Chapter 77: The Bully
The atmosphere in the banquet hall suddenly turned somewhat strange, while in the Void Arena, the audience was nearly laughing themselves silly. In that kind of situation, who the hell packs things up? Truly befitting a sand sculpture girl.
Zuiyasi and Wude, sitting in the adjacent seats, didn't laugh, but judging from the slight tremor at the corner of Zuiyasi's mouth, he was barely holding back his amusement.
Water Brother turned his head, seemingly 'looking' toward Yueshitu, Molei, and Lilim. His first impression of these three was decent; their auras were relatively calm, unlike Zuiyasi and Wude's side, who were all dangerous individuals.
When the time reached ten in the evening, the doors of the banquet hall closed. The soothing sound of a harp emerged, further enhancing the party's atmosphere.
Almost everyone here was a subordinate of the Sun King. Outside, in Saint Dan City, it was a different scene. Beast hordes were already nearby, and the Forsaken were ready to go to war with Saint Dan City at any moment.
The atmosphere in the banquet hall quieted down a bit as the harp music faded. The Sun King, seated at the head of the table, stood up. Following the etiquette of a host, he raised a glass of wine, drank it all, and then spoke:
"Honored guests, I didn't expect you to come to the banquet alone. I, Oss Valentine, sincerely thank you for your trust."
The Sun King set down his glass. Behind him, a man with a mask covering the lower half of his face refilled the Sun King's cup.
The Sun King's gaze swept around. Placing one hand on the rim of his cup, he said coldly, "Although I thank you all for coming, you 'outsiders' don't understand the rules here. Coming to our world means abiding by our rules."
Saying this, the Sun King made a move to raise his glass. Just as he was about to drink, he seemed to think of something and continued, "Breaking our rules comes at a price. But since you are 'outsiders' who originally didn't know this world's rules, neither my new kingdom nor the Sun Church is a tyrannical force. I hope we can cease hostilities here."
The Sun King raised his glass, offered a toast in four directions, and drained the cup.
"Cease hostilities? Fine. Sun King, where are the Soul Stones you promised?"
Zuiyasi had come mainly for the Soul Stones. As for the banquet being a trap, he had already guessed that, which perfectly suited his plans.
"The Soul Stones will be given to you, but not now."
"Then when?"
Wude also spoke. He was a Void race member. The Void wasn't poor, of course, but it lacked Soul Stones; consumption far exceeded production.
"One month from now. Whatever Soul Stones you want, I'll give you double."
The Sun King had no intention of paying the Soul Stones. With both Zuiyasi and Wude present, he planned to catch everyone here in one net.
While the Sun King, Wude, and Zuiyasi were negotiating, Molei and Yueshitu were already preparing to slip away. They had eaten and drunk their fill, and since they couldn't get the Soul Stones, it was time to take advantage of the chaos and grab some benefits.
Clack.
Molei suddenly felt a restraint around her ankle. Her pupils rapidly contracted. Looking down at her ankle, she saw a metal ring clamped around it. The ring was about three centimeters wide and embedded with a circle of glass rods as thick as a pinky finger. Inside the glass rods was a golden-red semi-fluid.
This golden-red semi-fluid was obtained by liquefying ordinary Apollo. In the previous world, Su Xiao had this idea. After returning to Reincarnation Paradise, he experimented and developed this semi-fluid. [Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo] couldn't yet be turned into a semi-fluid, let alone a liquid.
Bubu Wang appeared beside Molei's leg and handed her a phone. The screen showed a triangular play button. Molei clicked on the video and saw a demonstration of an Apollo explosion.
"w(?Д?)w"
Molei realized the situation she was in. She nodded very seriously at Bubu Wang.
The Sun King's change of expression made the atmosphere in the banquet hall nearly freeze. Water Brother pushed the dining table forward a bit. He had experienced this situation many times before: pay attention to positioning during the melee, and more importantly, securing the kill on the Sun King was crucial.
Water Brother was ready to make his move. Wude and Zuiyasi were also about to unleash their respective methods.
The Sun King tossed his metal cup aside. With a clatter, he overturned the dining table in front of him. This was clearly prearranged; overturning the table was the signal.
The Sun King's subordinates stood up one after another. The sounds of various weapons being drawn merged into one.
Boom!
Scorching Solar Force erupted from within the Sun King. At that moment, he was like a god wielding the sun. The Blade Staff floated beside him.
Everyone's gaze was fixed on the Sun King. He was too dazzling.
"Boss fight started. Tank, go in."
Yueshitu muttered softly. She felt the current situation was too bizarre. She had also seen Bubu Wang earlier.
"You should all turn to sand."
