# Chapter 36: Victory and Despair
Three hours later, on the altar of the ancient ruins.
The sounds of battle echoed far into the distance. A contractor leaped into the air, his spiral spear thrusting downward, pinning an insectoid creature to the ground.
Boom!
Carapace fragments scattered everywhere as the tip of the spiral spear erupted with powerful kinetic energy, blasting the enemy's body into pieces.
Broken insectoid corpses littered the ground, green fluids nearly covering the entire altar. Occasionally, large beast carcasses could be seen, the most conspicuous being a dead giant deer, its antlers still pierced through the bodies of three contractors.
"Are you done yet?!"
A contractor wielding a spiral spear shouted. He and the remaining eighty-plus contractors formed a defensive circle, protecting an auxiliary-type contractor who was setting up a spatial formation diagram.
"Do you think a spatial formation diagram that can teleport several hundred people at once is simple?"
That auxiliary contractor wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. He had already laid out this formation diagram earlier, but just activating it would take nearly an hour. Too many people needed to be teleported, and even the slightest deviation could send them to some remote corner of the continent.
After embedding the final space-breaking stone into the center of the formation, the auxiliary contractor sat down on the ground as if completely drained.
"Alright, hold on. With the spatial power boost from the world coordinates, the teleportation speed will be fast."
"You said it would be simple!"
A burly contractor, bare-chested and broad-shouldered, grabbed an insectoid creature in each hand and swung them around like weapons, the wind whistling with each swing.
A ripple of spatial energy spread outward, and white light surged from the formation diagram, which was nearly a hundred meters in diameter. The next moment, six hundred Sun Warriors appeared within the formation.
These Sun Warriors were momentarily dazed, but upon seeing the nearby insectoids, they immediately joined the battle.
The teleportation continued wave after wave. Soon, a total of three thousand Sun Warriors had all been transported to the altar, followed by the contractors.
Twenty minutes later, the three members of the Yaklo team appeared on the formation diagram. The sour stench of blood filled the air.
"This is..."
Afro, abandoning the ladylike image she had always maintained, quickly ran over to the giant deer carcass. After the Sun Warriors arrived at the altar, the battle here had quickly concluded.
"It's not as exaggerated as you all made it sound."
A newly arrived contractor stretched his neck, clearly just waking up.
"Why don't you say that again—"
"Brother, calm down. Regardless, you're both from the same Paradise."
"To hell with the same Paradise! This bastard stole from me two worlds ago—"
"Both of you, calm down. We'll be guarding the coordinates together later."
Several contractors from Apocalypse Paradise stepped in to mediate, separating the two Death Paradise contractors to prevent internal conflict.
"We're going to spend the next seven days in this damn place?"
Yaklo looked up at the sky. At some point, the once cloudless sky had become overcast.
Not far away, Afro stood before the giant deer carcass. Her gaze swept the surroundings, and soon she found her target—the auxiliary contractor who had mastered spatial abilities.
Afro's hand brushed through her hair, and with a flick of her fingers, she pulled loose half of her braided hair.
"Young man, if I remember correctly, your name is Gu Yu, right?"
Afro stood behind the auxiliary contractor and patted him on the shoulder.
The auxiliary contractor, Gu Yu, was startled. He turned to look at the newcomer. At first glance, he didn't recognize who this was. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Afro, a representative figure from Holy Light Paradise.
"Miss Afro, you are..."
Gu Yu seemed a bit flustered. Although he possessed considerable spatial abilities, having a goddess who was both powerful, high-status, and stunningly beautiful come up to talk to him was confusing. This goddess was a genuine goddess—the kind that could fly.
"Young man, can you do me a favor? Just this once."
Afro's lips curled upward as she raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear.
"Eh~"
Gu Yu was stunned because he felt that this goddess was seducing him. It wasn't an illusion, nor was it wishful thinking—this feeling was extremely strong.
"Is it not possible?"
Afro sighed, her red lips pursed.
"It's not... impossible."
Although Gu Yu was tempted by Afro's beauty, he also sensed something was wrong.
"Can you... teleport me back? Just the two of us."
"You are..."
Gu Yu's pupils rapidly contracted.
"Shh~"
Afro's slender finger pressed against her lips. If one observed carefully, they would notice that her body was trembling.
Whoosh~
A sound of something breaking through the air came from above. A dark blue fireball, two meters in diameter, shot straight up into the sky.
Boom!
The fireball exploded like fireworks. All the contractors looked up, watching this scene.
Several kilometers away, Su Xiao lowered his telescope. It was time. He looked at the Demon Beast beside him, which Jila's mental power was attached to.
After completing yesterday's hunt, his insectoid forces had increased once again.
Demon Beasts: 30,519 (including 276 elite individuals).
Titan's Children: 1,015 (including 112 elite individuals).
From the end of the initial chaotic battle, Su Xiao had been building up his insectoid forces, resulting in the insectoid army he now had.
At this moment, 30,000 Demon Beasts had already been quietly deployed around the ancient battlefield, to avoid being detected by the enemy's perception-type contractors.
The Titan's earlier cannon shot was merely to distract the contractors' attention, not a signal to assemble.
On the altar, a total of 860 contractors were watching the fireworks in the sky. Some were puzzled, while others warily looked into the distance.
Rumble...
A slight tremor ran through the ground. Even small pebbles began to vibrate.
"There, there are insectoids surrounding us."
A perception-type female contractor spoke, her arms wrapped around her shoulders, her calves trembling.
"!"
Yaklo recognized this perception-type contractor. She was from their Death Paradise faction.
"Numbers! Strength!"
Seeing the perception-type contractor in this state, Yaklo's unease grew.
"Numbers... Strength... Ha, hahaha."
The perception-type contractor covered her face with both hands, laughing as she crouched down on the ground.
"As for strength... Yaklo, look over there."
Mu Yushi, standing beside Yaklo, spoke. He stiffly raised his chin.
"Roar!!"
A deafening roar, like an avalanche or a tsunami, came from all directions. Demon Beasts swarmed in from every side, densely packed, a dark, oppressive mass. The earth trembled from their running. The grass in their path was trampled flat, mud splattering everywhere.
If it were just one direction, Yaklo could still accept it. But on all sides of the ancient battlefield, there were insectoids. The contractors had been surrounded without even realizing it. No—it was that there were too many insectoids. They only needed to charge forward, and they would naturally surround the contractors.
Within the crowd, Afro's hand rested on Gu Yu's shoulder.
"You should be able to teleport away, right?"
Afro's face was paler—no, it should be deathly white.
"I can."
Gu Yu spoke, nodding to Afro.
"Then—"
"Goodbye."
Gu Yu suddenly vanished, disappearing without any warning. Afro's hand pressed down on empty air.