Flames lit up the sky. Amid the thunder of countless explosions, the Tai Sui God commanded its war zombies, hastily retreating from the territory of the Eternal United States.
He had just unleashed a volley of missiles on a city in the Eternal United States. Once the job was done, he plundered its resources.
He was fair in his own way, choosing one nation to ravage per day and never attacking a second on that same day.
The returns were, of course, substantial. The damage he caused alone was so great that it was beginning to look like the Xuan Empire and the Eternal United States might temporarily set aside their deep-seated national animosity to deal with Qi Suian.
Meanwhile, in just half a month, he had already collected over half of the materials he needed for launch silos and intercontinental missiles.
War saw Qi Suian’s value. It increased its investment in him while also guiding him toward even more terrifying acts of warfare.
If Qi Suian kept this up for another half a month, both nations would probably be hunting him down relentlessly.
Not only was his material collection progressing rapidly, but the size of Qi Suian’s war zombie horde had also exploded to around fifteen thousand, making it a truly terrifying force.
In their wake, soldiers equipped with standard-issue Holy Relics were no match for them. They were turned into zombies in an instant, swelling the horde’s ranks.
[Warning: Enemy approaching at high speed...]
Qi Suian looked up from his research, a confused expression on his face.
"What the hell? Who’s coming here looking for a death wish?" Qi Suian didn’t quite understand. He’d made quite a name for himself on the battlefield, after all.
Of course, the AI and the Tai Sui God had done all the fighting for him.
He had been deeply engrossed in studying Eternal Beloved’s two Holy Relics, and his progress was excellent.
Driven by his protagonist halo and the impetus of War, Qi Suian’s research in biology and medicine had broken through its previous stagnation and was once again advancing at high speed.
Unfortunately, this was original research, not just studying, so his progress was inevitably slower than when he had pre-existing materials to learn from.
Still, any progress was good. It was far better than stagnating.
Furthermore, with the Plague and Disease Suite Module, if he just kept at it, he might be able to fully acquire the SS-rank Virus Talent in this world.
This was what excited Qi Suian the most.
[Seventh Execution Chamber, Chief Judge Sharp]
The Mastermind provided the answer.
’No one’s stopping him... Right. Given that I’m committing massacres in their countries every few days, I’ve long been a thorn in their flesh.’
’So the Xuan Empire is probably dying to see me dead too.’
Qi Suian quickly realized what was happening. He had offended them so badly that they couldn’t stand the sight of him. With Sharp coming to kill him, of course no one would interfere.
Even if someone made a move, it would only be after Sharp killed him, allowing them to swoop in and take advantage of the victor.
Regardless of whether he killed Sharp or Sharp killed him, the survivor was bound to be weakened.
And that would be the perfect moment to take advantage of them.
’I have about a seventy percent chance of winning.’
’But it has to be an ambush, and I have to use myself as bait.’
Qi Suian broke into a grin. "My protagonist halo really is something. I just finished installing the anti-ballistic defense system and high-speed stereoscopic interception technology, and it’s already delivered an enemy to my doorstep so I can get my revenge."
’It was even considerate enough to give me half a month to prepare.’
’I guess the opportunity Sharp is carrying is just too tempting for my protagonist halo to pass up.’
Such persistence... there was no way that old man had fallen for a sickly weakling like him. Aside from the fact that he’d played Sharp for a fool and made the man hate him enough to want to skin him alive, the only other reason had to be the opportunity presented by the puzzle-type Holy Relic in Sharp’s possession: the Elemental Chalice.
BOOM!
The moment Qi Suian finished his thought, the colossal war zombie shuddered violently.
This meant Sharp had arrived and was already attacking the war zombie.
The man’s elemental abilities, which he had clearly developed to a high degree, were indeed powerful.
Qi Suian, however, calmly and unhurriedly packed up all his equipment and samples.
The war zombie was just a mobile killing machine. Even if he lost it, Qi Suian could always build another—and he wouldn’t even have to do it himself.
But if anything happened to this equipment and these samples, his losses would be immeasurable.
"Mastermind, how long until he finds us?" Qi Suian asked casually.
The Tai Sui God’s reconnaissance network was monitoring Sharp’s every move.
[Estimated time: thirty minutes.]
[He is dismantling the war zombie. He most likely wants to eliminate external threats.]
[Though the war zombie itself is not that powerful, it poses an extreme threat to the soldiers of the Eternal United States.]
Hearing this, Qi Suian had to admit the guy was smart.
’Must be my protagonist halo at work again.’
After all, even if Sharp had never heard the saying "to catch a thief, first catch the king," he understood the principle: once Qi Suian was dead, the so-called war zombie would be nothing more than a pile of useless scrap.
"Fine. If the mountain won’t come to me, then I’ll go to the mountain."
"Sigh," Qi Suian lamented. "I haven’t even killed a protagonist yet. I don’t have the right to mock others for having a death wish."
If he had killed the native protagonist and the survivor protagonist, he could have used their protagonist halos to strengthen his own.
