Abyss

Chen Xiaolian and the others couldn’t make sense of the concept of “resurrection” no matter how hard they thought about it, but there was no doubt that this matter had piqued their interest!

If, within this brutal game, it was possible to bring back dead teammates… that would be an absolutely momentous event!

Who wouldn’t want a second chance, a second life?!

“You won’t escape, he’ll find each of you and kill you one by one,” Thirteen sneered, blood dribbling from his mouth. Despite his injuries, he showed no fear and continued coldly, “And even if you kill me now, he will resurrect me! Hahaha!”

Chen Xiaolian released Thirteen, then turned to look at his other teammates.

He intentionally sighed as if relieved, then gazed at Thirteen, wearing a smile of mock surprise. “Is that all you have to say?”

Thirteen was perplexed by Chen Xiaolian’s feigned air of profundity. He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Chen Xiaolian. “Aren’t you surprised?”

“Surprised about what?”

“…” Thirteen snorted and fell silent.

“Do you think I’ll believe your nonsense?” Chen Xiaolian chuckled deliberately and raised his hand to deliver a blow, rendering Thirteen unconscious.

After a disdainful snort, Thirteen slumped to the ground.

“Now it’s certain that this guy has another accomplice,” Chen Xiaolian told everyone. “This person’s strength is definitely not weak, so we need to be extra cautious.”

After Chen Xiaolian finished speaking, Roddy chuckled and said, “It’s just one person, after all.”

Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “We can’t be too careless. Let’s announce the battle plan now…”

On the ground, Thirteen seemed to flutter his eyelids and twitch his ears…

…

“Does this mean that if we go along the cave, there will be an underground cavern?”

“Yes, if you follow the cave inward, you will come across a huge cavern. That’s where the magic array is located. The magic array has been activated, and their target person is there, a guy named Will. He’s the awakened incarnation of the Demon King. Killing him will destroy the magic array. These guys are all quite powerful, and their abilities are…”

In the team channel, the short man waited patiently for Thirteen to finish speaking and nodded in satisfaction. “Well done, you did a great job. If you die, after this Instance ends, I will resurrect you.”

“What about One-Eye and the others?”

“Let those trash die if they want to die. Your performance has impressed me greatly… How about this, after we rebuild the team, would you like to be the next team leader?”

“…It would be my honor!”

…

The entrances to the Light Camp and the Dark Camp were evidently different.

This was on the mountainside, but it was separated by a hundred meters, with a steep cliff in between.

Tian Lie had already spotted Meine and the other knights, his expression somewhat peculiar, while Meine stood at the edge of the cliff and also saw Tian Lie’s group.

Meine simply stood there, her cold gaze piercing through her face mask, through the wind and rain, to the opposite side.

Then, slowly, this knight made a throat-slitting gesture.

Tian Lie turned to Nicole and said, “He’s showing off to you.”

Nicole ignored Tian Lie’s nonsense and instead gave him a strange look.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m wondering what your relationship is with the Thornflower Group,” Nicole lowered her voice and pointed at Natasha, who was walking ahead, whispering, “I remember when you were talking to her before, you said Odin died at the hands of the Thornflower Group. But later, you told me you were the one who took him out. And now, just a moment ago, you suddenly deduced that the Thornflower Group hasn’t entered the third stage… I can’t help but feel like you know a lot about the Thornflower Group.

You… you wouldn’t really be a traitor who escaped from the Thornflower Group, would you?”

“The Thornflower Group never spares any defectors. In all these years, have you ever heard of anyone surviving?” Tian Lie squinted his eyes.

“There’s a first time for everything,” Nicole looked at Tian Lie with a complex expression.

“And what about you?” Tian Lie also narrowed his eyes. “You seem very curious about the Thornflower Group.”

Nicole remained silent, but Tian Lie intentionally leaned closer and whispered, “Furthermore, you’re definitely not a rookie, but rather a seasoned veteran… The thing is, I can’t help but notice that you don’t seem very familiar with the circle of Awakened individuals. For example, Odin and Natasha, they are both well-known figures in the Awakened community, but when I mentioned them, you acted like you had never heard of them. What does that suggest?”

“…,”

Staring into Nicole’s eyes, Tian Lie intentionally lowered his voice again. “I’ve thought about it. You have extensive combat experience, but you don’t seem very familiar with this world. The only explanation I can think of is that you’re from ‘the City,’ right? Did you come out of the City?”

Nicole’s gaze momentarily tightened, and they locked eyes for a moment before both of them averted their gazes.

“Well, you have your secrets, and I have mine. Let’s not pry into each other’s business.”

“Deal!”

