Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 823 The White Demon's Flaw

One week later, at the World Fortress.

The dazzling aurora borealis rippled across the deep starry sky, meandering through the dark and cold depths with seven-colored pulses.

On the massive star ring, hundreds of eerie blue beams of light shot out, accompanied by enormous spatial fluctuations powerful enough to distort light, propelling the silver-white fortress rapidly forward through the desolate space known as outer space.

Beneath the azure barrier right next to the fortress's edge, one could vaguely see two figures, one imbued with blood energy and the other with death energy, clashing fiercely on the weightless interstellar battlefield.

clang--! !

The resounding clang of blades clashing swept across the dark yet dazzling sky, the shockwaves from the collision of crimson and black auras spreading rapidly outwards, enveloped in the thin atmosphere.

"Tsk tsk, what do you think they're after, fighting like sworn enemies the moment they meet?"

On the floating armored platform at the outermost edge of the fortress, Randy, dressed in a beach party outfit of floral shorts and star-shaped sunglasses, was leisurely reclining on a sun lounger. While sipping the fortress's special premium drinks, he watched the battle above, which seemed like a pantomime to them, and casually complained to Xin Lailai and Yamu, who were dressed similarly, beside him.

"Well, maybe this is what they call 'like repels like'? Because I feel that I am too similar to the other person, I feel particularly uncomfortable with each other."

Yamu shrugged and answered casually. Randy, upon hearing this, glanced at the White Demon fighting in the sky, then at the Deathbringers clashing with it, and gently shook his head, saying with some regret:

"Like attracts like, huh? Tsk tsk, what a pity. If White Demon were an ice queen like the Deathbringer in your team, it would be so much more pleasing to the eye when they fight!"

"..."

As soon as the words were spoken, Xin Lailai and Yamu, who were standing to the side, couldn't help but twitch their expressions slightly, unsure of how to retort to each other.

It can only be said that other traditions may need actual combat to prove their unique characteristics, but Randy proved with just his words that the Wandering Hunter is indeed very good at surviving and escaping.

"By the way, who do you think will win this time?"

"Let them take the dead."

"Well~ if nothing unexpected happens, it'll probably still be our team's ice queen, right?"

"Tsk tsk, we're on the same page. Looks like White Demon is going to be sulking in the training ground all day again, haha~!"

"There's no way around it. Although in terms of direct strength, that White Demon is indeed stronger than our Ice Queen, in terms of environmental adaptability, the Annihilation Law Inheritance's combat capability in interstellar space is really too poor."

“Indeed, if the battle were on the ground, with White Demon’s current strength, he should be able to easily overpower the Deathbringers, but if the arena were to change to a space environment…”

On the armored platform, as Randy 'opened the betting,' Yamu and Xinlai both shook their heads slightly, looking at the battle in the sky that was clearly about to be decided, and commented very objectively.

Environmental adaptability.

In fact, during the week they arrived at the fortress, the five of them had quite a few sparring sessions. However, when it came to battles in the space environment, the White Mage, who was originally the strongest in land battles, became so weak that even Randy, the weakest in direct combat, was difficult to deal with. The reason for this difference was the gap in their respective professions and systems in terms of environmental adaptability.

Taking Xin Lailai herself as an example, although they also faced many problems when entering the space environment, such as:
The lack of a suitable gravitational source to unleash the Chaotic Star Technique, the excessive size of the domain in the spirit realm preventing it from moving at a faster speed, the extremely low density of extraordinary energy in space reducing the effectiveness of spells and domains, and the difficulty in finding leverage points in a weightless environment due to the reliance on crystal platforms for movement...

However, thanks to his aerial combat experience accumulated since the first level and the mage's all-around abilities, he and Zero-Surplus only took about two days to adapt to the feeling of fighting in space. Although Deathbringer and Yamu were a little behind, they also adapted by the fifth day.

Incidentally, among the five of them, the one who adapted the fastest was Randy, who was theoretically the weakest in direct combat. It was also his first time trying it, and he only took less than half a day to go from being exposed to combat in space to perfectly adapting.

