# Chapter 7: Team and Reinforcements
Above, black clouds pressed down heavily, with continuous rumbling thunder like war drums. Below, the overwhelming tide of Abyssal creatures surging forward made even the frontline Contractors before the No. 1 Vanguard Fortress breathe a bit faster, gripping their weapons tighter.
Crack, crack, crack~
The evil and seductive Red Count's pupils dilated slightly. The pressure coming head-on was something she hadn't felt in many years, making her pupils even more crimson.
Beside the Blood Count stood a tall figure in a black Archmage robe that made him even more imposing. The skeletal remains adorning him gave off an aura between life and death—this was the Necromancer Grand Mage, Seth.
Just as the wave of Abyssal creatures ahead broke through an invisible barrier, with a boom, countless long-range attacks from their side were launched.
Within this entire Void Fortress, of course, there weren't only Contractors. Local Void powerhouses had also responded to the Void Tree's summons to garrison here.
Of course, among the local Void powerhouses, there were those who feared battle and sought to evade. The problem was that the Void Tree's impartial temporary war shelters only allowed entry to those below a certain combat power. The commoners of various Star Realm worlds had all entered the "Temporary War Shelters" located farthest from the Abyss's spread in their respective worlds. As for those unwilling to enter, they weren't forced. For such life-or-death choices, the Void Tree's arbitration had always been very lenient.
Some major cities in certain worlds had rejected this shelter from an unknown powerful force, choosing to defend their homes themselves.
The outcome for these major cities was already determined. As for those Star Realm powerhouses who chose to flee and avoid battle, they failed to realize one thing: after the Abyss Campaign began, the only truly safe place for Transcendents was actually the war fortresses of each world—their own base camps.
At this moment, the Void Base Camp was filled with gathered Star Realm powerhouses, plus the numerous powerhouses from the Paradise factions, along with the recruitment range from Ninth Rank to Supreme Realm, and a large number of Workers. This brought the total base camp population to over a million, and this had already reserved room for subsequent rotations of the front line and temporary reinforcements to the other five major battlefields. Of course, compared to the core battlefield, the defensive strength of the other five battlefields was several times weaker. In contrast, the offensive limits of the Abyss force factions on those sides were far inferior to the Void. After all, the Abyss Gates there were projected; the only real gate was in the Void.
Beside the Necromancer Grand Mage Seth was actually the Goblin Elder, Maza Bia Doherty. All the high-level members of the Goblin Merchant Guild were very clear-headed. If this Abyss invasion couldn't be resisted, it would be the day of extinction for all living beings in the Star Realm. Therefore, they simply submitted over ninety percent of the Space-Time Power in the Goblin Merchant Guild's inventory to the Void Tree.
If this war was won, the Goblin Merchant Guild would inevitably soar immediately. However, given the Goblin's greedy yet low-key style, they would at most maintain their current state, perhaps not even climbing to the top of the merchant rankings. The Goblins' greatest hobby, to put it bluntly, was secretly counting gold coins under their blankets and chuckling to themselves.
To the right of the Goblin Elder was an old hag—yes, the Demon Old Hag had also come. The Demon Race had always been fence-sitters, but this time they couldn't sit on the fence anymore. Could they join the Abyss faction? Just thinking about it was unreliable. If the Abyss Era truly arrived, the Demon Race wouldn't even have a livable environment.
The Demon Race had always been: fence-sit when possible, but when they couldn't, they never lacked the resolve for a death battle. It could be said that the Demon Race had no stance yet was brutal, but they couldn't be called unskilled in battle.
Facing the surging tide of Abyssal creatures, the Necromancer Grand Mage Seth stood alone on the front-line metal high wall. He raised a single hand, and with a rumble, death giant worm holes of all sizes appeared. These spatial wormholes surged out a sea of undead creatures, the weakest among them being high-level undead like Brain-Eaters.
Using what others would consider boss-level summoned creatures as mere cannon fodder—this was the strongest Necromancer, one of Death Paradise's aces, Sun Seth.
But one thing was strange: all the undead summoned by Necromancer Grand Mage Seth had Sun characteristics, and even the weaker ones had strong Flame characteristics.
A massive wave of undead met the black tide, but the next second, the undead tide was swallowed by the dark waters. Seeing this, Necromancer Grand Mage Seth remained composed. Standing on the high wall, his Archmage coat flapped loudly in the fierce wind.
Su Xiao, located on the third defensive line's high wall, watched the Necromancer Grand Mage Seth ahead and inwardly thought this man had guts. With so many Abyss powerhouses secretly spying, he dared to stand in such a conspicuous position. To be honest, with those old bastards watching from the shadows, even he wouldn't want to jump into the battle group right now.
