Chapter 113: A Turn of Events

The palm of the pitch-black giant slammed into the river of blood, sending ripples of waves splashing outward.

The giant had not yet learned to fly, so as it landed back on the ground, it stared at its own palm with a look of bewilderment. Its dark, outer shell had become pitted and scarred, losing its smooth, lustrous sheen.

"The power of laws..." A single eye with a brown vertical pupil emerged on the giant's forehead. It fixed its gaze upon the river of blood, its voice filled with excitement. "This world is truly far more interesting than the previous ones. It is vast and full of amusements. I truly wish I could cross over... it is much more fascinating than the Abyss..."

"Indeed, the power of laws." The elongated body of the Blood God slowly coalesced, forming a massive, shifting mass of blood that seemed to be in a constant state of boiling. "Refining this substance is not difficult, but finding one that can be controlled is a rare feat. I spent several hundred years searching before I barely managed to find one."

"The Great Dao of this world is etched directly into the earth; it is truly convenient." The giant's body swelled violently, and one brown vertical pupil after another sprouted across its pitch-black head.

"Damn it! This must not happen, of all things! Even if Bal Island is slaughtered to the last by the Wind Demons, we must not let it be unleashed!" Seeing this, the old mage atop the statue in the far west shouted through a telepathic spell. "Tian Xie! Wake up! Do not let the power assimilate you!"

"Eh? Assimilate? Hmm..." The pitch-black giant paused, its expansion halted. It looked at the Blood God and, without a word, lunged forward with a punch!

The black, heavy fist struck the massive blood mass, sending ripples across its surface. However, invisible shockwaves erupted from around the blood mass, distorting the air and tearing the earth asunder, sending the giant flying backward!

The entire battlefield barrier trembled, as if hit by an earthquake.

"It stopped?" the Blood God asked, curious. "As I thought, you are but a phantom. How interesting. In that case, I cannot allow you to descend."

The Blood God finally realized the danger of Tian Xie’s rampage, but it had only one way to deal with such matters: slaughter.

"Ha! Hahaha! If you have the strength to do so..." The giant controlled by Tian Xie performed a kip-up to regain its footing, but before it could finish its taunt, another violent shockwave blasted it away.

Back at the western statue, the old mage cast a wide-area defensive barrier to protect the others from the collateral damage.

"It is no use. Under these circumstances, Tian Xie is no match for that monster... It refined the core of a dungeon and attained the power of laws; it has surpassed S-rank and reached S+." The old mage frowned.

"Everyone, get as far away from here as possible!" The old mage floated in the air, his staff appearing in his hand, his tone grim. "The coming battle will claim lives even through its shockwaves alone!"

Although an average level-eight mage might be slightly inferior to a gifted elemental lord like Wei Luan, the gap was not insurmountable, especially with two god-like, calamitous beasts involved. The shockwaves from their clash threatened to dismantle nearly half of the great battlefield barrier.

The great battle here was about to break out, but at the other seven statues, the fighting had already reached a white-hot intensity—or rather, total annihilation was imminent.

Under the Blood God’s command, all the Wind Demons swarmed the heroes. On average, every A-rank combatant had to face an A-rank boss, while every B-rank hero was forced to contend with over a dozen A-rank elites and hundreds of common monsters. Seven hundred virtual heroic spirits were besieged to the point where they could only repeatedly reform, unable to regain any combat capability. One hero after another suffered critical injuries, turning into cold, heavy stone statues upon death.

Zhao Tianhe and Li Mei were shielded by a group of survivors as they retreated; the statue of Old Ghost had already been pulverized.

"It's over. I don't know what's going on with that black giant over there, but we are definitely dead," Li Mei said with a bitter smile. "I never imagined I would die here..."

"Indeed," Zhao Tianhe nodded, having accepted his fate. *It is only a pity that I won't have the chance to say goodbye to Ereshkigal and Artoria in these circumstances. And Pixie, too. As for Zealot, there is no need; he is surely somewhere here.* *Right, I must use my Saint Quartz before I die.*

*I wonder if I will be summoned somewhere else after I die, or if this is eternal sleep?* Zhao Tianhe did not want to die, but he did not fear it; after all, he was someone who had already died once. He took out his Saint Quartz, intending to make one last desperate effort to see if he could pull a one-time-use craft essence that might turn the tide.

When he first entered the battlefield, Zhao Tianhe had not realized the severity of the situation, which was why he hadn't pulled cards then. Later, the constant fighting had left no time, but now that his mana was exhausted, he had nothing else to do. He might as well pull. After all, this was likely his final chance.

Faced with death, he would struggle with all his might as long as there was a shred of hope, but he could also face an unavoidable end with relative calm.

"Huh? Common monsters can drop items too? Seeing something this rare before death makes the life worth it, I suppose? Hahaha!" A burly, bald man nearby chuckled.

Zhao Tianhe subconsciously followed the man’s gaze. His keen vision caught the two rectangular cards that had just fallen to the ground.

They were two Summoning Tickets!

"Huh?!" Zhao Tianhe froze.

At first, he thought of the original source of the Summoning Tickets: the monster known as the Heart of the Rainbow. But he quickly dismissed that possibility. A colorful Wind Demon? How could he have missed something so flashy?

"Could it have been dropped by that boss? Even if I used a craft essence to kill it, it should only drop materials or Saint Quartz. Did this small fry hide them?"

Although this guess sounded absurd, it was the truth!

The monsters from the Wind Demon Dungeon were not ordinary creatures; they were a group of progressive monsters with ideals and aspirations! Just like the Wind Demons that had chased Zhao Tianhe and his companion out of the dungeon in a desperate gamble for advancement, this particular Wind Demon had seen the two Summoning Tickets drop when its leader was blasted into dust by Unlimited Blade Works. Although it did not know what they were for, out of curiosity, it had swallowed them to hide them for future study.

Regrettably, being a common monster, it had died on the battlefield before it had the chance to study them. And because it was just a common monster, the burly man had found it curious, as he had dispatched it instantly with a Chain Fireball. That was why Zhao Tianhe was seeing these spoils he thought he would never encounter again.

"Wait!" Zhao Tianhe roared at his comrades. "I have a way to turn the tide! Help me!"

The others looked at him with curiosity, clearly thinking he had lost his mind. After all, Zhao Tianhe had no reputation on the island, and his performance thus far looked no better than that of a C-rank hero.

"Zhao Tianhe has S+ potential!" Fortunately, Li Mei shouted at the top of her lungs. "He can do it! Follow his lead!"

The group exchanged glances and smiled.

"In this situation, what does it matter how we die? Tell us what to do," a blonde woman asked with a smile.

"Pick up the items, and pull the cards," Zhao Tianhe said with a determined expression.