Chapter 59: The Victor
A massive swarm of demon beasts surged out from the spatial rift. The insect nest inside had long withered, to prevent mutual interference once the rift fully opened and connected with the base camp nest.
The war on the main battlefield continued. With 600,000 demon beasts, it was an entirely different concept. As long as they weren't surrounded, the casualty rate of the demon beasts would plummet sharply.
After summoning the 600,000 demon beasts, Su Xiao leaped onto Barbatos's back. He wouldn't linger on the main battlefield for long; necessary caution was still required.
Returning to the insect nest, Su Xiao found that Jila had recovered, no longer in that dazed state from before.
"My mental strength is even stronger now."
As Jila spoke, she extended her slender fingers. The next moment, Mantis Armor·Bru floated into the air, spinning 360 degrees. Among everyone present, Jila only dared to bully Bru, Bubu, and Amu. She was a bit afraid of the latter two, especially Amu.
As for Baha, as long as Jila's mind was sound, she wouldn't dare provoke him. A few words from Baha could leave her feeling down for several days.
"Don't bully the dull-headed beast."
Baha landed on Amu's shoulder, looking somewhat fatigued.
Su Xiao needed to deal with the Dia Tribe and the Tiger Bee Clan as quickly as possible. While the demon beast tactic was decent, for a counterattack, the Demon Flame Dragons were better—they could fly.
The base camp nest stopped cultivating demon beasts and switched to cultivating Demon Flame Dragons. The cultivation speed of Demon Flame Dragons wasn't fast: three every ten minutes, eighteen per hour.
A few minutes later, the fungal carpet around the nest began to re-spread. After sacrificing over a hundred worker scorpions, the fungal carpet on the main battlefield expanded and connected with the nest's fungal carpet.
With the arrival of the 600,000-strong demon beast army, the situation on the main battlefield changed drastically. The morale of the Dia Tribe suffered a devastating blow. If Gu Wu hadn't forcibly suppressed them with his trusted tribal forces, a rout would have already occurred.
It was no longer a question of whether the Dia Tribe and Tiger Bee Clan could wipe out the insect race, but whether they would be counterattacked and annihilated instead.
Amidst splattering insect blood, Gu Wu tore a demon beast in two. Standing atop a pile of corpses, he looked into the distance. No demon beasts were charging forward, which brought a different gleam to his eyes.
"The enemy's mother nest is damaged. There will be no more armored beasts!"
Gu Wu's loud shout stunned many Dia warriors who had been filled with despair. Some of them rushed to higher ground and saw that, indeed, the charging enemies had stopped. It was likely that the "Black Rain" had taken effect.
The Dia Tribe on the main battlefield hadn't yet noticed that the number of Demon Flame Dragons was steadily increasing. By the time they sensed something was wrong, over an hour had passed.
Twenty Demon Flame Dragons flew high in the sky. The Dia Tribe and Tiger Bee Clan had something to say about these flying behemoths: why were they so shameless? After fighting for a long time and finally heavily wounding them, these dragons would simply land, let the fungal carpet cling to them, fight on the ground for a short while, and then fly back up, fully recovered, to spew dragonflame again.
Twelve hours into the war, the Lizard Clan on the right flank actually fled. Half an hour later, their good brothers, the Gray Rock Clan, also fled.
In truth, whether they fled or not made little difference. Throughout the war, they had adopted a spectator's attitude. After a dozen Gray Rock warriors surrounded a demon beast and wounded it heavily, they simply stopped bothering with it. They had been forced onto the battlefield and naturally didn't want to completely offend the insect race.
From start to finish, Su Xiao hadn't sent many demon beasts to the left and right flanks—that would have been a waste of his own combat power.
"Roar!"
A Demon Flame Dragon bellowed, continuously spewing dragonflame downward. By now, the number of Demon Flame Dragons had reached fifty, and it might not be long before they became the main force on the battlefield.
Sixteen hours into the war, the Dia Tribe's front lines completely collapsed, with large-scale desertions occurring. With 102 Demon Flame Dragons spewing dragonflame from above, no one could withstand that.
The war raged from day into night, with dragonflame illuminating the entire battlefield.
High above, Gu Wu stood on the head of a Demon Flame Dragon, roaring as he forcibly tore open its skull. His skin was covered in cracks as he fought desperately.
Whoosh!
Over a dozen streams of dragonflame blasted toward him. Amidst the flames, Gu Wu's eyes bulged wide, and he finally plummeted downward, crashing onto the fungal carpet with a thud.