The black tide that had just submerged the undead army exploded the next moment.
Boom, boom, boom...
Explosions that tore space to shreds occurred—it was those undead creatures. Necromancer Grand Mage Seth raised his hand, and the fragments of the exploded undead creatures adhered to each other, reassembling. Whether art is explosion, Seth didn't know, but he certainly knew how to blow enemies to pieces.
The title "Sun Seth" was given by outsiders after he became famous, fearing his vengeful nature. Before that, he was called "Mad Seth." None of his summons couldn't self-destruct.
The continuous Sun explosions triggered by Sun Seth temporarily suppressed the Abyss tide ahead. Both earth and sky were engulfed by explosions. Not only the charging Abyssal creatures, but even the frontline Contractors and Void powerhouses on their own side hid behind the high walls, clearly feeling the walls before them shaking with boom after boom.
A Demon named Yabak looked at the trembling high wall ahead with lingering fear. Near him were his two Feather Clan friends, a brother and sister—the brother Feiyu and the sister Chenwu.
Yabak swallowed his saliva and asked the masked man beside him, a Pioneer: "Are all you Paradise people like this?"
Yabak's phrasing was tactful. He meant: Are all you Paradise faction people this crazy? If so, I'll stay far away in the subsequent melee. Better to die at the enemy's hands than be accidentally killed by my own side.
The masked Pioneer was silent for a moment, then said: "Compared to the Madman Paradise, Sun Seth is relatively rational."
"Madman Paradise? Which side?"
Chenwu of the Feather Clan asked. As the final battle began, the Star Realm powerhouses participating had gained a preliminary understanding of the major Paradises through the information provided by the Void Tree. This was normal—they were about to fight to the death together. If they didn't even know which side they were fighting alongside, that would be ridiculous.
"Kukulin Bai Ye's Paradise."
"Oh~!" ×3
Yabak, Feiyu, and Chenwu all looked like this was perfectly reasonable.
The explosions never stopped, as if Sun Seth alone could hold back the Abyss tide. On the high wall, Sun Seth was exhilarated. Not only was he finally showing off after years of low-key accumulation, revealing his power before the Star Realm's myriad races and the major Paradise powerhouses, but also because of his soaring merit points.
If he accumulated enough and later obtained one of the "Abyss Heart/Elemental Eye," he would completely rise. Of course, given Sun Seth's style, he would definitely play it safe and steady. His goal was to achieve this around the mid-Fourth Era.
It could only be said that Sun Seth was truly steady. Besides, he had been accumulating for too long. Anyone who had absorbed Sun power in an abandoned star's sun for who knows how many years would want to let off some steam.
Whoosh~
A faint, almost negligible sound of something cutting through the air came. It was from before the Abyss Gate—the Fish Clan Chief, Um Kensa, who had formed a tube with his hand before his mouth, as if blowing something out with a blowpipe.
A white thread-thin worm shot toward Sun Seth. In truth, the real danger was never the eerie evil coming head-on, but these quiet and fast things.
A giant skeleton burning with Sun flames appeared before Sun Seth. The white thread worm embedded itself into its tall leg bone. After a moment of silence...
Boom!
It wasn't an explosion, but the cracking sound caused by an incredibly rapid proliferation rate. A single white thread worm instantly split and proliferated into a thread-worm domain a kilometer in diameter, like a sea of worms about to drown this place.
Sun Seth's expression changed slightly. He was about to use brute force to withstand this move. Sun Seth could fall or be defeated in ordinary times, but his current display of power represented the Death Rangers of Death Paradise. After being the eternal second-place for so many years, as a powerhouse from the era when he was the regimental commander, this time, he had to remove the "eternal second-place" label from the campaign no matter what.
Clang~
A slashing strike quietly passed by. Sun Seth was first surprised, then understood. Sun flames erupted from him, burning the surrounding thread worms to ashes. Amidst the falling embers, Sun Seth standing atop the high wall didn't lose any of their side's momentum.
Far away before the Abyss Gate, the Fish Clan Chief Um Kensa smiled a forced, insincere smile. He was certain that Necromancer wasn't a Causality System, and the way that causality was instantly extinguished—even a true Causality System's causality annihilation couldn't be so clean. The only one known to be capable of this, besides the Law Destroyer who had cut down a Transcendent Realm with his blade, who else could it be?
Fish Clan Chief Um Kensa surveyed the distance. The enemy's front-line high wall—with his perception and the powerful aura of the person he was looking for, he could certainly determine whether the other party was on the front line.
