Chapter 69 – Total Wipeout
Let’s be honest here. Peek was nothing short of a walking disaster. As the nominal leader of his team, not a single member would heed his commands. They’d even abandon him to his own devices, leaving him to scramble and catch up until he was utterly exhausted. Just when he finally caught up, the devastating news struck – all his teammates were dead. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he ended up bumping into none other than Tillysha, fresh off a one-woman rampage.
“Life… why must you be so cruel…?” Peek groaned inwardly. What a pitiful way for a Divine Authority bearer to end up. He had been brimming with ambition, confident that the Crown Cup would be his stage to shine. But now, even before he had the chance to activate his Divine Analysis Technique, his journey was already coming to an abrupt end.
“What a bunch of trash!” Peek fumed internally. “Three absolute trash cans! Being taken down three-on-one? Even pigs wouldn’t go down that fast!”
At this point, it was all water under the bridge, yet Peek could not help but bitterly lament that his teammates had rushed ahead without him, relying solely on brute force.
“If only I had been there…” Peek thought.
No, he told himself firmly. He couldn’t just leave the stage like this, doing absolutely nothing. With that, he resolved to do the one thing he could still do – activate his Divine Analysis Technique to scan Tillysha.
Last time, on the battlefield, he hadn’t even gotten the chance to use his technique before getting knocked off the stage. Peek couldn’t stomach that. At the very least, he wanted to see the Divine Authority information of the person who had defeated his teammates.
Struggling to open his weary eyelids, Peek’s eyes emitted a soft glow. In front of him, the details appeared: the maiden’s name, her Realms, and her Divine Authority. But as the information surfaced, it hit him like a burning sensation.
“AHHHH!! My titanium god eyes!!!” Peek screamed, clutching at his eyes as if his world had just ended.
What on earth was going on? Why were these words scorching hot?
Peek writhed in agony, his eyes feeling as if an invisible flame was consuming his retinas, burning away his lenses.
Peek was at his wits’ end while Tillysha, on her part, looked equally perplexed.
“I haven’t even made a move yet, big guy. Why’re you screaming?” she thought.
“Quick, quick! sh**t me!!” Peek shouted in desperation.
“???” Tillysha hesitated for a moment but finally aimed her bow at Peek.
Who had ever heard of someone pleading to be killed? Strange to say the least.
The light arrow struck Peek squarely in the vulnerable neck, swiftly shattering his team’s token and ejecting him from the Secret Realm.
With that, Team 57 was wholly wiped out.
Tillysha glanced at the k*ll count on the top left corner of the token. Team 30 had added another four kills, wiping out an entire team. Every time a team eliminated all members of another team, they received a “Team Wipe-Out” tag and earned extra points.
Four kills plus the bonus points for wiping out a team, along with a sprinkling of survival time, meant Tillysha no longer had to worry about being expelled due to poor performance.
But that wasn’t what she was pondering about. After her transformation into a Divine Being, her goal had transcended from mere survival to securing the coveted crown of the rookies.
Even Tillysha herself did not understand why that competitive spark was suddenly alight within her. Maybe it wasn’t competitive spirit; it was more of a natural response. Tillysha simply believed, with an unwavering calm, that at this level of competition, she shouldn’t lose and wouldn’t lose.
All her pursuers had been eradicated, and with no detailed map of the Secret Realm available, Tillysha had no clue how vast or small it was. Seated cross-legged in her shimmering white stockings, her radiant legs glistening under the sunlight, her delicate feet tucked neatly against her thighs, with cascading golden locks framing her delicate face, Tillysha closed her ethereal golden lashes and attuned herself to the forest’s pulse.
The vibrant green life around her wrapped her in an embrace, her senses attuned to the forest’s rhythm. Aside from the clear blue lakes, nothing but the perpetually burgeoning plants filled her vision.
Amidst this lush life, a few discordant elements stood out starkly.
Tillysha gently flicked her eyelids open, rose gracefully, and directed her gaze towards a certain section of the forest.
The Elves who dwelled in the forest harmonized with nature, the plants their extended eyes. They could easily detect trespassers through the feedback of the forest, a skill Tillysha possessed innately from her transformation, despite never having practiced it. It flowed naturally, as if it were her birthright.
This phenomenon both fascinated and didn’t surprise Tillysha simultaneously. She should’ve been astonished, yet it all seemed logical, as though these skills were naturally hers.
The activation of her Divine Authority and Realm powers felt just as familiar, not alienated as it would have if she were a novice to this world.
Unaware of the reason, Tillysha attributed this to muscle memory and the innate qualities of the Elf race.
Through the forest’s feedback, Tillysha sensed that more than one other individual had entered this part of the woods.
Carefully touching an ancient tree trunk, she melded herself with the vibrant life around her, minimizing her presence to nearly nothing.
Not long after, a boisterous team of four marched into the forest. They showed no caution, seemingly never considering the possibility of an ambush. They probably trusted too much in the feedback from their own Divine Analysis Techniques.
Tillysha scanned the four using her technique.
Three of them showed no signs of Divine Authority, meaning there was only one Divine Being in the team. This Divine Being hadn’t yet unleashed their Realm but, based on the detected fluctuations, Tillysha identified her as likely a Cannon-tier Divine Being.
A Cannon-tier had massive destructive power but weak all-around resistance in their Realm, requiring team support. Their capacity for Divine Authority storage was generally higher than average.
Hiding in the bushes, Tillysha slowly drew her bowstring.
The leader of the four, a male walking ahead, was likely the Divine Authority bearer of this group. However, he wasn’t the stereotypical bespectacled bookworm; this leader wielded a sword and shield, forging ahead to clear the path for his teammates – certainly an unusual Divine Authority bearer.
“A below-average Divine Authority bearer,” Tillysha internally assessed, basing her judgment on his sword and shield.
It wasn’t uncommon for Divine Authority bearers to venture into battle alongside their teammates, but balancing the knowledge of a Divine Authority bearer with physical training was extremely challenging. Most ended up compromising both aspects, gaining neither skill nor expertise in either.
Mastering both facets required immense effort and prodigious talent, neither of which could be lacking.
“Hmm?” The towering figure at the front of the group furrowed his brow, sensing as if he were being observed.
Are there other Divine Authority bearers nearby? He shook his head. He had utilized his [Broad Area Perception Technique] earlier, and there shouldn’t be any other teams around this area.
Looking back at his teammates and adjusting his single-edged sword, he told himself that he was merely being paranoid.
