Chapter 43: Everyone's a Mini-Boss
Countless demon beasts climbed over their comrades toward the stone wall, while azure-blue "meteors" streaked across the sky, landing within the Blazing Highlands.
"Slay all these alien races!"
Nearly a thousand Sun Warriors on the stone wall roared in fury, but they forgot one thing—they were actually the invaders of this world. The fact that Void Tree had named this planet Thorn Bug Star already said enough.
An endless tide of demon beasts scaled the stone wall, clashing with the Sun Warriors in brutal combat.
Fifteen minutes into the battle, a three-hundred-meter section of the stone wall collapsed with a thunderous crash. Over twenty thousand Sun Warriors hidden behind the wall surged forward, catching the demon beast army off guard.
In this kind of siege warfare, victory hinged on numbers and overall quality. Now, the Sun Tribe was caught between two fronts. Their 120,000 Sun Warriors split into two forces: one to block Maggie's faction, the other to block Su Xiao's faction. The remaining 170,000 regular combatants mingled among the Sun Warriors.
One hour after the outer battlefield erupted, flames rose nearby. Countless wooden tents were set ablaze, the fire scorching the corpses of demon beasts and Sun Warriors alike.
The first wave of Sun Warriors was repelled, retreating to the second defensive line on the high ground, at least a kilometer away.
News of victory also came from Maggie's side—her insectoid forces had breached the outer wall as well.
Standing atop the shattered stone wall, Su Xiao had no need to charge the front lines. He simply waited for battle reports. The 200,000-strong demon beast army had already surged toward the highlands, while the remaining demon beasts swept the nearby battlefield to ensure no stragglers escaped.
A nearly eight-meter-tall stone house caught Su Xiao's eye. He approached its main entrance—likely the residence of some priest.
In front of the stone house lay a sizable plaza, surrounded by low stone dwellings and burning wooden tents.
Soon, over ten thousand demon beasts formed a defensive perimeter around the area, establishing a buffer zone for their side. War wasn't about mindless charging; it required gradual advancement and prepared retreat routes.
As soon as Su Xiao occupied the outer stone house plaza, a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Contractor will soon be teleported to this world. Location: Highland Region.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao knew those contractors were in for a rough time. They were being dropped directly onto the front lines. Fortunately, their side held the advantage; otherwise, not a single contractor would survive, let alone seize any opportunities.
Below the highlands, the clamor of battle was unending. Two hundred thousand demon beasts clashed with Sun Warriors in a chaotic melee.
Thwack, thwack, thwack...
Blades hacked through carapaces. A Sun Warrior, his face splattered with insect blood, barely caught his breath before three demon beasts lunged at him.
Whoosh~
An azure-blue fireball plummeted from the sky, exploding among the crowd. Though Sun Warriors were impervious to high temperatures, they couldn't withstand the corrosive nature of the flammable liquid.
Flames, the stench of blood, the reek of burning flesh, shouts of battle, screams of agony—this was war, a colossal meat grinder that threw every participant into its churning gears.
Near a massive pile of demon beast corpses, spatial fluctuations rippled, and over two hundred contractors materialized out of thin air.
Boom!
A biological cannonball detonated nearby, spraying azure-blue flames. Most of the contractors hit the deck.
"What the hell! Is this a reward world?"
A contractor glanced around the battlefield, his expression dazed.
"This is... a fifth-rank world! Does Reincarnation Paradise want us dead?"
"Enemy incoming! Lots of them—at least a few thousand!"
A perception-type girl shouted, pointing at a horde of charging demon beasts.
Seeing these demon beasts, even the fourth-rank contractors were shaken, let alone the third-rank ones. Their blood ran cold.
The demon beasts streamed past the contractors, a few even snarling at them, as if to say, "Why aren't you charging forward?"
"These... are our allies!"
A fourth-rank contractor forced a weak smile.
"Our allies are pretty fierce. Looks like they're insect-type."
"If I'm not mistaken, our reward is to follow behind them, pick off isolated enemies, and then use battle merits to exchange for rewards from the quartermaster."
A bespectacled man spoke. After all, they were contractors of Reincarnation Paradise—once the initial shock passed, they quickly calmed down.
"This reward... very Reincarnation Paradise."
"Enough talk. Let's follow the charge... right?"
The contractor speaking looked up at the sky. Dense clusters of azure fireballs streaked overhead—conservatively, tens of thousands of them, blotting out the sky. He was certain he couldn't survive even a single hit.
"Look over there!"
Another contractor shouted, pointing at a dozen severely wounded Sun Warriors who had fallen behind.
Seeing this, dozens of contractors rushed forward.
A minute later, they were driven back, "pleasantly" discovering that this was a world where everyone was a mini-boss. Fortunately, killing an enemy soldier netted 100 battle merits—a 50% increased kill reward.
A mature woman gazed into the distance, where countless 100-battle-merit targets awaited.
"Here's a basic tip: don't try to take on Sun Warriors alone. Coordinate with the demon beasts to take them down. No merit reduction."
