Chapter 610: 610
The test on the 10th floor proceeded smoothly and didn"t take much time . Each contestant was given three minutes and in a bit over an hour, everyone was done . The result of each hit was shown on the target, which was the large cubic stone .
The highest points one can get is 99 points but none managed to score more than 40 points . The top score was the Sword G.o.d, who slashed with his score and got 40 . 9 points, followed by Forne then Hach"ara . Arthur didn"t use Rizaki or any other destructive skills, he unleashed the blue lightning dragon, an offensive and strong technique . He made sure to convert his Strength stat into Intelligence to boost the damage and managed to score 32 . 6 points, ranking him 5th .
The lowest 4 dealt, respectively, 17 . 9, 17 . 5, 17, and 16 . 2, which wasn"t much compared to the top ones but their attacks seemed strong enough to injure an Exalted G.o.d . Unfortunately, they were disqualified, bringing down the number of contestants to 42 .
Pretty much all those in the Red Tower know a thing or two about their opponents and kind of grasped how each one fought . Arthur showed many of his forms but he still has a few hidden ones that came in handy later on . Zodiak too, didn"t showcase the true might of the ominous Dark Magic, making some of the contestants skeptical about his ident.i.ty, however, the past rumors about Zodiak were dreaded as many were proven true but the current Zodiak wasn"t as strong as they had initially thought .
After finis.h.i.+ng the test, they were given a short rest before the tower teleported them to the 11th floor . Things were somewhat chaotic with several fights here and there but nothing major happened, neither on the 11th or the ones after it . Arthur and Lucy stayed together when they could and always helped each other, facilitating the task and increasing their overall safety .
Unlike the lower floors, from 11 and above, it took much more time to complete the events, which kept getting harder and sometimes ridiculous . You could be a fighting an ancient a boss then find yourself playing a board game, it was that absurd . The Red Tower wasn"t built just to gauge your power but to force you to do many tasks you"re not used to, like Hide and Seek, for example .
Anyway, Five days later, all 42 contestants managed to reach the 18th floor and were pitted against each other . The party function wasn"t disabled so, as usual, Arthur and Lucy were close to each other and roaming the floor together . The place was called "The Last Symphony" and the task was to the pieces of the whole Symphony, which are randomly hidden around the floor . The couple weren"t enough to find even one piece but they did locate a person who did .
"A bit to the left . "
Arthur was laying next to Lucy and telling her of the location of Xyktia, who was standing far away while in invisibility . As Arthur had to pour all his Intelligence and Wisdom into Dexterity, he noticed her from a long distance and, from the looks of it, the Lady of Darkness noticed nothing .
He didn"t have any strong skill that could reach her before she reacts so he asked Lucy to do it using her sniper rifle . Its burst damage and long-range are very useful in this situation but, unlike him, she could not sense or see the black-haired woman so she had to listen to her husband and try to guess the target"s accurate position .
A silver rifle was positioned on the ground, pointing at Xyktia"s direction . Lucy"s eyes were near the scope as she listened to Arthur and slightly s.h.i.+fted the weapon to the left .
"A bit more to the left… yes, this is perfect!"
He had a humanoid body but his eyes were of an eagle, tripling the view distance and giving him a clear image of Xyktia, whose stealth ability didn"t work on Arthur thanks to his special eyes .
"As soon as you shoot, I"ll go and retrieve the symphony piece . "
Lucy nodded her head and started injecting Mana into the weapon, ready to shoot at the unseen target . Ten or so seconds later, a dense and suffocating Mana burst from the rifle, which had a specially crafted silencer, and a rapid bullet was shot at Xyktia .
The Lady of Darkness didn"t expect to be attacked, she didn"t even sense the presence of any nearby enemies . Alas, her reaction was a second slower than the bullet, which hit her shoulder and flung her dozens of meters away . When she was about to fall on the ground, a lightning bolt struck her body but dealt no damage and, instead, robbed her of the symphony piece, which resembled a scroll .
Although Arthur successfully stole the item, he wasn"t able to escape in time and was struck by a monstrous force that made his body plummet into the ground . He was flabbergasted to see a third of his health disappear with just that one strike . Xyktia attacked him again but a golden barrier negated most of her damage, nevertheless, Arthur still lost another ten percent of his health .
He was enveloped by a white and golden light, healing all of his injuries and restoring the lost Health . He wanted to retaliate but an arrow made of white bones. .h.i.t his two legs and immobilized him, he didn"t know how but the Dark Barrier and his high defense weren"t able to block the projectiles .
