Chapter 12: The Wrath of the Healers
The intense light gradually faded in the distance. Watching the receding brilliance, Widow West turned back and re-entered the spaceship. It was getting late, and staying up was bad for her skin.
A peculiar scene unfolded. The second Space-Time Power condensation body fell, yet the Reincarnation Paradise side acted as if they hadn't seen it.
Meanwhile, thirty kilometers away, a large group of contractors sprinted across the nighttime wilderness. Nearly five hundred people moved in complete silence. This was the alliance between Death Paradise and the Cult. They had already reached an agreement: after obtaining the Space-Time Crystal, whichever side suffered more casualties would take it first, and the next one would go to the other.
Neither side worried about the other reneging on this distribution, given the threats from the other three factions.
No one was surprised that the Apocalypse Paradise side remained inactive. Apart from the contractors stationed at their base camp, everyone else had gone mining.
At 10:17 PM that night, the alliance of Death Paradise and the Cult arrived at the landing point of the Space-Time Power condensation body. Before them, the contractors of Holy Light Paradise had already arrived and were dispersing the contaminated Space-Time Power turbulence in the surrounding area.
The two sides met. No negotiations took place. They immediately clashed in a chaotic melee.
A few minutes later—
Boom!
The explosion was deafening. Amidst the flames, a woman with wine-red hair knelt on one knee. Her fair face was now smeared with blood and dirt. The scenario she had imagined did not occur. One faction hadn't shown up—the faction that was supposed to be the main force against the Death + Sanctuary alliance. Without them, the Death plus Sanctuary alliance was virtually invincible.
"In the name of God, punishment descends upon the sins of the world!"
A religious fanatic raised both arms high, his eyes burning with fervor. A holy spike stabbed down from the sky.
The holy spike nearly pierced the air itself. Below, a contractor with bloodstained hands, exuding a tomboyish demeanor, looked up. Dazzling golden light filled her vision.
Buzz—
After a ringing in her ears, the female contractor was gradually swallowed by darkness. She was the third-in-command of the Holy Light Paradise side, Feishan, with combat power in the top tier of the Sixth Rank.
Feishan's fall was a heavy blow to the Holy Light Paradise group. Although they had nearly four hundred people, the enemy was an alliance of two Paradises. If the comprehensive combat power of these five Paradise factions were ranked, it would be:
First place: Reincarnation Paradise.
Second place: Sanctuary Paradise (the Cult).
Third place: Death Paradise.
Fourth place: Apocalypse Paradise.
Fifth place: Holy Light Paradise.
In the eyes of the Holy Light Paradise girls, the Death and Sanctuary alliance's overall combat power was definitely higher than Reincarnation Paradise's.
And now, the weakest in overall strength were facing the strongest alliance. The outcome was predictable.
"Divine Punishment!"
A fanatic clasped his hands together. A blinding light source appeared above, and white smoke rose from the ground as the earth sizzled under the heat.
'Mao Sheng: Primordial Realm.'
Vines burst from the soil, intertwining to form a barrier above. A dense life force spread, nourishing every injured contractor on the Holy Light Paradise side.
"Death Oath: Wither."
A bald man extended one hand forward. A translucent spirit manifested behind him, holding a wooden-handled scythe.
One swing of the scythe, and the vines blocking above rapidly withered.
Flames blazed fiercely. Ripples of various energies spread. Some mutually repelling energies triggered annihilation reactions upon contact. Dismembered corpses littered the battlefield.
Dying contractors cried out for help and groaned. The fanatical roars of the religious zealots rang out endlessly. At this moment, the scene here was like a hellish purgatory.
"Retreat! What are those madmen from Reincarnation Paradise thinking? Why aren't they here yet?"
"We might... not be able to retreat."
To be fair, although Holy Light Paradise's combat power ranked last, wiping them out was extremely difficult. Their main tanks fought like they were on steroids. Main tanks from other Paradises would at most dare to suppress a few people, but these main tanks each used their domains to suppress dozens. Their buffs were countless, boosting three melee attributes to 149 points, maxing out at the attribute barrier.
The chaotic battle didn't subside until 4 AM the next morning. Of the 431 contractors on the Holy Light Paradise side, only 109 survived. They hadn't even left anyone at their base camp. Even so, they were crippled by the Death and Sanctuary alliance.
As dawn broke on the horizon, near the Holy Light Paradise base camp, groups of girls hung their heads in dejection. Everyone was injured, some with missing arms or legs.
"This is so frustrating."
A short-haired girl's voice choked up. She wasn't afraid of death, but being chased all night, nearly captured alive, and then trapped in the base camp for over an hour—it was more unbearable than dying. She couldn't take this humiliation. She wanted compensation.
In truth, the Death and Sanctuary alliance was also frustrated. Once the Holy Light Paradise side hid inside their spaceship, casualties basically stopped. A group of healers plus the base camp's healing aura made them nearly invulnerable.
