"Kill me!"
The Crystallized Elder wailed in agony, making Xia Yu secretly alarmed. Why did this old man start losing control precisely when he encountered him?
If he turned around and ran right now, would the old man chase him, or would he revert to his original state and wait for him to challenge him again?
However, Xia Yu was just thinking aloud. A BOSS reverting to Phase One upon a player's death was a matter of game mechanics; if he turned and ran now, the BOSS would definitely pursue him.
Therefore, the battle was unavoidable. Moreover, for an elder who would rather die than surrender to the Abyss, he would grant him the appropriate respect.
Seeing Xia Yu charge forward again, the Crystal Ball in the Crystallized Elder's hand flashed with dark purple light. Subsequently, a strong wind picked up, and a large number of dark purple Crystal Arrows instantly struck.
Xia Yu could easily discern the trajectory of these Crystal Arrows, so he merely turned his body sideways, dodging the arrows by a hair's breadth.
However, before he could press the attack, the Crystallized Elder seemed to have anticipated that this attack would be useless, using the Crystal Arrows merely to cover the ensuing magic.
The next moment, countless Crystal Hailstones, shimmering with icy blue light, suddenly filled the sky. This was the Crystallized Elder's unique magic, capable of continuously shooting small Soul Masses from the air with extreme penetrative power.
In an instant, the Crystal Hailstones descended from the heavens, like glittering meteors falling in the dark night.
Xia Yu, who was already completely enveloped, did not sit still and wait for death. With a wave of his hand, he pulled out a Lothric Knight Greatshield from his spatial storage. This was the greatshield of a famous Lothric Knight.
The shield surface was not only painted with a Holy Emblem but also received the Miracle Blessing of the High Priest, giving this greatshield a high damage reduction rate against magic attributes.
In other words, this greatshield possessed strong magic resistance.
Crackle! Pop!
The rain-like Crystal Hailstones poured down. Hiding under the Lothric Knight Greatshield, Xia Yu took the opportunity to recover his expended stamina.
Because he had the Chloranthy Ring, which he picked up from the Undead Settlement, his expended stamina was replenished after only a brief moment of rest.
While the dense Crystal Hailstones had not yet ceased, Xia Yu stealthily crept forward. The Crystallized Elder on the other side was still controlling the sky-full of Crystal Hailstones, attempting to drown his enemy.
Reaching the Crystallized Elder, Xia Yu immediately flipped the shield aside, ignoring the Crystal Hailstones striking him.
Then, his entire body erupted with surging magical power, like the aura of a Super Saiyan transformation. Azure Magic manifested directly on his body surface, annihilating the Crystal Hailstones before they could even get close.
Seizing the opportunity, the veins bulged on Xia Yu's arms, and he swung down his Enchanted Twin Swords.
Clang! Clang!
All sounds between heaven and earth seemed muffled, leaving only two sword cries. A maximally compressed X-shaped Sword Light flashed past. Before the Crystallized Elder could prepare a defense, the sword light had arrived.
The Ultimate Sword Energy sliced through the Crystallized Elder's body. Afterward, the sword energy continued unabated, and the erupting magical power directly transformed the landscape into half scorching heat and half freezing ice.
This part of the landscape was unrecognizable from its original state. The dilapidated, Shattered City was also cleaved by the X-shaped Sword Light, leaving behind ravines etched with residual magic.
The city, along with the Hollows hiding within it, was reduced to ruins.
Plink~
The Crystal Ball in the Crystallized Elder's hand split into four smoothly cut pieces and fell weakly to the ground. However, the Crystallized Elder, who should have also been quartered along with the Crystal Ball, suddenly erupted with filthy Black Mist.
The Black Mist glued the four parts of the Crystallized Elder back together. His eyes, which had previously shown signs of struggle, were now completely blood-red.
"Holy crap! Phase Two!"
