harleyscars Chapter 73: Death Match
Chapter 73: Death Match
As Hong stepped through the massive metal gate, the light and shadows before his eyes shifted rapidly.
The next second, he found himself standing in a huge, semi-circular alloy chamber. On the cold walls, streaks of eerie blue energy light lit up one after another, illuminating the entire space as if it were daytime.
Suddenly, a piercing sound of mechanical gears meshing came from the ground directly in front of us.
Two heavy metal plates slowly slid apart to the sides, and a silver-gray metal puppet slowly rose from the opened underground passage.
The puppet has a rather rugged appearance, and its entire body is cast from an unknown alloy. The crystals in its eyes emit a chilling red light, and it holds a heavy, broad-bladed greatsword upside down in its hand.
The energy fluctuations emitted by this puppet were extremely weak, barely reaching the threshold of the first level of the planetary stage.
Hong didn't even bother to use the black spear in his hand.
He calmly took a step forward, and the pressure of a star-level expert instantly locked onto the puppet in front of him.
The combat commands within the puppet seemed to have been forcibly activated; it had just raised its greatsword, ready to unleash a powerful slash.
Hong's figure had already left a faint afterimage in the same spot.
Without any fancy moves, Hong's right fist slammed heavily onto the puppet's chest armor with a whistling sound as it tore through the air.
"Bang!"
The powerful force pierced through the puppet's outer metal defenses. That concentrated destructive power shattered the core array that kept the puppet functioning internally.
The red light in the puppet's eyes went out instantly, and it collapsed heavily onto the cold alloy floor like a pile of scrap metal that had lost its support.
But this is just the beginning.
Deep within the secret chamber, an entire metal wall flipped inward, and two more streamlined metal puppets slid out.
The energy fluctuations of the two puppets noticeably increased, reaching the level of the second tier of the planetary stage. They formed a perfectly coordinated pincer attack from the left and right, their greatswords tearing through the air with a piercing whistling sound.
Hong remained standing in the same spot.
Just as the sharp blade was about to touch his body, he slightly turned his body, narrowly avoiding two fatal attacks.
At the same time, his hands transformed into sharp palm blades, precisely striking the wrist joints of the two puppets that were holding swords.
"Snap!"
A crisp metallic snapping sound rang out, and two giant swords flew out of their hands.
Hong turned around and lashed out with his left leg like a steel whip, the terrifying force shattering the waist armor of the two puppets.
These two battles combined lasted only a few seconds.
Hong, however, keenly sensed something was amiss.
Each attack by these puppets pushed their meager energy to its theoretical limit; such skill in utilizing power was something that martial artists on Earth could never achieve.
The lights in the enclosed room began to flicker rapidly.
The hidden compartments in the four corners of the ground popped open simultaneously, and four puppets with dark purple paint were ejected from them. Energy scans showed that their strength had reached the fourth tier of the planetary level.
The moment the four puppets landed, they formed a strange square formation, their footsteps subtly following a peculiar rhythm.
Hong was no longer empty-handed; he flicked his spear and charged forward.
This time, he did not rush to end the battle, but deliberately suppressed his own primal energy to the same level as the puppet.
The black spear clashed repeatedly with four giant swords that gleamed with a cold light.
The deafening clang of metal echoed endlessly in the enclosed room, sparks flying everywhere.
Hong carefully observed their every move and attack during the battle. The four puppets coordinated extremely well, and most terrifyingly, their combined attack technique could unleash more than twice the terrifying power of a planetary-level fourth-tier primal energy.
This mastery of power is simply born for pure combat.
Having figured out the details, Hong stopped testing them.
The spear suddenly shuddered, unleashing a solid black spear shadow that swept outwards. The four puppets instantly disintegrated within the violent spear shadow, turning into a pile of parts.
The battle had just ended. The entire metal wall in front of them descended with a heavy rumble.
Eight even taller and more imposing figures stepped out in unison. The heavy footsteps caused the solid alloy chamber floor to tremble slightly.
These eight puppets were entirely black, with crystal-red energy cores embedded in their chests. The energy fluctuations they emitted had reached the peak level of the eighth rank of the planetary level.
They gave Hong no time to breathe, instantly transforming into eight black afterimages that rushed in from all directions, their giant swords sparking intensely in the air.
Eight giant swords slashed down simultaneously from all directions, their terrifying power techniques perfectly combined. The power of this combined attack had surpassed the limits of the planetary level, comparable to the full-force strike of a newly ascended star-level expert.
A genuine fighting spirit finally ignited in Hong's eyes.
The sixth realm opened with a roar.
Absolute darkness instantly engulfed the entire secret chamber. The movements of the eight puppets were slightly slowed by the powerful suppression of the domain.
Hong seized the opportunity, his spear flashing like a black dragon emerging from the sea.
The primal energy of the celestial sphere converged wildly at the tip of the spear, piercing through the chests of the two foremost puppets with overwhelming force.
