Chapter 147: The Relic of the One Who Fed Me

The Black-Fire Armor was stained with dried blood, its floating gauntlet gripping a blood-iron sword that flickered with dark light.

Clearly, the Black-Fire Armor had been targeted by a five-player party, most of whom were around level eight or nine.

Chen Qi observed the scene before him using the Eye of the White Dove.

Even in Earth's realm, the Black-Fire Armor was only level 10, and its health was now down to a mere 12 points!

It was on the verge of death!

A muscular tank player, built like a hippopotamus, shouted loudly:

"This armor is going berserk! I'll take this final hit. Most of you can't wear heavy armor anyway, so it belongs to me—"

Before the tank player could finish his sentence, the flames raging over the Black-Fire Armor flared up violently. Wielding its battle-worn iron sword, it executed a precise, fatal throat-slitting strike!

Splat!

Blood mixed with black flames spewed from the neck!

Even at death's door, the Black-Fire Armor radiated a terrifying, domineering aura!

Immediately afterward, icy flames spread across the tank player's wounds.

The tank player was struck by a barrage of continuous slashes, completely devoid of any chance to fight back.

The team's raid leader shouted in disbelief:

"How is this possible! I just used a ritual technique to drain its spiritual energy! Its mana should have been completely exhausted!"

The Black-Fire Armor had gone completely berserk, brandishing its iron sword and forcing the tank player back step by step!

The party's ranged spellcaster immediately unleashed a massive water sphere attack, but the moment the strike landed, the Black-Fire Armor's form seemed to turn ethereal.

The condensed sphere of water passed straight through the Black-Fire Armor, leaving it unharmed.

"It used Black-Fire Walk to evade the attack..."

Chen Qi panicked slightly. With only 12 health points remaining, it was a matter of a single strike.

This was troublesome...

The Black-Fire Armor dropped certain phantom materials, though the core materials it yielded were of little use to players without the Grimoire of the Black Abyss.

There was a chance these players might secure the item first.

Although he could eventually buy it from them, the price might not be cheap.

Chen Qi pondered for a moment. Fortunately, the white dove was already close to the Black-Fire Armor. As long as he seized the right moment, his dove should be able to snatch the armor's core stone.

However, he would have to manufacture that precise opening himself!

Chen Qi pulled back his bowstring, feeling the direction of the wind, as a luminous arrow of flame slowly materialized on the bow.

A bit too far away...

He estimated the distance.

Yet the Bow of Lamps was no ordinary weapon; its projectile speed was easily on par with a bullet.

Release!

An arrow shot forth like a firework, tracing a brilliant streak of light across the night sky and illuminating the darkness!

Emitting the whistle of a gale, the arrow of flame pierced through the fog and, in a fraction of a second, struck the Black-Fire Armor just as it was about to swing its sword.

Boom!

A dazzling burst of light erupted from the Black-Fire Armor, igniting flames that burned away ethereal entities, and the Black-Fire Armor collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

[You and other players have jointly defeated the Black-Fire Armor Lv.10, gaining 30 experience points. Current progress: 637/700.]

"That was rather effortless."

Chen Qi nocked another arrow on his longbow.

He had to admit that whether it was shadow beasts or the Black-Fire Armor, these calamitous monsters, which were extraordinarily dangerous in the New Metropolis, had their power drastically reduced when manifested on Earth.

A Black-Fire Armor that would have been at least level 20 in the New Metropolis was reduced to level 10 on Earth.

Chen Qi checked his experience gain. Among players, experience sharing existed, distributed according to each player's damage contribution.

Moreover, the player who delivered the final blow received a larger share of the experience.

However, Chen Qi had always fought alone, so this was his first time experiencing this mechanic.

The tank player watched in astonishment as the Black-Fire Armor crashed to the ground right before him:

"Good grief! Was that a stray shot? It's like pie falling straight from the sky!"

The flames engulfing the Black-Fire Armor gradually died down as it lay motionless on the earth.

The tank player gulped down a healing potion and prepared to loot the corpse.

At that moment, the team's raid leader called out:

"Don't rush to loot."

"What's wrong, Captain? Didn't we agree this gear goes to me? With your strength stats, none of you can wear heavy armor anyway."

The raid leader looked toward the direction from which the arrow had flown and said:

"A high-level expert player just helped bail us out, and all you can think about is looting! You were almost beaten to a critical state just now!"

