Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 830 Blackthorn [5.3k words]

Zhila~!

A piercing burning sound echoed from the earth, and a dark, deep liquid flowed out from the huge slash wound wrapped with lightning arcs. Crimson blood flames surged upwards like an inverted waterfall, igniting the entire battlefield sky into a dark red.

"roar…!!"

Amidst the ruins piled high with the corpses of abyssal creatures, a roar filled with rage and resentment suddenly erupted, only to be abruptly cut short by the sound of flesh being torn apart.

[Note: Abyss Derivative - ??? (Aberrant - To be named) has been defeated. The current temporary team's expedition contribution has increased by 0.01 points.]

[Hint: You have obtained a legendary treasure chest.]

On the mountain of corpses, Xin Lailai kicked down the abyssal creature's body, which had been cleaved in two, then casually swept her sword to remove the remaining dark green blood before putting away the dark gold treasure chest in front of her. She then turned to look in other directions of the battlefield.

Wow~! !
A pungent, fishy wind swept across the battlefield, carrying with it the black blood rain that was rapidly evaporating from the abyss suppression devices. Looking around, the battlefield, which should have been a city ruin, had almost completely disappeared. In its place, the corpses of abyssal creatures filled almost every gap in sight.

"Tsk~ I'm exhausted. There are just too many abyssal creatures in this godforsaken place. It's no place for humans to stay!"

A slightly casual, flippant voice came from the side. Looking to the side, Randy, who showed no signs of battle, stretched and walked out of the spatial portal. He glanced at the surrounding scenery and complained. Beside him were the Deathbringer, White Demon, and Yamu, who had hitched a ride back.

"Well, I'm fine. Besides, I'll just take this opportunity to farm some treasure chests. After all, once the third phase starts, we won't have the chance to waste the notarization effect on these things."

"Uh, that seems to be true..."

Hearing Randy's complaints, Yamu shrugged slightly and casually offered his opinion. Randy, upon hearing this, stroked his chin and muttered something. Then, his eyes flickered, a playful expression appearing on his lips. He leaned closer to the White Demon with a cheeky grin and chuckled:

"Speaking of which, Lao Bai, how many treasure chests did you open this time? You didn't even reach your three-digit limit, did you?"

"roll."

"Haha, did I guess right? Otherwise, Lao Bai, you should give us a number. We've killed at least three or five hundred thousand abyssal creatures in these two hours. You really didn't even get a thousand treasure chests?"

On the mountain of corpses, Randy chuckled at White Demon's noticeably stiff reaction. White Demon silently placed his hand on his scabbard, preparing to physically silence the man's incessantly chattering mouth, just as Xin Lailai suddenly spoke up:

"Let's take a break. If nothing unexpected happens, a new batch of abyssal creatures should be arriving soon."

"Wow, that fast? We just finished cleaning up that batch, didn't we?"

"There's nothing we can do. The Abyss Suppression Device is making such a racket. If nothing unexpected happens, all the abyssal creatures on this planet are probably rushing towards us like madmen right now."

"Tsk, this is really troublesome. By the way, how much longer will it take for the legion to be ready? They said they would act when the time was right, but we've been down here for two hours and they still haven't come down?"

"Just trust their judgment; when it comes to war, they are far more professional than we are."

"I'll go defend the north side."

Xin Lailai spoke calmly, refreshing the buffs on the Deathbringers and others while manipulating the free magic power on the battlefield to converge in her direction. The Deathbringer calmly uttered a sentence, then leaped down from the mountain of corpses, stepping on the bone dragon that rushed out from the pile of corpses below, and flew north amidst the flapping of the bone dragon's wings.

"Then I'll continue south!"

"Ah."

"Tsk, forget it, Lao Bai, let's go our separate ways. Speaking of which, how about we switch directions? My side is by the sea, the scenery is great, and there's plenty of seafood. It's perfect for someone like you who needs to win by sheer quantity!"

"Not interested in."

