Xyrin Empire-Chapter 723: You Never Know How Low They Can Go

Emerald grass under a clear blue sky, a gentle breeze caressing the cheek, the slightly damp air carrying the fragrance of earth from the Fairy Forest filled one’s nostrils, invigorating the spirit. The ever-disorderly demons of Fantasy Country all agreed that today was a perfect day for a fight, and thus unanimously decided to erect a huge arena next to the town to host the first Avalon Talent Show, an event without restrictions on race, job, or rules, following Fantasy Country’s relocation. The proposal initially came from Ibuki Suika, who loved to battle others, but it quickly received enthusiastic backing from every Heroic Spirit in Avalon, and ultimately, gained strong support from a certain Rogue Goddess.

Seeing Bingdisi in the judges’ seats, I immediately understood why Artemis would turn a blind eye to such a large-scale gathering: with this Female Hooligan involved, who else would you expect to sort things out?

However, Bingdisi’s involvement wasn’t entirely without benefits. Despite being completely No Morals, she unexpectedly had her prudently meticulous side and wrapped a huge Undying Barrier around the platform with her Divine Power. The barrier effectively prevented the demons of Fantasy Country from accidentally injuring any flowers and plants within a hundred miles during their danmaku battles, and also allowed the fighters inside to let loose without worry. At least with this arrangement, I didn’t have to fret over nearby reconstruction issues.

The two who had just taken the stage were Heroic Spirits Sasaki and Longinus, legendary figures from times and places separated by a thousand years and numerous time zones, who delivered a splendid gladiatorial fight. Those Heroic Spirits proficient in battle naturally chose fighting as their competition. Having arrived late, I missed this supposedly intense spectacle. However, judging by the black eye on Sasaki and the shoeprint on Longinus’ forehead, it wasn’t hard to imagine the ferocity and excitement of the earlier battle.

"Hey, Chen, you’re here!"

Bingdisi saw me and immediately got up to give me a bear hug, with no semblance of a girl’s self-consciousness. On her other side, Monina, Lin, Kenser, and Yelsen were busy playing a game of cards. It was the interlude before the start of the second match, but I guessed that even during the match, this bunch probably wouldn’t be doing their proper duties.

A few seconds later, I sat beside Bingdisi, rubbing my nearly broken ribs, and said under my breath, unsure of the situation, "What exactly is going on here? Without a reason, you wouldn’t be fooling around with these demons, right? And you’ve even dragged the Heroic Spirits and my Imperial Soldiers into this."

"Just want to cheer the kids up a bit," Bingdisi said nonchalantly, pushing her teacup towards me. "Here, here, here, this is something I brought from the Divine Realm. I stole it from Father God before coming. I only realized I still had some when I messed with space this morning—these kids from Fantasy Country just arrived to this world and only caught the tail end of the carnival, so they’re a bit disappointed. And during the festival, the Heroic Spirits and Imperial Soldiers were busy with their duties, unable to fully indulge in fun. So I thought, after the end of the carnival, we should let those who were busy during the festival relax a bit, and let this bunch of demons balance out, haha."

Suddenly, I felt that sometimes Bingdisi truly lived up to her Goddess title. Apart from anything else, having such a high-class justification for eating, drinking, and being merry, it was clear that she had the mindset of a leading official...

This competition on stage was indeed a pretty good form of amusement. Although the Heroic Spirits of Avalon had plentiful leisure time, they lacked common recreational activities due to their vastly different experiences and cultural concepts, rendering the so-called ideal Avalon somewhat devoid of fun. The arrival of a boisterous group of demons might change this situation. With interest, I looked towards the stage and casually took a sip from the teacup beside me: Bingdisi herself didn’t care about indirect kissing, so obviously, I cared even less.

The taste was fragrant and pleasant, mild and sweet. This milky liquid tasted really good. After tasting it thoughtfully for a while, I said uncertainly, "Why do I feel like this tastes just like soy milk?"

"That is soy milk. Father God bought some on a trip to the Mortal World a while ago," Bingdisi said as she took another cup from Other Space, ripped open a soy milk packet, and started mixing it with hot water.

