Chapter 6: Iron-Headed Mont
Seventy-Ninth Battle Zone, Ancient Tree Sanctuary.
Inside the massive ancient tree sanctuary, continuous rumbling sounds echoed.
"Don't run! Join forces against him!"
"How are we supposed to fight? Anyone killed by that woman gets their corpse controlled, retaining all their abilities from life."
"Here it comes again! Run!"
Shouts came from within the ancient tree sanctuary. In a long corridor, a woman in a purple dress with a pointed witch's hat walked forward gracefully.
"You can run far, you hyenas. Hurry up."
As the witch-hatted woman finished speaking, several dark figures darted past her, some even climbing the walls. Soon, blood-curdling screams erupted from the other end of the corridor.
This woman hailed from a Transcendent Primordial World, but her world was ruled by the Night Temptress Witches. They rejected the Void and Paradise, and any member of those factions found would be attacked by all Night Temptress Witches.
Tap, tap. Tap...
Footsteps came from ahead. The Night Temptress Witch in the corridor furrowed her delicate brows, but soon relaxed them.
"Esteemed... Night Temptress Witch? Interested in a trade with this merchant?"
The newcomer wore a suit, his head a skull studded with rice-sized black gems. Deep flames flickered in the skull's eye sockets. This was a branch of the Devil Clan, extremely powerful in combat, representing the Devil Clan's fighting strength.
"Trade? With that gem-studded head of yours?"
The Night Temptress Witch's thin blue lips curled upward.
"Of course... it's possible, madam."
The Devil pressed his hand against his own skull, and with a crack, removed his head. Seeing this, the Night Temptress Witch's smile froze. Trading with a Devil was no joke.
"Contract... signed."
An unpleasant laugh spread, and moments later, deafening battle sounds erupted from the corridor.
...
One Hundred Ninety-Fifth Battle Zone, Frozen Ruins.
Over a dozen corpses lay in the ruins. A demon with sawed-off horns and a white crew cut stood among the bodies, demonic flames rising from him, his pupils like molten magma burning.
As for why his horns were sawed off, it involved this demon's dark history. Due to his recklessness, he charged into enemy territory during a war with the Feather Race, only to encounter an elder of the Feather Race.
Originally, this demon named Mont had two long, backward-curving horns and long white hair that reached his waist.
But when Mont charged into the Feather Race's rear, his proud horns brought him a dark history.
The Feather Race elder Mont encountered was far stronger than him. When Mont foolishly provoked him, the elder grabbed him by the horns and long white hair and beat him mercilessly. It was brutal, though being beaten by an elder Feather Race member wasn't really shameful.
Fortunately, Mont could take a beating. Any other demon of his generation would have died after a few hits from that old Feather Race member, but Mont endured a full four hours of punishment, leaving the old Feather Race member drenched in sweat and somewhat exasperated.
It was this experience of being beaten by his hair and horns that led Mont to saw off his horns and cut a crew cut fitting his reckless personality.
When Lilim heard about this, she laughed hysterically. The next day, Mont found an opportunity to beat Lilim up. He had no concept of chivalry, and since they were of the same clan, he wouldn't go for a killing blow, and Lilim wouldn't use her permanent-damage abilities. The result was that the close-combat-weak Lilim got pummeled badly.
Lilim, being who she was, couldn't beat Mont in close quarters, but she could tattle. She went to Mont's father.
Thus began a cycle. Learning his son had beaten Lilim, Mont's father trembled with rage and gave Mont a beating.
But on the third day, Mont found another chance to "ambush" Lilim, beat her up, and then Lilim tattled again. This repeated for days until Lilim, with her arm in a cast, finally gave in. As for the exceptionally stubborn Mont, he spent the next two weeks in a wheelchair. The most exasperated was Mont's father, who had fractured his arm from beating his son but was too embarrassed to get a cast.
"Huff!"
Hot air blasted from Mont's nostrils. Through his previous battles, he found no one in this battle zone could match him.
Current Mont wasn't at his peak. The more he got beaten, the stronger he became. Mont at the brink of death was the most terrifying.
...
Seventh Battle Zone, Twilight Island.
