Chapter 131 The Gate Opens

An hour after the start of the competition, various forces met on a narrow path, and battles erupted one after another in the city.

And at this moment, a new change occurred in the center of the Maze City...

This place was originally an open square covered with pebbles. Now, it has become the most polluted area in the entire city.

The pungent smell of sulfur permeated the air, obsidian shards covered the ground like sand, and small hills piled up with bones could be seen everywhere...

In the middle of the square stood a huge door, more than ten meters high and about four meters wide. One side of the door was shrouded in a strange mist of dark haze, while the other side was closed.

Near the top of the door frame were five magic arrays of different colors, arranged in the five corners of a pentagram. Each of the five arrays was painted with obscure and difficult to understand divine patterns, and at this moment, all five seals had dimmed...

Suddenly, a crisp sound.

The light on the magic seals completely dissipated and shattered...

The door... opened...

On the other side of the Demon Gate was a horrifying scorched earth.

If the scene on the city side was a purgatory on earth, then the place on the other side of the door... was the homeland of purgatory.

At this moment, a blurry black figure was slowly walking towards the gate connecting the two spaces.

And the monsters bred from evil forces in the city, the Time Master's Officials of Time, the jurors of the Court of Truth, including the Derivatives... all sensed the approach of a powerful being at this moment.

Even just its "approach" was enough to chill the lower-level monsters to the bone. Countless heart-rending wails and狂乱 (kuángluàn) roars rang out throughout the city, all telling of a kind of despair.

That monarch symbolizing the end had already descended upon this land...

…………

At the same time, in the real world.

Somewhere in Corpse Blade Studio.

"What? You're only reporting this to me now, after one o'clock?" The speaker was the director of their game department, who was frowning deeply as he reprimanded a staff member.

"What's wrong?" Coincidentally, the manager on duty that night also passed by the corridor, holding a cup of coffee from the vending machine in his hand. "What's going on?"

The director glanced at the staff member, sighed, and held up a paper form in his hand. "Take a look yourself. This is the monitoring data sent back from 'Corpse Blade – For the King' two minutes ago."

The manager took the paper, drinking coffee as he looked at it, and almost spat the coffee out. "What's going on? Did he not take his medicine?"

The staff member looked very wronged. "He said he took it."

"He 'said' he took it?" The director immediately repeated in a questioning tone.

The staff member also got a little angry, glaring at the director and saying, "Then what else do you want? Do we have to go to the rest room and watch him eat? Feed him?"

"You..." The director was choked and speechless. In fact, he knew very well that this matter couldn't be blamed on others. Entering the pod without taking medicine was definitely Corpse Blade - For the King's own problem.

"Alright, alright." The manager was a sensible person. He understood that the director's first thought when encountering any bad situation was to shirk responsibility rather than solve the problem. Many second-rate middle and lower-level managers had this common problem. "If For the King casually threw away his medicine and lied about taking it, then there's nothing anyone can do. We can't see any abnormalities in the readings when he logs into the game, only when he enters the scenario will the monitor show different data." He looked at the staff member. "You discovered it in a timely manner. Good, go back to your post."

Upon hearing this, the staff member turned and left, but received a fierce glare from the director as he left.

The manager then said to the director, "This matter could be a big deal or a small deal... I have to call the boss and ask him how to handle it. You go back to work too."

"Okay..." The director replied and left as well.

The manager looked at the other party's back and snorted coldly in disdain. "Hmph... trash, I'll fire you tomorrow." He then looked down at the form, pondered for a few seconds, and muttered, "This kid... could it be that he was stimulated by something and had a sudden whim... to have a 'fair and square competition' in the finals..." He shook his head. "Does he really think of himself as some so-called '高手' (gāoshǒu) [expert]? Hmph... if you really had the strength of a star player, would you still be mixed up in Corpse Blade..."

…………

Game world, somewhere north of the city.

"We meet again." Uncle Worthless, smoking a cigarette and with his hands in his pockets, looked at Corpse Blade - For the King in front of him and said, "You really retreated quite decisively last time."

"This time I won't run again." As Corpse Blade - For the King spoke, he had already summoned his painted halberd. "Let's决胜负 (jué shèng fù) [fight to the finish]!"

"Oh?" Uncle Worthless raised his hand and lowered his sunglasses slightly, looking directly into the other party's eyes. "Hmm... your eyes are good, like a different person from last time." He then put his sunglasses back on and snorted coldly. "Could it be that you used some kind of 'new drug', so your confidence has increased exponentially?"

"Think what you want." Corpse Blade - For the King replied. "I don't want to explain anything."

"Okay, let's fight then." Uncle Worthless took both hands out of his pockets. "Ordinary players, seed players, it's all the same to me..."

