Chapter 24: Crisis
Slash marks were scattered around the surroundings. A corpse, cleaved in two, lay sprawled across the steel rails. Nearby, within the frozen ice, a female contractor was trapped, still maintaining a forward-leaning posture.
Dragon-Slaying Flash had already pierced through the Blue Knight's skull. Su Xiao planted one foot on the Blue Knight's shoulder and pulled out his long blade.
These three contractors from Death Paradise weren't weak. Amu held off the healing-type contractor, while Su Xiao dealt with the tank-type Blue Knight and the assassin-type.
As Su Xiao withdrew his long blade, the Blue Knight collapsed to the ground with a thud. As someone in the upper-middle tier of the Seventh Rank, he was naturally no match for Su Xiao.
The battle came at a cost: the rail train was blasted to scrap. For now, they had to travel on foot to reach the ancient capital of the Ganglu Dynasty.
[You have killed Contractor 15**77.]
[You have killed Contractor 18**22.]
[You have killed Contractor 19**13.]
[You have killed Contractor 12**10.]
[You have gained 14 Reincarnation Paradise Merits.]
[You have gained Scarlet Honor ×4.]
The gains were decent. Su Xiao pulled out a map, checked his bearings, and headed toward the destination. In the distance, the enemy had already been dealt with by Baha.
Traveling southward, about several dozen kilometers from Baida City, Su Xiao spotted large-scale battle traces. At least thirty or more contractors had clashed here.
Su Xiao was curious about one question: had the Apocalypse Paradise side and the Death Paradise side already temporarily allied to besiege his faction?
This was highly possible. Once his side successfully deployed the World Coordinate, the other three factions would be defeated.
Setting aside whether Apocalypse Paradise might backstab Death Paradise, allying at this stage was the wisest choice.
If these two factions joined forces, they would rush to the vicinity of the Ganglu Dynasty's ancient capital. Although they couldn't enter the capital, ambushing and killing his faction's contractors as they gathered there would be an excellent strategy.
If Su Xiao were the attacker, he would absolutely do this—forcing a decisive battle with the defenders before the World Coordinate was set up, never giving them a chance to enter the ancient capital.
Traveling swiftly, several hours later, the blazing sun scorched the earth. The air above the horizon seemed to distort, and the incessant chirping of cicadas filled the air.
Su Xiao stood atop a low hill. A towering pillar stood a few kilometers ahead, seemingly reaching into the sky. Inside this pillar-like structure was a spiral staircase—this was the Sun Ladder, the most awe-inspiring relic left by the Ganglu Dynasty.
The ancient capital lay ahead. The Sun Ladder was located toward the rear of the capital, while the Sun Temple was in the central area. According to Baha's observations, the Sun Temple had about seven floors.
"Bai Ye, you... came... very slowly."
A somewhat familiar voice came. Su Xiao turned his head to see the Witch. Her face was slightly pale, as if she had just been in a battle.
"Are Apocalypse Paradise and Death Paradise lying in ambush around the ancient capital?"
Seeing the Witch injured, Su Xiao deduced this.
"Not... exactly. This time, I... eliminated... a traitor. A traitor... from the Traveling Group."
There was a hint of sorrow in the Witch's eyes. She had a decent relationship with No. 5, the gray-haired man of the Traveling Group, but this morning, she had watched him die, aging rapidly, killed by her own ability.
"Tuanzhang, discovered... he and the Violators..."
"Can't you speak normally?"
"Can't... do it. This is... caused by my ability... ah~"
Before the Witch could finish, she felt a blur before her eyes, then found herself on the ground, with someone sitting on her back.
"So, this was your Tuanzhang's order?"
"That's right."
The Witch took a deep breath. The pressure from both front and back made it hard for her to breathe.
"The gray-haired man was already a Violator?"
Su Xiao sat on the Witch's back. This made communication much easier; listening to her speak was too tiring otherwise.
"He was already... he was already half a Violator."
"Listening to you now, it seems there's no problem."
Su Xiao stood up. The Witch sat sideways on the ground and pushed up her witch hat.
"How... are we going to enter the ancient capital?"
"Fight our way in."
Su Xiao walked toward the ancient capital. The Witch behind him didn't follow; she seemed to be waiting for something.
"Wait... wait. Take... this for safekeeping."
The Witch took out the World Core and pushed it with her index finger, sending it floating toward Su Xiao.
"Right now, it's... very hard to enter the ancient capital. Death Paradise's... Mad Dog, Hai Yizuo, and Apocalypse Paradise's... Molei, are leading many people... near the ancient capital..."
The Witch's words trailed off as Su Xiao stopped.
"They're guarding near the ancient capital. It's hard to get in."
The Witch took a few steps back, her speech temporarily returning to normal.
Su Xiao strode toward the ancient capital. Before long, ruins and broken walls appeared ahead.
Pfft~
Su Xiao passed through a layer of light membrane—a perception layer. He looked around, but no enemies attacked. Seeing this, he continued forward for about a hundred meters.
[You have entered the Outer Perimeter of the Ganglu Dynasty's Ancient Capital.]
He had successfully entered the ancient capital without encountering Mad Dog, Hai Yizuo, Molei, or the others.
A few hundred meters away, behind a low wall, over a dozen contractors were hiding.
"Why didn't we attack? Death Paradise never trusts us, and now they're letting enemies in."
