Chapter 442 - Four Hundred and Thirty-Nine:

Chapter 442: Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty-Nine: "You Can’t Run Away Now."It’s okay," Su Ming’an said, "Could you be more specific?"

Just now, upon hearing Xiber say that the Ability was "Prophecy," he felt as though he had struck it big.

Prophecy suited him very well, even better than space.

He didn’t know why the red-robed person became so sorrowful when mentioning this ability, why they were so self-deprecating, thinking they were inferior to other Guides. But in his eyes, this ability was quite strong.

Su Ming’an didn’t value the direct Combat Power of the Guide; he didn’t need help in terms of combat strength.

He was thinking, if he could raise the Favorability high enough to have the other party teach him the Prophecy skill...

If he could combine prophecy-type skills with his own ability to "rewind," then the gains from this time would be unprecedented, even if Xiber was not at all good at fighting.

At this moment, Su Ming’an was considering Skill inheritance and future development, but the barrage about the chances of winning in this World seemed to be thinking differently.

Xiber’s body no longer trembled but quickly stood up and turned around.

Her hood reached the level of Su Ming’an’s neck; she was not very tall. It was difficult to tell from her voice whether she was male or female.

He didn’t know her gender, and he couldn’t even guess her approximate age.

That robe completely covered her in a mantle of red.

But judging by the name, she should be female.

"My Prophecy..." Xiber’s voice paused, "is Passive Prophecy. After a while, it randomly reveals some future events. For instance... I can probably see the contents of the challenges you are going to face and inform you in advance."

Listening to Xiber’s added explanation, Su Ming’an’s eyebrows relaxed somewhat.

The strength... was okay, after all.

If he could know the rules of the instance in advance, it was actually quite a bug. This would allow him to avoid entering challenges he wasn’t good at. And knowing some future events in advance could also enable him to avert them.

Thinking this way, Xiber, who was ranked 100th, wasn’t weak at all. He considered this ability to be quite competitive even compared to those Guides who possessed direct combat strength.

In his view, this Xiber was equivalent to an insight skill located somewhere between Red Level and Purple Grade.

Then, the other Guides shouldn’t be overly strong... right?

"Boom——!"

The fervently surging waves of fire exploded instantly, eradicating a large swath of forest in a flash.

Like the hand of flame drawing on the map, this blaze carved a bare patch of land out of thin air on the ground.

"Hoo-lah—"

The leaves danced through the air, and the bright red flames, like a waterfall cascading from the sky, pushed through everything irresistibly.

And the red-haired youth with the slicked-back hair, floating midair and manipulating the swirling flames, let out several hearty laughs upon seeing this:

"Haha, hahaha—"

"This is the power of the blaze—this is my authority!!"

"..." Standing on the ground, Eni looked up at that slicked-back-hair youth in the sky, then turned his gaze in shock towards the blindingly bright flames.

Like a lotus blooming in the dark of night, the magnificent flames burned fiercely and valiantly, like a bridge of light and flame in the darkness.

The wild heat slapped against his face, and he slightly opened his mouth, staring in astonishment at the forest instantaneously engulfed by the fire.

"—I am one of the ’Flamebearers,’ ranked 12th—Hettos!"

The youth with the fiery red slicked-back hair, standing atop the blaze, his eyes gleaming golden, looked down at Eni below him: "—Adventurer traveling with me, declare your name to me!"

Eni hesitated for a moment, responding immediately before Hettos could show a hint of dissatisfaction:

"I... I am Eni!"

A look of joy emerged on Eni’s face.

...The flames, this is the strength of the flames!

This Guide suited him so well. That the Guide ranked among the top 12 was beyond his expectations; after all, he was only ranked in the thirties or forties among Players. Logically, he should not have been matched with such a powerful Guide.

His core skill was the flame, and the other party’s authority was also the flame. Then, with the addition of dual flame abilities, could he truly grasp the legendary "Fire Mystery" in these fifteen days? Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

And then... utterly defeat that guy who looked down on him so much at the convention?

He looked toward the area scorched by the fire; the land was almost devoid of life, and even the seemingly sturdy trees had turned into a pile of pitch-black powder. Such formidable power of the flames could almost sweep through anything.

This was much, much stronger than his own skill of the golden flames.

He believed that even if Su Ming’an himself stood amidst these flames, he definitely could not withstand Hettos’s all-engulfing, sky-covering fire!

Watching Hettos floating in the sky, the excitement in Eni’s eyes was almost spilling over: "So this is it! So this is it! Is this... Is this the legendary Fire Mystery? I understand now!"

With that, he suddenly bent forward deeply, bowing earnestly, his voice loud: "Please teach me the Mystery of the flame! Hettos!"

Hettos lowered his eyelids, pleased with Eni’s astuteness.

"No problem. Kid, I find you quite agreeable too... So, you’re someone who has also mastered the power of the flames, huh?" Hettos flipped his flamboyant red hair: "If that’s the case, then in the battles to come, I will become your teacher."

Eni nodded right away, immensely satisfied with this match.

It seemed, their compatibility was excellent, and their personalities were very similar, so there wouldn’t be any conflict of interests.

"Hettos, are you strong among the Guides?" Eni asked with a smile.

"Strong...? I suppose so, according to my vague memories, I should be among the bunch at the very top in terms of lethality amongst these hundred people." Hettos stroked his chin: "However, those guys ranked in the top few probably possess some ’Law’ abilities. Although I’m confident that in a head-on fight, I could burn them to ashes with one strike, in an indirect fight, it’s inevitable that I might fall for their dirty tricks. Moreover, we have a limited number of times we can use our abilities—if we use our powers too much, it might lead to some unfavorable consequences. Hence, I’m more inclined to teach you my abilities as much as possible, rather than relying on me to fight everything."

