Chapter 3522: The Quiet Eve

The death of Wuying Solaro also meant that the towering tree of the Underworld was about to come crashing down. However, one must be prepared in advance when such a giant tree falls, lest one be crushed to death by it.

【Prompt: You have killed Wuying Solaro.】

【You have obtained 18.9% of the World's Source.】

【You have obtained the Immortal-grade Treasure Chest: Eagle Collar.】

【You have obtained the Penitence Tower Key (Special item of this world).】

【You have crushed the frontal defense line of the Underworld faction.】

【You have obtained Guardian's Proof ×32 (Special item).】

Su Xiao closed the prompts. The number of Guardian's Proofs obtained from defeating the Underworld army was not small, but the problem was that he currently had 76 of them, and he was still 24 short of being able to exchange for the Immortal-grade set: World Guardian.

Looking at it this way, perhaps he would not be able to obtain the World Guardian set upon returning to Reincarnation Paradise this time. Su Xiao did not hold high expectations for this; if the attributes of the World Guardian set required 5 points of Charm to wear, it would be quite troublesome. As the saying goes, no expectations, no disappointment.

There might be opportunities to obtain more Guardian's Proofs in the future. Once he accumulated one hundred, he could exchange for the "Guardian Set" within Reincarnation Paradise.

The gains from killing Wuying Solaro were not low. Just moments ago, when killing the Twisted War Armor, Su Xiao had not obtained any World's Source or treasure chests, only a pitch-black seed.

This seed resembled a mango pit, but its texture was closer to rock or some other inanimate object. It was completely black, as if it had been scorched by fire.

This item was quite extraordinary, as when he checked its attributes, they were all "???". Su Xiao had a feeling that this thing was an item like an Origin Stone or an Eternal Spring, used to enhance insights or similar characteristics, though it was likely a one-time consumable.

Su Xiao looked toward the Heaven-Reaching Palace ahead. When Golden Lion Miao was besieged and killed earlier, there wasn't even a kill prompt. It only carried the key to the main gate of the palace; or rather, Golden Lion Miao had long been dead, acting like a living corpse, guarding this place by following its instincts from when it was alive.

Su Xiao issued a mental command to a Demon Beast, ordering it to approach the main gate of the palace. Although he knew the chances were slim, he had to try. If he could flatten the palace using a legion-style assault, there would be no need to gather those people for a life-or-death battle against the Great Emperor. Su Xiao always felt that the Great Emperor must be ridiculously strong.

The Demon Beast that received the order ran forward quickly. When it approached within five meters of the palace's main gate, Zhila, who was controlling it, felt her mental connection snap, and the Demon Beast fell into a state of chaos.

Just at this moment, a surge of Abyss energy, like black mist, poured out from within the gate and merged into the Demon Beast's body. This was Abyss energy in its initial state, not the second-generation Abyss-characteristic energy that appeared after being enhanced by Abyss power like the Underworld energy.

The Abyss energy merged into the Demon Beast in the blink of an eye. It reared back and roared, its tail bursting with two bone tails with a "crack" sound. The sharp claws on its forelimbs grew wildly, and dense, creepy bone spurs appeared all over its carapace.

This was the power of the Abyss; it would provide enhancements to everything, but such enhancements had extreme dualities.

"Roar!!"

The three-tailed Demon Beast roared. Its form had begun to approach that of the leader-level Demon Beast Abaddon. It transformed into a blur, and in the next instant, it tore the upper half of a Demon Beast's body to shreds with its sharp claws.

The surrounding Demon Beasts swarmed up to besiege the three-tailed Demon Beast. After a tragic slaughter, the three-tailed Demon Beast was torn to pieces.

Just one Demon Beast being eroded by the Abyss was so difficult to deal with, which also meant one thing: when facing the erosion of the Abyss, human-wave tactics were truly powerless. This was also why, when so many worlds were invaded by the Abyss, the strong within them could only wait for death.

