MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

When Li Yi logged back into the game, he realized that everyone in the party besides Jiaojiao, who was still sleeping, was present and none of them had logged out.

Although dark circles under their eyes were already threatening to form, they still operated in a robot-like manner as they continuously slew, and slew, and slew even more monsters…

Li Yi perspired in guilt.

“Haven’t you guys done enough? The EXP buff is already long gone, it’s no longer worth it. It’s time to sleep.”

“I’m going to level up soon. I’ll quit once I level up,” said Pretty Good Mood wearily while shaking his head. Ever since he saw Alex’s Fuse skill, he was highly motivated to level up.

‘I’ll have 90,000,000 HP once I fuse with Scarab King… No one would dare to stand against me by then.’

Pretty Good Mood asked, “Guild Master, where does the Fusion Skill Tome come from?”

“It’s either a reward from an Epic-level quest or a drop from a purple-named Summoner class Boss.”

“I’m going to spam Epic-level Quests once I’m done leveling up. I’ll definitely get the Fusion skill!” From the looks of it, Pretty Good Mood had really lost it this time. To think that he would continue playing even after leveling up, just how addicted is he?

Li Yi was stunned speechless, but for the sake of his health, he decided to strike at his ego. “Even if you had the Fusion skill, you would still die if you don’t polish up your playstyle.”

Unnerved, Pretty Good Mood retorted, “Not possible. Once I fuse, I’ll have 90,000,000 HP. You would still need a long time to take me down even if I stood still.”

“There are many skills that can dispel your Fusion. Such skills include the Mass Dispel of Priests, the Minor Dispel of Sky Vagabonds, the Space-time Reversion of Wizards, the Intermediate Dispel of Paladins, and various others.”

“You can forcefully dispel the Fusion?” Pretty Good Mood shivered at the thought.

A faint smile crept onto Li Yi’s face. “Why of course, and once your fusion is forcefully dispelled, your pet will disappear automatically too. You’ll need around ten minutes to summon it again.”

Truth be told, the Archers also had a dispel skill called Evil Piercing Arrow, which was an upgraded version of Piercing Arrow. The condition for unlocking it is by maxing out Piercing Arrow. Once it is done, they could learn it from the Archer Skill Mentor.

Li Yi had always suffered from a shortage of skill points. As such, his Piercing Arrow was still below Level 20 and in turn, he never got the opportunity to learn Evil Piercing Arrow. Otherwise, he would not have used combo attacks on Alex and he would have dispelled his fusion via a single Evil Piercing Arrow instead.

[Note: Once Piercing Arrow has reached Level 20, the skill would automatically be upgraded into Evil Piercing Arrow, which is able to dispel all statuses, after receiving the guidance of the Archer Skill Mentor.]

After hearing Li Yi’s explanation, Pretty Good Mood’s dreams were shattered. He immediately grumbled, “I’m tired. I’m going to log out now.”

“Me too. See you later, Master…” Pale Blue Elegance had also reached her limit.

Hua Feihua logged out, followed by Hua Feiwu. Lonely Semi City was the only one who was undaunted by the grind as he was still filled with vigor.

Li Yi checked the ranking boards. Lonely Semi City was now Level 76 and a half, and it would not be long before he would catch up to Li Yi…

“Lonely, don’t stress your body. Log out and take a break.”

“I’m fine. Hehe, I’m not even tired.” Compared to the others, Lonely Semi City’s complexion was much better.

Lonely Semi City was adamant in remaining online. Seeing that there was no way to convince him otherwise, he decided to leave Lonely Semi City to his own devices while he entered the depths of Wailing Grotto instead.

Li Yi had not forgotten his original objective, which was to claim the reward of the Two-man Fame Quest. The reward itself had captured his attention much more than leveling ever could.

“There’s a Flaming Dragon roaming about within the depths of the Wailing Grotto. Stay cautious and don’t do anything reckless!”

Right as Li Yi entered the depths of Wailing Grotto, he met a cotton-clothed greatsword-wielding Warrior NPC standing haughtily at the entrance.

