The Ultimate Evolution
chapter-1031

Chapter 1031: Sunstrider Flaming Lance

A slender young woman appeared in front of Sheyan. She was as lively as a fawn. Her upper body was almost completely uncovered except for the grass-woven attire covering her chest. When one got close to her, one could almost smell the refreshing breath of youth she exuded. Her curved eyes made her seem like she was smiling innocently all the time.

Sheyan’s heart shook when he saw her. Yes, seeing the smiling Melody who was as lively as a fawn as she came to him with a bounce in her steps, he was reminded of a saying:

….If only time could stop at the moment when we first met.

He was already used to seeing Melody being attended by those around her like a queen. Seeing her with the liveliness and attire she wore when they first met, an indescribable melancholy rose in his heart. Sheyan could not help but recall how he was then, the joy he felt, and his….dream.

Of course, Melody was no longer the Melody of old. She was now the heart of Dawn City. Although her stubbornness may have won her the tiny right to choose her own attire on this trip, the six core elders under her could never just let her come her and face risks without any preparation. So, in truth, only the way she dressed was the same as the first time they met; some small details on her still betrayed her current noble identity.

The conspicuous Vilya on Melody’s left index finger aside, a pair of precious and exquisite earrings also occasionally peeked out from within her flowing hair. This pair of earrings were treasures passed down in Mr. Segimli’s family. Three types of powerful divine arts were stored inside.

The emerald green fruit worn on her neck was as clear as a diamond, and it gave off a faint aura that felt as if it was supporting the sky and the earth. Sheyan’s current Perceptive Sense was several times higher than that of the last time he entered the world of the Lord of the Rings, so he could immediately tell that this object was likely more powerful than a Golden Fruit!

The long bow on Melody’s back looked like a phoenix that would soar to the sky any moment. It’s delicate design alone was enough to show that it was definitely not an ordinary item. As Melody walked, illusionary images of phoenix feathers would fall from it, disappearing as they touched the ground.

There existed a fact about the things made by Elves. It might not be true for other races, but it was an irrefutable truth for the Elves — the more exquisite an object looked, the more powerful it was.

As soon as Melody appeared, she went straight to Sheyan and embraced him without reservations, then gave him a deep, passionate kiss. Sheyan was instantly immersed in the refreshing breath of nature on her, as if every cell in his body had been washed by the breath of spring. It made him feel relaxed and happy.

At that moment, however, the T-1000 decided to become a party pooper. He had already closed in to within 30 meters of them and had started to accelerate.

With a hand around Melody’s slender waist, Sheyan stared into her large eyes that were filled with affection, shrugged his shoulders and smiled helplessly.

“I’m sorry, I’m summoning you this time because I’m in big trouble.”

Only now did Melody notice the bloodstains and wounds on Sheyan. Pained by the sight, she immediately waved her hand. A light green glow flashed on Sheyan, wrapping around the surface of his body like a liquid. His wounds rapidly healed.

Then, Melody turned towards the charging T-1000 and frowned as she asked, “That’s a puppet without a soul. Was it the one who hurt you so badly?”

“If you underestimate it, I may very well die here today.”

After the Ukiyo-e had finished its task, it was restored to the original blank appearance. However, Sheyan noticed that a very distinct slit had appeared on the surface of the cloth, as if a knife had cut it, but the cut had not completely broken through. Apparently, the three-time usage limit was not a joke.

The T-1000 was now only fifteen meters away from them. Its eyes gleamed with hatred as its hands took on the form of a machete. On the blade were wicked razor-toothed sharp edges. Melody frowned slightly, then pointed at the Terminator with a finger! Although the plants around the area were all dead, the roots beneath the ground had yet to rot away. They immediately made a terrible sound.

A huge magic formation formed on the ground. A great amount of tree roots broke through the earth, crisscrossing and combining with each other to form a large number of lean hands extending out from the ground, standing upright like branches on a tree. The giant hands looked as if they only had bones and muscles left on them. The fingernails on them were sharp, and they scratched wildly in the air.

The T-1000 only had Sheyan in its eyes, so it continued to boldly rush forward, intending to force his way through the roots array. These wooden hands formed from tree roots were very bizarre; no matter what they held, a large number of blood vessels would immediately grow on the contact surface like plant roots, and spread about.

But the T-1000 was a robot; it was immune to the parasitic plant roots. However, it was still hindered by the strong wooden hands, and the speed of its movement decreased sharply.

When Melody tried to cast more divine arts, she frowned and said, “The plant element here is so sparse.”

Seeing that the T-1000 was trapped by the tree roots array, Sheyan grabbed Melody’s hand and ran forward.

