World's First Traitor System (411)

Chapter 411 - Bitter Struggle

A dragon's roar ripped through the heavens, majestic and filled with tragic resolve. Blood splattered, staining the earth crimson.

Wu Gang, despite her worsening injuries, forced the six mechanical dragon sons back hundreds of paces.

“Master, flee!” she cried resolutely with the determination of self-sacrifice. Scales fell from her body like rain, revealing deep, gaping wounds that oozed blood.

“Wu Gang, what are you doing?!” Fan Li was aghast.

“Master, forgive me. It is my foolishness that has brought you to this perilous situation. I was too focused on gathering the dragon souls.”

“Flee, Master. I will hold them off.”

Fan Li couldn’t bear to listen. Hold them off? With her life?

As if in answer to his unspoken question, the mechanical beasts roared and charged.

BOOM!

A colossal wave, summoned by Chiwen, crashed down, transforming the surrounding landscape into a churning sea. Another beast, shaped like a lion, descended from the sky, Suanni. Flames and smoke billowed from its mouth, obscuring the sun.

Above, fire. Below, flood. Trapped on the isolated hilltop, Fan Li felt as if the world was ending.

Then, the wind howled. A winged, dragon-like beast, Chaofeng, descended, whipping its powerful wings to stir up a furious gale. The fire, fueled by the wind, surged skyward, turning the clouds a fiery red. Driven by the wind, the waves rose higher, threatening to engulf the hill.

Chaofeng, born of a dragon and a phoenix, resembled both its parents.

With a defiant roar, Wu Gang rallied. She unleashed a torrent of water that extinguished Suanni’s flames. Then, she plunged into the surging waves and disrupted Chiwen’s control, forcing the water to recede. A true dragon, after all, commanded the elements. The three mechanical dragon sons were no match for her mastery.

But she was outnumbered, and injured. As she recovered from her exertions, a deep, resonant sound, like the clang of a giant bell, echoed through the air. Pulao had joined the fray with its sonic attack bypassing physical defenses and striking directly at the soul.

Fan Li’s head throbbed; each clang threatened to shatter his mind. Then, a soothing melody, a blend of flute, guqin, and pipa, flowed through the air, mending his fractured soul. Su Qingfang and the others had intervened, using their music to counter Pulao’s sonic assault.

But they couldn't sustain it for long. Their cultivation was far inferior to Pulao’s; even their combined strength wouldn't last.

“Master, flee…” Wu Gang urged again, but a sudden flash of cold steel made her falter. She twisted instinctively and a searing pain ripped through her side.

“Beware of Yazi!” Fan Li shouted upon recognizing the sword-wielding beast that had ambushed Wu Gang.

Yazi’s sneak attack had left a deep, gaping wound.

“Brother, Wu Gang has no weapon!” Fan Chun cried.

As if in answer to his words, Fan Li retrieved a sword glowing with spiritual energy – the Emperor’s Sword, a system reward.

“Wu Gang, catch!” He tossed the sword into the air.

Wu Gang reverted to her human form and caught it with one hand.

In an instant, Yazi attacked again. Though vastly different in size, their swords, too, were worlds apart.

One side of the Emperor’s Sword was etched with the sun, moon, and stars; the other with mountains, rivers, and trees. Its hilt bore inscriptions of agriculture and animal husbandry on one side, and strategies for unifying the world on the other. Its sharpness was secondary to its symbolic weight – the stability of the realm, the prosperity of the people, the virtue of education.

Yazi’s sword, though seemingly indestructible, couldn't compare. After a few clashes, the Emperor's Sword remained unscathed, while Yazi’s blade showed tiny cracks.

“Brother, Wu Gang isn’t skilled with a sword,” Fan Chun observed. Though his cultivation was lower, his military genius extended to weaponry. He could tell Wu Gang was a novice.

Fan Li could only offer a wry smile. Dragons, the most powerful of all scaled creatures, rarely relied on weapons. Wu Gang, despite millennia of cultivation, had focused solely on the Dao of the Dragon. Swordsmanship wasn't her forte.

“Brother, let’s go!”

With Wu Gang holding off four dragon sons, and the three women barely managing against Pulao, Fan Chun grabbed Fan Li and his wives and fled towards Peng City.

Fan Li wanted to stay, to support Wu Gang, even if his efforts were futile. Perhaps the system would issue a mission.

“System! System! System!” He pleaded mentally, willing to pay any price to ensure Wu Gang’s survival. But the Traitor System remained silent.

“What is that?!” Fan Chun suddenly exclaimed.

Before them, pillars, vast and imposing, materialized out of thin air. They appeared on all sides, surrounding them, forming a cage.

“Brother, we’re trapped!” Fan Chun cried.

The cage began to shrink.

“Master, why haven’t you left?!”Struggling against the four dragon sons, Wu Gang noticed Fan Li’s predicament.

“It’s… Bi’an’s doing!” she exclaimed, recognizing the prison-like barrier.

“HAHAHAHAHA!” Pulao’s laughter, amplified by its massive form, was Shi Jingtang’s.

“Leave? Do you think you can escape my Heavenly Prison? Without my permission, you won’t take a single step!”

Fan Li recalled the legends of Bi’an, also known as Xianzhang, the seventh son of the dragon. Shaped like a tiger, it loved justice and had a keen sense of right and wrong. It was the guardian of prisons and lawsuits.

Outside the Heavenly Prison, the six dragon sons closed in. Inside, Wu Gang ignored her injuries and attacked the barrier, but her efforts were futile. The prison, stronger from within, was impenetrable.

“AHHH!”

With a final, desperate cry, Wu Gang collapsed into Fan Li’s arms, unconscious.