Chapter 24: Ding, Ding, Ding...
Through the footage relayed by Bubu Wang, Su Xiao also saw this scene and was stunned for a moment.
‘Master, that old divine stick is sitting up there, my legs suddenly feel weak~’
Seeing Bubu Wang’s message, Su Xiao looked toward the main entrance of the Imperial Council Hall. The old divine stick was standing there, his back turned, but Su Xiao was certain it was him.
‘First, test if it’s alive or dead.’
‘How do I test that?’
‘Lean against the wall, throw something at it. If things go wrong, immediately use the Sacred Traveler to retreat.’
Inside the palace’s central hall, Bubu Wang slowly backed away. When he reached the wall, he took an apple from his storage space and hurled it with all his might toward the throne.
A faint impact sound came. The figure on the throne twisted, transforming into a mass of black energy that merged into the throne.
The moment the broken apple hit the ground, armor clanked. Dozens of black-armored giants in the hall turned their heads toward the apple beside the throne.
After a moment, these black-armored giants turned back. Clearly, since entering the front hall, very few living things remained here. Overlord-level creatures were just gatekeepers. As for these dozens of black-armored giants, if they fought together, they could pound the Overlord-level creature Meredith into paste.
Bubu Wang stared at the World Core on the Black Throne, swallowing hard. He rarely felt this weak, but he decided to give it a try.
Step by step, Bubu Wang approached the Black Throne. Thousands of miles away, Beini lay sprawled on a pile of gems, looking equally tense, the fur on her tail fluffed up.
‘Stupid dog, be careful.’
‘You scared me to death! Don’t send messages at a time like this!’
Bubu Wang was startled by the sudden message, trembling slightly, because he was now right in front of the Black Throne, close to the armrest.
Su Xiao, Amu, and Beini all focused on Bubu Wang’s paw. He gently touched the World Core on the throne’s armrest with his claw tip. The object was the size of a thumbnail, hexagonal in shape.
The moment Bubu Wang’s claw touched the World Core, a black mist surged from the throne, forming a head. This time, it wasn’t Ken Lahan’s face, but a stranger.
The black mist head looked around, clearly not seeing Bubu Wang, who was right next to it.
‘Absolutely, do not move!’
Su Xiao also saw the black mist head. Even through the footage, he felt a chill of terror. If he were that close to the black mist head, he would be dead without a doubt.
After a moment, Bubu Wang slowly lifted his paw, no longer touching the World Core on the armrest. The black mist head whooshed back into the throne. Seeing this, Bubu Wang gradually broke into a grin, looking utterly smug.
Ding~
Bubu Wang’s paw tapped the World Core again. The black mist head abruptly appeared. As Bubu Wang lifted his paw, the head, finding no intruder, retracted into the throne.
Ding, ding, ding, ding...
The terrifying black mist head bobbed up and down on the throne like a whack-a-mole. This ultimate boss, ranked second in the Black King World, was clearly being toyed with.
As Bubu Wang’s paw speed increased, the black mist head suddenly froze mid-air. The grin on Bubu Wang’s dog face stiffened.
“ROAR!”
The black mist head suddenly bellowed. A shockwave erupted, sending Bubu Wang flying like a leaf in the wind.
Boom!
Bubu Wang slammed into the wall. The noise drew the attention of the black-armored giants, but since Bubu Wang was blending into the environment with no living aura, they didn’t approach.
Bubu Wang slid slowly down the wall. As soon as he hit the ground, he checked his status. His whole body felt like it was falling apart, with only 26% health left. That single roar from the black mist head had nearly one-shot him.
He drank a recovery potion Su Xiao had prepared, tears in his eyes. Bubu Wang dared not keep messing around. He now understood how terrifying the black mist head was, so he had to use cunning.
Please don’t misunderstand. In Bubu Wang’s understanding, “cunning” meant first torturing the enemy into a mental wreck, then winning. In short, cunning.
Bubu Wang approached the throne and began prying at the World Core bit by bit.
Every time he pried, he turned and bolted. After the black mist head disappeared for at least ten seconds, he’d go back and pry again.
After the black mist head had popped in and out of the throne at least a few hundred times, the World Core finally showed signs of loosening. This invigorated Bubu Wang, and he pried even harder.
A full two hours later.
Ding~
The World Core was pried loose and flew up. Bubu Wang caught it in his mouth and quickly backed away.
Suddenly, the entire hall fell into dead silence. The black mist head and the dozens of black-armored giants all turned toward Bubu Wang. They couldn’t detect him, but they could sense the World Core. Worse, it couldn’t be stored in his inventory.
Bubu Wang immediately activated the Sacred Traveler and leaped, crashing through the wall behind him.
Silently, the wall shattered, exploding into dust. Black armor plates flew back, and the black-armored giants also broke apart. Their armor plates converged onto a mass of black mist, which rapidly shrank into a man clad in pitch-black scale armor, holding a scepter. He was Polar Day Erdels, the direct eldest son of the Black King. If the Black King hadn’t lived so long, he would have been the second Black King.
“Death!”
Just as Polar Day Erdels raised his scepter, a conch shell dropped to the ground. This was an item Su Xiao had obtained in the One Piece world, [Yearning Conch (Legendary)], which could summon a mermaid phantom to sing and calm hostility in the surrounding area. Bubu Wang used it while fleeing.
A soft singing spread. It lasted less than 0.5 seconds before the mermaid phantom was corroded by black smoke and burst with a pop.
As the mermaid phantom vanished, Bubu Wang tossed out a gold coin. This was [Heroic Spirit’s Wish (Gold)] obtained in the Holy Grail world, capable of summoning a heroic spirit to fight for 30 minutes.
A man with a red spear and blue hair appeared.
“Thy wish...”
The summoned Lancer, Cu Chulainn, had just begun to speak, trying to show off to his master, when an overwhelmingly terrifying aura surged.
Erdels looked at Cu Chulainn, his gaze like looking down at an ant. He pointed his scepter forward.
Pfft!
In 0.3 seconds, Cu Chulainn exploded into a bloody mist, dispersing as heroic spirit energy.
Bubu Wang, sprinting out of the hall, nearly burst into tears. That was too brutal. A heroic spirit enhanced by Su Xiao’s true intelligence attribute had fallen in 0.3 seconds, not even finishing his opening line.
With no other choice, Bubu Wang tossed out a skeleton. This was essentially a legendary-grade material called [Nameless Hero’s Skeleton], but it could also be used as an item, though its performance didn’t match legendary grade.
A skeleton radiating white holy light charged at Polar Day Erdels. Erdels, his hand wrapped in scale armor, clenched his fist. Crack! The skeleton exploded into bone dust.
After throwing three items in a row, Bubu Wang finally reached the edge of the central hall. He leaped with all his might, crashing through the wall, and landed on something soft.
Inside the central hall, Polar Day Erdels slowly lowered his scepter. If observed closely, his body was trembling slightly. This wasn’t fear; he was suppressing the energy within himself. If not for that, Bubu Wang would have needed to throw an epic-grade item to escape the central hall.
The scale armor on Erdels peeled off rapidly. Pupils appeared in his pitch-black eye sockets.
“Let me... fade away.”
The black mist formed by Erdels swirled back. With a sigh, it sank into the throne. Sometimes, even wanting to disappear was a luxury.