Chapter 737: Chapter 576: Younger Brother
Clang clang clang clang——
Inside the corridor, the sound of gun bullets biting into tal was incessant. Ash leaned to the side to face his enemy, minimizing his body’s exposure. His sword danced like a shield, protecting himself within the barrage of the bullet storm!
Originally, after the earlier trials, Ash had gained quite a bit of confidence, but as the second day of trials began, he was hit with a blow—
Phantom Hanna!
A Mobile Mage specializing in gun technique!
In theory, without the aid of magic power and the Technique Spirit, he would have no capacity to perform Bullet Reflection. Otherwise, Gun Masters wouldn’t enjoy the reputation of ‘the strongest offensive magic under the Holy Domain.’ Even Three-winged Mages had to rely on the Holy Domain to stoutly withstand the onslaught and ultimately end the Gun Master’s version advantage.
But for so reason, although he couldn’t use Mage powers in the underground trial, his senses seed to be enhanced. The breeze, scents, vision, hostility, sounds… all these elents combined in his mind in a mysterious way, forming a more acute intuition.
If one had to say, it was sowhat similar to “Concept Poison.” The side effect of this poison allowed one to occasionally glimpse the world’s truth. Ordinary vision could only see the reflection of light, whereas those poisoned with the Concept could see traces of miracles, such as the Spider Web of the Gospel that covered the sky.
But oddly, during his many days in Senluo, Ash hadn’t seen any of those enormous miracles that used an entire nation as their stage. Although he occasionally saw dazzling colors, they were nothing more than Veils ard by various Magic Factions for the City.
Ash’s current sensation was like being constantly afflicted by the Concept Poison. The world was no longer just monochromatic light, vibrations, scents, and movents, but there was sothing additional, sothing more secretive, more miraculous, more elusive…
Crack!
A gun bullet scraped past the edge of his blade and skimd over his forehead, taking a piece of flesh with it. Ash looked towards the Phantom Purple Moth fifty paces away, seeing her fully extend her Void Wings which, with a purple luminescence, condensed into four Miracle Firearms, complenting the two submachine guns in her hands. Within this narrow corridor, she ford what could be called a despair-inducing barrage defensive line!
The pride of the Miracle Doran family!
Indeed, that was the na because this was Hanna’s unique Miracle. This Miracle was based on the gun technique faction, amalgamating alchemy, Illusion Technique, Fire Technique, and other magics. Furthermore, she was able to utilize the Void Wings because of her Silver Blessing, “Burning Wings,” which allowed her to infuse the Technique Spirit into the Void Wings and thus transform them!
This also demonstrated that Miss Hanna was actually a preposterous protagonist of a coming-of-age story. Without even ntioning her background, her own talents and encounters were at a level destined for greatness; even without the interference of Ash and others, she could carve out a place for herself on future rankings.
When she was a teammate, even if she wasn’t exactly a proper superior, the workplace environnt was quite comfortable.
But once she beca the enemy, everything changed.
The very presence of the Phantom Purple Moth’s twin guns was unnerving enough, and now, with her firepower at full blast, Ash had no doubt he would be battered into a ss like an apple pie in the shower of bullets!
And just as the Phantom Purple Moth prepared her Miracle artillery, the Observer suddenly began leaping left and right along the walls, rapidly approaching the no-go zone of the Gun Master from above!
Without a doubt, the Phantom Purple Moth’s gun muzzles imdiately lifted, blocking all his escape routes!
Dada dada dada dada—
The deafening roar of gunfire echoed in the corridor, accumulating into a heart-rending hellish bellow. The test on the eardrums alone was enough to send any Mage into a dazed state. However, facing a deluge-like barrage, the Observer forcefully kicked off the walls, zigzagging through the air with changing speeds, like a butterfly in a storm, narrowly dodging the bullets.
At this mont, the Phantom Purple Moth suddenly shifted her gun muzzles to aim at Ash.
During the brief mont the Observer diverted her attention, Ash imdiately slipped into the shadows and swiftly approached the enemy. His “Observer’s Appearance” and “Listener’s Agony” seed to still be effective. Useless in one-on-one combat, but with soone else’s help, he becos an unnoticed bystander!
Dada dada!
Within seven steps, the guns were accurate and fast. Ash managed only to deflect half of the gun bullets, while he used his arms to block the rest. But how could steel be stopped by flesh?
Not that Ash intended to block gun bullets with his flesh. As the bullets penetrated his body at high speed, causing a cavitation effect and mango-like fragntation, his limbs burst into puffs of blood mist. In the swing of his arms, the mist sprayed towards the Phantom Purple Moth’s eyes!
It was pointless, though. The horrifying kinetic energy of the bullets was enough to halt Ash’s charge, leaving him only ti to throw his sweet words and a hidden dagger. However, Phantom Purple Moth lightly dodged to the side, easily avoiding Ash’s all-or-nothing throw.
But Ash wasn’t alone.
