"Both of us are Huaxia people—why must you kill?!" someone cried."I had no choice! Wang Dong was tortured so badly—who wouldn't fear becoming next?!" Gu Liao cowered behind Gubuta, eyes glued to Chen Xiao with pure hatred. All he wanted was one thing: for Chen Xiao to die and drag him down with him.
In the prior wave, twenty-nine bodies had been wiped out in ten seconds.
Chen Xiao vanished. The remaining forces from the four camps tensed, every nerve on alert.
"Gubuta, why aren't you attacking?!" Black Spear snapped, shaken by the slaughter.
Gubuta sneered without haste. "You want me to fight this Huaxia man so you can profit from our duel?"
Black Spear fell silent — and for the first time felt the cold knot of dread. He had no time to hesitate. Dark magic pooled in his hand and formed a pitch-black spear that shimmered with malice. He took aim.
The perception-type awakener at his flank shouted, "I sense him! He's on your left, Black Spear!" and pointed.
Before the spear could be launched, a massive cyan-blue halberd tore through space as if it had always been there. It struck without warning.
The halberd cleaved Black Spear's head as cleanly as a scythe through wheat. The blow detonated outward, slicing a nearby Black Camp member in half. Chaos erupted in the Black Camp.
"Leader—!""He's dead—our leader's dead!""That Huaxia ambushed him!""Land of civilization? This is dishonorable!"
Six remained of the Black Camp; their backbone gone, panic set in. Yusi — blood spattered across him — staggered back to Gubuta, realization dawning: they had been mercilessly baited. Gubuta, whose plan had been to let others fight then step in, cursed inwardly. The situation had spun out of his control.
"Huaxia man! I'll ally with you! Let's kill Gubuta together!" Yusi shouted, claws for survival instead of pride. "If you two fight, I have a chance!"
Chen Xiao reappeared as a massive foot slammed down before Yusi.
"What do you think you are?" Chen Xiao said.
Boom — Yusi flew seventy to eighty meters through trees, half his body crushed. He writhed; the regen talent patched him, but the pain was exquisite.
Chen Xiao swept through the remaining enemies with his water blade: blink, strike, vanish. Flesh and screams punctuated the night. He stopped before Yusi, who begged pitifully.
"Huaxia man! I liked Huaxia before the apocalypse! I played football there—"
A single devastating punch shattered him into pieces. Regeneration could not save that blow; hope was ground to pulp.
"Act like I don't watch football," Chen Xiao said lightly, checking the time. Twenty-one seconds had passed.
Only the India Camp remained; five figures stood solemnly. Agni's bloodline—fire incarnate—stepped forward. Chen Xiao's lips twitched. He'd wanted to test Gubuta properly.
He launched himself into the air.
"Great Agni, protector of India!" Gubuta's followers cried. "Gubuta is invincible! He hasn't lost since the apocalypse!"
Gubuta shed his cloak. Beneath it he wore a kurta and a loose dhoti. Scorching flames coiled around him like living rings of light — a walking image of Agni's holy fire.
"I am the descendant of Agni. Huaxia man, you—" he began.
Chen Xiao didn't wait. The Mountain and River Map erupted, spitting out an avalanche of boulders that crashed down with world-shaking force. The India members tried to flee, but rocks piled and tumbled like a mountainfall, sealing every escape.
"Nine-Foot Seal!" Chen Xiao intoned. A crushing, rule-based oppression slammed into the area — shackles, pressure, a suffocating quicksand that suppressed their talents.
"This is sealing my power!" one of them howled. "We must rely on the Fire God!"
But before their prayers could take effect, [Eight Directions Slaughter] unfolded. Blades of light hummed like a funeral dirge, cutting through the air with savage precision. The enemy fell, one by one, until all that remained was Chen Xiao facing Gubuta.
Gubuta's face tightened. Direct confrontation finally revealed the true weight of Chen Xiao's pressure — and, worse, Gubuta felt his fire strangled, unable to burn as he wished.
Chen Xiao studied him, cold as winter. "I'm curious. What exactly are you?"
Gubuta's jaw clenched. "Speak. Or I'll make you."
Chen Xiao smirked and stepped forward. A slender water spear formed in his hand.
"Fire God Bell!" Gubuta intoned with reverence. A vast, illusory bell descended into being: ancient runes crawled across its surface, its edges flickering between clarity and nightmare. The bell radiated a primeval law, a heavy, unshakable aura that seemed to belong to some older order. It rang of sacrificial altars and old-world power — an opportunity made manifest to stall or to doom.
Chen Xiao recognized another opportunity when he saw it. He sighed softly and, with slow deliberation, drew half a broken goat horn from the Mountain and River Map.
"The bright lamp can crack," Chen Xiao murmured. "So can this bell."
He tucked the goat horn away and lifted his chin, eyes locking on the glowing runes of the Fire God Bell. Whatever Gubuta had brought down from his bloodline — whatever holy instrument he wielded — Chen Xiao's smile remained steady. The night hummed in the aftermath of the carnage, and the battle for the Hexagonal Sky had just grown a degree more dangerous.