The tank player scratched his head, realizing it hadn't been a stray shot after all.

"An expert player?"

At that moment, the tank player gazed toward the distant source of the arrow. That location was exceedingly far away.

That was the feat of hitting a target from a hundred paces away!

Without exceptionally sharp vision and supreme archery mastery, it was utterly impossible to loose such a shot!

Chen Qi was slightly taken aback; this group of players didn't immediately rush to snatch his loot.

However, he had already anticipated the outcome. Taking advantage of the brilliant illumination caused by the arrow of flame, the white dove had calculated the precise timing to extract the Black-Fire Quenching Stone from within the Black-Fire Armor's remains.

As for the remaining drops, Chen Qi confirmed with the Eye of the White Dove that they were merely ordinary phantom materials of little use, which the white dove couldn't carry anyway.

Holding the Black-Fire Quenching Stone in its beak, the white dove took to the air and flew back to his outstretched hand.

Realizing that the expert player who had initiated the attack had no intention of looting, the group of players quickly expressed their gratitude and happily collected the remaining materials.

Chen Qi inspected the material.

[Black-Fire Quenching Stone]
[Aspect: Phantom]
[Description: A rare material that can be used to forge specific phantom-attributed equipment.]

Chen Qi stored the stone inside his Traveler's Box.

With this stone in his possession, he would be able to craft a Black Casket, granting him the possibility of entering the Black Abyss!

"Excellent!"

Once the most crucial item was secured, Chen Qi turned his attention to the forum.

Many players on the forum were already wailing in misery.

"Why does this Phantom Train have a 25% damage reduction?! Its blue-flamed aura can even block ritual attacks, and why is everyone suffering from negative energy buildup?!"

"Everyone, monitor your sanity values! Fall back immediately if your sanity drops below 5!"

"A player with 70 health wearing heavy armor just got one-shot! Let me emphasize that again—they were one-shot!"

"Does anyone know any Tier-S players? Please send reinforcements! We can't beat this!"

Although the Phantom Train seemingly possessed only 600 health points, its formidable skills made its true combat strength exceptionally high.

Even when faced with the bombardment of a full fifty players, the Phantom Train had only lost 150 health points, relying entirely on its abilities.

More and more monsters were emerging from the fog, resembling a nocturnal procession of a hundred ghosts.

Chen Qi thought for a moment. Next, he could make use of the Morning Star.

Perhaps among these monsters, there were other rare entities just as valuable as the Black-Fire Armor.

Morning Star, come forth!

The Morning Star leaped from his hand and flew toward the phantom carriage.

Not this one. I know there are good things inside this carriage.

Let's try again.

The Morning Star flew over to the fiery curved blade wielded by a level 14 Flame-Blade player.

"..."

Try again!

The Morning Star wobbled for a moment, then flew behind him.

Behind him...

Chen Qi broke into a cold sweat. Logically speaking, there shouldn't have been any players or monsters behind him.

Those monsters were emerging from the fog, and all the players were gathered on the main battlefield.

Aside from a faction that had yet to show its face—the Sun-Slaying Society mentioned in the intelligence reports.

Chen Qi drew his bow and signaled the white dove to fly in the direction pointed by the Morning Star.

...

In a residential building behind him.

A group of players clad in yellow raincoats, holding a metallic briefcase, were quietly observing the situation near the phantom carriage by utilizing surveillance systems hacked by Net Shadow and summoned avian familiars.

They were none other than the Sun-Slaying Society from the intelligence report!

The long-haired, yellow-robed leader of the Sun-Slaying Society opened his eyes and calmly spoke:

"Everyone, the legacy left behind by the Kin-Eaters is already in our hands.

Tonight is our final path to survival, and also the moment of our ascension."

A member of the Sun-Slaying Society asked curiously:

"Um, leader, if I may ask, what happened to the Kin-Eaters?"

The Kin-Eaters were an organization adept at concealment, wielding a certain power belonging to the Grail aspect.

In terms of strength, the Kin-Eaters organization surpassed their Sun-Slaying Society.

Yet, abruptly, that organization seemed to have evaporated into thin air, leaving not a single trace within the Calamity Disaster Association.

And now, inexplicably, the relics of the Kin-Eaters had fallen into the hands of their Sun-Slaying Society.

The yellow-robed leader lowered his voice and said:

"Aside from the white-robed individual who masters the forbidden grimoire, *The Book of Soul-Eating*, all other members of the Kin-Eaters went completely missing after being defeated by that group of players..."

