Chapter 962: I Make My Own Destiny!
Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
"Just four more steps. Just a few dozen centimeters. Is this really the end for me? Is this my destiny?"
Sheyan could feel and hear the stairs supporting his body collapsing under him. He didn't even need to look to know that the stairs were hanging precariously and would give way any moment now.
He could even estimate that he had at most three seconds before he would fall together with the stairs.
One step further and he would be in heaven; one step back and he would be in hell.
Sometimes, a single step was all it took to decide everything!
The Cardinal suddenly noticed something was wrong, for he suddenly saw Sheyan's eyes.
Those were not the eyes of a despairing man.
No one could have such calm eyes after losing all hope. Eyes that, apart from being deep, were also full of desire!
"So....it's my destiny to never cross these four steps?"
"Destiny, what is that?"
"I Will Grasp My Own Destiny!"
Sheyan was so tormented by the power of the seven deadly sins that he could hardly speak, but his strong will and his tenacious conviction were perfectly conveyed to the Cardinal through his spirit!
The next second, a glow appeared on his finger, and some faint cheering noises, which did not fit the current atmosphere at all, appeared out of nowhere.
It was the cheering of thousands of people in a tournament!
It was the cheering of Hogwarts students, filled with excitement after winning the Quidditch Cup!
Sheyan had put on the dark gold ring he had snatched from Hakeem! Before this, he was rather reluctant to wear the ring due to the powerful negative effects of the ring which could lead to a lot of difficulties in the Harry Potter world. He couldn't decide whether he should sell it or wear it.
But after he formed a cooperation with Aziz for the Golden Side Mission, he realised that Golden Side Missions, even one with the lowest difficulty rating, were much harder than he imagined!
So, to Sheyan, even if the dark gold ring was akin to a cup of poison, he had no choice but to drink it! Drinking poisoned wine to quench his thirst may not be advisable, but if he was about to die of thirst, drinking the poisoned wine could at least prolong his life for a few more minutes; it was undoubtedly a wise choice. Only by surviving could he create unlimited possibilities. Once he died, it was all over!
The Cardinal was about to make a move, but with a flash of light, Sheyan's incomplete body was launched into the air in a projectile trajectory like a rainbow! The landing spot was the eleventh floor!
Manhattan,
37th Street,
Morgan Financial Center,
Eleventh floor!!!
'Mind Transmission'! The powerful but lethal ring displayed its might in this moment. Sheyan finally crossed those four steps to reach the task completion area!
During the course of the transmission, the Cardinal had a feeling that the prey he caught was about to escape from the net. A white holy flame immediately burned in his eyes.
There was suddenly a faint solemn hymn in the air. Anyone who heard the voice would feel the impulse to prostrate themselves in worship. An extremely dense holy light rapidly emerged above Sheyan.
The holy light split and revealed a black cross stained with blood inside. The cross bore down on Sheyan with overwhelming pressure!
The black cross contained unbelievable ferocity. The trails of blood on it twisted and curved, giving off a feeling as if the sight of the cross would make the whole world weep.
The cross was an imitation of the "crucifix" created from the Cardinal's divine power - the crucifix on which Jesus was put to death wearing a crown of thorns.
On this cross, even a God fell. It's terrifying power was evident!
When the black cross appeared, the whole twelfth floor of the building was sent into a mess! It then lodged itself heavily on the eleventh floor.
The Cardinal felt that something was wrong at once. It should be noted that he had launched the "crucifix" with his full power. Forget about a single floor; even the whole Morgan Financial Center should have been destroyed. However, the fact was that it could only make the whole building shake. Let alone the building, even the eleventh floor showed no sign of collapsing.
Although the crucifix had astonishing power, it also had a major weakness - it was not an instant cast ability, but instead required a 1.5-second chant. In addition, the crucifix would also take a fraction of a second to fall down.
The 2 seconds or so in total may be too little time for the average person to react, but it was difficult for it to hit the abnormally agile contestants.
