Translated by: LaPhong
Edited by: bollockz, om
Book 3 Chapter 58: Final Battle (Part 5)
Above the lake, the mad fighting was still continuing. Shen Yi kept punching, his two fists hit the iron plate. Each punch left a dent on the iron plate, but under Magneto's control it quickly recovered.
This was an absolute clash of attack and defense, no one could relax, no one dared to relax.
Magneto was certainly waiting for Shen Yi to slack, whilst Shen Yi was also waiting for the the moment Magneto couldn't continue. Since using Psychic Power required Psychic Energy to maintain, then Magneto had a Psychic Energy capacity too. He certainly could not use his power infinitely. What Shen Yi needed to do was to drain Magneto!
Let's see who can hold on till the last minute.
This was not only a battle of competing strength, but also one of endurance and perseverance. Shen Yi was like a crazy tiger facing the man in the big iron shell, constantly punching him fiercely. Magneto was certainly dizzy from being hit like a sandbag by Shen Yi, but Shen Yi himself wasn't any better.
His fists had become a bloody mess, one could even see the white color of the bones at his joints. But Shen Yi didn't care, he instead punched faster and faster.
On the scene, this crazy hitting and bloody scenes was definitely the most exciting combat picture in history. It looked like Shen Yi was dominating the situation. However, Shen Yi himself knew that he actually could not support it for a long period. After all, he was not a melee fighter, and regardless of his Fighting Forte or his Strength, in fact, neither were not stronger than an ordinary adventurer's. Not to mention that Magneto's control of metal was good both offensively and defensively, offense as strong as an army, defense as hard as an iron turtle. His power really made people daunted.
It was already extremely difficult for Shen Yi to hit at this stage, continuing forward was difficult. Fists still landed on the armor again and again, but they gradually got weaker and weaker. The skin on his fists actually turned out to be stripped. The bloody water dyed the iron plate crimson. The severe pain had already disappeared. Instead, numbness and weakness replaced it.
His own life was constantly subjected to recoil injuries in this extremely insane assault, and he had no time to heal himself. Just then, his Bloody Crest suddenly sounded:
"You've been marked as lover by ID E3325. You have gained an improvement of the skills' Priority by 5 points, the chances of special effects being triggered increased by 5%, skill cooldowns decreased by 10%, weapon's damage increased by 3 points. "
Shen Yi stopped briefly.
Wen Rou even used the Mark of Love?
The next moment, he only felt that the recoil damage attack significantly weakened. Originally every two punches would lead to 1 damage, but now it had become three punches reduced 1 HP, even the pain would also be reduced.
He knew that this was because Wen Rou received thirty percent of his injuries and suffering. Not only that, but even the Thunder Strike's cooldown had drastically shortened, and he could use Thunder Strike again. Shen Yi did not hesitate and immediately activated Thunder Strike.
BANG!!! Magneto's shell was hit by this and a crack actually appeared.
Bloody Crest prompted: "Thunder Strike's Stun effect triggered, critical effect triggered. Inflicts double damage to the target, inflicting 3 seconds of Stun on the target."
Since Shen Yi had gotten this Thunder Gauntlet, he had used Thunder Strike no less than ten times but had only triggered critical effect once. But when Wen Rou marked him as a lover this time, the chances of special effects being triggered increased, resulting in both special effects being triggered at the same time.
The strike succeeded, Shen Yi then did not hesitate to punch fiercely. Although Magneto was under a Stun effect, but he could still subconsciously use his power to maintain the protection, although it only maintained its form. Without Magneto's full control, the defenses of these plates were largely reduced.
The only problem was that Shen Yi only had 3 seconds to ensure victory.
Shen Yi hit the gap between the iron plate, expanded the crack, and then inserted two fingers in the middle of the gap and stretched, tearing to the left and right. This was Two Coiling Dragon of Bone and Joint Dislocation Hand.
Two Coiling Dragon had two kinds: inside and outside, Shen Yi now used the outside buckle. If used on people, it was equivalent to an arm twisted to both sides at the same time, the arm can be immediately twisted into three parts.
Two pieces of iron were ripped apart. Having broken the harder outside layer of the walnut shell, the rest was picking the tender nutmeat.
Shen Yi's punch hit Magneto's face. Then his hands opened and he grabbed Magneto's throat.
Throat Locking Grapple!