Me: "...I thought it was some treasure from the Divine Realm! You can get soy milk just 200 meters outside the door at a small shop, why would you steal it from Father God’s room?"

"Didn’t I get tricked by Father God! He locks a bag of soy milk powder in his chest. I thought it was something delicious, so I carried the whole chest out!"

Why did Father God’s behavior sound so familiar to me?

While Bingdisi was busy preparing the soy milk, the sound of drums suddenly rose from the stage, and a slim man in a black cloak leapt onto it. Since this wasn’t an organized competition but more of a showcase for individual talents, anyone with a special Ability could jump onto the stage to announce their specialty when no one was defending the stage, waiting for challengers. Therefore, the man introduced himself first: "Heroic Spirit, Assassin, Nameless, specializes in stealth combat."

Such a brief and distinctive introduction immediately piqued the interest of the onlookers, and I was curiously watching the man on stage as well. With thousands of Heroic Spirits in Avalon, many were adept in stealth combat, yet aside from the Assasse group, I didn’t recognize many. I also had no recollection of the man currently on stage.

Someone stepping on stage always drew a challenger. A tall figure slowly appeared at the edge of the platform, dressed in Xyrin Empire’s standard light armor, his face concealed behind a mask – a Xyrin Apostle.

"Imprial Agents, secret combat."

"Eh, these are your soldiers, eh?" Bingdisi immediately poked my arm.

I ignored her remarks, my attention was already on the arena. I hadn’t expected to stumble upon such an intriguing scene just upon arrival. Heroic Spirits versus Imperial Agents? Who would win this match was actually quite interesting!

Two warriors, adept in assassination, stood at opposite corners of the arena, eyeing each other from a distance as they both entered a state of high alert. Even the surrounding audience quieted down, holding their breath and waiting in anticipation for a thrilling top-notch battle. The tense atmosphere was only interrupted by Boli Lingmeng and Chiruno from within the crowd occasionally calling out, "Sunflower seeds and soda! Quench your thirst, relieve your boredom!" "Ice pops! Ice cream!"

"Invisibility!" "Phase Stealth!"

The two warriors muttered their ultimate skills, then their figures vanished from the arena in an instant.

"Brilliant!" Moriya, tasked with commentary, promptly pulled out a battery-powered megaphone and began to loudly praise from one corner of the arena, "It’s a miraculous ability, DAZE! No spells used at all, they both disappeared into thin air! These are truly the top-tier Stealth Masters, DAZE~!"

Joining the commentary was Yakumo Lan, the Demon Fox Girl, who had just settled Cheng Miao back on stage. She sniffed vigorously and confirmed, "Even their scents and warmth have vanished! There’s absolutely no trace of them; such invisibility is truly magical!"

Consequently, the arena erupted into thunderous applause as the crowd marveled at the exquisite skill of the two Stealth Masters.

"Eh, if you don’t use Divine Power Impact, you really can’t see them with the naked eye." Bingdisi tugged at my sleeve, speaking with admiration, "Your Phase Stealth technology is said to be able to deceive the eyes of even Gods. These Heroic Spirits aren’t too shabby either. They’re truly worthy of being the personal guards of the Management God."

I too rubbed my eyes and looked at the stage, conceding sincerely, "They really are specialists in stealth. Do you think they’ve started fighting now?"

"Who knows, I can’t see a thing!" Bingdisi replied with a pout.

A minute passed, then five minutes, and soon fifteen minutes. Only a gentle breeze brushed the arena, and a few leaves from the Fairy Forest drifted down onto Moriya’s head, leaving her looking somewhat embarrassed. In the past few minutes, she had pushed her imagination and eloquence to the limit, trying her best to convey a vivid picture of a nerve-wracking assassin’s duel amid absolute silence, thunderous in its stealthiness. The onlooking masses also tried their hardest to envision the thrilling duel between the two Stealth Masters, but... nobody actually saw how they fought.

"Um... to the two competitors, how is the battle going?" Moriya asked cautiously into thin air, but the only response she got was the quiet whisper of the wind: in a duel of assassins, it’s all about concealing one’s presence. Who’s going to answer you!

