Chapter 288 – End of the Line

Land of Ancient Dragons, outer zone’s shore:

“With this much distance between us, that Demon King will need some time to catch up to us. If we split up now, many of us should get out of here alive,” Meteor said, sighing in relief as he looked back at the distant temple.

Demon King Firenze’s sudden transformation was never mentioned in the information they collected, so they didn’t have any countermeasures prepared.

An increase to the density of one’s mana could provide significant improvements even to ordinary players, let alone a monster capable of casting Spells. If Firenze were to use the Spatial Smash and Dark Paradise combination again, none of them would be able to move a muscle.

“We might be safe now, but we have also failed our mission…” Star Snail said worriedly. “After this failure, the conglomerate is unlikely to let us take on such an important mission again for the foreseeable future.”

The important mission she spoke of was crucial for the Paimon Conglomerate’s internal geniuses to improve their standings in the conglomerate. Meanwhile, they only had one opportunity to challenge these missions each month. Moreover, should they fail to complete an important mission, they would be prohibited from challenging another for several months.

“It is indeed a huge loss for us. Meeting Zero Wing here is also outside of our expectations,” Meteor said as he turned to look at Su Qianliu and the others, who were currently recuperating some distance away. Then, in a cold tone, he continued, “Zero Wing is much more dangerous than we initially thought. If we don’t take care of Zero Wing now, it will become a hindrance for the conglomerate in the Miniature Ancient World.”

“I agree.” Star Snail nodded. “Moreover, they should have discovered the Land of Ancient Dragons’ Seven Luminaries Crystals. If they publicize this matter, it will increase the number of competitors we have to face.”

Seven Luminaries Crystals were incredibly precious even to the Paimon Conglomerate. Meanwhile, an ore vein capable of producing up to 3,000 units of Seven Luminaries Crystal per day was incredibly rare and precious.

Every God’s Domain was the basis of development for a civilization. Because of this, every God’s Domain would have a local system favoring native players heavily. If players were to enter a foreign God’s Domain, they would typically be subjected to the world’s suppression and have their tiers reduced by one.

For example, should a Tier 6 player enter a foreign God’s Domain, they would be forcibly suppressed to Tier 5. In such a situation, there was no way these foreign Tier 6 players could go up against the native Tier 6 players. After all, the gap between Tier 5 and Tier 6 players was no longer one that could be overcome with numbers.

......

Unless a power had overwhelming strength, it would have an incredibly difficult time occupying a foreign God’s Domain. Because of this, one could easily imagine how valuable the Land of Ancient Dragons’ ore vein was.

So, to reduce the competition the Paimon Conglomerate had to face later on, it was best if they got rid of Zero Wing’s team right here and now. Coincidentally, there was an easy way to accomplish this in the Land of Ancient Dragons—the Spirit Devourers. With the Spirit Devourers’ help, they could permanently erase players from God’s Domain.

“Should we attack them now?” Death Omen asked, a look of interest on her face.

If they could deal a heavy blow to Zero Wing’s main force now, Zero Wing would have its activities in the Miniature Ancient World severely restricted.

…

On the other side, Su Qianliu and the others also quickly noticed what the Paimon Conglomerate’s team was planning.

“They’re coming closer. It seems they plan to attack us…” Su Qianliu grew a little anxious when she saw Meteor and the others moving closer and closer to their team.

After witnessing the strength Meteor and Star Snail displayed, Su Qianliu did not think even for a moment that Zero Wing’s main force could win against the Paimon Conglomerate’s team. In fact, Meteor alone was probably enough to wipe the floor with Zero Wing’s main force.

“We are not far from the warship,” Colorful Lunarite suddenly said. “So long as we can board the warship, we’ll have a chance to shake them off our tails.”

“In that case, I’ll stay behind and buy us time,” Su Qianliu said.

Despite what Colorful Lunarite said, Su Qianliu did not think their team was near the warship. Even though they had reached the shore already, they would still need to run for at least half an hour before they could reach and board the warship. This much time was more than enough for the Paimon Conglomerate’s experts to annihilate Zero Wing’s main force.

“You don’t need to do that. We only need to fight as we retreat,” Colorful Lunarite said, shaking her head. “Also, I’m afraid I am currently the only one in our team who can keep Meteor distracted.”

Only fourth-floor experts could keep someone like Meteor distracted. Anyone weaker would be dead in one move.

Su Qianliu and the others might have learned many Silver Combat Techniques, but their combat standards were significantly inferior to even the Green God Corporation’s internal experts. They would only be throwing their lives away pointlessly if they tried to fight Meteor.

Subsequently, Colorful Lunarite, Su Qianliu, and the others began frantically withdrawing in the Bronze Warship’s direction.

When Meteor saw Colorful Lunarite and the others running away, he laughed and said, “Do you honestly think you can help Zero Wing’s members escape, Lunarite?”

Meteor had interacted with Colorful Lunarite some years ago, so he knew she was an internal genius nurtured by the Green God Corporation. With her strength, Colorful Lunarite could indeed be regarded as a powerful expert among the various hegemonic powers. However, against him, she didn’t even have a chance of running away with her life.

Immediately, Meteor dashed forward, his body transforming into a streak of light that rapidly approached Zero Wing’s main force.

Although Su Qianliu and the others possessed Basic Attributes rivaling Tier 4 players, there was inherently a huge difference in Movement Speed between Tier 3 and Tier 4 players. This was because actual Tier 4 players could fly even without the help of a Mana Domain.

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Subsequently, the distance between Meteor and Zero Wing’s main force rapidly shrunk.

,500 yards… 1,000 yards… 500 yards…

“This is the end of the line!”

When Meteor saw that there were less than 200 yards between him and Zero Wing’s main force, he promptly reached for his sword. At this distance, Zero Wing’s main force was already within his attack range.

Whoosh!

However, just as Meteor was about to draw his sword, a sword light suddenly tore through space and flew at him from a distance. Fortunately, his instincts kicked in, and he dodged the unexpected attack in the nick of time.

“Who is it?! Who dares to interfere with the Paimon Conglomerate’s actions?!” Meteor bellowed as he turned to look at where the sword light came from, his expression turning indescribably ugly.

Previously, Meteor had only dodged the attack out of instinct, so he didn’t find the attack to be anything remarkable. However, he quickly changed his mind when he saw the spatial tear that measured over 500 yards in length. No matter how he looked at it, this attack range was inhuman.

“I have no idea what is going on since I was only passing by, but I cannot turn a blind eye to you chasing after Zero Wing’s retreating members,” said a peerless beauty with long light-blue hair and a silver crown on her head as she stepped out of the spatial fissure. Then, looking at Meteor, the woman continued, “Since you intend to harm Zero Wing’s members, how about I, Laura Crader, be your opponent?”