In fact, what was even more desperate was that when invaded by the Abyss, there wasn't even a clear enemy. Even if one wanted to resist, how could one resist? Fight against the Abyss? What is the Abyss? Rush into the Abyss passage?

Regarding entering the Abyss for exploration, the Law-Breakers, Spellcasters, Feather Tribe, and Devil Tribe all had a say, but speaking of it was always heartbreaking.

Those with good luck, like the Law-Breakers, found Black Maple Tree seeds behind the Abyss passage. Those with bad luck—the Devil Tribe was the best negative example.

Moreover, all parties were only conducting very preliminary explorations of the Abyss, so preliminary that they only searched the area near the other side of the Abyss passage and then retreated.

Human-wave tactics were ineffective against the palace. Su Xiao ordered all Titan Beasts to concentrate their firepower and bombard the Heaven-Reaching Palace with a rain of plasma cannons.

Whistling sounds came from all directions. The rain of plasma cannons bombarded the palace from every angle, causing arcs of electricity to surge everywhere and shockwaves to spread in layers.

After bombarding it wildly for over ten minutes, the plasma cannon rain stopped. When the arcs dissipated, the Heaven-Reaching Palace remained unscathed. A layer of black mist appeared faintly on it, blocking all attacks.

Su Xiao, who had anticipated this, walked toward the building complex behind the palace. After killing Wuying Solaro earlier, he had obtained the Penitence Tower Key. Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang had already found the location of the Penitence Tower, so naturally, he had to go take a look.

A few minutes later, Su Xiao and Baja arrived in front of an underground passage that sloped downward. Following the stairs to the end, two double-opening metal doors blocked the way. The metal doors had seen better days, presenting a rusty red color, and were carved with layers upon layers of palms—a trypophobia nightmare.

Inserting the Penitence Tower Key into the keyhole, Su Xiao twisted the key.

*Click~*

The key broke.

"..."

Su Xiao threw away the remaining handle of the key and slowly stepped back. Just as he was about to use his master key—a direct kick—to open the door, the metal door ahead actually opened a small gap by itself.

"..."

Su Xiao stepped forward and pushed the door open. As the metal door opened, a smell of decay rushed toward him.

Taking out the lantern obtained from the Sun Church in the Painted World, the darkness was dispelled. This place was a dark, enclosed space of over thirty square meters. The ground was covered with a layer of thick, greasy substance, and the walls and ceiling were full of barnacle-like parasites.

A man with his spine pierced by chains sat leaning against the innermost wall. He was gaunt and emaciated, but his unusually large frame still gave him a sense of deterrence and coldness.

"To think a living person could actually come here. The Underworld has finally fallen."

The man, who looked like a living corpse, spoke. He opened his eyes, revealing pitch-black depths and golden slit pupils, though the golden slit pupils were already dim and lusterless.

"Are you the Magic Snake among the Four Knights under the King?"

Baja asked tentatively. The reason he asked this was mainly because of the man's cold-blooded animal-like slit pupils.

"It has been a long time since anyone addressed me that way, especially after I thrust that blade."

The Magic Snake smiled on his withered face. Almost everyone in the Underworld thought he was dead; only two people knew he was still alive, just imprisoned.

"Magic Snake, do you recognize this thing?"

Baja took out the 【Underworld Emperor Armor Fragment】 from the team storage space. Upon seeing this, the Magic Snake's already turbid eyes regained a hint of sharpness.

The Magic Snake did not immediately answer Baja's question. He seemed lonely and wanted to chat, or perhaps he was reminiscing, and began to recount the story of the Light-Extinguishing World, the Great Emperor, the Law-Breakers, the Underworld, as well as Wuying Solaro, Golden Lion Miao, Owl Furia, the Twisted War Armor, and others.

When mentioning Owl Furia, the Magic Snake's words were noticeably more frequent, and he stated bluntly that he missed the scent of Owl Furia's blood mixed with jasmine. This must have been the Magic Snake's beloved, though their identities destined them never to express such feelings.

