Chapter 144: A Destined Player from a Fox Den?
"Be my guest."
Ye Tian waved a dismissive hand, a confident smirk playing on his lips.
He simply refused to believe that some random players he'd just met in an instance could lift his specialized weapon. Among all the Destined Players he knew, aside from that fox, not a single other person could wield this sword as effortlessly as he did.
Kaguya offered no reply. She simply reached out a calm, slender hand and wrapped her fingers around the hilt.
In the next second, the smile on Ye Tian's face froze solid.
Under the shocked gazes of everyone present, Kaguya's arm tensed slightly. The greatsword, weighing well over two hundred pounds, lifted from the ground with an unnerving ease. What was even more unbelievable was the way she swung it a few times, a casual motion as if testing its balance. The monstrous weapon seemed as light as a feather in her grasp, no more cumbersome than a tree branch.
"This... How is this possible...?"
Ye Tian was utterly dumbfounded, stumbling half a step back in pure shock.
The other members of his team were equally stunned, frozen in place like statues. They knew that an ordinary person would struggle just to lift a sword of forty pounds, let alone use it for combat or swing it freely. Yet this blade weighed over two hundred. For comparison, even the legendary Green Dragon Crescent Blade of Guan Yu was said to weigh a mere ninety pounds.
"Are you sure... they're the ones who need us to lead them? That they need our help?" one of the Ascending God members couldn't help but whisper to Xia Ye.
Xia Ye's expression was a mask of awkwardness. Although Haruto's group had indeed dominated the last instance, everyone had spent most of that time running from mermen. He'd never had a chance to witness their true strength.
"Do you want to join our Ascending God team?" Ye Tian asked, quickly composing himself. His tone had shifted from dismissive to deeply solemn. "As long as you're willing, I will immediately make you our Vice-Leader."
Kaguya refused decisively.
Thinking she was being considerate of her companions, Ye Tian pressed on. "Regardless of whether you join, your friends are welcome. Based solely on the fact that you saved my team members, I will accept them all into Ascending God."
"That is not the reason," Kaguya said, spreading her hands in a helpless gesture. "It is simply that this one has no plans to join any faction."
Hearing this, Ye Tian felt a pang of regret, but he didn't force the issue. A true expert had their own pride and path.
His gaze shifted towards Haruto and Youmu; only those two hadn't tried yet. He didn't, however, think anyone else in this small team could possibly lift the sword. Kaguya's performance was already enough to rank her among the Destined Players. For a small team that had only cleared a few instances to produce even one such individual was already a miracle.
"I'll pass," Haruto said with a lazy wave of his hand. It would be fine if he could lift it, but what if he couldn't? That would be far too embarrassing.
He turned his head to look at Youmu. "Let my Youmu give it a try. She's my guard, and her strength is... passable."
The title 'guard' made everyone pause for a moment. In this day and age, who still had a position like that? But on second thought, perhaps he was the young master of some influential family. That would make a certain kind of sense.
Although Ye Tian was skeptical, he still stepped aside to make way. He noted the katana at Youmu's waist and recalled the tactical suggestion she had made earlier. He knew she had some skill, but possessing skill didn't equate to raw power, let alone the monstrous strength needed to lift his sword.
Receiving the signal, Youmu walked slowly toward the greatsword. She didn't rush to grab it, instead taking a moment to carefully observe the blade. Then, as everyone watched, she gripped the hilt. With a smooth, natural exertion of force, the heavy greatsword rose at her touch, held steady in her hand. The entire movement was so fluid it was as if she were simply picking up a teacup from a table.
Another monster.
Everyone gasped in disbelief. Ye Tian was practically catatonic. Could just any random person lift his sword now?
Youmu's wrist turned slightly, and the blade followed her lead, drawing several streaks of silver light through the air.
"The sword is good," she said seriously, "but it doesn't suit you, and it doesn't suit me either. It's far too cumbersome. I suggest you switch to a blade one size smaller."