Watching the Crystallized Elder, whose body was overflowing with the aura of the Abyss, Xia Yu stepped back, his expression grim, and put away his twin swords. The game truly could only be used as a reference; the Crystallized Elder in the game did not have such a fierce Phase Two.
Speaking of which, this was already his second time fighting an enemy infected by the Abyss. But compared to Iudex Gundyr, who was corroded by the Pus of Man, the Crystallized Elder did not erupt with disgusting black pus.
Perhaps this was just a different form of the Abyss's manifestation?
The type of Abyss infection the Crystallized Elder suffered was Mind Corrosion, while the type Gundyr suffered was the Pus of Man.
Hmm... perhaps the origin of the Pus of Man was also related to the Demon King of Lothric, since the Pus of Man only appeared in Lothric City.
But these matters were never definitively settled in the game, relying entirely on Soul Scholars to ponder and speculate. His conjecture couldn't be said to be entirely correct, but neither could it be said to be entirely wrong.
Ambiguous storytelling and speculation constituted the worldview of the Soul World... Before Xia Yu could ponder too long, the spreading Abyss Black Mist swept over him overwhelmingly. Seeing this, Xia Yu retrieved his previous spoils of war, the Black Knight Greatsword.
To fight the Abyss, only fire would suffice.
The Black Knight Greatsword, used to fight Chaos Demons, must have been stained with the Chaos Demon's flame. Therefore, he chose this weapon.
Xia Yu hefted the Ultra Greatsword in his hand and nodded in satisfaction. The weight was just right. Let him show the Crystallized Elder how a real mage should fight!
"Wrap!"
Xia Yu silently chanted the Spell, sweeping his hand over the Black Knight Greatsword. In an instant, Pyromancy Flame wrapped around it.
Pyromancy Flame and chaos fire share the same origin; the demons use the pyromancy of chaos fire.
Therefore, the moment Pyromancy Flame wrapped around the Black Knight Greatsword, this greatsword, which had vanquished Chaos Demons, was instantly activated.
Flames, whether of Chaos or Pyromancy, shot into the sky, and the light on the sword became brighter, like a scorching sun.
Xia Yu gripped the Ultra Greatsword, leaped forward violently, rolled once, and executed a Vertical Slash. The fiercely burning flames cleaved straight down toward the Crystallized Elder, who was infected by the Abyss.
The fierce flames transformed into a torrential flow, tearing through the reluctant darkness like the light of dawn, surging forward unstoppable! Meanwhile, the spreading Abyss Black Mist quickly melted away under the fire, like fresh snow being splashed with boiling water.
The previously aggressive Abyss Black Mist was rapidly evaporated under its natural enemy, fire, revealing the Crystallized Elder, who was now completely corrupted within.
Having lost his Crystal Ball, the Crystallized Elder was not without the power to fight. He drew an elegant and noble Crystal Rapier.
But facing Xia Yu's broad, sweeping sword momentum, the rapier instead hindered the Crystallized Elder everywhere, preventing him from using his swordsmanship at all.
Xia Yu exerted force with both arms, wielding the Ultra Greatsword's various sword arts with tremendous power, while the chaos fire on the sword burned everything around it.
The plaza, which originally resembled a Crystal Forest, now glittered even more intensely under the scorching heat.
Snap!
In a careless moment, the Crystallized Elder's rapier was directly knocked away by Xia Yu. He was reluctant to destroy this weapon, so he used skillful force to flick it away.
The corrupted Crystallized Elder had no intention of turning and fleeing. Instead, he sacrificed himself, lunging to embrace Xia Yu, intending to infect his enemy with the Abyss as well.
But Xia Yu, who already knew the Crystallized Elder's intentions, would never expose an opening.
The next moment, surging flames whipped up boundless strong winds, creating ripples in the surrounding air. The scorching flames suddenly condensed from the sword body, transforming into a Colossal Sky-Piercing Greatsword forged of fire.
"Slash!"
Xia Yu never liked naming his moves, so for this strike, he only let out a low shout before violently cleaving down!