Chapter 534 - 265: Escape
Seeing this, the eyes of the bound gladiators flickered with various emotions.
They had witnessed the might of the Bright God. The fact that he could go back and forth with the big-headed monster meant he was no pushover.
The Bright God was a renowned, peerless powerhouse in this part of the cosmos, ruling over his own star system.
Now that a great power had arrived and the two were clashing, it was the perfect opportunity for them to escape.
Seeing their chance, some of the gladiators exchanged glances, leaped out of the damaged base’s opening, and followed in the footsteps of the Bright Race People.
Zhao Rui felt the stirrings of an urge to escape as well, but after he glanced at the dozen or so gladiators who remained in the base, he decisively abandoned the thought.
Because these dozen or so gladiators were the elites of the base.
They were incredibly strong, yet none of them moved. This could only mean that their fear of Big Head far outweighed their faith in the Bright God’s power.
Seeing this, Zhao Rui halted and stood poised in mid-air near a corner of the rupture in the base, quietly observing the situation outside.
"You’re a smart one!"
Just then, a voice sounded by his ear.
Zhao Rui’s Divine Soul reached out toward the sound. The speaker was one of the gladiators from the group. He was humanoid in form but had the air of an ancient god or demon.
He had a dark face, a powerful, muscular physique, and was clad in Armor. His exposed toes resembled goat hooves.
"Just timid."
Zhao Rui chuckled and replied casually.
"Timid? Haha."
The demon-like gladiator also chuckled, crossing his arms. "The Bright God probably doesn’t know the Collector’s true strength," he said. "He’ll be defeated in less than fifty breaths."
Hearing this, Zhao Rui’s pupils constricted slightly. He asked, "The Collector? Are you talking about Big Head?"
"Big Head? Haha, a fitting description. He’s a Star Collector from the distant Magellan Star System. He appeared here because of a spatiotemporal turbulence... We are nothing more than dolls he casually collected for his amusement."
"..."
A chilling premonition that Zhao Rui couldn’t quite articulate washed over him. ’Dolls he just happened to collect!’
This was a far cry from what he had originally imagined.
He had originally thought the big-headed monster specifically captured gladiators, raised them in captivity, and used the tournaments to make money or earn some kind of interstellar resources.
But clearly, his assumption had been off the mark.
They were merely part of a casual game set up by the big-headed monster.
Before Zhao Rui could dwell on it, the heart-wrenching scream of the Bright God echoed from the distance.
"How is this possible?! You’re an Exemplar! No!"
"Such delicious light Energy. For a Bright God, your Divine Power seems a bit weak. Much worse than the last one I feasted on."
Big Head’s sinister cackle echoed throughout the cosmos.
The powerful fluctuations of his Divine Soul even caused gravitational ripples, making the nearby asteroids and meteorites tremble violently.
"Great Buddha Mother, save me!"
Unwilling to be captured without a fight, the Bright God let out a piercing cry for help.
"Amitabha Buddha! Show mercy where you can. This region of space has been peaceful for tens of millions of years. Ajido, why must you disturb its tranquility?"
Just as his cry for help rang out, a deep, resonant female voice transmitted from afar.
"The Great Buddha Mother? I didn’t expect someone here would know my name, Ajido. It’s been a long, long time."
The big-headed monster paused, then manifested a colossal head as his entire body gradually pulled out from the rainbow of light.
He revealed himself in the vastness of space.
"This humble one once glimpsed your figure from afar in the Magellan Star System, Ajido, which is how I know of you."
"’This humble one’? Haha, you’re quite modest. But since you know who I am and still dare to interrupt my meal, let’s see if you have what it takes. Otherwise, I don’t mind adding another course to my dinner."
After speaking, black mist billowed from the big-headed monster’s body. His form suddenly expanded, swelling into an immense figure tens of millions of kilometers in size.
Then, his entire body abruptly contracted. The contraction was instantaneous, without any visible transition.
