Chapter 82: The Contract
“See you around.”
The nameless saint tossed the Overlord Medal in his hand. He had already assessed the situation. If things continued like this, he would eventually be dragged down by his teammate. He had seen plenty of useless teammates in Apocalypse Paradise, but one this troublesome was a first.
The nameless saint didn’t care what ability was affecting Afuni. In a life-or-death battle, he only looked at results. He had partnered with Afuni and signed a contract, but during the fight, she had contributed nothing in terms of combat power, and her healing abilities were completely suppressed. So why should he continue cooperating with her?
More importantly, in this battle, it was him who was about to die, not Afuni, who was watching from above the canyon. When he lost, this woman would hand over the Overlord Medal and then flee.
Afuni’s gaze swept around. Just moments ago, an enemy had suddenly appeared behind her. Before the enemy showed itself, she hadn’t sensed its presence at all. That was the most terrifying part.
“Ee-ya-ya.”
A small, living weed ran to Afuni’s feet and used its grain-sized little fists to pound against her ankle.
With a squelch, Afuni crushed the plant life, her expression unchanged. She knew this thing was a distraction created by that “invisible” enemy.
Afuni clearly understood that the greatest threat now was no longer the enemy from Reincarnation Paradise, but her teammate, the nameless saint.
The nameless saint had been thoroughly screwed over by Afuni, and now that he had abandoned the Overlord Medal, only the heavens knew what he would do next.
A lean camel is still bigger than a horse. The nameless saint had fought Su Xiao to this extent. Even heavily injured, he was not someone Afuni could handle.
“We have a contract. Calm down.”
Afuni watched the nameless saint approaching from a distance, a hint of warning in her voice.
[Warning: You have violated Rule 1572 of the ‘Cooperative Combat Contract.’ All equipped items and all materials in your storage space will be transferred to the contract drafter (Nameless Saint). The transfer cost is 57.2% of all materials.]
Seeing this notification, Afuni froze. She had carefully examined the contract. It only had 21 clauses. How could she have violated Rule 1572?
“Contract? Remember, next time you sign a contract, magnify the clauses tens of thousands of times and examine them carefully. You naive healing milkmaid from Holy Light Paradise.”
The kinetic armor on the nameless saint’s head opened. There was some blood on his face, but he was smiling. The losses from the battle were compensated. After deducting the transfer cost, he obtained 42.8% of Afuni’s assets.
In an instant, Afuni’s equipped items and the contents of her storage space were emptied. Such was the risk of signing a contract. As for not signing? If she hadn’t, the nameless saint would have killed her on the spot.
Was the nameless saint a strong, honest man? Had he had a moment of kindness? Was he carrying a teammate? Not at all. He had signed the contract with Afuni because she had healing abilities. But if she played tricks, she would become his resource pack.
“You… you…”
Afuni couldn’t even speak. Before this, she had been constantly thinking about how to use the nameless saint, this “kind” man with a mining shovel on his belt who liked to dig.
“D, K, 2773.4581, T, Q, Atoros, Radiant Star, River of the Underworld.”
The nameless saint spoke incomprehensible words. He walked toward Afuni at a moderate pace, seemingly unconcerned that she might escape.
Just as Afuni was about to turn and flee, she received another warning.
[Warning: Phase 2 of the ‘Cooperative Combat Contract’ has been activated. You have not entered the designated code cipher.]
[Combat contribution assessment in progress. Your combat contribution is 8.27%. Nameless Saint’s is 91.73%.]
[Your combat contribution is below the minimum threshold of 10%. You will receive contractual punishment.]
[You have been forcibly placed in a weakened state.]
…
Afuni felt a wave of weakness. The nameless saint had arranged everything too perfectly for her. Or rather, a Battle Angel who seemed like an honest man could be terrifying once he turned hostile.
“Surprised? Or wondering why the tricks you pulled on the contract had no effect? Let me tell you a secret: contracts can actually be made double-layered. Some old yinbi once drafted a five-layer contract. That’s right, I signed it, but I didn’t die.”
The nameless saint grabbed Afuni’s neck and snapped it with a crack.
An Overlord Medal fell from Afuni’s body. The nameless saint picked it up and looked at Su Xiao.
“Bai Ye, how about… we cooperate?”
“Oh? Sure.”
“Forget it. You’re a hunter from Reincarnation Paradise.”
The nameless saint tossed the Overlord Medal in his hand and walked out of the canyon. In his direct confrontation with Su Xiao, he had been completely outclassed.
As for trying to outmaneuver Su Xiao through a contract, the nameless saint didn’t want to die. He had experienced how terrifying the old yinbis of Reincarnation Paradise could be. Once, he had been schemed against until he was left with only two pieces of equipment. His current method of drafting contracts was learned from one of those old yinbis.
The nameless saint didn’t leave in disgrace. He was eliminated in fifth place in the Strongest Warrior Tournament. Apocalypse Paradise’s rewards should be generous, given that such a strong contender had emerged, increasing their chances of winning the World War.
Bubu Wang picked up the two Overlord Medals on the ground. Su Xiao drank a bottle of Ancient Secret Medicine and walked toward the ice layer that Amu had frozen.
Clang, clang, clang.
Three pale blue slashes appeared. The dozen-meter-tall ice wall shattered, and a black flame arrow came flying toward him.
Ding.
As if cutting a solid object, Su Xiao slashed the black flame arrow away.
On the other side of the ice wall, Amu was planted headfirst in the ground like an inverted onion. Not far away, a bloodied Baha was locked in combat with Quanyu.
“Quanyu, retreat.”
Black flames spread, covering half the canyon. A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky.
“Xiu, wait…”
Before Quanyu could finish, lightning surged, spatial fluctuations appeared, and Quanyu vanished.
“It’s just the four of us now. On the fifth day, that is, tomorrow at noon, let’s settle this on the Peak Mountain Range, Bai Ye.”
The man in the black flame coat, Xiuge, snapped his fingers. A second black lightning bolt struck from the sky, and he disappeared from the spot. The surrounding black flames dissipated instantly.
“Don’t you dare run!!”
Mengde roared. He was heavily injured, which only made his combat power surge.
Xiuge chose to retreat because Mengde, that iron-headed fool, had recklessly charged at Quanyu during the fight. At that moment, the combat prowess of Amu and Baha was on full display, and Beini also joined in to draw aggro.
Amu had held Xiuge back, allowing Mengde, Baha, and Beini to gang up on Quanyu. Quanyu was strong, no doubt, and could normally handle Mengde, but with his frail build, once Mengde caught him, he nearly died.
“I could take them both on my own. Wah~”
As soon as Mengde relaxed, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing…”
With a thud, Mengde collapsed, performing a perfect “instant death” for Su Xiao.
Su Xiao looked at Mengde with some confusion. Given Mengde’s physical toughness, even with severe injuries, he shouldn’t be this weak.
“Save me… I… swallowed… the Overlord… Medal… can’t… spit it… out.”
The moment Mengde finished speaking, Su Xiao kicked him in the stomach. This blow from an ally nearly made Mengde vomit bile.
“This… won’t work… it seems… to have… grown… inside.”
Mengde’s eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
“Boss, is this iron-headed fool going to die?”
“No, but he needs an incision to remove the Overlord Medal.”
“Oh ho~ That doesn’t seem much better than dying.”
Baha muttered quietly, recalling some painful memories, and looked at Mengde with a hint of sympathy.