The Warrior NPC’s gear was shabby, but the designation above his head was very eye-catching.

Dragon-slaying Warrior — Terrence!

The fact that there were NPCs within the grotto was not strange to Li Yi. However, the Dragon-slaying Warrior’s get-up felt really out of place.

The greatsword on his back implied that he was a Warrior. However, he was not wearing any armor, and instead, he was wearing the cotton clothes of a Wizard. He was neither warrior-like nor was he scholarly, in short, he felt like an oddball…

“It’s a pleasure meeting you, mate.”

Li Yi warmly walked forward and extended his hand with the intention of greeting Terrence. The Warrior that had gone by the name Terrence was not too old by any means, at most, he looked around fifty to sixty years old.

However, Terrence ignored Li Yi’s gesture and harrumphed, “I am one of the Royal Descendants of the Fetched Moon Country with the purest Royal Bloodline. I absolutely refuse to shake hands with a peasant like you.”

‘This b*stard is really uptight. Fetched Moon Country? What the f*ck is that?’

Within King of Pantheon, the higher an NPC’s level was, the higher their intellect. The fact that Terrence was able to react to Li Yi’s words had meant that he was a high-level NPC.

Li Yi displayed his title of Military Advisor and proudly declared, “I am Dark Wing, the Military Advisor of the Invincible Continent. For your information, I’m a Noble.”

“Military Advisor?” Terence was confused.

“It has the same authority as a Senior Administrator,” clarified Li Yi.

Terrence nodded, “Noted, then I shall allow you to speak with me. However, I still refuse to shake hands, unless you have Royal Blood flowing within you.”

Li Yi racked his brain as he tried to continue the conversation. Suddenly, he remembered that the Wailing Grotto’s lore was closely related to Fetched Moon Country.

‘Prince Thunder of the Fetched Moon Country!’

‘Terrence of the Fetched Moon Country?’

‘Could it be that he’s a descendant of Prince Thunder?’

After giving it some thought, he finally understood.

“You mentioned that there was a Flaming Dragon wreaking havoc within the depths of the Wailing Grotto right? If I remember correctly, isn’t that Flaming Dragon an incarnation of the Fetched Moon Country’s Prince Thunder?”

Terrence glared furiously as he brandished his greatsword. Seething with rage, he pointed it at Li Yi, saying, “Shut it, our Royal Family does not include anyone that goes by the name of Prince Thunder!”

‘If there’s nothing, there’s nothing. What’s up with the hostile reaction?’

Li Yi mused internally.

“The reason that I, Terrence, the Dragon-slaying Warrior am here, is to kill that wretched Flaming Dragon.”

Li Yi’s heart skipped a beat. He asked, “Have you seen the dragon?”

Legend says that the Flaming Dragon, Thunder carries a divine weapon called Fire Dragon Sword. If only he could locate it…

“This is a private matter and it has nothing to do with you.”

Terrence’s rage had not subsided. He replaced his greatsword to his back and left.

‘The NPC has moved!’

‘Have I triggered a cutscene?’

Li Yi lapsed into thought, but he quickly went after him.

However, Terrence turned around angrily and snarled, “Do not follow me, or else I’ll kill you!”

Li Yi was in a dilemma. Despite that, he remained still for a moment before tailing him once more.

The path of the depths of the Wailing Grotto was filled with small monsters. However, they were no longer Dark Elementals, instead, they were Fire Elementals.

Among them were Blazing Fire Elementals, Virtual Fire Elementals, and Darkfire Elementals…

All of the Fire Elementals had high levels. The lowest one was at Level 80, whereas the highest one was at Level 100. Their HP also ranged between 50,000 and 100,000.

Terrence slew numerous monsters as he marched onwards. Although he appeared to be fifty years old and he was not wearing any armor, his attack power was quite astounding. With less than two swings of his greatsword, without exception, all of the Fire Elementals disintegrated into dust.

Terrence only had 200,000 HP, but he lost no health even when the Fire Elementals attacked him.

‘How can a cotton armor’s DEF be that high?’

Li Yi was even more curious about Terrence now.

