Chapter 248: Choice of Faith, Ci Kua Jie War (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

【Little Mage, you wait for me. After playing Monster World for half a year, you're the first one to break my composure.】

Poster: She speaks with a childlike tone.

Content:

Way too tragic, really way too tragic, I have to come to the forum to vent about my miserable experience.

In other games I've always been a lone wolf player, liking to explore game content on my own.

Monster World's difficulty is way too high, so I got the idea of forming a friends-and-family group, and during this time I was lucky enough to find a very loving little group.

The feeling of exploring together was really great, all five major scenes have our group photos, everyone's Shou Shou Jili is shared, whoever needs it uses it first.

(Posting group photo collection from each scene.)

This test instance opened, our little group absolutely had to stick our noses in, decisively stocking up on supplies and heading out.

qvq the result… way too tragic, during the teleportation nearly half of our friends-and-family had their data dropped, got their souls hooked on the spot by old man Beneath Di Zhao, and after returning to the village we were locked in the little black room.

The few of us who luckily kept our dog lives prepared to be self-reliant in the small world.

The result was the landing spot only had ruins, the old man who entered early had long since eaten everything clean and run off somewhere.

Don't mention leftovers, even the ground of the ruined city had been dug up, not even a drop of soup left (eating dirt angrily slams table. jpg).

No choice, we could only change locations.

Asking old men in the regional channel, we learned they had discovered a city, the city's defensive forces were slightly strong, needing help from other players.

So we decisively set out, time to get rich (Explorer motivational expression. jpg).

The result was when we arrived at the city that regional channel old man mentioned, what we saw was, again, a scene after sweeping was complete (scene screenshot).

Apart from ruins, still ruins, nothing at all.

But just when we were utterly disappointed, preparing to explore on our own, a surprise suddenly came (knocking on the blackboard).

A regional channel old man tipped us off, a free-investment resource pack had arrived.

We were so excited and thrilled, decisively riding our vehicle into the sky, wanting to see what the resource pack was.

The result was seeing a massive horde of otherworld natives attacking.

At that moment, my eyes welled with hot tears, thinking I was finally going to get rich.

But… whenever I say 'but', it proves a twist has appeared, the real situation was nothing like what the regional old man said.

They kept saying the natives in the small world instance were so weak they'd shatter at a touch.

The result was when it was my turn to go up, what I ran into was the small world's strongest war legion, the defense line we formed was pierced the moment it made contact.

Even more tragic was our friends-and-family group, we got targeted by the Apocalypse Beast.

Our captain got flattened with one punch, way too tragic, posting a screenshot I secretly took when I had a moment (flattened captain. jpg).

Then we all met the expected end, getting crushed to death by the Apocalypse Beast, not even happy yet before we were given a free ticket back to Huicheng, ending our pleasant experience in the small world (gnashing teeth).

At this point, the tragedy should have ended, until we got to discussing the cause of death.

Posting two screenshots here: death log record, Apocalypse Beast analysis.

【Apocalypse Beast (Player)】:

Hunting Level: Level 103.

Target Analysis: Apocalypse Beast under player control, one of the eight king-rank super beasts of Lingxi World, controlled by player Xiao Xiao Fa.

……

This is why we broke composure.

Being killed by natives can only be said to be outmatched, even if bitter we accept it.

But when we learned we were backstabbed by our own fellow villager, I hate it so much, why would you do this.

We have no grudge between us, why backstab us.

This post, apart from complaining, is also to tell this player called Xiao Xiao Fa, our feud is hereby set.

Don't care what hidden storyline quest you have, our friends-and-family group unanimously decided, from now on we'll kill you on sight, just wait and see.

This grudge stretches on forever without end (Explorer angrily rolling around. jpg).

Comment Section:

Crayon Shin-chan: What 'this grudge stretches on forever without end', let me ask, give you a hundred thousand Shou Shou Jili, is there still any grudge, can this kindness make you call out 'godfather', all grievances stem from insufficient wealth, Shou Shou Jili can solve all problems, including your real-life problems, supposedly even the beings of the Upper Realm can use Shou Shou Jili for life-extending surgery now, almighty Shou Shou Jili (silly. jpg)

Li Huoxing: Luckily we went in a different direction, didn't run into this player who defected to the enemy camp, this guy should have activated a hidden quest, I feel he can get rewards by killing players, so he goes around looking for players to kill, just like the early missions Ale gave to Bliss players included killing players, but his behavior really is immoral, fellow brothers really just killed without saying hello huh, suggest blocking the village entrance to kill, kowtow to admit fault then let them out.

