Chapter 349: Battle Royal Domain Event
The notification pulsed with a red light as reality warped around Caelus and Sylvia.
[Domain Event: Genesis Arena]
[All Tier 5 Regional Lord Territory players are being transported]
[Prepare for deployment in 3... 2... 1...]
Golden light consumed their vision, and when it cleared, they stood on an enormous floating platform suspended in an endless grey expanse.
The platform stretched for miles in every direction, covered in ruined structures and dense forests. Other players materialised across the landscape, their figures appearing like scattered fireflies in the distance.
[Welcome to Genesis Arena]
[Total Participants: 847]
[Event Rules Loading...]
Caelus immediately noticed something wrong. His body felt lighter and weaker, and when he tried to summon the Ancient Dragon God, nothing happened.
[Special Rule: Blank Slate Protocol]
[All participant abilities have been temporarily sealed]
[Starting Combat Score: 0.01]
"What the hell?" Caelus stared at his status window in disbelief.
[Skills and talents must be re-acquired through Extraction]
[Defeat opponents to absorb portions of their accumulated power]
[Loot Skill Orbs scattered across the arena to regain abilities]
[Warning: The Entropy Wave begins in 10 minutes]
[Survive being killed and being swallowed by the Entropy Wave until only one team remains]
[Additional Objective Detected]
[Three Exit Portals exist within the arena]
[Collect Core Shards to activate portals]
[Total Core Shards: 12]
[Shards required per portal: 4]
[First team to activate a portal claims grand rewards]
A distant scream echoed across the arena as combat already erupted somewhere to their east. Players were not wasting any time, the scramble for power had begun immediately.
[Skill Orb Detected: 200 meters north]
The notification appeared in both their visions at the same time.
"Let’s go, Sylvia." Caelus grabbed Sylvia’s hand, and they sprinted toward the marker.
The skill orb floated above a crumbling stone pillar, glowing with a soft blue light.
Caelus reached for it, but a blade suddenly slashed toward his neck from behind.
Slash!
He ducked on pure instinct, the attack missing by inches. A player in dark armour stood behind them with a cruel smile on his face.
"Thanks for finding it for me." The man laughed and lunged forward again.
Caelus sidestepped the attack and drove his fist into the man’s throat. The impact sent the attacker stumbling backward with a choked gasp.
Sylvia moved instantly, sweeping the man’s legs out from under him before stomping down hard on his chest.
[Opponent Defeated]
[Extracting Power...]
[+0.02 Combat Score absorbed]
[+5 HP absorbed]
The defeated player’s body dissolved into particles of light as his accumulated stats transferred to them.
Caelus grabbed the skill orb and crushed it in his palm.
[Skill Acquired: Swift Strike (Common, 1-Star)]
[Description: Increases attack speed by 10% for 3 seconds]
It was a basic ability, but something was better than nothing.
[Entropy Wave Initiating]
[Phase 1 Beginning]
The edges of the arena began to shimmer with distorted crimson energy. Space itself seemed to crack and splinter where the wave touched, reality breaking down into chaotic fragments.
"We need to move toward the centre." Caelus looked at the collapsing boundaries.
They ran as the entropy crept closer, consuming everything in its path. A group of players stumbled out from the corrupted zone, their bodies twisted and warped by the exposure.
Behind them were massive beasts with multiple limbs and glowing red eyes that charged out of the entropy field, their bodies mutated beyond recognition.
[Entropy Fiends Detected]
[Combat Score: 0.5 each]
[Warning: Highly aggressive]
The corrupted players did not last long against the beasts, their screams cut short as claws tore through flesh.
"Oh shit," Caelus muttered as he saw the scene.
Caelus immediately pulled Sylvia away from the approaching beasts, and they continued deeper into the safe zone.
More skill orbs appeared on their radar as they moved.
[Skill Acquired: Energy Shield (Uncommon, 2-Star)]
[Skill Acquired: Fire Bolt (Common, 1-Star)]
[Current Combat Score: 0.15]
They defeated three more players along the way, each victory adding to their growing power. The extraction mechanic was like the law of the jungle. The strong grew stronger while the weak were eliminated.
But naturally, there was a balancer. It had not been revealed yet.
A massive roar shook the arena as something enormous crashed down in the distance.
[World Boss Spawned: Entropy Titan]
[Combat Score: 3.0]
[Defeating this boss grants Legendary Equipment and x1 Core Shard]
[Warning: Boss location is now visible to all participants]
"Should we go?" Caelus immediately turned toward Sylvia with a thoughtful look.
"There’s going to be a lot of players there," Sylvia said, hesitation flickering in her crimson eyes.
"You’re right."
Anyone who attacked the boss would draw every opportunistic player in the area, and that could lead to some very undesirable effects.
But they needed Core Shards to escape, and this was the fastest way to get one.
"We’ll wait," he decided. "Let’s wait until they weaken the boss, get exhausted, and then jump in and claim the victory."
They found a concealed position overlooking the boss arena and watched as players converged from every direction.
The Entropy Titan was a nightmarish creature, a twisted amalgamation of multiple beasts fused together by corrupted energy.
As Caelus observed the scene, a thought crossed his mind. Was the Origin Network trying to tell them something again, like it did during the previous Domain Event with the Hollow Beast?
He did not know for sure. But he decided to keep a close eye on everything as he watched the battle unfold.
Dozens of players attacked it at the same time, their skills lighting up the arena with explosions of colour. The boss retaliated with devastating sweeps of its massive arms, sending bodies flying in every direction.
Just then, a system notification rang across everyone’s vision.
[Bounty System Activated]
[Current highest kill count: "ThunderKing" with 23 kills]
[Everyone who manages to land a hit will get a portion of that person’s combat score based on performance]
[Location broadcasting to all participants...]
So this was how the event balanced itself. The Bounty System.
Once a bounty was placed on someone with far too many kills, that person was bound to get jumped by everyone and have their combat score stolen.
In front of an army of players, what could one man do?
He would eventually fall, and the combat score he had hoarded from other players would be distributed.
Soon, a marker appeared on everyone’s map, showing ThunderKing’s exact position. The player was currently fighting the Entropy Titan, completely exposed to every hunter in the arena.
The chaos below intensified as players started attacking ThunderKing while he fought the boss. Three-way battles erupted everywhere, alliances formed and broke within seconds.
[Entropy Wave: Phase 2]