After speaking, she casually thrust the greatsword toward the ground.
Thunk.
The blade sank three inches deep into the earth, standing perfectly upright without a hint of a lean. Even the vibrations from the impact were instantly neutralized.
Youmu then retreated back to Haruto's side.
The clearing fell into a dead silence.
The other members of Ascending God began to seriously doubt their lives. Were all newcomers such freaks nowadays?
Ye Tian opened his mouth, but in the end, no words came out. He stared at the greatsword embedded in the ground, then looked at Haruto with a complex expression. A second player capable of rivaling a Destined Player had appeared in this tiny team; it suddenly didn't seem so impossible for a third to show up.
Initially, he had assumed Haruto was the leader. When he saw Kaguya effortlessly lift his greatsword, he thought he had misjudged.
Now, it seemed his first impression might not have been wrong after all.
Ye Tian did not extend an invitation to Youmu. From the way she had remained by Haruto's side from the very beginning, her loyalty was absolute. He wouldn't be able to recruit her unless he could win over Haruto himself.
A newcomer team hiding three powerhouses of extraordinary strength… Ye Tian could almost foresee the massive waves this news would create in that circle once it spread. He suspected that even that group of non-human entities led by the fox wouldn't be able to sit still.
To have reached the level of a Destined Player after clearing only a few instances… their talent was simply terrifying.
"No matter!" Ye Tian suddenly roared at the sky, as if to dispel all the gloom that had gathered around him. "As long as my conviction remains, I am still invincible!"
He strode forward, yanked the greatsword from the ground, and shouldered it once more. His voice, when he spoke again, had regained its unshakeable firmness.
"The truly strong learn from their failures. Little Xia, after we get back, help me find another fine sword of the same grade as this one."
"Okay, Boss," Xia Ye quickly responded, surprised at how fast his leader had bounced back.
Ye Tian had no intention of admitting defeat to a group of newcomers. The setback just now was merely a brief, humbling glimpse at a gap in talent. Once they reached the extraction point, he would definitely propose a duel to personally defend his self-proclaimed title of 'Number One.'
"Um... how about we talk while we move?" Yotsuya Miko suggested, weakly raising her hand.
The members of Ascending God hurriedly nodded in agreement. Their team had their boss, and now they had several more experts with them. Their collective strength was formidable, but no matter how strong they were, they couldn't withstand the threat of a nuclear bomb.
"Let's go," Ye Tian commanded. He didn't take the lead, instead pulling out his Ghost Phone as he walked over to Haruto and the others.
"Experts may often walk alone," he said, "but there's never any harm in experts making friends with one another."
Haruto and his companions exchanged subtle glances, but in the end, they all added him as a friend.
It had to be said, traveling with Ye Tian had its benefits. At the very least, the swarms of insects and wandering ghosts they encountered along the way were all handled by the members of Ascending God. Whenever a situation arose that his team couldn't manage, Ye Tian would let out a loud shout, step forward with his sword, and signal for everyone else to back off, requiring no action from Haruto's group at all.
And from Ye Tian, Haruto also obtained more information about the Destined Players and the Death Game.
The description of a Destined Player wasn't much different from what he had heard before. The Death Game would select the top five hundred players every year—though the number five hundred was merely speculation among the players, as the game itself provided no clear rankings.
But Haruto did receive one unexpected piece of news.
The reward for becoming a Destined Player was a 'one out of three' choice every time a new instance opened. The Death Game would provide three instance names, and the Destined Player could choose which one to enter.
Besides that, it was just scattered small talk.
According to Ye Tian, he hadn't met many Destined Players. Early on, he had put out a challenge in the player circles, vowing to defeat all other Destined Players to become the world's number one. However, only about a dozen people ever responded, and he had defeated them all with ease.
Only one person had ever managed to fight him to a draw—no, to be precise, it wasn't a person. It was a fox.
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