A somewhat gloomy contractor spoke, then vanished into the shadows. Cold on the surface, warm at heart—that was his type.
Soon, the contractors scattered across the battlefield. A dozen charm-type contractors, after earning some merits, quickly moved toward the rear of the war zone. Their goal: to befriend the quartermaster. Waiting for them was a corrupt official.
At the edge of the battlefield, five contractors hid inside a wooden tent. They formed a temporary team.
"This world only has a main quest? Win the war and complete it? Hmm, that must be part of the reward."
A burly man spoke. As a fourth-rank contractor in the upper echelon of his rank, he held sway in the team—or rather, his strength ranked him among the top ten of the 200-plus contractors in this world.
"It's not just war quests."
A girl named Mina spoke. She looked about seventeen or eighteen, full of vitality.
Mina pondered for a moment before continuing, "This should be a temporary event—a massive battle involving three factions. If I'm not mistaken, such a battle might have been planned for over a month, maybe longer."
Hearing this, the burly man and the other three nodded in agreement. In reality, the battle's origin was far simpler than they imagined. The general sequence was:
Su Xiao asked Maggie if she wanted to join forces. Maggie agreed. The next morning, full-scale war began.
"Right. In a war involving three major powers, we should just skim the benefits. Don't get involved in anything too important. A single elite unit could wipe us all out."
The burly man sighed helplessly, his expression melancholic. He was a big shot in the fourth rank, but just now, he'd spotted an elite demon beast and probed some of its attributes. That monster was a boss in the fourth rank!
And the kicker? Their side had thousands of such bosses, with tens of thousands on the total battlefield! As for the elite fighters and leaders of the three factions—how terrifying they were, the burly man didn't want to think about it. Encountering those freaks meant death either way.
"Back to the triggered quests."
Mina spoke, signaling the others to listen. After initial coordination, she had temporarily taken on the role of decision-maker—not the leader, of course.
"To trigger a quest, there are only two feasible ways: one, go to the rear of the war zone to find the Azure Steel King; two, encounter a low-probability event."
Mina looked around at the other four, who all nodded in agreement.
"Let me interrupt."
A man in a white shirt raised his hand.
"What would happen if we challenged the Azure Steel King?"
The white-shirt grinned, revealing stark white teeth, exuding the typical aura of a Reincarnation Paradise contractor.
"We'd die."
"Are you blind? Can't you see the red warning notifications? He's one of the three ultimate bosses of the Dusk Battle."
"Just saying. Should we go meet the Azure Steel King? If Mina flatters him well enough, we might trigger a quest. Otherwise, Mina, you could try seducing him."
The white-shirt's grin widened, his madman potential on full display.
"We have to see him anyway. Better now than later."
"Let's go."
The five contractors sneaked out of the wooden tent, moving swiftly toward the rear of the war zone. Along the way, they spotted several waves of demon beasts heading to reinforce the front lines.
...
Inside a stone house serving as a temporary outpost in the rear.
Su Xiao sat on the back of an elite demon beast. This shabby tribe had no chairs or the like, so he used the demon beast as a stool. This particular elite demon beast wasn't a first-time seat for Su Xiao—its four legs stood steady.
The war was going smoothly. With their demon beasts and Maggie's faction attacking from both sides, the Sun Tribe could hold out for at most a day before being annihilated—provided no other totem tribes came to their aid.
As Su Xiao was mentally organizing the battle reports from Jila, the demon beasts at the entrance all stood up. A contractor team was approaching. As allied members, the demon beasts didn't block them.
"Hello, I am..."
Mina, the team's representative, stood at the stone house's entrance. The moment she spoke, she met a pair of sharp eyes.
Her body stiffened for a moment. In that instant of eye contact, she felt as if he could sever her head at any moment.
Mina took a deep breath. The person she was about to negotiate with was a ruthless figure who used a boss as a stool. Even from over ten meters away, she could smell the faint, lingering scent of blood.
"There's something I need you to do. You can go now."
Through Reincarnation Paradise's authority, Su Xiao issued a quest to the newcomer.
Mina was stunned for a moment, then received a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Prompt: You have encountered a key plot character, Azure Steel King.]
[Prompt: You have triggered the battle quest: Behind Enemy Lines.]
[Battle Quest: Behind Enemy Lines]
Difficulty Level: Lv.37
Quest Brief: Infiltrate the enemy's rear and locate the position of Great Chief Gulaba.
Time Limit: 10 hours
Quest Reward: 3800 Battle Merits.
Quest Penalty: Forced Execution.
...
Seeing the quest reward, Mina felt no joy—only despair. For a fourth-rank contractor, a Lv.37 difficulty quest was almost certain to result in a team wipe.
Clearly, Su Xiao had a misconception. When he was at the fourth rank, he often undertook quests with difficulties above Lv.37.
PS: (Recommending a friend's book: Dungeon Players. Same channel as Fei Wen. Interested readers can check it out.)