Chapter 56: On the Eve of the World War
The 'Twilight Dynasty Palace' was built on a circular stone disc, which resembled a millstone magnified thousands of times. Beneath this stone disc were hundreds of stone pillars, and it was these pillars, deeply embedded in a circular pit, that supported the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace' above.
It was unclear how the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace' was constructed. Even by the primitive architectural standards of this world, let alone modern times, building such a structure would be impossible—the pit below was far too deep.
At three diagonal corners of the stone disc beneath the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace', there were three five-meter-wide stone bridges. Crossing any one of them would lead to the palace.
These three stone bridges were ridiculously designed. There were no railings at the edges—just bare, exposed stone. If a battle broke out on the bridge, one misstep could send someone plummeting into the malicious pit below.
Above the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace', some rubble slowly rotated, floating in defiance of gravity.
Su Xiao walked to one of the stone bridges, drawing Dragon-Slaying Flash. He slashed at the edge of the bridge.
Clang.
Small fragments of stone flew off. The bridge was unexpectedly sturdy. Even steel could be cut through with a single slash from Su Xiao.
Su Xiao pressed his hand against the bridge's surface and sensed a dense energy surging within. It wasn't the bridge's own hardness but the energy inside protecting it. Destroying the bridge would be extremely difficult. Perhaps even two Apollo bombs would only melt part of it; complete destruction was impossible.
Realizing the bridge's exceptional sturdiness, Su Xiao stepped onto it and walked toward the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace'. It was a majestic palace. Standing before it, anyone would feel their own insignificance.
Staying vigilant, Su Xiao reached the palace. Two ten-meter-tall metal doors blocked his path, engraved with the image of a man wearing a crown and holding a scepter.
The man knelt on one knee, his arm extended, trying to touch a pile of dying flames before him. A twisted sword was thrust into the flames. Above the man, the sun was in a total eclipse.
Though it was just a carving, Su Xiao seemed to sense the scene within.
The sun had been swallowed by the Moon Wolf. The flames were about to go out. The world would soon fall into 'darkness'—an endless 'darkness'. Only the king at the world's center still struggled to grasp the last glimmer of light, using it to save his people and defeat the evil dragon. Among the king's subjects were humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, centaurs, goblins, giants, and ogres. These eight races each had their own territories. Though not entirely peaceful, they did not invade one another.
Hot-tempered dwarves and arrogant elves forged weapons together, arguing all the while. Giants and ogres attempted intermarriage. Centaurs galloped across the grasslands, hunting and living in peace. Goblins researched strange inventions daily. Humans connected trade among all races.
Yet all of this changed because of an evil dragon.
Though the king defeated the dragon, he was nearing his end. Humans, elves, and giants drank the dragon's blood and formed a legion called the Dragon Soar Legion. Orcs, dwarves, goblins, and ogres ate the dragon's flesh.
A hundred years later, on a continent shattered to only a third of its original size, war began between the Dragon Soar Empire and the Tribal Alliance. They were both the king's subjects, yet also influenced by the dragon's greed.
[Tip: The hunter has witnessed the 'Rise and Fall of the Twilight Dynasty' across time. The hunter's spirit resonates. Willpower permanently +2.]
The prompt from Reincarnation Paradise dispelled the scene before Su Xiao. After a few seconds of daze, the metal door before him gradually decayed.
With a crash, the ten-meter-tall metal door dissolved into a cloud of dust. The metal doors at the other two corners of the palace also vanished simultaneously.
"So the mission wasn't without rewards."
With that, Su Xiao walked into the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace'. Once inside, he found the terrain extremely complex.
The entire 'Twilight Dynasty Palace' had seven floors. At the center was a spiraling stone staircase that ran through the entire palace.
On the lower six floors, there were numerous rooms and passages. Without a map of the place, Su Xiao would likely get lost.
Yes, lost. Though it seemed absurd given Su Xiao's perception, after entering the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace', he noticed a certain energy permeating the air. This energy didn't erode the body but suppressed his perception, compressing his perception range to about four meters.
This energy felt familiar to Su Xiao—it was the same as the energy in the stone bridges.
Following the stone staircase upward, Su Xiao reached the seventh floor of the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace', the highest level.
