Chapter 17: 20 Hours
As soon as Shangyue entered the banquet hall, the Dragon-Hunting Spider approached. Seeing this, Shangyue took out a piece of dried bark.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider’s armored leg swept out, snatched the dried bark, and tossed it into its mouth, clearly somewhat dissatisfied, but it counted as Shangyue passing the first trial.
Shangyue and Nita both sat down at the banquet table, while Monde stood in the fountain pool by the wall, washing the bloodstains off his body.
Just then, a surge of spatial fluctuations emerged, and Dilin suddenly appeared in midair, crashing to the ground.
At this moment, Dilin’s red mage robe was tattered and torn. One of her eyes had turned pitch black, and her entire body was covered in bloody scratches.
Her trembling arm lifted, bringing a small vial to her lips.
Hiss~
Dilin took a long inhale of the gas from the metal vial, and the twisted darkness peeled away from within her.
“Ha, haha, trying to kill me? Dream on. You’re just the dead.”
Dilin staggered to the pool, directly lying down in the water. The blood was diluted by the clear water. Dilin had a slight obsession with cleanliness, a result of her childhood experiences.
After all, this was only the first trial. If one couldn’t even endure this, they had no right to advance from the first stage of the Strongest Warrior Battle. However, Nita was an exception; she had survived this long because of her cooperation with Shangyue.
Judging by the way Nita had tried to lure away Axe Bro earlier, she was genuinely cooperating with Shangyue.
All participants had arrived. Anna’s eyes opened, and her slender fingers lightly tapped the banquet table. An ethereal white light appeared on all the participants.
Su Xiao looked at the white fluorescence on his arm. This energy had strong healing effects, but he had no injuries on him.
Su Xiao stood up from the sofa and also sat down at the banquet table. As soon as he sat down, heavy footsteps came from the direction of the golden door.
Fourteen Axe Bros walked toward Su Xiao. Eventually, they all stood behind his chair. The boiling killing intent was undisguised, but this was the banquet hall. If all the participants hadn’t arrived, they couldn’t even enter here. For now, it was clear they couldn’t attack Su Xiao.
Dilin, sitting next to Su Xiao, silently stood up, moved to a farther seat, and sat down without a word.
Anna sat at the head of the table, with Su Xiao opposite her. Between them was a round banquet table, and behind Su Xiao stood fourteen glaring Axe Bros.
Even without heads, the Axe Bros were a full four meters tall. Each wielded a large, bloodstained bone-cleaving axe. The sheer pressure they exuded was unimaginable.
On either side of the Pain Queen, Anna, sat Monde, Shangyue, Nita, and Dilin. The atmosphere fell into an eerily silent tension.
At first glance, Su Xiao, with the group of Axe Bros behind him, looked more like the host of this death game.
“These… are all your summons?!”
Monde tilted his head slightly, looking at the Axe Bros behind Su Xiao.
“You could say that.”
“Then why do I feel like they want to chop you up?”
Monde touched the broken horn on his head.
“Maybe that’s loyalty.”
“Huh?”
Monde was completely baffled.
On the surface, Monde indeed looked confused, but he had subtly asked if Su Xiao needed help, and Su Xiao had politely declined.
Dealing with the Axe Bros could only be done by avoiding them. This was the price—the cost of obtaining three Shadow Stones and permanently increasing Luck by 2 points. There was never such a thing as a free lunch. While Su Xiao gained huge benefits, he also had to bear the corresponding risks.
“Being able to enter the banquet hall means you have the qualification to continue participating in the death game. In the trials ahead, you only need to find the ‘Forgotten Bone Tablet’ to complete the death game and go on to accept the third stage of the Strongest Warrior Battle.”
At this point, the Pain Queen, Anna, paused.
“As your reward for completing the death game, you may choose any collection you desire from the ‘Final Place.’”
As soon as Anna finished speaking, a wall at the far end of the banquet hall turned into gray mist. Clearly, entering this gray mist would begin the subsequent trials.
