Chapter 63: Blazing Land
The [Sinfall Celestial Relic] was pure white in color, resembling a straight bone rod. When held, it felt similar to gripping a metal rod.
After Zange's death, the patterns on the [Sinfall Celestial Relic] all evaporated. Clearly, this item needed to first reflect the user's heart and mind to unleash its full power.
Its attack power was on the lower-middle end among Epic weapons, but its ability was formidable. After hitting an enemy five times, it would steal a total of 10 points of Strength and 10 points of Agility from the enemy. The effect lasted for a total of 6 minutes, and each subsequent hit on the enemy extended the duration by 30 seconds.
At first glance, this seemed like a gain of 20 total attributes, but that wasn't the case. With the ebb and flow, it actually represented a gap of 40 total attributes.
In one-on-one combat, this was extremely lethal. The user of this weapon would grow stronger the longer the fight went on.
Not only that, but the usage conditions for this item were absurdly low. Su Xiao's physical attributes at Rank 1 would have been enough to wield this weapon.
Imagine a Rank 1 contractor picking up the [Sinfall Celestial Relic]. What would that scene be like? In battle, just two strikes would bring the enemy down. After their Strength was reduced below 1 point, they wouldn't even be able to stand up.
Su Xiao lightly swung the rod, and a whimpering sound of air being split appeared. This item's ability to reduce the enemy's Strength and Agility was truly too useful. He was even a bit reluctant to sell it. Unfortunately, the weapon's attack power was indeed too weak. If he had a chance to hit an enemy with this rod, switching to Dragon-Slaying Flash would mean the enemy might already be dead.
Putting away the [Sinfall Celestial Relic], Su Xiao had Baha guard the "Sealed Giant Gate" and led Bubu Wang out of the hall.
At this moment, there were no civilians in the city. The specific reason was unclear to Su Xiao. After he attacked Frostmourne City, he discovered that the civilians here had been relocated. It might have been due to the war, or perhaps because of the thing sealed inside the Ice-Sealed Hall.
Now, the front city wall was completely occupied by the Wolf Cavalry Legion. There were over a dozen breaches in the front wall, and the Wolf Cavalry were engaging the Holy Emblem Knights through these tens-of-meters-wide gaps in the wall.
Behind the Holy Emblem Knights were nearly a million Northern Border troops, sandwiching the Holy Emblem Knights from within. The annihilation of the Holy Emblem was only a matter of time.
Barbatos was exceptionally active at this moment, spewing dragonflame over the battlefield. From time to time, a blue blade light would slash down from the dragon's back, exploding across the battlefield.
Uya, who had become a temporary dragon knight, was like a Valkyrie. She directed the Wolf Cavalry on the city wall to fire volleys of giant crossbows, while the Orc Hero, Wobor, commanded the battlefield below, setting up defensive lines at the dozen or so breaches in the city wall.
After Su Xiao watched the battle for two hours, the last Holy Emblem Knight was overwhelmed by the Ice Descendant warriors. The clash between the Wolf Cavalry and the Ice Descendant warriors began.
It wasn't until dusk that the Northern Border forces' assault on the city slowed down. The truth was, they simply couldn't break through. Nearly 270,000 Ice Descendant warriors had been thrown into the fight without even making a ripple.
As soon as the battle eased, Uya's dragon knight experience card expired.
After successfully stabilizing the defense line, Su Xiao pulled out 100,000 Wolf Cavalry, leaving the rest stationed on the city wall.
At 5 PM, Su Xiao led Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha back into the Extreme Ice Hall. The city's defenses were stable, and Su Xiao prepared to open the sealed gate again to explore what was inside.
With a crack, Su Xiao tore apart the heavily cracked Extreme Ice Crown. The ice layer on the wall ahead shattered, and the two metal giant doors covered in burn marks opened once more, a wave of heat rushing toward them.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, meaning it would go in first to scout. With the [Sanctuary Badge], even if it encountered danger, it could escape.
"Five minutes."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang blended into the environment. Determining the situation inside the gate was crucial. If there really was some faction inside, sending Wolf Cavalry in recklessly would be equivalent to declaring war. Bubu Wang was different; its True Charm attribute of 179 points was no joke.
Time passed quickly. After about 4 minutes, Bubu Wang sent a message saying the situation inside the gate was somewhat complicated.
Su Xiao took Baha and Amu and walked through the giant gate. Ahead, orange-red fire mist floated, with very low visibility.
As they went deeper, Su Xiao found this was a very wide corridor. The walls on both sides were covered in burn marks and inscribed with many characters.
After walking several dozen meters into the corridor, Su Xiao stopped. On the ground ahead was a drawn circle, and beneath it was a string of crooked small characters. No need to identify—this kindergarten-level handwriting was definitely Bubu Wang's.