Su Xiao was not surprised to hear that a Law-Breaker had formed an alliance with the Great Emperor a thousand years ago.

After recounting these past events, the Magic Snake pointed to the armor fragment in Baja's claw and said:

"This is the King's battle armor, the very piece I shattered back then. It really makes one nostalgic. Do you want to know why I betrayed the Underworld back then?"

"Not at all. We are more interested in where you got that Dark Blade you used back then, and where it is now. Can that thing restrain the Underworld Great Emperor's armor?"

Hearing Baja's words, the Magic Snake was slightly surprised, and he replied: "No comment."

The Magic Snake sitting there lowered his head, unwilling to say another word.

"You just said that a Law-Breaker gave a secret manual recording Law-Breaking abilities to the Underworld Great Emperor?"

As Su Xiao sat down, a crystal chair formed behind him.

"That's right."

The Magic Snake replied perfunctorily.

"Then he should know you come from a magic-based civilization."

"Heh."

The Magic Snake just laughed and didn't pay much attention to Su Xiao.

"If the Underworld Great Emperor obtained the Law-Breaking secret manual from that period, he must have mastered several very practical abilities. I happen to be a Law-Breaker too; within my perception range, people who have devoured elemental power are as obvious as light sources in the dark."

Su Xiao lit a cigarette. Before he knew it, the Magic Snake opposite him had begun to stare fixedly at Su Xiao.

"Hehe, I know the Underworld Great Emperor better than you do. His hatred for magic-based civilizations is even more extreme than you Law-Breakers. If he knew that I, Zekaria, came from a magic-based civilization, he would have executed me long ago. Would he have conferred upon me the title of one of the Four Knights under the King? Absurd."

The Magic Snake's tone was filled with sarcasm. Clearly, the name "Gumo" he used in the Underworld faction was a pseudonym.

The famous Magic Snake, one of the Four Knights under the King, actually came from a magic-based civilization. Looking at it this way, his backstabbing of the Great Emperor was normal. In fact, he had been biding his time and enduring humiliation while joining the Underworld, and all his efforts had been for the moment to stand behind the Great Emperor.

There wasn't actually a very complicated story between the Great Emperor and the Magic Snake. Many years ago, the Underworld army wiped out a magic-based civilization in a certain world, and the Magic Snake was a survivor of that civilization. The subsequent events need not be mentioned.

The truly interesting part was that the Magic Snake was clearly there for revenge. He climbed up step by step in the Underworld full of hatred, but when he stood beside the Great Emperor and learned that the magic-based civilization's devouring of elemental power had caused the entire world to be invaded by the Abyss, eventually implicating everyone, he became confused.

Especially after learning that the Light-Extinguishing World once ruled by the Great Emperor had also been a magic-based civilization that devoured elemental power, only to reap what it sowed, the Magic Snake became even more confused.

He even had a feeling that what this king, who had no selfish desires and whose soul had been severely eroded by Abyss power, was doing was neither right nor wrong.

Precisely because he came from a magic-based civilization, the Magic Snake knew better than anyone else that if the Underworld faction chose a gentler approach, such as persuasion, it would sound like nonsense to a magic-based civilization addicted to elemental power.

In the eyes of those magic-based powerhouses, the root cause + the truth of the world + the source of power were right before their eyes; why shouldn't they pursue them? This was their lifelong ideal.

As for the evil consequences caused, people had a habit: they always thought they were the chosen ones, thought they were different, and could avoid the occurrence of disasters. The only lesson people learned from history was that humans could not learn any lessons from history; unless it hit them, they would never know pain.

The most efficient way was to be like the Underworld faction: don't reason with those immersed in elemental power, but invade, annihilate, and leave.

The more he followed the Great Emperor in battle, the more confused the Magic Snake became. In front were the people he followed, on both sides were comrades who lived and died together, yet he was an avenger, thinking every day that he would strike tomorrow, only to be delayed by various reasons the next day.

Finally, one day, the Magic Snake made up his mind. Coincidentally, on that day, the Great Emperor happened to summon him to discuss important matters.