"No matter what happens, endure it."
A gentle yet angry voice rang out. The speaker was a woman with her hair in a bun. Her left arm had been severed, and a wound marred her once-beautiful face.
She was the leader of the Holy Light Paradise side this time, named Yimomi. Without her, the remaining hundred-plus people wouldn't have made it back.
Yimomi was a healer. Her large-scale healing abilities had thoroughly annoyed the Death Paradise side and the Cult. Not only could Yimomi heal her allies, but she could also heal her enemies. After being healed by her, enemies would experience slowed movement or even partial limb paralysis.
If her healing output were high, it might be tolerable, but when Yimomi's healing ability was applied to enemies, the effect was only about 6% to 8% of the original. She was a healer with high output, a large range, and large-scale control abilities.
"We lost, but we can't let this slide. Let's ally with Apocalypse Paradise. We can lose, but the Cult must not win!"
A male healer whose lower body had been severed roared in anger. He had reason to be furious. Before the battle tonight, the Cult had kept saying they wanted to ally with Holy Light Paradise. But tonight, they flipped the script without mentioning the alliance at all. The Cult had found a stronger ally—Death Paradise—and the Space-Time Power condensation bodies were limited, so a three-way split was impossible.
Tonight's battle was exceptionally ruthless on the Cult's part. Not only did they cut off escape routes, but they also falsely claimed an alliance before the fight, saying they would join forces against Death Paradise.
"We won't ally with Apocalypse Paradise. They're weak. We... will ally with Reincarnation Paradise."
Yimomi's words left everyone around her stunned.
"Yimomi, are you... sure? They're a bunch of madmen and old schemers."
"I'm sure."
Yimomi's tone was calm. Allying with a tiger was dangerous, but cooperating with a group of madmen—she didn't know what would happen either.
Jingle, jingle—
The sound of metal clashing came from afar. A chubby young man appeared in everyone's sight.
"Stop right there!"
As the shout fell, the approaching chubby man paused mid-step. A faint, ambiguous smile played on his face. After a moment of thought, he stopped.
"A contractor from Reincarnation Paradise."
Yimomi narrowed her eyes. They had just been routed, and now the Reincarnation Paradise side showed up. This couldn't be a coincidence.
"You... here to invite us to an alliance?"
"Heh, heh heh."
The chubby man still wore that ambiguous smile. He stepped forward, and no one attacked him. When he got within a dozen meters of the spaceship, he shoved a hand into his mouth, fished around for a while, and pulled out a saliva-covered communicator. To the chubby man, this body was just a vessel; he didn't care about it at all.
With a clatter, the communicator was tossed to Yimomi's feet.
"Call. It."
The chubby man shoved both hands into his pockets, turned, and walked away, the metal ornaments on his body jingling as he went.
The Holy Light Paradise group would never know that they hadn't been wiped out because, the previous night, the Reincarnation Paradise side had attacked the base camps of both Death Paradise and Sanctuary Paradise. If those two sides hadn't withdrawn, the Reincarnation Paradise side would have charged straight into their base camps.
The base camp was crucial. If the core drive unit were destroyed, the joke would be on them—48 hours later, that spaceship would become the enemy's base camp.
The reason the Death and Sanctuary alliance had been so relentless in their pursuit was their fear that, after their alliance, Holy Light and Apocalypse might also join forces.
As for an alliance between Holy Light Paradise and Reincarnation Paradise, the Cult didn't believe it. Reincarnation Paradise had a fearsome reputation, and they were full of old schemers. Holy Light Paradise wouldn't want to be used and then eliminated, so they wouldn't ally with Reincarnation Paradise.
As for an alliance between Apocalypse Paradise and Reincarnation Paradise—don't joke. Apocalypse Paradise had been beaten down too many times. They would rather be wiped out than form an alliance.
And now, the crippled, furious Holy Light Paradise girls were preparing to ally with Reincarnation Paradise for revenge. They could afford to lose, but they couldn't let the Cult—that group preaching morality and placing gods above all—win.
As it turned out, never provoke a healer. When they stop caring about who they heal and buff, they become terrifying.
Healers in Reincarnation Paradise were rare, especially in a war world. If you encountered one, they were an extremely scarce asset, fought over by the madmen. The healers of Reincarnation Paradise were happy with this arrangement. They were long accustomed to dealing with madmen and knew how to protect themselves.
Most healers in Reincarnation Paradise were battle healers. These combat-oriented healers didn't assist others; their destructive power was immense. Why would they heal someone else? In their own words: "My damage output is higher than yours. Why should I heal you? Are you still dreaming?"
And now, the Reincarnation Paradise side had the chance to ally with a group of healers—not the mad battle healers, but orthodox healers skilled in buffs and healing.