Seized by the System

The skies changed color as daylight quickly dissolved into night. The formation of the red moon had completed, and with it the fear of the people reached an all time high. In contrast, Vigilante A’s eyes brightened in response. He finally moved.

His moves like lightning, his force enough to quake the mountains and rivers. At that moment, the dragon and sword struck through the sky before piercing the moon!

At that moment, with a blade supported by the hearts of all beings, a body fueled by the heavens and earth, a hilt of a True Dragon, all who opposed the sword would perish, all who blocked the blade will be no more!

At the same time, the crimson moon moved in the night skies.

Blood-red waves rippled around the area, originating from the center of the moon. The waves overlapped with each other, terrifying by its own might. Each wave exuded a bone-shattering chill as it pounded towards the dragon sword, similar to sworn soldiers that fought to protect their territory. An air of holiness rose above the horizon, taunting anyone who dared to taint their mission.

Everyone who had the chance to witness this event all held their breath in anticipation, their eyes wide and clear, hoping to capture the upcoming collision of the two mighty powers.

Would the dragon sword return in defeat; or would it be able to conquer the enemy against all odds, and return with triumph?

In the meantime, the first ripple of the red waves met with the blade of the dragon sword. The dragon sword broke through the first wave, entirely undisturbed. Despite that, the second ripple fearlessly rushed forward, continuing the assault on the blade without hesitation.

Another breakthrough!

However, those whose vision were as sharp as the Sky Eagle had noticed the difference – a thin layer of frost had already enveloped the shining dragon sword!

The third wave of blood-red had once again arrived…

With one breath, the dragon sword managed to break the barriers formed by eight blood-red waves. It seemed like it was only one hair away from impaling the center of the blood crimson moon.

Now, the dragon sword was covered full of frosted shards and ice, and its momentum was noticeably slower and duller than before, as if it was going to waver from its direction at any moment.

The audience was on tenterhooks, and their anxiety deterred them from even commenting on what was happening.

Suddenly, the ninth blood-red ripple appeared!

This time, it seemed to contain the entirety of the essence of the blood moon. Unspeakably concentrated, it fiercely lunged at the dragon sword once it completed its formation!

This seemed to be the finishing move of the crimson wave!

Suddenly, it was as if dragons were singing from within the dragon sword, and thunder and lightning reacted in kind, striking all around the area at once. With the blink of an eye, the frost that consumed the dragon sword was no more!

With a dull ‘pop’, the dragon sword penetrated the ninth layer of the blood-red wave!

A vague and blurry face of a human surfaced from within. Twisted, angry, and hideous, the face was filled with disbelief.

“You! You’re just an ordinary human. How is it possible that you would bear the Heavenly Will? There should yet be any living being on this earth that can command it!” The voice was cold, but it now had a hint of bafflement and fear.

Another “bam”, and the crimson wave shattered. Then, it dispersed into thin air, dissolving into the night as blood rain.

It only took another second for the sword to pierce the blood moon. The blade sunk in, inch by inch, and streaks of blood flowed down the moon. It was as if the moon was crying tears of blood.

Then, the blood moon shattered into pieces!

A chilly voice was heard from the center of the moon, “You, a lackey for the Heavenly Axiom. You will not end well!”

With that, the blood moon was no more.

This sudden, potential disaster had vanished into nothingness, all from that one strike of Vigilante A’s sword.

No wonder the Wicked Lunar Devil would hate Vigilante A’s guts. With his existence, so many great tragedies and disasters never had the chance to develop. They were all scattered into the four winds, murdered like an infant in its cradle!

The night rolled away silently, and the mesmerizing sunshine once again occupied the ocean’s surface. The seawater rose to swallow the glacier whole. With that, the rivers of blood that painted the area were washed away too.

Twelve Arms, who fell into the ocean, was still dumbfounded. It could not understand, nor could it accept the fact that Old Bai and Big Black were no more. They were its companions that had accompanied it every day, they were the ocean’s teddy bears, they were the black and white beings that were like fairies of the sea. They were no more!

“It could only understand that the law of nature dictates that eventually, all things will come to an end after this painful experience. All things will perish sooner or later, as was written in our destiny…” sighed Tianjing Fawang as he shook his head sadly.

Old Master Ma’s expression was complicated, and he had no idea what to say about the situation. Yes, he did save Twelve Arms, but his assistance came one step too late and he did not manage to save all of those involved. Even though he knew that it was not his fault, there was still a nagging guilt that he could have done better. Maybe, this was indeed destined…

However, at that exact moment, two loud splashes were heard. From the skies, two black and white things fell, collectively slammed into the sea.

Immediately, Twelve Arms sniffed a familiar smell and immediately snaps its eyes to look at the source of the noise. Then, a potent elation swept its entire being!

“Big Black, Old Bai, you’re not dead?”

Overjoyed, it stared longingly at the two beings as it crossed the ice to approach them. Its two appendages immediately latched on them, obsessively touching and pinching them as if making sure that they were real.

