Chapter 24: Stop Posing, Come Out and Get Beaten
With a bang, Apollo tore through a layer of air, flying straight toward the altar. During its flight, Apollo rapidly heated up, and by the time it was about to land, it looked like a lump of molten iron.
Apollo hit the ground. At the same moment, Su Xiao threw himself flat beside the valley. Even though he was a full 1.5 kilometers from Apollo's blast center, the explosion's two-kilometer diameter wouldn't reach him here.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out. Because Su Xiao was lying prone, the shockwave transmitted through the ground was thunderous.
Sha, who had been standing with her arms crossed, also threw herself flat. Just two seconds ago, she had been casting a contemptuous glance at Su Xiao for doing the same.
White-hot flames spread, instantly clearing the valley of the crowded assimilators, reducing them to ashes.
When the explosion ended, the valley was nearly leveled. The mountains, already hollowed out, couldn't withstand Apollo's heat and impact.
Now, the demon clan was on the east side of the valley, and the feather clan on the west. The valley had separated them before, but now it was flattened. Except for the nearly ten thousand assimilators between them, the two sides could already see each other from a distance.
The sudden disappearance of the valley left both the demon and feather clans stunned. But one faction present was faster than them: Su Xiao, Sha, and Lilith. The three charged across the scorching lava, rushed straight to the center of the soul altar, and jumped into the underground passage.
"Th-that's..."
The demon commander, Ulysses, shrouded in black smoke, was momentarily dazed, then his eyes nearly bulged out. If he wasn't mistaken, the one who just ran past was Lilith. She seemed to be ahead of them, already charging into the soul altar.
Realizing this, Ulysses' dark face turned ashen. If Lilith obtained the soul fruit herself, it would be more than just embarrassing for him.
"Charge over!"
Ulysses roared, taking the lead and charging forward.
Compared to Ulysses, whose future was at stake, someone else was even more furious—none other than Brother Zechariah.
At that moment, Brother Zechariah was sitting cross-legged in a great hall a hundred meters underground. Behind him was a vine as thick as a bucket. This vine branched out in all directions, was transparent, and from its scale, it seemed to spread throughout the entire underground of the central area.
Behind Zechariah was the main trunk of the soul vine. Near the lower part of the trunk, a bright green branch stood out. On this branch, a fruit the size of a fist was about to ripen—this was the soul fruit.
Zechariah's eyes opened, and several soul vines that had pierced his body were pulled out. His eyes were bloodshot, because he had finally found his enemy—the villain who had blown up his ancestral tomb.
"You stay here and guard."
Zechariah spoke. Not far from him was an assimilator. This assimilator was thin, about 1.5 meters tall, with a bald head that made it impossible to tell if it was male or female.
"You, need, to, stay, calm."
The assimilator spoke haltingly, very stiffly.
Zechariah ignored the assimilator and walked toward the hall's exit. His body trembled slightly—from rage.
Watching Zechariah walk away, the assimilator pressed both index fingers to the corners of its mouth and pushed them upward.
"The, final, winner, smiles, like this... right?"
The assimilator glanced at the soul fruit. Soon, very soon, it would ripen. Only a soul fruit that fell off on its own could be picked; otherwise, the soul vine would attack. This plant life form, which had survived for nearly a thousand years, was terrifying.
But what the assimilator didn't notice was that a few meters from the soul fruit, Bubu Wang was squatting there, yawning. He was getting bored waiting. Why wasn't this damn fruit ripe yet?
On the steps leading down from the soul altar.
Sha walked in front. If anyone among the three had the fastest reaction speed, it was Sha. Su Xiao's instinct ability had originally been obtained from Sha, so her instinct was naturally stronger.
"Zechariah is about to arrive."
Su Xiao spoke. This was news from Bubu Wang.
"When he gets here, we beat him. Little demon, you're responsible for distracting that guy. Surname Su, you do whatever you want. I don't like admitting it, but the damage you can cause isn't much weaker than mine right now."
Sha's plan was reasonable. She was the tank, responsible for holding Zechariah back. But don't think Sha had no attack power. Once she got her arms around something, even a dragon would be suplexed into submission. As long as she could grab a part, there was nothing Sha couldn't throw. She also had an ability called Throat Sever, which was downright perverted—it had a chance to instantly kill an enemy.
Lilith was currently using a scythe. Her speed was definitely top-notch, so she was the assassin type.
Su Xiao was the ranged harasser (D·Assassination). If the opportunity was good, he could cut down Zechariah in a few slashes—provided he got the chance.
The current underground passage was clearly not suitable for ganging up on Zechariah. The three quickened their pace.
Soon, they entered an underground maze. The passages here branched out in all directions. Fortunately, Bubu Wang had already thoroughly mapped this maze.
Five minutes later, Su Xiao led Sha and Lilith out of the maze, arriving at an open underground space. It seemed naturally formed, but the sculptures inside indicated it had been artificially constructed.
A humanoid creature about three meters tall and obese blocked their path. From its pupils, it was an assimilator.
"Intruders, die."
The obese assimilator clearly had some intelligence. No need to guess—Zechariah had left it here to delay the enemy.
"Cliché opening line."
Sha cracked her shoulders as she advanced. The obese assimilator shifted its gaze. When it opened its mouth, it revealed a mouthful of fangs, saliva dripping from the corners. It looked like it wanted to devour Sha.
Twenty seconds later.
With a crisp crack, Sha yanked the obese assimilator's spine out alive. Blood sprayed. The assimilator's body was now severely twisted, twitching unconsciously.
Pfft!
Blood splattered as Su Xiao decapitated the obese assimilator with one slash. Unfortunately, no treasure chest dropped. Killing enemies in the Black Abyss had a chance to drop chests, but the odds weren't high. However, if one did drop, its value wouldn't be low.
Tap, tap, tap...
Footsteps came from the other side of the underground space. Su Xiao, Sha, and Lilith all looked toward the darkness.
"Don't try to act mysterious with me, Zechariah. Come out and get beaten."
With Sha's tomboyish temper, she wouldn't let Zechariah have a chance to pose.
Zechariah emerged from the darkness, like a lion patrolling its territory—strong and confident. He didn't look at Sha, even though she posed the greatest threat. Instead, his gaze locked onto Su Xiao.
"It was you."
Zechariah clenched his fists.
"That's right, it was me."
As Su Xiao spoke, he put on the Asaka mask. Zechariah froze, then recalled—wasn't this the Asaka member who had offered to help him find the culprit? Realizing the trick, Zechariah's composure shattered.