Chapter 122: **Dangerous Escape**
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" what are you..." Duke Lantilus could barely believe his eyes as he looked at Master Walnut.
He'd only invited Walnut to hold off Morningstar, nothing more. But now, Walnut had gone so far as to unleash her ultimate move—the **Rebirth Seal**.
The **Rebirth Seal** was incredibly potent. One hit, and Morningstar the Astral Cat could regress to her earliest form—possibly even back to an unhatched **Starlight Cat Egg**. But the price for such power was equally immense.
First, Walnut had spent over a decade gathering the required materials, enough to drain even a seventh-tier legend of their wealth. Second, she'd needed remnants from the Astral Cat lineage, such as fur or nails, to use as casting media. Finally, she sacrificed 99% of her own power to ensure the spell succeeded. This drastic choice reduced her strength from the seventh tier to the fifth—a nearly irreversible decline.
Why would she go this far?
Above, Antonidas and Schuch, Turalyan and Sivan all paused mid-battle, staring in shock at Walnut.
With a calm smile, Walnut looked back at them and waved. "No need for explanations, everyone! Farewell!"
And with that, Walnut cast the **Earth Dive Technique**, sinking swiftly into the ground and vanishing from sight.
The onlookers exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.
Su Yu had his suspicions. Walnut's actions likely tied into the game's eighth expansion, **Star Wars**. However, he had perished in his past life during the seventh expansion, **Void Invasion**, and only knew bits and pieces about the speculated storyline for the eighth.
But he couldn't dwell on that now.
Morningstar was plummeting from over 400 meters in the air, with Princess Ali Jie clinging to her back. At that height, even if Morningstar avoided becoming "Cat Pancake," Ali Jie would undoubtedly meet a messy fate.
Without hesitation, Su Yu switched to his **Druid** class, casting the sixth-tier spell **Dragon Transformation**. In an instant, he transformed into a storm dragon with brilliant blue and white scales, spreading his wings and diving towards the princess and Morningstar.
Realizing what he was doing, Duke Lantilus and Antonidas acted quickly.
Lantilus charged straight at Su Yu, using **Charge** to close the distance.
"**Spatial Imprisonment**!" Antonidas began casting a powerful confinement spell aimed at Su Yu.
"They really don't make this easy!" Su Yu muttered, though he had a plan.
Switching quickly to his **Assassin** class, he cast **Diversion Trick**, redirecting the target of Antonidas' spell.
Antonidas' confinement spell shot forward—but instead of hitting Su Yu, it veered towards Lantilus, trapping the charging Duke mid-air.
"Thanks for the assist!" Su Yu grinned, then transformed back into the storm dragon and flew toward Ali Jie and Morningstar once more.
With Lantilus now restrained and Antonidas occupied by Schuch, no one could stop him.
Su Yu arrived just in time, casting **Cloud Ascent** to slow their fall and carefully catching both the unconscious Morningstar and the startled princess on his back.
Of course, he remembered to turn off the game's first-person view before catching them. After all, he couldn't let the playerbase's "LSPs" (Little Sneaky Perverts) enjoy a free ride with Ali Jie and Morningstar in his arms.
Ali Jie sat on Su Yu's back, visibly shaken. But realizing Su Yu was her rescuer, she felt immense gratitude.
"Nemesis, thank you so much for saving me," she said, her voice filled with relief.
"Ding! **[Princess Ali Jie]'s affection towards you has increased by 10. Relationship level: 'Friendly.'**"
"Ding! **You have gained 10 world reputation points.**"
"It's the least I could do, Your Highness." Su Yu gave her a reassuring glance. "But you'd better hold tight now. I'm getting you and Morningstar out of here."
Ali Jie nodded, glancing at the unconscious, injured Morningstar cradled in her arms, tears nearly welling up.
Regaining her composure, she held tightly onto one of Su Yu's scales, steadying herself.
Using his magical power to gently lift Ali Jie, Su Yu adjusted their position on his back and soared upward, away from the battlefield.
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"Ding! **Congratulations on completing the scenario battle [Dangerous Escape]. Your rating is being calculated...**
"**SSS rating achieved.**"
"**Rewards:** +50% bonus to all experience points and psionic coins earned in this battle, plus one random rare blue-quality item and one high-quality green item suited to your level and class."
"Thank you for participating! The **[Dangerous Escape]** scenario battle has now concluded!"
Upon hearing the system notification, the players on the Queen's side felt both excitement and a sense of longing.
"It's over already?" someone exclaimed.
The battle had felt almost effortless from their perspective, with Nemesis carrying the entire encounter thanks to his **Tier 6 Temporary Experience Scroll**. Nonetheless, the thrill of being part of his success left them energized.
In total, 6,111 Duke faction players had fallen in the battle, with 80-90% of the kills attributed to Nemesis.
Each player on the Queen's side now received a whopping **20,867 experience points**. At their current levels of 13 or 14, this was more than enough to level them up, on top of receiving blue and green equipment drops!
The Queen's forces erupted in cheers:
"Oh my God! We actually got blue gear! I didn't expect my first blue item to come from here!"
"Not to mention, we each got over 20,000 experience points!"
"20,000+! Nemesis is the best!"
"Long live Nemesis!"
"I'm officially founding the 'Nemesis-Support Fan Club'—who's with me?"
"Me!"
"Count me in!"
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Snow Leopard looked around at the celebrating players and sighed. "Senior Zhang really does live up to his reputation; he's an absolute legend in the game."
Although Snow Leopard rarely felt outdone in life, he couldn't help but feel humbled by the centuries-old gaming prowess of Senior Zhang, a true "living fossil" in the community.
"Tell me, how is Senior Zhang so good at these games?" asked Range Is the Truth, a fellow player standing beside him. "Usually, these ancient… I mean, senior figures, tend to be powerful but a bit old-fashioned."
"Who knows?" Snow Leopard gazed into the sky where Su Yu had disappeared. "Maybe it's like they say—'In troubled times, heroes rise.'"
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*(End of Chapter)*