“They actually left…”

Somewhere west of the city, the Insight, whose feet were fused with the earth, suddenly spoke.

“Who are you talking about?” the Bloodthirst Demon asked from the side. “Are you referring to the Derivatives?”

“No…” the Penitent’s voice echoed directly into their minds. “He’s talking about the Chief of All Demons.”

“Oh? What’s going on?” A look of doubt appeared on the Bloodthirst Demon’s hideous face. He continued, “As far as I know… whenever the Chief of All Demons personally leads an expedition, he has never returned empty-handed.” He paused for a moment, his expression shifting slightly, “I saw him up close not long ago… I don’t think he would lose to anyone…”

“Watch your wording, Bloodthirst Demon,” the Soul Stealer’s massive skull (or perhaps body?) turned, its hollow eyes staring directly at the other demon. “Don’t forget the task that our King entrusted to us… and… your place.”

The Penitent added, “As one of the Nine Dead Spirit Commanders, you shouldn’t fear any existence other than our King.” She turned her head slightly, glancing at the Bloodthirst Demon. “You should learn that from your brother…”

The Bloodthirst Demon’s brother was the Exile Demon, who resembled a knotted mass of muscle with compound eyes and a blood-filled maw. In terms of personality, the older brother, Bloodthirst Demon, was a greedy, insidious, bullying, and ultimately weak character, while the younger brother, Exile Demon, was much simpler. Like most of the script Bosses in Thriller Paradise, he had limited intelligence, was fiercely brutal, fearless, and would never stop until he was dead.

“Hmph… I don’t need you to lecture me.” The Bloodthirst Demon replied unhappily, raising his third right arm and displaying his claws. “You’re not qualified to preach to me…”

Whoosh—

A gust of wind swept past the Bloodthirst Demon, interrupting his words.

“Everyone, say less.” The War Spirit unfurled the dragon wings on his left back, stopping the two comrades from arguing. “You’ll distract the Insight.”

“Tch…” Hearing this, the Bloodthirst Demon sullenly shrugged his three pairs of shoulders and slithered away.

At this moment, five of the Nine Dead Spirit Commanders—the Soul Stealer, War Spirit, Bloodthirst Demon, Penitent, and Insight—had gathered again. Their plan to cleanse the city had been forcibly canceled because there was nothing left to cleanse…

After the Chief of All Demons descended, he forcibly gathered all the dark energy in the space. In his battle with Root, he used up ninety percent of this power. This led to the mutated monsters in the city weakening and dying.

Now, the only living things left in the city, besides the players and Derivatives, were the powerhouses on the same level as the Nine Dead Spirit Commanders. In this situation, acting alone would obviously be disadvantageous, so the Insight was using his ability to probe the city's situation, trying to find and recall the remaining four Commanders.

Of course, the Hourglass and Juror, who were also Ai on the same level, had formulated similar strategies. It was just that they had suffered heavy losses, especially the Hourglass, with at least four of them already killed…

…

On the other hand, after the initial melee and the subsequent sniping by Origin's hundred-plus Derivatives… the number of players had also been reduced by more than half. Among the remaining survivors, many were injured, had used up their ultimate moves, or were half-dead; very few were close to being at full strength.

Fortunately… the survivors had gradually learned about the changes happening in the city.

Through the efforts of Devouring Sky Ghost, Shiva, Corpse Blade Asura, and Uncle Worthless, the survivors were regrouping and reorganizing. A few players who had not been found by them had also escaped their predicament with the help of Z Organization's Derivatives and learned about the situation in the script.

The counterattack against Origin… had quietly begun.

However… analyzing the current situation from a God’s-eye view, the strength comparison between the players and the Derivatives was still quite disparate…

It could be seen from [Not Afraid At All]'s battle that even a powerhouse like her could only handle two Tier 3 Derivatives at the same time. If it were a player of Honghu's level, they could probably only deal with one; in a one-on-two situation, they would definitely be quickly defeated.

At this time, the significance of the "Combat Power Ranking" became apparent. When dealing with Derivatives, there was no such thing as specialized counters or equipment suppression. In the end… those ranked higher simply had more ways to win than those ranked lower.

But… there were also exceptions, such as Shiva, Uncle Worthless, and Hard to Name. Given the right conditions, they could even instantly kill Tier 3 Derivatives.

Overall, if Root and J1-Quadro, the two highest combat forces, were excluded, then… the two sides did indeed have a chance to fight.

…

“I never thought there would be such a day…” Drunken Serenity murmured, “I actually ended up with Corpse Blade’s people…” He walked with a rather leisurely gait.

Leading the way in front of him were Sashimi and Corpse Blade Asura.

Corpse Blade Asura turned his head and glanced at the other man. “If I wasn’t forced to, I wouldn’t want to cooperate with you Order people either.”

“Heh… okay.” There was undoubtedly a hint of contempt in Drunken Serenity’s tone.

Corpse Blade Asura didn’t say much, because he was already used to this kind of treatment. Apart from some third-rate or equally low-level small studios, most players from first and second-tier game studios held a hostile and contemptuous attitude toward Corpse Blade Studio’s people.

This world was actually very fair; perhaps some people or organizations could use improper means to achieve success. But in the end, when they gained something, they also lost something.

“It’s getting very close.” After walking for a while, Corpse Blade Asura stopped and lowered his voice. “Let’s find a place to hide nearby and wait for other players to arrive before joining up with them.”

“That spatial rift is still quite far away… isn’t it too early to stop here?” Sashimi asked, looking at the tunnel of explosions in the distant sky.

“It’s best not to take risks…” Corpse Blade Asura said. “When I found you two, the four Derivatives you were dealing with were just cannon fodder. The really powerful ones…”

Ding—

A cold light flashed, followed by a crisp sound.

Corpse Blade Asura couldn’t finish his sentence, because he had sensed the sudden attack and quickly spun to avoid it.

A triangular metal blade was seen cutting through the air, heading straight for Corpse Blade Asura’s back.

In that instant, just as Corpse Blade Asura had barely twisted his body to move, Drunken Serenity had flashed to his side and clamped the flying metal blade between two fingers. That “ding” sound was the sound of the blade contacting his fingers.

Upon closer inspection, Drunken Serenity's hand had turned into an iron hand, its skin surface radiating a dark, lustrous glow.

“No need to thank me.” Drunken Serenity casually flicked his hand and threw the metal blade to the ground.

“Tch… I didn’t need your help anyway.” Corpse Blade Asura, who had already dodged to the side, replied.

As they spoke, seven or eight Derivatives had walked out of the surrounding dark alleys and street corners, entering the trio's line of sight.

“It seems my scouting ability is ineffective against them.” Sashimi added. “These guys don’t even have heartbeats or pulses. As long as they stand still behind some kind of cover, I can’t ‘hear’ them…”

“That doesn’t matter.” Corpse Blade Asura said, “In this situation… we don’t need any scouting ability, do we…”