Suddenly, a spinning figure burst from above, breezing through the chaotic barrage that lost its vision. The Observer landed and chopped off the barrels of the Phantom Purple Moth’s twin guns, then thrust his sword forward, slicing through the beauty’s throat.
Phantom Purple Moth fell to the ground, her eyes losing their luster, blood flowing into a river. From her body flew two blazing orbs of light, landing on Ash and the Observer.
As his body shuddered, all the bullets in Ash’s body flew out, his wounds healed, his strength returned, and even the cavities created by the bullets disappeared.
He sat up and looked at his wound, a hint of confusion on his face.
“Did you face death so boldly because you were certain you’d receive a reward for healing from the trial?” the Observer asked calmly, wiping the sword’s blood with his elbow.
“Right,” Ash nodded, “After all, the first challenge yesterday ca with such a reward, there’s no reason the second one wouldn’t. Moreover, in that situation, since you created an opening, it was essential that I coordinate with you and charge in.”
“What if there were no rewards, or they were insufficient to heal you, or you were killed outright. What then?”
Ash paused, then shook his head, “In such a dire situation, how could I possibly have ti to think about that?”
The Observer said no more, sheathing his sword.
Ash walked past the corpse of the Phantom Purple Moth, glanced at the wound on her throat, and said, “Thank you.”
The Observer did not respond, simply starting to run through the corridor, with Ash quickly following him.
From last night’s experience, it was clear that the trial would continue until they reached the next hall, aning the longer they stayed in the corridors, the more battles they would face. Hence, hastening their pace could reduce the number of fights.
However, unless one was a Weak Mage, it was hard to make a significant difference in physical endurance. The one who arranged the trial must have considered this factor; moving slowly was certainly a disadvantage, but moving quickly might not bring much benefit, perhaps even the opposite due to excessive exhaustion from running, which could lead to disaster during the trial challenges.
“Do you have the feeling,” Ash suddenly said, “that today’s ‘rewards’ seem richer than yesterday’s?”
“The first challenge’s reward was rely to heal our wounds and restore our vitality, but the second challenge’s rewards seem to also enhance our physical fitness. It’s a small enhancent, but without the interference of Magic Power or Technique Spirits, I indeed feel that my senses are sharper.”
“During the battle, I found it odd; I’ve reached Golden Level in swordsmanship, but that doesn’t an I should be able to slash gun bullets. Yet, here in the trial, my senses were not only heightened, but I also felt a faint trace of sothing that transcends reality, which allowed to position the blade in the bullet’s path even before it left the gun muzzle.”
“My intuition wasn’t this sharp yesterday; now that I think about it, it must be the root of yesterday’s ‘rewards’ taking effect within . So, to what extent will today’s ‘rewards’ develop this seed?”
Ash spoke for a while without any reply, so he looked at the Observer curiously.
He thought for a mont, then said, “Are you unhappy because girls like ?”
The Observer glanced at him indifferently, Ash patted the Observer on the shoulder, trying to console him, “You look just like , you’ll definitely be liked by soone too! Even Harvey got a kiss from a young girl, are you telling you can’t match Harvey?”
“You think, what is this trial really trying to do? It’s sealed our Magic Power, yet it’s strengthening us through the trial…”
Finally, the Observer spoke up, “You’ve already made a judgnt, so why seek an answer from ?”
“Because I need you to confirm my judgnt!” Ash said with conviction, “And if you’re thinking the sa as , doesn’t that an I’m right?”
“Do you need others to confirm your thoughts that badly?”
“It’s not about needing validation from just anybody,” Ash replied, “but you’re my brother.”
In that mont, even the Observer, who had remained unflustered amidst a hail of bullets and had crossed the Angel’s graveyard, who faced the Divine Lord without fear, suddenly felt sothing within him snap.
anwhile, Ash was still nattering away, “…look, you were only born yesterday, you’re younger and weaker than I am, it’s clear that I’m the brother and you’re the younger. But our family doesn’t really go by formal titles; I always directly call our older brother by his na. So, you don’t have to call ‘big brother Ash,’ it would be kind of embarrassing for a grown man like you to say that…”
The Observer: “…Right.”
“But the point isn’t about being the younger brother,” Ash continued, “It’s because you’re concerned for my safety that I naturally hope my decisions will be affird by you.”
“Although I can’t guarantee I won’t fight desperately again in the next battle, I will cherish my life more,” Ash looked at his twin, “and place even greater trust in your abilities.”
Such a familiar conversation, the Observer thought, he seed to have said sothing similar to soone before. Who was it?
However, the main point was not who he had spoken to but how much truth and deceit were in the words.
“But there’s one thing I really wonder about,” Ash said. “The trial’s reward for healing us doesn’t seem like ‘Water Therapy,’ which reconstructs and heals, but rather like sothing I’ve heard of but can’t quite rember—”
“The bullet exits, flesh is restored, tissues are as before, as if everything returned to a state before injury,” the Observer said.
“That’s the effect of the ‘Reverse Ti’ series of Technique Spirits; it’s a thod of healing through ti reversal.”
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