At that time, the Underworld was actually failing, and collapse was only a matter of time. The reason was that under normal circumstances, after the Abyss invaded a world, when the entire world was invaded, the Abyss passage would close.

The situation in the Underworld was different; the Abyss passage here did not close completely, causing this passage to potentially open at any time. When this passage cracked, the Great Emperor knew that the Underworld army's conquest was coming to an end.

That time the Great Emperor sought out the Magic Snake, it was to discuss the establishment of the Heaven-Reaching Palace. The Great Emperor's idea was to suppress the Abyss crack with the Heaven-Reaching Palace. As a result, before they even started talking, the Magic Snake's backstab came.

"Law-Breaker, you just said you could distinguish people who have devoured elemental power. That's a lie, right?"

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak. After extinguishing the cigarette in his hand, he stood a glass pillar on the ground, activated the liquid Apollo, and then got up and walked out.

"To think you would deceive a dying man like me. Are all Law-Breakers this despicable?"

The Magic Snake still wouldn't give up, refusing to believe that the Great Emperor had always known he came from a magic-based civilization and had conferred upon him the title of one of the Four Knights under the King, especially since he had betrayed the Great Emperor and pierced his back with the Dark Blade.

*Clatter~*

The rusty double-opening metal doors closed on their own. Before the doors closed, with a "bang," the Magic Snake's hands pressed against the inside of the door, his face squeezed into the gap. He stared at Su Xiao and said:

"Everything you said just now must be fake. You can't fool a smart person like me. Hehehehe, it must be, it must be."

By the end, although the Magic Snake didn't shout in anger or lose his mind, he was grinding his teeth a bit. He would rather the Great Emperor had never discovered his true identity than accept that he had betrayed someone who trusted him so much.

In fact, the Magic Snake ignored one problem: the empire initially ruled by the Great Emperor was also a magic-based civilization. The pain of losing everything and being left all alone was something the Great Emperor also understood.

With a "boom," the metal door closed. In turn, a muffled sound of an explosion came, shaking dust from the top of the underground passage.

Su Xiao patted the dust off his head, feeling disappointed in his heart; there was no kill reward for blowing up the Magic Snake.

Exiting the underground passage, Su Xiao leaped onto the back of Barbados. He had a way to enter the Heaven-Reaching Palace, but the problem was how to deal with the Great Emperor.

The wind whistled in his ears. After taking Barbados out of the Underworld, Su Xiao sent Baja to the large gathering place in the west to find the Sun Saint, Wag.

Previously, numerous fanatics had gathered in the western Great Gobi to kill each other, selecting the strongest among them to absorb the power of all the fanatics. This strongest one was the Sun Saint, Wag.

Savior Isaiah had already crossed blades with Wager before. Whenever asked about it, Isaiah would be vague. If she had beaten the Sun Saint, she would surely have brought out her favorite can of oranges, eating while describing how she won.

In a one-on-one deathmatch, Isaiah prefers to show off. Since she didn't show off before, it means the battle with the Sun Saint was, nine times out of ten, a loss for her.

After Su Xiao returned to the base camp, he contacted the Hand of the Empire, Rhine Gold, and arranged to meet him in Nova City.

Unknowingly, night fell. On the second floor of the wooden building, after taking a shower and completing his daily meditation, Su Xiao lay on the bed. Accompanied by the croaking of frogs after the rain, he soon fell asleep.

The next morning, sunlight shone in. After Su Xiao sat up, his gaze was blank. Although it was a rare occasion to sleep until he woke up naturally, every time he just woke up, he would wait until he was completely clear-headed before doing anything else.

Su Xiao ate breakfast in a leisurely mood, because there was a high probability that this was his last meal in this life, so of course, he had to be leisurely.

At 10:00 AM, on the third floor of the Strategic Command Post in District 5 of Nova City, inside a conference room of nearly 100 square meters.