The surrounding fungal carpet gradually enveloped him but then receded moments later, not decomposing his body. Even though he was an enemy, Gu Wu's refusal to flee and his fight to the very end were worthy of recognition.
The battlefield spread increasingly wide. The Dia Tribe members fled in all directions, while the Tiger Bee Clan fought to the death without retreating. But over 90% of them had already been killed, and the survivors were barely holding on.
Bee Queen·Caro panted heavily, staring at the leader-class demon beast·Abaddon ahead. She let out a somewhat morbid laugh.
"You've awakened a monster. A monster named Tamisha."
Bee Queen·Caro spread her arms wide and thrust out her chest. Abaddon leaped up, its greatsword piercing through Caro's chest.
When the morning sun rose over the horizon, 207 Demon Flame Dragons were circling above the battlefield. The battlefield fell silent.
In this world, there was only one way to fight the insect race: gather high-end combat power, charge recklessly toward the insect nest, enter it, and kill Jila. If Su Xiao wasn't inside the nest, this plan was feasible.
In truth, the insect race feared two situations most: 1. A barren, desolate world, and 2. Inability to obtain bio-energy from enemies.
Combat insects had a limited lifespan and couldn't increase their numbers through reproduction. Every powerful thing had weaknesses, and the insect race was no exception.
The Dia Tribe's front lines were completely routed. The scene at the Great Gathering Place wasn't much better. Originally composed of multiple native tribes, it fell apart the moment Saint Shaman·Gu Wu died, with everyone fleeing outward.
At the edge of the smoke-filled battlefield, Naji·Ga lay among a large pile of demon beast corpses. The war was over. The Dia Tribe had suffered a crushing defeat, the Tiger Bee faction was nearly wiped out, and Tiger Bee Lord·Tamisha was nowhere to be found.
"Mu Xiao, prophesied that I would die."
Naji·Ga struggled to get up from the ground. This was the rear of the battlefield, so it wouldn't be swept clean by Demon Flame Dragons for now. As for fleeing, Naji·Ga didn't think he could. An overwhelming mental force, powerful enough to astonish him, was firmly locked onto him.
"No need for prophecy. You're dead for sure. But I can still live."
Mu Xiao sat on a nearby pile of corpses, her expression calm.
"Dream on. Bai Ye won't leave any survivors."
Naji·Ga tore off his half-severed right arm. There was still one thing he wanted to do, but he didn't know if he could accomplish it.
"Heh~, actually, I had a fling with that guy."
"What?"
Even with Naji·Ga's composure, he was somewhat surprised. But suddenly, he recalled something: Plague Worm had died too abruptly, clearly due to a leak of information.
"So it was you..."
"Just kidding. I have nothing to do with that guy. Aside from being hunted by him, I've more or less made up for my losses. Goodbye—ah, no, forever."
Mu Xiao decisively chose to return. Participating in the war event barely allowed her to recover her losses. She had been targeted by someone formidable before and had paid a great price to have the 'Tracking Mark' erased through Holy Light Paradise.
"A Holy Light executioner? I didn't notice. A miscalculation."
Naji·Ga sat on the corpse pile, waiting. Before long, over a dozen Demon Flame Dragons landed. Barbatos and the leader-class demon beast·Abaddon were both present.
"Bai Ye, you're stronger than them. Hiding behind them is too much, isn't it?"
Before Naji·Ga could finish speaking, Su Xiao had already descended along Barbatos's dragon wing.
"No need to ask. I'm a violator. I paid a considerable price to participate in this survival trial, only to run into the Night of Decapitation."
Naji·Ga took out a flat metal flask and took a sip of the strong liquor inside.
"Sign a contract. I'll help you deal with Gray Gentleman. You're curious about the situation with the violators, aren't you..."
Clang!
Naji·Ga's words were cut short. A bloodline appeared on his neck.
Su Xiao wasn't curious. He sheathed his longsword and walked back toward the insect nest. He needed to quickly reduce the number of Demon Flame Dragons. Without a war, maintaining over 300 Demon Flame Dragons cost over a hundred thousand bio-energy points per hour, or several million per day.
With the Dia Tribe routed and the Tiger Bee faction nearly wiped out, maintaining the number of demon beasts was sufficient.
[Tip: War-type Main Mission: Conquest (Completed).]
[You have received Star Seal Imprint (15).]
[You have received Soul Crystal (Complete) × 120.]
[You have received World Core (Fragment) × 3.]
The war main mission was successfully completed. Additionally, there were reward notifications for killing Gu Wu, four Shaman Priests, and Bee Queen·Caro. Su Xiao didn't have time to check them, but he had already obtained all the World Source.