Of course, from a professional perspective, this is not surprising at all. For the Wanderer's lineage, who has spent most of their life in interstellar travel, fighting in space is as comfortable as working at home, and there is no such thing as 'discomfort' at all.

As for the White Demon, the situation is more delicate.

Normally speaking, a pure skill-based build would already be a significant debuff for combat in a space environment.

The vast combat environment, the uncontrollable body momentum, the spatial illusions that easily confuse up/down and distance, and the attacks that require more energy to deal with...

It can be said that for a pure magic-based contractor like White Demon, who lacks efficient means of flight, is accustomed to land combat, has high-damage slashing moves with increasingly shorter ranges, and lacks the mental capacity to calculate the exact distance between himself and his opponent, the environmental factors mentioned above are already fatal enough.

However, the opponent's profession is the Destroyer system, which has the worst environmental adaptability, can basically only fight in the world environment, and has no ability to develop for the space environment in the entire inheritance.

In this situation, the other party entering the space environment is like a landlubber suddenly wanting to learn to swim—pure torture for themselves.

And that's exactly what happened. In the past few days, it took three whole days just to ensure that he could control the huge inertia generated when flying in the expeditionary combat suit. In order to quickly adapt to the difference in distance and direction, the other party even went so far as to personally seek advice from them, who were mages.

Even so, the opponent can only barely carry out normal activities in space. As for combat... it's okay when the opponent intends to fight, but once the opponent intends to escape, in the unresisted environment of space where it can easily accelerate to tens or even hundreds of times the speed of sound, the opponent's attack range and means of keeping people in place are just like an incompetent husband. You can only watch helplessly as the opponent leaves gracefully.

As for chasing? Even if the theoretical straight-line speed is enough to catch up with the opponent, so what? At a movement speed of nearly 30km/s, even if the opponent just makes a small turn, brakes, or deviates their travel angle by 0.01°, it will easily create a gap of hundreds or even thousands of meters for the opponent who can only move by relying on the expeditionary combat suit and the Dark Steel Shadow crystal platform.

Of course, even with so many inherent flaws, the other party's situation is not entirely hopeless. In other words, in this era where various technologies and alchemy techniques have made great strides, there are too many external resources that can help the other party compensate for these flaws.

Insufficient computing power? Unable to accurately calculate distances and flight paths? Then simply equip it with intelligent auxiliary devices for space travel, letting AI replace that brain that can't even calculate a flight curvature. Insufficient attack range? Can't reach the enemy no matter what? Then diligently build neural-linked mechs capable of operating in space, utilizing various amplification devices to enhance attack range.

At the very least, the slashing range of a fifty-meter-tall mech wielding a forty-meter-long anti-ship sword is far superior to that of a guy less than two meters tall wielding a one-meter-long knife.

Including other shortcomings, theoretically speaking, as long as you're willing to invest, all of these shortcomings can actually be transformed into advantages through other means. The only problem is...

"How long do you think it will take White Demon to piece together the cost of materials for that set?"

"do not know."

"Well, theoretically speaking, if he puts in enough effort this expedition, he might be able to gather enough points after just one expedition? By the way, Captain Black, how many Paradise Points did that setup you calculated for him require?"

"With my connections, rounding down the cost, it should be around 40 billion amusement park points, which would be about 20 billion in amusement park coins."

"puff!"

"There's no other way. This is the cheapest solution we can offer to improve the huge disadvantage of the pure technique-based + magic-destroying system in space combat. The current emergency plan can only guarantee Brother Bai Mo's basic combat ability in space at best. It can't bring out his full range of techniques and class advantages at all."

On the sunshade chair, Xin Lailai, who had taken in the White Demon's situation with the super-high vision boost provided by the Eye of Truth, shrugged slightly and said with a hint of helplessness.

