Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 532: Boy and Man

Half a day later.

Boom——! !

[Hint: The Abyss Derivative has been killed...]

A deafening roar sounded from the upward sloping hillside. In the pitch-black maze, a tall mecha holding a giant metal sword stabbed an abyss creature into the ground with one sword, and then used the sword to cut it in two in an instant.

[Tip: You have obtained a treasure chest (gold)]

"The treasure chest drop rate has reached 7.3%."

A cold reminder sounded. In the cockpit, Xin Lailai glanced at the treasure chest drop rate after the last thousand kills displayed on the simple plug-in made in the ψ language at the edge of his vision. His eyes moved slightly, but he didn't say much. Instead, he controlled the Dark Steel Mech to continue rushing towards the end of the maze.

From the time they set out until now, they have climbed up a full 20 levels of the maze. During this period, apart from encountering two lord-level abyss derivatives that were transformed from the stratum master, there were only some ordinary abyss derivatives with attributes around 80 points.

In fact, with the speed of the Dark Steel Mech, if he really concentrated on climbing up the dungeon, it would not be impossible for him to reach the exit of the maze in one breath, let alone 20 floors in half a day.

However, such a high-profile move would inevitably cause certain damage to the maze and attract a mutated version of Zagnate that had been eroded by the power of the abyss. Considering that that thing is a legitimate third-tier overlord unit after all, and is a type that is somewhat similar to the Extreme Blade Abyss Shadow in terms of attack and agility, Xin Lailai naturally does not want to confront it if possible.

Besides, deliberately slowing down the pace is not without its benefits. For example, the number of treasure chests in his treasure chest space increased by more than 900 after half a day.

He had to admit that when he couldn't use magic at will, the Dark Steel Mech's more than ten-meter-long metal sword could kill monsters much faster than him and Ling Yuzi could painstakingly carry Yuan Mo and kill them one by one.

For those relatively small abyss creatures, one sword strike can kill a large number of them instantly. Just aim at a place where there are many monsters and slash twice, you can get dozens of treasure chests.

[Ding~! A large-scale hollow area is detected ahead, which is inferred to be caused by a large-scale collapse of the supporting structure. ]

Suddenly, the childish electronic voice of Xiaobai No. 1 sounded from the cockpit, and then a three-dimensional structure diagram formed by a wide-area scan suddenly popped up in the corner of the screen.

"Brother Black Sword, look over there!"

Not only that, Bell, who was also concentrating on the information on the screen, also exclaimed, and Xin Lailai also noticed the difference in the picture displayed on the screen:

At a glance, you can see that at the end of the maze, the road that originally went up suddenly disappeared, and instead, there was an extremely eye-catching huge hole. Around the hole, there were a lot of rolling rubble. The most worrying thing was the unusually smooth fracture at the edge of the hole, and the charred black marks with wisps of blue-purple electric arcs emitted under the dim light.

That is……

"It's Master Hedin's magic!"

Without waiting for Xin Lailai to ask Xiaobai No. 1 to conduct further scan, Bell, who was extremely familiar with the traces in front of him, immediately shouted out subconsciously, with a hint of intense excitement in his red eyes.

When Xin Lailai heard Bell's words, his mind quickly recalled where the familiar feeling coming from the smooth surface of the edge of the hole came from.

——The unstoppable aura emanating from the cross section was at least 90% similar to the feeling given to him by Ota’s slash.

"Brother Black Sword, we..."

"Don't worry. Since these traces are left here, it means they have experienced a hard battle here. If you rush over rashly, you will probably be attacked."

Xin Lailai glanced at Bell, who was obviously getting anxious, and reminded him calmly, with a cold and rational look in his dark pupils, and said in a deep voice:

"And don't forget what I told you. They don't have any abyss suppression devices. Bell, you'd better prepare for the worst."

"I...I'm sorry, Brother Black Sword, I was too impulsive."

As Xin Lailai finished his words, Bell Crany, who was very excited just a second ago, looked as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on him. He lowered his head in shame, and obviously realized that he had been too emotional just now.

"It's okay, as long as you understand."