Su Xiao, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, Bahar, Isaiah, Rhine Gold, and the Sun Saint were all present. Among them, the Sun Saint was the most conspicuous. His height was about 3.7 meters, and a long-handled blade hammer over 3 meters long stood beside him. This rugged weapon was stained with oil-like black blood; it was a weapon tainted by the evil of human nature.

Isaiah was the same as always, dressed according to her mood, with silver earrings on her ears and a can of oranges on the table in front of her.

The Hand of the Empire, Rhine Gold, wore an Imperial Colonel's uniform, and his arms were black alloy arms. For certain reasons, Rhine Gold was forced to marry, but come to think of it, the word "forced" didn't quite fit; he had wanted to marry his fiancée for a long time.

"Gold, did you just get married?"

"Yes."

Rhine Gold lit a cigarette, not understanding why Bahar mentioned this.

"That's good. By the way, your wife isn't pregnant, is she?"

"How did you know about that?"

"Damn it!"

Bahar immediately moved away from Rhine Gold. Regarding flag-raising behaviors like "I'll get married when I return home after the war" or "my wife is already pregnant," Bahar chose to be cautious.

"Everyone, there is a question I have always wanted to ask."

Rhine Gold pulled over an ashtray, flicked the ash, and continued: "Why do we have to deal with the Nether Emperor?"

"Because, because~, uh~, because..."

Isaiah "because-ed" for a long time. She simply liked to fight and hadn't asked about the specific situation at all.

"Yeah, why are we going to defeat the Nether Emperor? Haven't we already crushed the Nether Legion?"

Isaiah had an "I see" expression, then turned her gaze to the Sun Saint. The Sun Saint didn't speak; he had always been taciturn.

"Ahem! Everyone, look here."

Bahar spoke, and while it spoke, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang held up a small blackboard.

Bahar, beside the conference table, tapped the small blackboard. After drawing two circles on it, it said: "This circle is the Netherworld, and this circle is the world we are in."

"First, in order to defeat the Netherworld army, we connected the two worlds, and it is an almost permanent connection. To be precise, it is hanging the Netherworld, which is about to collapse, onto the world we are in."

Bahar pointed to the smaller circle on the blackboard, using it as a metaphor for the Netherworld.

"As everyone knows, the Netherworld was once invaded by the Abyss. That scene was miserable. Believe me, you wouldn't want this world to be invaded by the Abyss too, right?"

Hearing this, Rhine Gold, Isaiah, and the Sun Saint all nodded in unison.

"The problem is, the Netherworld has a passage connecting to the Abyss. The Netherworld has already been invaded by Abyssal power once, so they are naturally not afraid, but we are. If the Abyssal energy inside pours from the Netherworld Gate into the world we are in, then~"

Bahar drew an 'X' on the large circle, meaning total annihilation.

"To avoid this from happening, closing the Abyssal passage in the Heaven-Reaching King Hall is the fastest and most efficient way. By then, the Abyssal energy will be cut off. After that, the Netherworld will likely collapse and detach from the world we are in. Finally, this world will become safe again. Everyone is happy, and it is a joyous occasion."

At the end, Bahar clapped its wings, and Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, who was holding the small blackboard, yawned.

"So that's how it is, but why don't we just destroy the Heaven-Reaching King Hall directly?"

As Isaiah spoke, she had an expression that said, "You guys are really stupid."

"Good idea, why didn't we think of that?"

Bahar fell into its old habit again. Isaiah, who had been getting along with them for a few days, cast a glance, and Bahar immediately retreated a few steps. As a master of keyboard techniques, it hadn't been beaten less by Isaiah recently; the other party often launched surprise attacks.

"If it's as you said, how should we enter the Heaven-Reaching King Hall?"

Rhine Gold stated his position; he would definitely participate in the war, or rather, among those present, his determination to participate was on par with Su Xiao's.

"In this regard, we have to invite our Mr. Nicholas Caesar."

Hearing this, the expressions of Rhine Gold and the Sun Saint changed. One had been pitted by Caesar, and the other had been deceived by Caesar.