The Sun King looked down on everyone. As the saying goes, wear a mask long enough, and it becomes your face. The mask the Sun King wore was called Arrogance.
"I will not let this world be destroyed. You will evaporate in my glory. I, Oss Valentine, the direct bloodline heir of the dynasty! Will surely save this..."
Pfft!
A pitch-black arm pierced through the Sun King's back, emerging from his chest. His pupils rapidly contracted. He looked down at the black hand in the center of his chest.
The Sun King's chest thrust forward. The anger on his face gradually turned to coldness.
"Lancelot, you... ungrateful dog."
The Sun King sensed who was behind him: his trusted subordinate, Lone Remains Lancelot. He couldn't understand why the other party would do this. This was one of his most loyal subordinates.
"After following me for so many years, you think this can..."
The Sun King's chest began to elementalize. Suddenly, his expression froze. The elementalization stopped. Black flesh grew on his chest, showing signs of proliferation.
Behind the Sun King, 'Lone Remains Lancelot' pressed one hand to his face, pulled off a mask, and his appearance rapidly changed, becoming Su Xiao's appearance. No, the 'Lone Remains Lancelot' from before had been Su Xiao in disguise all along.
Su Xiao put away the mask in his hand and withdrew the crystal arm that had pierced into the Sun King's back. The crystal arm was no longer pitch black and had no bloodstains. Just now, he had attached the First Generation Devourer to it.
The reason Su Xiao could disguise himself as Lone Remains Lancelot was that he had killed the other party earlier and taken his blood, using the [Primordial Mask] to disguise himself.
Equipment Effect: Ten Thousand Faces (Active): After wearing this mask, you can use a medium to disguise your appearance, voice, physique, behavior patterns, aura, etc. (Each use of this item consumes 1 point of durability + 1 Soul Crystal·Complete).
As Su Xiao withdrew his arm, the Sun King let out a "wah" and spat out a mouthful of pitch-black blood. If it were just being pierced through the chest plus the Devourer's invasion, he could withstand it. But what about adding [Cut Cells] and [Nie Oxygen]?
The Sun King had ingested [Cut Cells] nine times in total: eight times in trace amounts and once in a large amount. When he first met Su Xiao, the Sun King was drinking. At that time, there were trace amounts of [Cut Cells] in the air.
[Cut Cells] need to enter the human body through food or drink as a carrier. Inhalation is useless. [Cut Cells] must first react with digestive enzymes to achieve individual adaptability.
That was the Sun King's first ingestion of [Cut Cells]. The next seven times were because Bubu Wang had been following him. The last time was the most severe, a massive ingestion: he drank a glass of wine Su Xiao had poured for him.
Now, [Cut Cells] reacted with the [Nie Oxygen] mixed into the Devourer. The Sun King's body's regeneration limit was completely shut down.
The Sun King pressed one hand against the black hole in his chest. The banquet hall became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. No one dared to act rashly. The situation was too bizarre.
"Ah!!!"
The Sun King roared, arching his body backward. A large amount of black blood spurted from the hole in his chest. In his disbelieving gaze, his body proliferated into a fleshy ball nearly five meters in diameter in just 1.5 seconds.
The Sun King had only one eye left, barely able to see outside. The proliferating black flesh would soon seal even that eye from the edges. His thought at that moment was: 'I... lost?'
Darkness enveloped the Sun King's vision. In the darkness, he seemed to see a vicious beast with a mouth full of sharp teeth lunging at him to bite.
"Save..."
One of the Sun King's subordinates was about to shout "Save His Majesty," when a black spike suddenly shot out from the fleshy ball the Sun King had become, piercing through the man's head and sucking him dry into a husk.
Puff. Puff, puff...
The fleshy ball became like a sea urchin, piercing most of the nearby superhumans who had made a move. They had been hesitant to act before, and now they were under attack.
In the corner, Yueshitu, Molei, and Lilim were full of confusion. This plot was truly too complicated.
"Move back, or I'll blow you up."
Baha's voice came. Yueshitu and Molei could only move back. Molei now had a bomb on her ankle. If she became legless now, she'd be GG.
Lilim also moved back. She wanted to see what Su Xiao was really up to, and also, to slip away.
The fleshy ball that was the Sun King began to contract, reforming into the Sun King's appearance. Its mouth split open, nearly reaching below its ears, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. This thing was very strong.
Su Xiao tossed the Blade Staff to the humanoid monster. What exactly this form of the Devourer was, he wasn't sure either. The First Generation Devourer had too many unknowns. After completing the parasitism on Aiqina, the First Generation Devourer's growth potential was too strong. Fortunately, he had strengthened his control back then.
"Kill them all."
