Chapter 62: The Loser Eats Dust
The Ice-Sealed Hall, Main Hall.
The two scorched black metal gates opened, revealing a hazy fire mist at the entrance. Pairs of eyes, seemingly filled with molten magma within, opened from within the fire mist, fixing their gaze on Su Xiao.
After roughly a few seconds, these eyes gradually dispersed, merging back into the surrounding fire mist.
Silence fell within the hall, leaving only the scorching hot air surging outward, making one feel as if standing near a volcanic crater.
The bitterly cold Northern Border sealed the most scorching place. Su Xiao remembered that not long ago, the Northern Border diplomat, Simon, had mentioned many key pieces of information before his death, such as: 'The burning fate, the entire sky will burn, everything will wither, burn, until reduced to ashes.'
What Simon said before his death should be referring to this sealed land. For more specific intelligence, one would need to delve deeper into this sealed place to find out.
After pondering for a moment, Su Xiao's hands clenched empty air. The Extreme Ice Crown floating beside him began to converge, eventually gathering together.
Rumble...
The two metal gates closed, and ice re-encrusted them. Compared to the previous extreme ice seal, the current seal was no longer secure.
Su Xiao chose to open the door for two reasons: first, to test the attitude of the forces inside the door, and second, to deal with Ayana and the Ice Armor. The Ice Armor had already died on the spot.
Holding the Extreme Ice Crown in one hand, Su Xiao turned his gaze to Ayana and Tower Girl.
"Someone will definitely stop you."
Tower Girl suddenly showed some backbone. Her entire body liquefied, exploding with a splat, and the incoming Banishment struck empty air.
Witnessing Tower Girl's self-destruction, the eldest daughter, Ayana, stood up.
"Wait, give me a chance."
Ayana spoke as she shed her purple dress, raising her hands to show she wasn't hiding any weapons.
Banishment flew to the center of Ayana's brow, hovering in mid-air and slowly rotating.
Ayana's mind raced. She knew very well that no matter her identity or beauty, all of that was meaningless now.
She only had one sentence's worth of opportunity, at most five seconds to think. No, the enemy didn't have that kind of patience. At most three seconds. After three seconds, whether she spoke or not, she would die.
Within these three seconds of life and death, Ayana's brain processing power reached its peak. Everything was to consider how to move the enemy with a single sentence.
"I can... temporarily make the Ice Descendant warriors outside the city retreat."
After saying this, Ayana felt a brief dizziness in her mind. After weighing all the current factors, she felt this sentence was most likely to save her life.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. Banishment pressed against the center of Ayana's brow, its sharp tip piercing the skin. A trail of blood trickled down from the center of her brow.
"I control the soldiers' deployment and supplies. I can make the Ice Descendant warriors outside the city temporarily retreat. I can't make them submit to you; that would cause the Northern Border's royal authority to be overthrown by high-ranking officers. Then, the Northern Border would fall into chaos, and Duoyin would win a great victory. Is that really what you want to see? After the Northern Border is defeated, Duoyin King's next target will definitely be the Chaos Legion."
Ayana's speech was extremely fast. Her will to survive was strong.
With a crackling sound, Banishment split into particles the size of dust, entering Ayana's body through the center of her brow.
Su Xiao stepped forward. Before Ayana could react, her neck was struck hard, her consciousness blurring. Then, a slight sting came from the side of her neck, as if pricked by a needle. A cool medicinal liquid was injected into her body.
Ayana collapsed to the ground, immediately feeling the bodily energy within her rapidly losing vitality, eventually sinking into various parts of her body, making her unable to use any abilities.
"Answer me one question."
Su Xiao crouched down and snapped his fingers in front of Ayana. Her dilated pupils gradually contracted.
"Have you seen this before?"
Su Xiao took out a stone slab engraved with the image of the Void Tree fruit.
"It seems... a bit familiar."
Ayana pondered for a moment before suddenly remembering.
