Chapter 13: Remnant Radiance of the Strong
The bright moon hung high in the sky, District 5, Evening Mist Street.
Evening Mist Street was one of the main thoroughfares of District 5. There were many shops on both sides, but after 6 PM, these shops closed. At night, this was the territory of desperadoes.
The third node was located right on the street, but now all six factions had gathered. The Heaven's Punishment from the Apocalypse Team didn't dare act rashly; he needed to be clear about the attitudes of the Magic Association and the Steam Alliance.
After entering combat mode, Heaven's Punishment's size had more than doubled. His body was covered in brown carapace, and in his hand, he held a tech-heavy alloy longsword. This blade was a full three meters long, with a slightly curved blade about a palm's width. Despite its overall length, it didn't feel cumbersome; instead, it appeared very sharp.
Standing over five meters tall, Heaven's Punishment exuded a strong sense of pressure holding this alloy blade. His strength was greater than that of the bald man from Death Paradise.
The various parties were in a tense standoff. Judging by the attitudes of the Magic Association and the Steam Alliance, the Black Tide would likely appear near this street.
Whether the node was related to the Black Tide was still unknown, but the appearance of the Magic Association and the Steam Alliance had interfered with Su Xiao's attempt to seize the node.
Su Xiao sat on the edge of a small building, glancing at Heaven's Punishment, who was several dozen meters away. This enemy wouldn't be easy to deal with, and his teammate wasn't around. The timid female contractor was hiding somewhere unknown, which required caution. Sometimes, appearances could be deceiving.
Besides Heaven's Punishment across the way, the red-eyed woman from the Healing Church was also an enemy—a powerful ally Heaven's Punishment had brought in.
Finally, there was the Holy Sanctuary divine stick hiding back in the shadows. If not for the number of people present, Su Xiao would have already killed Iron Skull·Kiplin. From his attitude, the Steam Alliance's external stance was even more domineering and arrogant than the Magic Association's.
Su Xiao had deliberately used his blood energy to force the Holy Sanctuary divine stick out of hiding, preventing him from lurking in the shadows. These divine sticks had a trait: if they were hostile, you had to finish them off immediately after killing them, and throwing some explosives at them wasn't excessive.
Among these guys, some might not seem strong, but no one knew what they could summon. If it was a divine avatar, that was fine—it would be profit for Su Xiao. But if it was an aberrant entity, it would be very troublesome.
"Baha."
"Understood."
Baha entered the alternate space to keep an eye on the Holy Sanctuary divine stick, preventing him from pulling any tricks.
Heaven's Punishment looked at the masked man·Bass, his gaze meaningful. He hadn't been idle since entering this world. He had given up on two nodes and used that time to investigate the major powers in Smoke City.
Heaven's Punishment and the timid girl had started with the Healing Church as their initial faction. Thanks to a pre-used item, Heaven's Punishment held a decent position.
Before coming to District 5 tonight, Heaven's Punishment had already figured out the situation. Through the red-eyed woman, he learned the true identity of the Immortal·Huxiro. This gave Heaven's Punishment a headache. Huxiro was the only son of the Magic Association's president. Offending Huxiro meant simultaneously provoking the Magic Association and the Black Tower.
"Several of you, there are at least 12 hours before the Black Tide appears. Before that, we have a grudge to settle with the Black Tower people. Will the Magic Association interfere?"
Heaven's Punishment spoke with a smile, looking at the masked man·Bass. His words were cleverly chosen. He stood beside the red-eyed woman, and with his status in the Healing Church, he was now the representative of the Healing Church.
He didn't say he had a grudge with Huxiro, but with the Black Tower. If the masked man·Bass, representing the Magic Association, intervened, it would mean a three-way conflict between the Magic Association, the Black Tower, and the Healing Church. This was a responsibility the masked man·Bass couldn't bear.
Heaven's Punishment wasn't afraid of stirring things up. He wasn't even from this world and didn't care if he offended the red-eyed woman beside him. She was a weapon, a weapon used to purge heretics.
Standing five meters tall, Heaven's Punishment looked rough but was meticulous. He had detected long ago that Su Xiao was a seventh-rank contractor, but he didn't underestimate him because of that.
A seventh-rank contractor being sent to Smoke City to compete with them, eighth-rank contractors—didn't that speak volumes?
Using everything available to seize the node was the only thing Heaven's Punishment needed to do now.
"Can you represent the Healing Church?"
The masked man·Bass narrowed his eyes. Black energy like iron sand floated around him.
"Yes."
Heaven's Punishment placed his large hand on the red-eyed woman's head. Her expression was blank.
"Then remember what you said today forever."
With that, the masked man·Bass and several secret mages disappeared into the darkness.
"120,000 black crystals. From now until 7 AM tomorrow, what happens here has nothing to do with the Steam Alliance."