“Damn it. Come with me, I’ll take you to a place with plenty of plant elements. The Ukiyo-e just wilted all the plants around here to open a dimensional door to this space, so the most abundant thing here is probably the exhaust gas of vehicles.”

By the time the T-1000 finally got rid of the entanglement of the tree roots array, Sheyan had already taken Melody inside a Citroen parked on the roadside and started the engine.

The T-1000 gave chase madly!

It burst out with a huge amount of energy. By the time the car reached the speed of 60 kilometers per hour (about 37 mph), the Terminator had already caught up to ten meters behind it. The T-1000 then jumped ferociously and turned its left hand into a hook, latching on to the rear of the Citroen! It was dragged along on the ground, creating a trail of sparks in its wake due to the friction. After that, it dragged itself closer to the car body and slammed its elbow down. The metallic trunk of the car instantly made a sharp noise, like a piece of cloth being forcefully ripped in half.

The T-1000 continued its fierce attack on the car. The loud, shrill noises it made, like that of a chainsaw cutting steel, gave the impression that it would split the car apart. Sheyan ignored the Terminator and tried to sway the car as much as he could while he drove, in order to slow down the Terminator’s attacks and prevent it from having its way.

Meanwhile, Melody, with her mouth agape, stared in surprised at Sheyan’s skillful control of the vehicle as they moved forward at high speed. She was unfamiliar with and curious about this new world, and found joy in all the new things she was seeing.

The T-1000 was really aggressive; it tried to climb through the roof of the car to the driver’s seat. Realising this, Sheyan seized the opportunity to make a sudden brake and turn. The Terminator was flung onto the road and crushed by a heavy truck coming from behind!

However, it refused to give up. After quickly recovering from the blow, it immediately jumped onto a passing truck and kicked the driver away. It then continued its relentless chase! The Terminator looked as if it would pursue Sheyan to the end of the earth until it caught up with him. However, thanks to the warning issued by the government today, there were few cars and fewer pedestrians on the normally busy streets of Los Angeles. At the speed Sheyan was driving, it was not so easy to catch up to him.

So Sheyan brought Melody to the urban green space that was hailed as the “lungs of Los Angeles”, the South Los Angeles Wetlands Park! It was already the closing time of the park, so when several staff members saw their car, they tried to stop them with unhappy faces. However, Sheyan simply ignored them; he stepped on the accelerator and crashed through the gate!

With a loud bang, the park’s iron fence gate was sent flying. After that, the window of the car slid open and a large pile of banknotes were thrown out of it, flying all over the place. The few staff members were delighted upon seeing that and rushed to pick the banknotes up. They could not be bothered to notify their superior about the incident for the moment.

In truth, LA was still in an upheaval, dealing with the aftermath of the chaos caused by the Terminators. Even if this particular incident was reported, not many people would attach importance to it.

As Melody watched Sheyan control the car, she asked him with big, round eyes, “Is this the carriage you use here? What kind of magic was used to make it move without a horse?”

“Well….this magic is called gasoline. That guy’s almost caught up to us. We better deal with him first.” said Sheyan with a shrug.

A loud engine roar transmitted over from the distance. Two bright lights shined straight towards them. The truck driven by the T-1000 could be seen approaching in vicious pursuit.

Melody sighed with a tint of regret. “My power is greatly suppressed in this world. Otherwise, despite how powerful this mechanical puppet is, I’d have no problem trapping it here.”

As she spoke, Melody could feel an astonishing fluctuation in her earrings, as if all the plants in the park were resonating with her. The next second saw every tree nearby tremble in pleasant surprise. Then, a tree started to shake with ecstasy and pull its roots out of the soil. It floated up slowly, and its branches and leaves rapidly fell off. Then, it started to burn, and finally turned into a burning javelin.

Little green spots of light emerged from the earrings and attached themselves to the burning javelin, causing the flame to burn more violently!

“I mark the creature in front of me as an enemy of nature,” said Melody while he pointed at the T-1000. The sound of a strong wind rising could be heard from the distant woods, as if it was showing its contempt and disdain for the T-1000!

In the next second, the fragile-looking Melody waved both her hands with a tender shout.

That burning javelin shot away at once with a deafening howl! Wherever it passed through, it left a spiral of air fluctuation in its rear. It gave off the righteous feeling of a rising sun expelling the darkness, unavoidable and unstoppable!

This was the evolved version of Melody’s original ability, ‘Twilight Dictum’ — the ‘Sunstrider Flaming Lance’!

(TL: Bonus chapter coming later.)