"Well? That is the truth behind everything. Do you understand now?"
After the video finished playing, Xia Yu did not leave immediately. Instead, he turned back to Ximi and the others and asked.
Hearing Xia Yu's question, everyone looked at each other, their faces showing hesitation and thought.
"I mostly understand, but then again, I don't quite understand. So, Chef, you were summoned here? Um... summoned by the original owner of your body?" Ximi guessed.
"That's right. The original owner of this body used a forbidden magic ritual, the price of which was being completely forgotten by this world. This ritual called me here, and he hoped that I could defeat puchui and allow all of you to survive."
As he spoke, Xia Yu tapped his head. "The coordinates of the alien colony are now in my head. Ximi, extract them first. If I fail, then you all will still have a chance to survive!"
"If I can't defeat puchui, you can take the opportunity to escape. Don't worry about me; I will definitely not let Him learn the colony's coordinates!"
"No!"
Hearing Xia Yu say this, Ximi crossed her arms with unusual determination and refused.
"I won't leave you behind, Chef. I will only take out the coordinates after you return safely, and then we will leave together!"
"But..."
"No buts!" While refusing, Ximi looked back at the others. "If you don't believe me, ask them. I'm sure no one wants to leave you behind and escape alone. We must leave together!"
Hearing this, Xia Yu looked at the others. They all nodded with determined expressions, without a trace of hesitation in their eyes!
Seeing this, Xia Yu took a deep breath and said seriously, "If I fail, you will all go to your ends with me. Are you still willing?"
"When you put it that way, I'm a bit unwilling," Tangerine suddenly spoke up, but then she changed the subject. "So, Chef, you must return safely. When facing that kind of monster, if you can't win, just run away. Staying alive is the most important thing!"
"If you really can't defeat puchui, we can just live in this space forever. So please, don't push yourself too hard!"
"I value my life very much," Xia Yu smiled confidently. "Don't worry, I will definitely defeat puchui. This is the promise between him and me!"
"Wait for me to come back!"
After finishing his conversation with everyone, Xia Yu waved his hand with his back to them and walked alone toward the space crack.
"Junior looks just like the protagonist in the late stages of a manga who faces the BOSS alone for the sake of his companions. Protagonists always have protagonist armor, so Junior will definitely return safely!" the skeleton Zhiwei shouted loudly.
"On this point alone, I actually agree with you," the skeleton Kehamuer echoed.
"Alright, alright. Chef will definitely return safely. Let's just wait for him here quietly!"
...[Gourmand Dungeon]: The final battle is coming. Thank you for your help.
[resident evil]: We won't give up on any version of ourselves. After all, in this world, the person we trust most is always ourselves.
[clash of clans]: Exactly, exactly. Although I can't provide much combat power, I can still provide support. Use those magic potions as you wish; I'll go to the Spell Factory to get some more.
[clash of clans]: If only Red Envelopes could send living beings. Then my troops could come and help you. When the time comes, I'd just line up the Electro Dragons, and we could crush the enemy with pure numbers.
[soul knight]: It's not like we're attacking another clan, how could an Electro Dragon spam be useful... [dark souls iii]: Don't say that. If I could use an Electro Dragon spam when I'm fighting a BOSS, absolutely few BOSSes could withstand it. After all, in the Soul World, dragons are the definition of power.
[elden ring]: In Miyazaki's games, dragons have always been the definition of power. Whether it's Demon's Souls or dark souls, even in elden ring, dragons are still the definition of power.
[elden ring]: Hehe, I've already successfully obtained the power of Dragonfire at the Church of Dragon Communion. To be honest, dragon hearts don't actually taste that bloody; they're actually quite delicious.
[soul knight]: Yuck, stop it, I don't want to know what that tastes like.
[do you want to cultivate immortality]: By the way, are we getting off-topic? Weren't we planning to help the Zombie? Why did we suddenly start talking about dragons?
[soul knight]: This is called pre-battle relaxation. The Zombie hasn't called us yet, what's the rush?
[soul knight]:...Ah, the invitation is here. No more chatting, let's go fight!
[dark souls iii]: Let's go!
...Gourmand Dungeon, outside the interstitial space.
Xia Yu had already switched to another weapon, the spear star sting. His usual weapon was actually a halberd, but there were no halberds among the ultimate weapons, so he could only use a similar spear.
This spear also had spatial attributes and belonged to the same type of weapon as the longsword starburst.
Holding the spear, Xia Yu was wary of his surroundings, but puchui did not attack immediately. A treant with a crimson mark on its head suddenly walked over and spoke calmly.
"Hello, nemesis of Mr. puchui. May I ask if you can directly tell us the information about the colony?"
Xia Yu looked over with the gaze one would give an idiot and did not speak.
Feeling this gaze, the treant smiled faintly. "Mr. puchui actually knows that you have prepared an escape ship to avoid this disaster, but He did not destroy that ship. If you are willing to provide Him with the coordinates of the colony, then He will let you leave."
"His ritual to destroy the Earth has already begun. Even if you defeat Him, the magic that has already been cast will not stop."
"So, come. We need your assistance. Surrender to Him and assist Him in completing this final spell. You and those you care about can all leave this place safely."