"It seems he doesn't dare face us directly."
Um Kensa finished speaking and let out a sinister laugh, like the cold and damp deep sea.
The Bronze Clan Chief remained silent, always serious. The Collective Leader also didn't express a stance. This Abyss powerhouse, formed from tens of millions of black scale thread worms, gave people a heartfelt sense of dread just by looking at it.
As for the Luen Family Chief, named Luen Kui, a strong and tall figure with a bone mask covering the lower half of his face, he glanced down at the small old man-like but terrifying Fish Clan Chief. The Luen Chief, also the Beast Clan boss, didn't speak either, but his meaning was clear: If the Master weren't here, it's like you dare face that Law Destroyer directly.
In truth, the mission of the Four Great Chiefs this time was to eliminate Su Xiao. One-on-one, they certainly weren't a match, so it was four against one. As for it sounding bad, there was no such concern. This was the Law Destroyer Kukulin Bai Ye. Against such a powerful enemy, four against one wasn't dishonorable at all. It even gave the feeling that four against one was only natural, and even then, it was very unstable.
The Abyssal creatures seemed endless, but fortunately, their side's firepower was sufficient. Various long-range abilities were bombarding wildly like they cost nothing, and there was no need to aim. Now, as long as skills were thrown out, they would hit.
On the third line, a Fire Mage from Apocalypse Paradise held a staff shimmering with flame light. Above, house-sized fireballs fell, exploding into the incoming enemy tide.
Watching his continuously rolling merit points, the Fire Mage's smile was harder to suppress than an AK. According to the prompt, merit points could be exchanged for True Attribute Points and Skill Upgrade Pod usage permissions. So, if he continued to safely farm merit like this, within at most a day or two, he was confident that after rotation, he would become an Absolute Strength Rank Mage.
Just as the Fire Mage was bombarding wildly, his support-type behind him was sweating from restoring his mana, and the Melee-type was alert to the surroundings, dark liquid suddenly appeared beside the Fire Mage.
"Roar!"
A creature shaped like a shooting worm suddenly drilled out from a spatial hole. It was so close to the Fire Mage that he could smell the stench of the black worm spawn and feel the terror that made his hair stand on end.
Splat!
The spawn exploded, turning into a mass of black leech-like worms. The black worms scattered, and one bit onto the Fire Mage's left hand. Its mouthparts ignored all defenses, biting off a soybean-sized piece of flesh from his finger.
Bang!
A flame impact shattered the black leech worm. The Fire Mage felt a lingering fear. Just as he thought he had escaped danger, he suddenly felt movement in his palm. Raising his hand, he saw black leeches already drilling out from the skin of his hand, twisting vigorously. Seeing this, even the usually tough Fire Mage's cheek twitched. This scene would be hard to dream of even in nightmares.
The team's Healer looked even worse. Her dispel ability had been used but had no effect. These leeches were the infection from that black worm's bite. Now they were rapidly proliferating inside the Fire Mage's body, their characteristics having become part of the Fire Mage's body. Even though this part was undergoing fatal and rapid proliferation, it couldn't be eliminated by dispel abilities.
As for healing abilities, they were even more unusable. The characteristics of these leeches were too troublesome. It could only be said that a Ninth Rank Contractor was indeed somewhat fragile against the characteristics nurtured by the Abyss. Not everyone was like Su Xiao, who started contacting Abyss spawn or environments from the Seventh or Eighth Rank, dealt with Abyss characteristics in every world after the Ninth Rank, and even more so after Absolute Strength and Supreme.
The Fire Mage pulled up his sleeve. The sight before him made him regret not cutting off this arm immediately. Black leeches hung down like tassels. The Fire Mage let out a trembling groan. At this moment, he understood: on this Abyss battlefield, as a Ninth Rank Fire Mage, he was at best the bottom-level combat power that could die at any moment. While not quite cannon fodder like summons, when danger came, death was real.
In this five-person team, the always silent Tank brother stood up from the metal supply box. His tower shield hit the ground with a bang. Shield raised, charge! Target: teammate, the Fire Mage.
Seeing the tower shield rushing toward him, the Fire Mage smiled with some relief. This was the correct choice, yet one that made him want to curse.
Bang!
The War Spirit-ized Tank brother charged through, not knocking the Fire Mage away, but passing through him. The Fire Mage felt intense pain throughout his body, followed by relief. As the Healer's ability landed on him, he let out a long, relieved breath after surviving the ordeal.