Heaven's Punishment turned his gaze to Iron Skull·Kiplin and tossed a card to him. Inside it were 120,000 black crystals.
"Hehehehehe."
The little old man Iron Skull·Kiplin laughed, his shoulders shaking. He turned and walked into the darkness, waving his mechanical prosthetic at Heaven's Punishment.
"Friend from Reincarnation Paradise, let's begin. This node goes to the victor."
Heaven's Punishment walked toward Su Xiao, holding his large blade. The edge, adorned with pale golden patterns, hummed softly.
Su Xiao leaped down from the small building, gripping the hilt of his sword at his waist. The long blade slid from its sheath.
"I don't want to fight a woman."
Huxiro tossed the large sack on his shoulder aside. It hit the wall, and a low grunt came from inside. Clearly, the category of "not wanting to fight a woman" excluded female secret mages.
"Red-eyed woman, go over there. If you stay here, you'll get cut."
Huxiro leaped between buildings, while the red-eyed woman below walked along the street, wearing high heels and holding a straight staff. As she moved, she tapped the ground with the staff, using it like a blind person's cane.
A night breeze blew. Su Xiao and Heaven's Punishment faced off on opposite sides of the street. Heaven's Punishment was alert, keeping his gaze level with Su Xiao's shoulders, avoiding his expression and eyes.
His combat instincts told him not to meet the enemy's gaze. The moment their eyes met, he might reveal a flaw. At the very least, he needed to establish momentum in battle before locking eyes.
Clang.
The two blades cut through the air almost simultaneously, releasing a pale blue slash and a golden blade aura. As the slashes collided, the two long blades clashed.
Boom!
Su Xiao's and Heaven's Punishment's blades struck together. A shockwave spread, shattering the street surface around them and causing large cracks in the buildings on both sides.
During the standoff, Su Xiao had sensed that this enemy was like him—a technique-type fighter. Contractors from Apocalypse Paradise who developed as technique-types, as long as they had enough courage in battle, wouldn't lack resources.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew as the two long blades clashed. Compared to Heaven's Punishment, Su Xiao was at a disadvantage in both size and weapon length.
"Ha!"
Heaven's Punishment roared, gripping his blade with both hands and swinging it down with full force.
Su Xiao sheathed his blade and sidestepped. A slash passed by him, cutting through the building behind. The massive cut extended a hundred meters before stopping.
Heaven's Punishment's heavy strike hit the ground. As he tried to push the embedded blade sideways to knock Su Xiao away, Su Xiao stepped onto the blade's spine. With a bang, a shockwave spread.
Feeling the weight, Heaven's Punishment's blade sank fully into the ground. Forced to step forward, his eyes widened in shock.
As Su Xiao stepped on the blade, he swung his Dragon-Slaying Flash forward, aiming for Heaven's Punishment's neck.
The blade approached, and Heaven's Punishment could feel a sting at his neck. He yanked the hilt of his blade with his right hand.
With a rumble, debris flew, and a large crater exploded on the street. The pale golden light on Heaven's Punishment's blade faded as it entered a charging state. A Holy Spirit rank +13 weapon, embedded with three Holy Spirit rank gems, was no joke—especially since Heaven's Punishment was also a Blade Grandmaster.
Su Xiao leaped back with the debris, landing on a protruding corner of a building. As soon as he steadied himself, a howling sound came—a massive blade aura, over ten meters in diameter, was slashing toward him.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
A shockwave spread. The enormous blade aura slowed as it entered within ten meters of Su Xiao. Cyan Steel Shadow energy gathered on Dragon-Slaying Flash. Su Xiao thrust upward, piercing the incoming blade aura.
Witnessing this, Heaven's Punishment was stunned. He had been a Blade Grandmaster for a long time, but he had never thought a blade aura could be pierced.
Heaven's Punishment didn't know this was just the beginning.
After Dragon-Slaying Flash pierced the massive blade aura, the corner of the building beneath Su Xiao's feet shattered. He shot out like a cannonball. Midair, he swung his blade, flinging the pierced blade aura away.
With a crackle, arcs of electricity flickered on the massive blade aura, clearly enhanced by Cyan Steel Shadow energy.
The massive blade aura hurtled toward Heaven's Punishment. Dodging wasn't his strong suit. He swung his blade upward, shattering the incoming aura with a snap.
'Blade Path Sword: Blood Blade.'
Blood-red feathers appeared. Heaven's Punishment held his blade horizontally in front of him. Though he didn't see the enemy, he felt the impact through his blade.
'So fast! And there's a chain slash behind!'
This thought crossed Heaven's Punishment's mind as he placed his blade vertically behind him—a habit born from years of combat experience.
'Blade Path Sword: Absolute Nether.'
The surroundings turned pitch black. Three dark blue slashes appeared behind Heaven's Punishment.
