PFRG: Chapter 43

The system’s countdown notification was like a deadly signal. Every time it jumped, the players became even more panicked.

Looking out the window, they could see more and more black shadows moving up the mountain from the square in the distance.

There was no doubt that as soon as the countdown ended, these completely awakened demons would break in and tear apart everything in the castle, including everyone’s lives.

“There are too many, too many!” Huang Xinjue was holding the battle items that had their effectiveness restored, but his expression wasn’t very good.

Originally, according to the second choice route, they only needed to destroy the demons to clear the level.

Huang Xinjue previously chose to support Chi Ting. Firstly, it was to repay Chi Ting’s life-saving kindness. Secondly, it was because he believed in Chi Ting’s strength. But now it seemed that in the face of such a large number of demons, how could one person ensure that they all pass the instance safely?

He looked back anxiously. He found that Chi Ting just happened to be taking his attention away from his hand and seemed to be in a good mood.

The moment their eyes met, such a relaxed demeanor made Huang Xinjue sigh with relief. He listened to Chi Ting say, “Don’t worry. Since this is the choice I insisted on making, I will be responsible for you to the end. Leave these demons for me to take care of. You can just stay here and protect the treasure chest.”

Chi Ting still remembered that the final main task was to obtain the treasure of the heroes.

If the treasure chest was lost after destroying the demons, he wasn’t sure if the system would still judge it as a successful pass.

Even if the players present hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they had all more or less heard about the feats of this player called Chi Ting in the arena. However, they were still a bit uneasy about the current situation after exchanging looks with each other.

In the tense atmosphere, someone stood up and asked, “What if you can’t stop it? After all, there are so many monsters. If they choose to sneak attack…”

Chi Ting thought it made sense when he heard it. His eyes swept around before finally landing on Yue Ren’s body. He nodded casually. “Then let him stay here to protect you.”

“……” Yue Ren was suddenly called and was slightly speechless. The corners of his lips curved up in a smile and he asked directly, “Me? The protector? Are you sure?”

Chi Ting glanced at him calmly. “It is up to you whether you want to take action or not. In any case, as long as I see anyone missing when I come back, do you want to guess if you can still get out of the ‘door’ this time?”

The other players couldn’t hear it, but Yue Ren naturally knew what Chi Ting meant by ‘door.’

He slightly raised an eyebrow. Under such an obvious threat, he finally reluctantly let out a low ‘tsk’ and waved his hand in an extremely perfunctory manner. “I know. I’ll watch them.”

Seeing that Chi Ting left his contracted slave behind, the other players finally relaxed a bit. They might feel a bit more secure, but all the unknown developments still made them nervous.

At this moment, another voice was heard. “It doesn’t matter. There are still us.”

Everyone looked up. They saw the descendants of the heroes, headed by Cao Ji, standing there with determination and firmness in their expressions.

Cao Ji stared at Chi Ting intently and said loudly and forcefully, “Don’t worry. We are still here.”

The moment such words entered his eyes, the look in Chi Ting’s eyes flickered slightly.

It could only be said that this situation was a bit too familiar.

In the past, on the city wall before the alien species attacked, he had seen such expressions on the faces of countless soldiers who defended the city. They looked down on death and had no hesitation.

In the slight silence, the corners of his lips gradually curved up. “Thank you for your hard work. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

After glancing at the countdown that was already halfway over, Chi Ting turned around and walked out the door.

At almost the same time, there were footsteps behind him. Without looking back, he heard Ji Xingque’s voice without any surprise, “Captain, I’ll go with you!”

Chi Ting put the hood on his head without pausing at all.

He lowered his eyes silently. Once he looked up again, the usual calmness in his eyes had turned into clear determination. “Then you have to follow me.”

Two figures, one tall and one short, disappeared at the end of the corridor. Then a player gradually came back to his senses. “Is it really okay to just let the two of them go?”

