"I thought I could clear it just like that, but it seems I was too naive."
After dispatching the twelfth colossus, the great sea monster Buffalo Colossus Pelagia, Mo Zhi wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.
At this point, the arm of Mona, the character she was playing, was already bruised black.
Clearly, the heavy killing had allowed the unknown black gas to invade her body.
"Your next opponent, a vast desert... a colossal trail floating in the sky..."
"You are not alone..."
Dormin's voice rang out in her ear at the opportune moment. Mo Zhi murmured, "You are not alone... What does that mean?"
"Oh well, no matter, let's fight! Brothers!"
Mo Zhi waved her hand, calling the little horse, Luobo, over.
Soon, guided by the Sword of the Ancient, they arrived at the desert to the east. The vast, boundless yellow sand was exceptionally spectacular.
Giddy up!
Mo Zhi spurred her horse on, galloping through the flying sand, and arrived before a pile of rocks. She dismounted with a flourish.
"Here I come!"
After landing gracefully, Mo Zhi charged towards the rock formation ahead. The Sword of the Ancient's guidance pointed precisely here.
"Huh?"
Mo Zhi felt her body tilt, and the loose sand beneath her feet trembled violently.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
Following a deafening roar, accompanied by an impassioned dragon's cry, a sky-obscuring shadow shot upwards into the clouds before Mo Zhi.
Even though she had seen similar scenes countless times, Mo Zhi couldn't help but exclaim, "Whoa~~ Oh my!! My goodness!"
"It's that big?!"
"Wow, so cool!"
Like a roc taking flight with the wind, soaring ninety thousand li straight up!
The colossus before her was as if it stepped out of a poem, its imposing presence causing the entire livestream chat to erupt!
'Wow wow wow, I need a screenshot, so cool!'
'Wow ⊙∀⊙! So big!'
'A rare beast emerges!'
'No, don't say that about my brother!'
'Damn! This time, I'm truly blown away by the old thief's composition and scenery!'
'It's so damn stunning! It's truly outrageously cool, okay!'
...
Not only the viewers, but Mo Zhi herself, who was in the midst of it, was too stunned to speak.
After a while, Mo Zhi finally recovered.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but the armor on the previous few colossi seemed to be pieced together from building stones and the like, lacking much aesthetic appeal."
"In the more recent ones, they seem to be more naturally formed, perfectly integrated with their bodies, possessing a sense of unified beauty."
"And this one, flying in the sky, perfectly showcases that sense of elegance."
"I feel like, as the game progresses, it's not that the colossi are getting harder, but rather that they are becoming closer to real creatures."
"The first colossus, the Stone Ape, looked like a moving castle from afar, while this one before me is more like a giant dragon soaring through the sky!"
Looking at the colossus freely soaring in the sky, Mo Zhi felt a deep emotion.
Since defeating the Sand Tiger before, she had clearly sensed a certain emotion from the colossi, a look of innocence, a silent lament.
With this one, that inexplicable feeling intensified.
Initially, she felt she stood on a moral high ground. To save her beloved lying on the altar, she could transform this emotion into hatred for the colossi.
They were obstructing her path to salvation, and she even felt a sense of accomplishment when she started killing them.
But as these colossi became more concrete, their vitality more pronounced.
She gradually realized that those colossi were innocent.
Perhaps,
They, the players, were the invaders. Each time she inserted the Sword of the Ancient into a colossus's body and saw the gush of dark blood, a strong sense of guilt gnawed at her heart.
Especially now, with the release of the flying colossus accompanied by the soothing and melodious background music.