Xin Lailai shook his head slightly and said indifferently, then looked at the scene on the screen, his eyes slightly focused, and expanded the spiritual field to the maximum. After finding no trace of the abyss creatures, he instructed in his mind:
"Xiaobai No. 1, continuously scan the area ahead and notify me when life signs are detected."

[Ding~! Command confirmed, scanning procedure started...]

[Scan completed, no life response found in the current area]

A childish electronic voice sounded from the cockpit. When Bell Craney heard this, his heart suddenly spun in his throat and his hands clenched unconsciously.

Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the area in front of him which was still mostly hidden in the darkness. After observing for a while, he deployed the energy shield of the Dark Steel Mecha and controlled the Dark Steel Mecha to fly carefully towards the edge of the hole.

"This is……"

As the Dark Steel Mecha moved forward, some corpses of abyss creatures buried under the rubble quickly attracted the attention of Xin Lailai and Bell.

Looking forward along the road, one can see that under the rubble, corpses of abyss creatures that have obviously been dead for several days are lying there. The exposed parts of the creatures have obvious signs of being eaten, and the patterns of the wounds that caused the fatal blows are also different.

There were obvious severing wounds caused by sword cuts, injuries caused by magic bombardment, extremely precise penetrating wounds, and shattering wounds full of brutality...

The dark red blood that had long dried up was smeared on the ground. The corpses of the abyss derivatives and the severely damaged terrain around them all proved how fierce the battle had been here.

then……

When Xin Lailai controlled the Dark Steel Mech to fly over the empty area and landed on the opposite cliff, Bell in the cockpit was suddenly stunned.

"how come……"

A choked murmur of suppressed emotion came out of the white-haired boy's throat with difficulty, and Xin Lailai looked at the scene in front of him and fell silent, without saying a word.

When standing on the cliff at the end of the cave and looking into the distance, the first thing that caught my eye was the corpses of abyss creatures lying all along the way.

At the end of this road paved with corpses, a broken curved blade was stuck in the rock wall, nailing a lifeless figure there.

The withered golden-green short hair fell down, and the fair skin had long since turned into a corrupt gray-white. Although the figure's body had undergone a certain degree of mutation, Xin Lailai still easily recognized the other party's identity based on the remaining features of his appearance and clothing:
It was none other than the elven girl "Swift Wind" Ryu Lyon, who had provided crucial help to Bell Crany in the original novel of Dicuo, and who had stood firmly by Bell Crany in the Freya family incident and the battle against the black dragon, and had silently supported him.

To Sinlailai, Lu Lyon was just a female character in the derivative world who had a close relationship with the protagonist, but he knew very well that to Bell Crane himself, the weight of the name Lu Lyon was second only to Ais and Hestia, the two beings he admired and respected the most. When he fell into the depths of the dungeon for the first time, it was by relying on Lu Lyon that he was able to get out of the desperate situation and kill Zagnate.

"Brother Black Sword, can you let me go down first..."

A hoarse and choked voice came from Bell's mouth. Xin Lailai did not say anything, but silently opened the cockpit and watched Bell jump from the cabin to the ground. In silence, he walked step by step to the body of the elf girl, knelt on one knee, gently hugged the other's body, bit his lips tightly, and said nothing.

"Fire Volt."

Finally, the white-haired boy lowered his eyes and recited a short chant in a hoarse voice. Then a warm flame bloomed from his hands and engulfed the body of the elven girl who looked like Sleeping Beauty in front of him. Under Xin Lailai's gaze, the body turned into ashes on the ground and was carefully put into a small cloth bag by the white-haired boy.

"Let's go, Brother Black Sword..."

"Ah."

A mature and steady reply sounded from the silent maze. Xin Lailai looked at Bell Crany who had climbed back into the cockpit. He lowered his eyes slightly and did not say any words of comfort. Instead, he silently closed the cockpit and controlled the Dark Steel Mech to move forward.

Boom, boom, boom——!!

The next second, heavy footsteps sounded as the Dark Steel Mech moved forward, breaking the dead silence.

As the mecha moved forward, more and more familiar figures began to appear in their sight.