All Things Have Spirits: Same experience as you, I was also killed by this beast with a heavy punch, killing a fellow villager without even a hello, cold-blooded and heartless, I'm furious, count me in for the pursuit from now on.

Braised Chicken Is Really Delicious: At hunting level 103, ordinary players are nothing more than one-hit wonders before him; he's practically the little overlord of this small-world instance. What's more, he's smart enough to know when to run if he can't win. Tell me, who has the power to punish him? We can only wait for him to return to the village and block his way at the entrance. Since many game functions only work within the village, I'm certain he'll have to come back sooner or later. When that time comes, we'll set up a bounty board on the forum. All of you who were killed by him can pool your resources: every successful kill earns a payout. We'll hunt him down until he's utterly desperate and filled with regret.

……

Just as forum players were engaging in heated discussion about this 'traitor' who backstabbed his fellow villagers.

At this moment, Lingxi World.

On the ruins of a broken city, the Blood King and five War Priests stood at the top of a tall building.

Their gazes passed over the collapsed buildings, looking toward the distance.

At the edge of the horizon, darkness was silently writhing, swallowing the earth like viscous tidewater.

When the last wisp of dying sun was completely devoured, the night curtain rose from the horizon, like a rotting giant mouth slowly closing its bite.

Shadows enveloped the city, climbing up the mottled walls, erasing the outline of the ruins bit by bit.

In the ears remained only the low hoarse whimper of the wind, brushing past the tip of the nose with a bloody smell, the city beneath their feet also completely sinking into darkness along with it, no longer a single glimmer of light.

The war had ended, but a new war was about to begin.

Having once led the Blood Pool Legion on Duo Ci Kua Jie campaigns, this was the Blood King's first time fighting in the Homeworld.

Beneath his feet were likewise city ruins, but what it brought was a completely different feeling.

Gazing at the horizon already shrouded in darkness, the Blood King whispered softly:

"In my memory there are countless fragments — I too once stood at the peak of a city, looking down on its ruins, and what rose in my heart was pride and exhilaration."

"A similar scene, yet a completely different feeling."

Hearing the Blood King's muttering, the War Priests standing behind him all felt the same.

Were they any different?

Similar scenes — what churned inside was no longer the exhilaration of conquest, but a strange, dull ache.

Those otherworld cities they had once shattered beneath their feet had now become a reflection of their homeland.

In the past, ruins were the witness to their glory; broken walls were the measure of their feats; scorched earth was the mark of their victory.

They savored the deathly silence when an enemy city fell, as if the whole world were trembling beneath their feet.

"Wang Zuo, this opponent is very strong. From our initial contact we can judge that the average combat power of their units is above ours."

The Blood King nodded slightly, his gaze still locked on that darkness:

"This time we are no longer the lofty conquerors, but guardians fighting for our home, for our survival — this feeling… is unexpectedly so heavy."

At the end of his words, the Blood King raised his right hand, and at once a ball of ink-black flame rose from his fingertip.

He clenched his fist sharply, and the flame went out.

The Blood King leapt straight down from the top of the high-rise, and the War Priests behind him all followed, leaping down as well.

Before long, countless glowing red compound eyes lit up in the darkness, sweeping across the entire city like a prairie fire in an instant.

The massive war legion set out once more, advancing under the Blood King's command toward the direction where the invading force lay.

Along the way, one could now and then see small groups of the invading force, riding special vehicles as they hurried on.

For these invaders, the Blood King would strike directly and kill them on the spot.

But this was also the question that puzzled the Blood King most.

The characteristics an invading force should have — none of the invaders who had descended upon the Homeworld possessed them.

Using his own experience of invading other worlds as reference.

An invading force must first set up clear strategic nodes — for example, every 65 nodes of advance, a forward base must be established and a communication network built.

Using the point of descent as the core, spreading outward like a spider's web — that is the reasonable model of conquest.

But this descending force made a different choice.

They were more like tourists who had come to visit — all invading the battlefield in small groups, with no clear objective, plundering wherever they happened to wander.

They had never considered the dangers they might meet along the way, nor thought about how to escape when, without follow-up support, they became surrounded.

Plundering everywhere in a very chaotic manner.

He did not think this chaotic plundering model unworkable.

