Odd Containment Specialist.

Chapter 946 Combat Elements Beyond Levels (4K)

To organize this front, they left the capital by carriage and headed to another city, Eventlay.

It is also known as Twilight City and can be seen as the second capital during the Blood Dynasty.

Twilight City occupies only half the area of ​​the capital, but its actual size is dozens of times larger.

Before Rosa fully reigned over this era, Twilight City was the holy city and undisputed center in the eyes of European vampires.

Because ordinary vampires are all afraid of sunlight, only noble vampires can resist the effects of sunlight. Many vampires in the royal capital are nobles, so most of the buildings are above ground.

However, in this era, ordinary vampires still make up the overwhelming majority of vampires, and most of them are not qualified to settle in the capital city, nor are they suited to the lifestyle of that kind of architectural layout.

Therefore, they live in Twilight City, a special city with a vast underground space, the true home that vampires yearn for most.

The reason Xia Shou and his companions were going there was because it would be the first place Sprite would come up from, and that was where the ladder was located, just like the ruins of Moonburn Village in the present world.

Following the path from the Scar Age to the Blood Dynasty, Sprite first has to climb a ladder to the 13th century, and then go down from the 13th century to the 9th century.

Only in the ninth century could they continue climbing the ladder to reach the Blood Dynasty where they lived, and the place where they emerged was underground in Twilight City.

Riding in a carriage pulled by alien horses, they arrived at the city in less than half a day. When the carriage reached the highest hill, they could see the city called Twilight City from several kilometers away.

By the light of the moon and the sparse lights between the houses, one could see how simple and backward the city was, not even worthy of being called a city, but rather somewhere between a village and a dilapidated urban ruin.

Due to the historical reasons of this era, the people living on the ground were mostly human, the lowest class in the city. The houses they built were almost never two stories high, with windows everywhere and skylights on the roofs. The streets were very wide, just so that the shadows between the houses would not be obstructed.

Sunlight is humanity's only ally in this city.

Of course, since Rosa appeared and humans were completely relegated to the lowest class, the situation has actually improved. Noble vampires strictly limit the indiscriminate hunting of humans by ordinary vampires, so the city they saw tonight is much better than before.

For Xia Shou, none of this mattered. No matter how miserable the people of this era were, it was all in the past. What he was thinking about now was whether if he were to fight Sprite underground, it would cause the underground city to collapse.
“I don’t know how many people will come to join the fun this time. It’s probably impossible to handle it discreetly. Fabricating a new identity for you won’t be very convincing, and public relations afterward will be another problem.” Shangguan Yan looked up at Alice floating behind Xia Shou and said.

"Will a lot of people come to join the fun?" Xia Shou worried.

He must reach the pinnacle of skill in solitude, and cannot use it when there are many onlookers. If the technique is subsequently disseminated, he will die.

With so many people joining in the fun, he naturally can't use it, but if he doesn't use it, his abnormal level isn't high enough to fight Sprite. Moreover, this time it's different from the time he fought the writer; he can't create an environment with fewer people.

If you can only use blood and fire, it will be very difficult to fight.

Realizing this, Xia Shou began to understand the true level of his own strength.

Even with the scorpion spine reaching its maximum limit, he could only raise his level to level five. Although the other half of the scorpion spine had now been perfectly implanted, Xia Shou knew that he still could not exceed the limit to level six.

The level of combat power becomes particularly important, even irreplaceable, when both sides are relatively evenly matched in combat.

"Minister, is there no way to clear the area? There are too many people here, making it difficult to use some abilities," Xia Shou inquired.

Shangguan Yan shook his head: "That's impossible. Due to the limited frequency of time travel, the Bureau of Control's power in the old history is completely incomparable to that in the present. You still want to clear the area? You'd be lucky to find any help."

“Then it will be very difficult to fight,” Xia Shou said.

"Is it because the level is still not high enough after the Scorpion Spine has exceeded its limit?" Shangguan Yan asked indirectly.

"Hmm." Xia Shou nodded in agreement. Although that wasn't the reason, the situation was the same. The fundamental problem was that his level wasn't high enough.