【Tension tension tension, one side is eyeing covetously, the other side is waiting for an opportunity.】

【Past grudges, today's meeting, a deadly battle, unavoidable.】

…………

On the other side, somewhere east of the city.

Here, there was a "blood lake" covering an area of about three hectares. The lake water was constantly boiling, so the temperature in the surrounding area was also very high.

In the lake, thick blood plasma and many unknown liquids were mixed together, like a lake of extremely disgusting cocktails. No one knew how this lake was formed, and no one cared...

Due to the existence of this lake, the visibility in the nearby area was good. As long as a reconnaissance specialist was at grade D or above, they could see the opposite shore of the lake at a glance.

Therefore, such a scene appeared... a total of twelve players, facing each other across the shore.

These twelve people were naturally not standing in a circle around the lake, but were divided into groups of three, each occupying one side.

East three, Zuiwo Changran, Sheng Yu Pian, Wusi Canxuan.

West three, Vishnu, Brahma, Yama.

South three, Wudao Ke, Kuang Zong Jianying, Xiao Wen Cangtian.

North three, Mingzi Zhen Nan Qu, Quming Zhen Shi Nan, Zhen Nan Qu Mingzi.

This was undoubtedly a奇景 (qíjǐng) [spectacle]. The masters belonging to the four guilds of Order, Gods, Jianghu, and Bingdi—the four combinations of "Zuisheng Mengsi", "The Four Heavenly Kings of the Gods", "Dao Jian Xiao", and "Quming Nan", gathered together in a once-in-a-lifetime event. Although Meng Jingchan and Shiva were not present, this lineup was already gorgeous enough.

Here, it is necessary to focus on the Quming Nan trio...

Some people may think that putting these three毒舌 (dúshé) [sharp-tongued] gigolo members together with the previous three combinations would lower the overall level. But that is not the case...

Let's take a look at the game journey of the three of them to understand at a glance:

First of all, these three were in a very small, newly started studio, and Thriller Paradise was the first game they encountered after becoming professional players. Under this premise, they actually became well-known players in less than two months.

Secondly, what made them famous was not their single-player ability, but their strength in 3v3 team battles (Ji Bu had郁闷 (yùmèn) [depressedly] expressed during the蒼靈論劍 (Cāng Líng Lùnjiàn) [Spiritual Sword Debate] that these three always left him to queue for slaughter games)...

Third, they, who were known for their team battles, had also entered the top 50 in the peak争霸战 (zhēngbàzhàn) [championship battle], which tested single-player strength.

If these three points are not enough to prove their strength, then please take a look at their silly nicknames. To be honest... I can't even remember who is who... so I distinguish them by hairstyle and nickname: Mingzi Zhen Nan Qu (nickname, Baldy); Quming Zhen Shi Nan (Lao Qu, Afro) and Zhen Nan Qu Mingzi (Brother Zhen, Mohawk).

The fact that these IDs, which may not be remembered even if you try to memorize them, can become popular in the game is also evidence of their strength...

"The situation is a bit complicated..." Baldy muttered, looking at the lake.

"It seems that there are many people in this final who are using 'prioritizing finding teammates from the same guild' as their strategic action." Brother Zhen replied.

"That's right... we're smart, but other people aren't stupid either." Lao Qu shrugged and replied, "Since it's a point system, first find trustworthy companions and try to get kill points together as much as possible, and then solve internal problems after dealing with other players... that's a very normal strategy."

"Hmm..." Baldy replied, "The current problem is... we've already entered the enemy's line of sight, and there are three different enemies. What should we do... should we attack?" He paused. "If we're going to attack, which side should we attack first?"

"Don't joke around." Lao Qu said, "Attacking first in this situation is almost like suicide. For example... A launches an attack on B, and C and D are watching. After A and B have fought halfway or finished, either C or D can come over and reap the benefits."

"But how do you know that C and D won't fight each other?" Brother Zhen said, "If C or D eliminates the other before A and B are decided, they can turn around and sneak attack A and B in time."

"But if A and B finish fighting first, the winning side can turn around and sneak attack C and D who are still fighting." Baldy added.

"Then how about trying to negotiate, A and B join forces and take down C in one fell swoop..." Lao Qu hypothesized.

Brother Zhen nodded, "But the trust between A and B is unreliable, and it's hard to say what kind of changes will happen during the battle..."

"Hmm..." The three of them all put on troubled expressions, tilting their heads and pondering.

On the other side of the lake, a young man with a bowl cut (Sheng Yu Pian) was making a grimace as he said to his two companions, "The Gods and Jianghu are discussing tactics, and the Ice Emperor's side... I don't understand."

Wusi Canxuan asked, "What? Are they speaking a foreign language?"

"Yeah... ABCd and stuff..." Sheng Yu Pian said, "It feels like... they're lost in some extremely boring and impossible to conclude multiple inferences."