He knew his time was running out, but fortunately Magneto had been struck by his two Thunder Strikes. Adding on the continuous shocks and injuries, even if he had plot enhancing, he was just an old man after all. His physique was weaker than an average Boss, this Throat Locking Grapple would seriously injure him.
At this moment, Shen Yi suddenly felt a needle sting his head. He shouted, holding his head as a he stepped back, but then he quickly rushed over again and re-grasped Magneto.
Magneto had now returned to normal at this time but before he could repair the defense, Shen Yi had fluttered towards Magneto.
He grasped Magneto's neck and bit fiercely on his shoulder. Magneto screamed out loud. The iron plates of both sides were sharpened, inserted into Shen Yi's body and cut two rows of ribs at the same time.
Shen Yi spat a large mouthful of blood on Magneto's body. His left hand had been placed on Magneto's eyelids forming Two Dragons Catch A Pearl(1) stance, his right hand pinched Magneto's throat.
Then he shouted, "Come out, Professor Charles! If you don't want to watch your old friend die in my hands!"
The wind blew, smoke disappeared without a trace. The battlefield was a bloody mess, very few could still stand. While the mutants and adventurers were still fighting, in each person's heart suddenly sounded a softly sigh.
"Stop it. There have been enough deaths in this war."
That was a soft, kind-hearted voice of an elderly man. No one knew where the sound came from, it just sounded in their heart, but played a great role. Everyone stopped subconsciously.
Wen Rou stared at the sky, only to see the clouds moving strangely.
She shouted: "Professor X? Is that you?"
Everyone was surprised. In the fight till now, of course the mutants had innumerable casualties, but the adventurers also paid a heavy price. Feller was dead, Lake was crippled, many soldiers were dead.
Fatty, because of the attraction of attacks, although he had fought for the shortest time, had suffered the most damage. On his body, there was almost no piece of intact flesh. Fatty became Thinny, there were more blood holes than holes on a sieve.
But in this case, he actually did not die, just fell completely unconscious.
Hong Lang was rescued from the tree by Jin Gang. His chest had been pierced by Angelica, almost five of his internal organs were twisted, but he did not die either.
Adventurer's physique were extraordinary. Unless their body would be damaged as completely as An Wen's, they would otherwise always be able to survive.
For Wen Rou, her injury wasn't light too.
Shen Yi was wounded even worse. Magneto had made two large steel plates stab him, looking like two steel wings.
In contrast, Jin Gang who overdrew his vitality from the beginning, looked more complete and powerful at this moment. But if the coming one was Professor X, how could a single Jin Gang stop him?
Not to mention, under Professor X were Wolverine, Storm, Iceman, and other X-men. Everyone at this moment was astonished by the faint sound in their heart, and were furious.
Jin Gang even cursed: "This is clearly a Difficulty Level 3 mission, how can it appear in Difficulty Level 1?"
To Wen Rou's question, the voice sounded again in their hearts: "Yes, I am Charles. I'm sorry I can't meet you now, because I am not here."
These words relieved everyone. However, Shen Yi did not forget the sting just now in the brain.
He shouted in a loud voice: "You didn't come personally, but where are your X-men?"
Wind scattered the clouds. Storm was floating in the air, looking coldly at Shen Yi. Shen Yi smiled. Even if Professor X didn't do anything, Storm alone was enough to kill all the adventurers here, not to mention that she was not alone.
The lake's surface froze into frost, two people were skating from afar. It was Bobby and Wolverine.
In front of Shen Yi, a virtual shadow flashed, Kurt Wagner suddenly appeared in Shen Yi's view. He looked at Shen Yi, his eyes full of hatred and anger.
He said: "I really want to compete with you again."
"You would still lose." Shen Yi answered.
Although many people came, Shen Yi's heart was calm. For them now, there was not much difference between one and four X-men.
He looked meaningfully at Kurt Wagner: "But I suggest you don't try carelessly, and I promise I can kill Magneto before you take him away."
"How do you know that we are here to save the Magneto?"
"Well, Professor X's neutral position is not so stable. When Jerry gave you our information earlier, you informed Magneto, didn't you?" Shen Yi laughed: "Mr. Eric is Professor X's good friend, and I think he doesn't want to see his death anyway, even though they've been enemies for years. Oh yeah, talking about Jerry… "
Upon hearing Jerry's name, Jin Gang immediately grabbed Jerry. Apparently he did not do anything threatening, but a muzzle had been targeted at Jerry's head, with the exception of Jerry himself, everyone could see it clearly.