“Ew, stop touching me, I’ve always hated that octopus sucker of yours. I still remember the old days, where we were still mindless beasts, I used to hunt you octopi for food. I was terrified by those suckers, afraid that you would stick yourselves onto my back and refuse to come down for half the day.” The black dolphin skirted and dodged the onslaught of tentacles.

Initially, they were prey and predator on the food chain, but with the awakening of their intelligence, they had become brothers in arms. This was the living proof of the power of intelligence. With it, differences between species can be bridged, and a friendship between races can be formed…

Tears welled into Twelve Arms’ eyes when it heard the familiar tone. Beneath its breath, it mumbled to itself things that were unfathomable by others.

After all, the joy of something recovered could only be measured by the pain felt when it was lost.

///

In the sky, the dragon sword regained its original form. Vigilante A appeared in its place.

Sir System whined, “I’ve spent 50 million of my hard-grinded experience points just to resurrect those two idiots. Evil beings of a similar level would only gain us at most a million experience points. Sir Big Spender, this is just bad accounting. Why don’t you let me handle the numbers instead?”

“Be grateful, you. The 100 Heavenly Merit Points that you’ve exhausted in summoning the blessing of heaven and earth to terminate the Wicked Lunar Devil gained you another 100 Heavenly Merit Points and 10 billion experience points! You’ve basically cheated Axiom Daddy for your own gain. You’re no main character in a movie that has a responsibility to put up a show for the audience, and I was wondering why you chose to stay put and wait for it to complete its transformation. Tell me, you’ve planned all of this, didn’t you?”

“Of course I’ve planned all of my actions. You didn’t notice how it wasn’t just a black one on the System Map. In fact, it had signs of nihility. This means that it was a being that could one day destroy the world. Of course there would be Heavenly Merit Points for us.” Sir System proudly proclaimed.

“Hm, if you’ve gained so much, then you should stop being so fussy about this. I’ll go and read all the System Notifications and revise our battle, so I can recalibrate myself into the tight rhythm of work we have here.” Fang Ning shot an attempt to turn the page over to stop the discussion at hand.

Sir System was not having any of it. Instead, it bluntly asked, “Oh, then I have one final question for you. Will you resurrect every single innocent one that we come across in the future?”

“Um,” Fang Ning was left with no words to justify himself. It was a known fact that the tenderhearted could not command troops of soldiers. Those with power and military in their hand have only limited grounds and leeway for kindness.

A war was always a battle of chess pieces, and the side with the remaining Queen and King would take the game.

No wonder Sir System refused to relent on the matter. Even though the exhausted experience points was not significant in relation to the massive gain, this idea on its own was already a bad start. It had to nip the idea in the bud.

Fang Ning brooded over his answer for quite a while before replying, “I am no Mother Theresa. I would save the ones that are alive with my best effort, but for those who have passed, they could fare better if they went to Bodhisattva to reincarnate. These two were the exceptions because they were still the subordinates of our beloved, in which our dearest had quite often fooled them into working for it in the ocean. In a way, they are also working under me. It is not the best for us to leave them to die.

“Don’t forget that I’ve gotten the achievement for Unparalleled Affection. If we were to give up just now, there might be a possibility that we would lose the achievement. That Thousand-mile Assistance skill of yours might no longer be available then.”

” Oh, oh. Even the wisest man, in a thousand schemes, must make at least one mistake. ¹ I was penny-wise, pound-foolish. Sir Big Spender, you’re indeed the one with a broader view of things.” Sir System immediately yielded.

With that, Sir System finally acceded after Fang Ning’s great effort. Only then did the latter have the time to check the System Notification that appeared during the battle. Speaking of that, when was the last time he reviewed his battle like this?

Fang Ning could not stop the sigh that escaped him. Only a living fish would have the privilege to worry and be sorrowful, and a buttered life of comfort will only contribute to dead fishes. ² He really should stop living his life like a salted fish, else he might really become a dead fish amongst the peace and happiness…

As he heaved a heavy sigh once again, he scrolled at the System Notification.

[System exhausted 100 Heavenly Merit Point to summon the Heavenly Blessing.

The Body-Sword Unity had a great increase in power, triggering a temporary entry into the paramountal realm of Divine Unity. Everything under the heavens would perish under the attack.

System attacked the Wicked Lunar Devil.

The Wicked Lunar Devil has fused with the blood moon. The Wicked Lunar Devil used Blood Ripple Defence.

…

System has annihilated the Wicked Lunar Devil.

System has obtained ten billion experience points.

System has gained astronomical amounts of Reputation Points.

System’s Mythos has increased from 50 to 70.

System’s termination of an extremely threatening hidden peril of the Heavenly Axiom. System has gained 100 Heavenly Merit Points.

System’s Map Region Prestige Points has increased. Some regions have increased to achieve ‘Worship’.]