"Eat this rocket barrage..."
From high above, Qi Suian spotted the members of the Seventh Execution Chamber. After having his AI calculate the data, he immediately pulled out a rocket launcher and fired until the weapon was nearly wrecked before ceasing his attack.
’Anyway, the enemies are all Extraordinary Beings. Their Sacred Artifacts are so powerful, rockets won’t kill them.’
If the surrounding environment had been more suitable, he would have loved to level an anti-aircraft gun and open fire.
After the preemptive rocket barrage, he began to throw Evil Dragons and Evil Tigers from a distance.
Even the Chief Judge of the Seventh Execution Chamber was stunned by the explosions. He had never expected the enemy to play so far outside the box.
Fortunately, his Jigsaw Sacred Artifact, the Elemental Chalice, granted him a series of related abilities, such as powerful elemental control, derivation, shaping, and transformation.
He forcefully erected an Elemental Protection Shield, blocking all the attacks.
"This attack is certainly impressive, but compared to your status, it’s far too weak."
’Could it be that the one left here is just a decoy? Has the real culprit already left?’ Sharp wondered.
The damage from the attack was so far below his expectations that this thought occurred to him.
The point of leaving a decoy would naturally be to cover the real culprit’s escape.
But he quickly dismissed this idea, because he saw the Iron Armor Man tear through his Elemental Protection Shield in an instant with terrifying speed and power.
"Element: Dark Tide!"
Sharp noticed that Qi Suian wasn’t charging him, but was instead going after the other members of the Seventh Execution Chamber. In an instant, three of them were dead.
That wasn’t the main point. The enemy had also released the Holy Orchestra.
As the sounds of instruments and chanting spread, plague and disease began to follow.
’No, his Jigsaw Sacred Artifact has gotten stronger again.’
’He must have gotten a native Sacred Artifact from Sandton.’ Sharp couldn’t help but think of the "Sweet Starlet’s Voice" Sacred Artifact from Sandton’s Jigsaw Sacred Artifact, the Lion Scorpion Beast, which would match what the enemy was doing.
He could tell that the enemy’s transmission method was related to sound, and Sandton’s Jigsaw Sacred Artifact contained a corresponding native Sacred Artifact.
Sharp didn’t understand why he was only thinking of this now, why he hadn’t realized the severity of the problem from the start.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too late. As the Dark Tide surged forward, he quickly unleashed targeted protections.
"Element: Life Resistance!"
"Element: Hydro-spirit Healing!"
"Element..."
The Elemental Chalice Jigsaw Sacred Artifact was a true test of its user’s abilities.
A powerful and quick-witted user could develop a vast number of elemental abilities with this Jigsaw, covering attack, defense, perception, healing, and more.
But a foolish person could only simply control the elements and throw them, or have them circle their body for defense, employing extremely rigid tactics.
Sharp was, of course, the former.
In the entire Eternal United States, he could say with great confidence that he was the Sacred Artifact holder with the most abilities.
It was precisely for this reason that he was able to hold his position as Chief Judge of the Seventh Execution Chamber so securely.
He first established defenses, then applied healing, and at the same time, used the cover of obscurity provided by the Dark Tide to swiftly divide the battlefield.
Then, he immediately used a combination of coordinated elements to forcefully isolate the Holy Orchestra.
In an instant, the sounds of instruments and chanting came to an abrupt halt.
He had been sent here because they had learned from the fatal mistakes of his predecessors, dispatching a jack-of-all-trades like him to deal with Qi Suian.
But before Sharp could even breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly discovered something terrifying: he had lost his connection to the elements.
In the Sacred Artifact World, there were no so-called elements in nature. The "elements" he used were a special power formed by the Elemental Chalice, which he then utilized.
"So many skills, and you use them so proficiently. You’re the second-strongest enemy I’ve ever met." As Qi Suian spoke, the Tai Sui God’s hand pierced through the darkness and seized Sharp by the neck.
The strongest were the likes of the Blood Moon, the Golden Light Man, and the Black Crystal Tide.
As for the Mysterious Divine Corpse, the Sun in a Bottle, and the like, they were existences beyond measure and not included in the ranking.
The former were at least things of the mortal world; the latter were completely gods.
So, for Sharp to rank as the second-strongest was already high praise from Qi Suian.
"Elemental·Immortal Armor!"
"Elemental Ultimate Battle Body!"
"Element..."
With multiple instant-cast spells, Sharp’s body swelled instantly. All the elements from the Elemental Chalice converged on him, transforming him from a thin, withered old man into the image of a stalwart war god.
The immense strength of the Tai Sui God didn’t do much damage to Sharp’s neck. Instead, Sharp pried its hand open with his own.
"Specializing in elements doesn’t mean my body is weak," Sharp sneered, smashing his other hand toward the Tai Sui God’s head.
The punch was both fast and fierce, smashing the Tai Sui God’s head to smithereens on the spot.
Then, the hand that had pried open the Tai Sui God’s grip yanked its arm clean off.
In less than a second, the Tai Sui God’s advantage had completely vanished.