…

System Prompt: Magic Array activation runtime, remaining: 24 minutes and 38 seconds.

Walking into the cave, Natasha glanced at the countdown timer in the system and then carefully checked her surroundings.

The four-person team was at the forefront, while the lone traveler walked beside her. It seemed like the other person had wanted to strike up a conversation a few times but hesitated.

Hmm, what really puzzled Natasha were the man and woman behind them. These two walked at the rear and seemed to be whispering to each other throughout the journey.

It was quite strange… If they were a team, why were they speaking aloud? They could simply communicate through their team channel.

Just then, the four-person team ahead suddenly let out exclamations.

Natasha’s attention was immediately drawn, and she looked ahead.

Inside the cave, the path seemed to lead into the depths of the mountain.

In the depths of the mountain, there appeared a massive abyss!

The path clung to the edge of the abyss, becoming a narrow one-lane road along the mountainside. It was so narrow that only one person could barely pass through. If two people walked side by side, it would be impossible to pass!

What had caused the four-person team to exclaim in surprise was on the other side of the abyss!

Looking down into the abyss, it seemed bottomless. However, on the opposite side of the abyss, about a hundred meters away, along the opposite mountainside, there was also a narrow and steep path!

Just moments ago, when the Dark Camp members reached the edge of the abyss after exiting the cave, several individuals also appeared on the path on the opposite side!

And those individuals were dressed as medieval knights in armor!

Separated by a hundred meters of abyss, they stared at each other from a distance, and both sides immediately erupted into commotion!

The knights on the opposite side immediately drew their bows, while members of the four-person team ahead took out their guns, pointing them towards the other side.

Both sides attempted to intimidate each other with shouts, and it wasn’t clear who made the first move, but soon enough, the whizzing sound of arrows filled the air, and several arrows were shot towards each other!

The four-person team quickly retreated and ended up in a hasty retreat back into the cave. However, the tough guy with the knife raised his gun and opened fire towards the other side.

Rat-a-tat-tat…

Bullets hit the opposite mountain wall, sending debris flying!

In response, Meine and her group on the other side quickly retreated into their cave as well.

Both sides were now at a standstill.

The narrow and steep paths on both sides of the abyss offered no room for maneuver, and there was nowhere to take cover.

At this point, the distance between the two sides was neither too far nor too close, making it possible for ranged weapons to cover the gap. If this continued, neither side could easily advance.

Tian Lie and Nicole also reached the entrance of the cave and quickly assessed the situation on the other side.

“Who made the first move?” Tian Lie frowned and asked.

The tough guy with the knife glanced at Tian Lie but didn’t say anything. One of his men, who was holding a crossbow, scoffed, “They shot the arrows first.”

Tian Lie paid no attention to the man’s comment and frowned as he examined the situation ahead.

The section of the path along the abyss, within the mountain walls, seemed to be about several hundred meters long. After several hundred meters, the abyss disappeared, and they would each enter their respective caves.

In other words, for this several hundred meters, both sides would be within each other’s range.

“What should we do?” the lone traveler asked involuntarily.

The tough guy with the knife grinned and said, “What’s the rush? The magic array has already been activated. Our task is to wait out the full 30 minutes. No one should cross, and that will be to our advantage. We just need to bide our time.”

With that, he looked smugly at Tian Lie.

Tian Lie rolled his eyes directly. “Idiot.”

“What did you say?!”

Tian Lie sighed, “Are you guys rookies or something? Don’t you recognize those guys on the other side? They’re the infamous Knights of the Mad City of Jerusalem. Can something like this stump them? You might not have the ability to charge across, but they certainly do. Once they reach the entrance of the cave ahead, they just need to leave one person here to obstruct us with ranged weapons, and none of us will be able to get through.”

As Tian Lie was speaking, someone from the four-person team shouted, “Ah! What’s that!”

They suddenly saw a rider emerging from the opposite cave entrance! A snow-white unicorn galloped with all its might, but it wasn’t on the narrow path along the cliffside; instead…

It went straight up the mountain wall!

On the near-vertical surface of the mountain, the unicorn ran as though it were on level ground, almost parallel to the ground, and swiftly made its way out!

The four-person group on this side hesitated for a moment before they reacted. Someone pulled the trigger and began shooting, but the unicorn was incredibly fast, and the bullets couldn’t hit it.

“We have to charge across, or they’ll reach the cave entrance first, and we’ll be trapped here,” Natasha suddenly shouted loudly. “I’m going!”

With that, the girl took a deep breath, and her entire body was covered in a thick layer of ice crystals. She seemed to be encased in ice, and then she dashed out of the cave entrance!