They really had allied.
Duan Nanyang glanced at Chen Xiao. "Are you sure?"Yan Zhiyuan answered for him: "What's the point of arguing now? Jiang Ling already confirmed they're here — we're surrounded."
Everyone tensed. No one wanted to die silently in the dark. At night the forest lost its daytime life and grew eerier; the wind whispering through the leaves gnawed at their nerves.
"They're here!" Jiang Ling shouted.
Boom—
A fierce black spear sliced through the air like a thunderbolt. But Huaxia's defensive awakeners were no pushovers. The dwarf beside Gu Liao leaped up; his SSS-rank defensive talent, [Alligator Turtle Shell], manifested — a solid green shell before him to block the strike.
Then his pupils constricted. The turtle shell shattered at impossible speed. He had no time to react.
Boom — the black spear pierced his forehead. His body flew ten meters, the spear driven deep into the ground with a dust cloud.
The dwarf's death chilled the Huaxia camp. Something was wrong — this enemy was far stronger than Maple Leaf. Gu Liao's face darkened; that dwarf had been his man. How could someone with such defense fall so easily?
Even the arrogant Cao Linxuan frowned — rare for him. That first attack had felt like a real threat.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Figures poured from the forest — thirty-three of them, far more than expected. Jiang Ling shot Chen Xiao a surprised look; she hadn't expected "Zhou Xun" to detect so much. Wasn't he supposed to be a space-type?
Cao Linxuan rolled up his sleeve, the silver glove on his right hand gleaming. "What an honor — Argentina, Black, South Continent… three camps allied, just for us?"
A man from the Black Camp stepped forward: dark-skinned, bare-chested, muscles coiled like a predator. He gripped a black spear. "Huaxia people, you were arrogant in the first stage. We allied to survive." He hurled another spear.
Cao Linxuan's face darkened. "If you dare ally, you'll pay the price!" Lightning crackled as he charged, launching a rolling thunder from his palm like a shot put.
Zzzz — Boom. The black spear met the rolling thunder; both froze, then detonated.
"Black Spear, I'll cover you." Beside the dark-skinned man stood a short young athlete — Yusi from Argentina. He grinned and unleashed a black-and-white energy blast at Cao Linxuan.
Duan Nanyang snorted, purple energy flaring around him as he stepped in and countered the blast. The impact shook him; his hands began to corrode under the energy. Agony painted his face. "Captain Cao, their strength… is formidable!"
Cao Linxuan nodded. This National Fortune Game was no joke. Still, their first-stage score neared 20,000 while others had only a few thousand — that gap explained the alliance. They'd panicked and banded together. He summoned lightning again, determined to take out the enemy leaders first.
Zzzz — he closed in, thunder coiling on his glove.
Yusi sneered as black-and-white magic swirled. Cao's lightning charred his arm, but Yusi didn't flinch — he calmly sliced his own arm off. Blood sprayed; before anyone could react, his flesh knit back together. "When I was an athlete I healed in two days," he said with a mad grin. "Now, with the Gecko talent, I'm immortal."
Black Spear hammered with dark magic like a tidal wall, forcing Cao Linxuan to backpedal under the barrage.
Yan Zhiyuan and the others countered. The Tongbi descendant's strikes were feather-light and crushing as mountains, but Black Spear's edge was unmatched. He held his ground against two opponents. "Is this the best Huaxia can offer?" Black Spear scoffed.
Seizing a moment, Yusi hit from the flank. A massive blow flung Cao Linxuan ten meters. Black Spear followed with a surging black-magic wave. Cao used [Thunder Charge] to escape in disarray.
The Black and Argentina camps coordinated seamlessly — they'd clearly planned this. They even shared core techniques. The Huaxia team's faces darkened. The situation was slipping out of control.
"Five Thunderbolts!" Cao Linxuan roared — his ultimate. Hum — the lightning field erupted.
Black Spear refused to be pinned. Breaking free from Yan Zhiyuan, he retreated meters. Yan gave chase, unleashing Tongbi Fist with devastating force, ready to crush him.
But the lightning field was suddenly overwhelmed by an inferno. A towering firestorm swept through the sky and earth, hot enough to melt metal. Lightning and magic alike were consumed by the flames — a premeditated ambush. Cowardly, insidious.
The sky-piercing blaze barreled toward Yan Zhiyuan's back. He tried to escape but was too slow. Black Spear used dark magic to pin him, then fled.
When the flames and smoke cleared, Yan Zhiyuan was unrecognizable — charred to a crisp. The Tongbi descendant was dead.
"Huaxia… didn't you have nearly 20,000 points?" someone muttered. "Not as strong as we thought…"
A deep, unfamiliar voice cut the silence. A cloaked figure stepped forward, hood drawn low; only unreadable eyes glimmered in the dark.
"India's man," someone breathed. "The Agni descendant, Gubuta."