But workability had to be built on a foundation of strength that could crush everything.

Though this invading force was strong, it clearly had not reached a level of combat power sufficient to ignore the local forces.

Yet they still adopted a wandering, purposeless invasion strategy, unable to organize an effective war legion at all.

Secondly, this alien force had two very eerie points.

The lives they killed — whether super-beasts or internal super-beast warriors — would all dissolve into black mist.

The vast majority of their flesh, blood and other matter would vanish into thin air.

As if the body had been sucked dry, leaving only useless residue.

Recalling that he himself possessed a similar ability — gaining physical augmentation after a kill — he suspected this force wielded a kind of rule-power.

Its effect was to devour the life-force of slain targets and convert it into their own strength.

If this conjecture held true, this invading force was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

But no matter what, the march of war would not stop.

Unless the invading force chose to withdraw on its own.

At the break of dawn on the horizon, the Blood Pool Legion arrived at another city that had likewise fallen to ruins.

A new round of great battle was about to begin.

Three hours later.

The fallen city was retaken, but it had long since turned to ruins, with no resources left behind.

The super-beast legion paused briefly, then set off once more for the next city.

After successively retaking four cities, the legion under the Blood King's command arrived at Death Breath City.

Outside the city, a massive army of players had long been in position.

On the rear city wall.

The God King, clad in a silver-white robe, stood quietly, his gaze fixed on the far end of the horizon, watching the blood-colored tide rising with the morning sun, his expression expectant.

This was still his first time organizing a cross-world war.

Though the opponent was strong, his side's players were fully capable of fighting.

By comparison, the local tyrants he knew like the back of his hand were the most troublesome opponents.

His gaze returned to the far end of the horizon — the super-beast legion surged in like a colossal blood-colored python, sweeping in from the edge of the sky.

At the very front of the legion, all manner of super-beasts were densely arrayed; their forms were all immensely huge, and their advance was thunderous.

Behind the super-beast legion, the slightly smaller but far more numerous super-beast warriors followed in dense ranks, covering the entire earth so tightly that not a single gap remained.

In the sky, flying-type super-beasts blotted out the sun; when their wings overlapped they resembled a sheet of dark cloud, completely blocking the sunlight.

Like a canopy of dark cloud pressing in from afar, the air currents from their wingbeats were like a hurricane passing through.

The God King was utterly calm — he had been through too many battles, great and small.

Having seen the scene of the terrifying black tide sweeping past, the super-beast legion's charge held only a sense of raw power in his eyes, far lacking the visual impact of the black tide.

"Thank you, brothers, for your trust in letting me take command this time. From here on, we will once again fight side by side."

After speaking, the legion channel was muted for all, and the God King activated the Brain Overclock trait.

An indescribable sense of clarity spread from the temples to the entire skull, as if the brain's processor performance had suddenly been upgraded.

With the trait activated, thoughts became exceptionally fluid, like a clogged pipe suddenly cleared.

Originally vague concepts automatically connected into clear logical chains and were resolved effortlessly.

Memories were like organized filing cabinets; whatever was needed could be pulled out instantly—the war studies knowledge from books reviewed last week at the Di Zha Village Library, knowledge from other books casually browsed... all were within reach.

In the regional voice channel, other players' speech rates seemed slowed down.

He could predict the end of a sentence before the speaking player finished it.

Eagle-Head Demon, activate!

In an instant, the view pushed forward like a camera lens; the scene ahead suddenly zoomed in, with every detail crystal clear.

Perception penetrated everything without obstruction; even the turbid elemental particles floating in the air of the Spirit Breath World were clearly visible.

Unlike what the naked eye saw, the space in Eagle-Head Demon mode seemed reconstructed.

If the world seen by the Eagle-Head Demon was 100%, then the world seen by the naked eye was not even 1%.

Perceptual vision was not the single focus of the naked eye, but multi-dimensional coverage; without moving the gaze, everything within the covered range could be seen simultaneously.

Warlord, activate!

A burning mark appeared on the God King's forehead; the Warlord mode activated.

Blood-red energy, like a halo, enveloped the spell-caster players ahead; instantly, halo marks also appeared beneath the feet of the spell-caster players.

The God King's mouth opened slightly, and white airflow immediately surged into it.

However, the intensity of Spirit Consumption was affected not only by the Painful Painful Minghun level and mental strength, but also by the environment.

