studiobondurri 060 Righteous Reckoning
060 Righteous Reckoning
060 Righteous Reckoning
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see this coming.
One of the recurring xianxia tropes, I think... was the master taking over the disciple’s body. To be fair, it happened so many times in Lost Legends Online—especially to players who followed the Mage Legacy. Liches and demons loved the body possession genre way too much.
Well, transmigrators could learn a thing or two from them.
Or maybe it was the other way around.
I exhaled, gripping my sword.
“So, pal,” I said casually. “Got any name?”
The horned figure barely reacted. His pitch-black eyes gleamed with something ancient and malevolent. Then, with a flick of his hand, a trident materialized in his grasp—its three prongs crackling with dark energy. The weapon pulsed, warping the air around it, as if reality itself wanted nothing to do with it.
The Heavenly Demon’s lips curled into a sneer.
“HOW DARE YOU INTRUDE UPON THIS SACRED CEREMONY?” His voice shook the ground beneath me. The blood rain hissed where it met his skin, evaporating into tendrils of black mist.
“THE MISFORTUNE INSIDE THE VESSEL IS YET TO MATURE, BUT CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES... I MUST NOT DELAY ANY LONGER. RISKING MY RESURRECTION WOULD BE FOOLISH.”
His gaze snapped toward Gu Jie.
I tightened my grip.
“...Yeah, I figured it’d be something like this.”
"I ADVISE YOU FROM THIS FOOLISH ACTION.”
The Heavenly Demon’s voice rolled through the ruined battlefield like a funeral bell. His black eyes locked onto me, deep and hollow, as if they could swallow my existence whole.
“AT MY PEAK, I STOOD AT THE EIGHTH REALM.” His grip tightened around the trident, dark energy spiraling around its prongs. “CURRENTLY, WHILE I ONLY STAND AT THE SEVENTH REALM, I AM MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR YOUR KIND.”
I exhaled slowly.
Tried to activate Final Adjudication.
—Nothing.
Tried Voice Chat to call up Dave, my trusty Holy Spirit.
—Silence.
I frowned.
Alright. This was kinda serious.
My Ultimate Skills were locked. That was bad, but I could still use normal skills. I adjusted my stance and switched my passive TriDivine to Divine Flesh. My body hardened, muscles becoming more resilient, flesh taking on an unnatural durability. It was a long-term tanking build, my second best option after outright obliterating enemies with Ultimate Skills.
I layered my defenses.
Armor of the Indomitable—every hit I took stacked my defense exponentially.
Sacred Bulwark—returned a portion of all damage back to the attacker.
Shield of the Eternal—a regenerating forcefield that absorbed incoming attacks before they could touch me.
I felt the weight of the spells settle into my body, an invisible layer of divine protection wrapping around me.
Then, I raised my sword.
“My kind?” I smirked, watching for his reaction. “Ever met someone like me? Now, that’s something I want to hear.”
The Heavenly Demon laughed. It was the kind of laugh that echoed through bones, slithering into marrow, crawling up the spine like a thousand centipedes. He spread his arms wide, his shredded robes fluttering around his skeletal frame.
“ALL OF THEM.” His black eyes glowed with malevolence. “ALL OF THE RIGHTEOUS CULTIVATORS, BLIND. THEY CLING TO THEIR LAWS, THEIR PATHS, IGNORANT TO TRUE STRENGTH.”
His voice was heavy, rich with centuries of arrogance.
“THEY FEAR WHAT THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND. THEY CONDEMN THAT WHICH THEY CANNOT CONTROL. THEY REJECT THE GIFTS BESTOWED FROM BEYOND.”
The trident pulsed in his grip, its aura thick like coagulated blood.
“BUT WHEN THE DEVILS WALK THIS WORLD, WHEN THEY RETURN TO CLAIM WHAT IS THEIRS,” the Heavenly Demon’s lips curled into something between a sneer and a grin, “THERE WILL BE NO SANCTUARY. THERE WILL BE NO KINGDOMS. THERE WILL BE NO HEROES.”
His black gaze burned into me.
“THERE WILL ONLY BE HELL.”
Yeah, yeah, standard villain monologue. I’d heard enough of these to last a lifetime.