Su Xiao stood under a towering tree. As the saying goes, plans can't keep up with changes. The ambush plan had failed before it even began.
The reason was the female Feather Race member who had escaped. She had overheard Su Xiao's conversation with the twins.
Not only that, to protect herself, she used feathers from her garment to spread the information.
If that were all, it wouldn't matter much. But the twins on the left side of the island had already started slaughtering participants there.
Led by the female Feather Race member Shāng Yuè, the participants on the right side of the island had mostly banded together. Though wary of each other, they agreed not to attack each other until Su Xiao was eliminated.
One or two people wouldn't matter, but when a group gathered, other participants had no choice but to believe.
As for Nita, after the ambush plan fell through, she wisely returned the [Sealed Box] and offered to infiltrate the enemy.
Su Xiao had no objection to this. Whether Nita would be a fence-sitter or fulfill her promise depended on her subsequent actions. Her life or death was her own choice.
What Su Xiao needed to do now was wait. Wait for all of them to gather together. That would be easier to handle, since he could only use "that thing" once per day.
The scorching sun gradually softened. After waiting nearly seven hours,
Sss, sss~
Static came from the communicator. Hearing this, Su Xiao put away the communicator.
"Amu."
"Moo."
Amu raised both hands and slammed them into the ground.
Crack, crack, crack...
An ice pillar twenty meters in diameter rose upward, stopping only when it reached a hundred meters high.
Amu crouched. Su Xiao stepped onto its forearm. With a swing of Amu's arm, Su Xiao flew toward the top of the ice pillar, landing steadily.
Standing a hundred meters high on the ice pillar, Su Xiao had an excellent view. Of course, the chance of being spotted was also high, but that wouldn't matter soon.
"Hey, hey, boss, can you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Woof."
Hearing Bubu Wang's bark, Su Xiao opened the team channel and began calculating the coordinates Bubu Wang provided.
Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash at his waist and crouched on the ice. [M·Tyrant] appeared in his hands. This nearly three-meter-long sniper cannon, with its support stand, was more suitable for semi-crouched use.
Based on reconnaissance by Bubu Wang and Baha, Nita had lured the enemies to a designated area three kilometers away—a patch of wild grassland.
Three kilometers away, wild grass grew rampant. Not far off was a freshwater lake.
Amid chaotic footsteps, about thirty participants arrived at the grassland. Though wary of each other, they had clearly reached a preliminary agreement.
"Yin Yu Clan, where is the person you mentioned?"
A lizardman in kinetic armor spoke. Nearby stood a Dream Spirit in a thin gauze dress. They often appeared together, clearly acquainted and already in cooperation.
"He was supposed to be near here. How would I dare follow that monster?"
Nita shrugged. Hearing this, the female Feather Race member Shāng Yuè frowned, as if smelling conspiracy.
Meanwhile, three kilometers away, Su Xiao crouched atop the hundred-meter ice pillar, observing through [M·Tyrant]'s scope. He activated [Heavenly Walk].
[Prompt: To activate Heavenly Walk, consume Soul Crystal (Large) × 2.]
[Heavenly Walk activated. Your basic firearm ability has been raised to 'Firearm Grandmaster Lv.10'. This effect lasts 30 minutes.]
Su Xiao pulled the bolt, chambering a round. He twisted the metal knob above [M·Tyrant]'s scope, producing a crisp clicking sound. Just hearing it, one could imagine how precisely [M·Tyrant] was crafted.
As a Holy Spirit-rank, full-score sniper cannon, [M·Tyrant]'s power was immense. Coupled with Su Xiao's current basic firearm ability at 'Firearm Grandmaster Lv.10', the accuracy was unimaginable.
Since [Devouring Annihilation] had been phased out long ago, Su Xiao hadn't used ranged weapons to snipe enemies for many worlds. The last time he sniped the Ant King, the experience was still fresh in his memory.
Through the scope, Su Xiao observed three kilometers away. The crosshairs moved slightly up and down with his breathing. His finger rested on the trigger. His breathing continued, but his heartbeat slowed. The crosshairs gradually stabilized. The sniper cannon's hunt began.