The environment of the Spirit Breath World was far inferior to that of the Monster World; the efficiency of Spirit Consumption in filtering impurities from the air and absorbing energy became extremely poor.

Scattered Arrows and Siphon traits were activated in succession.

Mental beams automatically connected to the two players standing behind.

The two players responsible for acting as power banks immediately took out Spirit Recovery Potions, ready to drink at any moment to provide the God King with sustained command endurance.

"21, 22, 23... Group, stay and await orders; the rest of the Damage Absorption Group brothers, prepare."

After the God King spoke, the Damage Absorption Group players at the very front of the player legion each unleashed their Gang Qi Painful Painful Minghun; crimson airflow swirled around their bodies like a vortex.

At the very center of this main battle line was the Damage Absorption Group of the God Hall Guild.

The 3,000 Damage Absorption players all wielded weapons in the form of bracers; most were bare-chested, their knotted back muscles coiled like angry dragons, and the veins on their throats, bulging with visible tendons, pumped boiling Gang Qi.

Before the charge began, their bodies crouched low, like a pack of ferocious beasts about to break their chains.

Accompanied by the God King issuing the charge order.

Thousands of crimson Gang Qi bursts erupted violently, like a lava torrent from a volcanic eruption.

Their bodies shot forth suddenly propelled by the Gang Qi; crimson airflow erupted from their pores, trailing crimson tail flames behind them.

The ground cracked beneath their feet; the hard rock layers were like fragile thin ice, exploding into spiderweb-like cracks the instant their steps landed.

The speed of the Damage Absorption Group's charge increased continuously; their muscle fibers emitted a humming sound like a tightened bowstring under high load.

The Damage Absorption Group of the God Hall Guild also stirred the emotions of nearby Damage Absorption-style players.

Many Damage Absorption-style players in the charge, when looking at the Damage Absorption players of the God Hall Guild, could not hide their envy in their eyes.

Because this was precisely the goal they were chasing.

The Damage Absorption Groups of top-tier guilds were not on the same level as them at all.

The God Hall Damage Absorption Group was the Jin Zita peak in the eyes of Damage Absorption-style players on the forum; every single one was steel tempered in the war furnace of the starting village, an iron wall shield forged through countless battles.

As long as they were on the battlefield, they were the most solid protectors for the players in the rear.

Players of the God Hall Guild's war videos had basically all been watched.

Precise threat drawing, extreme blood-level counterplay, timely star-shift positioning... under the God King's command, every one of their movements was like a thousand-times-forged mechanical gear, fitting seamlessly into the team combat rhythm.

Whenever a newbie player chose the Damage Absorption style, the first thing they did was check the guide: how to play the Damage Absorption style.

What veteran players recommended were always the God Hall Guild's war videos.

The skills of Damage Absorption-style players in ordinary player teams were mostly learned from this batch of top-tier players.

These top-tier Damage Absorption players had already carved the muscle memory of how to absorb damage deep into their bones.

Gaps in Painful Painful Minghun and equipment could be closed through hunting and pursuit.

But the Damage Absorption awareness built upon countless team wipes had to be honed in the most cruel wars.

If the Competitive Faction represented the peak of individual combat skills among the player ranks, then the Damage Absorption style emerging from the starting village struggles was undoubtedly the peak of war techniques.

Just as a Damage Absorption-style player on the forum once said: True steel is always forged in the most intense flames; the petty skirmishes in other scenarios are nothing; if you have the guts, go try the starting village.

The starting village was, in the players' eyes, the most brutal war furnace.

The Terror Black Tide, the Combat Insect Race; any one of these factions was a branch of a peak-tier faction in the Monster World.

Following the charge of the God Hall Guild's Damage Absorption-style players, other Damage Absorption-style players also transformed into battlefield wild bulls, rushing toward the Super Beast Legion with an unstoppable momentum.

From a high-altitude overhead view.

On the ground, blood-red and crimson waves converged at the center of the battlefield.

At the moment of collision, immense Gang Qi erupted like a volcano, sweeping across heaven and earth.

The Damage Absorption-style players roared in unison; their bare-chested muscles bulged high, tight as iron, with veins popping out, pushing forward.

The sharp fangs and claws of the Super Beasts were like fragile paper in front of their solid flesh.

Facing the lunging Super Beasts, the Damage Absorption-style players used their chests as shields, their legs sinking deep into the earth, exerting force forward.