Leaving these words, Su Xiao walked toward the back door of the banquet hall. Pushing open the door, which, through Baha's setup, led directly to an alternate space.
Entering the alternate space, the double wooden doors behind Su Xiao gradually closed. The roars from behind grew fainter.
Palace banquet, Sun King versus multiple opponents in a decisive battle? Not happening. Su Xiao had set this up for so long. If he let the Sun King have a chance to fight, what would be the point of his setup? He might as well have chosen to ambush the Sun King like Water Brother.
That's right, just now, Su Xiao had successfully killed the Sun King. The Sun King died from body proliferation + life force depletion + body energy depletion + internal devouring by the Devourer.
Glancing at the notification for killing the Sun King, Su Xiao strode toward the other end of the alternate space. The main event was just beginning. It was time to start a gluttonous feast.
Exiting the alternate space and arriving outside the palace, Su Xiao followed the predetermined route, entering a secret passage through the underground drainage system, then heading toward the southern part of the city.
Three minutes later, Su Xiao, moving at full speed, returned to the dilapidated building with the teleportation array. After waiting a moment, Bubu Wang, Baha, and Kaisa also returned, bringing along Molei, Yueshitu, and Lilim.
"My dear friend, time was tight, so I only found these seven pieces."
Kaisa held out a crystal box containing seven [Scroll Fragments]. Bubu Wang had discovered the location where the Sun King hid the [Scroll Fragments], and Kaisa had retrieved them from there.
The Sun King certainly had more than these seven [Scroll Fragments]. He understood the principle of not putting all eggs in one basket.
For Su Xiao, obtaining seven [Scroll Fragments] was enough for now. He stepped onto the teleportation array and signaled Baha to also push Molei and Yueshitu onto it.
"Lilim, escape that way."
Su Xiao stopped Lilim from getting on the teleportation array. Hearing his words, Lilim turned and ran.
The teleportation array activated. When the spatial fluctuations dissipated, Su Xiao had returned to the apartment in the Sun Church.
Turning on the bedroom light, Su Xiao took two head buckets from his storage space, poured a little remaining Sun Potion on them, and tossed one each to Molei and Yueshitu.
Molei and Yueshitu were full of question marks. They were completely bewildered.
"Let's make a deal."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette. Molei and Yueshitu didn't speak, listening quietly.
"Molei, you exchange one Sun Blood Crystal for me. As compensation, I can tell you two a piece of information."
"Okay."
Molei agreed readily. She was caught. Since she couldn't resist, she might as well be straightforward, to avoid getting her legs broken again. As for exchanging [Sun Blood Crystal], she had already heard about it from Yueshitu.
"Good. The deal starts now. You two come with me to the Grand Cathedral's supply depot. As compensation, there's something called Beast Heart stored on the seventh floor of the Grand Cathedral. I'm not interested in it. If you're interested, you can try to get it."
"Hmm, I'll check it out if I get the chance."
Molei said calmly. In reality, her inner self was screaming: 'Holy crap! The Beast Heart we've been looking for forever! The mission clue is found! Daddy!'
Molei, whose inner thoughts were nearly frantic, had her mind become strangely erratic. Yueshitu beside her also maintained a calm exterior, but she was so happy she could cry. They had been searching for so long and finally found it.
At this moment, both Molei and Yueshitu only felt one thing: they had made a huge profit. Even if they helped Su Xiao exchange [Sun Blood Crystal] and were extorted for 39,000 Soul Coins, they still came out ahead this time.
"Let's go."
Su Xiao walked at the front, followed by Bubu Wang, Molei, Yueshitu, Baha, and Kaisa.
It was already 10:30. There were few people in the Grand Cathedral. Arriving at the supply depot at the innermost part of the first floor, Kaisa, who was at the back, closed the door.
Kaisa went behind the counter, sat on a high stool, and resumed his 'quartermaster identity.' After all, he was a legitimate quartermaster, with some functions that Bubu Wang couldn't replicate.
The moment Kaisa activated his function, Molei received a notification from Apocalypse Paradise.
[Notification: Neutral unit in this world, Nicholas Kaisa's favorability toward you has increased by ??? points.]
[Current Kaisa Favorability: ???]
[Due to Kaisa's unilateral reasons, favorability has been reset to zero.]
[Notification: Detected that you are temporarily wearing 'Church Knight Head Bucket' while ignoring equipment requirements. Remaining wear time: 45 minutes. This equipment is a representative item of the Sun Church.]
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[Notification: Sun Church faction reputation has been activated. You can exchange items by consuming your current reputation points.]
[Current Reputation Points: 102,000 points (Indifferent).]
[You can consume reputation points to exchange for one of the following items.]