Chapter 381: Goodbye, Varkas
Ashe analyzed the situation. "The commander's soul energy must be running low. He only brought a small squad of Thousand-Feathered Bird Dragons. That means the upper limit of the unit types he can arm himself with is strictly capped by the total soul energy value of that specific squad."
That left one glaring question. Who would face the sorcerers, and who would take on the commander?
Sonya gave it serious thought. "First of all, winning or losing the team battle against the sorcerers doesn't actually matter. The real goal is to stall for time until the third person assassinates the commander... I think I should be the one to face him."
"Then I'll handle the sorcerers with the Watcher?" Dia asked. "But how do we get the arena to recognize us as a team? Do we hug?"
"No!"
"How about holding hands?"
"Absolutely not!"
The Witch looked at the Swordswoman in confusion. Realizing the major flaw in her logic, Sonya quickly tried to salvage the plan. "Wait, that's not right. The Watcher has the Conjuring spirits and can equip himself with units. He's actually the best choice to deal with the commander."
Ashe glanced between them. "I was going anyway. I still need to map out the terrain. Speaking of unit armaments..."
He raised his hand, and azure armor materialized over both the Witch and the Swordswoman. Starlike sharpness flickered at Dia's fingertips, while Sonya's blade erupted with radiant arcs of light.
Ashe noted, "Good thing we killed that Violent Slashing Dragon earlier. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had enough soul energy to arm you both."
Ashe had already drained his soul energy back in the Amnesia Cabin. If he hadn't equipped himself with his six-star Star Hall unit, the Starshot Warrior, he wouldn't have been able to suppress the Empress at all.
Sonya froze. "Why didn't you save that energy for your fight with the commander? I already said the matchup against the other sorcerers doesn't matter—"
Ashe interrupted, "If we're bound to lose, a few layers of armor won't change that. Besides, I'm the one facing the commander. Worst-case scenario, I can just surrender. But if you two run into some bizarre sorcerer and get cut down before you even have a chance to yield..."
"That's highly unlikely. I have the Sincerity spirit to boost my mental resistance—"
"Well, I've already cast it, and there are no refunds," Ashe said.
A warm light flared in his hands as he bestowed two enhancements upon them. "And here's the Boost-Sword buff..."
Because the actual names of the Singular Devotion Miracle were far too embarrassing to say out loud, he had casually renamed the Sword of Joy to Heal-Sword, the Sword of Love to Boost-Sword, the Sword of Rage to Pierce-Sword, and the Sword of Sorrow to Slow-Sword. The grandeur of the spells instantly plummeted to the level of cheap, workshop-made imitation miracles.
Sonya felt a tingling sensation ripple through her body, accompanied by a sudden prickle of electricity right at her waist. Dia, on the other hand, felt light and cool, as though she were a feather drifting on a breeze.
With their preparations complete, the car pulled up outside the arena. An outer corridor flanked the Last Stand Arena. The moment they stepped into the hallway, they would be teleported inside.
The Swordswoman and the Witch stepped out first. Exchanging a glance, they linked arms like close friends. The second they crossed into the corridor, they vanished.
As the scenery shifted, they gripped each other's arms tightly. An invisible force tugged at them, trying to rip them apart, but their flimsy "best friend" wasn't about to give way without a fight. After a brief, futile tug-of-war, the force relented, and the two materialized together in the sandy center of the arena.
***
"Am I dreaming? Two sorcerers actually hijacked our match? The Revelation spirit literally told me that the people around me would ruin me. Does that mean I shouldn't be working with you?!"
"Alice thinks blaming others like that is incredibly low-class."
"Alice isn't even here! How can he think anything?"
"Alice is right next to me in reality."
"But isn't Alice currently lying in a coffin... Forget it, I don't even want to know."
The two sorcerers whose opportunity had been stolen stood utterly stunned, on the verge of turning on one another. The fact that they hadn't completely broken down yet was a testament to their mental resilience. After all, if someone snatched away a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of luck right from under your nose, most people would lose their minds on the spot.
Sonya scanned their opponents, her expression darkening. "No wonder they dared to challenge the Hero Commander. They've tamed a Dread Wolf-Dragon and a Thousand-Feathered Bird Dragon... Wait, that zombified Dread Wolf-Dragon... could one of them be a necromancer? And look at that Thousand-Feathered Bird Dragon in the black armor... Is that one of the commander's own subordinates they managed to seize?"
She turned to her partner. "Witch, stay sharp. They have abilities that target the mind. I have the Sincerity spirit, so I should be fine, but... Witch?"
Dia suddenly snapped out of her daze. Breaking her stare, she nervously raised her fists. "O-oh! Are we doing this now?"
Sonya analyzed, "Their primary combat strength should be the Dread Wolf-Dragon and the Thousand-Feathered Bird Dragon, so our best strategy is to take out the sorcerers as quickly as possible and avoid the creatures altogether. Which one do you want?"
"I'll take the fair-skinned one with the prettier face," Dia replied.
"Then I'll handle the darker-skinned one with the curly hair."
***
Once the Swordswoman and the Witch entered, Ashe attempted to follow them in with his sports car.
He was essentially testing his luck. If the arena recognized the sports car as valid equipment, it would change everything. From then on, Ashe could make a trip to the arena every night during his Virtual World exploration to farm sorcery experience. If he could pull that off, he'd be able to crash his way straight through to the third layer.
Unfortunately, the arena wasn't that generous. Only he was teleported inside.
Ashe quickly scanned his surroundings. The Swordswoman and the Witch were nowhere in sight. Standing across from him instead was a black-robed figure holding a sword. The figure was silent, her eyes cold and entirely devoid of panic or fear. At one glance, Ashe had already recognized her as the Hero Commander.
Heart Pen!
The moment Ashe touched down, he activated the Heart Pen Miracle, painting a protective trench of ink-like marks around himself. The technique worked brilliantly as a trap, but more importantly, it was a setup he could only pull off before the fight started. The casting process was far too complicated, and since he had only just acquired it, there was no way he could execute it mid-battle yet.
Yet even after Ashe finished drawing the ink trench, his opponent didn't make a move. When he looked up, he realized she had simply been observing him the entire time.
No, she wasn't looking at him. Her gaze was locked onto one of the core spirits driving the Heart Pen Miracle, the Swordheart spirit.
"Ashe Heath?"
Ashe froze. It was the first time he had ever heard his own name spoken aloud in the Virtual World. It felt jarring and surreal, like someone suddenly calling out his real name over an anonymous online voice chat.
If another sorcerer had called him by name, or even some strange Virtual World entity, he could have processed it. But why would a Hero Commander know who he was?
The black-robed figure reached up and pulled back her hood, revealing pointed ears, pale green lips, a sharp nose, and long, dark-green hair. Standing before him was a female elf commander.
She must have been a proud, fierce elf when she was alive, he thought.
Ashe had encountered plenty of elven women before, but he had absolutely no memory of this one.
A grim possibility crossed his mind. "You know who I am? Are you with the Spider Tower? Do your people already know what I look like? Were you waiting to hunt me down the moment I entered the Virtual World?"
The elf woman shook her head. "No. I am not with the Spider Tower, nor did I recognize your face."
She pointed a finger at the Swordheart spirit floating beside him. "I only recognize that spirit. It was born from a fragment of my own soul. I prepared it as a gift for my child."
Ashe went utterly still. He looked at the Swordheart spirit, then slowly looked back up at the elven commander. "Varkas?"