Someone sneered. “No matter whether there is a problem or not, isn’t it his own doing? If he hadn’t insisted on the second choice, we might’ve passed the instance long ago!”

Huang Xinjue glared fiercely. “Without Brother Chi, could we push the instance to this point?”

This sentence made the man’s face turn red and white. Soon, he whispered in an unconvinced manner, “Boss Huang, you have led us to push forward the task for a long time. Why have you been brainwashed by that Chi Ting after a day? That person might not appreciate you protecting him like this. Who doesn’t know that the higher the contribution value of this instance, the richer the rewards after leaving the instance. I think he just wants to use this opportunity to increase his contribution points. He is very scheming.”

Huang Xinjue frowned when he heard this. He was just about to open his mouth to refute it when he heard a cold voice coming from behind him. “Since you envy my master’s contribution points being higher than yours, why don’t you go with me?”

There was a coldness in the sarcastic words that made people tremble subconsciously. Once he turned around, the player realized that his whole body had unknowingly been shrouded in strange shadows.

Yue Ren was standing a few steps away, looking down at him with a half-smile.

It was clearly a whisper, but the look in his eyes at this moment was clearly like a poisonous snake coveting new prey. “Or do you need me to give you a ride now?”

As the shadow under his feet was about to crawl forward, the player screamed and ran away with a pale face.

Yue Ren watched with a calm expression as the figure slipped into the crowd. The surrounding shadows quieted down silently.

In the end, he sighed helplessly in his heart. Finally, he suppressed the urge to take action.

This guy really had to restrict him from cleaning up the garbage before leaving. So boring.

He just thought this when he noticed that someone was coming. Yue Ren lazily looked up. “What’s wrong, hero?”

“I noticed since the first time I saw you that you don’t belong here.” Cao Ji led the descendants of the heroes to stand in front of Yue Ren. Their observational expressions were a bit wary, but it was more inquiring. “But after this period of observation, it seems that we are friends rather than enemies. So who are you and why are you labeled as a slave?”

Such a question made Yue Ren think for a moment. “It isn’t convenient to tell you about the rest. But if you have to ask, I’m probably your colleague.”

The descendants of the brave: “?”

The brief dispute that the players had just experienced also spread to the audience through the live stream room.

Regarding this mysterious slave NPC that was blocked by the system, there were several rounds of discussion before everyone finally focused their attention on the follow-up direction of this instance group.

[I didn’t expect him to leave everyone behind except for himself?]

[That guy next door is too confident. Is he planning to challenge the entire demon army?]

[It isn’t a head-on fight, right? That pink-haired guy also went with him.]

[Is there any essential difference between one person and two people… He is so brave. If it wasn’t for the sky-high price of the charging fee, I really want to see where such courage comes from.]

[What type of sky-high charge?]

[…I just came back from next door. I can’t afford the 5,000 points/minute.]

[No, I can’t help it any longer. I am going to go and take a look. Brothers, wish me good luck!]

As the barrage surged, some viewers in each player’s live stream room finally couldn’t bear it any longer.

In the blink of an eye, the number of people online in Chi Ting’s live stream room increased visibly to the naked eye. It was from a few hundred to four digits.

[13s, 12s, 11s…]

Just as the countdown was about to end, Chi Ting had already gone downstairs in the castle.

He stood firmly at the door and watched the demons preparing to attack. He gave a low sigh and said with sincerity, “Why do I feel like they are uglier than before?”

Due to the restrictive effect of the seal, even the employee he saw in the hotel that day hadn’t completely regained her strength. But at the very least, a rough human shape had been maintained. However, at this time, the demons disguised as residents had completely revealed their true colors one by one.

Their limbs, which had lost all flesh, were like dry wood.

Huge wings sprouted behind them. The sharp barbs were scattered all over their body.

Their bodies exuded the stench that Yue Ren couldn’t tolerate before.

These things gathered outside the castle. At first glance, it looked like a gate to hell had opened in front of them.

In front of the terrifying scene that could make people tremble, Ji Xingque’s urgent voice was heard. “Captain, is it better for me to charge first?”

