# Chapter 2: Crow Eagle · Solaro
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There were quite a few announcements, but Su Xiao didn't pay attention to the others. The reputation ranking was about to be settled, which meant the eight-star title was coming, and also meant the income of 5,000 Soul Coins every two days was about to be cut off.
As for the battle merit ranking that would appear next, Su Xiao had absolutely no interest in it and wouldn't even glance at it. As for why, it was a long story...
[Prompt: Detected that the Hunter is one of the two leader-level units in this battle. You will be unable to participate in the Battle Merit Ranking.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao was not surprised at all. This kind of situation where professionals are banned from participating in amateur competitions is common in notarization. From a certain perspective, he could farm battle merits for himself, and moreover, he hadn't joined a faction but had created one. This couldn't pass notarization, making it impossible for him to obtain battle merits.
[Prompt: Detecting your Hunter identity, re-evaluating...]
[You are a Hunter of Reincarnation Paradise. You would normally be eligible for battle merit rewards, but since one of the main warring factions, the Sun Nest, was created by you, the battle merit reward notarization cannot proceed normally for you.]
[According to Initial Regulation 1953489, all losses caused to Hunters, Contractors, Arbiters, Workers, Battle Angels, Death Rangers, etc., due to notarization deficiencies, will be compensated accordingly based on the situation in the current world.]
[You will be unable to obtain battle merits, and you will also be unable to participate in the Battle Merit Ranking. Therefore, when the faction you lead inflicts heavy losses, routs, or captures enemy positions, you will receive a corresponding number of "Guardian's Proofs" and Soul Coin income.]
[Guardian's Proof: After accumulating 100 "Guardian's Proofs," you can exchange them at Reincarnation Paradise's Material Exchange for the Immortal Rank Set · World Guardian Set.]
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Su Xiao had previously repelled the Nether forces and thought he would miss out on the "Immortal Rank Set · World Guardian Set." Unexpectedly, there was now a chance to obtain this set after the current world progress ended.
With this kind of income, his gloomy mood about being unable to participate in the subsequent Battle Merit Ranking gradually cleared up. But just then, another prompt appeared.
[Prompt: Because you opened the Nether Gate, this action has caused massive panic among the intelligent beings of this world. Your reputation value will plummet significantly.]
[Your reputation value -314,200 points.]
[Current reputation value -219,173 points.]
[You are now ranked first on the Reputation Ranking.]
...
Reputation value was a fickle thing. Su Xiao had experienced this before. First, it was positive and negative equaling 27 points, then it surged to a positive 95,000. At that time, he thought that was it, that no matter how much it rose or fell, it wouldn't go much further.
But he had overlooked the psychological endurance of the various intelligent races in this world. Previously, when Su Xiao repelled the Nether forces, the races were extremely grateful to him, and the image of a hero was quickly established.
This hero image hadn't stood for a few days when Su Xiao, who had driven back the Nether forces, personally opened the Nether Gate. This was even worse than the Nether invasion. That time was just Nether energy seeping in; this time, he directly connected two worlds, creating a stable passage.
From this, one could imagine the psychological shadow area of the races. The hero instantly turned into a war maniac. This huge sense of contrast caused Su Xiao's reputation value to plummet by over 300,000.
Compared to the psychological shadow area of the races in this world, the psychological shadow area of the other four people in the top five of the Reputation Ranking was also considerable. For the Undead Girl, Kai Yin, and Black Demon, this time it wasn't about whether they could seize the top spot. Being pressed down and repeatedly rubbed by the top spot like this was too insulting and embarrassing.
Su Xiao closed all the prompts. With the great battle ahead, he controlled Barbatos to fly into the Nether Gate ahead.
Meanwhile, in the Nether Realm · City of the Dead · Inner City Area.
Inside an ancient council hall within the King's Hall, a group of Nether high-ranking officials gathered. Among them were tall, inorganic-bodied Filth Tree Men, horned, snake-like Dragon Blood Clan members, Undead System wraiths, and Bloodthirsty System creatures.
The various races stood around an iron-black council table. The table had a total of six seats, two of which were empty. Crow Eagle · Solaro sat in the main seat. This was originally the seat of the Nether Emperor, but for a thousand years, Crow Eagle · Solaro had acted as proxy for war matters. Naturally, no one objected to him sitting in the main seat.
The other three seated were the nearly 50-meter-tall, heavily armored Twisted War Armor, the leader of this generation of the Filth Tree race group.
