Chapter 48: Breaking Through the Siege
Inside the massive building, several hundred heavily armored troops were being berated by the Mad Doctor. Though it seemed he had the situation under control, he was actually panicking inside—the looks these heavily armored aberrations were giving him were growing increasingly wrong.
Taking advantage of the Mad Doctor drawing the attention of the several hundred heavily armored troops, Su Xiao and Bubu Wang leaped down, landing diagonally behind the heavily armored aberrations. Amu was dragged down from above by Baha.
As soon as he landed, Su Xiao flashed behind a stone pillar, with Bubu Wang following closely.
[You have entered the Sith Ancient Hall. This is an ultra-high-risk area.]
[Warning: This is an ultra-high-risk area!]
Seeing the second warning, Su Xiao frowned. He had seen many warning prompts before, usually in blood red, but this one was pitch black, a deep darkness that stirred unease.
Su Xiao pressed the wireless earpiece in his ear. Static hissed for a few seconds before the Dean's voice came through.
"We've entered the ancient hall. Estimated 12 minutes to reach the core area."
The Dean's voice was low. He had also infiltrated the Sith Ancient Hall. Su Xiao was on the east side of the hall, the Dean and four others on the west side, and Widow West's group of four on the north side.
Including Su Xiao and the Mad Doctor, a total of 11 people had infiltrated the hall, advancing toward the core area from three directions.
Apart from these three teams, several dozen contractors were lying in ambush outside the hall. These lone wolves had a simple task: clear the path and cover the retreat.
As for the others, some continued destroying the outskirts of the city to draw the attention of the main aberration forces, some were tasked with guarding against the Apocalypse Paradise side, and the last three were watching the remnants of the cult, the Shepherd. This guy had been hiding in the shadows until Widow West dragged him out.
The Shepherd had secretly set up a ritual altar. If Widow West hadn't discovered it in time, he would have caused major trouble.
Everything was in place. The only thing left to win was to seize the World Core from the Abyssal King.
That the World Core was in the Abyssal King's hands was a foregone conclusion. Otherwise, the exploration team led by Toad wouldn't have gone to the Sith Star, the origin place of the aberrations. Only by obtaining the Crawling Spirit could they have a chance to fight the Abyssal King; otherwise, they wouldn't even get to see his face.
Behind the stone pillar, Su Xiao switched audio channels and tried to contact Widow West's group.
Buzz~
A buzzing sound came through the earpiece, nearly making Su Xiao throw it off. Widow West's group had been exposed. According to the plan, once exposed, they were to draw away as many heavily armored troops as possible and then escape.
Su Xiao waited about half a minute. The Mad Doctor, several dozen meters away, couldn't hold out any longer and turned to flee. The fact that he had stalled them this long was entirely due to his acting skills.
Armor clashed, booms echoed, and waves of earthy yellow shockwaves spread out.
Watching the several hundred heavily armored troops chase after the Mad Doctor, Su Xiao stepped out from behind the pillar and approached a tall stone corridor.
Near the corridor, Su Xiao pressed his hand against a wall. A circular mark appeared—a node set up by their contractors earlier, triggered by consuming mana.
There would be no such luck further in. The Sith Ancient Hall was difficult to infiltrate, and their madmen had only managed to set up nodes on the periphery.
Creak~
Purple-black lines traced out, and a door opened in the wall. As it opened, a contractor wearing a gas mask stepped out.
The masked man said nothing. He walked to the stone corridor and made no effort to hide his aura.
"Illusion Sacrifice."
With a crack, something seemed to shatter. The heavily armored aberrations in the stone corridor froze for a moment before charging out.
Soon, all the heavily armored aberrations in the corridor were lured away. Su Xiao stepped into the corridor.
After passing through the corridor, Su Xiao arrived at a ceremonial hall filled with statues. Strangely, there were no heavily armored troops guarding it.
This was something Bubu Wang had scouted earlier. Otherwise, Su Xiao wouldn't have taken this route deeper into the Sith Ancient Hall.
Reaching the innermost part of the ceremonial hall, it was a dead end. Bubu Wang sniffed the ground and tapped a stone slab with his paw.
Crack, crack, crack~
Amu's large hand pressed down on the stone slab, and cold spread.
With a light tap, a large section of the stone slab shattered like glass, revealing a tunnel below. What had Bubu Wang and Beini been doing for the past two days? Scouting and clearing the path. Bubu Wang had spent nearly a day digging this tunnel, putting his home-wrecking skills to good use.
Entering the tunnel, Su Xiao walked for a few minutes before reaching the end.
Su Xiao checked his watch. It was 3:38. According to Bubu Wang's reconnaissance, at 3:40, the heavily armored troops above would shift positions, leaving a gap of about 9 seconds.
As the second hand ticked and the minute hand reached eight, Su Xiao pushed open the stone slab above. As he leaped out of the tunnel, he saw several hundred heavily armored troops moving westward, their backs to him.
Su Xiao moved quickly. When he reached a corner, he leaned against the wall and continued timing. The aberrations were meticulous in their guarding. This was why the Mad Doctor had been exposed earlier—unless the aberration commander was present, no amount of bluffing would work, and exposure was inevitable.
After waiting 34 seconds, Su Xiao stepped out from behind the corner. After advancing a hundred meters, he pushed open a door and entered a storage room.
He waited another 6 minutes before pushing the door open and stepping out.
