Chapter 008: Victory or Defeat

Du Fan’s figure suddenly froze. Gritting his teeth, he changed direction and this time swung his Holy Light Cross Slash. This move was arguably the most proficient one he had mastered in his martial arts. This time, he risked everything—not to injure his opponent, but merely to buy more time, so he executed the move with precision.

The shaman priest, however, simply sidestepped slightly to avoid Du Fan’s sword strike. He turned to look at Du Fan, his eyes filled with pity… Perhaps recalling something, he suddenly smiled oddly and said, “Useless kid. With your strength, you can’t do anything to me… Enough. Our game is over. Just go in peace…”

As he spoke, he raised his hand slightly, and this time his palm was covered in a crimson glow.

Although Du Fan didn’t know what move he would make next, he could clearly sense the intense magical fluctuations. With a bitter smile, he knew he had no chance if he didn’t fight desperately. He rushed forward, swinging his Silver Moon Sword with his right hand. The combat energy on it flickered—as light combat energy and all magic were pushed to their limits at once.

The shaman priest’s eyes showed a hint of surprise, though it vanished quickly. With a cold laugh, he waved his hand, and this time a blood-red magical blade slashed toward Du Fan.

Gritting his teeth, Du Fan swung his sword upward, and silver-white and blood-red lights merged instantly. He felt a shock run through his body, nearly losing grip on his Silver Moon Sword. The swordman’s combat energy was being consumed continuously, as if on the verge of collapse.

At that moment, Du Fan suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a magic attached to the sword—something he had planned to use for self-preservation. Naturally, he had to use it now. He frantically channeled his combat energy, pouring everything into the Silver Moon Sword. Then, the Silver Moon Sword, which had been unable to move even under the pressure of the blood-red magical blade, suddenly moved. A flash of lightning mixed with white and black seemed to shimmer on the sword.

Du Fan’s heart trembled as he vaguely guessed what would happen next!

Indeed, silently, the Silver Moon Sword moved little by little with Du Fan’s movements, while the red magical blade seemed to freeze mid-air.

The shaman priest’s expression shifted from surprise to terror. This phenomenon reminded him of a possibility…

“Swish—”

Finally, a soft sound was heard, and a crack of black and white suddenly appeared in the air. The blood-red magic blade merged directly into that crack. After absorbing the magic blade, the crack gradually took shape… Eventually, it became the form of a magic blade, which then shot out violently from Du Fan’s sword hilt.

The shaman priest acted as if facing a formidable enemy. He spun around on the spot and quickly pressed himself to the ground, with the magic blade sliding past him along his side. Although the magic blade moved slowly, everything it touched disappeared as it advanced. In less than half a minute, the magic blade also slowly vanished, completely disappearing into the air.

The two people present were speechless. Du Fan’s entire body’s combat energy had been almost completely drained. His hand holding the Silver Moon trembled incessantly, and he almost fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the shaman priest pointed at Du Fan and, after a while, murmured, “Space Tear Slash! Space Tear Slash! It’s actually the Space Tear Slash!”

At that moment, he suddenly glared at Du Fan and said solemnly, “Kid, I didn’t expect you to have such a last resort. If I hadn’t been quick-witted, you might have already died. Fortunately, though the Space Tear Slash is incredibly powerful, it has a side effect—using it leaves one severely weakened. Without proper rest, one’s combat energy and magic will never recover. In other words, kid, you can’t do anything now… If… if you tell me… who taught you this move… I might consider sparing your life.”

Du Fan collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. He whispered, “I… I’ll tell you… will you really not kill me?”

The shaman priest replied, “Of course. I always keep my word…”

Du Fan weakly shook his head and said, “I can’t trust you barbarians… Swear an oath! If you go back on your word, your soul will forever be trapped in the abyssal hell!”

The shaman priest said, “I promise you…”

After a moment, he swore the oath as Du Fan demanded, then said, “Now, can you tell me?”