If Sharp hadn’t been forced to use his elemental abilities to protect the members of the Seventh Execution Chamber first, it wouldn’t have been the Tai Sui God getting close to him. It would have been him getting close to the Tai Sui God to personally hammer Qi Suian into oblivion.
"I originally thought you were a high-ranking official from the Xuan Empire. Now it seems you’re not."
"You’re just a pawn to be sacrificed." As Sharp spoke, he landed another punch on the Tai Sui God’s chest.
At this moment, Qi Suian understood something. The plague and disease module set on him had indeed been upgraded to SSS-rank, granting it greater power and effects.
But in the end, they were just native Sacred Artifacts. Even if they were related, they didn’t form a higher-level Jigsaw Sacred Artifact.
If a Jigsaw Sacred Artifact was constructed from a small number of native Sacred Artifacts, the deficit could be compensated for by set effects and high quality.
However, when facing a Jigsaw Sacred Artifact like Sharp’s, which was constructed from a large number of native Sacred Artifacts, neither set effects nor high quality could bridge the gap.
Not to mention, his opponent also possessed the corresponding assembly formula, which meant the disadvantages became apparent.
He had underestimated the experts of this world.
The smooth sailing he’d experienced all along, coupled with his protagonist’s halo that let him kill many enemies stronger than himself, had made him arrogant.
Of course, it wasn’t just his own fault. The influence of the war had also made him more belligerent, leading to today’s situation.
"AI, coordinate my retreat!" Knocked back to his senses by three punches, Qi Suian decisively chose to flee.
’A temporary victory or defeat means nothing. As long as I survive, I’ll have a chance to make a comeback.’
"Trying to escape? Before the elements, your every move is..." Sharp hadn’t finished speaking when he discovered his connection to the elements had been severed again.
The intermittent connection was very strange.
This was, of course, because Qi Suian had strengthened the intensity of The Eyeless force field device, which acted as a jamming module, while simultaneously deactivating the Divine Purification Force Field and releasing the Profound Virus.
At the same time, he activated a series of modules: Holy Orchestra, Cursed Cantos, Shepherd Priest, Preaching Priest, Church Choir, Natural Radiation Crystal, and more.
When you’re running for your life, you need to have the right attitude.
If you can’t win, you have to do everything you can to escape.
"Protagonist halo, lend me your strength!!!" Qi Suian shouted, then had the AI inject a death potion directly into his heart.
Then, he continuously supplied Feast Energy to the Tai Sui God.
Under a series of enhancements, the Tai Sui God—missing its head, left arm, and with a gaping hole in its chest—detonated the Priests and nuns of the Holy Orchestra.
Sharp was forced to break off his attack and choose to protect his subordinates.
This created a momentary opening for Qi Suian.
The Wind Master Aviation System went into overdrive, spewing out endless black smoke as it overheated.
Thanks to the two high-temperature material modules, the Sand Jiao Scale Pattern Shell and the Black Dark Energy Crystal, it didn’t shut down.
But this kind of destructive overload would inevitably leave the Wind Master Aviation System completely damaged after use. It could only be restored and repaired through the Tai Sui God’s Trait 4.
With the speed of a thunderclap, Qi Suian had the Tai Sui God shoot straight up into the air.
By the time Sharp reacted, the Tai Sui God had already carried Qi Suian a hundred meters straight into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, it turned into an afterimage and vanished from his sight.
"Trying to run? The elements have already marked your position." Sharp’s expression darkened.
This was the first time since becoming the Chief Judge of the Seventh Execution Chamber that someone had escaped from his grasp.
If he couldn’t capture the target and subject them to extreme punishment, his position as Chief Judge would become unstable.
Everyone would think he’d gotten old.
"Notify all parties to coordinate in the capture operation." Sharp understood that this time, the enemy had turned his subordinates into a burden, forcing him to divert his attention to protect them.
If he had come alone today, Qi Suian would have had absolutely no chance of escape.
A Sharp who wasn’t held back could unleash his full power.
But one also had to blame Qi Suian for being so insidious, targeting the weak right from the start, showing none of the demeanor of a true expert.
In his past battles with the Sacred Artifact experts of the Xuan Empire, it was basically always soldier against soldier, general against general. Of course, there were plenty who didn’t follow such rules.
’But as his enemy, is it wrong for me to hold him to a double standard?’
The Eternal United States and the Xuan Empire had been fighting for so many years; what kind of conspiracies, dirty tricks, or unscrupulous methods hadn’t they used?
Killing the enemy was the best possible outcome.
"Chief Judge, but... we don’t have the authority to mobilize them," a member of the Seventh Execution Chamber said.
This infuriated Sharp. "Go find the military."
Leaving these words behind, he used his elemental abilities to fly, hurrying to chase after Qi Suian.
The enemy was already fleeing at high speed. Every second of delay gave him a better chance to escape.
’And you have the nerve to ask me about such a trivial matter.’
It wasn’t as if the Seventh Execution Chamber was the only one handling this matter. The United States military had the same mission; it was just that the Chamber was better suited for it, which was why they were allowed to act independently.
And the facts proved it; they had come so close to capturing Qi Suian.