Looking at the Tank brother now, black leeches drilled out from his body surface. He stomped the ground, raised his head, and let out a wild roar. Black leeches flew out from his body. After completing all this with the Tank-exclusive Life Sovereign Technique, the Healer's ability also flew over.
The masked Tank brother pulled down his mask slightly, revealing a face that looked honest and loyal. He nodded at the Fire Mage. The Fire Mage, having just recovered, raised his hand and gave a thumbs up.
Being matched into this campaign team, the Fire Mage had been a bit displeased earlier. After all, his kill merits were split five ways. He had no complaints about splitting with the Support and Healer.
But now, he sincerely felt that merits should be split five ways. And that young Melee brother, who seemed listless—if an Abyssal creature suddenly used some means to drill into spatial gaps and appear here, this young man was the entire team's guarantee.
It was worth mentioning that the Fire Mage was from Apocalypse Paradise, the young Melee brother was from Reincarnation Paradise, the Divine Support was from Sanctuary Paradise, the little Healer was naturally from Holy Light Paradise, and the Tank brother was formerly a Watchful Paradise Contractor, now a Holy Light Paradise Contractor.
Such teams were very numerous in the Void Core War Zone and the five Transcendent World war zones. However, not all teams were lucky enough to be matched with a Watchful Paradise Tank.
At this moment, on the front line, the degree of brutality was astonishing, but this was just the opening. The Abyssal creatures were indeed endless, but the real threat was the Abyss Descendants lying in wait.
Drip, drip~
Blood dripped from Moen's chin. He was known as a friendly person, but that didn't mean he lacked strength. At the Supreme Rank, about to advance to the Peak Realm, he was currently on the front line. It was clear that Moen was determined to advance to Supreme Peak during the early to mid stages of this Abyss Campaign. Only then could he have a foothold on this brutal battlefield and protect those he could protect.
In the past, many had called Moen hypocritical. But to this day, Moen still maintained the kindness of distinguishing good from evil and helping those worth helping.
Just now, Moen had nearly had his throat pierced by a suddenly appearing sharp tentacle. It wasn't an Abyss powerhouse ambushing him. It was simply that there were too many Abyssal creatures coming head-on. A figure formed from dark red tentacles was strolling leisurely among the continuously charging Abyssal creatures. It was a Collective, probably not a core member of the Collective Family. If it were, Moen, who hadn't yet advanced to Peak, wouldn't have had the chance to survive.
Speaking of which, in the Abyss Campaign, even the destructive power of Peak powerhouses wasn't very large in range. There were too many Abyssal creatures on the enemy side, too many summoned creatures and barrier defenses on their side. Both sides had too many things to destroy. Therefore, the range of various abilities naturally wouldn't be as world-destroying as when two Peaks fought one-on-one. Of course, if two Peak powerhouses were fighting to the death, the area of effect would still be very wide.
Su Xiao simply sat on the iron-black metal high wall of the third defensive line, watching the distant Abyss Gate. Just now, the Lord of the Abyss had returned to the Abyss. His estimate was that, unless necessary, this Lord wouldn't leave the Abyss for too long, thus maintaining the continuous outward invasion of Abyss power.
Su Xiao wouldn't act for now. There would be plenty to do later. For now, he just needed to wait for the core battlefield to hold and maintain the current defensive posture. That would count as surviving the opening phase. Don't think this was easy. Their side's powerhouses seemed to be slaughtering the Abyssal creatures, leaving the sky above the chaotic war zone shrouded in black blood mist. But their side's powerhouses were constantly being consumed, while the Abyssal creatures coming head-on were endless.
He raised his hand and looked at the back of his right hand. A ψ mark had appeared. This was an aid mark. When a main battlefield needed reinforcements, he could use this to rush there. Besides that, he would receive battlefield missions at any time. Just as he thought this...
[Prompt (Void Tree): You have received an emergency battlefield mission. You must kill the "Spawned Aberrant: Wanderer" in the shortest possible time.]
There was no failure punishment mentioned, but the "shortest possible time" requirement showed the urgency. At Su Xiao's current rank, emergency missions in this campaign would certainly not have failure punishments. The reason was that if things were messed up, he would inevitably have to bear the consequences later.
Su Xiao stood up and looked at the short girl beside him. Her attire was elaborate and gorgeous. She was one of Apocalypse Paradise's top Perception Systems, also a Causality System, with her branch choice being prophecy and divination. She was a fortune-telling witch named Monisha.
Monisha had been "lucky" enough to be matched into the "Strongest Reinforcement Team" as the Perception System. Regarding this, Monisha had something to say. As for what to say, she could at most guarantee not to cry while speaking. Are you kidding me?! Letting her assist a Law Destroyer who had sealed eight Original Sin Objects? She was a Causality System! Had she accidentally triggered some punishment mechanism?