He wouldn’t just be dealing with a mere Chief Judge from the Seventh Execution Chamber. He’d dare to take on the Emperor of the Xuan Empire and the King of the Eternal United States combined.
Unfortunately, those were just ’what-ifs.’ For now, he just had to focus on the killing.
Once everything was packed, the Tai Sui God headed directly for Sharp’s location.
"Hmph. Not only are you not running, you dare to approach me?"
"Do you think you can fool me a second time?" Sharp sensed Qi Suian’s approach instantly. With that cold remark, he abandoned his assault on the war zombie and turned his attack on Qi Suian instead.
Qi Suian chuckled when he heard that. "I’ve heard that line before," he said provocatively. "Some old geezer said it right before I scared the piss out of him."
Sharp didn’t understand the "old geezer" slang, but the meaning of the rest was crystal clear.
But a mere taunt like that wasn’t enough to anger him or break his composure.
There was no point in getting angry with a dead man.
Yet, as he drew closer, the senses granted by his elemental abilities screamed in warning. It was a feeling that told him not to get any closer, that death awaited him if he did.
But Sharp ignored the warning completely.
He had his reasons. He’d experienced it once before: his opponent had used some unknown Holy Relic to manipulate his emotions.
Therefore, when facing Qi Suian, he refused to trust his own senses.
There were countless Holy Relics in the world with all sorts of bizarre powers. Emotion manipulation wasn’t exactly a rare ability.
He himself could even use his elemental abilities to influence emotions, though the effect couldn’t compare to a specialized power.
As long as he felt no fear, he couldn’t be deceived again.
"I can’t believe you walked right in with no defenses up at all," Qi Suian marveled, clicking his tongue.
The next moment, enhanced by the anti-ballistic defense system and high-speed stereoscopic interception technology modules, the Floating Cannons unleashed a dense web of Dark Energy Beams, forming a containment grid.
That wasn’t the deadliest part—after all, one could simply stay out of its range. The truly deadly part was that Sharp was already trapped inside.
Then, the net began to shrink.
Sharp immediately sensed the terrifying nature of the Dark Energy Beams. He had never encountered them before, but he knew he absolutely could not let them touch him.
"Elemental Art: Space... No, I can’t get out." Sharp’s first instinct was to escape the containment grid.
However, the grid was constructed from Dark Energy. While not as effective as an anti-ballistic missile interceptor module, Dark Energy had a unique property: it repelled other forms of energy and disrupted the surrounding environment.
Spatial abilities weren’t completely nullified by Dark Energy, but if one were to be injured by it mid-teleport, they had better pray they were either extremely lucky, possessed powerful regenerative abilities, or had an immense life force.
Lacking even one of those would result in being turned into a pile of mangled flesh.
Sharp, realizing the potential consequences, aborted his attempt to escape using spatial magic.
Elementalization? Against Dark Energy, that was also a death sentence.
"To think this is where my life ends." Sharp knew he couldn’t escape.
As the containment grid shrank, any hope of escape was extinguished.
"Hand over the Elemental Chalice, and I’ll give you a quick death," Qi Suian offered.
As for sparing his life, Sharp wouldn’t have believed Qi Suian even if he’d offered.
But Sharp just gave a serene smile. "You want it? Hah."
"The United States will avenge me. Your death is not far off."
With that, the elements around Sharp began to surge—not for a final, desperate attack, but to instantly engulf his own body.
Death came in an instant.
At the same time, the puzzle-type Holy Relic, the Elemental Chalice, fell from within the dissipating cloud of elements, tumbling toward the ground.
The Eternal United States’s retrieval mechanism triggered. Thinking fast, Qi Suian threw the Holy Orchestra toward it.
The Mastermind, with perfect precision, dispelled the Dark Energy Beams of the containment grid to avoid damaging the Elemental Chalice.
As the Holy Orchestra descended, the sound of its instruments and chanting created a field that immediately interrupted the retrieval mechanism.
Only then did Qi Suian breathe a sigh of relief.
"That was close. Way too close."
If the Elemental Chalice had gotten away, it would have been a catastrophic loss.
"Holy shit, SSS-rank?" Qi Suian’s eyes widened as he looked at it.
[Elemental Chalice: Error]
[Quality: A~SSS]
[Traits...]
Qi Suian didn’t read the rest. There was a long list of abilities, all related to the elements.
’Hmm, instead of a "Fragment" suffix, it has "Error." Looks like it’s not a puzzle-type Holy Relic assembled from its proper series. SSS-rank must be its limit.’
It wasn’t that Qi Suian had never acquired a puzzle-type Holy Relic before, but those all came with a "Pseudo" suffix, not "Fragment," which meant they had gone down the wrong developmental path.
And taking that wrong path to its absolute limit resulted in "Error."
However, what was an "error" for the Holy Relic itself wasn’t necessarily one for a human user.
Because of this "wrong path," humans could better use and control the Holy Relic, ignoring its side effects and costs.
Take this Elemental Chalice, for example. One could use it without worrying about paying a price, and there was no need to fear any lingering side effects afterward, as they had been reduced to almost nothing.
Even the cumulative effects were negligible.