Sitting opposite Twisted War Armor was a cold-eyed Serpentman. Dragon Blood Leader · Luen had no horn but still became the leader of the Dragon Blood Clan, showing his skill.
The last person wore a black smoke dress. Her skin was pale as if glowing faintly, her eyes were blood-red, and her black nails were neatly trimmed. This was Smoke Princess.
"I heard you were beaten back before. I thought it was a rumor."
Smoke Princess's words were barbed, which was normal. Since she came to power, the Undead Clan had been trying to break away from the Nether Realm in recent years.
"Speaking with hidden meaning, what do you mean, you dead person?"
Dragon Blood Leader · Luen spoke. At first glance, this seemed to support Crow Eagle · Solaro, but in reality, it was instigating.
Seeing this, Twisted War Armor remained silent. It had been the first to follow the Emperor and knew that after a certain event, the Nether's external invasions had changed its intent.
Before the Emperor built the King's Hall, the Nether's external wars aimed to make other arrogant intelligent races pay the price, just like the Extinguished Light Nation that the Emperor once led. They excessively pursued supernatural power and eventually focused on one of the basic components of the world: elemental power.
The Extinguished Light Nation ultimately paid the price. Not only did they pay, but they also dragged all the living beings of this world to face the Abyss invasion together. The friendly gods fell, and the supernatural beings were all wiped out.
In the end, only the Emperor himself survived the Abyss invasion. The ancient Extinguished Light Nation was completely destroyed, transforming into the Nether Realm.
At that time, the Emperor was immersed in the power of the Abyss until an ally from beyond the heavens arrived. This ally from beyond the heavens called himself a Law Destroyer.
This Law Destroyer found the Emperor, who was immersed in the power of the Abyss, and stated his purpose. Roughly, he said he was late this time, expressed his apologies, and bluntly stated that if he had come earlier, he would have destroyed the Extinguished Light Nation led by the Emperor, because they were obtaining power by devouring natural elements.
That Law Destroyer didn't fight the Emperor. Not only did they not fight, but they also reached a cooperation. The Law Destroyer provided coordinates of several worlds and said these were places he originally planned to go, but couldn't now because he had to return to the Void and fight against Arcane Eternal Star.
Obviously, this was the middle to late stage of the war between the Law Destroyers and Arcane Eternal Star. At least by then, the Silver Moon Wolves were completely wiped out. Otherwise, matters like this would have been handled by the Silver Moon Wolves. Law Destroyers rarely came to these native worlds that weren't in the same "realm position" as the Void.
During that period, all the Silver Moon Wolves died, and the Law Destruction faction began to fall behind. Meeting a king like the Emperor, who abused elemental power but endured the subsequent suffering, and cooperating with him was a good choice.
The coordinates of several worlds left by that Law Destroyer represented five native worlds. The representative forces of these five native worlds had all discovered the mysteries of natural elements and began to gradually devour elemental power.
The Emperor agreed to this cooperation. He left the Nether Realm and went to the first world to be conquered. In that world, Twisted War Armor chose to lead its race group to follow the Emperor.
Initially, the Nether Realm's creed was not to destroy civilizations. Civilizations were worth developing and inheriting, except for those that abused and devoured elements. Such civilizations were to be annihilated without warning or threats. The Nether Realm's style was to invade, exterminate, and leave.
As they campaigned through various worlds, the Emperor gained many trusted aides, including:
Crow Eagle · Solaro, who also lost his home due to someone abusing elemental power.
The first follower · Twisted War Armor.
World orphan · Owl · Furia.
Unfortunate person · Golden Lion · Miu.
The abandoned foreign race · Dragon Blood Clan · Luen.
The tragic unfortunate · Demon Snake · Gumo.
One by one, powerful or outstanding individuals stood beside and behind the Emperor. Race groups that had also experienced suffering joined the Nether Realm. At that time, the Nether Realm was united and extremely powerful.
Until one day, Demon Snake · Gumo suddenly betrayed. He was the Emperor's most trusted person, even more trusted than Crow Eagle · Solaro and the first follower, Twisted War Armor.
Such a trusted person used a dark blade to stab into the Emperor's back. The stab was so vicious that it cracked a piece of the Emperor's armor, which had endured thousands of years of erosion with him, at the back.
No one knew why Demon Snake · Gumo did this. He was killed on the spot by the angry Crow Eagle · Solaro, Owl · Furia, and others.