After a brief exchange, the group that had briefly gathered dispersed once again to the four corners of the battlefield, following the actions of the Death Bearers. Xin Lailai nodded slightly, resumed her spellcasting, and sat down cross-legged on the mountain of corpses, closing her eyes to recover her energy while conjuring one Devouring Bullet after another behind her.

In an instant, the entire battlefield seemed to fall silent. The crimson flames burning in the sky gradually died down, and the ominous black rain that drifted across the battlefield gradually subsided. Only the sound of the waves coming from the west of the battlefield continued to beat rhythmically, like a series of breaths.

One minute... three minutes... five minutes...!
Time ticked by, and a silent stillness spread across the battlefield, and just as this stillness was about to cross the battlefield and spread to a more distant place—

[WARNING: Large-scale abyssal creature activity detected. Calculating the current approximate scale...!]

coming! ! !

A piercing warning from the wide-area detection module exploded in the minds of Xin Lailai and everyone present, causing all five, including Xin Lailai, to open their eyes and look in the direction of the warning. The next second:
"Moo-!!"

The long, deep roar, which could easily be mistaken for the sound of wind or waves if one didn't listen carefully, slowly spread from afar like a swaying chime. As Xin Lailai and the others looked at the scene in the distance, their expressions changed slightly in unison.

Wow~!

The roaring waves crashed down, and on the sea, stained black by abyssal energy, a colossal shadow, as vast as the arrival of night, pressed down from the distant, slowly flowing, inky sky. Carrying an immense sense of oppression and resembling a black cloud formed from countless abyssal creatures, it slowly revealed its full form from beneath the heavens—

That was a whale.

No, to be precise, it's just a creature that resembles a whale.

The hardened bones, formed over countless years, transformed into rugged armor on the surface. The enormous wings, woven from tentacles, slowly fluttered from the sky, like an insurmountable chasm. From thousands of kilometers away, it opened its row of dark green compound eyes, hundreds of times wider than a hundred-meter-tall building, towards those within the coastline, covering the entire sea surface with a gloomy green shadow.

Abyssal Beast - Whale.

"Damn, our commander is such a master at picking locations! He just randomly picked a world that happens to be a hideout for behemoth-level abyssal creatures?!"

"Stop talking nonsense, get ready to fight."

"Fab, summon the Netherworld Legion." "Yes...yes! Lord Deathbearer!"

"Tsk, with that size, if we all ganged up on it, we'd probably only be able to give it a scraping treatment, right? And then there's that whole bunch of minions we'd have to deal with."

Humlong——! !

On the sea, with the slug's slapping, the originally calm sea surface was as if it had been stirred up, directly creating a tsunami that was hundreds of meters high. The entire battlefield trembled slightly under the low roar of the whale, as if the ground beneath their feet was terrified of the colossal creature in the distance, which was more than 300 kilometers wide and looked like a moving continent from afar.

A colossal beast from the abyss.

These are creatures completely detached from the evolution of the world, enormous predators that could never be born in the normal world, overlords that only roam the abyssal ocean. Compared to them, the batches of abyssal creatures they just dealt with would probably only be enough as food for them if put together.

Although everyone present had anticipated encountering such enemies, the fact that they had run into a behemoth-level abyssal creature in their very first battle after entering the abyss was clearly beyond everyone's expectations.

After all, from an environmental perspective, these kinds of abyssal behemoths almost always live in the depths of the shallow abyss or even the deeper middle or deep abyss. It is rare for them to be lurking in a small world so close to the astral plane as we are seeing now.

"Damn it, now I believe your damn luck with strong enemies, Old Black, is real. This first battle and we've run into a giant abyss beast. I don't even want to think about what we'll encounter next." "Tsk tsk, I told you long ago that following Captain Black would guarantee you no shortage of exciting scenes. Now you believe me, right?"

Zheng——! !

At the coastline, White Demon, arriving from other directions, cleaved the cascading waves in two with a single slash. Meanwhile, Randy and Yamu, positioned behind them, exchanged sarcastic remarks. They glanced at Xin Lailai, who stood silently at the very back, then nodded to each other, revealing expressions of shared understanding.