Then, Monisha received one good news and one bad news.
Good news: She didn't have to go on emergency reinforcements to other main battlefields. And of course, she wouldn't go. As a Causality System, going on emergency reinforcements—which sounded like sudden, fast, high-intensity combat—wasn't that just suicide?
Bad news: Although she didn't need to prophesy for Su Xiao, she did need to perceive for him.
"Monisha."
Su Xiao spoke, startling Monisha, who was in a gorgeous purple dress questioning her life choices: "Wh-what?"
"Perceive the location of the 'Spawned Aberrant: Wanderer.'"
"Huh?"
Monisha looked at Su Xiao, blinking her long-lashed eyes. She understood each word individually, but together, she was very confused.
Crack, crack, crack~
Aoge crystals formed ahead, outlining a writhing, constantly deforming eye. This eye was about the size of a soccer ball.
Seeing this, Monisha first divined, then perceived. In less than five seconds, she said seriously: "Found it. It's already infiltrated to the fifth defensive line. How did it manage that?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. He placed a hand on Monisha's shoulder. As Monisha was confused, Su Xiao, through her perception sharing, drew Dragon-Slaying Flash with his other hand.
Clang!
In her perception, the "Spawned Aberrant: Wanderer" was suddenly cut by a vertical slashing mark. Then it twisted in pain and eventually dissolved.
Monisha, who had perceived the entire process, gradually became dumbfounded. She estimated the distance—very far, with multiple defensive lines and countless defensive barriers in between.
"May I ask, how... did you do that?"
Hearing this, Su Xiao looked down at Monisha. This Perception System had indeed performed excellently just now. He said:
"Cut its causality."
"Ah?"
As a Causality System, Monisha understood better than others how ridiculously explosive this was.
"Could it be that you're actually a Causality System, just using Technique Grandmaster as a disguise?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak.
"Last question, please satisfy my curiosity. That slash of yours nearly collapsed all my efforts in the Causality System. How... did you do it?"
"Improve techniques."
"And then? Anything special?"
"Keep improving."
"This... sounds very reasonable, but... you just cut causality like that? And I need to prepare a ritual, taking three days total to achieve causality destruction. What does that count as? Oh, right! What level is your Blade Grandmaster?"
This question indeed stumped Su Xiao. Maxing out Blade Grandmaster was Lv.110. Later, Blade Grandmaster reached Lv.EX, and there were several super-large improvements, plus the improvement from Heavenly Edge Shadow Slash—incalculable.
"Very high."
"Specifically?"
"Not sure."
"Sorry, a waste like me actually envied you for being able to cut causality. I'll reset my points and change professions right now."
Monisha had been hurt in her pride by the causality-cutting slash. Actually, she didn't need to be. Su Xiao was a Supreme Realm Grandmaster. After accumulating enough "Supreme Realm Passives," he naturally gained the powerful ability of Blade-Cut Causality.
Just then, the communicator in Su Xiao's pocket rang. Answering it, it was the little spirit Popoli. He had delivered that [Contract Object] to their base camp and was currently waiting for Su Xiao there.
Su Xiao was about to return to the base camp when he suddenly received a bright red prompt:
[Prompt (Void Tree): The Wind Sea Continent battle situation is critical. You will be teleported for reinforcement in 10 seconds.]
The six major battlefields: the core battlefield, Void, was the responsibility of the Reincarnation Paradise faction, with the most Reincarnation Paradise Contractors here.
The other five battlefields were the responsibility of the other five Paradise factions:
Myriad Races Realm: Responsible by the Dawn Paradise faction. Dawn Paradise had just revived, but the Myriad Races Realm's own defensive strength was sufficient, currently very stable.
Witch Realm: Responsible by the Holy Light Paradise faction. Current status was not bad.
Blazing Sun Star: Responsible by the Sanctuary Paradise faction. Stable performance.
Ancient Dragon Kingdom: Responsible by the Death Paradise faction. This was their side's disadvantage area. Although Death Paradise Contractors were often eternal second-place, their strength was still stable.
Wind Sea Continent: Responsible by the Apocalypse Paradise faction. It could only be said that this was an unexpected arbitration assignment. But the Void Tree's arbitration made this judgment based on the higher win rate of the entire campaign, not a single battlefield.
As for the current situation on Wind Sea Continent, it could be seen from the prompt. Urgent reinforcement was needed.
A teleportation array appeared beneath Su Xiao's feet. Destination: Wind Sea Continent.