Clang, clang, clang.
After a rapid series of strikes, blood splattered across Heaven's Punishment's back. His blade couldn't block all the slashes, but it protected his spine from injury.
Heaven's Punishment stumbled forward a few steps, then crouched and drove his blade into the street.
A few meters behind him, Su Xiao leaped back repeatedly. If he attacked Heaven's Punishment now, he might get hurt.
Sensing Su Xiao's retreat, Heaven's Punishment pulled out his blade, stood up, and stretched his aching back. He turned to face Su Xiao.
"Awesome! I'm Heaven's Punishment. Besides cutting people, I have no other hobbies."
Heaven's Punishment grinned, a sincere smile.
If Su Xiao's blade technique was sharp and unstoppable, Heaven's Punishment's was ferocious and sweeping.
The clashing of blades rang out, slashes crisscrossing. The buildings on both sides of the street were cut to pieces. The area was already devoid of refugees, all quietly evacuated by the Healing Church. Column tides weren't scary; what was scary were concentrated tides. Those Black Tides were unpredictable and could affect a radius of over ten kilometers.
With a screech, the blades scraped against each other as they cut past. Su Xiao straightened slightly—a sign he was about to deliver a straight kick.
Just over ten seconds ago, Heaven's Punishment had taken one of Su Xiao's straight kicks. If not for wearing two Immortal rank equipment pieces to save his life, he wouldn't have just lost a chunk of skull—his entire head would have been cut off.
Heaven's Punishment gripped his blade with both hands, reversing it, and stabbed it into the ground.
Boom!
A shockwave spread. Hundreds of pale golden slashes radiated outward—a technique Heaven's Punishment had developed himself: Earth Fang.
Space rippled behind Heaven's Punishment. One by one, slashes pierced through Su Xiao. When the last slash passed through his chest, he stabbed downward.
Pfft.
The long blade pierced through Heaven's Punishment's back. He half-collapsed, blood spurting from his mouth.
"Ah!"
Heaven's Punishment roared, ignoring the risk of his torso being cut open. He rolled and swung his arm. As he did, the blade stuck in the ground split apart, attaching to his right arm and forming a blade edge that followed the curve of his arm.
Heaven's Punishment knew he had to drive Su Xiao back. At this moment, equipment abilities and items were unreliable—too slow to use. Only physical attacks were fast enough.
Su Xiao pulled his blade from Heaven's Punishment's back, leaped about two meters into the air, and leaned back fully.
Heaven's Punishment's swinging arm barely passed in front of Su Xiao's face, even cutting off a corner of his clothes. The guy was huge but not clumsy.
Dodging the backswing, Su Xiao descended midair, gripping his blade with one hand and stabbing downward.
With a swish, the blade entered Heaven's Punishment's eye socket and pierced into his skull. Blood dripped down Su Xiao's arm, landing on Heaven's Punishment's face.
Su Xiao was injured. Fighting an enemy like Heaven's Punishment made injury inevitable. Heaven's Punishment lacked nothing in spirit, combat experience, or blade technique level.
He lacked only one thing: high-intensity, brutal combat. In the worlds of Apocalypse Paradise, such situations weren't common, especially for a battle maniac like Heaven's Punishment, who actively sought out enemies to fight.
Heaven's Punishment's remaining eye widened. After a moment, his large hand gripped Dragon-Slaying Flash. He knew he was dying. The life force in his body was irreversibly fading. No item or potion could save him.
"Refreshing."
A smile appeared on Heaven's Punishment's blood-stained face.
"I... won."
Heaven's Punishment spoke weakly. A pre-set temporary coordinate gradually appeared within the node. Seeing this, Bubu Wang, standing by the node, couldn't believe it. He had clearly set a coordinate in the node just moments ago.
Bubu Wang shifted his gaze, seeing a temporary coordinate standing beside the node. He had been affected by some ability earlier. Before a node was successfully set, there was no notification—this was Void Tree's balancing mechanism. Notifications were absolute authority, and for illusion-type or mental-type contractors, this was an extremely unfair judgment.
Seeing this, Heaven's Punishment's pupils began to dim. He hadn't died immediately, holding on through sheer willpower as a blade master, waiting for this moment.
"Apocalypse... also has... strong ones."
Heaven's Punishment's large hand, gripping Dragon-Slaying Flash's blade, fell limp. The carapace on his body shed, and his form began to crumble, turning into dust that blew away with the wind.
[Notification: You have killed Contractor No. 20**11.]
[You have gained 5 Reincarnation Paradise Merits (maximum single-kill merit for contractors).]
[You have gained 37 Scarlet Medals.]
[You have gained Remnant Radiance of the Strong (3 Remnant Radiances of the Strong can permanently activate the Land of All Beings·Sixth Layer usage permission).]
...