While he was busy with his grand declaration, I casually cast Designate Holy Enemy.
A reversed red cross flickered into existence above his head.
The Heavenly Demon snarled the moment he felt it.
He waved a hand, dark energy surging as he dispelled the mark instantly.
Bad move, buddy.
Dispels were trump cards. In a proper fight, you never wasted one unless absolutely necessary. He just burned his for no reason other than his fragile ego.
No wonder this dude died.
Coincidence? I doubted it.
I wondered—was it Hell that had given him that Legacy Advancement Book that Gu Jie had absorbed? It made sense. Maybe they were running a referral program.
I took a step forward, keeping my blade raised.
“So, you’re friendly with Hell, huh?” I asked. “Tell me—how did you get in touch with them?”
The Heavenly Demon scoffed.
“I DON’T NEED TO ANSWER YOUR QUERY.”
Above us, the halo linking us through Compel Duel flickered—then vanished.
I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
Again?
He’d used his dispel ability.
I narrowed my eyes. He hadn’t used it instantly after I’d cast Compel Duel, so it probably had a cooldown instead of an energy cost.
Still—that was a ridiculously short cooldown. Broken, even.
Most dispels were heavily resource-restricted, but this guy? Spam-casting.
The Heavenly Demon raised his trident.
His voice rang through the battlefield.
“THREE PATHS TO POWER!”
His body split into three.
Each form now held a single-pronged spear instead of a trident.
Glowing characters hovered above each of the clones.
Thanks to my Translation skill from the Linguist sub-class, their meanings became clear.
Ambition (志)Violence (暴)Cruelty (残)
The Ambition clone smirked, voice laced with arrogance.
“We only need to kill the psyche of the sacrifice, and the ritual will be complete.”
The Cruelty clone grinned, eyes gleaming with malice.
“We will have fun destroying you, outsider.” He spread his arms mockingly. “Even the great Sects of the entire realm had to send their strongest warriors to deal with me. What makes you think you can handle me alone?”
I didn’t bother answering.
Then came Violence.
He didn't waste breath on words.
He roared, body bursting into a fiery aura that stank of sulfur.
“I WILL DESTROY YOU!”
This guy yapped too much.
My shorter cooldown-based skills had already reset. I focused on Violence first—he was the loudest and most aggressive. He lunged at me with his spear wreathed in sulfuric flames. I activated Flash Parry, deflecting his attack with precise timing. The impact sent a satisfying shockwave through my arms, and a fraction of my mana surged back into my reserves.
Then, a chill ran down my spine as Divine Sense warned me.
Cruelty materialized from Violence’s shadow, his spear slithering toward me like a venomous serpent. I barely twisted my body in time, the weapon slicing through the air where my ribs had been a moment ago.
And then there was Ambition—predictable, arrogant Ambition.
He had bypassed me entirely and was behind us now, his spear streaking toward Gu Jie. Despite her lack of cultivation, she could see everything. Because this was inside her memories, inside her. She stood frozen, horror written across her face.
Okay. A three-on-one situation with a handicap? Might be a bit much even for me.
I summoned World Aegis from my Item Box, catching both Violence and Cruelty mid-attack. Their spears rebounded, momentarily throwing them off balance. I followed up immediately with Shield Bash, smashing my shield forward and sending them both staggering back with the knockback effect.
That left Ambition.
I had a second to act before his spear ran Gu Jie through.
I activated Castling.
A burst of light swapped my position with hers. The moment I appeared in front of Ambition, I dismissed my sword and shield back into my Item Box. His spear struck true, sinking into my chest.
A sharp crack echoed in my ears. The pain flared through my ribs, but I grinned.
That’s more like it.
Sacrificial Zeal kicked in, amplifying my attack power the lower my health dropped.
Ambition’s smug expression shifted as he realized something was wrong. I tightened my grip on the spear embedded in my chest and twisted it viciously. He gasped in pain at the reflected damage, eyes widening in disbelief.
"You should probably grit your teeth," I advised.
I clenched my fist and activated Righteous Reckoning, multiplying my damage reflection while empowering my next attack.
Holy energy surged through my arm.
I reared back my glowing fist, channeling Divine Smite, and punched Ambition square in the face.
His head exploded.