The seventh floor was spacious. At the far end sat a golden throne. A skeleton sat on it, wearing a crown and holding a scepter.
Su Xiao approached and examined the skeleton on the throne. He realized that the energy spreading through the palace emanated from the scepter in the skeleton's hand.
Su Xiao grabbed the scepter.
Crack, crack, crack...
The skeleton turned its head, its dark eye sockets staring at Su Xiao. Su Xiao quickly let go of the scepter.
At that moment, Su Xiao felt a surge of malice from beneath the palace. That malice was beyond terrifying.
Bubu Wang curiously approached, about to touch the skeleton, but Su Xiao kicked its rear and silently mouthed, "Don't touch."
Clearly, this skeleton was the king of the 'Twilight Dynasty', the one who had defeated the evil dragon. He was suppressing something beneath the palace.
Su Xiao had arrived at the 'Twilight Dynasty Palace', but Reincarnation Paradise hadn't given any further prompts.
Just as Su Xiao wondered, the [World Source] in his arms suddenly floated up toward the skeleton.
"The contract... has arrived."
The skeleton suddenly spoke, its voice sounding as if from the depths of the underworld.
Su Xiao's body tensed. Dragon-Slaying Flash was held horizontally in front of him. Bubu Wang tucked its tail and ran to the side, immediately turning into a 'husky statue'. The man and dog coordinated with exceptional tacit understanding.
The palace fell silent. The [World Core] floated above the skeleton's head and eventually embedded itself into its forehead.
Boom!
A shockwave spread. It swept over Su Xiao, and his vision blurred. It was an extremely violent spatial force.
After a moment, Su Xiao shook his head and stood up. Nothing seemed abnormal. The skeleton still sat on the throne, the World Core embedded in its forehead. Bubu Wang's statue toppled over stiffly, fully committed to the act.
"You idiot, no danger."
Su Xiao sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash and tucked the scabbard into his belt.
Bubu Wang trotted over, hiding behind Su Xiao, baring its teeth at the skeleton. Its expression seemed to say: "This bone scared me, master. Cut him! I'll cheer you on."
Su Xiao certainly wouldn't attack the skeleton. This thing was not to be trifled with—anyone reckless would die.
Opening the war channel, Su Xiao requested two permissions from Reincarnation Paradise: one to modify his name on the war channel, and one to send images. Reincarnation Paradise granted the request.
Su Xiao sent the edited map and detailed information about the ancient ruins to the war channel. As soon as this information appeared, the contractors were stunned. Many began asking questions like, "The war channel can send images?" or "Did this guy get a membership?"
After Su Xiao sent his final message, the war channel exploded with messages.
Traveler (Rogue): "The above is detailed information on the final war location."
'Traveler (Rogue)' was, of course, Su Xiao. Just as he sent the information, a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Reincarnation Paradise Announcement: All contractors must arrive at the Oteranke Ancient Ruins within 24 hours. The World War will officially begin in 26 hours!]
[Announcement: Any contractor who fails to arrive at the Oteranke Ancient Ruins within 24 hours will be subject to forced execution.]
[Announcement: World War duration: 10 natural days.]
[Announcement: All contractors must successfully guard the 'World Core' to form a 'Large-Scale Spatial Fixed Point'. Once the Large-Scale Spatial Fixed Point is formed, the World War will be won. Formation time for the Large-Scale Spatial Fixed Point: 10 natural days. During this period, contractors must prevent Apocalypse Paradise contractors from taking the World Core.]
[Announcement: If the World War fails, all contractors will be subject to forced execution!]
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the palace roof, looking down. This place would soon become lively. In 26 hours, the entire 'Oteranke' Ancient Ruins would become a battlefield.
Wars between contractors differed from wars between natives. Contractors had diverse abilities: mages surrounded by elements, heavily armored main tanks, psychic ability users, ghoul bloodlines, Demon Fruit users, and so on. There was no ability that couldn't appear. Over a thousand contractors fighting in a melee—what an astonishing sight that would be.
Su Xiao placed his hand on the hilt of his blade. He now had two goals: kill the enemy and survive.
Today's update will be a bit late.
I went for a follow-up during the day. The results were good—the stones are gone. I didn't get back until 5 PM. Given the current time, I expect to update within two hours.
"Reincarnation Paradise" Today's update will be a bit late.
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