The conference room door was pushed open, and Caesar walked in hurriedly, immediately sitting next to Su Xiao, pretending nothing had happened.

Su Xiao took out seven Precipitated Glazes, and Caesar, beside him, took out the Abyss Jar, muttering something in Goblin language.

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Seeing this scene, Rhine Gold's face turned dark, and he lowered his eyelids without speaking.

After Caesar muttered and acted as if he were possessed by a god, he finally placed the Abyss Jar on the conference table.

Su Xiao threw the seven Precipitated Glazes into it one after another. Every time one was thrown in, a hollow thumping sound came from the jar. After all seven were thrown in, seven silver coins floated out of the Abyss Jar.

Su Xiao grabbed the floating silver coins and checked their attributes.

【Contaminated Silver Coin】

Origin: Void · Devil Race.

Quality: Consumable.

Effect: Wearing this item on your body can grant immunity to Abyssal erosion for 3 hours.

Warning: This item only works in a "Secondary Abyssal Environment." If you enter the Abyss directly, this item will immediately shatter and fail.

The so-called Secondary Abyssal Environment refers to places like the Heaven-Reaching King Hall. Su Xiao distributed the seven silver coins, and four remained. He kept one for himself, and one each for Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, Bahar, and Fairy Lulu. Currently, Fairy Lulu hadn't been summoned yet.

The reason for not summoning Fairy Lulu yet was mainly to take care of her mood. If Fairy Lulu knew that this battle was to deal with the Emperor, she would be so scared that she would cry out loud on the spot. By the time they arrived and summoned her, even if she wanted to cry, she would be too scared to do so.

Those fighting the Nether Emperor head-on were, of course, Su Xiao, Rhine Gold, Isaiah, and the Sun Saint. As for Amu, it wouldn't participate directly this time; there were other important matters waiting for it to do.

Among the four, it seemed that the 3.7-meter-tall, burly Sun Saint would be at the very front. In reality, he was a ranged type. That rugged long-handled blade hammer, which looked like a melee weapon, was actually a hollow structure, a medium-to-close-range cannon powered by solar energy.

Isaiah had been blasted by this thing at close range before, and that time she almost left this beautiful world.

Rhine Gold, who was 1.82 meters tall, was the true frontline powerhouse. After the war started, he would have to clash head-on with the Nether Emperor.

After finalizing the battle plans, the group boarded the combat spaceship and headed straight for the Netherworld Gate.

When the combat spaceship slowed down and landed successfully, they had arrived in front of the Heaven-Reaching King Hall in the Netherworld.

The group stopped in front of the main gate of the King Hall. Su Xiao took out the disc-shaped King Hall key and tossed it to Rhine Gold.

"Officers, please look this way."

On the spaceship behind them, a beautiful girl dressed as a reporter spoke, full of youthful energy. Being able to come here together, she was certainly no ordinary person; she was Rhine Gold's niece.

"Give me some face, that's my niece."

Rhine Gold whispered without moving his lips. Hearing this, Su Xiao, Isaiah, and the Sun Saint in front of the King Hall's main gate turned around one after another.

Click~

The photo was snapped. In the photo, on the far left was Rhine Gold in a black-red Imperial Colonel's uniform. He had a serious expression and wore black leather gloves on his hands.

To the right was Su Xiao, wearing a black-feathered cloak, one hand pressing on the hilt of his blade. To his right was Isaiah, wearing fishbone braids and looking like she had just woken up. On the far right was the Sun Saint, shirtless, the tallest, carrying a heavy hammer cannon on his shoulder. He had a deep red sun tattoo on his back, which occupied almost his entire spine.

"Everyone, life and death are fated."

Rhine Gold pushed the giant metal gate with both hands. Accompanied by the clicking sound of the mechanism, the main gate of the King Hall gradually opened, and black mist poured out from inside.

Blood energy, Battle Soul power, mental power, and solar fields erupted one after another. The four people represented by the four auras all walked into the black mist ahead.