Immediately afterwards, he swept his gun horizontally, the shaft carrying the immense power of his domain, and slammed it heavily into the waist of the other three puppets.
The powerful recoil caused Hong's arm to feel slightly numb.
The armor of these eight puppets is incredibly strong.
Hong no longer held back, pushing the primal energy of the Hengxing star to its limit. It took him a minute to dismantle them all into a pile of scrap metal.
Eight broken puppet bodies lay scattered on the ground, the red light from their energy cores extinguishing one after another. Hong stood with his gun in hand, his breathing still steady, his primal energy rapidly circulating within him, replenishing what he had lost.
He has deduced the underlying principles of this trial of ruins.
The initial number of puppets is calculated based on the number of trial participants: one, two, four, eight. The number doubles with each wave, and the energy level also doubles each time.
Following this rigorous progressive logic, the fifth wave will most likely feature sixteen newly-entered Heng-level metal puppets. Their combined attacks and power techniques might even unleash terrifying destructive power reaching the high-level Heng-level.
Even ordinary high-level experts at the Constant Star level would face immense danger in such a confined space, facing such an attack.
Hong's eyes narrowed. He held the black spear horizontally in front of him, and the primordial energy of the Hengxing star within his body began to circulate. The light field was compressed to a ten-meter radius around his body, constructing the most solid defense.
As soon as the fifth wave of puppets appears, he will immediately use his strongest killing move to strike first.
One second, ten seconds...
The massive metal gate that had been expected did not open again.
On the dome of the secret chamber, the intricate array patterns that had been lit up suddenly began to flicker wildly, emitting an unpredictable light.
Immediately afterwards, a hissing sound, like an old communicator being severely interfered with, suddenly rang out in the secret room.
A monotone, mechanical voice came through intermittently.
"Warning... Energy reservoir... reserves... depleted..."
"Warning... Energy transfer matrix... Overload... Damaged..."
"Insufficient energy supply... Preset star-level puppet repository... Unable to activate... Unable to continue... Proceed with the regular trial sequence..."
Mechanical sounds echoed continuously in the empty hall. Hong frowned slightly and slowly lowered the spear in his hand.
This ancient civilization site is finally on the verge of collapse.
The rustling sound grew increasingly piercing, and the mechanical voice suddenly shifted to a lower, more resonant frequency.
"Activate... Emergency Plan... Routine Trial... Forced Halt..."
"Verifying highest-level commands... Meets final activation requirements..."
"Core Trial Channel...open...The system will forcibly extract...remaining energy...and supply it all to..."
The synthesized sound was abruptly cut off at this point, accompanied by an extremely jarring electronic sound.
All the lighting equipment in the sealed room went out instantly, and only after two seconds did a faint emergency red light return.
The thick metal wall directly in front of the secret room slowly receded to both sides, revealing a bottomless black passage before Hong's eyes.
Hong calmly stared at the deep, black passage. The alloy walls surrounding the passage had a strong energy-isolating effect, making it impossible for him to detect any useful information.
The alluring aura seemed to have been completely erased from this ruin.
She most likely accidentally entered this so-called "core trial" channel, or was forcibly transferred in by the defense system.
Hong, carrying a long spear in one hand, stepped into the unknown metal corridor. His domain remained attached to his body three inches from the surface, guarding against any possible attack.
The further you go in, the stronger the sense of age and antiquity becomes.
As he rounded a corner, Hong noticed an extremely fine sword mark on the edge of the wall. He immediately recognized it as the unique scratch left by the slender sword in Yao Rao's hand, pointing straight to the deepest part of the passage.
Hong quickened his pace.
After walking for about ten minutes, the view of the passage ahead suddenly opened up.
A towering, dark gold gate, over ten meters high, stood at the end of the passage, blocking all paths.
There were no complicated electronic locks or control panels on the door, only a deep groove shaped like a six-pointed star.
Just as Hong was carefully examining the groove, a voice suddenly rang out from the depths of his mind.
"You are the one who will be undergoing this trial."
This was no longer the cold, mechanical synthesized voice from before; instead, it conveyed an indescribable sense of fatigue.
Hong's body tensed instantly. His sharp gaze swept around before finally settling on the dark gold door.
"Who are you?" Hong asked coldly, the tip of his spear already pointed at the center of the gate.
"Who I am is not important," the voice sighed softly.
Hong's voice was completely calm. "Where are my men?"
The voice let out a low laugh.
"That planetary-level martial artist who mastered the peculiar binding technique... her current situation is not good. The trial rules have been activated, and no one can change them. To save her, we must complete this final trial."
As soon as he finished speaking, the six-pointed star groove on the door suddenly lit up with a blood-red light.
The mysterious voice, carrying a hint of allure, echoed once more in Hong's mind.
"Once you step through this door, you will either become the new master of this place, or you will become just another skeleton in the long years, along with that little girl. Do you dare to push it open?"
Hong stared at the flashing red light and gripped the spear in his hand tightly.
"Then let me see what tricks you're hiding here."