Missing...

Hearing this, the members of the Sun-Slaying Society broke out in cold sweat.

They understood very well that this wasn't the work of the Sun-Wandering Society or other guilds, but rather the internal purging mechanism of the Calamity Disaster Association.

The members of the Sun-Slaying Society shook their heads one after another. They had originally believed that joining the Calamity Disaster Association would grant them freedom to deal with ordinary people as they pleased.

Yet now, under the oppression of the association's higher-ups, they couldn't even guarantee their own safety, let alone absolute freedom.

Seeing the panicked crowd, the yellow-robed leader of the Sun-Slaying Society coughed twice:

"Do not let word of this matter spread. If we can complete our mission tonight, we might even earn the chance to serve directly under the Seven Lords."

A member of the Sun-Slaying Society looked at the briefcase in his leader's hands, feeling an overwhelming sense of unease just standing near it:

"Leader, what on earth is inside that case?"

The yellow-robed leader glared fiercely at the member, then sighed heavily:

"It is not something we are meant to know."

An officer-rank member raised a question:

"Leader, how are we supposed to seize the drops from this phantom carriage? There are only twenty of us, while so many players have gathered out there."

Because their numbers were small, the Sun-Slaying Society had managed to successfully infiltrate this residential building without being discovered by other guilds.

However, their numbers were simply too few, making the prospect of fighting for the phantom carriage's drops rather difficult.

The yellow-robed leader's leopard-like eyes lit up:

"Our objective tonight is not to seize the drops from the carriage, but rather to approach the phantom carriage and deliver this item directly to it. That will be enough."

The crowd was stunned. Unlike the other guilds, the Sun-Slaying Society had come here not for the phantom carriage's spoils, but to do the exact opposite—hand something over to the phantom carriage!

Though they had doubts, no one dared to ask any further.

Their leader was amiable, but knowing too much would do them no good.

Immediately afterward, under the leader's arrangements, the members of the Sun-Slaying Society began discussing their action plan for the night.

The vice leader of the Sun-Slaying Society put forward a plan:

"Everyone, since we need to approach that carriage, I have a strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain. First, we launch an attack on those squishy mages and archers. Once a portion of their archers are defeated, they will inevitably turn back to defend.

Those tank and warrior players will also be forced to protect their archers!

At that moment, our main force, carrying the case, will charge straight toward the phantom carriage and complete our mission!"

The vice leader spoke with great enthusiasm.

The players currently dealing with the phantom carriage could be divided into three major categories.

The first were the tank players holding back the phantom carriage, the second were the warrior players responsible for handling the lesser mobs, and the third were the archer and mage players providing fire support from high vantage points.

These archers and mages were attacking from the upper floors of the buildings.

Taking out those squishy archers first would not only draw the defenders away, but also make their own charge much safer.

Someone chimed in:

"As expected of the vice leader, your analysis of the battlefield situation is flawless."

Everyone felt the plan was exceptionally reliable.

The vice leader of the Sun-Slaying Society smiled faintly and continued:

"Alright! Based on my observations of the battlefield, there is a player holding a fire bow on top of the gymnasium. Aside from a girl playing a staff, he has virtually no other warrior players around him, leaving him completely isolated.

That person is level 12 and should be a phantom-attributed player, likely equipped with a Stealth Amulet, probably procured from the Kin-Eaters.

Unquestionably, he has considerable strength and undoubtedly holds high renown on the opposing side!

If we dispatch a unit to strike him down, it will surely force the others to fall back in defense!"

The leader of the Sun-Slaying Society took a sip of liquor and suppressed the urge to shake his head:

"We'll do as the vice leader says. Strike the weak point first, then lure the enemy away."

The crowd rejoiced. The vast majority of the Sun-Slaying Society members were close-combat players.

In team fights, the priority was always to slaughter the backline ranged output!

The members of the Sun-Slaying Society drank a cup of fiery liquor each. Tonight, they would first cut down the squishy archers, then complete their superior's mission, ascend in rank, and no longer suffer the ridicule of other organizations.

...

Chen Qi looked up at the sky, where a sparrow fluttered past.

Black flames flickered beneath his feet.

Chen Qi gripped his longbow. Before his white dove even needed to scout, the target indicated by the Morning Star was not moving away from him; instead, it was actively closing in.