Boom!

Just as Terrence was making good progress while massacring everything in his path, a massive gout of flame erupted from the ground, revealing a gigantic Ember Spirit.

It was 3-meters tall and countless flames fanned out from its body. It also had 1,000,000 HP, which meant that it was a Superior Ember Spirit!

“I am born from the flames, and none shall pass. Anyone who dares to do so shall die!”

The Ember Spirit’s temper was much worse than Terrence’s. It swung a heavy flaming fist towards Terrence immediately.

“Lowly fire spirit, you cannot stop me, as I am of the purest bloodline within the Royal Family of the Fetched Moon Country. Now, get out of my way!”

Terrence paid no mind to the flaming fist as he stabbed his sword into it.

Tch—

Terrence’s greatsword went through the flaming fist and struck the Ember Spirit’s core that was embedded within its chest.

Elementals had no physical body. Thus, the only way to harm them was by attacking their core.

The Superior Ember Spirit’s flaming fist had landed onto Terrence’s body, but he lost no health. On the other hand, Terrence’s strike had snuffed out the spirit’s life.

Hisssss—

The Ember Spirit deflated like a balloon. In a blink of an eye, it was now a heap of smoldering ash.

Even with 1,000,000 HP, it was still unable to take Terrence’s attack.

Creak! Crack…

The tip of Terrence’s greatsword was beginning to melt.

Terrence was now seething with rage. “Lowly fire spirit, how dare you taint my sword!”

The temperature of the flame spirit’s core was just too high. Although the heat did not affect Terrence, the same could not be said for the weapon in his hand.

Li Yi was constantly tailing him. Even he was in shock when he saw Terrence making it through unscathed even though his greatsword was destroyed.

The Official Forum stated that those who held the Royal Bloodline of the Catched Moon Country were able to negate a mass portion of fire-based damage. Judging by what he had seen, he had to take it as the truth…

Terrence waited for his greatsword to stop melting before carrying onward.

Although the greatsword was only now half its original size, Terrence was as ferocious as ever. He treated the Fire Elementals like playthings as he cut them down like vegetables. Nobody was a match against him.

“Wicked Flaming Dragon, I, Terrence, shall end your sinful life.”

With a mighty roar, Terrence slaughtered the monsters at a faster pace. Li Yi was similarly invigorated when he heard his words.

‘Is the Flaming Dragon coming?’

“Hold it, anywhere from this point onward is his Eminence, Lord Thunder’s realm. Those who trespass shall die!”

A staff-wielding skeleton that was cloaked in fire stood before Terrence. Although it looked no different from a normal skeleton, the fact that it could speak was a shock.

Terrence pointed his broken blade at the Flaming Skeleton as he yelled, “Windrunner Caitley that is controlled by the Wicked Flaming Dragon, do you wish to stop me?”

‘Caitley the Windrunner?’

Li Yi narrowed his eyes to affirm the truth and a surprised look appeared on his face.

There was a name above the Flaming Skeleton that read, ‘The Windrunner cursed by flames — Caitley’.

A flashy white bracelet laid on Flaming Skeleton Caitley’s right wrist. There was no doubt about it, the bracelet was Li Yi and Jiaojiao’s main goal for coming here.

[Caitley’s Love Bracelet]

Flaming Skeleton Caitley had 60,000,000 HP and was a Level 100 Epic-level boss…

Unlike the ordinary bosses, Caitley’s name was in purple, which indicated that she was an Epic-level Boss!

Terrence let loose a battle cry as he lunged with his broken blade towards Caitley.

“Flaming Blast!”

Caitley raised her staff as she hurled a swirling ball of flame towards Terrence’s head.

[−150,000]

A terrifying damage counter appeared above Terrence’s head, followed closely by him being thrown backward from the force of the flames.

After taking Caitley’s hit, the ‘short sword’ within Terrence’s hand had melted into nothing, along with his clothes that were all burned to a crisp.

After seeing the situation unfold, Li Yi finally understood why the arrogant Dragon-slaying Warrior Terrence was wearing no armor…

…