Chapter 57: The Mysterious Mark
On the battlefield, the eight-winged Seraphim Sacred Hymn hovered high above, her holy light shining down. In the past, this was a beacon of hope for her teammates, but today, a large swath of her teammates had been illuminated to death.
Compared to the enemy contractors, their own Wild Boar warriors were far luckier. In the judgment, they were considered soldier-type units under Su Xiao's command, classified as friendly units.
The characteristic of [Blood Feather] was that if an enemy unit afflicted by Blood Feather used a healing-type ability on the Blood Feather's holder, the healing effect would be amplified fivefold.
As an ultra-large-scale ability, [Angel Descent] not only enveloped Su Xiao but also covered the Wild Boar warriors on the battlefield.
The Wild Boar warriors didn't receive a fivefold healing effect; they didn't even get the normal healing value. Instead, they received about 26% to 30% of the healing effect, after all, they were judged as friendly units, and [Angel Descent] was a large-scale ability.
The Wild Boar warriors already had strong survivability and recovery. Some of them, on the verge of death, received the healing effect of [Angel Descent]. While they couldn't recover immediately, it was enough to prolong their lives.
A Wild Boar warrior who had collapsed in the mud climbed to his feet. His throat was slashed open, and his body was covered in wounds and scorch marks. After receiving the healing effect, he spat out the muddy water he had inhaled while lying on the ground, took a deep breath, and pulled back from the brink of death.
Compared to their own situation, the enemy's was far more tragic.
Boom!
A deafening sound rang out as a pitch-black vortex, like a black hole, appeared, rapidly sucking in everything around it.
The range of this black vortex wasn't spreading very fast, but its effect was exceptionally brutal. All the Wild Boar warriors within its range were sucked in, followed by the sounds of crushing and grinding.
Mud, weeds, corpses, everything was devoured. In a very short time, a 200-meter radius was cleared, leaving a 100-meter-deep semicircular pit. Groundwater filled the bottom of the pit, quickly turning it into a large water hole.
Some enemy contractors realized the situation was hopeless and chose to use a self-destruct item. The item's range wasn't large, but its power was ferocious.
The spatial fluctuations around Su Xiao dissipated. A dozen meters away, there was only the rear half of a heavy tank. Su Xiao had been standing on its back just moments before.
The guy who used the self-destruct item had some backbone, intending to drag Su Xiao down with him. However, as he charged at Su Xiao, there were too many Wild Boar warriors in the way, coupled with the damage from the flying toxic healer Sacred Hymn. In desperation, he gambled with his last move before dying.
Su Xiao wasn't so easily dragged down with someone. Even the madmen from his own Paradise hadn't managed to take him with them, let alone a contractor from Holy Light Paradise who wasn't even proficient in using such items.
Why did he always aim for the head when fighting enemies? This was a habit he developed from the first rank. Once an enemy was decapitated, they basically couldn't use explosives.
Back in the first rank, Su Xiao realized that even after defeating a contractor from his own Paradise, he had to be cautious. The enemy might still be holding a grenade with the pin pulled or have explosive armor plates activated under their clothes.
By the second to fourth ranks, Su Xiao noticed that the self-destruct methods of his Paradise's contractors had upgraded. They no longer used grenades but high-energy items or powerful explosives.
By the fourth to seventh ranks, this tradition had evolved further. Some more straightforward contractors would implant powerful, stable micro-explosives inside their bodies, set to detonate the moment their heart stopped.
By the eighth rank, this tradition had upgraded again. Su Xiao remained consistent; his method of self-destruction had always been Apollo.
"Sacred Hymn, you! Die!"
A magic-type contractor's staff tip spewed a torrent of energy, forming a bright purple giant serpent that bit down on Sacred Hymn in the sky.
A second later, the bright purple serpent collapsed, and the magic-type contractor was healed to death. It was impressive he lasted that long, probably using plenty of recovery potions.
At this point, the disparity in wealth became apparent. If the Apocalypse Paradise contractors had faced such a desperate situation, at least 70 to 80 out of 700 could have used life-saving items to escape immediately.
In contrast, among the Holy Light Paradise and Watchful Paradise contractors, fewer than 20 managed to escape this way. This was normal; the quality of spatial life-saving items determined everything. The higher the world's rank, the harder it was to break through the spatial barrier.
In such a situation, escaping immediately via teleportation required higher-grade life-saving items.
Low-grade life-saving items could still be used in high-rank worlds, but their effects were greatly diminished. For example, an item described as teleporting 30 kilometers within 2 seconds might take 20 seconds to activate in a high-rank world and only teleport 50 meters.
Life-saving items that worked normally in an eighth-rank world were expensive, and finding them required some luck.
The [Fish Bait] that Molei had thrown out earlier was a good item. Su Xiao wouldn't use it lightly unless absolutely necessary.
The holy light in the sky gradually faded. Sacred Hymn folded her seraphim wings and descended. No contractors attacked her during this time. Those who survived had either used a large number of recovery potions or defensive life-saving items.
As she descended, Sacred Hymn's expression was calm, but her eyes were fixed on Su Xiao. If possible, she would do her utmost to engrave his face on a tombstone.
