Chapter 53: Ninety Percent Certainty?
Seeing the old divine stick in this outfit, Su Xiao wasn't too surprised. He had previously guessed that the old divine stick might be a Crow Doctor or a Hunter, with the latter being far more likely than the former.
As for how the old divine stick had reverted to human form, that was unknown. However, the old divine stick's current aura was completely different from before. This wasn't a matter of strength, but a fundamental change in essence.
"Have you already thought it through?"
Su Xiao stood up from the Black Star Stone. The Blood Beast had already completed one enhancement.
"Dead Silence City has no hope left. Letting them wander is meaningless."
The old divine stick hooked his foot, and the blood-stained, flesh-covered saw blade flew up into his hand.
"Are you sure? This time, we're going up against the Black King."
Su Xiao looked into the old divine stick's eyes. This guy's aura was very strong. If they fought, Su Xiao had no chance of winning.
"That is no longer... Adegesh. I will send him on his final journey."
As soon as the old divine stick finished speaking, Su Xiao received a notification.
[Hidden Quest: The Silence of Birth's key character has appeared.]
[Mad Hunter · Ken Lahan will temporarily join your faction, leading to unknown consequences.]
[Judging...]
[Ken Lahan's personal favorability towards the Hunter is 82 points (out of a maximum of 100).]
[If cooperating with Ken Lahan to complete the quest/defeat a powerful enemy, the obtained rewards will be reduced by 15%.]
[Due to the high-rank reward bonus of Dead Silence City (additional 20% reward increase), the reduction has been offset. The Hunter can obtain an additional 5% reward.]
[Note: After Ken Lahan temporarily joins your faction, if his behavior becomes abnormal, he will be removed from the Hunter's faction.]
...
Seeing the notification from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao's doubts about the hidden quest were finally resolved. The difficulty of the hidden quest 'The Silence of Birth' was Lv.53, but the ultimate final boss of this world, the Black King, was inside the Birth Hall. Once that place was destroyed, the Black King would be released. At that point, the quest difficulty would no longer be Lv.53; reaching Lv.57 or higher wouldn't be surprising.
From the current situation, the old divine stick was not only the key character for entering Dead Silence City but also an ally for completing the hidden quest.
If he hadn't cooperated with the old divine stick before entering Dead Silence City, this ally would have significantly reduced his rewards. Fortunately, Su Xiao had been cooperating with the old divine stick to seize power, so his personal favorability was high. The reward reduction was only 15%, and after being offset by the additional reward, he actually ended up with an extra 5% reward.
Based on Su Xiao's perception, although the old divine stick wasn't as terrifying as the Black King, he would definitely be the main combatant when dealing with the Black King.
"Then let's set off."
Su Xiao was the first to walk out of the sacrificial altar. Behind him followed Bubu Wang, Amu, and then Veroni. The old divine stick brought up the rear.
For some reason, after turning back into a Hunter, the old divine stick had become somewhat taciturn, leaving only a bloody, cold, and ruthless feeling. It seemed like everything was his prey. This might be a side effect of the Ice Therapy.
Ten minutes later.
The Central District was very quiet. Occasionally, vultures flew overhead. The sky was a hazy gray. A large hall stood amidst the buildings, about several dozen meters high. Its internal area was conservatively estimated to be over 1000 square meters. In front of the main entrance were rows of stone pillars, severely weathered, their carvings no longer discernible.
Standing a dozen meters in front of the Birth Hall, Su Xiao glanced at his talent ability, Blood Beast.
The Blood Beast hadn't gained any additional abilities. Instead, the blood-qi-formed Blood Beast had become more condensed, its power increased by just over a tenth, bringing its total damage intensity to 4770 points.
While the increase seemed small, the Blood Beast's enhancement wasn't simple addition or subtraction. With each enhancement, the Blood Beast became more solid. If it could be enhanced three more times, its power would at least double. One pounce would definitely be enough to instantly kill any contractor outside of a Fifth Rank tank.
