Chapter 87 -87-SSS-Rank Trait: Chain Reaction!

Chapter 87: Chapter87-SSS-Rank Trait: Chain Reaction!

[Ding!]

[Void Staff has obtained the SSS-rank Trait — Chain Reaction!]

As usual, John put all five attribute points into Strength.

[Strength +5!]

[Voidwalker Class Trait triggered!]

[Current Core Four Attributes: 1,908!]

After dealing with the level-up rewards.

John finally remembered the BOSS loot on the ground.

At the spot where Baal had died.

Large clusters of glowing loot were floating in midair.

John raised a hand and collected them.

[You have obtained S-rank Equipment...]

[You have obtained A-rank Materials...]

[Gold Coins...]

A string of notifications flashed past.

Until a crimson skill book entered his sight.

John’s movements stopped.

[Sea of Flames]

[Quality: S]

[Type: Area Magic]

[Effect: Creates a continuously burning magical Sea of Flames within a designated area, dealing magic damage equal to 400% of Wisdom per second to all hostile targets within range.]

[Base Effect Radius: 500 meters]

[Duration: 10 seconds]

[Base Cooldown: 60 seconds]

[MP Cost: 300]

Five hundred meters.

John’s first reaction wasn’t to the damage.

It was the range.

Because his Void Staff still had—

Three [Domain Expansion] traits.

Each one independently doubled the range.

One skill.

Four kilometers of burning ground!

And with [CD-- ×2] as well.

As long as the skill was cast through the Void Staff.

Its base one-minute cooldown would instantly drop to zero.

John didn’t even need to think about it.

"Learn."

[Ding!]

[You have learned the S-rank Skill — Sea of Flames!]

"Not bad."

"I’ve barely stepped into the Dark Realm and already—"

"Boss!!!"

John froze.

Who?

A grief-stricken shout came from the distance again.

"Help!!!"

John whipped his head around.

Then.

Slapped his forehead.

"Fuck."

"Aya!"

He had gotten so absorbed in fighting Baal just now.

That he’d forgotten his teammate!

...

Several hundred meters away.

Aya could no longer see the sky at all.

People.

People everywhere.

More precisely.

Dark Realm soldiers everywhere.

Although John had blasted the military camp into complete disarray.

There was no way a ten-thousand-man garrison could be wiped out in such a short time.

After Baal appeared.

John had focused all his attention on the BOSS.

Naturally, the large number of surviving soldiers turned their attention toward the other human.

And so.

Aya was surrounded.

Shield soldiers in front.

Spearmen to the left.

Seven or eight wargs on the right.

And arrows kept raining in from behind.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?!"

"I’m not the one who burned down your tents!"

Aya slashed open the throat of the enemy in front of her.

Then spun around and dodged another spear.

[-182!]

[-96!]

[-213!]

Attacks kept landing on her body.

Individually, the damage wasn’t high.

After all, she had a Ten-Thousand-Player Tier BOSS template.

A full 250,000 HP.

But there were simply too many enemies.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

Layer after layer.

Enough ants could still bite an elephant to death.

Her HP was slowly being ground down.

Aya kept fighting.

While tightly gripping the lifesaving scroll from earlier.

She could no longer see John at all.

There had been such terrifying magical fluctuations in the distance just now.

Then black holes.

Then Fire Dragons.

Could it be...

Baal had actually killed him?

Aya gritted her teeth.

"Wait a little longer."

"One more minute."

"If it really comes down to it..."

She lowered her gaze toward the scroll in her hand.

The thought of using it hurt so much that her face nearly scrunched up.

Just then.

The sky suddenly turned red.

Aya froze.

The Dark Realm soldiers surrounding her also instinctively looked up.

The next second.

BOOM—!!!

Flames erupted from the ground without warning!

Not one pillar.

Not one patch.

But everywhere the eye could see!

The earth instantly transformed into a blazing crimson Sea of Flames.

[Sea of Flames!]

[Domain Expansion ×3 triggered!]

[Effect Radius: 4,000 meters!]

[Multicast triggered!]

A second layer of Sea of Flames covered the area at the same time!

[-25,600]

[-25,600]

[-25,600]

...

"Aaaah!!!"

Large numbers of Dark Realm soldiers couldn’t even survive the first damage tick.

They collapsed in waves.

The human wall that had surrounded Aya so tightly there wasn’t even a gap.

Turned into a field of charred corpses in the blink of an eye.

Aya stood blankly in the middle of the Sea of Flames.

The fire only attacked hostile targets.

It didn’t harm her in the slightest.

The surviving Dark Realm soldiers around her began fleeing like mad.

But with a four-kilometer radius.

Where could they possibly run?

The roar of flames.

The screams.

The system kill notifications.

All merged into one continuous wave of sound.

Aya still hadn’t recovered from her shock.

When she suddenly felt the back of her collar tighten.

"Huh?"

A powerful hand grabbed her and lifted her straight off the ground.

The next second.

Her body shot into the air.

The scenery around her began racing backward at incredible speed.

"Waaahhh!"

Aya instinctively clutched the scroll tightly in her hands.

Then turned her head.

And finally saw the face of the person carrying her while sprinting at full speed.

"Boss?!"

John glanced sideways at her.

"Why are you screaming so loudly?"

Aya stared at him.

Then looked back at the Sea of Flames behind them, burning almost all the way to the horizon.

Only then did her entire body finally relax.

He was alive.

That was enough.

Half an hour later.

Dark Realm, Northern Plains.

The two figures finally stopped behind a patch of short black woodland.

The military camp behind them had long since disappeared from sight.

Only a lingering glow of fire could still be seen far off on the horizon.

Aya leaned against a tree and caught her breath.

After turning back to make sure no one had followed them, she finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"Finally lost them."

John, on the other hand, barely felt anything.

He opened the quest panel and glanced at it.

[Behind Enemy Lines]

[Time Remaining: 07:21:36]

There was still plenty of time.

"Where’s Night City?"

"Hold on."

Aya crouched down.

She pressed her right hand against the ground.

A strand of gray magic spread outward from her five fingers.

Then.

She closed her eyes.

Her ears twitched slightly twice.

John raised an eyebrow.

What skill was this?

A few seconds later.

Aya opened her eyes again.

"Found it."

She pointed toward the southwest.

"We should be somewhere on the eastern side of the Dark Realm’s Northern Plains right now. Night City is that way. At an ordinary person’s speed, it would take about half a day to get there."

At that point, she glanced at John again.

"But at our speed, around three hours should be enough."

John nodded.

"That’s fine. Let’s disguise ourselves first."

As soon as he finished speaking.

He reached up and touched his mask.

[Faceless Shadow Mask!]

Buzz—

His figure rapidly began to change.

His originally young and upright body gradually became shorter.

His back hunched slightly.

A loose, dark green robe covered his entire body.

The hood was pulled extremely low.

His entire face disappeared into shadow.

The only things visible.

Were two faintly glimmering eyes deep within the darkness.

The Void Staff in his hand changed appearance as well.

Transforming into a gnarled deadwood walking stick.

In the blink of an eye.

The figure standing before Aya was no longer a young human man.

But a sinister-looking old man of the Dark Realm.

Aya looked him up and down twice.

"Boss, you look like one of those ancient witches who has lived for hundreds of years and specializes in kidnapping children to brew potions."

John: "..."

"Your turn."

"Oh."

Aya thought for a moment.

Then lightly swept both hands across her face.