'Smells like strawberry flavor.'
Next to these small characters written by Bubu Wang was a paper ice cream bowl. Clearly, this kind of thing shouldn't appear in a sealed land. It wasn't just a matter of style; the era didn't match either.
It was like a big boss desperately opening the Demon Realm Gate, preparing to destroy the world with it, but as soon as the "Demon Realm Gate" opened, a tour group walked out.
"Boss, that girl is surprisingly laid-back."
"Mm."
Su Xiao stepped forward and continued walking. Before long, he saw Bubu Wang's figure in the fire mist.
Bubu Wang was sitting on a black stone bench. In front of it was a square stone table with two metal goblets on it.
A gray orc with withered skin and a beard that twisted like snakes under his chin stood across from the stone table.
Flames burned in this gray orc's eyes, and his body was covered in scars, not a single patch of intact skin. Or rather, it would be more fitting to call him a Flame Orc.
"Choose. Face your fate. One cup represents eternal life, the other represents death. You only have one chance."
The Flame Orc let out a low laugh, his eyes looking at Bubu Wang with interest. This was why Bubu Wang said the situation was complicated.
"Woof."
Sensing Su Xiao approaching, Bubu Wang barked. The Flame Orc also looked toward Su Xiao. The moment he saw Su Xiao, the Flame Orc's emotions underwent multiple changes: shock, shame, and fear.
Clang~
The long blade hummed softly. Su Xiao stopped at the stone table and narrowed his eyes.
"Choose. One cup is death, the other is eternal life."
Su Xiao pointed his long blade at the two metal goblets on the table. The best way to solve a multiple-choice question was to make the person who set the question choose. The answer would definitely be correct.
The Flame Orc didn't hesitate at all. He picked up both metal goblets simultaneously and poured them into his mouth. Both cups contained poison, but drinking them together wouldn't kill him.
[Tip: You have solved the riddle of the Betrayer, Okam.]
[You have obtained the Sanctuary of the Inferno.]
[Holding the Sanctuary of the Inferno grants immunity to Fire Erosion (deals 10 points of True Fire Erosion damage per second).]
[Tip: Detected that the Hunter is a Chaos Legion High Lord and the absolute controller of the Chaos Legion at the current stage. The Fire Demon Spirit is extremely afraid of you. You can completely negate the 'Fire Erosion' effect.]
……
A series of prompts appeared. Su Xiao looked at the Betrayer, Okam, ahead.
"Okam, who gave you the guts to provoke me?"
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, the Betrayer, Okam, across from him fell to his knees with a thud.
"W-War Lord, I... I once basked in your glory too! It wasn't me, I didn't betray, it wasn't me!"
The Betrayer, Okam, trembled like a sieve. Hearing the other's words, Su Xiao was very surprised internally. He had never seen this Flame Orc before; he was just testing earlier.
"Where is Agamemnon?"
Su Xiao began another test.
"In, in the depths of the Inferno."
"Take me there."
"As you command."
The Betrayer, Okam, was about to move forward when Amu blocked him. Baha flew back, and after a moment—
Rumble...
The mighty Wolf Cavalry Legion charged from behind. Although only 100,000 strong, their momentum was still astonishing.
"Roar!"
A dragon's roar came—it was Barbatos. This guy was squeezing hard through the corridor; his size was too large.
With the Betrayer, Okam, leading the way, the corridor ahead soon came to an end. What met their eyes was a land full of magma, thick smoke, and broken rock ground.
The ground's rocks were cracked in large patches, with magma flowing in the fissures. This place was called the Blazing Land.
Bubu Wang stood on the scorching magma stone, so hot it felt like it was ascending to heaven. The Wolf Cavalry behind were also sweating profusely. Here, even breathing felt stifling and hot, with the dark red glow of magma everywhere.
Even so, the Wolf Cavalry weren't affected by the "Fire Erosion" effect; they were naturally immune to it.
Originally, the dire wolves couldn't have negated this effect, but under the War Lord's blessing, they and the gray orcs on their backs had almost become a single entity, allowing a certain degree of energy exchange between them.
The Betrayer, Okam, led the way. After traveling several kilometers through this scorching land, a pile of broken remains appeared ahead.
These remains looked like they had been burned out. Nearby, claw marks and explosion traces could be seen.
Seeing this, Su Xiao understood how Yueshitu had managed to earn so much battle merit.
At present, Yueshitu's battle merit was still growing continuously. Judging by the momentum, if this continued, she might really surpass Su Xiao, especially since in the Blazing Land, battle merit gain was more than six times that of the outside world.
Faced with this situation, Su Xiao already had a solution, and it was one that addressed the root cause.