Xyktia harrumphed and pressed her hand on her shoulder, pulling the bullet from inside her body and healing herself . She was about to thrash Arthur but another bullet came from far away and hit her abdomen, pus.h.i.+ng her a couple of steps to the back . When she regained her senses, Arthur was nowhere to be seen, the only thing left was a large hole that could fit a whole elephant .
"Tsk! This is why I hate parasites!"
After that short encounter, Arthur and Lucy found another piece of the symphony and then went into hiding, preferring not to waste time wandering around in fear of being attacked someone who hasn"t found a piece yet . They completed the task and all they had to do was wait for night to fall .
…
Four days later, 39 contestants managed to reach the 22nd floor, one was eliminated on the 18th floor and two disqualified on the 20th floor after dealing the lowest damage at the same power test . Arthur acquired more than 10 million points while Lucy had a staggering 134 million but that"s only because Arthur helped her obtain more when it"s possible . He didn"t need anything from the Luxury Shop but Lucy was interested in that Blue Phoenix Blood, which can greatly enhance her Yin Power and boost her const.i.tution .
Sadly, Arthur wasn"t able to perform the soul bound inside the tower so he had to wait until they get out . Lucy is strong enough to handle strong opponents but if her stats increased even more, she"ll be stronger than him, which is something he wished for, of course .
He wasn"t the jealous type who doesn"t want others to surpa.s.s him, especially if those others are his wife .
…
"Let go of me!"
Celes angrily shrieked as she tried to free her hand from Arthur"s grasp . They were after the same item so she had to fight him to obtain it but the result was something she didn"t expect . Basically, she was beaten so easily because her Physique was countered by Arthur"s skills . Her Decaying magic had no effect on the parasite, who had the book of the d.a.m.ned and can use Life Energy, which can reverse any decaying or withering effect .
He was physically stronger and his lightning magic, which is her bane, was strong enough to stun her for enough time for him to subdue her .
"Arthur, just let her go . " Lucy sighed as she witnessed the angry and embarra.s.sed Celes, whose hand was held by Arthur while her body was kneeling on the ground due to the increase gravity . She was completely overpowered, making the Grey Seat lose a lot of face .
"Well, if you say so . "
He casually let go of Celes" hand but the moment he did so, she jumped at him, throwing punches left and right . She didn"t use any strength and didn"t seem hostile, the woman was just venting her frustration on the nonchalant man .
She didn"t get to vent all her anger as Arthur teleported away, leaving her hyperventilating, her bulging chest going up and down .
"I could"ve kicked you out but I didn"t . You owe me one . "
Arthur left after saying that, as for Lucy, she threw one last glance at Celes before following her husband .
"I owe you nothing!"
***
"Teacher, how much will I score if I took that test?"
Saly pointed at the cubic stone and asked her teacher, eager to try it herself . The Magician looked at the girl"s wagging tail then said:
"In your Fenrir form, I reckon you"ll get 15 points or so . "
The moment he said that, Saly"s ears went down and her tail froze, showcasing her disappointment .
"… Only 15 points?"
"That"s considered a lot . Enough to kill an OverG.o.d . "
"Then how much can you score?"
Hearing that, he pointed at himself and laughed:
"Me? Hahaha, 99 points, obviously . "
"He"s lying, he can"t score 99 points . I would say 80 or 81 points . "-Leiu
The youth joined their conversation, correcting his brother"s absurd statement .
"Uncle, how about you?"
"Last time I tried it, I scored 89 . 7 points . I doubt it has changed since then . "
"And what"s the highest score?"
The Joker though for a moment before responding: "I think Moriah achieved the highest score… 95 . 8 points . "
****
"Radolf and Midolf, ahhhh really nostalgic names!"
Zaarae gazed at the silent identical youth while speaking . She didn"t seem that dangerous but her nonchalant act despite her miserable situation really seemed odd, even to peculiar people like the two mythical beings .
"Is that boy still going around sending his divine beasts every ten or so thousand years?"
"Our master has changed . "
"Ah is that so? What a relief . At least you"re intelligent enough to get away from that crazy boy . I was never fond of him anyway . "
"Watch your mouth! Witch!"
Midolf couldn"t hold himself back and ended up cursing at Zaarae, who furrowed her brows when hearing that . After a short silence, she broke into a loud laughter .
"Pahahaha you still talk to vulgarly! What a strange bird . "
"Wench! I"m not a bird but a roc!"
"You have wings and feathers, that qualifies you as a bird in my dictionary . Now then, let"s talk about more fun stuff…"