The front-line strength of the Super Beast Legion was repeatedly pushed back by the Damage Absorption-style players.

Even though they charged wave after wave against the Damage Absorption-style players, they could not break through even an inch.

From a high-altitude overhead view, bronze-colored spines formed a moving city wall, with every muscle steaming with heat under the scorching sun.

The Super Beast's claw marks plowed sparks across the skin's surface, like a blunt blade scraping over quenched steel.

Inside the Tank-class players' bodies, qi and blood roared and thundered through their meridians, drowning out the Super Beast's howls.

As the resistance of the advance grew, the front-line Tank players arched their backs, pressed both hands against the Super Beast's massive body, and shoved the battle line forward with their tiny frames.

The Earth Devouring Worm's charge was like slamming into viscous molten steel, its impact force dissolved layer by layer by the flowing muscle groups.

In the sky, the bone spikes and acid spat by the Wing Disaster swarm rained down on the Tank players—the bone spikes shattered into flying fragments, and the corrosive liquid was seared into purple smoke by the thundering qi and blood, never leaving so much as a scratch.

This scene also made the players watching via livestream outside the arena cheer that it was thoroughly satisfying.

Every time the Tank players charged as one, the image looked like an artistic feast of flesh and steel, displaying the ultimate aesthetics of violence.

No flashy combat techniques, no dazzling abilities—only the overbearing dominance of a physical body shoving everything aside.

On the battlefield, all players need: dodging.

But the Statue-class players had long since deleted the word "dodge" from their dictionary—if death lay ahead, they would crash through it with their bodies to survive, or embrace death to create an opening for the brothers behind them.

This is also why the Tank class is the number one faith build in the eyes of forum players—the only build that walks toward death to live.

The battle formation kept pushing forward; every time the Tank players' bare soles struck the ground, the line would shift forward another fraction.

The Super Beast's bites were futile—its fangs cut into the bronze-colored skin but could never pierce the epidermis.

"Support squad, ignite!"

After the God King's order was issued, the pre-assigned Support squad members locked onto the Tank players in their same small sub-group and activated the Blood Ignition trait.

Streaks of crimson light coiled around the Tank players' bodies.

Instantly, the veins on the Tank players' surfaces bulged, lava seemed to surge beneath their skin, and their muscles rapidly swelled under the catalysis of the Blood Ignition trait.

Their backs rose into granite-like muscle masses, the muscle fibers of their forearms twisted into rebar-like bundles, and even their fingernails turned dark red from the rush of blood.

This is also why the Tank squad members of the Divine Hall Guild refuse to wear clothing.

Rather than rely on fragile armed armor, they prefer to use their pure flesh to forge an unbreakable bulwark.

The defensive power provided by the armor modules in armed vehicles is only needed by magic-class players; Tank players would rather take every attack head-on with their bare bodies.

Under the boost of the Blood Ignition trait, their muscles swell dramatically and easily burst the armor modules.

Accompanied by low roars, a skyful of elemental rain rose from outside the city and smashed down on the Super Beast army like a meteor shower, while the frontmost Tank players also exploded with power.

A corner of the main battle line.

Bang!

Muscle collided against carapace, producing a sound like metal striking metal.

The Earth Devouring Worm's burrowing jaw-legs could tear through alloy, yet under the Tank players' heavy fists they let out a wail of being overwhelmed.

The two sides' body sizes were not in the same proportion.

The ten-plus-meter-long Earth Devouring Worm was like a building; the Tank players were tiny as ants.

But even so, the players still held an absolute advantage in combat.

The players' arm muscles hammered out punch after punch like hydraulic presses; the Earth Devouring Worm's carapace cracked under the heavy fists, foul-smelling fluid spraying from the fissures—and before it hit the ground, it was evaporated into purple smoke by the heat of qi and blood radiating from the players' bodies.

At the very front of the main battle line, more than 3,000 Tank players of the Divine Hall Guild turned into a crimson flood, imitating the battle formation of the Reverse Tide Corps, and crashed into the Super Beast army.

Muscles resonated, qi and blood harmonized—every step they took made the ground tremble.

The Super Beasts' sharp claws raked at them, unable to leave even a single white mark.

The young figure at the forefront raised his head, letting the acid rain spat by the Wing Disaster pour over his face—his pupils still burned with fighting intent under the corrosive liquid, and the corners of his mouth split into a savage arc.

Just then, he suddenly raised his hand, his five fingers clamping onto the skull of a lunging Shadow Wolf like steel pincers.

