Chapter 463: Divergence

The Tidal Fighter slowly landed on a rocky stretch of lands beside the mountain.

After opening the door of the Tidal Fighter, Chen Xiaolian was the first to jump down. Next, he turned around and held out his hand toward Qiao Qiao.

Qiao Qiao revealed hesitation. Then, she avoided Chen Xiaolian’s outstretched hand and jumped down the Tidal Fighter by herself.

After Lun Tai and the others got down from the aircraft, Roddy, who was the last to get off, turned to face Chen Xiaolian and spoke in a hushed tone, “Just now… … I saw what happened. What is up with you two?”

As he spoke, he turned to look at Qiao Qiao.

There was a calm look on Chen Xiaolian’s face. “It is nothing… … I will tell you about it when we get home.”

When all the members of Meteor Rock Guild’s team landed on the rocky land, they all received a system prompt.

[System prompt: The members of the Demon Faction have arrived at the location for the final quest. The second phase is now forced to an end. The remaining time left in the countdown timer is now zero! The participants who are unable to make it into Tel Aviv will be forced out of this instance dungeon. They have failed this instance dungeon and will be punished!]

…

“That was dangerous!”

Tian Lie patted his chest forcefully before revealing a grin. “Did you see the system prompt? It seems I was right!”

They had passed the signboard indicating their entry to Tel Aviv just a few seconds ago,

Nicole pulled up the brakes, stopping the pickup truck by the roadside. There was a very tangled look on her face. “The members of the Demon Faction have reached the location for the final quest?”

Tian Lie looked at her and asked, “What about it?”

“Before this, when the system revealed their coordinates, they were out in the sea,” said Nicole with a frown.

“In other words, we will have to go there eventually.” Tian Lie thought about it. “Let us finish Tel Aviv’s quest first. My intuition tells me that this won’t be a simple one.”

…

[System prompt: Demon Faction has completed the second phase quest. Now entering the third phase, Demon Island forces.

[Please locate the hidden magic array and activate it before your quest target dies. Once the magic array has been activated, the decline in little Will’s life force will stop. Maintain the magic array for 15 minutes to dispel the debuff on little Will.

[Next, maintain the magic array for 30 minutes to complete the third phase quest and obtain the system reward.]

Chen Xiaolian wiped his face… … a light drizzle had suddenly fallen down from the clouds above and his face was wet from the drizzle.

“Right now, we have two options. First, find the magic array, activate it and maintain it for 15 minutes. After little Will is saved, we will leave immediately! We might even be able to do so before those from the Light Faction arrives – even if some of the members from the Light Faction arrive here during that period, all we need to do is maintain the magic array for 15 minutes! Our objective is to save little Will, that is all. Save little Will and stop our teammates from being forcibly exterminated.

“As for the third phase quest of maintaining the magic array for 30 minutes… … there is no need to force ourselves to complete it. If we fail, we can just leave this instance dungeon and enter the punishment instance dungeon.

“Our second option… … complete this quest! Since we have made our way here… … we might as well complete it. Additionally, considering how f**ked up this system is, it might come up with some bullshit reason to restrict us from our attempts to leave in the middle of it all.”

Lun Tai said loudly, “That is right. I also suspect that the system is going to continue screwing us over.”

“If so, we will have to deal with whatever comes out way when the time comes! If we can leave, we will stay behind until little Will is saved before leaving! If we cannot leave… … we will have to go all out!”

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. He had already summoned out the Sword in the Stone and he gripped it tightly in his hand.

“I think some members from the Light Faction are sure to arrive here soon,” said Roddy loudly. However, the strong winds made it so his voice became intermittent. “We have already received a system prompt earlier. Someone from the Light Faction had already made it to Tel Aviv and completed their quest. It was only after that did little Will’s life force declined. At present, the amount of time that had passed since we received the system prompt… … is 42 minutes!”

Everyone checked the time.

There was 17 more minutes left in the countdown timer indicating little Will’s remaining life force.

Indeed, 42 minutes had passed since they received the system prompt.

In these 42 minutes, only God knows if some members from the Light Faction had found their way here.

“Let us hurry.” Chen Xiaolian waved. “Let’s go!”

…

[System prompt: To members of the Demon Faction, the storyline quest for the third phase is as follows:

[Firstly, the coordinate for the entrance to the Dark Abyss is now marked on your personal radars. Please enter the Dark Abyss and find the remnant of the magic array.

[Secondly, the activation of the magic array requires undergoing a trial from the forces of darkness. Complete the trial to acquire the power of darkness needed to activate the magic array. Only after the power of darkness has reached the critical point will the magic array be activated.]

The entrance to the Dark Abyss

That was hardly an auspicious name.

Chen Xiaolian felt a chill in his heart. He tapped open his personal radar. As expected, the coordinate of the entrance had appeared within his radar.

“It is not too far away, let us go!”

…

The remaining 17 minutes on the countdown timer seemed to be ticking away at a faster rate.

Chen Xiaolian took the front position in the team while Lun Tai was right behind him … … Lun Tai was also carrying the unconscious Will.

