Chapter 129: Transformation (Part One)
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This was, of course, not Fenina’s home. In truth, the two of them could not even be considered guests. Yet Zhao Nan suddenly felt something different about the deliberately playful way she spoke.
Naturally, this could not be called falling for someone else. Damn it, after all that shifting and transferring, it had still ended up being the same person. Zhao Nan knew that, at most, this was merely a sense of novelty. It was much like a long-married couple suddenly getting hotheaded one day and playing some sort of role-playing game to spice up their relationship.
Zhao Nan sincerely hoped that was all it was.
…
…
Behind the door was a vast, spacious, circular chamber. Everything was white. Seen from outside, the Transcendent Palace had also appeared white. Now, within the entire palace, it seemed that the pure-white appearance visible from the outside had been preserved.
The palace’s master was white as well. Standing at the very center of the room with her eyes closed, she was enclosed within a gigantic transparent crystal, her hands slightly spread apart.
Zhao Nan walked forward, with Fenina following close beside him, unwilling to stray even an inch away. She hummed a light, unfamiliar melody.
The tune sounded vaguely familiar to Zhao Nan. Without thinking, he asked, “What song is that?”
“Prayer of the Misty Moonlit Night.”
The melody stopped at once as she supplied its name. Fenina twirled a strand of hair around her finger and smiled. “Is it nice?”
Zhao Nan nodded and smiled as well. “It is.”
Fenina suddenly leaned over and stole a kiss from him. Then she spun once in front of Zhao Nan, her black hair following in a graceful arc, and said wistfully, “Then I’ll hum it for you often from now on.”
Looking at her, Zhao Nan felt a nameless ache in his heart. Almost unconsciously, he replied, “All right.”
The interrupted melody began again. Zhao Nan walked over to the place where the master of the Transcendent Palace stood. Beneath the enormous crystal was an unusual magic circle.
Along the edge of the magic circle ran a circular groove, in which exactly seven sockets had been carved. Each socket was precisely the right size for a Spirit-Summoning Pearl.
“Let’s put the pearls in together,” Fenina suddenly said, stopping her humming with a smile. “It feels better that way. Then you and I can complete something together.”
Zhao Nan was startled. He handed her three of the Spirit-Summoning Pearls and said gently, “Then let’s take it slowly. Be careful not to wake the master of this place.”
Fenina gave a soft laugh. “Silly, waking him is exactly why we came here!”
That smile was breathtakingly beautiful.
…
…
The two of them had indeed come to awaken the master of the Transcendent Palace. In the end, the Spirit-Summoning Pearls were still placed one by one into the groove along the edge of the magic circle.
They took turns, one pearl each, performing the simple act of insertion. There were only seven in total, yet they stopped three times along the way. Each time, Fenina claimed that the pearl in her hand was too large or too small and insisted on exchanging it for one in Zhao Nan’s possession.
Whether she was simply being deliberately playful or not, Zhao Nan could not bring himself to feel the slightest annoyance.
Not far away, the Sky Dragon and the Little Ice Phoenix watched the two of them bicker and play like children pretending at house. They did not understand what was going on. The dragon and phoenix stood pressed tightly side by side, however, and neither looked particularly cheerful. It was not cold here at all, yet they looked as though they were keeping each other warm.
When Zhao Nan and Fenina placed the final Spirit-Summoning Pearl into the last socket together, the entire magic circle came alive. A faint white radiance began to pour from the pearls, flowing into the grooves before spreading throughout the whole formation. Then, in streams, it entered the enormous crystal.
Crack.
A fissure suddenly appeared in the crystal. Zhao Nan let out a quiet breath. At last, the quest was about to be completed.
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Unexpectedly, a deafening crash rang out at that very moment. One corner of the room suddenly collapsed. Shattered chunks of stone flew in every direction, striking the surroundings with sharp bangs, while a powerful gust of wind swept through the chamber.
Zhao Nan and Fenina nearly lost their footing.
“Ding! Player Zhao Nan has been attacked by the Rose Countess. Please counterattack immediately.”
…
…
Who was the Rose Countess? Zhao Nan had never even heard of her. He assumed that this was simply the final stage of the quest to awaken the master of the Transcendent Palace.
Usually, the final stage of a storyline required defeating some sort of boss before the quest could be considered complete.
That was what Zhao Nan initially thought. But when he saw the Rose Countess emerge clearly from the smoke and dust, he was utterly dumbfounded.
The Rose Countess was not some hideous monster. She was a woman with short black hair, dressed in red-and-white clothing resembling the armor and attire of a medieval knight.
She was extraordinarily beautiful, yet possessed an air of heroic valor. Her gaze was sharp, and her eyes were an uncanny violet. Above her head floated three green health bars, one, two, three.
Level ??? Rose Countess…
And her name was gold.
Zhao Nan wanted to curse. This was actually a king-level character whose level could not even be seen!
…
…
This absolutely could not be the final stage of the special Transcendent Palace scenario. An enemy of this caliber appearing on a map that had only been opened to level twenty would make it impossible for any player to complete the quest.