Afterward, the Emperor ordered the construction of the towering King's Hall. The last time Twisted War Armor saw the Emperor was on the day the King's Hall was completed. After the metal doors of the King's Hall closed, Twisted War Armor never saw the king it followed again, until today.
The Emperor sealed himself within the King's Hall. The structure of the Nether Realm quietly changed. The originally equal power of the Four Knights under the King, within a few months, became Crow Eagle · Solaro holding the most power.
Not only that, but Crow Eagle · Solaro began iron-hoofed invasions. The previously set rules were torn up. The Nether Realm's goal was no longer just those civilizations peeping into elemental power but all intelligent civilizations.
The Nether's invasion was simple and direct: 1. Nether power infiltration, 2. Kill all intelligent beings in the invaded world, 3. Set up a certain formation, 4. Plunder all resources, 5. Leave that world.
No one knew why, but Twisted War Armor knew that since the Emperor sealed himself in the King's Hall, the Nether Realm had gradually become decayed. A rotten smell seemed to appear in the air. But after Crow Eagle · Solaro began external campaigns, the various abnormalities in the Nether Realm gradually recovered.
Twisted War Armor could confirm that the Nether Realm was gradually heading toward destruction due to some reason. Crow Eagle · Solaro's external campaigns were forcibly delaying this arrival of destruction.
The glory of following the Emperor in the past was gone. The current Nether Realm was like a dying and ferocious evil ghost, forcibly prolonging its life by absorbing nutrients from other worlds.
Twisted War Armor could confirm that this was definitely not the Emperor's will. The king it followed would not make such decisions. All of this was Crow Eagle · Solaro's greed for past glory.
As for leaving the Nether Realm to live in other worlds, that was impossible. The people of the Nether Realm couldn't leave the Nether Realm, just like living beings can't live on an oxygen-free planet for long.
Crow Eagle · Solaro was letting the people of the Nether Realm continue to live. In the outside world, he was heinous and deserving of death, but in the eyes of the Nether Realm's people, he was their only savior.
If the Emperor brought glory and honor to the Nether Realm, then Crow Eagle · Solaro was the last pillar after the Nether Realm's decline. The crow eagle, a carrion-eating bird, obtained sustenance from the death of other beings.
In the ancient council hall, Twisted War Armor sat with its head down, seemingly recalling that back figure that, though not as tall as itself, was majestic.
Dong, dong, dong~
Crow Eagle · Solaro in the main seat raised his hand and lightly tapped the council table, looking around. Dragon Blood Leader · Luen, Smoke Princess, and others slightly lowered their heads, not meeting his gaze, fearing to provoke his authority.
"At all costs, open the World Gate."
Hearing this, the ancient council hall fell silent. Dragon Blood Leader · Luen and Smoke Princess exchanged glances. The two, who had old grudges, briefly communicated with their eyes and decided to temporarily stand on the same front.
"Lord Solaro, the cost of opening the World Gate..."
Smoke Princess's words were cut off halfway by a piercing sound of breaking air.
Boom!
A plasma ball nearly ten meters in diameter crashed into the ancient council hall. The tall Twisted War Armor had already stepped forward, swinging its fist sideways in a roundhouse.
With an explosion, plasma splattered everywhere. Twisted War Armor flexed its fingers under its armor, looking outside.
What it saw made its woody, furrowed face show a stunned expression. It saw the Nether Gate over ten kilometers outside the city. This meant a force had invaded the Nether Realm.
For a moment, Twisted War Armor's mind went blank. Over the years, the Nether had invaded many worlds, but being invaded itself was a first.
"Uh~"
Smoke Princess also saw the Nether Gate over ten kilometers outside the city and was momentarily dazed. From birth to now, she had never experienced or even heard of such a situation.
"Prepare for battle."
Crow Eagle · Solaro's steady but unquestionable voice came. Judging by his expression, he was not at all surprised that the Sun Nest would take the initiative to attack.
Roars came from within the City of the Dead. The heavy city gates were pulled up with clattering chains. Pairs of knights riding Nether War Horses charged out of the city.
Along with them were many robed, gray-skinned Soul Wizards standing on the old but sturdy city walls. They held their hands loosely, closed their eyes, and brewed. Soon, breaking sounds came from above.
A giant meteor fell. It cracked mid-fall, and broken stone blocks trailed green flames as they landed. Upon landing, these meteorites exploded.
Boom, boom, boom...
Large areas of meteorites exploded among the friendly Demon Beasts, shattering those caught in the blast. Armor flew everywhere, and flames surged.