Chi Ting had already made plans to break out of the encirclement. Hearing this, he was stunned for a moment. After fighting alone for a long time, he remembered that Ji Xingque was with him at this time.

Gradually, the corners of his lips curved up. “Of course. I’ll leave it to you.”

Ji Xingque laughed. In the blink of an eye, he had a large gun on his shoulder. The pink spray paint of the gun complemented his hair color and made him look even more energetic.

At almost the same moment that the countdown completely ended, along with the desire for an explosion, the pupils of Ji Xingque’s eyes contracted slightly with a hint of fanaticism. The curve of his lips gradually rose. “You know, this instance was almost suffocating me to death. Now it is time to let these monsters have a taste of bombing!”

The demons were completely resurrected.

At almost the same time that the system notification popped up, a violent explosion occurred at the entrance of the castle. It resounded directly throughout the world.

Feeling the faint vibration of the ground, Chi Ting turned his head slightly. He watched the pink figure leap out from beside him with a calm expression.

Under the intensive shooting, the lingering smoke mixed with the flickering lights and shadows abruptly stopped the demons who wanted to pour into the castle with heart-rending screams.

[Ability: Exploding the World]

In the apocalypse, among all those with awakened powers, Ji Xingque’s lethality was at the absolute top.

At that time, it was precisely because of the possibility that this boy’s personality was too uncontrollable and in order to avoid losing control of his abilities at any time, the Supervision Department sent him to Chi Ting’s team to be disciplined.

During the subsequent mission, Ji Xingque did almost hurt the survivors due to failing to control his power well. He was punished by Chi Ting to face the wall and think about his mistakes.

However, now it was obviously different from the past.

Chi Ting once again saw this kid causing explosions like fireworks, but he felt very kind.

As if he didn’t see the remains of the demons that were blown to pieces, Chi Ting used Ji Xingque’s opened path to walk out the castle gate, stepping on the layers of corpses.

The fire from the continuous explosions made his profile seem bright yet dark. Looking down, he could see the demons pouring up the mountain from the ancient city at the foot of the mountain.

It was undoubtedly an amount large enough to make everyone feel despair.

[F*k, this pink-haired young man’s personal skill is a bit unbelievable! What is this lethality? Really!]

[It is as if watching the Bomberman plus…]

[This posture looks like one person can sweep through an instance by himself! The contribution points after this round will also explode. If he can really clear the instance, the rewards will be huge!]

[What is going on with Chi Ting? Is he just standing by and watching? Is he going to rely on his teammate?]

[I think there are too many monsters. Even if the pink-haired one can fight, it is hard to hold on.]

[I also feel like they made a miscalculation. There is a huge disparity in numbers. The number of these demons can be called an army!]

[The physical consumption for personal skills is indeed a bit too great. Ji Xingque is already starting to struggle a bit. If he doesn’t think of a way, he will be finished sooner or later.]

In the tense situation, the barrage in the live stream room also surged with the flickering firelight.

Qiu Ji glanced at the content above but didn’t pay too much attention to it. He was still paying close attention to the scene in the instance.

On the screen, Ji Xingque’s body was already stained with sticky blood. His apricot-shaped eyes had long been filled with excitement. The sparkling look in his eyes was as bright as the surrounding fire.

He held the huge gun on his shoulder. As he kept shooting, he also threw out some ammunition. In this explosive world that he enjoyed to the extreme, his chest gradually rose and fell, and the arc of his mouth contained some madness.

The demons that kept pouring out were surrounding him from all directions but they were slaughtered by his intensive firepower. Facing the increasing number of monsters, his excited expression was still full of a wanton, youthful spirit. It was as dazzling as his cannon fire.

At his feet, more and more corpses started to pile up.

Ji Xingque’s expression couldn’t capture any fear. He was even full of extreme enjoyment.

He was still laughing.

