Chapter 260 - Final Test- The Doppelganger Test!
The Atlantian army was now extremely dominant in the inheritance ground as the prowess of an overlord race was showcased by them.
All this was a result of the Sea King will's weird decision not to restrict variant humans. In such an inheritance ground were their only restriction was to follow the rules that were set, Atlantian Deep Delvers were beasts.
With them unrestrained, they worked super hard to build up advantages for the Atlantian army to maintain their dominance in the inheritance ground.
With the fact that the Atlantian army was able to regroup, they took the upper hand in quantity superiority since not even the toads of the Toad Alliance and the turtles of the Turtle Confraternity could replicate this feat.
In this inheritance ground, the warriors of these 2 powerful monster organizations were reduced to the level of the stray mutated beasts.
Unable to regroup instantly to stack their power to create a dominating force like the Atlantians, they could only fight individual battles.
Though as they passed through hall after hall of this enormous catacomb, they were able to slowly regroup and amass their power, the scale still could not match that of the Atlantians.
The Atlantians didn't just dominate in quantity, with the presence of the captains and the Lieutenant Colonel, they also dominated in quality.
Despite dividing their overall force into 4 strike forces which were led by different rulers, this race still maintained its trailblazing advantage.
Most of the time, they destroyed every opposition force that clashed with them. The scenario where Elder Marble's group after receiving reinforcement from Sebastian was able to force them to a retreat was a rarity.
Despite this, they never suffered any significant setbacks.
The plan that was proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Arachnid was progressing extremely smoothly like the rigid nature of parallel lines.
Captain Thiery already set up a defense perimeter with the 4th strike force that he was assigned to. Though the situation was currently going smoothly for them, Lieutenant Colonel Arachnid already planned for the worse.
If the situation turned hairy and another opponent snatched the ultimate inheritance from their grasp, the 4th strike force was ready to intercept the thief.
Captain Naman who alongside Captain Thiery was the second in commands to the Lieutenant Colonel of the Annihilation Division Fleet did their jobs well and each of their strike forces was experiencing significant success.
Despite the setback that Captain Naman suffered under the hands of the sharks, only a few of his soldiers perished from the clash and his strike force was still dominantly buoyant.
He and his strike force were like professional steal-killers in a VR game, they bumped into ongoing battles here and there as they snatched the rewards from the initial competitors, leaving a group of furious beasts in their tail.
They already harvested a ton of benefits in this inheritance ground, far more than what Sebastian and his group were able to get.
Captain Omega was the only one who suffered setbacks. Till now, though he mobilized the full power of his strike force, this Atlantian Captain never caught trails left by the Megalodon which was his target.
It was like the Megalodon disappeared all of a sudden.
Fate was playing so much with him today, his luck seemed to have hit rock bottom in the most inexplicable way possible.
Originally, since Captain Naman already crossed the Megalodon once, the right course of action would have been to inform Captain Omega but unfortunately, the Deep Delvers moved alongside the 1st strike force.
Without the Deep Delvers, communication was impossible. This was why Captain Omega had to toil all day and night without any reward.
Of all the strike forces, the 1st strike force that was personally led by Lieutenant Colonel Arachnid was the one that enjoyed the most success.
The success of this most important strike force which was going for the gold hidden in this inheritance ground was not only due to the powerful Lieutenant Colonel, it was also due to the help of the 20 Deep Delvers.
These 20 cyborg soldiers were legendary cheat codes even in an inheritance ground of this stature. They were bestial machines in human clothing.
With this strike force, the Lieutenant Colonel's progress through the inheritance was extremely rapid.
Despite this speed, even though they kept on annihilating the natives of the catacomb that tried to oppose them, rapidly entering one hall after the other, they never found the last hall where they deduced that the ultimate inheritance was hidden.
Lieutenant Colonel Arachnid was frustrated but he never gave up.
4 days already passed according to the statistics of the special delving scan that was performed by the Deep Delvers but the last hall could still not be seen.
For some reason, it was like the size of the catacomb was expanding the more time they spent inside it which was spookily interesting. Despite the distance that they already covered; the last hall was nowhere in sight.
The more time passed, the more beasts died.
At this moment, all the cannon fodder beasts already died. Those that remained competing for the prize were the cream of the crop, and most of these survivors already regrouped with their companions.
Sebastian also already regrouped with all the survivors of Old Mak's shark clan but like the Atlantians, they still couldn't see any signs of the ultimate inheritance which was sought by every competitor that was still alive.
This ultimate inheritance proved extremely elusive.
This elusiveness was to the detriment of the hopeful survivors.
Each second that they lived further felt like a gift to them, this was because as they all drew closer to the last few halls, they encountered enemy survivors and had no choice but to battle like crazy maniacs.
Even those that saw themselves as extremely strong did not know how they died. Deadly predators died left and right.
Apart from the Atlantians, the Toad Alliance, and the Turtle Confraternity, Old Mak's force was one of the strongest but this did not prevent even more of their weaker brothers from dying.
Despite the unrelenting administration from Queen Heareth, in the end, she was not a machine, her healing could not keep up with the damage that her clan members suffered from in this chaotic battlefield.
Each death caused more pain to Old Mak. Unfortunately, he couldn't do much since this battle was beyond what he could simply end with his strength.
The Lizard Lord and the Champion Digger all fought like their life depended on it. If they against all odds got the ultimate inheritance, they still didn't know who would take it but the plan was to hustle now and determine the plan later.
Amid the crazy massacre that never stopped, on the 5th day, the force that was at the very foremost of the surviving competitors finally saw a change.
Bop!
Lieutenant Colonel Arachnid who led his soldiers from the very front of their formation was surprised as he hit a barrier and bounced back during the process of trying to step through a tunnel that led to another hall.
As soon as he bounced back, the tunnel entrance that he saw suddenly became emaciated before it warped, turning into a strange teleportation portal.
Before he could observe this portal, the familiar font appeared again.
"Congratulations! You have proved the tenacity of your soul; you have passed the 3rd tenacity test of my inheritance".
"Now, you can finally take the Doppelganger test".
"Unlike the other tests, there is only one winner for this one".
"The winner is my inheritor".
"Swim inside the portal when you are ready".
The streak of words ended before it erupted again in a last sentence that the Sea King's will was already infamous for.
"Bad luck to you all".