After picking up the Spirit Ashes of the Stormhawk King, Bai Shi walked through the door on the terrace.
This door connected the terrace to the second floor of the starting room.
At the far end of the second floor, a treasure chest sat, emitting a cool white glow.
Bai Shi walked up and opened the chest. Inside was another set of ashes: the Spirit Ashes of Stormhawk Tine.
Stormhawk Tine was a powerful Stormhawk, second only to the ancient king in the distant past. It was a fierce hawk that accompanied and served the ancient king until its final moments.
Bai Shi thought to himself.
He had collected all the items. Now, it was time to face the terrifying Grafted Scion.
Bai Shi turned to leave, but suddenly, he heard a rustling sound.
It sounded like something was crawling and approaching quickly...
Before Bai Shi could react, a massive figure crashed down right in front of him.
Its huge body was pieced together from countless limbs. To support itself, it had many legs, each with multiple feet, and some legs were even made of several arms. The twisted and bonded body parts of different races were covered by a deep blue peacock feather cloak, making it look like a gigantic arthropod. The only parts of this grotesque body that were his own were his head and one arm. The handsome, pale, aristocratic face on this monstrous body looked incredibly bizarre.
Two right arms tightly gripped a pair of ceremonial straight swords, while a thick left arm held a beast-emblazoned golden shield in front of its body.
Bai Shi swallowed hard. He instinctively wanted to run, but his legs felt like they wouldn't obey.
The Grafted Scion, which was supposed to be stationed behind the statue of Marika far away, why had it come to him on its own?
'Was it the storm just now? Or the sound of me breaking the door?'
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"
The Grafted Scion's rapier lunged forward without waiting for Bai Shi to think.
Bai Shi instinctively raised his shield to block, but the immense force knocked his shield aside.
The sword in the second hand followed instantly, stabbing directly into his left shoulder guard.
Although the blow didn't pierce Bai Shi's armor, the impact made the entire left side of his body go numb.
Bai Shi drew his straight sword and swung at the Grafted Scion, but it was firmly blocked by the large shield.
'The difference in strength is too great! I'll die if I keep fighting like this!'
He couldn't continue like this. The Grafted Scion was blocking the doorway, so he couldn't get to an open area to kite him. He definitely couldn't win a head-on fight. If that's the case...
Bai Shi backed up against the second-floor railing, focusing all his attention on the Grafted Scion's movements. He was waiting for an opportunity.
The second move was a horizontal slash with both swords, which Bai Shi dodged by ducking under it.
The third move was a powerful, heavy shield bash that made the floor tremble. Thankfully, Bai Shi rolled in time, avoiding being smashed into a pulp.
Amidst these close calls, Bai Shi finally saw one of the moves he was waiting for.
The Grafted Scion turned sideways and stood upright, raising both swords high and pointing them at Bai Shi. Then it charged forward violently, its swords thrusting like a torrential rain.
But Bai Shi was prepared. He rolled under the Grafted Scion's legs, getting behind it. Using the momentum of its charge, he performed a powerful shoulder-check.
The impact sent the Grafted Scion crashing through the railing and tumbling to the first floor.
The space in the Chapel of Anticipation was narrow, especially for such a large monster. The Grafted Scion fell and couldn't get back up for a moment.
Seizing the opportunity, Bai Shi took out his long halberd and stood on the second floor, stabbing at the Grafted Scion. Dark, foul-smelling blood splattered, and the axe blade occasionally severed some of its smaller limbs.
The window for offense was brief. The Grafted Scion used its shield to protect its vital areas and, using its arms and legs, managed to right itself.
As it turned over, one of its sword-wielding right arms was exposed from behind the shield. Without a second thought, Bai Shi swung with all his might and managed to chop the arm off.
Seeing the Grafted Scion lose an arm, Bai Shi was overjoyed. He had finally seen a glimmer of hope for victory.
However, his joy was short-lived.
The one-armed Grafted Scion, whether out of anger or pain, let out a loud, roaring scream. The powerful roar slammed directly into Bai Shi's brain.
The shriek made blood gush from Bai Shi's orifices, and he couldn't stand straight.
Even worse, the Grafted Scion used its massive body to climb back up to the second floor.
Watching the Grafted Scion inch closer, Bai Shi despaired.
Through its furious eyes, Bai Shi could already foresee his fate: being dismembered and grafted onto the Scion's body.
Bai Shi retreated, planning to jump off the cliff as in the original game, hoping to find a chance at survival.
But the previous roar had rattled his brain. His body swayed, and after stumbling backward a couple of steps, he fell.
Lying on the ground, Bai Shi was filled with pain and despair. He didn't want to die, but he couldn't survive. At the end of the day, he was just too weak.
If he truly had the combat prowess of the Tarnished, he probably wouldn't have been at a disadvantage in a head-on fight. Instead, despite all his cunning, he still couldn't win.
The Grafted Scion stood over Bai Shi, raising its only remaining sword high, determined to impale him.
Bai Shi closed his eyes in desperation.
"Whoosh!"
"Clang!"
The expected pain of a piercing blade never came. Instead, a familiar sound rang out.
Bai Shi opened his eyes. Before him was a black panel—the interface of the Fling Trainer!
The rapier was now blocked by his body, unable to move forward another inch.
'Function 1 - Invincibility Mode (Activating automatically, 2 seconds remaining)'
Bai Shi let out a sigh of relief and smiled. He knew he was going to live.
Note: Fling Trainers are a popular series of cheat programs for PC games, known for their easy-to-use interfaces and powerful functions like invincibility, infinite resources, and one-hit kills.