The gray mist on the wall spread, and it looked like it would soon fill the entire banquet hall. Time was limited, and Su Xiao couldn’t wait for the Axe Bros’ pursuit state to end.
Su Xiao stepped toward the gray mist, with the fourteen Axe Bros following closely behind.
Just as he reached the mist, Su Xiao’s hand pressed down on the hilt of his blade. He was about to draw it when a heavy pressure enveloped his entire body. Fighting was forbidden in the banquet hall, meaning he couldn’t take advantage of the Axe Bros being restrained to eliminate them.
Su Xiao signaled Bubu Wang to enter the mist first. He wanted to test the Axe Bros’ pursuit priority.
Bubu Wang charged into the mist. The fourteen Axe Bros standing behind Su Xiao didn’t move. This meant Su Xiao had the highest pursuit priority.
Baha also entered the mist. After waiting for over ten seconds, Su Xiao rushed into the mist.
Boom!
A thunderous roar exploded in the banquet hall. The gray mist twisted violently as all fourteen Axe Bros charged into it.
Inside the hazy mist, Su Xiao had only run a dozen meters when the surrounding mist dissipated, revealing rows of wooden huts ahead.
A whistling sound came from behind Su Xiao. A large axe flew past him, directly embedding itself into a wooden hut ahead. Wood chips flew everywhere. The axe pierced straight through the house and disappeared into the distant darkness.
Su Xiao didn’t stop for a moment. He charged straight ahead. Though everything ahead was unknown, the Axe Bros were chasing him from behind.
Su Xiao had noticed earlier that the Axe Bros weren’t particularly fast—at least, not compared to their overall combat strength.
Fighting the Axe Bros up close was completely impossible. Even a seventh-rank contractor would be chopped to pieces by them.
The wind whistled past his ears. Mid-sprint, Su Xiao suddenly leaped up. The next moment, a large axe spun toward him, passing just beneath his feet.
Boom!
A heavy object crashed down in front of Su Xiao. It was an Axe Bro, thrown by the others.
As soon as this Axe Bro landed, the iron chains binding it shattered inch by inch. The large mouth on its torso opened wide and lunged directly at Su Xiao. The speed of this bite was so fast there was almost no room to dodge.
Bang!
A horrifying snapping sound followed, but the Axe Bro bit nothing. Su Xiao emerged from his Spatial Penetration state, standing on the Axe Bro’s back. His legs bent, and like a cannonball, he launched himself forward.
Just a few meters out, another large axe came swinging down at his head.
Su Xiao forcibly entered the Spatial Penetration state. The descending axe passed through his head, torso, and finally slanted out from his waist. Fortunately, Su Xiao was in the Spatial Penetration state, which could evade nearly all physical attacks.
The axe struck the ground, hitting like a bomb. The surrounding soil was blasted up by the impact.
Su Xiao was now face-to-face with an Axe Bro. A crystal layer quickly wrapped around his right arm. His arm bent, fist clenched, and he punched the Axe Bro’s side.
Why the side? The height difference was significant—the Axe Bro was a full four meters tall.
Bang! A shockwave spread. The crystal layer on Su Xiao’s right arm shattered. As for the Axe Bro, it only leaned back slightly—nothing more.
Taking this opportunity, Su Xiao dashed away into the distance.
He had only run a few dozen meters when another large axe came spinning toward him. Su Xiao sidestepped to dodge, and a streak of blood splattered from his shoulder.
Thud. Su Xiao crashed to the ground. The smell of dirt filled his nostrils. His pupils rapidly contracted because his entire body had gone numb. This wasn’t an energy or mental control effect—it was his whole body being shaken numb by some force.
A dark shadow pressed down from above. Lying on the ground, Su Xiao’s eyes flickered with blue light. Without warning, he slid several meters to the side, as if being dragged by something.
The axe struck the ground. Dirt hit Su Xiao’s face, stinging his cheek. He squinted.
Su Xiao was sent flying by the impact. Midair, the numbness in his body quickly faded. Seizing this chance, he clenched his right fist.
The Banishment attached to various parts of his body peeled off and returned to his sleeve. He had almost escaped just now.