Forge a path to success.

Chapter 306 Enjoying It (9)

Instantly, the dueling arena fell into a suffocating, deathly silence. Then, wailing and screams filled the air, turning the scene into a living hell!

"Real machines?!" "Mechanical?!" "Help! It's the Empire!" "We're going to die!!" "Let me go!!" "Aaaaaaahh ...

More than 90% of the audience members burst into tears and wailed on the spot! The remaining 10% of the audience members who did not make a sound went into shock due to excessive fear!

Intense fear, coupled with the survival instinct triggered by witnessing the true form of the machine, caused some to vomit. Students called out their parents' names. Many spectators prayed in various ways to the sacred tree, the dragon, the demon… and everything else they could think of. Among the audience were several Ascended to the third level, but even they were nearly driven mad by the sight of the true machine.

This is the indelible mark left on the beings of the Submerged Realm by the strongest heretical path known as Ultimate Body True Machine, in battles that have lasted for millennia. This mark inherits the tyranny of the former Nightmare King and is imprinted with "despair" and "fear" in every living being!
It was obvious that a massive stampede was imminent, and countless lives would be lost due to fear. At that moment, the killer roared!
"--Shut up!"

A roar swept across the arena, infused with spirit and dark magic. All movement ceased instantly; the terrified crowd froze, as if suspended by threads. All eyes were fixed on the assassin, behind whom a fleeting, withered, bony winged shadow flashed. The man's crimson eyes were filled with countless slashes, as cold as real weapons.

"Now you're scared?" the assassin said coldly. "Too late! Where do you think you are!"

"This is the playground of the delusional demons," Ji Huaisu sneered. "To act like naive newbies seeing heretics for the first time is truly laughable. You had already seen the Fallen and the delusional demons before you even saw the Ultimate Mech. Why didn't you run away then? You were cheering back then!"

The audience was jolted awake, as if struck by a thunderbolt from a dream. They heard the assassin say, "It's simply because they can't sense the danger. They think it's just a game, that it's no big deal, so they are neither afraid nor alert, and allow themselves to indulge in obviously abnormal pleasure. They are arbitrarily kneaded by heretical temptations, and even corrupted and ruined."

He looked at the stunned crowd, those fanatics who had been cheering and applauding just seconds before: "Since that's the case, let's see it to the end. Let's see what the real heretics are like!"

Chu Hengkong pointed to the opposite side of the field, his expression turning solemn: "When the Ultimate Mech - Immortal Machine enters the field, it can destroy all the opponent's spell cards and draw the corresponding number of cards. Matter Disintegration Ray, fire!"

A blinding red light shone from the Immortal Machine's single eye. The Demon of Obsession felt a chill and hastily activated a spell: "Activate the effect of Black Moon's Compassion, return the illegitimate child to the deck, negate this attack—"

"Activate the second effect of Immortal Machine." The pincer-shaped forelimbs of Immortal Machine flashed with golden light. "When the opponent activates a card effect, this card's ATK can be reduced by 1000, and that activation will be negated."

"Phantom Annihilation Field, launch!"

The pitch-black moonlight was directly annihilated by the Ghostly Annihilation Field, and the crimson rays swept towards the demon's back row, destroying two spell cards and three face-down cards.

The demons' faces turned ashen. At this point, they had no more spells to counter and could only rely on combat to decide the outcome. The Immortal Machine's attack power was reduced to 2000 points after its effect was activated, but… Chu Hengkong's hand had increased to 5 cards!

"Activate the spell from my hand, Heart of War Drums." Chu Hengkong revealed the bright red heart card. "Summon the Rank 3 Path of Unity Fighter card after doubling its attack power. Destroy any cards summoned with this card at the end of the turn. I will summon the Rank 3 Dragon Village Martial Cultivator - Heart Sword Cultivator."

His fiery heart pounded and burst into blood, and the martial artist, carrying a long sword, stepped out through the blood. His attack power increased from 2500 points to 5000 points, now surpassing all the fighters on the opposing side.

"When a Heart Sword cultivator is successfully summoned, they may choose one spell card to add to their hand." Chu Heng drew a card. "The game is over."

"What are you talking about?" The Demon of Indulgence frowned. "The attack power of your Immortal Machine has decreased; only the Heart Sword Cultivator card can attack. You can only deal a maximum of 2000 points of damage to me..."

"Battle!" Chu Hengkong commanded. "Heart Sword cultivators, attack Moon's Blood! No counterattack!"

The swordsman swiftly and decisively slayed the moon beast with a single Iai Slash, the monstrous form formed from its filthy blood disintegrating... However, the battle was not yet over. The filthy blood, which should have dissipated, instead flowed backward, clinging to the swordsman's left arm.

Meanwhile, the Heart Sword cultivator's attack power increased to 8900 points!
"What?!" Gutaf exclaimed.

"The heretics killed by the martial artists of Dragon Township will become a new force for the martial artists." Fan De was not surprised. "That's enough, you have to make such a fuss over such a small thing."

“Even the small animals in the city-state know this, Bo.” Gulibo shook his head.

"No, to be honest, I didn't know. Wow, that's amazing," Kanin laughed.