If viewed from a bird's-eye perspective, it would be clear that at least several thousand heavily armored aberrations were distributed around Su Xiao's area. They shifted positions periodically, and Su Xiao was threading through the gaps in their patrols. A difference of three seconds or more could mean running headlong into a squad of heavily armored aberrations.
Su Xiao led the way, with Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha following closely. He couldn't use perception now—the moment he did, his position would be exposed. A spiritual wave permeated the entire ancient hall, waiting for outsiders to release their perception.
Moving forward, Su Xiao encountered no more heavily armored aberrations. When he was only about 200 meters from the Abyssal King's area, his path was blocked.
In the silence, over a thousand heavily armored aberrations clogged the passage ahead. The passage was about thirty meters wide, its length unknown.
He had to pass through here to reach the Abyssal King's residence. With the [U-Iron Tremor Bell (Fake)], Su Xiao was confident he could fight through, but he still had to deal with the Abyssal King. Fighting through here would drain too much stamina.
"Baha."
"Got it."
Baha took the [U-Iron Tremor Bell (Fake)] and flew out from their hiding spot.
"Hey, you bastards."
Baha let out a loud shout. Eyes in the passage turned toward him.
"Kill it."
Over a hundred heavily armored troops charged out first. Clearly, the other heavily armored aberrations knew they couldn't easily leave their posts.
Hammers, greatswords, and other weapons slammed into the ground. Earthy yellow shockwaves spread, hitting Baha but being absorbed by the U-Iron Tremor Bell in its beak.
Immune to the control effect of "Earth Tremor," Baha had plenty of strategies.
Soon, nearly a hundred heavily armored aberrations chased Baha away. With its spatial abilities, Baha was least afraid of being pursued.
After a few dozen seconds, Baha suddenly reappeared at the front of the passage. Since it couldn't lure all the heavily armored aberrations away at once, it would do it in batches.
Seeing Baha reappear, the heavily armored aberrations in the passage didn't move. They weren't mindless monsters, and the two sides were at a stalemate.
The only one who could pass through here was Bubu Wang, who could blend into the environment. But going alone was useless—he couldn't beat the Abyssal King.
"Amu, find a way to break away later."
"Moo."
"Don't die here."
Baha tossed the U-Iron Tremor Bell to Amu. There was no other choice now. The guards were too tight; they had to charge through.
Amu hung the U-Iron Tremor Bell on himself and charged toward the heavily armored aberrations.
"Roar!"
A giant-axe aberration met Amu, raising its axe high.
Boom.
The ground shook. Ice exploded and surged into the passage.
Su Xiao rushed to Amu's back in a few steps. Earthy yellow shockwaves swept over him. He leaped onto Amu's shoulder and shot forward like a cannonball into the passage.
Midair, the wind whistled past Su Xiao's ears. He tilted his body, dodging a cleaving greatsword.
When he reached the middle of the passage, Su Xiao felt numbness in his body. The layers of "Earth Tremor" had stacked too high.
He landed in a crouch. As his feet touched the ground, heavy cold weapons rained down on him, passing through his body as he successfully penetrated space.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
A shockwave spread, pushing back the surrounding earthy yellow shockwaves. Su Xiao exited the space-penetration state.
'Blade Path Sword: Blood Blade.'
Blood-red feathers slowly fell. Su Xiao vanished from his spot. When he reappeared, he was standing on one foot atop the head of a giant-axe aberration.
Boom, boom, boom!
Air blasts spread. Using the nearby walls as footholds, Su Xiao bounced at high speed, advancing several dozen meters.
"Moo!"
Amu's roar came from behind. Ice spread along the walls, forming a foothold.
Su Xiao stepped onto the protruding ice. A push came from beneath his foot as the ice exploded.
Using that force, Su Xiao flew out from the layers of earthy yellow shockwaves.
With a thud, Su Xiao crashed to the ground. An ice wall rose behind him, sealing the passage and blocking the heavily armored aberrations chasing him.
Amu's next task was to retreat backward. Once it escaped about a hundred meters, it just needed to smash the ground to reach the escape tunnel Bubu Wang had dug for it.
Behind the ice wall, Su Xiao had just gotten to his feet when Baha landed with a thud nearby. Though Baha had spatial abilities, it was still affected by the heavily armored aberrations' "Earth Tremor."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang ran ahead, with Su Xiao and Baha following close behind. About thirty meters ahead was the Abyssal King's residence.
"If you want to approach the King, kill me first."
A figure stood in the passage, blocking the way. She had long hair and a nearly 1.2-meter-long blade on her back—it was Crimson Tasha.
"Boss, I'll handle this one."
Baha hovered in midair, layers of spatial ripples spreading. Its black-blue eagle eyes were especially sharp.
Su Xiao didn't look at Tasha. He stepped forward to continue.
Clang.
The long blade rang out, slashing toward Su Xiao's neck.
Clang!
A pair of eagle claws caught Tasha's blade. When it came to speed, Baha wasn't afraid of anyone—it was a space-type.
"I suggest you fight me. Angering my creator has serious consequences, little bug."
Baha gripped Tasha's blade tightly. The blade and claws scraped, crackling.
Baha's strength was far inferior to Tasha's, and it would even be crushed by Tasha's strength judgment. But Baha could use spatial teleportation to resist the slashing force. To push it back, one would first need to scatter the spatial fluctuations around it. Tasha wasn't fighting Baha alone—she was fighting the nearby space itself. This was the ability of the "Void Bloodline," which Baha had developed on its own.