A man wearing rimless glasses spoke angrily.
"Molei, what exactly do you mean?"
"This is trouble. If Mad Dog and Hai Yizuo find out, future cooperation won't go smoothly."
Facing the questioning from her own contractors, Molei remained silent. She wouldn't reveal how strong the enemy was. If she told these teammates the enemy's strength, she wasn't sure what they would do—like, run away.
"I had to let one in. I saw with my own eyes that the Witch handed the World Core to this person."
Molei spoke in a low voice. Hearing this, the dozen or so teammates nearby all felt like strangling her.
"Don't be naive, all of you. Death Paradise is cooperating with us just to use us as cannon fodder. Let Reincarnation Paradise set up the World Coordinate first. After the ancient capital's seal is lifted, the coordinate will take at least three to five days to deploy.
During this time, we and Death Paradise can truly cooperate. In terms of overall strength, Death Paradise isn't weaker than Reincarnation Paradise, so they won't accept defeat easily. Besides..."
Molei raised her index finger, a mysterious confidence in her smile.
"We know how to mine. Even if the mission fails, aside from the resources we've gathered, the penalty isn't unbearable. What do you think?"
"That... makes sense. Death Paradise is more afraid of losing than we are."
"A big shot is a big shot. You really think a lot."
"Haha, not really."
Molei breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. Her thought was, "Finally managed to fool them." Leaning against the low wall, she touched her calf. The memory of having her leg broken last time was quite unforgettable.
Su Xiao walked through the ancient capital. Aside from the scattered ruins, there was nothing particularly special. The terrain was suitable for chaotic battles.
Stopping before a broken wall, Su Xiao drew his blade and stabbed it.
Clang!
The blade tip penetrated less than a centimeter before getting stuck. Inside the broken wall was some kind of energy that made it extremely tough. Even using [Blazing Sun's Wrath: Apollo] would barely damage it. This was because the Void Tree, acting as the arbiter, was reinforcing the ancient capital, making it hard to destroy.
Confirming this, Su Xiao walked toward the main entrance of the Sun Temple. He pushed open a pair of metal doors, five meters wide and nearly ten meters tall.
After inspecting, Su Xiao found that the inside of the doors wasn't reinforced with unknown energy, unlike the surrounding walls.
Entering the first floor of the Sun Temple, Su Xiao saw it was filled with stone pillars—at least several dozen of them.
...
Eastern Continent, Kuba Luke Ruins.
A blurry figure dashed through an underground passage. On closer inspection, it was a cat. After rounding a corner, it slammed into the side wall, leaving a bloodstain.
Zzzz~
The sound of a reel releasing came from deeper in the passage.
"This cat runs fast."
"It's already hooked. Let it run however it wants. Just... like this! It'll stop."
A man in casual clothes yanked hard on the fishing rod in his hand. The released line immediately tightened.
Around the corner of the underground passage, Beini, who was fleeing for her life, suddenly felt a piercing pain in her right hind leg, followed by a pulling force.
Bang.
Beini crashed into the wall. She closed her eyes, concentrating to switch forms. If she could switch to the Hunting Shadow form, even if she couldn't win, she could escape. The cat form was fast but too weak offensively. She knew that aside from a certain stupid dog, dull cow, and dumb bird who would let her win, enemies didn't care about her cat claws.
Just as Beini was about to transform into the Hunting Shadow form, a foot kicked out. Beini broke through a wave of air, crashing into the wall again. Leaving a patch of blood on the wall, she fell into the corner. Her soft, glossy fur was matted with blood, which spread beneath her.
Beini hesitated. She hesitated about whether to do something. If she did, would it delay the important matter?
"Meow..."
Beini let out a cry. A stone slab fell to the ground. This was what she had been searching for. Unfortunately, just after finding it, before she could leave the trap area, she had run into over a dozen contractors from Apocalypse Paradise. These nearly twenty contractors were clearly searching with a purpose, targeting this stone slab. If not for the trap area, she, Miss Beini, would never have been cornered like this.
Beini wasn't afraid of these people, nor of death. But she knew she couldn't die. If she died here, someone would come to avenge her, digging three feet underground to find the enemy and kill them one by one. That would delay the important matter.
"Finally giving in. Let me see if you're wild or something."
A female contractor squinted. Soon, the corner of her eye twitched.
"This is a permanent summon of a Reincarnation Paradise contractor."
"Kill it. Dispose of the body."
"Yeah."
Hearing these words, Beini felt a bit helpless. She had just come treasure hunting. Some things, she originally didn't want to do.
The gem on Beini's pendant began to glow. This was the [Shelter Gem], with the equipment effect: Shelter: Rescue (Active). Activating this ability would open a spatial rift, teleporting the sheltered person to the user's side.
Crack!
A spatial rift appeared above Beini.
A hand reached out from the spatial rift, grabbing Beini off the ground. As the rift expanded, a pair of eyes glowing with red light opened in the pitch-black space within.
Boom! Blood energy erupted, causing all the Apocalypse Paradise contractors to stagger back several steps. Their hair was blown back by the blood energy, their bodies ached all over, and their faces looked as if they had seen a ghost.
The blood energy spread. The walls of the underground passage cracked and split, rubble scattering everywhere. At the epicenter of the blood energy burst, wisps of smoke spread through the spatial rift.