Do you have a clear understanding of the classification of anomaly levels?

"Division?"

"The rules of classification are something that only specialized scholars would study in detail. However, high-level superhumans usually try to understand them. After all, experience is the best teacher, and being high-level is also a kind of illness. Have you studied it, Sianna?" Shangguan Yan looked at Sianna in the same car.

“I only have a slightly more in-depth understanding of the definition,” Ciana replied. “Even if I did, I don’t think it would be of much help.”

"Now that we're free, let's teach these guys a lesson," Shangguan Yan said with a smile.

Thiana gently adjusted the bandages on her body and nodded: "That's fine. Our normal definition of anomaly levels is sufficient for everyday use. However, if we want to delve deeper into theoretical development, we need to make a precise definition, but this is still an unsolvable problem in the scientific community."

Let's each share our views on anomaly levels, specifically what you think is the key to classifying anomalies.

"It's about the priority of what takes effect," Xia Shou said.

Jiang Wengao nodded in agreement: "Yes."

"That's right, that's how it's divided. If a supernatural force cannot work on another target, then the latter's resistance level is higher than the former's effectiveness level. This is the most basic principle."

However, people often misunderstand that the level of anomaly can be determined by quantifying a certain trait.

In fact, the existing theoretical system cannot directly measure the specific number of the anomaly level; it can only compare the high and low levels. All the numbers are derived from comparisons based on a large sample size.

Assuming A is level 1 and B is level 2, then B is level 2. If C appears at this point, and C is level 3, which is lower than B but higher than A, then the order should be B is level 3 and C is level 2.

Because the number of low-level supernatural beings is enormous, when the sample size increases to a certain level, it becomes possible to very accurately define standard lines and establish levels one, two, three, four, and five.

The reason why the Bureau of Control sets Level 6 and above as EX is because the number of comparison objects is small, making it difficult to measure. Therefore, Level 6 and above, and no abnormality level higher than that of the other party has been observed, are classified as EX.

Okay, that's all for this common sense explanation. Now we know that the classification of abnormal levels is not like looking at scores on an exam.

Instead, we can determine the score range of the other person by comparing the scores of the two exam papers.

The ranking of anomalies is never determined by scores, but rather by guessing scores based on rankings.

Furthermore, setting aside the indirect impact of anomaly levels, anomaly level only determines whether a supernatural power takes effect, so the level number itself is meaningless. For example, whether Sprite is level seven, eight, one hundred, or one thousand, it has no effect on the outcome of the battle.

Even those at an abnormality level of 1000 are not immune to the power of forbidden knowledge. This is a very popular theory in academia today—all our extraordinary powers are intuitive applications of forbidden knowledge, and the level of our abilities is merely a matter of intuitive understanding.

"Isn't this getting a bit too academic? It seems like it's hard to apply to real-world situations," Xia Shou gently reminded him.

“Actually, it’s already quite practical. The level of spell power is just the priority of its effect. So even if your opponent’s spell power level is higher than yours, as long as you can survive being hit by their ability, the key factor in determining the outcome changes from the level to the level of spell power.” Xiana looked at Xia Shou. “I’ve heard that your spell power seems unfathomable.”

“Uh…” Xia Shou didn’t know what to say.

In fact, he didn't know how much spell power he had, because most of the skills he used in Shadow Devouring did not consume his spell power. Only a few skills had functions that required spell power, such as the condensation of the spirit blade in [Impermanent Eyes], which required his own spell power.

As for his own special abilities...

[Text Description] This kind of thing is completely optional.

“I understand. Sprite’s level is very high, and his abilities are both offensive and defensive, so his spell power is equivalent to his shield. Before his spell power is exhausted, there is no way to hurt him.”

But if his magical power could be completely depleted, then even an attack from a level one superhuman would be impossible for him to defend against!

"That's right. Most superhumans are able to defend themselves because of their own abilities. If they don't use any abilities, they are practically just ordinary people."

Upon hearing this, Xia Shou finally understood what Xiana meant and finally came up with a plan to eliminate Sprite without activating "Peak of Perfection in a Deserted Place".

