Chapter 13

This is the choice of fate.

The reason Meteor Fire Rain can be called a forbidden art is that this spell has an extremely long duration—long enough to exterminate every living thing within its range, and even blast the ground three feet deep.

Generally speaking, no matter the race, a caster's mental energy probably couldn't sustain such a massive spell consumption.

But Meteor Fire Rain is an exception, because it is not creation, but summoning.

That giant sun on the horizon is real!

This terrifying giant sun, known as 【Wrath of Abomination】, was originally a subordinate god of 【Chaos】 and a messenger of 【Confusion】. After being imprisoned by 【Order】 in a certain era, it became the highest power bestowed upon the Elemental Judges under His command.

One only needs to pull open the prison door holding 【Wrath of Abomination】 for an instant and aim at a certain area, and the rage suppressed for countless eons will pour down.

Only when He wakes from the confusion and realizes that His venting is merely benefiting those followers of 【Order】 will He begrudgingly stop, pull the prison door shut, and then begin to brew the next cycle of anger.

Wrath of Abomination, subordinate god of 【Chaos】, messenger of 【Confusion】, prisoner of 【Order】.

Having said so much, it is merely to prove one thing: Meteor Fire Rain is unsolvable for mortals.

Cheng Shi and the others had charged toward the 3 o'clock direction for only a few minutes when the whistling meteors exploded one after another around them.

They didn't even need to be hit; the splashing magma and flowing fire already made it impossible for them to move an inch.

"No, this path doesn't work! Mage!"

"Time, rewind!"

The scene was so similar; time turned back once again.

"1! Run!"

Cao Sansui had just been washed ashore from the river of time when he felt himself being carried by Chen Chong, sprinting frantically toward the 1 o'clock direction.

"No, Chen Chong, 5 o'clock direction!"

Chen Chong's footsteps faltered. Without hesitation, he swung his arms, spinning the two people he was carrying like a windmill, and quickly used the momentum to turn and run back toward the rear-diagonal!

"What's the situation?"

Cao Sansui's expression was solemn: "We've failed twice."

Xia Wan followed closely behind, and Cheng Shi frowned to himself.

He reached out and flipped the die in his palm again.

3 o'clock.

"This way doesn't work! The smoke is too thick, I can't see the path! Assassin, speak up, guide the way!"

"Assassin? Song Yawen? Damn, he's dead. Mage, rewind!"

"Time... rewind..."

"7 o'clock direction, Chen Chong, reverse!"

Die flipped, 4 o'clock.

"Xia Wan, watch out!"

"Time... rewind!"

"9 o'clock direction, quick!"

Die flipped, 5 o'clock.

"..."

The reason Time Walkers can become T0 is that the infinite trial-and-error opportunities in the 【Time Battlefield】 are one of the keys.

But the divine power of 【Time】 cannot be enjoyed for free forever. When "time" cannot continue to flow on the battlefield for a long time, as the master of time, He, too, will lose His temper.

A god's sneeze is a mortal's storm.

By the sixth time time was rewound, even as a believer of 【Time】, Cao Sansui's memory began to blur.

"Time, rewind!!"

"1! Run!"

Cao Sansui was jolted all over as Chen Chong sprinted. He suddenly opened his eyes, and after a moment of chaos in his mind, he muttered to himself:

"We've done this again..."

Chen Chong's figure stalled, and he asked anxiously:

"Then what do we do now? Which way do we go?"

Cao Sansui looked desperate: "I remember many fragments, I remember the moment of everyone's death, but I've forgotten the count... I've forgotten where we should go."

Chen Chong's heart sank; this situation could only mean one thing: they had already failed many times.

For a Time Walker to be lost in time was tantamount to announcing their failure and death.

But Chen Chong was not a man willing to admit defeat. He let out a roar and led the group, turning to charge toward the 3 o'clock direction.

"Pull yourself together, identify the path, cross-reference it with the memories in your mind, perhaps we can find a way out!"

Nangong was equally anxious. Seeing Cao Sansui's eyes remain dazed, she gritted her teeth, pulled out that prism spike, and stabbed it fiercely into her own stomach.

Immediately, a rich light of healing poured onto Cao Sansui's head, instantly clearing his chaotic mind.

He looked at Nangong's hopeful eyes and nodded fiercely:

"Okay! I'll recall it!"

However, just at this moment, Cheng Shi suddenly shouted:

"Wrong, this is the sixth time, 11 o'clock direction, quick, Chen Chong, turn!"

Chen Chong was fast, his figure far ahead of Xia Wan. He turned his head in astonishment, and before he could even ask, he saw Xia Wan turn obediently and charge toward the 11 o'clock direction.

Cao Sansui was also stunned; he couldn't figure out at all how Cheng Shi knew it was the sixth time.

How could a believer of 【Birth】 stay clear-headed in a time maze?

He couldn't.

Cheng Shi was, after all, just a player. The one who could remain unaffected by the time maze wasn't him, but the die in his hand.

Chen Chong looked down and saw that even Cao Sansui was dumbfounded. His face sank, and he replied:

"Damn it, I'm listening to you!"

He didn't hesitate, or rather, he had no reason to hesitate. In Chen Chong's perception, the moment Cheng Shi started taking command, he must have had an idea to break the deadlock.

After all, the guy had 2000 points.

Among those with 2000 points, there were probably no slackers.

Cheng Shi actually wasn't sure at all if they could escape in the 11 o'clock direction, but he knew the other directions had been tried, and they were useless.