When the black mist dissipated, a colossal figure, tens of thousands of feet tall, suddenly appeared in the cosmos.
This body was vaguely humanoid, but it had four arms, two heads, and a savage visage, radiating an intense dark aura.
"Amitabha Buddha. This humble one has rarely seen Ajido’s true form. Today has truly been an eye-opening experience."
"Enough nonsense. If you dare to meddle in my affairs, let’s settle this with force."
With that, the big-headed monster, Ajido, tore open the void. He dragged the rainbow of light manifested by the Bright God and leaped into an unknown dimension.
"Great Buddha Mother, save me!"
"Amitabha Buddha!"
A ray of Buddha’s Light appeared, instantly grabbing the tail of the bright rainbow. Then, a three-headed, six-armed Buddhist effigy manifested and charged into the spatial rift torn open by the big-headed monster.
As the three streams of light vanished, the entire cosmos instantly returned to tranquility.
Only the surrounding meteorites, still rapidly flying away, indicated that a powerful fluctuation had just erupted here.
Zhao Rui stared, dumbfounded and in utter disbelief.
’The Great Buddha Mother!’
’Buddhism?’
’How is that possible?’
’Isn’t that a native religion from Blue Star?’
’How could it possibly exist out here in the universe?’
’And this Ajido character...’
’Who in the world are these beings?’
Zhao Rui felt that everything had deviated from his original understanding.
The vastness and complexity of the universe far exceeded his comprehension.
"Kid, if you’re not running now, when will you?!"
Just as Zhao Rui was reeling in shock, the voice of the demon-like gladiator rang in his ear again.
Zhao Rui looked back and saw that the dozen or so experts, led by one who seemed to be a Divine-Demon Gladiator, were all streaking into space, fleeing for their lives into the distance.
Seeing this, Zhao Rui didn’t bother with anything else and immediately took off after them.
His body transformed into a long streak of light as he fled with all his might toward the dark, distant cosmos.
Since they were all escaping, it meant that the Great Buddha Mother who had just arrived was in a completely different league from the Bright God.
She was a formidable character who could truly threaten the big-headed monster.
Zhao Rui tailed the group, fleeing frantically.
All eighty of the Hidden Meridian Acupoints in his body opened, flooding him with endless Dark Energy, allowing his body to withstand the impact of extreme speed to the greatest extent possible.
"Not bad, kid. You’re keeping up. Count yourself lucky. If you can’t, you can just stay behind."
The gladiator who resembled an ancient god or demon seemed quite interested in Zhao Rui. Not only was he not annoyed that Zhao Rui was following, but he even tacitly approved of it.
The group sped onward, and soon they were hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the gladiator arena base.
Just when Zhao Rui thought they would continue fleeing, the group in front of him abruptly slowed down, and each person threw out a spherical orb.
"Catch! Pour your power into it, and it will automatically lock on!"
The Divine-Demon Gladiator said in a low voice.
After a moment’s hesitation, Zhao Rui did as he was told, pouring his Energy into the orb and throwing it out.
Soon, the dozen or so orbs formed a massive, arc-like shape.
Then, countless electric sparks surged between the orbs, gradually spreading out to form a vast canopy of arcing electricity.
In the space between the orbs, amidst flashes of electric sparks, a spatial rift abruptly tore open.
"Jump!"
Regardless of their original size, all the gladiators shrank their bodies and leaped in, one after another.
The Divine-Demon Gladiator looked at Zhao Rui and said gravely, "Jump, or don’t. The choice is yours."
Zhao Rui’s eyes narrowed. Without a moment’s hesitation, he jumped right in.
After everyone had disappeared inside, the Divine-Demon Gladiator looked up toward the gladiator base, now hundreds of millions of kilometers away. He snorted coldly, his eyes frigid. "Ajido, I will remember today’s humiliation!"
With that, he made a beckoning gesture with his hand and jumped into the rift.
At the same time, the orbs also vanished into the spatial fissure, one after another.