The sisters Tiona and Tione from Loki's family, Tsubaki from Hephaestus' family who joined temporarily, the warrior girl Wo Ming who had a brief contact with Sinlailai, Helen from Freya's family...

Corpses appeared in their sight one after another, and Bell Crany's reaction became more and more silent. In the end, he even gave people a sense of mechanical numbness and stiffness.

Silence, burning, ashes...

There were more and more small cloth bags hanging around his waist, and finally they turned into various small bottles and boxes from Xin Lailai.

Boom, boom, boom——!!

The footsteps of the Dark Steel Mechas echoed in the maze. The heavy and loud sound was like the ringing of bells, offering condolences and blessings to the adventurers who died in this passage.

And when the dark steel mecha was only a short distance away from the exit——【Ding~! Vital signs detected. According to the activity of life energy and biomagnetic field, there is an 86.7% probability of humanoid intelligent life, and a 13.3% probability of other unknown life!】

A childish electronic sound suddenly rang out from the cockpit, and a light blue dot suddenly appeared on the 3D scanning map in the corner of the screen.

In an instant, Bell, whose expression had fallen into deathly silence, suddenly raised his head, and a bright light suddenly appeared in his dim pupils.

"Brother Black Sword!"

"rest assured."

A steady and powerful voice came out from Xin Lailai's mouth. He looked at the light spot on the screen, without any hesitation, and immediately controlled the Dark Steel Mech to step with all his strength, and the wing blades behind him instantly unfolded.

boom--! !

The next second, a huge sonic boom sounded from the spot, and an extremely dazzling dark blue flame gushed out from the back of the Dark Steel Mech, pushing the Dark Steel Mech forward at an unimaginable speed. The air wave formed by its sprint directly set off a huge storm on the spot, causing the surrounding debris to fly everywhere.

Found it! Here!!
Finally, Xin Lailai suddenly focused his eyes on a rock wall that was illuminated by the infrared beam and isolated from the energy of the abyss, and drew his sword to slash it.

boom!
The dark rock wall that was several meters thick suddenly shattered, and a thick black fog composed of the energy of the abyss surged out from it, surging down like a flood.

[Tip: The "Abyss Suppression Device" has been activated, current consumption rate: 30% of the world's source/hour]

A soft white light bloomed, easily penetrating the cockpit wall and the outer shell of the Dark Steel Mech, covering the area within a radius of 1km. At the same time, the darkness around the Dark Steel Mech also melted quickly like snow, revealing the scene behind the rock wall:

I saw a sword girl with gorgeous long golden hair half-kneeling under a rock wall full of spider-web-like cracks, her whole body covered in blood. The sword in her hand was stuck in the center of the head of a black creature that looked like a combination of an alien and a dragon. Its beautiful skin was now covered with creepy black cracks, and black tree-like objects like tree roots grew directly behind it. The originally lifeless golden eyes gradually regained a bit of spirit under the light of the abyss suppression device.

"Ms. Ais!!"

Almost at the moment he saw the blonde sword girl's reaction, Bell Crany in the cockpit rushed over like a madman, hugged the other's body that was as cold and stiff as porcelain, and tears flowed out uncontrollably.

"That's great, that's great! They're still alive... There are still people alive!!"

The white-haired boy was seen hugging the blonde sword girl tightly, choking and sobbing, as if he had found redemption.

"Bel...?"

A weak murmur sounded, and the golden-haired sword girl, whose eyes had regained some luster, looked at the white-haired boy in front of her with tears streaming down his face. She gradually loosened her grip on the sword, raised her hand and stroked the other's face, revealing a weak smile on her cracked face:

"You...are...ok, I'm...so...good. They...and I...were...very...worried...about you."

"Yeah, I'm fine! I met Brother Black Sword! I'm doing well now! Come on, Miss Ai Si, don't say anything, I'll save you with Brother Black Sword..."

"Kill... me."

An anxious voice came out of Bell's mouth, but the next second, the expression on the white-haired boy's face suddenly froze. He stared blankly at the blonde sword girl in front of him, and the whole person seemed to be stupid.

"I...can't...control...it anymore."

"So...I need you...Bell to take action."