Professor X 's voice sounded again: "Please don't misunderstand, we just want to talk to you, I want to know exactly who sent you here."
"There will never be an answer to this question, I can only tell you that we will leave soon and will not bother you anymore. As for Jerry, I promise he will be taken right back to you."
"This is fine, but I still hope you will agree not to kill any more mutants from now on."
"I can't promise on behalf of others who are not here, but we ourselves have no problems with your condition."
In the past three days they had killed so many mutants, thus their killing points had long thrown others behind a few streets, it was not necessary to continue till the last moment.
"I hope you can release Erik as well."
With Professor X's words, Bloody Crest prompted:
"You completed the hidden plot of the X-men world ahead of time: Protecting Jerry Lacios. You can now release Jerry Lacios."
"You defeated Magneto. Now you can choose: 1. Kill Magneto, 2. Release Magneto."
There was no doubt that killing Magneto and releasing Magneto meant a different storyline.
Shen Yi finally understood why Professor X appeared. This is definitely Bloody City's arrangement. But this arrangement was not as Jin Gang had said, in order to raise the difficulty to Difficulty Level 3, on the contrary, it was to make a reasonable ending.
Magneto alone, although he was difficult to deal with, could barely be regarded as the Difficulty Level 2. After all, there was a Hidden Quest, so the difficulty upgrade was not uncommon. However, if coupled with the Professor X and Wolverine, such strong mutants, it would absolutely count as Difficulty Level 3, at least two levels higher. If Bloody City would adjust the Difficulty Level to such a high degree, it would be too ridiculous.
So the appearance of Professor X and his men at this moment could only mean one thing: they are by no means killing people, at least not now.
Bloody City controlled everything, it may not pay much attention to details, such as a person unrelated to the overall situation, but it had absolute control on the overall situation, such as the direct process of a task, such as the disappearance of Jimmy, or a Hidden Quest.
In this case, what was the meaning of Professor X and his men's appearance now?
In Professor X's view, they may come to save people, but in Shen Yi's view, this was actually the task of bringing the mission to a complete conclusion. They're making an ending. Let the dead rested, save the ones who were still alive.
Magneto, in the end, continued to exist, or disappeared from now, it completely depended on Shen Yi's choice.
Shen Yi estimated that it was quite possible that killing Magneto would bring greater benefits, but the consequences of making this choice were that Professor X and his X-men would attack them together. The Difficulty Level would be changed to Level 3. As the old saying went, "your choice, your fault."
Choosing to release Magneto, it is likely that this fight was in vain, but the benefit was unknown…
Both options were very difficult. After all, the time Shen Yi had spent in this city was still short, his understanding of this world was limited.
It now entered the story plot selection phase, which was equivalent to having two outcomes, but the ending was written by Shen Yi himself.
Which one should he choose?
If Shen Yi was alone, he would most likely choose to drag the time till the last second, just as he had in the Major General in World War II mission. He would kill Magneto at the last second, and then take the chest and run away. But at this moment, he saw his companions, one after another seriously wounded, looking at him.
If he did that, it is very likely that his companions will not have time to react and will be killed. Thinking for a moment, he finally sighed. He stood up and stepped back a few steps. He just released Magneto, he did not even bargain.
If for someone else, he may also ask for Professor X's promise, but Shen Yi knew, for a person such as Professor X, it was best not to make a deal in a transactionional or threatening attitude, otherwise the effect can only be counterproductive.
Magneto stood up. He really did not immediately attack. After all, his pride and grace were obviously much stronger than most people. He looked at Shen Yi and thought for a moment before saying: "I had hundreds of chances to kill you, but I missed them, and you had only one chance to kill me, but I was caught by you."
Shen Yi shrugged: "I'm just lucky."
Magneto looked deeply at Shen Yi , then turned away. He just left without saying anything.
Shen Yi really wanted to shout, "I spared your life, don't you think you need to give me something as a reward." But in the end he did not say anything.
Since the choice had been made, he must be prepared to take on everything, which was Shen Yi's consistent style. As the lake had been frozen, Shen Yi skated back to shore.
While walking, Shen Yi extracted the two iron plates embedded in both sides of his body. Blood flowed unhindered, but he acted like he didn't feel it, just holding his own broken bones and correcting them to the right place.