Su Xiao looked into the Birth Hall. Due to the distance, he could only see rows of black chains.
Besides the main entrance, there were dozens of windows on the four walls of the Birth Hall, arranged in three rows from top to bottom. The lowest row of windows was a few meters from the ground, while the highest was over forty meters up. These windows were square openings with nothing on them.
Su Xiao leaped up, grabbing the edge of a window with one hand, and looked inside the Birth Hall.
What met his eyes were iron chains as thick as an arm. The stone floor was covered in cracks. These chains were nailed to the surrounding walls, converging towards the center at a single point.
At the center of the chains was a pitch-black throne, identical to the one in the royal palace. Seated on the throne was a man about three meters tall, clad in black armor.
The man's eyes were tightly shut. The crown on his head was indistinguishable from a helmet. In front of him was thrust a cross-shaped sword, one meter and eighty centimeters long, covered in black and red patterns. The blade was a full palm-width wide. At the end of the hilt was a brilliant blue gem. This was the Sea Eye, the supreme secret treasure of the Sea Race.
Black locks connected to the throne. From the throne, finger-thick chains extended, binding the man on it. The cross-shaped sword itself was wrapped in chains, leaving only the hilt and a small part of the blade visible.
[Comparing both parties' Intelligence attributes... Comparison complete. Our Intelligence attribute is 1.04 times that of the enemy. Due to the enemy's high rank, only 39% of the enemy's data is obtained.]
Data as follows:
Name: Black King · Adegesh (King of Dead Silence)
Health: 98.6% (Eroding and assimilating...)
Death Force: 38245/39500 points
Strength: 135 (True Attribute · Sealed)
Agility: 130 (True Attribute · Sealed)
Stamina: 127 (True Attribute · Sealed)
Intelligence: 102 (True Attribute · Sealed)
Charm: 95 (True Attribute · Sealed)
Skill 1, Death King (Passive, Lv.70): Health +68000 points, no pain sensation, reduces 40% physical damage, reduces 80% holy damage, reduces 80% dark damage.
Skill 2, War King (Passive, Lv.75): Total health increased by 50%, immune to mental control effects, ???
Skill 3: ???
Skill 4, Combat Grandmaster (Passive, Lv.37): Proficient in using 7 types of weapons, ???
Skill 5: ???
Skill 6: ???
Skill 7, Soul Gaze (Active, Lv.40): ???
???
Skill 12, ??? (Ultimate Ability): ???
...
After reviewing the Black King's abilities, Su Xiao's cheek twitched almost imperceptibly. This guy seemed way too strong.
A Strength attribute of 135 points was terrifying in actual combat. Su Xiao's Strength attribute was 108 points. In a direct confrontation, a 27-point difference in Strength meant a crushing defeat. Su Xiao simply couldn't withstand the Black King's slashes. With a slight misstep, he would be defenseless; lucky to lose an arm or a shoulder, unlucky to have his torso cleaved open, and even more unlucky to have his skull split vertically, dying on the spot.
Su Xiao released his grip on the window sill and landed silently.
"How confident are you?"
Su Xiao looked at the old divine stick. For some reason, he couldn't inspect the old divine stick's attributes.
"Ninety percent."
"..."
Su Xiao looked at the old divine stick with slight surprise.
"Ninety percent certainty... that I will die."
"..."
Su Xiao suddenly felt that the old divine stick's personality hadn't fundamentally changed. Although he was no longer muttering nonsense, his habit of pausing mid-sentence hadn't changed.
There was no doubt that charging straight into the Birth Hall would only result in a total party wipe, and a very miserable one at that, gifting the Black King a pentakill.
Since Su Xiao had chosen to deal with the Black King, he naturally had something to rely on. He couldn't make himself stronger in a short time, so he would weaken the enemy. The Black King was clearly unable to move right now, and that was the key to victory.