A weak murmur came from the mouth of the golden-haired sword girl. She was staring at the white-haired boy in front of her. The dark cracks on her face began to spread continuously. Her skin as tight as porcelain gave people a sign of being about to break. The black tree-like shape behind her also began to grow little by little.

For a moment, Bell Crany was stunned. He looked at the blonde sword girl in front of him and the struggling and painful look on her face. All the words he wanted to say were choked in his throat.

"If we act now, it might be too late."

At this moment, a somewhat cold voice came from the side, and Xin Lailai walked out of the Dark Steel Mech, holding Yuan Mo, and walked to the two people step by step. He lowered his head and looked down at the two people in front of him, his eyes slightly lowered, and said:

"Bell, step back. That thing has already taken shape in her body. With your current strength, it will be difficult to deal with it."

Possessing the psychic realm, he could sense very clearly what was happening inside the body of the blonde swordsman girl. He was well aware that she was nothing more than a completely corroded shell, and had only been able to hold on until now by sheer willpower, preventing her body from being completely taken over by the abyss creature born inside her.

"Don't worry, although the thing inside her body is tricky, it is still within my ability to handle."

Xin Lailai gently placed his left hand on Bell's shoulder, lowered his eyes, and spoke calmly, then inserted Yuanmo in front of his body with his right hand and raised his hand to press on the top of the head of the blonde sword girl.

Now that the abyss creature was suppressed by Aisi's will, if he used the annihilation transformation, it would only take a moment for him to...

Snapped!
Suddenly, just as Xin Lailai was about to take action, a hand grabbed his wrist.

"..."

Xin Lailai looked at this scene, then looked down at Bell Crany in front of him. After a moment of silence, he said:

"Bell, let me make it clear in advance that there is no way to save her now, so if you really care about her, the best thing is..."

"I...come."

A hoarse and dry voice came from Bell's mouth, which startled Xin Lailai. Bell Crane slowly stood up, raised his head, and stared at Xin Lailai with his slightly swollen red eyes, and said in a hoarse voice:
"Brother Black Sword, I know this is very willful, but... this time, can you please let me end it all, okay?"

"..."

Xin Lailai heard this and looked at the white-haired boy in front of him. He looked at the resolute and sad expression on his face, as if he was suppressing something but forcing himself to hold it in his heart. After a moment of silence, he spoke:

"The abyss creature born from her body is very powerful. With your strength, there is a more than 90% chance that you will die if you face it."

"I know, so...Brother Black Sword, can I ask you for a favor?"

Bell Crane said as he took off the small bags, bottles and boxes wrapped around his waist, held them in front of Sinlailai with both hands, stared at Sinlailai, and said:

"I would like to ask you to keep this, and if I die, can you please end Miss Ai's suffering and dispose of our bodies in the same way as these?"

"..."

After Xin Lailai heard this, he was silent for a while, then looked down at the small bags filled with ashes, took them, and put them into the storage space. Bell Crany looked at this scene with a gentle smile on his face:

"Thank you, Brother Black Sword."

Xin Lailai listened to the thanks in his ear without saying anything. He just pulled out the Yuan Mo stuck in the ground and leaped onto the Dark Steel Mech. Then he sensed the dangerous aura outside that was gathering due to the movement here. After a short silence, he threw down a sentence:

"Before you die, nothing else will come into this place."

Peng——! !

As soon as the words fell, the pitch-black mecha rushed out of the cave with a sharp explosion. Then, rock walls began to rise, slowly engulfing the figure of Bell at the back and completely blocking the gap in the cave.

"Roar…!"

boom--! !

The next second, a terrifying roar came from a distance, and an abyss creature shaped like a tiger or leopard pounced over, and was then smashed into a pulp by a dark steel mecha.

"Sorry, from now on..."

Scarlet light rose from the eyes of the Dark Steel Mech. Xin Lailai looked at the human figure that appeared in the distance, carrying a pitch-black sword and with silk threads floating behind him. He focused his eyes slightly and swung the sword.

Peng——! !

The violent sword wind swept up, rolling up the dust and haze in the sky, obscuring the figure of the dark steel mecha, leaving only the pair of eyes flashing with scarlet light.

"No entry here."

……

(End of this chapter)