The only thing left to do was go to the trial zone and see what was hidden inside the stump of the Tree of Life.
[Announcement (Void Tree): Due to the actions of Contractor 1***3, the survival trial can no longer proceed normally.]
[Announcement (Void Tree): As Contractor 1***3 has become the strongest dominant force in this world, isolating...]
[Announcement (Void Tree): Contractor 1***3 has been restricted to the central region of this world (Contractor 1***3 has occupied 12 regions of this world).]
[Announcement (Void Tree): Remaining survival trial time: 47 hours. A 'Temporary Trial Zone' has been selected. No supply crates will be dropped in this zone. Due to initial regulations, supply crates will only be dropped in the permanent trial zone.]
...
[Tip (Void Tree): Balancing mechanism completed. Contractor (Hunter) may continue to obtain supply crates. This is the Contractor (Hunter)'s normal income.]
[Tip (Void Tree): Your trial mission has been completed at the highest evaluation. Do not enter the temporary trial zone (You may remain in this world for 47 more hours. Do not actively kill survivors or pursuers; this action will yield no benefits).]
[Tip (Void Tree): As Contractor (Hunter)'s actions have no violation records and have not caused the insect race to develop uncontrollably in this world, evaluating...]
[Tip (Void Tree): The insect race will become a faction in this world. Due to its summon characteristics, all Contractors entering this world cannot join this faction.]
[Tip (Void Tree): In 47 hours, the Death Forest will be re-established. If Contractor (Hunter) orders the insect race faction to station outside the Death Forest, restricting subsequent pursuers and survivors from fully leaving the trial zone, the Void Tree will reward Insect Race Overlord·Jila with a certain amount of bio-energy at the end of each survival trial.]
[Tip (Void Tree): For subsequent survival trials, due to Contractor (Hunter)'s actions this time, all those who leave the Death Forest will complete the survival trial with a medium evaluation.]
A large number of announcement notifications and tips appeared. After reviewing them, Su Xiao roughly understood: mainly, he couldn't enter the temporary trial zone, and after this trial ended, he would assist with subsequent survival trials.
The Death Forest would regenerate in 47 hours. If Jila had the demon beasts block the Death Forest's perimeter to prevent subsequent survivors and pursuers from reaching the outside, Jila would also be considered an assistant in the survival trial. At the end of each trial, she would receive a certain amount of bio-energy as a reward.
As for why this situation occurred, the reason was simple: to prevent the trial world from developing into a war world again.
Since this benefited multiple parties, Su Xiao naturally wouldn't refuse. There was no benefit for him to go after other survivors or pursuers now.
[Tip (Void Tree): Contractor (Hunter) has agreed to this regulation. Subsequent penalty mechanisms have been lifted.]
Seeing the last tip, Su Xiao's eye twitched. He certainly didn't want a halo floating above his head, let alone for several worlds.
Inside the Dia Tribe's Great Gathering Place, three figures sat on a very high porch.
"It's over over there. Gask, don't eat random things in the future. If the situation hadn't forced it, I wouldn't have let the deity descend to save your sorry life."
Shenfu smiled. Near him was the emaciated Wild Beast·Gask.
"Who tampered with the essence?"
Gask scratched his face with his index finger, looking puzzled.
"Whoever it was, you deserved it. Grabbing essence is all about using your own methods. I never thought we three would cooperate. What do you think, Gourmet?"
"Don't count me in. I'm just here to watch the show."
Gourmet finished reviewing the announcements, then dissolved into a mass of dark red tentacles and vanished.
After the series of announcements, all surviving survivors and pursuers rushed toward the temporary trial zone.
On a low hill covered in wild grass, a figure fell to her knees with a thud. The woman beside her, wearing black stockings, stepped a few paces away, pretending not to know the kneeling idiot for now.
The one kneeling was Molei from Apocalypse Paradise. She was looking up at the sky.
"The Void Tree is so good! It restricted that monster! Senior sister, am I dreaming?"
"Don't talk to me. I don't know you."
Senior sister walked quickly, afraid someone might know she was acquainted with Molei. She couldn't afford the embarrassment. Still, escaping this time was thanks to Molei, who had been very decisive in wanting to flee and not participate in that great battle.
"Don't be so heartless. Do you know how big my psychological shadow is? That guy commanded hundreds of thousands of beast cavalry in the world before last, and now he's created an insect race in this world. Is he a demon? Why do I always run into him?"
Molei quickly caught up with her senior sister. There were likely many survivors who shared her thoughts.
Like Reincarnation Paradise, please collect it: () Reincarnation Paradise updates the fastest.