Chapter 653: Clash of Titans |
The light spots seemed to leap closer along the continuous mirror surfaces, appearing harmless at first glance. But a player's instincts drove the burly player at the front to toss out an item: "People, people, people, from the masses!"
A plastic sumo wrestler doll instantly filled the hallway. However, the mirror surfaces weren't pushed open. Instead, the inflatable doll squeezed the SDF players' space, forcing several of them together. But the doll couldn't stop those light spots!
"Whoosh!" A light spot shot out from the mirror with a piercing sound, slammed into a player's defensive item, then ricocheted into another mirror!
"Light it up!" the burly player roared. Yet when the item illuminated, the same light spots appeared in several mirrors around them!
"The light spots multiplied!" the lantern-carrying player immediately withdrew their item, but the light spots already in the mirrors didn't vanish. Trembling, they flew out of the mirrors one after another, constantly rebounding within the narrow space like hyperactive tennis balls.
In a cramped, confined area, one "tennis ball" bouncing around was trouble enough, let alone eight of them!
Several players cycled through their attack and defensive items. While they could block the light spots' damage, they had no good way to stop them. One unlucky player had their arm bone shattered by a hit.
"Hurry up and recall your doll so we have some room!" the shorter player shouted at the burly player. The latter replied irritably, "Do I dare? What if it multiplies even more!"
"We shouldn't have tested it in the first place!" one of them complained.
"Don't just hide in the back without saying a word! Think of something!" the shorter player said to Xu Huo.
Xu Huo had already switched to the protective suit he'd purchased from District 011. He used both items and his bare hands to catch the light spots. The force of these spots bouncing around was immense, but as long as he was careful, he could avoid vital areas. The only real trouble was that even if he caught them with his hands or let them hit his body, the light spots wouldn't disappear.
Ignoring the shorter player, he pulled a roll of cloth from his luggage compartment and hurled it at the nearest mirror.
This was cloth woven from an item, which Xu Huo occasionally stockpiled for other uses. Its width was just enough to cover one mirror.
The moment the cloth covered the mirror, the two light spots flying toward the shorter player vanished instantly.
The shorter player had been shielding his face with both hands. Sensing the sudden disappearance of the light spots, he looked up at Xu Huo, then grabbed the roll of cloth from him. "I'll help!"
With a few sharp slashes, the cut pieces of cloth covered all the mirrors. The constantly rebounding light spots vanished one by one. A look of joy appeared on several players' faces. The burly player punched down on one of the mirrors through the cloth, and with a "crack," the mirror shattered.
The group hurried through the mirror gap, only to see the corpse of the player who had left with Captain Wang on the other side!
"There's blood on the floor." The shorter player crouched down to inspect carefully and confirmed it was left by Captain Wang. "He went further inside."
"We can still catch up!" the burly player said. As they prepared to move, they suddenly noticed two people were missing. The mirror they had broken had restored itself. The shorter player stepped forward and slapped it twice. "Where did Wu Zhao and 3304 go?"
3304 was the number on the SDF uniform Xu Huo had worn earlier. When the burly player shattered the mirror, Xu Huo and the player next to him, 3973, had been swallowed by a mirror that actively slid in from behind, forcibly dragged into another mirror space.
The moment they were swallowed, before they could even steady themselves, countless mirror shards flew at their faces. Xu Huo shoved 3973 aside, slammed one hand down, and the Severing Ties Door crashed into place in front of him. As the shards sprayed, he grabbed the side of the door and leaped sideways, firing a shot at the center of the nearly closed mirror. He threaded the kite string through.
The string went taut for less than a second before falling slack. Staring at the perfectly restored mirror, Xu Huo slowly reeled in the string, then produced the Murmuring Sphere from his hand. In an instant, he pulled the entire third floor into his mental world.
Wiping one hand across the floor, he pulled a grenade from his backpack and tossed it forward...
"What the fuck!" 3973 leaped behind the Severing Ties Door.
The grenade's explosion didn't rebound backward. Instead, it blasted a massive hole in the floor. The supposedly reinforced concrete building floor shattered like dry mud, layer by layer, and the mirrors that had lost their footing fell along with it.
As the mirrors around them fell, the SDF players who hadn't been far apart spotted each other's figures. Not only that, but they also saw a woman in red standing not far away.
Captain Wang could still speak. Clutching his bleeding chest, he tossed a house-shaped item over. "Choose your address, but no changing it!"
The item landed and sprayed out a square net that shot toward the woman. But before it could even get close, she flicked it away with a single finger. The powerful shockwave created a nearly visible shield surface. The woman landed on the collapsed concrete chunks, flipped her long hair, and winked flirtatiously at the men. "Men are so rough. You actually broke such a fun little toy like the Mirror Maze this way. But that's the beauty of items-you can use them anytime, anywhere."
As she spoke, a small mirror shard appeared in her hand. She raised it, but her expression suddenly changed. She yanked her hand back and kicked out!
Xu Huo blocked her kick, sliding back two or three steps. He transformed his sword into a water jet gun and, after predicting her movement, fired in rapid succession!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Every shot hit the woman's position, but she seemed to have a transparent protective film around her body, blocking the water streams every time. As she moved, the collapsed concrete rolled along the floor like a snowball, growing larger and larger.
Dodging the concrete ball, Xu Huo casually threw on an item coat. His figure vanished once again, just like when he'd attacked the woman in red earlier.
"Not this again!" The running woman in red suddenly stopped. She clapped her hands together, and red powder exploded in a five-meter radius around her!
Xu Huo was inevitably stained by the powder. He didn't care about revealing his position and used Forced Forgetfulness on the woman in red.
The woman in red had a momentary blank look. But the moment her gaze met the man closing in on her, her combat instincts kicked in. She thrust both hands forward. "The Charm of Rejection!"
Xu Huo, now right in front of her, was shoved backward. At the same time, the Crimson Sword sliced through the air, straight for the woman in red.
"Bang!"
"Clang!"
Xu Huo landed on one foot to absorb the force, and the sound of the woman in red blocking the strike with a defensive item rang out simultaneously. Both stopped in their tracks, staring at each other from five meters away. After a brief standoff, dust flew up from beneath their feet at the same time!
After the fierce clash, the two quickly disengaged and repositioned. The woman in red turned and tossed a red thread toward Xu Huo. "Love Me, Heart to Heart!"