Chapter 524: Gate Successfully Cleared? (3)
Chapter 522
[-100 Echo Essence]
Ray almost coughed out blood at what had just appeared before his face.
But he didn’t have much time to react, as the process was already beginning.
A blanket of fiery mist immediately swallowed the King’s corpse in its grasp.
The intense aura exuding from the corpse made Ray gulp loudly, especially as tendrils of purple flames began seeping out from the body. He quickly shuffled backward, instinctively putting some distance between himself and the corpse.
The intense aura caused a shockwave to erupt outward, immediately extinguishing all the flames crackling throughout the chamber and sending the loose, burnt wood tumbling to the ground.
The ground trembled as if a celestial whose body couldn’t contain the earth was about to erupt from deep below.
The Advanced-rank Echo paused for a moment as it looked between the blanket of purple flames and then back at its master.
Then it turned around and continued its work.
The pile of beast cores becoming larger and larger.
"Co-come on. Come on! Don’t fail me here. You cost a lot of Essence, so come on—"
Almost immediately, the blanket of flames slammed back into the ground as though it had tried to rise into the air.
But as if an invisible string had been pulled, the flames crashed back into the Ogre’s corpse.
Simultaneously, a screen flashed across Ray’s eyes.
[Echo creation failed.]
’Wh-what?!’
Ray looked between the screen and then back at the Ogre’s body.
His teeth clenched, and his fists tightened instinctively.
His eyes flared with fury as he glared at the dead beast.
[Five minutes till the Gate closes.]
"Shut the fuck up! I’m not leaving here without him. All I have endured shouldn’t be in vain. Fuck no! I came here to get an Echo, I will get it."
[Does Host wish to create Echo again?]
"YES!"
Ray’s voice thundered with both annoyance and anxiousness as he stared at the corpse.
[Warning, host has only a hundred Essence left. Doesn’t host want to try his luck on the King-rank beasts instead?]
Ray was about to explode with a reply when he paused.
His eyelids fluttered for a moment as he looked between the King’s corpse and the King-rank beasts his Echo was harvesting cores from.
Now, he was in a dilemma.
If he wasted his last Essence on the Ogre King and it failed, he wouldn’t be able to get the King-rank beasts.
Even if it succeeded, he would still be out of Essence for the King-rank beasts.
And if he turned his attention toward the minions, he was sure he could get two King-rank beasts out of this.
Besides, his army was almost complete.
He already had an Emperor-rank and Advanced-rank Echo, so adding more King-rank Echoes would actually benefit him in a different way.
As he blinked, his gaze remained fixed on the Ogre King.
But then—
If he got the Ogre King here, his army would be much more deadly.
He wouldn’t have to step onto the battlefield before eliminating his threats.
With two Emperor-rank beasts, he could clear everything far too easily without even lifting a finger.
And considering how powerful the Ogre King was, he was sure that with him, the next time he saw that damned Five-Spined Aberrant, he could win and potentially kill her.
But for that, he needed two things.
’I will need to evolve and get this damned Echo first before that can come to pass.’
So now—
Two King-rank beasts or an Emperor-rank beast that he wasn’t even sure he would be able to get.
What would he go for?
[Three minutes till the Gate closes.]
His gaze hardened as he turned his head back toward the Emperor-rank beast.
Drawing in a deep breath, he calmed himself down and looked at the corpse with a more determined expression.
’I can always get King-rank beasts any day and anytime. But I can never get an Ogre King again. So do it.’
[Are you sure, host?]
’Fucking do it already! Or do you want us to sleep in a beast world? I don’t know what happens when a Gate closes, but I’m not about to turn into a guinea pig for that, so hurry!’
[Very well.]
[-100 Essence]
BOOOOM!
The same blanket of fire erupted from the Ogre King with the same intensity and fury, sending Ray’s silver hair whipping wildly around his face.
He was forced to raise his hands and shield his face as the purple flames surged higher and higher into the air.
The corpses of the other beasts could be seen sliding across the ground, while some were blown violently into the walls and pillars.
’Come on, come on. I risked it all for you. Don’t fucking disappoint me!’
...
Back outside, dozens of Vanguard members could be seen moving through the streets of the city, gathering the dead beasts and harvesting their cores.
Some of the members had also helped the civilians in the area to the best of their ability, ensuring they were out of harm’s way.
The Vanguards had been there for quite a while.
Trisha and Kai could be seen among them as they both anxiously looked toward the Gate.
Even though the Captain had forbidden them from helping Ray, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t still come and see if their friend was going to make it out safely.
It had been an hour since Ray walked into the Gate, yet he still hadn’t returned.
The others had stayed back to look after Van when the news reached him that his best friend was inside a Tier Three Gate.
"Do you think he is okay?" Kai asked as he ground his teeth.
He was barely holding himself back from rushing into the Gate.
"So far, no beasts have come pouring out, so I guess he is still fighting," she replied with a cold look in her eyes.
But deep within that cold expression, anxiety could still be seen.
"I-I can see someone coming out!" one of the Vanguards shouted.
All eyes snapped toward the Gate.
A silver-haired fellow could be seen walking out of it, a frown etched across his face.
The Gate swirled and warped in on itself, stretching and twisting like a piece of clothing before finally vanishing from view with an electrical snap.
Ray was left standing there, with every eye in the area fixed on him.
— He survived?
— Not only did he survive, he cleared the Gate all alone? Fucking hell. How did he kill an Emperor-rank beast?!
— Mo-monster. He is a monster.
Trisha and Kai’s hearts finally settled when they saw their friend standing before them, safe and sound.
They both released the breaths they hadn’t realized they were holding and heaved a sigh of relief.