Chapter 237: The Threat of New Members
[Mandatory Interaction Choices]
1. Surrender yourself and die: Instead of fighting, surrender yourself to the An Clan Ancestor and die. You have angered your audience, therefore you must surrender yourself to die. The only method to bypass this choice is to reveal your class. (80% of your audience have voted to see this outcome)
2. Surrender yourself and seek resolution: Surrender yourself to the An Clan Ancestor, but instead of dying, try to appease his wrath. Come up with a peaceful way to resolve this conflict... Nayu An still longs for you! (3% of your audience have voted to see this outcome)
3. Fight and escape: Fight the An Clan Ancestor and escape. Continue your fight with the An Clan Ancestor and try to escape. Your journey seems very interesting. Some of your audience would like to see how it all plays out. (17% of your audience have voted to see this outcome)
[You must select one of these three choices, or else you will suffer a terrible penalty]
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[00 : 00 : 09]
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...
Damn, these guys really want me dead! Eighty percent?! Uhtred yelled internally. The new members of his channel were undoubtedly a significant part of that eighty percent.
Together with those who blatantly hated him or found him unsightly — like the Nine Nether Thirty-First Young Master, Serial Troll Nyx, and countless others — and those who had been sitting on the fence, they comprised that overwhelming majority.
That was a dangerously high number. Only twenty percent of his multiversal audience didn’t want him to die outright. Uhtred was certain that, just like the eighty percent, even the remaining twenty percent desperately wanted to know what his class was.
But at the very least, it seemed there were still some reasonable entities out there in the multiverse. Seventeen percent had chosen to see how his story would naturally unfold. They wanted to watch without forcing his hand, and Uhtred was genuinely thankful for that.
Those seventeen percent were now the audience he needed to appease. He had to ensure he kept those people satisfied, at the bare minimum.
To achieve that, he simply needed to be himself — which wasn’t hard at all. As long as he had that seventeen percent actively trying to keep him alive through their votes, he could find a way out of any mandatory choice selection without having to burn the one-time overwrite privilege Lorien had gifted him.
Still, staring at the heavily skewed percentages left a bitter taste in Uhtred’s mouth. He could expect that seventeen percent to thin out as the trials grew harder.
There were eight more floors ahead of him, and he hadn’t even cleared this second one yet. Could he keep them satisfied all the way to the top?
Uhtred stifled a groan.
His mind went to the last three percent. Those were most definitely the crazies. They wanted him to surrender himself and come up with a resolution with the An clan ancestor — one that would involve getting together with Nayu An.
What fucking rubbish!
This wasn’t the first time Uhtred was seeing that kind of mandatory choice. The previous mandatory choice options had also been the same. Among all the choices he was given, there was always one that urged him to get together with Nayu An like he was some sort of horny teenager.
I’m sure that Veloraian Lord Of The Green Hats_69 fellow is the one leading these degenerates!
He couldn’t picture anyone else fitting the bill so perfectly. Anyone who named themselves "Lord of the Green Hats" was guaranteed to be among the group trying to push him toward Nayu An.
Uhtred let out a sharp scoff, then refocused his mind on the ticking timer. The seconds had nearly run out.
There was only one real choice here.
Without hesitation, he selected the third option: Fight and escape.
In an instant, the frozen world around him snapped back into motion. The charging figure of the Ancestor resumed his forward rush, and Uhtred sidestepped him rapidly.
The old foggie was clearly hiding the last reserves of his strength.
They exchanged an array of elemental attacks, shattering the terrain around them with terrifying strikes.
Their fight was not as dramatic as back in the An clan territory. Uhtred wasn’t using a manifestation — his core couldn’t support another shift so soon — and the Ancestor was sharp enough to realize it.
But at the same time, Uhtred also knew the Ancestor couldn’t use Hollow Vacuum any longer either. In fact, the old man seemed intent on besting Uhtred in a head-on fight instead of relying on the so-called "soul attack" he had threatened to use.
Even with all his threats, he values his life way too much to die, Uhtred snickered internally, a cold glint crossing his eyes.
Hesitation.
The Ancestor was hesitating. He wasn’t going to trigger that soul attack unless he was absolutely certain his death was imminent.
The moment Uhtred became aware of that fact, the fight became easier in his eyes. He just needed to time a strike — one devastating attack powerful enough to bypass the level difference between them and kill the Ancestor in a heartbeat... or at least incapacitate him to the point where he couldn’t cast a spell.
Of course, Uhtred was well aware that the Ancestor was the only one who possessed the knowledge to extract whatever anomalous thing lay inside Nayu An. But just like the Ancestor’s hesitation, trying to capture him alive would create a fatal vulnerability.
Realistically, given how unhinged the old man had become and the lingering threat of his soul technique, capturing him alive was a fool’s errand.
Had Uhtred been at full strength, there might have been a slim chance, but right now, he didn’t have the reserves to attempt such a feat.
One had to remember that the Ancestor was still a proper Nascent Realm powerhouse who was close to the peak of the realm.
Uhtred was certain that if the old man were fighting any other ascender — in fact, if he were facing any of the human champions aside from Zara and perhaps King Alexei — he would have slaughtered them within minutes.
But you’re facing me...
Uhtred’s eyes became cold. He continued to parry the terrifying strikes from the Ancestor and counter with powerful strikes of his own too.
They both looked utterly spent, using the last bit of essence within their bodies. But in reality, Uhtred wasn’t as spent as the Ancestor. He had topped off his reserves to an extent with the Essence Crystals just before.
He was leading the Ancestor on, baiting the old man into believing he was losing essence more rapidly.
The Ancestor pressed his advantage with rising ferocity, and then, when he least expected it, Uhtred made his move.