Chapter 34: Apocalypse Paradise Victorious?
Yueshitu was well aware that one couldn't judge the 52 contractors from Reincarnation Paradise using conventional thinking. These people had just endured an extremely brutal melee, and those who survived were anything but weak.
Now, the strongest among these madmen had all set their sights on her, not even caring about the World Core. The feeling was indescribable.
"Mo Lei, hold off the Death Paradise people for now."
Yueshitu waited for Mo Lei's response, and soon, Mo Lei's voice echoed in her ear.
"No problem, I'll take them to the seventh floor? With you as a deterrent, they won't turn hostile immediately after seeing the World Core. We'll follow the previous agreement: each side selects five people for five life-or-death duels, and the side with more wins takes the World Core."
The agreement Mo Lei had made with the Death Paradise side was obviously unreliable, but both sides were desperate for cooperation, so no one said anything. No one expected this agreement to actually work.
"Alright, it's yours to handle."
"Yueshitu, what's happening on your end?"
"The Reincarnation Paradise contractors aren't all dead. There are 52 left, and they're all coming for me."
"Uh... that sounds tough."
"I don't know what they'll do, and I just ran into Hei Mo. I lost thousands of summoned creatures just to barely lure him away."
Yueshitu sighed. Encountering Hei Mo in the ancient capital was a terrible stroke of luck. That thing was indiscriminate—whoever met it stepped on a landmine.
"Alright, I'll give you good news later. We've re-entered the Holy Temple."
Inside the first floor of the Holy Temple, Mo Lei ended the mental resonance and glanced around.
"Mo Lei, what's the attitude of your summoners? Does Yueshitu want to wipe us all out?"
Hai Yizuo, who was walking ahead, spoke up. He knew Yueshitu; meeting her in a war world meant accepting bad luck.
"According to our previous agreement, each side selects five people for life-or-death duels. The side with more wins takes the World Core."
"Do you think I'm three years old?"
"Are you afraid?"
"Heh."
Hai Yizuo didn't know what he was thinking, but he continued toward the second floor. The Apocalypse Paradise side had a trump card, and of course, the Death Paradise side did too. But he always wanted to know one thing: what was Reincarnation Paradise's trump card? An eighth-rank contractor from the Western Continent? Or had those madmen simply given up?
Hai Yizuo knew the Reincarnation Paradise contractors well. For these worthy opponents, he felt they wouldn't give up easily. They had held out for so long, and even though they had now escaped, they absolutely wouldn't swallow this insult.
"The Reincarnation Paradise people have gone after Yueshitu?"
Hai Yizuo's seemingly casual question was actually a probe.
"They're still searching. Otherwise, why do you think the Moon Beasts withdrew?"
The Moon Beasts had already appeared, and Mo Lei knew Yueshitu had been exposed. There was no need to hide it now.
"Still searching? They've already found her, haven't they? Yueshitu has to deal with them, so she has to send you to stall us."
Hearing Hai Yizuo's words, Mo Lei stopped in her tracks.
"Yueshitu thinks further ahead than you or I. Don't forget, Hei Mo is also in the ancient capital. If those Reincarnation Paradise people run into Hei Mo, what will happen?"
"That should be... interesting."
Hai Yizuo couldn't quite figure out Mo Lei's intentions. Until he confirmed what Yueshitu was really doing, he wouldn't turn hostile against Mo Lei and the other 159 Apocalypse Paradise contractors.
The Apocalypse Paradise side left 30 people on the first floor, and the Death Paradise side left 10, just in case of unexpected developments.
On the second floor, occasionally someone was pulled into a doorless room, but the connected duel spaces were now empty. Earlier, they had worn down the Reincarnation Paradise contractors here with a series of battles. A few Reincarnation Paradise contractors were still in the duel spaces on the second floor.
These few couldn't break out; anyone who entered died. To avoid casualties among their own contractors, Mo Lei and Hai Yizuo had to use summoned creatures to clear the path.
After successfully passing the second floor, a total of 191 contractors headed toward the seventh floor.
The journey was uneventful. Mo Lei, Nu Quan, Hai Yizuo, and the others reached the sixth floor without any obstacles.
"Is that the Reincarnation Paradise side's escape route?"
"It's already been destroyed."
"Check if there are any activatable explosives here."
After a thorough inspection, the contractors confirmed the sixth floor was safe.
"We finally beat those guys once."
An Apocalypse Paradise tank-type contractor was excited, feeling nothing but relief.
With someone taking the lead, the Apocalypse Paradise contractors all smiled, even starting to discuss where they would mine after Yueshitu took over the Sun Holy Temple, and which mines had the best ore quality.
"We won!"
"It's just a temporary victory. Don't celebrate too early."
Hai Yizuo smiled. Beating back the Reincarnation Paradise contractors actually gave him some joy too.
Mo Lei approached the stairs to the sixth floor. Passing through here would lead to the seventh floor. Without a doubt, the World Core was on the seventh floor. From past experiences in world conquest battles, she knew that when setting up a World Coordinate through the World Core, the core would be immovable.
"Is this a light barrier? A fog wall?"
"Who cares what it is. Are you worried someone's inside? The Reincarnation Paradise side has been pushed to this point; they've lost the Sun Holy Temple."
"True."
Mo Lei's hand touched the gray light barrier.
Ripple~
Several ripples spread across the gray light barrier, which gradually shattered and dissipated into the air, with wisps of gray mist rising upward.
[Warning (Void Tree): This is a special area! Time limit of 5 hours not yet reached!]
The warning's content wasn't dangerous, but the font was blood-red, and the red seemed to carry a faint bloody scent.
"I think I've messed up."
Mo Lei felt a bad premonition. This was her first time receiving a warning from the Void Tree.
"Don't block the way. Stop dawdling."
Nu Quan pushed Mo Lei aside and strode up the stairs.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Countless slashes appeared. Nu Quan, known for his defense and survivability, staggered back, blood spraying from his body. Several crisscrossing slash marks appeared on his chest.
Nu Quan took several large steps back and dropped to one knee with a thud. He was on the verge of death!
Several healing abilities poured into Nu Quan's body, and he finally caught his breath, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.
The 190 contractors present all took several steps back. A few tank-types moved to the front, and the melee fighters gripped their weapons tightly, on high alert.
On the stairs leading to the seventh floor, wisps of cold mist spread. Mo Lei swallowed hard, knowing she had released something terrible.
"It couldn't be..."
Mo Lei recalled a name she had seen on the world communication platform. From the moment they attacked the Sun Holy Temple, she had been wondering why that formidable enemy had never shown up.
Tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps echoed from the stairs. A figure holding a long blade emerged from the cold mist.
Seeing this scene, a contractor activated his pendant, using an intelligence check to gather enemy information. Soon, his detection was complete, yielding only 21% of the enemy's data.
"It's an enemy contractor."
Hearing his shout, Hai Yizuo's heart turned cold. His worst fear had come true. Reincarnation Paradise's eighth-rank reinforcement had arrived—no, they had released the enemy themselves.
"An eighth-rank contractor, huh."
Hai Yizuo lowered his body slightly. With so many people here, even if an eighth-rank contractor really came, he had no fear.