Du Fan nodded and said, “I’ll tell you… that person… is my teacher… his…”

At that point, Du Fan staggered, seemingly on the verge of passing out, his voice growing weaker. The shaman priest urged urgently, “Who is it? Tell me clearly!”

He ran over quickly, though his steps were somewhat unsteady—clearly, dodging that empty-tearing slash had cost him quite a bit of energy. He reached Du Fan’s side and was about to bend down when, suddenly, Du Fan opened his eyes. The shaman priest was stunned and hadn’t yet reacted when he saw Du Fan lift his hand, and a magic scroll flew out from his sleeve. The shaman priest’s expression changed as he said, “You deceived me…” Before he could finish, he retreated hastily. But by then, the magic scroll had already emitted a bright light—it was nothing other than a petrification spell. Although the shaman priest retreated quickly, the range of this petrification spell was quite large. In an instant, his lower body along with the vines on the ground turned to stone, and the effect continued to spread upward toward his upper body. The shaman priest let out a groan, formed seals with his hands, and used some unknown magic to slow down the petrification process, even causing it to begin reversing slightly. But Du Fan merely glanced at it before bursting into laughter. “Great… really great, you shaman priest! In the end, you still ended up harming me! This last magic scroll turned out to be a petrification spell… hahaha… No matter how powerful your magic is, you definitely can’t undo this spell in half an hour. You won’t even have time to try to kill me… but I can kill you…” Mid-sentence, Du Fan coughed, spitting out some blood. He staggered to his feet, put the Phantom Wand back into his storage ring, and then, still unsteady, picked up the Silver Moon. As he stood up, he said, “Sir Shaman Priest, I’m sorry. Now you have only two choices: first, let me cut off your head; second, turn into stone. See how kind your ‘great god’ is—offering you so many ways to die…” Unexpectedly, the shaman priest sneered and said, “The Roland people are truly despicable and shameless… Do you really think you can kill me? You’re still too inexperienced… Everyone, stop watching! Capture this brat alive—don’t kill him!” A moment later, a whooshing sound was heard, and several people carrying long swords rushed out from the shadows. Du Fan recognized them as the ones who had attacked Oscar earlier. It was unclear why they were here after retreating.

“You can petrify me, and I can only say you’re impressive,” the shaman priest sneered. “But these warriors are all from my tribe. I don’t believe you can survive against them in your current state. Don’t forget—these guys have terrible tempers. Better surrender now to avoid suffering.”

Unexpectedly, Du Fan’s expression became utterly strange. He glanced at those men and said, “You say these are warriors from your tribe? Does that mean none of them are mages?”

The shaman priest snorted. “Even without mages, we can still take your life.”

Once again, Du Fan burst into laughter. Though weak, he laughed so hard he almost rolled on the ground, patting the ground as if talking to himself, “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it! Though I’ve done countless evil deeds, the great God of Light is still on my side!”

Then, he sat up seriously, staring at the shaman priest and said, “You’re right. I can’t fly as fast as you, and I can’t run. Even if we fought, if I hadn’t been lucky earlier—if the last magic scroll had been the petrification spell—it might already be in your hands now. But in the end, I exhausted all my combat energy and magic, leaving me trapped here. While you’re also trapped, you can still summon a few warriors to take my life… No matter how you look at it, I’m at my wits’ end, right?”

The shaman priest sneered, “It’s good you know that… Ready to surrender?”

Du Fan shook his head. “No, no, I haven’t finished speaking. Though it seems I’m doomed now, when have I ever said I’d lose? Esteemed shaman priest, if you encountered someone else, they might already be dead at your hands countless times. But you’ve met me, Master Du Fan. Sorry… you’re just a plaything for me now.”

With that, Du Fan glanced at those warriors and smiled darkly. “You… you… you… and you too—what are you staring at? Go and cut off that shaman priest’s head!”