"..."

"Looks like Lai Lai, you're really unlucky with your strong opponents."

In the ocean of consciousness, Ling Yuzi quipped and complained. Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai's expression stiffened. However, looking at the enormous abyssal beast in the distance, which exuded an oppressive aura and was definitely a cataclysmic disaster on this planet, she didn't know how to refute it for a moment.

"Given the habits of abyssal behemoths, it's not right that it's here."

After a moment of silence, Xin Lailai looked at the army of slugs and abyssal creatures that would reach them in a few minutes at most. Her face did not show any panic. Instead, she spoke in her mind with an air of seriousness.

They had already reviewed a lot of the notes 83203 had given them, and with the information and intelligence he had obtained from the academic sect's database, normally speaking, abyssal creatures of the level of slug whales should not appear on a planet like Reef No. 1, which is less than 1 light-year away from the astral plane.

Although it could be explained by sheer bad luck, Xin Lailai didn't think that their encounter with this abyssal behemoth was simply a matter of bad luck.

"Hmm... that's true. Although you could explain it by saying that Lai Lai is unlucky, this planet was chosen by that major, which means that no matter whether we are here or not, we will definitely run into it here."

"After we deal with it, we should investigate the environment of this planet carefully. I have a feeling that the reason it appeared here may have an extremely important impact on our expedition."

Xin Lailai gazed at the slug whale in the distance, communicating in her mind, a deep glint flashing in her dark pupils.

Judging from the violent emotions emanating from its soul fluctuations, the slug whale in front of it is not a special individual that has mutated into 'phototaxis', but rather, like a normal abyssal creature, it extremely abhors things like elemental barriers and elemental light.

Since that's the case, the fact that the other party is here means that some kind of 'abnormal situation' has occurred, and what exactly it is can only be investigated after the slug whale is dealt with.

Guesses based on intuition might be misleading, but data and results calculated using mathematics and formulas will never be. By measuring the residual energy in the flesh and soul of this slug whale and comparing it with the planetary environment of Reef No. 1, they can naturally determine the real reason why it appeared here.

As for how to kill such a massive abyssal behemoth here?
The answer is that from the moment the abyssal behemoth was exposed to their sight, it was already a moving 'corpse,' because—

[WARNING: Attention all personnel in this world! The 6th to 8th Divisions of the Blackthorn Legion, belonging to the Guardian Paradise/Hell Legion, have arrived in this world. According to the Expedition Management Regulations, all unauthorized personnel are requested to immediately leave the combat zone!]

[WARNING: All unauthorized personnel are requested to immediately evacuate the combat zone! Failure to comply will result in full liability for all consequences!]

On the battlefield, a series of piercing warning sounds suddenly rang out in the minds of Xin Lailai and everyone present. Xin Lailai looked at the warnings that popped up in front of her, her eyes flickered slightly, and she looked at the battlefield in front of her as if she had expected it.

Given the sheer size of the abyssal behemoth, if there were only five of them here, hunting the slug whale before them would undoubtedly be a difficult and massive battle without using the 'Deathbearer Launcher'. However, since this is an expeditionary world, even a so-called abyssal behemoth, if it dares to expose itself, is nothing more than a 'fish on a chopping board'. After all—

This time, the opponent is not facing three or five extra-tier contractors, or an overwhelming siege of abyssal creatures, but... an entire complete Guardian Paradise Legion!
On the battlefield, as the warning sound faded, a tremendous roar, as if it were about to pierce the entire world, suddenly exploded. The dark, liquid layer that had been obscuring the sky seemed to be subjected to some incredibly terrifying compression, collapsing violently with a force thousands of times greater than when they landed. Finally, it shattered with a thud, allowing whatever had crashed onto it to break free and fall heavily onto the desolate wilderness not far from the battlefield, creating a deafening roar that made the entire earth tremble.