After the treant finished speaking, it just looked at Xia Yu without saying a word, seemingly waiting for the final answer.
"Hmm... your proposal is not bad." Xia Yu first nodded, but under the treant's increasingly calm gaze, his tone suddenly shifted. "However, I refuse!"
"What?!"
"One of the things I, Xia Yu, love to do most is to say 'no' to guys who think they're in control!"
Swish—!
A slash that tore through space was swung out by Xia Yu's spear. In an instant, those crimson believers who had already submitted to puchui had their bodies shattered piece by piece, completely annihilated by the spatial turbulence.
In the next moment, violent vibrations suddenly occurred in all directions like an earthquake. Crimson arms broke through various obstacles, weaving toward him in dense clusters.
Seeing that puchui intended to use violence to make him submit, the corners of Xia Yu's mouth curled up. "I am not alone!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the void in front of him suddenly rippled. Different figures solidified from the illusions one by one. Everyone was dressed differently, but the only thing they had in common was that they were all prepared for battle.
"Xia Yu Squad, reporting for duty!"
???
Some Xia Yu had suddenly shouted that out, and most of The Xia Yus showed expressions of disgust.
"Which idiot just shouted that? Don't you find it embarrassing?"
"We are all Xia Yu. If you call him an idiot, isn't that the same as calling us idiots? Although that slogan just now was indeed pretty stupid."
"I think we could call ourselves the Guardians of Yu. How's that for a name?"
"Even stupider... By the way, why are we obsessing over a name? We're just here to fight."
"A name gives you momentum. Otherwise, if the opponent asks who we are, are we all going to answer 'Xia Yu' in unison? We definitely need a team name, just like the Justice League or the Avengers."
"Makes sense. I think our team name could be Pink Fluffy Bunnies. After all, this name comes with built-in critical hits and aggro."
As soon as these words came out, the discussions of all The Xia Yus suddenly went silent. They couldn't help but look at the person who said this, wanting to see which 'genius' had come up with it.
Under everyone's gaze, Ashen Xia Yu gave a shy smile. "How about it? I think it's OK."
The other Xia Yus: "..."
We knew it, it's just like you.
The Xia Yus' behavior of ignoring their surroundings to chat seemed to infuriate puchui. In an instant, countless crimson, twisted arms reached out toward The Xia Yus.
Undead Xia Yu stepped out of the group with a Dragon King-style crooked smile, the pitch-black twisted demon sword in his hand already alight with the blazing chaos fire.
He had specifically watched Quelaag's soul memories in detail just to be able to use the chaos demon sword proficiently. Of course, in those memories, he also saw Quelaag's entire life.
Well, since he had seen everything about her, he would take responsibility.
Under Undead Xia Yu's infusion of a large amount of mana, the chaos fire burning on the chaos demon sword became increasingly solid, even causing the air to distort.
In the next instant, Undead Xia Yu swung his sword. A sea of chaos fire immediately spread forward. Every living thing in the path of the fire was incinerated, and the terrain turned into glowing magma.
Before puchui's believers could even scream, they were incinerated into nothingness by the chaos fire. Crimson mental residues emerged from the void; these were the source of the extreme pain of puchui's followers.
Their pained minds turned into mental residues, and these mental residues were the anchors for puchui's existence.
But these mental residues had only just appeared, and before they could return to puchui's embrace, they were struck by suddenly appearing azure arrows, turning into crimson light and completely dissipating.
"Soul Arrow, kid."
Ashen Xia Yu pointed toward them with the curse-rotted staff, the azure glow at the tip of the staff having just faded.
Seeing Undead Xia Yu showing off his great power, Ashen Xia Yu was not to be outdone. He held the curse-rotted staff with both hands, condensed all his mana, and slammed it hard against the ground!
Crystal Storm!
Countless azure crystals suddenly erupted from the ground, piercing the surface and impacting those crimson arms. Before many of the arms could react, they were locked and shattered by the crystals.
These crystals also carried a hint of cold light, making them look like ice crystals, standing in stark contrast to the pool of magma in front of Undead Xia Yu.
Seeing the two guys from the Soul World showing their strength, the rest of The Xia Yus also used their own methods.
Immortal Cultivator Xia Yu and Cultivation Xia Yu, the two cultivators, directly used various spells, their speed not slow at all.
Energetic Xia Yu threw out Leader Xia Yu's magic potions with abandon. Various lightning and poisons instantly filled the space in front of him, and then he threw out bat and skeleton summoning spells.
Not using minions would be foolish. Occasionally, a crimson arm would break through his domain, only to be incinerated by a breath of Dragonfire. This was the power sent by Tarnished Xia Yu, which he had eventually claimed.
After all, among all The Xia Yus, he was considered the most important because he also worked part-time as a healer. Although other Xia Yus could also heal, having a dedicated healer meant they didn't have to distract themselves with self-healing.
In just a few seconds, the crimson arms were cleared away, and even those believers and C-creatures were completely wiped out.
But in the next moment, a pressure appeared. puchui, his whole body emitting an ominous blood-colored aura, descended upon this place.
He floated high in the air, without a word, merely holding his arms out to his sides like a suffering Jesus.