On Barbatos's back, Su Xiao overlooked this scene. A few meteorites flew past him several tens of meters away. At this distance, he could already feel the scorching heat of the meteorites.
The friendly Demon Beast army, like a black torrent, surged from the Nether Gate behind them, charging toward the City of the Dead ahead.
Was the Nether Gate appearing here a coincidence? Was it friendly luck? Of course not. Su Xiao had commissioned Kaisa to set up a node here.
Su Xiao looked diagonally ahead. The front wall of the City of the Dead had a special structure, with a total of five gates. From the center gate, all the knights riding Nether War Horses charged out.
These Nether War Horses had armor inlaid on their bodies, and the flame in their eyes was dark green. Don't think these were just ordinary war horses eroded by Nether energy. These things were carnivorous supernatural creatures in life, with bad tempers. When in heat or in a bad mood, they would specifically seek out other carnivores to kick and bite. Strangely, they never bullied herbivores.
The knights on horseback were also extraordinary. They were all Nether Warriors who had advanced into Nether Knights.
Su Xiao underestimated the combat power of the Nether forces. For the Nether forces, Kaisa was an outsider and naturally couldn't come into contact with too many secrets in a short time.
The main force of the Nether forces wasn't composed of Tier 3 Nether Warriors but entirely of knights, made up of Tier 4 Nether Knights.
Besides the Nether main force charging from the center gate, from the taller gate on the right, Filth Tree Men holding metal pillars nearly 30 meters long and 4 meters thick charged out. With their size, using such metal pillars was like an ordinary person holding a 1.5-meter iron rod.
These Filth Tree Men, while running, also wiped their hands over their metal rods, imbuing them with a murky blood flame. These big guys even knew how to enchant their weapons.
Further to the right were Dragon Blood warriors in dark gold armor, holding spears and lances. These Dragon Blood warriors had excellent weapons and armor, but their personal strength was average. Their equipment was particularly good.
From the gate on the left of the center gate came the Undead army. The Undead army had everything: blood descendants, wraiths, gargoyles, etc.
Among the four armies, the Undead army was the loudest. As the saying goes, the louder you bark, the easier you get beaten.
Up above, Su Xiao naturally noticed the momentum of the Undead Clan. He immediately ordered the leader-level Demon Beast · Abaddon to, no matter how badly the friendly forces were beaten by the Nether main force, focus on beating the Undead Clan to death.
Looking down from above, the two sides were like two tides surging toward each other, crashing together with a bang.
On the collision line, hundreds of Demon Beasts were pierced by lances. Due to the Nether power attached to the lances, their bodies exploded.
Many Nether Knights fell, but this cavalry immediately showed excellent combat literacy. The vanguard of the entire cavalry, like a red-hot iron awl piercing into cheese, fiercely charged into the friendly main force.
This vanguard charged nearly a kilometer before stopping. Along the way, they left behind large amounts of insect blood and crushed shell fragments. This was the most intuitive scene of Tier 3 Demon Beasts facing Tier 4 Nether Knights.
Su Xiao was mentally prepared for this. Even if the battle line was broken, or even if the Nether cavalry charged through the Nether Gate and launched a surprise attack to the friendly base camp, it didn't matter. The base camp had a total of 800 Brutal Turrets and 20 Titan Beasts, always ready to welcome them.
On the chaotic battlefield, the Nether Knights and Filth Tree Men were astonishingly powerful, especially the Filth Tree Men. If they had been present in the previous battle attacking the friendly base camp, the friendly forces definitely wouldn't have been able to hold.
As the saying goes, some are happy, some are worried. The direct troops of Crow Eagle · Solaro and Twisted War Armor fought more and more fiercely, while the Undead army was a different story.
Nearly half of the friendly Demon Beasts chose to attack here. Over 4,000 Demon Flame Dragons, with over 3,000 sent here. A total of 10 Titan Beasts were brought, with 8 focusing their fire here.
The claws of the Demon Beasts pierced the head of a blood descendant. Their tail blades swept, cutting a wraith banshee into wailing endlessly.
Streams of dragon flame turned the western war zone into a fiery hell. A gargoyle flew in the air. Just then, a plasma cannon traced a parabolic arc, blasting it into scattered debris.
On the high platform behind the Undead army, Smoke Princess's face was gloomy. She couldn't understand what kind of ghost command Crow Eagle · Solaro had given, ordering a full charge to push the enemy back to the Nether Gate. Their Undead army was almost being pinned down and beaten. Not being pushed back was good enough, yet they were supposed to charge the enemy's line?