Just as he said, that number was the lowest price he offered out of consideration for his Blood Oath allies. Taking into account the costs of time, manpower, production, material transportation, and other expenses, he could only earn a maximum of less than ten million amusement park points.

Ultimately, what the other side needs is a mech with high enough strength, capable of perfectly synchronizing with the master's abilities, keeping up with the opponent's reflexes, and having excellent conductivity to the Dark Steel Shadow energy of the Shadow of the Abyss, as well as a complete set of imprinting functions that can save a super ground chicken that is crippled in space combat. The production cost is simply impossible to reduce.

Ultimately, the skill-based class is inherently incompatible with the vast, weightless environment of space. If a White Mage is only a top-tier or super-top-tier skill-based character, Xin Lailai would advise them to focus on their skill-based role, be a super soldier, and take charge of various boarding operations and land landings.

However, the other party was just like them, and if they didn't snowball to the end, they could only watch helplessly as others quickly widened the gap between them and the rest of the group. So Xin Lailai just wished that the other party would soon be able to swallow the huge chunk of "On how 'Technique-based + Magic Destroyer' should adapt to space environment combat".

As for how long this suffering will last, we can only say that... theoretically speaking, as long as one can endure it to the highest level, the opponent will not suffer so much in the space environment on a galactic scale.

As for what to do when faced with ultra-long-range combat needs measured in light-years? Well, it's better not to say anything about that.

If I had to put it into words, by that time, magic and technique would each have their own uses in war. The former could deliver continuous and devastating blows to targets from beyond sight, while the latter could deliver devastating blows to enemies at close range once they were close. Well, that's about it.

Of course, in any case, as long as the opponent can endure until the extreme... uh, the peak level, then all the flaws will definitely be resolved. After all, according to the information and the recorded performances of various supreme peaks, when one reaches that level, the distance on a simple spatial scale is probably already a meaningless thing.

"Hmm? It seems they've finished fighting? Brother Yamu, shall we continue?"

"Okay, I've been itching to do it anyway, let's just say it's a bit of a heat..."

[Notification: You have a new message to view. Sender: A3756]

……

Sister Chris Roanna: "@All members, sirs, we have entered the star cluster where Reef 16 is located. We are expected to begin decelerating in 30 seconds. Please return to the fortress as soon as possible to avoid being affected by the space storm generated during the deceleration."

……

On the armored platform, before Yamu could finish speaking, a gentle notification sound suddenly rang in the minds of everyone present, and everyone's eyes lit up upon seeing this.

"It seems like a fight is not going to happen?"

"Well~ if nothing unexpected happens, we'll have a lot to fight next~!"

"Okay, let's go. Don't keep the nun and Lord A3756 waiting too long."

Yamu shrugged and chuckled, while Xin Lailai nodded slightly. She casually adjusted her expeditionary combat uniform, which was disguised as a large floral shirt, back to normal, opened the spatial portal, and stepped inside. Yamu and the Death Keepers in the upper area saw this and didn't hesitate. They activated their teleportation permissions and appeared in the command room as their vision changed.

"Welcome back, everyone. It seems our pleasant journey is coming to an end~?"

As soon as they entered, the major's gentle yet inexplicably chilling voice floated down from the main seat of the command room. At the same time, the 3D star map in the command room seemed to have been waiting there all along, hanging down to the ground and projecting the starry sky adjacent to the 'dark ocean' into their eyes.

[Countdown complete. We are about to begin deceleration and docking. During this time, a continuous spatial storm will occur on the fortress surface. All units inside the fortress, please prepare for docking!]

A moment later, a cold, mechanical voice came from the broadcast, and a slight tremor suddenly came from under everyone's feet, but it quickly dissipated.

As the shaking subsided, the images on the large screens on either side of the command center began to change rapidly. The enormous star ring that had been spewing azure beams of light began to slowly retract, and the seven-colored aurora that had lingered on the surface of the fortress due to spatial distortion gradually dissipated. Finally…

[Boating complete. Currently at designated coordinates: Reef 16!]

……

(End of this chapter)