"Ahaha, it seems the duel has not yet determined a victor, DAZE..." Moriya wiped away some cold sweat, speaking awkwardly.

Another ten minutes passed by, and Yakumo Lan began to use her tail as a cushion on the commentators’ table, preparing to nap. Moriya rubbed her eyes and yawned, "Excuse me, competitors, have you decided a winner yet?"

You guessed it, still no movement...

Time passed, indeterminately long, when I gradually woke from a daze. I nudged Bingdisi, who was currently sprawling on the table, hugging a cup of soy milk and snoring, "So, did they finish fighting?"

Bingdisi rubbed her eyes and looked at the stage, "Damn, still can’t see anything!"

By this time, Ling Meng had already sold a round of sunflower seeds, while Chiruno had borrowed a pen from me to do the math. She was selling each ice pop for one coin, two ice pops for three coins, and had sold over fifty of them. Now she always felt that the twenty-five coins and six cents in her hand wasn’t quite right, especially that nine-coin bill. Our very capable, very capable Chiruno was trying to figure out its authenticity. Our Lady Goddess was lying on Chiruno’s head helping her new friend with the calculations, and the little thing had initially figured out that selling fifty ice pops should have made her thirty-two coins.

Watching the silly elf scratch her head in confusion, as a bystander, I really felt pity for her. But considering that she was selling ice pops with no cost to her, earning anything was good, so I still didn’t tell her that the three-coin, six-cent piece also had problems. But you tell me, a few hundred little demons here are picking on such a dimwit, which really isn’t very kind. Moreover, given that nine-coins and three-coins-six, this was clearly the work of the Empire’s counterfeit team, those goddamn smoking-while-working bastards were planning to cheat Chiruno to death.

"Enough! If it goes on like this, this old lady is going to finish sleeping tomorrow’s sleep by noon!" Bingdisi finally exploded amidst her drowsiness. The ultimate duel between two Stalkers enraged our great and honorable Light Goddess. She simply put a football-sized golden Light Ball on the stage, and then the ball suddenly erupted, "All-Seeing Eye!"

The contrast in strength between the high-order True God and two lowly soldiers was immediately apparent. Bingdisi’s Holy Light effortlessly dispelled the Invisibility Technique on the stage, revealing the honest Heroic Spirit in black still tirelessly circling the middle of the stage, drenched in sweat, with no one else on the stage.

Realizing that all his Invisibility Skills had been completely dispersed by the Holy Light just now, the Heroic Spirit looked around in shock and began cursing with a jump, "Damn it! I’ve been circling for nearly an hour and a half, where is everyone?!"

At this moment, I was almost losing it. I rushed over and grabbed the Commander of the special forces team, who was trying to sneak away from the crowd, livid and in tears, "Lock up that bastard for a week in solitary!"

Before my voice even fell, the previously invisible Imperial Agent suddenly popped out from the crowd, squeezing through with a bottle of mineral water in his hand, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I didn’t leave him there, I was just so thirsty after circling around for more than an hour that I went down to grab a bottle of mineral water."

Ling Meng rushed over with her cart like crazy, "I was wondering why I was missing a bottle! You didn’t pay for it!"

I was about to devour the chief of the special forces, "Two weeks! Two weeks!"

The showdown between the two Stealth Masters ended in this manner, and the large crowd of onlookers decided that the next time they saw two Stalkers fighting, they wouldn’t say anything and would first throw stink eggs on the stage to make them visible before discussing it. Moriya bought an ice pop from Chiruno for one coin to perk herself up and then kicked Yakumo Lan awake, who was sleeping on the ground hugging her big tail, "The duel just now was splendid—cut it out, that’s the script. Now, let’s welcome the next event. The stage is unattended right now, who will come up to show off?"

"I will, I will!" A spirited voice suddenly came from beside me, surprising me. I watched as Yelsen hopped onto the stage, energized like he’d been injected with chicken blood. I exchanged a look with Monina and asked in a low voice, "What did your brother eat just now?"

The Dark Goddess shook her head, "He just loves to show off. Every time there’s a stage, he’s the third one up, saying it’s the best time to attract everyone’s attention. Just ignore him."