"Martial Arts Cultivation isn't this kind of deck, you bastard!" Gutaf shouted. "I didn't design any cards with this effect. The Thought Infusion mechanism in Ultimate Battle is, after all, an Easter egg and a privilege for Ascended players... It shouldn't have created such overpowered cards! Even my Black Moon and Demon cards took more than a month to complete, how dare you print them on the spot?! How dare you!!"

"Didn't you give yourself this opportunity?" Chu Hengkong said indifferently. "You personally set up this stage for a dark duel, and you personally turned the game into a tool to pollute the citizens."

From the moment you entered the fray because of greed, this ceased to be a game, and became a battle. In real combat, there are no rules, only life and death, and those possibilities you deem impossible, fought with your lives. "Battle! Heart Sword cultivators, attack the Shuoyue prince!"

The Heart Sword cultivator severed the head of the obese illegitimate son with a swift sword strike. The latter's flesh and blood reattached to his right arm, causing his attack power to surge to 12900 points. "Third strike, attack the Crescent Moon Stranger!"

The Heart Sword cultivator's longsword was imbued with a blood-red aura. With a single strike, he cleaved through the dueling arena, annihilating the Fallen One with a crimson sword light. The Demon of Addiction was blown off the dueling arena by the sword's force, its health points instantly reduced to zero. Then, the Heart Sword cultivator's attack power increased to 16300!

"The final blow." Chu Hengkong pointed at Gutaf. "Launch a direct attack on Gutaf!"

"Coo, coo, coo-wah—!"

The crimson longsword pierced straight through Gutaf's massive body. His health plummeted to zero due to the severe injury, and his aura weakened to that of a ghost.

At that very moment, Gutaf grasped the longsword that pierced his body with his almost transparent hand!

“Well done, martial arts cultivator. Indeed, in actual combat, we are no match for you…” Gutaf’s smile was chilling because of the blood, “But this is ultimately a ‘game’ we designed. No matter how strong you are, you must abide by my rules within the game!”

“I told you beforehand that when someone’s life points reach 0, someone will turn into a card.” Gutaf slammed his hand on the ground. “But I never said who would turn into a card!”

"Activate the War Spell, Demon's Revenge! This card can only be activated when your Life Points are at zero, turning the duelist who inflicted this damage into a card seal!!" Gutaff laughed triumphantly.

An unprecedentedly massive magic circle unfolded around Gutaf, its outer edge a surging deep purple, while its inner edge shimmered with a faint, twilight-like glow. This was a spell inscribed on the dueling arena before the duel even began—the demons' despicable final act.

If you lose a duel, you'll be turned into a card. But if you're lucky enough to win, this extra spell will seal the victor away!
The magic circle expanded and solidified, forming a blank card as large as a building that crashed down. The activation of the spell was incredibly fast; one moment it was the demon's rampant laughter, and the next second only one duelist remained on the opponent's field, while the sealed card fell into Gutaff's hands!

"You've lost, Chu Hengkong! Plunge into the bottomless abyss of despair!" Gutaf's features were distorted beyond recognition; his eyes were practically diamond-shaped with excitement! "I am the victor! Your power, your relics, your memories—all of them are—"

"What is it?"

Gutaf suddenly froze, and the Demon of Indulgence tensed up as well. There was indeed only one person standing opposite them, but that person was... Chu Hengkong! Between his fingers was a card depicting a silver chain!

“Activate the strategic spell, the Unfortunate Chain.” Chu Hengkong put down the card. “This is a card I added to my hand using the effect of the Heart Sword Cultivator. This card can only be used once in a duel and can transfer ‘misfortune’ to another person.”

The Demon of Delusion glanced at the card in his partner's hand. The card depicted a blond knight wielding a shadow blade.

"You... how could you be so despicable! Transferring your misfortune onto your partner!" the Demon of Indulgence exclaimed.

Gutaf grasped the situation even faster: "So what?! Your partner is in my hands now, I'm actually better off with a hostage!"

Chu Hengkong suddenly burst into laughter, as if he had heard a very funny joke, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. The two demons were momentarily stunned and dared not make a move.

"Sorry, I didn't explain clearly just now." Chu Hengkong shook his head with a smile. "Did you think it was my partner who was shrouded in misfortune? You're wrong."

"The truly unfortunate one is you, who has gotten this close to her!"

In that instant, a grotesque claw formed of shadow erupted from the sealed card. The shadow claw seized Gutaf's head and, like stuffing an elephant into a refrigerator, mercilessly pulled his massive body inch by inch into the card.

—Vaklo Dimensional Deterioration Technique!
Chu Heng fired a spirit missile, and the sealed card was sent flying towards the large screen above the duel arena, where it actually merged with the screen.

Suddenly, the scene on the screen changed, from a live broadcast of the arena to a side-scrolling arena resembling a fighting game. At one end of the arena was a demon holding cards, looking around in confusion. At the other end was a knight wielding a shadow claw and clad in blazing armor.

"Laugh all you want, little thing. The game's over." Ji Huaisu hoisted the Shadow Claw. "From now on... it's time to fight!"

(End of this chapter)