Chapter 314: The Final Challenge
“Lady Swordmistress, we’re going to win!”
The 200 members of the Holy Sword adventurer team and the clone army were engaged in a chaotic conflict on the battlefield where Christina was; the Holy Sword adventurer team was winning.
Only a few dozen members sustained injuries, but more than half of the cloned army had been destroyed. The ground was splattered with blood, and shattered weapons and armor were strewn everywhere. They were unmistakably clones, yet they had looked so real when they died.
“We haven’t won until we’ve destroyed all the enemies. Everyone, don’t let down your guard.”
Christina stood in front of everyone and calmly directed her subordinates to create a three or four-person team. They sliced into the enemy’s formation like sharp blades, ripping it apart progressively.
Her cheeks were flushed with joy. Her most trusted commanding ability had not failed her. She frequently read the Holy Dragon Kingdom’s military techniques. She knew that her ability to lead troops in combat was actually superior to her strength. However, she had been born into the sword saint family, so she was forced to hide that talent.
The sword saints were the peak of warrior cultivators. A single guy could face thousands of soldiers with that t.i.tle, and any help was frowned upon. Christina had been imbued with a similar mentality since she was a child as she was part of the Sword Saint family. However, she had chosen to reveal her true nature at that moment to win the trial.
Swis.h.!.+
She slashed the sky and slew a few clones that had come to ambush her with a wave of her hand. Then, she said, “Change the goose formation to a circular one and encircle the adversaries in the center to prevent them from breaking through! Team Two, employ the snake formation to cause havoc with the enemy’s formation…”
The Holy Sword adventuring team members felt as if they had defeated their inner demons when the clones died. Each of them got more courageous as they fought. Meanwhile, the enemies were gradually falling apart, and it was difficult for them to fight back.
Due to the difference in numbers and Christina’s exquisite command, almost all the clones had died in just a few minutes. Only Christina’s doppelganger, who was standing in the middle, was the only one left.
“So, that’s the general.”
The Holy Sword adventurer team surrounded the clone after a fierce battle. Christina approached the clone alone and raised the Sky Severing Blade into the air, ready to strike at her clone.
That trial would be hers if she could cut off the clone’s head.
She had been planning that move for years. However, she felt a little sorry for Watson as he was the one who had dug the buried city, allowing her to lead her subordinates into the trial effortlessly. Simultaneously, the team battle method she employed was also more convenient than solitary battles. However, she felt a sense of embarra.s.sment in her heart. That had no bearing on her decision to accept the honor of being the first to clear the trial.
Christina’s gaze fixed on that thought as she cut her clone with the Sky Severing Blade.
Crack!
Christina widened her eyes as she glanced at the broken blade.
Her clone s.n.a.t.c.hed the Sky Severing Blade from her grasp. The sword had broken into halves with a faint snap. That scene was identical to what Watson had done at the St. Antilles Cathedral. However, the Sky Severing Blade in her hand had changed. The sword became even stronger once Watson had mended it, and her opponent was not Watson.
“What on earth is going on?”
She twitched her lips and took two awkward steps backward.
She felt that something was not right. According to her father, as long as she defeated her clone, she would pa.s.s the trial. She had already won, so why did the clone in front of her continue to resist?
“Are you surprised, Miss Christina?”
The clone that had broken the Sky Severing Blade revealed a different expression than Christina’s as she lazily stretched her arms.
“You are a brave challenger; I have to praise you for being able to defeat yourself. After all, it may sound simple, but there has been only one person to do it in a few hundred years! You are slightly inferior to him, but you cleared this level.”
“If that’s the case, why—” Christina asked, realizing that the World Transformation Mirror was speaking to her. She was curious as to why she was unable to complete the level.
Without waiting for her to finish, the clone said, “That was the requirement a few decades ago, but times have changed!
“Because of that person, the number of people who came to challenge the maze has increased significantly. I’ve also learned a lot when I saw them use powerful magic or exquisite coordination to fight against magical beasts. As a result, the standard for completing the maze has changed. You must defeat yourself and me.
If you can’t do it, please do not blame me for your death! Ah, I forgot to mention. Actually, all of you are lining up to challenge me. I’ve been bored for a long time, especially with the weak ones who don’t have much ability. Not only do I have to waste my energy to copy them, but I also can’t learn anything from them. So, instead of that, why don’t I choose the right person? I’ve been controlling the maze recently, sending some powerful magical beasts from the depths to the surface, hoping to reduce the number of people entering the maze. Regrettably, the effect is not immediately apparent.”
The original World Transformation Mirror was only an ordinary treasure, but it could acc.u.mulate thoughts from the person it duplicated because of its replicating characteristics. Over time, it became sentient.
It had always been its mission to arrange trials for the challengers and selected talents. However, it seemed like it would complete that mission in its own way.
“The underground maze city has developed self-awareness?”
“What kind of joke is this? We should just follow the rules of the past. Why do we have to change it so casually? Countless elites had challenged this place in the past. If we were to defeat their clones, wouldn’t we die?”
The Holy Sword adventurer team members had already had a taste of victory when they defeated their clones. At that moment, their expressions turned into despair.
They had heard about the recent activities in the underground city, and many of the Holy Sword adventurer team members had died. They thought those people were just unlucky; they did not expect the underground maze city had caused their deaths deliberately. Its goal was to kill them.
“Don’t look at me like that. You’ve already taken a lot of things from me in the past few hundred years. Now it’s my turn to ask you for something in return. Isn’t that fair? You can go if you can defeat me. Don’t worry, your strength is the best among the challengers in the past few hundred years. I have only two clones that can defeat you.”
“Who are those two clones?”
“One was from a guy named Frederick who challenged this place decades ago, and the other is a young man named Watson, who was just here today! What do you think? I’ll relax my conditions a little. As long as you defeat either of them, I’ll let you go. How about that?”
The clone’s face lit up strangely as she waved her hand. Then, two figures emerged from the mist.
One of them was a young man with yellow curly hair and an arrogant expression. He had a black and a white longsword crossed behind his back. The other person was a young man with a tender expression; he looked exactly the same as Watson.
“Choose one as your final challenge.”
“Lady Swordmistress, you should choose Watson. Although that young man is Master Antonio’s disciple and has done a magnificent feat of pulling the maze out, his strength is unfathomable! However, the other clone is your father. No matter what you think, you’d have no chance of winning if you choose to challenge the sword saint.”
Before Christina could choose, her subordinates rushed forward to say, “Watson is easier to defeat than the sword saint.”
Christina glanced at the two new clones in front of her. After she hesitated for a while, she said, “No, I choose to challenge my father, Frederick!”