Even though Monina said to ignore him, as soon as Yelsen took the stage, a challenger immediately emerged. A deep, steady baritone from below the stage made me even more alert than before, "I’ll take the challenge."

I looked up, and sure enough, black suit, black sunglasses, a shoulder bag, and a square-jawed face, Sicaro strode up to the stage like a Terminator, his face as serious as still water.

Just as I was about to signal the municipal enforcement team to assemble, Ling Meng had already put down her little cart and whooshed onto the stage, pulling out a municipal enforcement armband to wear on her arm. Seeing this, I was moved to tears: truly worthy of my dear Red and White, you’re so skilled at this!

"Stop it, I’m not working right now." Sicaro waved his hand to interrupt Ling Meng’s action. She paused and nodded, heading back to the crowd, "Right, I’m off work too. Hey, you, don’t touch my stall, I am the municipal enforcement!"

That damn girl is going to have her bonus deducted to a negative this month!

I had no idea why Sicaro would show up at this time, but his saying that it wasn’t his working hours at least clarified one thing: he wasn’t here to hawk his pirated goods today, which made me decide to stay calm and see what this old rascal was up to.

"The Garrison Officer of the Star Domain, known to be a God with extremely strong defense powers," Sicaro said seriously as he stowed his treasured shoulder bag into his Personal Space, looking at Yelsen.

"Ha, haven’t we already crossed swords," Yelsen said, his expression turning serious as he took out his huge shield and the golden Holy Sword. Though his words were casual, it was clear he was getting serious, "You are the first turtle shell that made me feel like I couldn’t find a way to attack, but all you showed was how to run away. Now, I want to see how your Xyrin Iron Curtain measures up compared to the Star Domain Garrison Officer."

"As you wish, you will witness the Empire’s strongest barrier," Sicaro nodded solemnly, and suddenly, I felt Uncle Hei Chao was elevating: could it be that today Sicaro finally remembered he was a Xyrin Apostle rather than just a pirate peddler, deciding to win some glory for the Xyrin Empire in this friendly arena contest?

"It looks like ever since you assigned Yelsen to intercept Sicaro’s peddling operation, those two have been at odds," Bingdisi pointed out sharply, extinguishing the admiration I had just begun to feel: damn, it turns out it’s still all about his pirated business!

"With our strength, if we were to fight head-on with all our might, it might be a bit troublesome," Yelsen said, glancing around. Although they were under the protection of Bingdisi’s Divine Power, he thought it best to be cautious, "I have a suggestion, why don’t we stick to our best moves, and not use our Ultimate Skills? How about five rounds to decide the winner?"

"Indeed, if the arena breaks, we’ll have to fix it ourselves," Sicaro nodded seriously. The mature and steady look of the middle-aged uncle immediately provoked a round of shrill screams from the circle of Little Demons around who had no idea what was going on. Then, Uncle Hei Chao waved his hand, and the air around them filled with countless blue light spots. Tiny hexagonal Hive-like Energy Shields appeared out of nowhere, quickly covering half the arena, "Although it’s not the Gospel Book, this Imperial Barrier is the most powerful single-man defense shield!"

Yelsen smiled lightly, and his shield radiated dazzling light. The Golden-haired dead Handsome Man’s dashing aura caused the remaining ignorant Little Demons to scream, and a glorious Holy Light Barrier descended from the heavens, covering the other half of the arena: "Likewise, though it’s not the Defender Barrier, this Corona Device is my most prized Defense Skill!"

"Come on, let’s have a satisfying fight!"

"Haah!"

"Heyah!"

"Shield Enhancement!"

"Holy Light Enhancement!"

"Directional Defense!"

"Radiant Shield!"

At this moment, everyone on and off the stage was shocked, and the crowd became excited: "Golden Bell Shield versus Iron Cloth, do you have to scream so tragically!?"

I clutched my head in grief with Bingdisi: "Damn, who will go up there and kick those two embarrassments off the stage for me!"

Kenser looked at the two fools on stage and could only sigh deeply in the end: "Alas... not good..." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian.com and give a monthly vote. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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