Chapter 52: Iron
The corpse of Ironfeather King lay on the ground, palm facing down. In silence, his palm split open, and a small black snake crawled out from within—this was the Abyss Serpent. Since Ironfeather King had lost, it naturally fared no better.
The Abyss Serpent quietly burrowed into the maple leaves, but a foot stomped down.
Su Xiao pinched the head of the Abyss Serpent between his thumb and index finger. Now that it had shrunk, he could see its full form—it was a fork-tailed snake.
"Come out."
Su Xiao sat beside Ironfeather King's corpse, the Abyss Serpent held between his fingertips.
"Haha, quite the lively scene."
The half-blood ancient god, Ursula, stepped out from behind a maple tree. By the usual script, Ursula should have been the mastermind behind the scenes. Unfortunately, this homebody half-blood ancient god lacked such ambition. She simply lived nearby and, hearing the sounds of battle, came to check things out.
Ursula's expression seemed natural, but inwardly she was panicking. Just moments ago, she had witnessed the clash between Su Xiao and Ironfeather King. She suspected that if she were in Ironfeather King's place, it would only take a few slashes or gunshots before she could find a cool spot to lie down and die peacefully.
Ironfeather King was universally recognized as the strongest in this world, and the Abyss Serpent was second only to him. Yet now, Su Xiao sat beside Ironfeather King's corpse with the Abyss Serpent pinched between his fingers. Seeing this, Ursula's legs went weak—she wanted to go home.
"Leave the Divine Kingdom within the near future."
"Huh? Ah, yes!"
Ursula breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Su Xiao ignored Ursula from then on. His thumb and index finger tightened, and with a *splat*, he crushed the Abyss Serpent to death.
[You have slain the Abyss Serpent.]
[You have gained 27.5% World Source.]
[You have obtained a Holy Spirit Chest (Abyss).]
[Note: If a Holy Spirit Chest has an exclusive suffix, the chance of dropping equipment increases by an additional 12%, the chance of dropping gems increases by 6.3%, and the chance of dropping bloodline items increases by 3.2%...]
Having casually crushed the Abyss Serpent, Su Xiao tossed its corpse toward Ursula.
"Give—give it to me?! The Abyss Serpent is..."
Ursula's eyes were full of disbelief.
"..."
Su Xiao glanced at Ursula, then stood up from the ground and walked to a patch of maples untouched by the battle. He took an iron shovel from his storage space.
A moment later, Su Xiao dug a large pit. He returned to Ironfeather King's corpse, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and carried it over.
After a few minutes, Su Xiao buried Ironfeather King. This was the second time he had buried him.
Ironfeather King was born in a small border nation. As an adult, he joined the Sera Empire's army, fighting across the land. From an unknown soldier, he rose to become the Ironfeather King who chilled the northern regions. In the end, he died in a crude wooden hut—a straw mat, a dirt pit. That was all that remained after Ironfeather King's death: simple, pure, and powerful.
Just as Ironfeather King fell into eternal slumber, the Abyss Serpent "summoned" him back. At first, Ironfeather King intended to forcibly break free from the Abyss Serpent's binding and return to his rest. But upon realizing his opponent was Su Xiao, he changed his mind. Back in that small wooden hut, Ironfeather King had wanted to fight Su Xiao.
No purpose, no reason—just the simplest, purest battle to the death. Nothing more.
Unfortunately, Ironfeather King was too old back then, so old that wielding his spear left him gasping for breath. In that state, he chose to die quietly rather than spar with Su Xiao. In Ironfeather King's view, holding back in a spar was a complete waste of time. A fight... was about life and death.
The maples rustled. Before Ironfeather King's grave, there was no wooden marker—instead, a broken spear was thrust into the ground. Several clear slash marks were visible on its shaft.
Su Xiao stood before Ironfeather King's grave, holding Fate Dominator in his hand. A clear character for "Iron" had been carved onto it.
Fate Dominator was already covered in many small characters, giving it a unique aesthetic beauty, because each character represented a powerful being.
Si (The first ghoul in history from the Ghoul World)
Chi (Akame from the Akame ga Kill World)
An (Dark King Minas from the first trial world)
Flash (Heroic King Gilgamesh from the Holy Grail World)
Xi (Originally thought Xi was dead, now confirmed dead, no need to re-engrave)
Qian (First Hokage, Hashirama Senju)
Jia (Armor Spirit from the Shia World)
Ba (Persistent lumberjack)
Zhao (Violator Death Omen)
Zui (Sin from the Ghost World)
Hei (Black King)
Yue (Ancient God, Moon God)
Tie (Sera Guardian, Ironfeather King)
...
Su Xiao put away Fate Dominator and walked deeper into the maple forest. After advancing about half a kilometer, he spotted a snake hole leading underground.
The snake hole was a full ten meters wide, sloping downward. Bubu Wang took the lead, as Su Xiao was injured—and not lightly at that.
Su Xiao carried the still-dizzy Baha. Baha had been decisive enough; to avoid being controlled by the Abyss Serpent, it had dive-bombed from high altitude and crashed into a mountain. As Baha put it: "Even if I can't help in the fight, I won't be a burden."
Before long, Bubu Wang came trotting back. According to its reconnaissance, there was no danger inside. The space-time hub device was within.
Meanwhile, several hundred meters in front of the main gate of Abyss Serpent Mansion, Amu crouched in the bushes. It had been waiting here the whole time. Bored out of its mind, it had started pretending to be a tree.
A few birds were perched on Amu's head, but it didn't move. It was a tree. It had no food. It was so hungry.
*Grrrrr...*
Amu's stomach growled. After hesitating for a long time, it slowly turned its head to look at its neighbor—another tree.
...
Inside the Abyss Serpent Cave, Su Xiao looked at the gray crystal before him. It was over five meters tall, with a precise metal framework inside. This was the space-time hub device.
Su Xiao took a metal card from his storage space. As soon as he tossed it, the card rapidly deformed in midair, eventually attaching itself to the space-time hub device.
The massive gray crystal quickly turned white, aged, and finally shattered into irregular fragments.
[Successfully destroyed the space-time hub device belonging to Death Paradise in this world.]
[Space is being sealed...]
[Seal interrupted by 'Death Paradise.']
[Forcing seal...]
[This world has been sealed. Remaining space-time hub devices: 2.]
[Remaining space-time hub device owner: Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Remaining space-time hub device owner: Apocalypse Paradise.]
[Warning: Apocalypse Paradise is attempting to destroy the 'space-time hub device' belonging to Reincarnation Paradise in this world.]
[Warning: Apocalypse Paradise has transmitted 115 Battle Angels to this world.]
[Transmitting...]
[Prompt: 30 Hunters will be transmitted to this world.]
[Injuries will be restored for Hunters. Hunters must lead their own forces to repel the Battle Angels from Apocalypse Paradise.]
[Detected: Apocalypse Paradise has stopped transmitting Battle Angels to this world.]
[Injury restoration for Hunters has been halted. This authority has been stored in the Hunter's Reincarnation Imprint. The Hunter may use this restoration authority once without cost.]
[Hunter's main mission has been completed.]
[You have received the mission reward: Divine Bone·Holy Spirit Rank (Rare item, exclusive reward for god-slaying).]
[Transmitting... Hunter is about to return to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Prompt: The Strongest Warrior Tournament will begin in the next world progression. The Hunter must prepare in advance.]