Chapter 239: "IF" (Fixed)
[Time Remaining in the Third Trial: 59 minutes 58 seconds.]
For a time, not a single person inside the enormous Beast King Arena made the first move.
Dozens of challengers stood scattered in different directions with their weapons already drawn and summoning formations glowing beneath their feet, yet every pair of eyes remained fixed on Zich, who stood before the black throne at the center of the arena.
Two Trial Marks.
As long as they killed him, they would inherit both.
After that, whoever held the marks only needed to defend the Beast King’s Throne for the remaining time, and they could potentially become the greatest winner of this entire hidden area event.
Such a temptation was already enough to make most of them temporarily forget the conflicts between them.
But there was an equally obvious problem.
Kane suddenly looked toward Adrian.
"If we all attack him together, who gets to kill him in the end?"
The surroundings immediately fell silent as they all turned to Adrian, whose mouth was twitching, clearly pissed at being called out like that.
Kane sneered and pointed out, "If we beat Zich until he’s seriously injured, only for you to land the final blow, then both Trial Marks become yours. Are we supposed to help you defend them for the rest of the trial too?"
Several teams that had already been preparing to approach the throne stopped simultaneously.
Adrian’s expression darkened slightly.
Sitting on the throne, Zich watched everything unfold before him with a faint smirk on his face.
These people had never been allies.
They had only temporarily gathered together because of the two Trial Marks, yet not a single one of them was willing to become a tool that helped someone else obtain them.
Suddenly, he thought about how to make things even more exciting.
"You want the marks?" Zich’s pale golden eyes swept across the entire arena. "Come and take them yourself."
Adrian’s gaze turned cold. "Don’t let him stall for time! Deal with him first! We can fight over the marks afterward!"
In the end, three teams who were loyal to Adrian moved.
Zich raised his right hand simultaneously.
Iron’s heavy body crashed down in front of the throne, while Slimy appeared directly beside Zich, the Silk Barrier gradually spreading around the throne.
The four skeletons did not remain beside Zich either. With the enhancement of the Soul Commander’s Ring, their summoning was completed almost instantly before they scattered toward different parts of the arena.
"Go!"
More than a dozen players charged toward the throne simultaneously.
Zich did not meet them head on. He didn’t plan on wasting too much energy in this fight, as he didn’t know what lay ahead of him. Only when two teams approached from his left and right did he suddenly raise his eyes.
[Spirit Exchange!]
Buzz!
The player swinging a greatsword suddenly lost sight of Zich.
In the next instant, Zich appeared directly between the two teams.
Two attacks that had originally locked onto him descended simultaneously.
Boom!
Zich disappeared again.
But the flames and sword light could no longer be withdrawn, and the two attacks violently collided.
"You attacked me?!"
"He switched positions!"
"Bullshit!"
The already fragile cooperation instantly began to crack.
In the distance, Nadia still had not moved, simply observing quietly.
The Nether Eye White Tiger crouched beside her, its third eye slowly rotating.
"He isn’t fighting all of them." Kane looked toward her, his brows furrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"He’s only making everyone afraid of one thing."
Nadia watched Zich continuously exchange positions across the battlefield.
"That someone else will kill him first."
...
When the battle entered the twenty minute mark, Adrian quickly realized the problem.
"Stop chasing him! Destroy those skeletons first!"
The ranged attacks instantly changed direction.
Boom!
The first skeleton shattered. The second was not so fortunate, as a gorilla type summon threw a huge chunk of rock at it, crushing it.
The number of positions Zich could exchange with continued to decrease. Iron’s bony body was already covered in cracks from repeated attacks, while Slimy, which had continuously maintained the Silk Barrier, was visibly beginning to tire.
[Time Remaining in the Third Trial: 38 minutes 17 seconds.]
"He can’t hold out much longer!" Adrian roared loudly, a bloodthirsty grin on his face.
[Shadow Assault!]
His figure slipped through the defenses of several summons in succession before appearing directly beside the throne.
But this time, his target was not Zich.
It was Slimy. His blade descended violently!
Rip!
The Silk Barrier was forcibly torn apart, and the remaining force behind the blade sent Slimy’s tiny body flying backward. It slammed into the black throne, and a shallow wound appeared across the surface of its translucent body.
"Bo!"
Iron abruptly turned its head.
Even the Blood Leech, which had already disappeared somewhere within the arena, became violently agitated.
However, Zich reacted faster than any of his summons.
Buzz!
Slimy was instantly returned to the Graveyard Space.
Adrian was about to pursue when he suddenly noticed Zich raising his head.
There was no longer even the slightest trace of warmth within those pale golden eyes that had remained calm throughout the battle.
"You should have attacked me instead," Zich uttered coldly.
For some reason, a chill ran through Adrian’s heart.
But in the next instant, he forcibly suppressed the feeling, and that look of arrogance resurfaced in his eyes once again.
"Four of your skeletons are gone. Where else can you run?"
Zich extended his hand, and the Frostgrave Scythe appeared.
"Funny of you to think I’ll need summons to deal with you."
His voice was extremely cold, so cold that it made Adrian’s confidence waver slightly.
"Shadow Blink!" Zich muttered under his breath and instantly vanished from his spot, only to appear behind Adrian.
Adrian’s scalp went numb. He had been distracted, and with Zich’s superior stats, it was extremely difficult to keep up with him.
Unfortunately for Zich, he was facing someone who had been in the First Layer longer than him!
Adrian quickly turned around!
SHLICK!
The dagger pierced straight through Zich’s body.
"Die!"
The ecstasy on Adrian’s face lasted for only an instant because the Zich in front of him suddenly fell apart.
A skeleton.
Another skeleton!
"No..."
A cold gust swept past behind him.
Adrian’s body froze.
Zich was standing directly behind him.
The last thing he heard was...
"Annoying bug."
It was followed by the sharp whoosh of Frostgrave cutting through the air.
SHLICK!
Adrian’s head flew through the air.
Blood splattered across the black stone floor.
"Captain!"
His teammates’ expressions changed drastically as they immediately rushed forward and dragged his body away.
The other two teams that had followed Adrian’s assault stopped at the same time.
"You... you killed him! Do you know what you have done?"
"What did I do?" Zich replied calmly. "If I had been any weaker, I would be the one lying down there."
"The Vilar households... Even though you are the champion, they won’t let you off the hook so easily if they find out about this..."
Zich smiled and said only one word.
"If."
Although Adrian’s family wasn’t as huge or powerful as the Vilhart family, they still had plenty of resources and influence, especially here in the First Layer.
Naturally, Zich had considered all of this even before the beginning. He wasn’t a fan of leaving enemies alive for long. He had tolerated Jayden, even though the latter had somehow become trustworthy, but he couldn’t trust the same thing to happen with Adrian.
At the other end of the arena, both Nadia and Kane exchanged looks when they heard Zich’s words.
The two immediately understood what he meant by that one word.
"If."
"You... you’re planning on killing everyone, aren’t you?"
Zich stepped forward and cracked his neck.
"Well, I have a mother and father back on Earth. The last thing I would want is for anyone to mess with them." He paused, and then a summoning circle far larger than any of the previous ones appeared. "Please understand where I’m coming from."
From the middle of the circle, a huge draconic head slowly began to emerge.