clones were drawn to Shimazu Hayato's [Thousand-Catty Precept Blade] and moved toward Mia along with his rotation. When the upward slash was activated, they all spread membrane-like wings to dodge the killing move, then swooped down from the sky to attack Shimazu Hayato, with dozens of azure light slashes exploding on Shimazu Hayato's body, kicking up a mist of blood.

On the other side of the deathmatch stage, Uesugi Ryosuke had also activated his signature skill,

[Blood Moon Frenzy (Active): Consumes 30% of own HP to make [Karma Fire] enter a bloodthirsty state for 10 seconds.

Each slash will deal additional true damage equal to [Lost HP x2] and restore an equal amount of HP.

Upon entering the bloodthirsty state, the swordsman gains [Pain Paralysis] due to excruciating pain, becoming immune to all control effects.]

He successfully slashed several of Mia's [Hundred People] clones, but because of the abundant soul power (the current limit for [Soul Blade: One Person]'s skill activation is [Thousand People]), the [Hundred People] clones' wounds healed as good as new very quickly. This unknown restorative power made a trace of fear rise in Uesugi Ryosuke's heart. Moreover, the life force he absorbed was also problematic; the absorbed HP made him become increasingly infatuated the more he looked at Mia, and, being vigilant, he realized he had been poisoned.

Originally, the two were most adept at group battles, and when fighting together, they even had combo skills. Unfortunately, they were up against Mia and the clones summoned by her [Soul Blade: One Person]. They couldn't be killed, and they couldn't be severed.

One minute passed in a flash. Shimazu Hayato's [Wrathful Form] super armor duration ended, and the 5-second [Collapse] state cost him an arm. Now, looking from afar, he was just a blood-soaked gourd covered in wounds. He mechanically swung [acala], shedding his last remnants of vitality...