Boom! ! !
An impact a thousand times more terrifying than a meteorite strike spread outwards from the battlefield. Dark yellow shockwaves swept across the battlefield, colliding with the roaring tsunami on the sea surface, forcefully scattering the waves amidst the churning of the rocky surf. Just as this impact was about to reach its limit, a new roar suddenly resounded from the center of the hundreds-of-meters-high rocky wave:
That was the sound of heavy footsteps.

Boom——! !

As if millions of soldiers had taken a single step forward in unison, the moment that heavy stomp reached Xin Lailai's ears, the trembling earth and rolling waves suddenly fell silent, as if suppressed by some invisible force.

Thump—! Thump—! Thump—!

Second tone, third tone, fourth tone...!

A heavy, drum-like stomping sound boomed from the sky, shattering the mist, repelling the storm, and causing everything in its path to give way under the terrifying pressure, revealing the true form of the 'monster' hidden in the dust and haze:

That was an army.

An army consisting of three square formations, with exactly three thousand men.

In terms of size, even if they were all combined, they would be far from comparable to the enormous behemoth located at the edge of the sea. However, the moment it revealed its true form from the dust and haze, the abyssal behemoth and the abyssal creatures that had been crushing down with terrifying power seemed to sense something and involuntarily stopped on the surface of the sea.

What kind of army was it?
There were no magnificent armors, no exquisite weapons, and no rousing horns.

Some were merely menacing black armor stained dark red with blood, a conspicuous banner fluttering in the wind, and pairs of eyes that seemed to have crawled out of hell, gleaming with the coldness of demons.

Yes, evil spirits.

This is not a description, but from the moment the pitch-black legion appeared before them, everyone present could clearly feel that at this moment, the other side... was the biggest predator on this battlefield, a ferocious demon capable of devouring everyone's flesh and blood!
For a moment, the entire battlefield, including the usually talkative Randy, became unusually quiet. He stood with Yamu and the others, looking at the legion standing in mid-air at the edge of the earth, subconsciously holding his breath and forgetting to speak, until... the pitch-black army standing in mid-air suddenly took a step forward under everyone's gaze!
"Belonging to the Blackthorn Legion—"

A deafening stomp, as if it were about to shatter the entire earth, erupted. An overwhelming aura of malevolence, so intense it defied description, surged into the sky, transforming into skeletal warhorses wreathed in black flames and jet-black spears radiating a fierce killing intent, causing the entire battlefield to tremble.

"go ahead!"

boom! ! !
Fragmented.

There is no suspense.

Almost the instant that cold, calm command, which revealed nothing about the situation, fell, the space centered on the black-armored army shattered as if it could not bear the weight.

"Moo-!!!"

Spiderweb-like spatial rifts, powerful enough to sever the entire battlefield, spread across the battlefield. As if sensing death approaching, the enormous beast let out a low, angry roar, and the huge horn on its forehead began to flash with incredibly conspicuous arcs of black lightning.

The next instant, a massive bolt of lightning, formed from a vast amount of abyssal energy, descended, leaving a streak across the sky that seemed capable of splitting the entire world in two. It struck the pitch-black legion, whose form had been swallowed by the spatial rift, with a force capable of destroying everything. And then…

—It was shattered in an instant by that black light that pierced the entire sky.

Countless spatial rifts burst open, like thorns wrapped around a spear. The enormous black spear, moving so fast that no one could react in time, ripped through the sky, creating waves thousands of meters high from the sea. It instantly slammed into the massive, seemingly insurmountable body of the slug whale, causing its entire body to cave in amidst the splattering dark green blood. Finally…

Peng! ! !
Amidst tens of thousands of bursts of exploding blood flowers, it was instantly torn apart by the billions of pitch-black thorns that bloomed from its body, freezing it completely in place.

[Note: The Abyssal Behemoth - Whale has been defeated. As this kill was achieved with the participation of the Legion, it will not be counted towards Expedition Contribution.]

One strike, and the beast falls.

This is... the might of the Legion!!!
……

(End of this chapter)