He rubbed the various faces of the die in his palm and silently flipped the die to 6.

6 times, this was the 6th time.

If he kept counting after this, he wouldn't just be flipping it vertically...

Xia Wan was running fast with Cheng Shi on her back. Under the influence of continuous healing and her Hunter talent, her long legs moved with wide strides, crossing the sea of fire as if walking on flat ground.

But her heavy expression told Cheng Shi that she didn't think highly of this path.

"Cheng Shi, are you sure about this direction?"

Cheng Shi shook his head honestly:

"Not sure."

"Then you..."

Cheng Shi smiled brightly: "This is the choice of fate!"

Xia Wan's eyes widened, her pupils contracted, and just as she was about to ask something, a meteor splashing with fire slammed down right in front of them.

"Boom—"

"..."

Before Cheng Shi closed his eyes, he gripped the die in his hand and cursed fiercely:

"Damn it."

"... Time... rewind!"

The group returned to the starting point again, the same familiar scene. Chen Chong charged toward the 1 o'clock direction without hesitation.

Cao Sansui was still dazed, Nangong was still nervous, and Song Yawen was still in the lead.

Only Cheng Shi, looking at the 6 on the die, was silently speechless.

They couldn't get out; all six directions had been tried, there was no way to survive.

He felt inexplicably irritable, but his hands weren't idle. His thumb flicked the die high into the air, and then he reached out and caught the falling die with lightning speed.

Xia Wan noticed Cheng Shi's movement on her back and asked solemnly while striding forward:

"What's wrong?"

Cheng Shi opened his palm, saw the 1 facing up on the die, and sighed in resignation.

"We've failed 6 times, but the guidance fate has given me is indeed the 1 o'clock direction."

Xia Wan's emotions suddenly became chaotic; for a moment, she didn't know whether to feel sad about failing 6 times or happy about the so-called "guidance of fate" Cheng Shi spoke of.

"In other words, the 1 o'clock direction is correct?"

She seemed to be starting to trust Cheng Shi unconditionally.

Cheng Shi smacked his lips and cursed:

"But I always feel like fate is a bitch!"

Xia Wan's eyes widened, and she glanced back at Cheng Shi in disbelief.

Before the gods descended, this sentence really wouldn't have been a problem, but after the gods descended...

Let's put it this way: there is a He whose divine name is 【Fate】.

"Screw it, believing in fate is worse than believing I'm Qin Shi Huang. Xia Wan, reverse, 7 o'clock!"

Cheng Shi chose the direction that defied fate.

He shouted this very loudly, and Chen Chong heard it too.

Like Xia Wan, Chen Chong had many doubts in his heart, but he didn't hesitate at all; he turned his head and followed Xia Wan, doubling back.

Not long after running, Cao Sansui discovered that this path was very similar to a segment in his memory fragments.

This meant they had failed in this direction before.

If nothing went wrong, three seconds later, a meteor would land in front of Xia Wan's right, blasting a large hole in the ground.

Xia Wan and Cheng Shi would both lose their footing and fall in.

And then, he would rewind time again.

The fire of hope in Cao Sansui's heart was somewhat extinguished; he counted down the seconds, waiting to be lost in the river of time once more.

3.

2.

1.

"Time... re... huh? Huh huh huh???"

Actually...

Nothing happened.

Cao Sansui watched Xia Wan ahead stride through the sea of fire and smoke, fleeing toward the distance, his face full of astonishment.

How could this be?

The meteor that should have fallen in his memory didn't appear; more than that, not a single meteor fell in the entire 7 o'clock direction.

The sky ahead suddenly cleared up. To the naked eye, there wasn't a single meteor in the high sky, and even the flames avoided this place.

This absurd scene, set against the doomsday scroll of raining fire, was like someone using an eraser to wipe a pure, white line along the 7 o'clock position.

Perhaps this white line was just a casual stroke for the "painter," but for the six people in the scroll, Cheng Shi and the others, it was a genuine lifeline!

The group accelerated and ran wildly in shock and fear, struggling to escape along the line of clear sky. After nearly an hour of gritting their teeth and persisting, they finally escaped the strike range of the Meteor Fire Rain.

And the moment they escaped alive, the fire rain scroll that had been "erased" filled itself back in.

Cao Sansui glanced at the pocket watch in his hand; exactly 6 hours had passed. He ended the 【Time Battlefield】 at the next hour mark, and the power of time flowing around them dissipated.

The process of the last rewind was vaguely imprinted upon the river of time.

The group looked back at the path they had come from; meteors fell like rain, flames splashed like pulp, just as before—there was no sign of life!

"This is..."

"How is this possible!?"

"Why was there a way out??"

"A miracle... this is a miracle..."

Everyone was stunned. They stared at Cheng Shi in a daze, their faces filled with shock and incomprehension.

"What kind of... item is this again? Can this even be called an item?"

"Brother Cheng, don't tell me you're actually 2400?"

"You..."

Especially Xia Wan; only she knew how Cheng Shi had made the decision, chosen the 7 o'clock direction, and led them out of the sea of fire.

"Why?" she thought to herself, but she never dared to ask, "Just because Cheng Shi cursed 【Fate】 as a bitch?"

Cheng Shi watched the falling fire on the horizon, his mind also unable to wrap itself around it.

"Second time..."

He said silently to himself.

"Could it be that I really have some hidden talent? And the activation slogan is: Fate is a bitch?"