What use was a strong skill if it couldn't hit anyone?
That was the reason the Cardinal had not used this move before. In his offensive system, the enemy was usually branded with the seven marks of the sinners before enduring the final judgment, and if they're not dead, they would be stunned for three seconds. The crucifix could then hit the enemy for sure and would be used as the ultimate skill.
But both of Sheyan's legs were severed and both his hands were crippled, so he should have no way of escaping. That was why the Cardinal chose to that move.
Sheyan could hear the deafening roar of the cross. Sensing the danger, his crippled hands flailed wildly and managed to move his body a little. The crucifix fell directly onto his abdomen. Blood splashed everywhere but were instantly evaporated while they were still in the air. Sheyan was sent into a state of near death before he could make a sound.
After the invincibility period of the state of near death passed, the crucifix once again crushed down with the force of a collapsing mountain. Sheyan's body from the neck down was crushed into pieces. A holy flame ignited and burned his bodily pieces into ashes! However, the nightmare imprint on his chest was totally fine, as if it did not exist in this dimension.
The only thing Sheyan was left with was his head!!!
The average person would have died ten times over by now. Even for Sheyan, this injury would have been fatal if not for his shocking 140 points of Physique. He could still survive for over 5 more minutes with just his head.
So at that moment, Sheyan could still wink at the Cardinal and give him a flying kiss. He even found the time to mouth some words to the Cardinal. The Cardinal broke out in fury. With a howl, a javelin made of holy light condensed in his hand, which he threw at Sheyan.
The holy light javelin penetrated through the eleventh floor effortlessly, and continued on to pierce through the twelfth floor, the thirteenth floor, and the outer wall of the building, then flew towards the sky like an inverted meteor!
Everything that was touched by the holy light javelin had gone to ashes!
But the Cardinal clearly saw that the head of that damned contestant had disappeared into thin air the moment the holy light javelin left his hand!
The Cardinal then recalled the words mouthed by Sheyan. By that time, Sheyan could no longer utter a sound, but it only took a moment for the Cardinal to comprehend what Sheyan had said before he left:
"I Make My Own Destiny!"
The Cardinal's face contorted. The words were like a brutal slap in his face!
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From the top of a building close to the sea, one could watch the turbulent waves in the distance, reaching so high they almost seemed to be level with the rooftop. It was clear that another storm was brewing at sea.
Sheyan lay lazily on a deck chair on the rooftop, a can of Budweiser, half a bag of peanuts, and a broken plate of crispy shrimps on the stool beside him.
The breeze blew his hair into disorder, but Sheyan couldn't care less. His gaze slowly retracted from the distance until it reached his left hand. He then reached out to touch his neck and said with some lingering fear, "That damn holy flame....it hurts so much when it burns!"
The memory caused Sheyan's breath to turn heavy. He could not help picking up the beer nearby and taking a few large gulps with no care for the beer bubbles spilling out from the corners of his mouth.
During the battle, Sheyan discarded all other thoughts and struggled with everything he had until the very last moment. In retrospect, it was truly a frightening experience. And even after a successful return to the nightmare realm, the Cardinal's holy flame still caused Sheyan a lot of trouble! How, you ask?
Sheyan only had less than 60,000 utility points left when he returned to the realm with only his head. Repairing the body alone required more than 80,000 utility points -- and that was after the 'Stairway of the Sun' had shrunk itself to hide in Sheyan's mouth when it felt that things were going south.
The price that the realm gave to extinguish the holy flame was 50,000 utility points! Of course Sheyan wouldn't dare to use that service with his balance already in the red!
He could only let it burn until it was extinguished by itself. The only good news, then, was that in the returning space, a contestant would have unlimited HP, so no matter how fiercely the flame burned, Sheyan's life was not in danger.
The holy flame tormented Sheyan for more than half an hour before it resentfully went out.
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PS: Sheyan had a pair of 'Deformed Thickshell' gloves which he had taken off and kept for aquatic battles.