His body was knocked back half a meter; after steadying himself, the power long accumulated inside him erupted violently.

The Accumulation trait activated, and his right fist blasted out wrapped in terrifying force.

"Die!"

Boom!

The Shadow Wolf instantly disintegrated into powder and vanished—even its flesh and blood remains evaporated on the spot.

A top-tier Tank player's body can accumulate an extremely vast amount of power; the Accumulation trait is also the highest-burst damage method in small-scale combat at the current stage.

In theory, as long as the flesh can withstand enough power, the Accumulation trait is even enough to let a player one-shot a deity.

But this is only in theory—players clearly do not have such a tyrannical body to bear this force.

Time trickled by—several hours of high-intensity collision.

The battlefield became a meat grinder of life; every second, players or Super Beast warriors died.

During this time, the Apocalypse Beast was undoubtedly the focus of the battlefield.

And only the Apocalypse Beast possessed the terrifying combat power to absolutely crush players, running rampant on the battlefield—apart from Tank players, the rest could not withstand even a single strike.

But players in war mode feared no death, throwing themselves at the Apocalypse Beast wave after wave.

The amnesiac player clearly hadn't realized he had offended many players of the Divine Hall Guild, and was still killing wantonly.

The bone blade in his hand became a death god's scythe; upon discovering that combat units with hardened skin were troublesome to kill, he decisively flew toward the players' rear, wanting to imitate his previous attacks and find a breakthrough from the damage-dealers in the back.

After landing, nearby melee players facing the Apocalypse Beast could hardly withstand a single strike, and swathes of players were harvested.

The Apocalypse Beast's advance was irresistible.

Seeing this scene, the God King's face actually broke into a smile:

"You really think you're the Black Tide, just walking in like that."

When fighting the Earth-Nian Overlord, its strategy of raiding the rear also relied mainly on spatial jumps—it never allowed a single combat unit to charge straight in like this.

But the God King did not rush to issue orders, letting the Apocalypse Beast continue to push deeper, even actively sacrificing some melee players to be slaughtered.

Just as the Apocalypse Beast was about to push into the area where the Mage squad was stationed, the God King issued his order.

Immediately, countless light screens linked together, blocking the Apocalypse Beast's advance.

The bone blade swung and smashed down again and again, sparks flying off the light shields—about to shatter.

"Melee squad formation, Painful Painful Minghun pull."

Behind, countless blood-red chains surged forth, wrapping around the body of the Terminus Beast.

"Pull!"

Boom!

Melee players unleashed the Forceful Axe and Gang Qi traits; strength exploded instantly, yanking the massive Terminus Beast to the ground in an instant.

"Melee, continue to hold."

"Magic squad, Wither stacking damage."

"Rangers, Tear stacking damage."

"Support squad, throw Bind traits in formation order..."

Instantly, ink-flame fireballs rained down like hail; the attached Wither trait began to spread across the Terminus Beast.

This was the most effective stacking damage skill for players to kill bosses.

Painful Painful Minghun pull, Bind, Wither, Tear... this chain of killing moves designed specifically for high Hunting Level creatures took their turns.

Inside the Terminus Beast, blood and qi roared and surged; muscle fibers trembled wildly as it tried to break free and rise.

Its limb muscles swelled; the ground cracked inch by inch under its strength, as if it would break the bindings and launch a counterattack in the next second.

But just as its strength accumulated to its peak.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Dark glints flashed in succession.

Under the God King's command, the Assassin squad returned to the rear of the battle line; the Seal Spirit trait followed the falling daggers.

Black runes spread along the blade edges, winding and seeping into the Terminus Beast's body like chains; the originally boiling blood and qi suddenly stagnated, as if a torrent had been forcibly cut off.

The strength the Terminus Beast had barely accumulated instantly dissipated.

The disbelieving Blood King once again controlled the Terminus Beast to try struggling.

But the dense Seal Spirit traits falling on its body were like the most lethal poison, eroding along the blood and qi flow paths; every charge was like punching cotton—though the muscles were tightened to their limit, the strength was blocked by some invisible barrier and instantly dissipated.

Add the Bind and Painful Painful Minghun pull to restrict it.

The Terminus Beast was like a trapped beast, emitting a dull roar but powerless to break free.

The main battle line continued to be held by damage-tanking players; the rest cooperated with the God King's command, preparing to kill the Terminus Beast, the hardest combat unit to handle.