Using the [Invisibility Technique] spell taught to him by Rosa to ensure his survival under Sprite's terrifying offensive, he used the blood and fire power of the Night and Fire Scepter to continuously attack Sprite, depleting her magical power until it was exhausted.

If he can clear Sprite's curse power first, then he will win!

Of course, the best-case scenario would be for blood and fire to burn Sprite to death.

Unfortunately, based on the information about the future relayed by Kehen, it can be inferred that Sprite has a way to resist the attack of the Bloodfire Forbidden Sense.

"So, spell power is also a very important indicator. With so much spell power, Brother Shou's chances of winning are actually quite good, right?"

A rare look of surprise appeared on Shina's bandaged face: "You three are generally quite optimistic."

"Am I wrong?" Jiang Wengao turned his head curiously.

"There are many factors, and the single standard of spell power is meaningless. It's easier to understand by using a game analogy: spell power is equal to MP, and using superpowers will consume MP."

Some people may have a long mana bar, but their special abilities consume a lot of mana and are used frequently, so they can still empty their mana bar in one go.

However, some people have very short mana bars, but they recover quickly and consume very little mana, and under normal circumstances they can even achieve infinite mana.

Of course, I'm just giving an extreme example. In reality, there's basically no spell power that can't consume light. Precision, power, detail, activation speed, frequency... once you pursue the limit, there's no upper limit to the consumption.

Whether you can deplete your opponent's magical power depends on whether your attacks force them to constantly push their limits. "That's a simple and easy-to-understand summary from Sienna."

Silence fell again in the carriage. After listening for a while, Su Weiyu said, "It sounds like it would be easier to find a way to run into Sprite and directly destroy the essence of his life."

“Indeed.” Xia Shou couldn’t refute it.

He was a little envious of Su Weiyu. Although he had many skills and could use them flexibly, he still had limitations. Once he encountered a real strong enemy, he would be as ridiculous as a juggling act. He was not as straightforward as Weiyu's one trick.

"Minister, what are your plans to do with Sprite?" Jiang Wengao asked anxiously, at his wit's end.

"We'll adapt to the situation." After saying that, Shangguan Yan made a humorous joke, "You guys go first. If you really lose, I'll step in and negotiate with Sprite, and on behalf of the Control Bureau, I'll agree to help him get promoted to a named position in exchange for him temporarily postponing his name registration."

Then, use this gained time to transfer as many people as possible from the present world to the past, or build some hanging gardens to increase the human population after the Earth flattens.

Since he'll definitely give his name anyway, we might as well discuss it properly and increase the number of survivors.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Charles, who couldn't fit the coffin into the carriage, burst into laughter from the roof. Clearly, this serious joke had hit his funny bone.

But no one in the car laughed; the joke was so believable that it seemed almost unbearable.

At this moment, the most desperate person was Jiang Wengao. He felt that he had passed the period of collapse and entered a state of numbness and indifference.

He doubted whether the result of his intense operational command over the past few days—Sprite going to the mortal world alone and unprepared—had any positive significance.

Previously in the capital, when Shangguan Yan pointed out the "true theory of drama" to him, he even had the illusion that the minister was wise and confident.

But now, he suddenly thought of another possibility: perhaps the minister's mental state was different from that of ordinary people.

After all, there are names that are given incorrectly, but nicknames that are never wrongly used.

The carriage entered Twilight City and stopped after a bumpy ride. Several people got off, and Shangguan Yan patted the mutated horse, which was steaming hot and kicking its hooves to rub its sharp teeth: "We can get off here. Xia, are all the nobles you called here?"

"Ask Xiao Gao, he's the one who took over Charlie's command for me."

"Yes, almost all the capable fighters from the royal families and other powerful families from other places are down here."

Charles let out a gloating laugh: "So many vampires are willing to go and die?"

Jiang Wengao sighed heavily and replied expressionlessly, "I didn't tell them Sprite's specific abilities, I only said that Sprite's ability range is five thousand meters, and told them to be careful."

After all, there's a big difference between risking one's life and throwing it away. If we tell them the real information, we might not even have anyone left to fill in the gaps.

(End of this chapter)