"I understand. Let me handle the main fights then; now, you’re my teacher." Eni said, "Hettos, I have a very powerful enemy. He is the strongest among us; aside from mastering the ability of space, he should have also been paired with the Number One Guide. I hope that in the battles to come, you can help me—defeat him!"

"The strongest adventurer and the Number One Guide, huh..." Hettos frowned slightly:

"Understood. Since that’s your goal, I will assist you and give it my all." He declared loudly: "So, Eni, in the name of the ’Flamebearer’ ranked 12th, I prematurely proclaim your ultimate victory.

—Trust me, my flames are sufficient to burn to nothing anyone ranked below me, especially those inept wastes who have no combat power yet occupy the rankings—"

"— You won’t abandon me, even though I have no Combat Power and am ranked as the useless Number 100?"

In the midst of the night, a vivid red robe stood between heaven and earth, as if it were a flame about to be scattered by the wind.

Eni’s voice was still indistinguishable between male and female, and sounded particularly hoarse.

She bowed her head, the red robe concealing her eyes while surging sludge accumulated behind her, the dark environment severely oppressive.

"I won’t," Su Ming’an shook his head.

"But those guys, they’re much stronger than me," Eni said. "You can’t even imagine their Strength... If you’re with someone as weak as me, you’ll definitely regret it..."

"I won’t," Su Ming’an said solemnly.

What he valued was not Eni’s combat ability.

It was the other’s Prophecy Ability that he absolutely had to obtain.

Moreover, just moments ago, he had heard a prompt from the system.

"Ding dong!"

Clearly, judging from this advancement task, Eni was no simple individual.

His advancement task was merely to keep Eni alive.

Moreover, his Perfect Pass was also connected to Eni.

The Perfect Pass of the Eighth World was not like the Seventh World, which had tens of thousands of possible outcomes; it had just two or three branches.

If one of those branches was linked to Eni before him, then he simply couldn’t abandon her.

Furthermore, since he, as a Ruler, could match with her, she must be far from ordinary. In fact, according to his previous experiences, she could even be the most special one.

He gazed at Eni, who seemed somewhat evasive, and softened his voice.

"I don’t know why you think you’re weak," he said. "But an Adventurer and a Guide need to match, right? That alone proves—in a hundred people—you are the one who is most suited to me."

Eni paused, her eyelashes trembling slightly with the movement of her eyes as if she were deeply contemplating.

"No one is more important than you. You are unique, the person most suited to walk this path with me. You need to believe in your worth. Alongside me, you definitely have the ability to make it to the very end..." Su Ming’an slowly extended his hands.

"If I am a traveler lost in this endless night," he said. "... then you are my ’Lighthouse,’ Eni. I need you."

He reached out his hands toward her shoulders, as if to offer a comforting gesture.

His movements were slow, as if asking for silent permission.

The figure in the red robe just watched him silently, an extreme silence in her demeanor. Her eyes were as calm as a frozen ice lake.

Her form was no longer evasive, her gaze no longer wandering, nor was her stance retreating.

Even her eyes were now firmly fixed on him, as if locking his image firmly in place.

In that moment, Su Ming’an suddenly felt a sense of discord, a sudden dissonance rising from the depths of his heart.

Her detached gaze... seemed mismatched withher previous display of timidity and vulnerability.

That look... was not at all like what a Guide who feared death and combat would exhibit.

At that moment, she seemed more like a God, indifferently watching everything, allowing all things to unfold naturally before her eyes...

Considering her solitary stance against the night earlier, as if striving against the whole world, he suddenly felt a chilling sense of disconnection from the person before him.

This Prophet ranked at number 100 seemed to not be as simple as she appeared.

His hand, following the previous motion, slowly made contact with her shoulders, but the words of Strategy he had been formulating suddenly stopped.

In that moment, upon seeing that indifferent gaze...

He had an inexplicable desire to retreat.

The tiniest dust particles danced in the dark air, a whisper of a sigh coursed by his ear, and in that moment, her eyelashes seemed transparent and pure.

She suddenly reached out her hand.

Her movements were swift, her hands shooting out from beneath the robe, suddenly grasping the hesitating Su Ming’an. The pale backs of her hands showed veins, her ten fingers gripping his shoulders tightly like iron hoops, like a child grappling for a toy.

As Su Ming’an’s hands, which had just started to withdraw, instinctively stopped on her shoulders, his eyes locked with hers. In the blink of an eye, their intersecting gazes were caught by the night wind, as if they had just initiated a tense tug-of-war.

She stared intently at him, her gaze never wavering, her pale eyes harboring a loneliness that could watch through the night.

She suddenly smiled.

Though her eyes were red, with traces of shimmering tears, she suddenly laughed in that moment.

The corners of her eyes curved, the lines of her eyes forming a subtle arc, and within her expression, there was an overflow of wild laughter.

All traces of the past fear and timidity were swept away, and in that moment, she was like a Hunter aiming at her prey.

It was as if she had suddenly cast aside all pretenses.

"— Under the witness of Jiu Shen, the pact to walk with the person before me to the end is established."

Her words resonated.

Gazing at the bewildered Su Ming’an, the corners of her mouth curved upwards.

"You want to walk with me, huh?" In that moment, she revealed a nearly wild grin.

That sudden uplift of her mouth bore the recklessness of a madman who did not fear life or death,

It was a tumultuous and fiery display of destruction and madness.

"... then let’s become the only pair among these hundred people, the ’Heretics’ who defy the World—until the very end, unto death."

She tightened her grip on his shoulders, her fingers digging in like the claws of a wolf.

In her eyes, a feral ferocity and wildness suddenly flashed.

"Number One Player, the strongest Adventurer..."

"... you can’t escape now."