Chapter 27: Scissors, Snail
Seeing the sudden prompt, Su Xiao furrowed his brows. He had a bad feeling, and considering a certain possibility, he turned and walked outward.
A layer of invisible light barrier appeared, crackling as arcs of electricity surged across it.
[Prompt (Void Tree): You have arrived at the designated area. For 5 hours after the start of this round of World Core Struggle, you will be unable to leave the seventh floor of the Holy Temple.]
Su Xiao had long anticipated that he might be restrained. After all, his initial teleportation point was in the Western Continent, and being able to come to the Eastern Continent to participate in the World Struggle War was already quite good.
The current situation was that before the battle began, he couldn't leave here. Five hours after the battle started, he could exit the seventh floor and then freely move about.
Arriving at the innermost part of the seventh floor, a golden throne was located here. Seeing this throne, Bubu Wang inexplicably felt a chill in its crotch. Certain unpleasant memories surged up—that was also a holy temple, also a World Struggle War, and the highest floor also had a throne. Then it lifted a hind leg beside that throne and took a piss.
As for the subsequent memories, Bubu Wang didn't want to recall them. It had almost been electrocuted to tears by that throne, and the lower half of its body was numb for a long time.
Su Xiao came before the golden throne and took out the World Core. With a click, the World Core embedded itself into the backrest of the throne.
[World Coordinate preparing...]
[World Coordinate will begin deployment in 52 hours and 31 minutes.]
[This World Coordinate deployment is expected to take 2 natural days.]
...
In 52 hours, the decisive battle would begin, and the World Coordinate would also start deploying. This time was very short; previously, it was always 10 natural days, or sometimes 5 natural days. This time, 2 days were enough.
Sitting on the throne, Su Xiao closed his eyes to rest. All he had to do now was wait. His side's contractors would gradually arrive at the ancient capital and enter the Sun Holy Temple.
As time passed, the areas around the ancient capital gradually became lively. The contractors from the Apocalypse Paradise and Death Paradise sides wouldn't be able to enter the ancient capital until over 50 hours later. They chose to guard the outskirts of the ancient capital, intercepting the Reincarnation Paradise contractors arriving here.
This plan fell through. While many of his side's contractors were indeed madmen who acted without regard for consequences, they weren't brainless. On the contrary, having survived this long, they were all exceptionally clever.
At this moment, 5 kilometers outside the ancient capital, a large group of his side's contractors had gathered, conservatively estimated at over a hundred people.
"When will the rest arrive? Too slow."
"Leader sir, have you figured out how to charge in yet? Why aren't you talking?"
"You're choking... my neck... how can I... talk?"
The red-faced Ascension Brother spoke.
"Leader sir, you're a bit weak. To prevent you from dying, I'm giving you a buff. Almost done, hang in there."
A little boy with iron studs on his face spoke, locking Ascension Brother's neck in a guillotine chokehold.
"If you don't let go, I'm going to... die right now."
Ascension Brother rolled his eyes and let out a fart as he was choked. The little boy on his back looked utterly disgusted.
Crack.
Hearing this sound, Ascension Brother's scalp went numb, but he immediately found that his whole body was relaxed, and his neck wasn't broken.
"You've been strengthened. Go feed the enemy."
The little boy smirked, looking around. His side's contractors had mostly arrived.
"Everyone."
Ascension Brother put on a serious expression. He planned to use the current large force to forcefully charge into the ancient capital. Before the defensive battle began, his side couldn't afford too many casualties.
"We need to charge into the ancient capital quickly. The enemy contractors are also gathering. Once they..."
Ascension Brother was only halfway through his sentence when he felt a small hand grab his clothes. It was the little boy who had buffed him.
"Are you... scared?"
Ascension Brother was somewhat stunned. He had personally seen this little devil peel the skin off enemies bit by bit, making them wail until they died.
"That... that thing... is coming!"
The little boy's pupils contracted, and he hid behind Ascension Brother.
"That thing? I thought it was the enemy."
Hearing Ascension Brother's words, the little boy's eyes were full of anxiety.
"Not the enemy... an ally? No, no, no, he can't be fully considered an ally."
"What are you talking about? And you all, why do you have that expression?"
Ascension Brother's mind was in turmoil. He really couldn't think of anything that could make his side's madmen so wary.
Jingle, jingle~
Metal accessories clashed. A figure with hands in pockets walked over from a distance.
"Ascension, and Little Fierce, you two, back off."
The witch spoke, looking at the approaching figure. Her lazy demeanor faded somewhat. Facing that person—no, facing that thing—she had to be cautious.
Before long, the man approaching from afar drew near. None of his side's people spoke.
"I'll hold them off."
Leaving behind this sentence, the newcomer walked away. Seeing this, the little boy called Little Fierce breathed a sigh of relief.
...
At the edge of the ancient capital, a large group of contractors was stationed here. The entire ancient capital was covered by a perception barrier.
After the Apocalypse Paradise and Death Paradise sides united, their representatives—Angry Dog, Hai Yizuo, and Molei—were all present. Angry Dog and Hai Yizuo were contractors from the Death Paradise side, both in the top ten of the Tree Arena.
Angry Dog was extremely muscular, almost deformed. He had a mess of gray hair, and the center of his pupils was red. Just sitting there, he exuded immense pressure.
Hai Yizuo had long hair and was an extremely effeminate man. He wasn't a sissy or androgynous, just effeminate and cold, like a venomous snake in the sea.
Compared to the two, Little Angel Molei clearly lacked presence, but thinking of their side's trump card, she almost couldn't help laughing. Were their side's contractors prone to cowardice? Desertion in battle? None of that mattered. This World Struggle War was in the bag!
"Those madmen do have brains."
Hai Yizuo was somewhat disappointed, having not seen any Reincarnation Paradise contractors.
"You overestimate them. They have no brains at all. Look over there."
Angry Dog tilted his chin. Everyone looked in that direction.
A gust of wind blew, sending sand and withered grass flying. A figure walked over from a distance. From his build, it was a chubby young man.
This chubby young man wore a biker outfit with spikes on both shoulders. His hands were in his pockets, his pineapple-shaped hairstyle was unique, and he wore spiked shoes. Hanging from his right ear was a small metal scissors. His entire outfit was bizarre to the extreme.
The chubby young man walking from afar moved slowly, a faint smile on his face. With each step, his metal accessories jingled.
"This person... I seem to recognize him. Let me think."
Hai Yizuo rubbed his brow, racking his brain. Suddenly, his face twitched. Just as he was about to shout "Don't attack," before his shout could leave his mouth—
Boom!
A wave of air spread. A demonic energy bullet tore through the air, heading straight for the chubby young man's head.
The bullet pierced through the chubby young man's head, blood and bone fragments splattering. The headless corpse stopped in its tracks.
"Just someone coming to feed the enemy, this guy."
"The madmen of the Reincarnation Paradise side—nothing they do is surprising."
Murmurs reached Hai Yizuo's ears. His expression at that moment was exceptionally ferocious. That person—no, that wasn't a person. That thing couldn't be killed. Although Hai Yizuo had never seen that thing with his own eyes, he had heard of its existence. That thing was called the Black Demon.