This situation undoubtedly proved Ji Xingque’s absolute strength suppression. However, the atmosphere of the live stream room didn’t ease much.

It was precisely because they had a broader perspective that the audience knew what type of despair these two people would face next—the number of this demon army was too much!

It was obviously such a fun and crazy killing, but the barrage in the live stream room was much slower due to excessive worry.

At this time, Chi Ting finally made a move under their watchful eyes.

It didn’t take too much preparation time, but it was rare to see Little Bird being able to let go and have fun like this. As the captain, Chi Ting considerately chose to let his team member have a good time first.

Now that he saw more and more monsters appearing in his field of view, he finally slowly took off the beads on his wrist.

After entering this instance, Chi Ting’s string of beads had been hanging on his wrist. Many people noticed it, but they subconsciously regarded it as ordinary jewelry.

It wasn’t until they saw him taking it off that the audience’s attention was completely attracted.

There was a strong pull, and the string of beads instantly spread out all around him. They fell on the ground and rolled a few times before stopping quietly.

The special white texture was quietly coated with a faint layer of red in the surrounding firelight. It was just like the flowers of hell blooming layer by layer on a pure land.

The clear snap of his fingers was particularly clear amidst the monster’s heart-rending screams.

Ji Xingque realized what was about to happen and couldn’t help coming back from the explosive world that only belonged to him. He looked over hurriedly.

In the next second, everyone in the live stream room saw the human-shaped shadows floating from the white beads.

Compared with the viewers who were new to him in this instance, Qiu Ji had watched the live stream of the previous instance and had seen such a scene.

However, at this moment, he had no time to pay attention to the content of the barrage that instantly broke out. He was so shocked that he stood up.

The number was too much!

Compared with the human figures summoned in the Love Apartment instance, the phantoms that appeared from these beads now densely packed the open space in front of the castle.

They were solemn and ready to act.

The vast number was enough to be called an army of phantoms.

Qiu Ji had long been accustomed to big scenes in this unlimited world, but in this situation, his hands on the table couldn’t help trembling slightly.

At this time, he was naturally aware of it.

Obviously, the previous summoning in the Love Apartment wasn’t Chi Ting’s upper limit. Now it seemed that the number of summons carried out at that time was just because the lobby of the first floor of the apartment was too crowded.

Qiu Ji also knew many leading players of top teams, but this was the first time he had seen such ridiculously powerful summoning skills.

What about the demon army?

Chi Ting alone had an army of phantoms!

After a brief silence, Qiu Ji slowly stroked his forehead and sat back down on the sofa.

He looked at the famous names on the friends list and thought about it for a while. But he still didn’t choose to click on it. “The Sanctuary has been quiet for so long. It seems that it is finally going to be lively again. It is time for the names on this list to go through a major change… I had better wait until then to let them feel a headache along with me.”

In this instance, Chi Ting was still standing still.

Since he had met Ji Xingque again in the instance, his mood was obviously a bit more complicated than before when he saw his former companions again.

He stared intently at a few phantoms in front of him.”

After a pause, he slowly called out the first name. “Xiao Lu.”

One of the phantoms responded respectfully, “Here!”

Chi Ting looked at the next one. “Old Song.”

“Here!”

The response was exactly the same as in his memory. A smile gradually appeared on Chi Ting’s face. “Meimei?”

The graceful figure not far away looked back. “Here.”

Chi Ting’s eyes fell on the shorter phantom at the end. “So, Little Bird?”

The moment the named phantom opened his mouth, Ji Xingque not far away also responded simultaneously.

Two voices overlapped at the same time. “Here!”

Chi Ting slowly looked up, and his eyes fell on the demon army in front of him. With his hair flying in the wind, he gave the final order in an understated tone, “Go ahead and destroy them.”

Everyone replied, “Got it!”

The final tone was accompanied by a gust of night wind and dissipated into the silent night.

The final flames of war were completely ignored. Both sides were:

The demon army.

And the last hope of humanity in the past, the team with the codename: Dawn.