The roar of the battlefield subsided significantly. Before Sacred Hymn took to the sky, the enemy contractors were surrounded, but the Wild Boar warriors weren't known for their offensive power, so the enemy's casualties were slow.
Now, of the original 700-plus enemy contractors, only about 30 remained, fighting or rather being besieged by the Wild Boar warriors.
Boom!
Orlandi punched out, sending a visible dark gold shockwave forward in a fan shape, shattering a large number of Wild Boar warriors. Conservatively, this single punch killed at least a thousand Wild Boar warriors. This was Orlandi; the stronger the attack he received, the more devastating his counterattack.
As Sacred Hymn landed, twelve knights appeared around her. Flesh and blood splattered below as the knights cleared a landing spot for her.
Sacred Hymn spread her eight wings again. In a nearby battle group, Xiao Pei, who had just crawled out of his summon and was protected by Orlandi, saw this scene.
Xiao Pei hadn't died from the true bleeding effect; Sacred Hymn had saved him. The fact that she had healed so many to death showed her strength as a healer.
Seeing Sacred Hymn spread her seraphim wings, Xiao Pei's face instantly lost color. His legs went weak, thinking she was about to activate another healing ability.
What Xiao Pei feared didn't happen. Sacred Hymn's seraphim wings shattered, turning into golden threads. These threads stretched to their maximum length, connecting to the remaining 30-plus contractors still fighting. Despite their efforts to dodge, they couldn't avoid them.
'Redemption.'
Sacred Hymn's face showed pain. Her fair skin began to darken, her body rapidly withered to skin and bones, and her smooth hair became dry and brittle. This was the second-stage effect of [Angel Descent], [Angel Redemption]. She usually never used this move, but today she had no choice.
Boom!!
A blinding light exploded, and spatial fluctuations surged. When everything settled, the enemy contractors, including Sacred Hymn, had vanished without a trace.
Baha didn't use the Demon Hawk Domain to block their escape. Not because he didn't want to, but because the time wasn't right. The cooldown for Demon Hawk Domain was a full nine days, and it needed to be saved for the Apocalypse Paradise contractors with spatial life-saving items.
The world coordinates would take three days to generate, meaning the siege battle had a three-day limit. The problem was that the battle had just started, and the enemy was already down to just over 50 people.
The battle subsided. The battlefield was littered with corpses and burning scorched earth. The sky was overcast with dark clouds, and thunder rumbled. Soon, a torrential downpour would fall.
Su Xiao controlled the Sun Fortress to retract. The fortress, which had expanded forward, left, and right, slowly closed. After a few minutes, it once again enveloped the World Core suspended in midair.
The Evolution Nest, which had been retracted into the fortress walls, began to restore itself on the second, third, and fourth floors as the fortress resealed. Judging by the recovery speed, the Evolution Nest would be back to normal in an hour or two.
Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini all went to clean up the battlefield, looking for Scarlet Cards. Su Xiao walked into the fortress and returned to the top-floor command room. The tables, chairs, and sofas were in disarray and would need to be tidied up later.
Checking his current Apocalypse Paradise battle merits, Su Xiao found he had reached 2,910 points. He needed to sell these merits quickly to avoid any unforeseen changes.
[Prompt (Apocalypse Paradise): Contractor, you have repelled the enemy's first assault and killed over 90% of the participating enemy contractors.]
[Prompt (Apocalypse Paradise): Due to your outstanding performance, the enemy's overall combat strength has been significantly reduced. Your mark rank will be elevated. You will be promoted from Contractor to Reserve Battle Angel.]
[Mark upgrading...]
Receiving this prompt, Su Xiao felt a slight surprise. He removed the Black King Bracer from his left arm and looked at the blue mark on his arm. The mark's shape rapidly changed, eventually resembling a pair of spread wings.
[Prompt (Apocalypse Paradise): You have been promoted to Battle Angel (Reserve).]
[Related functions can only be activated after returning to Apocalypse Paradise at the end of this world.]
[If you win this World War, you will be officially promoted to Battle Angel.]
Just as the Apocalypse Paradise prompt disappeared, Su Xiao received a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Prompt: It has been detected that the Hunter's disguised mark has been granted the rank of Battle Angel (Reserve).]
[After the Hunter completes this disguise, Reincarnation Paradise will seal and analyze this mark, thereby improving the rank of mark disguise achieved during future invasions of worlds belonging to Apocalypse Paradise.]
[After analyzing this mark, it will be reconstructed into a 100% stable Apocalypse Paradise contractor mark, which the Hunter will obtain.]
[This mark will be granted to the Hunter in the form of a special title. Effect: When you equip this special title, you can disguise yourself as an Apocalypse Paradise contractor and engage in normal transactions, contract signing, etc. Detection items and abilities will be unable to see through this disguise.]
[If specific requirements are met, the Hunter can even use this special title's corresponding Apocalypse Paradise mark to temporarily enter Apocalypse Paradise.]
[Warning: If the Hunter meets the specific requirements and temporarily enters Apocalypse Paradise, you can conduct transactions, move freely, etc., within the limited stay time. However, you must absolutely not use most of the basic facilities within Apocalypse Paradise (such as the Attribute Enhancement Hall, Guild Hall, Forge, etc.).]