Cold sweat began to pour down Zhao Nan’s back. The Rose Countess had already fixed her gaze upon him. Strangely, however, there was not the slightest trace of murderous intent on her face—only delight.
“At last, I have found you, Your Highness the Princess!”
With that, she dropped to one knee. It was the most loyal and most orthodox of knightly gestures.
The princess she referred to was naturally a woman. Zhao Nan instinctively looked toward Fenina. Fenina frowned and looked back at him before suddenly asking, “Nan, who is she?”
The Rose Countess raised her head. Her black bangs swayed, and her violet eyes grew even more agitated.
“Your Highness, I have searched for you for so long! Several months ago, I happened to sense your presence in the Lost Zone and followed it all the way here. Unfortunately, the trail suddenly vanished, so I had no choice but to hide in this place. I never imagined I would truly live to find you. This is wonderful!”
“The princess?” Fenina pointed at herself in confusion. “You mean me?”
The Rose Countess beamed. “Your Highness, have you forgotten me? I am the guardian assigned to you by His Majesty the Night King!”
Fenina shook her head. “I don’t know you.”
The Rose Countess did not look disappointed in the slightest. “You were still very young when you became separated from me. It is only natural that you do not remember your subject. Now that I have found Your Highness, please return to the Empire with me. You have been missing for fourteen years, and His Majesty has been deeply worried!”
As she spoke, the Rose Countess rose directly to her feet. The armored boots on her long legs struck the floor with ringing clangs as she took one step.
Then another.
Her speed became impossible to follow. In an instant, she appeared before Fenina.
Double Cyclone Spin x2!
Zhao Nan struck at that moment. Two powerful whirlwinds appeared before the Rose Countess and blasted toward her.
-1!
Zhao Nan’s eyes narrowed at once. He had known the Rose Countess was extraordinarily powerful, but he had never expected that even a doubled Double Cyclone Spin would inflict only a single point of forced damage. Not even the skill’s knockback effect had any impact whatsoever.
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“Who are you?”
The Rose Countess was exceedingly respectful toward Fenina, but when she turned her head to look at Zhao Nan, her expression became as cold as frost.
“Seeking death!”
The instant the word left her lips, an unprecedented sense of danger caused every muscle in Zhao Nan’s body to tense. He seized Fenina’s hand and leapt backward at full speed.
At that exact moment, the Rose Countess swept out one hand. A streak of red light flashed past, carving a deep scar across the floor. The entire room was cleaved in two by the radiance. Through the fissure, the floors below could be seen splitting apart one after another, the slash penetrating all the way to the lowest level.
Thorn Vines x2!
Zhao Nan struck again at once. Twenty vines wrapped around the Rose Countess, binding her so tightly that she could not move.
But Zhao Nan did not choose to attack. He raised a hand and summoned the Sky Dragon. The creature reacted immediately, smashing through the chamber wall. Zhao Nan and Fenina leapt outside, mounted the dragon’s back, and fled into the sky.
There was no way they could defeat the Rose Countess at present!
Zhao Nan glanced nervously back while they were airborne, but the Rose Countess was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, Eurisis let out a shriek.
The Rose Countess had appeared before them at some unknown moment, floating in midair without the slightest sign of imbalance. She raised one leg and kicked viciously, smashing it into Eurisis’s head.
Boom!
The tremendous force sent Eurisis plunging toward the ground.
Zhao Nan and Fenina were still suspended in midair. They lost their balance, and both began to fall. Just before they struck the ground, Fenina’s body suddenly lightened as the Rose Countess caught her.
Zhao Nan crashed onto the ground. Pain shot through him, but he gritted his teeth and struggled to rise.
Fenina landed in the Rose Countess’s arms. A black radiance flashed violently in her eyes. She drew the long sword at her waist as swiftly as the wind and swung it viciously across the Rose Countess’s body.
“How dare you hurt him!”
-999!
The sword struck with astonishing ferocity. Its radiance was blindingly intense, carving a huge shower of sparks across the Rose Countess’s breastplate. The blow forced her several steps backward.
The Rose Countess finally stopped. A pale sword mark now marred her breastplate. She looked up in astonishment.
“Your Highness… what are you doing?”
Fenina ignored her. Her expression anxious, she leapt to Zhao Nan’s side.
“Nan?”
Zhao Nan shook his head and said in a deep voice, “I’m fine.”
Eurisis, however, had suffered grievous damage. It lay in the crater created by its impact, its health nearly depleted as it let out mournful cries. Zhao Nan hurriedly recalled it into his pet space.
The Rose Countess’s face darkened as she stood there, apparently lost in thought.
At that moment, Fenina’s black hair began to drift upward despite the absence of wind. Golden light flashed across her body as she activated her Pandora transformation, becoming a dazzling golden meteor that shot straight toward the Rose Countess.
The thrust failed to connect. The Rose Countess simply dodged aside and cried out anxiously, “Your Highness, stop!”
Zhao Nan watched the duel between the two in astonishment, then recalled the damage Fenina had inflicted on the Rose Countess with that single sword strike.
Almost instinctively, he checked Fenina’s status.
Her character level was actually fifty-five…
To be continued.