Following behind him was Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo and Qimu Xi.

Behind them, Xia Xiaolei and Roddy were both walking beside Thirteen.

There was a rugged mountainous path on the rocky landscape. Their team moved along the mountainous path for around two and a half minutes.

Looking at the countdown timer, there were… … 14 minutes and 28 seconds left.

“There is a cave there! Looks like that is the entrance to the Dark Abyss.”

Chen Xiaolian pointed to the end of the path.

An oval shaped cave entrance came into view.

The rainfall grew more intense and the droplets of rain striking their faces almost felt like needles.

The storm howled, accompanied by the sound of sea waves.

Looking down from the mountainside, they saw that the sea was around 100 metres beneath them and the waves on the surface became increasingly violent.

After their team made it to the cave entrance, Chen Xiaolian peeked inside for a bit before stepping inside. He was followed by Lun Tai, who was still carrying little Will… … Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo… and the others.

When Roddy, who was the last to step into the cave, light flashed out from the cave entrance and… … everything disappeared!

…

Absolute darkness filled the cave.

Chen Xiaolian was the first to step into the cave. However, the very second he stepped into the cave, he found that he could no longer hear anything.

The howling storm and the billowing waves… … those sounds seemingly disappeared.

It was as though someone pressed the mute button for this world.

Feeling surprised, Chen Xiaolian quickly turned around to check on his teammates.

When he turned around, he became shocked.

Behind him… … no one.

Lun Tai, Qiao Qiao, Soo Soo… Roddy… every one of them had disappeared.

Not even their shadows could be seen.

In less than one second, a blink of an eye…

He had turned around right after stepping into the cave and found that they have all disappeared.

Wait… … no!

Not all of them were gone.

There on the ground was the unconscious little Will.

All his teammates had disappeared, leaving only Will.

Will was the only one left.

Chen Xiaolian’s pupils contracted, his face looking very grim.

…

“Oy! Where is everyone? Damn it!”

Roddy struck the surface of the cave with a heavy fist.

What the Hell is going on here?

I had just stepped inside. How did everyone disappear? Although I was the last one to enter, I was very close to them. The distance between me and the rest was no more than half a metre oy!

Roddy lowered his head… … to his surprise, there was someone lying on the ground, little Will.

…

Lun Tai clenched his teeth, a serious expression on his face as he checked his surroundings.

All was shrouded in silent darkness.

Every one of his teammates had disappeared.

“Calling guild channel… … eh? Is anyone there?”

Lun Tai flexed his muscles and held little Will closer to him.

…

“Where are the others? Can you see them?”

Xia Xiaolei asked Qimu Xi in frustration.

Qimu Xi was obviously flabbergasted. “I… … I don’t know what happened…. The moment I entered… everyone disappeared! I, the only one I saw is you… … the others, the others…”

Sensing the panic in Qimu Xi’s voice, Xia Xiaolei took a deep breath and said, “Don’t cry… let me think, what is going on here? Damn it! Even the guild channel is not working! There is only the two of us in the guild channel!”

“He- he is still here.” Qimu Xi crouched down and pointed at little Will, who was lying on the ground.

…

“Sis?” Soo Soo grabbed the corner of Qiao Qiao’s clothes tightly.

Qiao Qiao reached out to hold Soo Soo’s hand. She whispered, “Don’t be afraid. This looks like something arranged by the system, humph!”

“Sister, he's still there.”

Qiao Qiao’s eyes followed the direction pointed by Soo Soo’s finger and saw the unconscious Will on the ground. With a complicated expression on her face, Qiao Qiao crouched down and checked little Will’s rate of breathing. Then, she carried him up.

“It seems… … we can only keep moving forward.”

…

“The, the Hell?”

Thirteen examined the wet surface of the cave with his hand before looking around.

“Everyone… … is gone? Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!”

…

Click!

Chen Xiaolian pulled out a glow stick and held it with his left hand while his right held the Sword in the Stone.

On his back was little Will. He had used the Black Widow spider’s silk web to tie him to his back.

Chen Xiaolian looked forward. The black passageway was dark and the only thing he could see was his own shadow.

Chen Xiaolian frowned and checked his personal system.

The amount of time left in the countdown timer for little Will’s life force… 12 minutes and 39 seconds.

He had tried using the guild channel earlier but was unable to contact anyone.

All their communication equipment had also been blocked.

Chen Xiaolian’s heart grew heavy and he stepped forward into the underground tunnel.

The underground tunnel grew increasingly wide. The narrow passageway gradually became wide and free of hindrances.

He did not feel stuffy. Rather, the deeper he went, the more refreshing the air became.

However, Chen Xiaolian did not feel at ease at all. The creases on his face grew deeper.

After walking through the underground tunnel for over two minutes…

Light suddenly appeared before him.

Chen Xiaolian ran forward and stepped out of the underground tunnel. What he saw instantly shocked him.

It was… … a concrete jungle!

Countdown timer for little Will’s life force…… 10 minutes and 6 seconds.

…