Obviously those mutants that had been instructed to pick up their comrades' bodies had left.
He came to Jerry's side and looked back at Wolverine and others who stood far away, and Storm had now landed and stood with them. They were looking at Shen Yi, apparently waiting for him to release Jerry.
Shen Yi smiled, he touched Jerry's little face and said: "Hey, little guy, sorry that I failed to fulfill my promise. I failed to prove whether Henry McCoy's death is related to Magneto."
Jerry shook his head: "It doesn't matter. Some things are actually better without answers, right? I prefer to believe he died in the hands of humans."
Shen Yi laughed: "That's right … Well … you see, your teacher came to pick you up, I have no reason to keep you. You can go back now."
Jerry looked at Wolverine's group, then turned around and looked at Shen Yi. He bowed his head forward.
After a few steps, he suddenly walked back and hugged Shen Yi and gently touched his face for a moment, then said: "You are a good man, though you are doing bad things. I hope we can meet again, you should stop killing mutants … good or bad."
Saying that, he turned away.
Bloody Crest prompted:
"Hidden Quest complete, you get the Hidden Quest's reward, Jerry Lacios's favor."
What? Favor?
Shen Yi burst out in shock. Although he was not the kind of bloody crazy butcher, but he also was not the kind of idiot who would risk his life for a good impression.
Favor …
Shen Yi put all his effort to suppress the urge to face the sky and scream.
Bloody City, you got my disfavor!
The next moment, Storm received Jerry and left.
Professor X's voice sounded again: "Thank you for letting Eric go, I have a small present here and hopefully you can accept it."
With Professor X speaking, Shen Yi only felt his whole body had an unfathomable feeling.
"You got Professor X's reward: Mind Blessing. With curses with Priority 75 or above, reduces 25% effect, With curses with Priority 50-75, reduces 50% effect. With curses with Priority 25-50, reduces 75% effect. With curses with Priority 25 or below, completely immune.This effect can be used to learn some special blessing skills. Mind Blessing is not a skill, can not be upgraded by any means. "
Now he knew that choosing to release Magneto, the returns were not to come from Magneto himself, but Professor X.
This made Shen Yi frustrated. However, the Mind Blessing ability was not bad. Although at present they had not yet suffered any powerful cursing attacks, that was mainly due to the fact Difficulty Level 1 was mainly shooting scenes. From Difficulty Level 2, a large number of fantasy backgrounds would appear. By that time, number of curse skills would certainly increase. With this, he had a good self-defense ability.
The problem was that this was the reward for releasing Magneto, the little Jerry favored by the inexplicable concealed task in return, and now there was no reaction.
Looking back at everyone, Shen Yi extended his hands.
"Is it over?" Jin Gang asked in surprise.
"It's over." Shen Yi reluctantly answered.
"Save Fatty and Lake right now, their HP are almost gone, the Healing Potions have also run out." Wen Rou suddenly said.
Shen Yi quickly went to use his healing skill on the two and casually asked: "How did Luo Hao get hurt so much?"
Wen Rou told him about the fight after he had left.
When he heard the Fatty acted as bait that attracted the offensive firepower of all mutants, Shen Yi was also shocked a bit: "He finally no longer feared the danger."
Just then, Fatty actually woke up.
With a low moan, he asked in confusion, "Where am I … am I not dead?"
Hong Lang who was still lying next to him suddenly sat up and said in an eerie tone: "You're in hell … I am a hungry ghost, I'm here to eat you!"
Fatty suddenly saw a frightening face full of blood was facing him, his body trembled, and then his eyes became white, lying motionless.
Wen Rou quickly looked at his condition, and then snapped at Hong Lang: "You made him faint."
Everyone was dumbfounded, then burst into laughter at the same time.
Jin Gang said to Shen Yi: "You said he was brave? This is being courageous?"
Shen Yi coughed: "It seems I have to teach him how to not fear ghosts …"
The crowd laughed. Although everyone's injuries had reached a fatal level for normal humans, but at this moment they were all in a happy mood.
Lying under the tree, lying in bloody water, lying on the endless shells, they casually gossiped and joked loudly, quietly waiting for the last moment to arrive.
Time lapsed quietly in laughter. Finally, they waited until the prompt to return.
TL's note:
Two Dragons Catch A Pearl: it look like this