"In my father's room, I've seen this wood carving! That was... about two years ago? My father gifted this wood carving to Duoyin King, seemingly in exchange for something."
"Wood carving?"
"Yes, that's right. This thing looks like a fruit, but it's actually very hard. If not for the texture, I would have suspected it was metal."
"Is that so? Then you're useless."
"Wait..."
Pfft.
Su Xiao struck Ayana's neck with a hand blade, blood splattering everywhere.
This enemy had to be eliminated. Two minutes ago, he had personally killed her brother. A flash of hatred burst from her eyes, though only for an instant, it made Su Xiao feel a bit uneasy.
Ayana was very clever, not weak in strength, knew how to use her beauty, and was very good at enduring, even willing to submit to a mortal enemy, being controlled or even toyed with by them.
Such a ruthless person, if left unchecked, capsizing in a ditch was only a matter of time. Vipers or manipulative women couldn't even be compared to Ayana.
Keeping such a dangerous enemy by one's side was an extremely idiotic move. Su Xiao had never considered doing so. Therefore, after obtaining the intelligence, he decisively acted.
As for having Ayana command the Northern Border troops outside the city to retreat, that was indeed feasible, but at the same time, it would also give Ayana an opportunity.
Standing before the ice-sealed gate, Su Xiao let out a long breath. The hidden threats lurking in the shadows were basically resolved. At least he didn't have to worry about the World Child suddenly popping up to cause trouble. Although the opponent wasn't strong in combat, they were backed by the power of luck, and might accomplish something unbelievable.
"Baha, clean up this hall."
"Got it."
Baha picked up Ayana's corpse and flew toward the front hall to retrieve the treasure chests inside.
Su Xiao still had many things to do, but before that, he needed to check the gains. In this battle, he had killed seven enemies, none of whom were small fry.
First were five Holy Spirit Chests. The Fat Dwarf's chest had the lowest value, being a [Holy Spirit Chest (30%)], while Ayana's had the highest value, being a [Holy Spirit Chest (85%)].
Apart from these chests, Su Xiao also obtained 26.7% of the World Source. However, these gains didn't include the World Child, Zange.
[Tip: You have killed the World Child, Talta Zange.]
[You have obtained the Fate Chest.]
[You have obtained 13.5% World Source.]
[You have obtained Sinfall Celestial Relic (Growth-Type Weapon · Epic Rank).]
[Sinfall Celestial Relic]
Origin: Canglong Continent · Eastern Marsh Ruins.
Quality: Epic Rank (Growth-Type)
Category: Medium-Short Staff (126cm)
Durability: 195/280 (Far exceeding same-quality equipment)
Attack Power: 196～254
Equipment Requirement: Strength 21 points, Agility 27 points (Extremely low equipment prerequisites; this trait will significantly increase this equipment's rating)
Equipment Effect 1: Tenacity (Passive), this weapon is extremely sturdy, but repair is more difficult.
Equipment Effect 2: Sinfall (Passive), after successfully attacking an enemy's body with this weapon, temporarily steal 2 points of the enemy's True Strength Attribute and 2 points of True Agility Attribute.
Tip: After successful theft, the user gains an equal boost to their own attributes. The theft effect lasts for 15 seconds. After this effect ends, the enemy's Strength and Agility attributes will recover.
Tip: The theft effect can stack, up to 5 times. If stacked to 5 times, the theft duration for this round extends to 6 minutes. In subsequent combat, each attack on an enemy will additionally increase the duration by 30 seconds.
Equipment Effect 3: Mind Reflection (Passive), this ability is not activated.
Growth Condition: Unknown.
Growth Degree: 98.7% (Upon reaching 100%, it will advance to a Holy Spirit Rank weapon)
Rating: 700 points (Epic Rank equipment rating is 530～700 points)
Introduction: The loser eats dust, nothing more.
Price: Soul-bound upon equipping; this weapon will definitely drop upon the user's death.
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