The battlefield was chaotic. Meteors and plasma cannons crisscrossed in flight. Huge dark green soul fireballs flew by with thick smoke.
On the ground, Dragon Blood warriors, Nether Knights, and Demon Beasts were mixed in battle. The tall Filth Tree Men were particularly conspicuous on the battlefield. The smell of burning and blood mixed, spreading in the air.
The fungal carpet on the ground quietly spread, absorbing the dead or dying.
Meanwhile, in the friendly rear area, one after another Brutal Turret had been built. This behavior of building turrets right in front of the enemy was witnessed by Crow Eagle · Solaro on the enemy city wall. Although he didn't show it directly, he was also very speechless inside.
He had experienced this broken tactic dozens of times and still hadn't thought of a good way to deal with it. Mainly, after bombarding them, in a short while, another dozen or so defense towers would pop up.
One hour into the battle, the friendly forces were completely pushed back. Fortunately, the death rate of the Demon Beasts matched the spawning rate in the rear, keeping the number of Demon Beasts between 370,000 and 480,000. The Nether army was very strong, almost having an advantage across the entire line, except for the Undead Clan.
They were being beaten so hard they were almost screaming. If not for saving face, they would have started asking for reinforcements.
The Dragon Blood Clan seemed to notice this. With good equipment but not-so-strong strength, they restrained their originally arrogant attitude. They didn't want to be pinned down and beaten severely like the Undead Clan.
The Undead Clan originally deployed 320,000 troops, now only 90,000 remained. This made Smoke Princess wonder if there was some old grudge with the Sun Nest.
In fact, there wasn't. The reason for doing this was to relieve the pressure on the main battlefield. Those Nether Knights were too strong. If they didn't divert troops to reinforce the Undead Clan, the friendly main battlefield really couldn't hold.
Three hours into the battle, the friendly line continued to retreat.
Five hours into the battle, the friendly line was pushed back to the Nether Gate, i.e., back into the original world. They began to use the friendly base camp as a defensive point to welcome the Nether main force.
Eight hours into the battle, the friendly forces successfully pushed the enemy back. The friendly army again attacked into the Nether Realm.
Eleven hours into the battle, both sides tacitly ceased fire. The friendly army retreated outside the Nether Gate, back to the base camp. The enemy army retreated back to the City of the Dead.
The reason for the ceasefire was that the friendly side needed to rest, and the enemy side couldn't take it anymore, especially the Undead Clan and Dragon Blood Clan. The Undead Clan's total casualties exceeded 650,000. Smoke Princess was so angry she almost went into battle herself.
Su Xiao stood on the front wall of the friendly base camp, looking at the distant Nether Gate. The land along the way was devastated, with dark green flames still burning.
Su Xiao had some bandages wrapped around him, stained with blood. He wore the black feather cloak, and his blood aura was a bit heavy. In the previous melee, he naturally didn't just watch, especially when the enemy attacked the front of the friendly base camp.
On the previous battlefield, quite a few Contractors had come, only to find that this battlefield was simply crazy. Cannon fodder was countless, elite units were everywhere, and leader-level units were as common as dogs.
Su Xiao walked down the city wall and returned to the two-story wooden building. He sat cross-legged on the floor mat, thinking. With the current situation, if they continued fighting, the friendly side would definitely not be a match. One wrong decision, and the line would immediately collapse.
Fortunately, after this round of bitter fighting, the friendly side not only obtained a large amount of bio-energy but also gained 5 evolution points. Whether to upgrade Jila, the insect nest, or the insect units, there was no need to choose.
Just as Su Xiao was about to let Jila use these evolution points, a Void Tree announcement appeared.
[Announcement (Void Tree): The Reputation Ranking has been locked. Final settlement will be conducted.]
[Settlement complete. Final ranking as follows:]
First Place: Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise), has obtained Eight-Star Title · Doom Monarch.
Second Place: Anonymous (-- Paradise), has obtained Seven-Star Title · Honorable Defeat.
Note: Hiding the alias requires no Soul Coin payment. If you wish to hide your belonging Paradise faction, an additional application is required.
Third Place: Shenfu (Sanctuary Paradise), has obtained Netherfire Words.
Fourth Place: Anonymous (-- Paradise), has obtained Soul Chest.
Fifth Place: Anonymous (Death Paradise), has obtained Earth Vein Hermit (Class Inheritance Item).
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