Chapter 37: Pushed Too Far | Monsters Are Coming
Even under threat of death, the man before him still only cared about the black crystals on the ground. This left Broken Star utterly confused.
His gaze swept over the other figures still busy collecting the crystals. He snapped the neck of the player before him and once again turned into a blue phantom, resuming the slaughter.
Yet even as he killed, Broken Star couldn't make sense of it.
After exterminating these disruptive beings, he felt no satisfaction. Each of them turned into black mist upon death, and the black crystals that served as proof of his trial vanished along with them.
Taking a deep breath, he forcefully suppressed his emotions and turned expressionlessly toward the approaching swarm of Evil Entities.
Click. Click. Click.
The winding mechanism engaged, emitting crisp clicks. The rune armor lit up once again as Broken Star transformed into a stream of blue light, charging into the tide of Evil Entities.
While Broken Star continued his battle, the regional voice channel was in complete chaos. Players were intensely discussing this warrior named Broken Star and the field of black crystals.
Although nearby players had been killed and forced to log out, more players, driven by greed, were still on their way.
The black crystals scattered across the field were far too tempting. Compared to that, the loss of 10 sacrificial power points upon death seemed trivial.
Half an hour later, more players arrived at the scene.
When Broken Star noticed them, the new arrivals had already begun frantically grabbing crystals.
For the first time, the always-expressionless Broken Star twitched at the corner of his mouth. Without hesitation, he turned and charged at the players.
After slaughtering dozens of newly arrived players, he found that the number of crystals on the ground had significantly decreased. A flush of red crept across his pale skin, and the fury in his eyes threatened to erupt.
As the most outstanding warrior in the Anti-Tide Legion's reserves, this slaughter trial was his final step toward proving himself.
Completing this trial would earn him official entry into the Anti-Tide Legion.
Failure was not an option.
After rotating the energy core left by his father to recharge the rune armor, Broken Star turned back toward the oncoming Evil Entities and launched another assault.
In combat, Broken Star moved like a ghost, weaving effortlessly through the surrounding Evil Entities.
His dual blades danced, slicing through the air with sharp, whistling sounds.
At that moment, a massive Evil Entity appeared ahead. It stood five meters tall, surrounded by swirling black mist, its face twisted and bloated lower body barely supporting its rotting mass.
Without pause, Broken Star passed by it in a flash. An X-shaped light mark appeared on the monster's chest, and its body was quartered into four pieces. The splattering black ichor failed to touch him at all.
In the frenzy of slaughter, Broken Star became a reaper, weaving among the Evil Entities. The twin blades in his hands seemed alive, sometimes transforming into sharp cutting edges, other times into whirling storms of death. Every swing brought down multiple Evil Entities.
At the peak of his killing spree, Broken Star raised his head and howled, his long blue hair swirling in the wind.
But the moment he glimpsed a group of sneaky figures reappearing at the edges of the battlefield, his smile froze.
"You… deserve to die!"
The Anti-Tide Legion's reserve warriors were not issued spatial storage devices. His only way to complete the trial was to slay enough Evil Entities, then activate the 'Coordinate Starstone' installed on his shuttle to summon the Legion's trial inspector for evaluation.
But this group of mysterious creatures he had never seen before had become his greatest obstacle.
Their sneaky behavior, stealing glances at him while grabbing crystals, made Broken Star's fury boil.
Die!
Without hesitation, he turned and lunged toward the players who were gleefully collecting wealth.
As Broken Star charged, the regional chat exploded.
"Quick, guys, keep picking! The God of Wealth is charging at us with his dual cleavers!"
"This God of Wealth is so petty. What's the big deal? We only took a few crystals."
"Bro, you've got no dignity left, crawling around on the ground for crystals. Stand up and let me grab some!"
At that moment, Broken Star arrived.
But what baffled him was that even as he closed in, these mysterious creatures kept focusing on the crystals, as if completely unconcerned about their impending deaths.
Watching the dwindling crystals, Broken Star's slaughtering speed suddenly accelerated.
In just a few breaths, he had wiped out the entire group, reducing them to black mist.
Yet when he looked up, he saw another wave of mysterious creatures charging toward him.
This time, Broken Star didn't bother continuing his battle with the Evil Entities. He turned his attention fully toward the incoming wave of players.
The gears clicked again, and the rune armor burst into radiant light. In an instant, he became a blue streak shooting forward.
In no time, over a hundred players were slaughtered.
"There he is! The God of Wealth is right over there!"
The distant shout made Broken Star look up just as he prepared to resume fighting the Evil Entities. What he saw were huge waves of players charging toward him from every direction.
The sight made Broken Star's scalp tingle.
These mysterious beings were far more troublesome than the Evil Entities. Though physically weak, wherever they went, the black crystals inexplicably disappeared. With their constant interference, he had no way of completing his trial.
"Kill!"
Taking a deep breath to steady his emotions, Broken Star once again charged at the swarming players.
But after wiping out wave after wave of incoming players, Broken Star's mind eventually went numb.
Because no matter how many he killed, more kept coming, far more than even the number of Evil Entities.
The more he killed, the more arrived, an endless stream.
What frustrated him most was that these creatures didn't all rush in at once. They arrived in waves, forcing him to constantly divide his attention between killing Evil Entities and monitoring the movements of the players.
After driving back the eighty-seventh wave of players, Broken Star's mentality completely collapsed.
Gazing at the still-incoming horde in the distance, his eyes were filled with utter despair. Then he leapt into the air, transforming into a beam of light flying toward the direction of the ancient battlefield.
Half an hour later, at the northern edge of the ancient battlefield.
Having rested and recovered his strength, Broken Star took out a Lure Crystal and crushed it.
As the black smoke rose, nearby Evil Entities were drawn toward him by the lure, swarming in once again.
Another round of slaughter began.
While indulging in the massacre, Broken Star suddenly heard a familiar voice. His head snapped around toward the source.
He saw dozens of familiar figures, the leading one pointing excitedly at him.
"Look! The God of Wealth is right there! Follow me, brothers!"
"Hahaha! Finally found him! Zongzi, send the coordinates to the guild chat and call everyone over!"
"Hiss… I can already smell the sweet aroma of those crystals, each one worth 750 credits minimum. The smell of money is everywhere!"
Seeing this scene, despair once again filled Broken Star's eyes.
The Anti-Tide Legion's trials involved random spatial deployment into scenes ranging from Crescent Moon to Waxing Moon phases.
He had once firmly believed that even if thrown into a Waxing Moon scenario, his status as the strongest reserve warrior would allow him to overcome any challenge and complete the trial, earning him the title of the Legion's newest elite.
But the appearance of these mysterious creatures had completely derailed his slaughter trial.
Choosing to retreat had already been a humiliation to him, but for the sake of completing the trial, he had endured it. What he hadn't expected was that these creatures had pushed him even further, chasing him down once more.
His fist slowly clenched tight, and a crimson light flickered in his pure white eyes.
"You've truly pushed me too far!"