Although they knew this player was definitely undertaking a hidden quest, so what?

Since he chose to make enemies of the vast player base, he must be prepared for forced return to the village.

The dense assault was hard to break the Blood King's surface defense, but under the dual stacking layers of Tear and Wither, the Terminus Beast's self-healing speed was gradually covered by the damage spreading within its body.

As time passed, purple patterns generated by Wither and blood-red patterns generated by Tear appeared on the Terminus Beast's surface.

Purple bloomed from inside out; blood-red seeped from outside in.

The injuries grew more severe; the Blood King tried several times to control the Terminus Beast to rise violently, but each time was forcibly interrupted by Seal Spirit assassins.

With the perception boost of the Eagle-Headed Demon, the God King precisely controlled the moment the Terminus Beast exerted force.

Perhaps in past battles, facing forces that were crushed, the Terminus Beast could move freely with ease, even possessing a fallback escape method.

But this time they faced players, each wielding a set of rule-level power.

Trapped in layers of rules, even a Hunting Level of 103 was hard to break free.

Since the trump cards were not played during the battle, there was no need to play them; what the God King had to do this time was to seal and kill.

The only thing that puzzled him was that the fellow countryman controlling the Terminus Beast shouldn't be this stupid.

His own Painful Painful Minghun was an open card in his eyes; even with overflowing confidence, he shouldn't rush in to die.

At this moment, the Terminus Beast's body had become broken and battered under the torment of multiple Painful Painful Minghun traits.

Claws sharp enough to tear the earth lost their edge; viscous golden-yellow blood flowed from the wounds.

His chest heaved violently; every breath seemed abnormally heavy.

Inside, the Blood King connected to the Terminus Beast felt the pain transmitted from the Terminus Beast's body and clenched his teeth tightly.

A hoarse roar squeezed from his throat; his pupils contracted violently.

Rage burned in his heart.

He constantly controlled the Terminus Beast's heart, pumping the last of its furious blood and qi, trying to make this broken body stand again.

But the endpoint of the charge was sudden dissipation of strength.

"I am... the Blood King... how can I..."

The Blood King let out a roar of unwillingness.

Recalling the past.

He controlled the Terminus Beast to tear apart mountains, swallow cities; countless living beings wailed beneath its feet.

Back then, it was the supreme top predator, a calamity standing at the apex of the food chain.

But now it was like a dying beast, crawling on the ground, able only to wait for the moment of life's end.

Humiliation!

Teeth clenched, he still struggled; golden blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth.

It was unwilling!

How could it be willing!

Just a few days ago, he was about to welcome a new glorious journey, leading his clan to open a new Xin De Kua Jie war.

He was supposed to reign over the new world, making all things tremble under his pressure.

But now he was to die in the Homeworld, killed by invaders in a humiliating posture.

His pupils twisted from extreme rage; his vision, through the Terminus Beast's pupils, glared angrily at the invaders beside him.

Feeling the vitality within drain away, the Blood King struggled to lift its claws, hoping at the very least to tear apart a single enemy.

But its muscles had long since collapsed; not even a single finger joint could move, and it could only hang limply on the ground.

Despair and fury intertwined in its heart.

Its breath grew faint, and its vision was gradually swallowed by blackness.

In the final moments of its life, countless images surfaced in its mind.

Back then, its Apocalyptic Body had not yet fully matured, yet it could already tear mountains apart with its bare hands.

The subjects of the Lingxi race knelt on both sides of the rift, their chants surging like a tide.

The War Priest placed the crown symbolizing royal authority upon its head….

The vision in its right eye began to blur, and the Blood King gazed at the darkening sky with its one remaining left eye.

The clouds in the twilight looked just like the evening glow on the day of its coronation.

Back then, its heart burned with grand ambitions, determined to lead the Lingxi race to rise and become a superpower spanning across multiple worlds.

It still remembered the first time it marched out as Wang Zuo; that world woven of light barriers tried to block its advance, yet was torn apart by it with ease.

Countless beautiful images flickered past… but now, it could not even lift an arm.

The self-healing ability it had taken such pride in was utterly suppressed by some rule-level power.

The golden blood within the Apocalyptic Beast, once spoils refined from the genes of the myriad beings it had devoured, now gushed from its wounds like cheap sewage.

Harder to endure than death were the gazes of those ants.

They surrounded it, and in their eyes was no reverence, only contempt.

As though it were a beast awaiting slaughter.

These lowly invaders actually dared to humiliate it like this.

Fury roared in its heart; it tried once more to activate the bio-furnace, even self-detonation would do.

But the only answer was silence.

The self-detonation organ that once could tear through space now resembled a slab of cooled lava, unable to squeeze out even a wisp of energy.

The final moments of life.

In a daze, it seemed to see that day's evening glow once more.

It stood at the pinnacle of the world, beneath its feet were billions of surrendered living beings, and ahead lay an endless campaign.

The War Priest said the Lingxi race would follow it until the end of time, and its name would be inscribed upon the cornerstone of billions of worlds….

The focus of its left eye began to scatter, and the world twisted and warped in its blurred vision, like a painting on the verge of shattering.

Just then, it heard a familiar voice sound in its ear.

"Wang Zuo, hold on."

Then a surge of power seeped into its body, and immediately its flesh began to suckle like a starving beast.

Opening its eyes, it found five familiar figures beside it.

Their bodies were battered and broken, drenched in blood, their carapaces shattered in many places, their tentacles severed, golden blood trailing long marks behind them.

"You all…"

A hoarse sound squeezed from the Blood King's throat, carrying shock and confusion, and even more so heartache.

The leading War Priest, half its body already carbonized, still pressed its palm against the Apocalyptic Beast's heart; flesh writhed, resonating with the Apocalyptic Body under its control, continuously pouring in its own life force.

Life force coursed through its body, muscle fibers reconnected, and its bones let out creaking groans of overburden.

The Apocalyptic Beast's compound eyes lit up once more, but this time, what it saw was not the battlefield and the invaders, but five clansfolk already pushed to their very limits.

"Wang Zuo, we are late." The War Priest's voice was calm, yet in the depths of its eyes was an unconcealable reluctance.

"Go!" Blood Tu roared low; its body began to disintegrate, flesh transforming into pure energy, continuing to mend the Apocalyptic Beast's wounds.

"I'll cover the rear."

The dark mass of player legions surged forward like a tide, shouts and footsteps, dense elemental bombardments falling, slicing through the sky as they came.

A War Priest, without hesitation, disintegrated part of its body, using flesh and blood to prop up an unbreakable barrier overhead.

"I want to be with you all…."

Before the words fell, Blood Worm had already charged forward, its carapace flaking off piece by piece mid-charge, revealing the boiling bio-core within.

Boom!

Three War Priests decisively lifted it up and ran toward the breach Blood Worm had torn open.

Only Blood Tu remained in place, turning to gaze at the players attacking from all sides, the bio-core upon its body lighting up in turn.

"Wang Zuo… you must live." A look of relief surfaced on Blood Tu's face, and then without hesitation it detonated its own ruined body.

The Blood King's eyes instantly turned crimson.

It wanted to turn back.

It wanted to fight.

Just then, a voice sounded in its ear:

"Wang Zuo, the rise of the Lingxi race was destined to be winding; several times teetering on the brink of extinction, yet it swayed on the edge and endured era after era. The future will press on as well. Our end has arrived, but the future belonging to you and the Lingxi race will continue."

As the words fell, another War Priest lunged forward, transforming into brilliant radiance in the Blood King's eyes.

After breaking out for some distance, dense crimson ropes came streaking in.

Then the fourth War Priest self-detonated to clear the way.

The only remaining War Priest, facing the breach torn open by the explosion, carried it out of the players' encirclement.

Just then, the tank-line players arrayed ahead turned back to attack.

"Wang Zuo."

The last War Priest, already drained of all strength, trembling, tore open its own chest and dug out a still-beating golden heart.

"Eat it... and live."

The Blood King wanted to refuse, wanted to roar, wanted to drag this broken body back into the enemy ranks to kill.

But the War Ritualist's palm was already pressed over his mouth.

The heart transformed into a warm current that surged up his throat, instantly reigniting the dying life-fire of the End Beast.

Roar!

The War Ritualist erupted with the last of his inner strength, straining to hurl him toward their own army.

The Blood King glanced back midair — the War Ritualist, his body broken and torn, leapt high to shield him from the dense elemental bombardment raining down from behind.

The War Ritualist, already too weak to speak, looked up at him, his lips moving faintly:

"What a shame... I can never again stand atop the city's ruins and watch the sunrise of the new world with you."

(End of Chapter)