The Endgame (Part Two)

The elevator moved slowly. The Killing Zone was unusually quiet today.

Xu Kai knew why, of course. Only a few hours had passed. Nurse Lin's neck had been badly injured, and she had suffered burns all over her body. She had recovered from at most half her injuries. Only Leng Chong was in slightly better shape; his eyes should have been fine.

Neither of them was in good shape, so they wouldn't attack him in the elevator's cramped confines.

They would definitely join forces, though.

Earlier, in the stairwell, the fight had taken plenty of twists and turns, but on the face of it, he had fought three opponents alone, severely injured two, and killed one. It would have been strange if they hadn't joined forces. Xu Kai had expected as much.

Ding-dong.

They had reached the second floor. Xu Kai opened the door. Sure enough, the cafeteria wasn't in front of him. Instead, a red carpet stretched all the way into the Arena's cage.

The change of scenery didn't faze Xu Kai. Carrying the box, he walked along the red carpet toward the Arena's enormous cage at his own pace.

The stands were packed with spectators, all roaring as though eager for the gladiatorial feast.

Xu Kai understood their roars. The words were growing clear, and he knew full well that he was beginning to alienate.

He took another two red pills from the box and swallowed them, but they had almost no effect.

Just then, Xu Kai saw the other elevators open too.

But only one elevator had anyone in it, and two people came out of it: Leng Chong and Nurse Lin.

They had openly joined forces. They walked down the red carpet as well, arriving in front of the Arena cage.

The three met one another's gazes.

Leng Chong spoke first, his voice wary.

"Why? You could have destroyed all the medicine, and then I would have been sure to die. But you still left some behind."

Xu Kai didn't answer. Instead, Nurse Lin spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Cough, cough. Obviously, he's running out of time. Why not embrace alienation? That way, you wouldn't have to hold back..."

Xu Kai said nothing. Instead, he tossed the medicine box into the air, his eyes fixed on it.

"Not good!"

Leng Chong knew that Xu Kai was about to activate his Talent and burn the medicine box.

Leng Chong didn't dare take the chance. He had checked the surveillance footage earlier and seen that the pharmacy had already been burned down. If this box was destroyed too, he would break the rules today as a patient.

So he rushed forward. In that instant, Leng Chong felt incredibly fast. Though he had moved later, he reached the box first and raised a cloud of icy mist, concealing it within. Xu Kai's Talent still hadn't reacted.

Leng Chong's webbed fingers flew as he quickly pried open the medicine box, found his own portion inside, opened it, and swallowed it.

Nurse Lin shook her head when she saw this. It was plainly a trap.

If Nurse Lin hadn't wanted to take a gamble, with this being a rare opportunity, she would never have joined forces with Leng Chong.

Leng Chong wasn't stupid, but he was too timid and too desperate. He could no longer recognize even such an obvious trap.

Sure enough, the moment Leng Chong swallowed the pills, a muffled bang rang out. A stream of Weird Energy burst from his body. Once outside, it didn't move about wildly. Instead, like a vacuum cleaner, it sucked up all the icy mist Leng Chong had released.

The sudden, grievous injury left Leng Chong wracked with pain, and he had no time to produce more icy mist. As the mist dispersed, he saw Xu Kai's icy red eyes.

Sizzle!

Leng Chong burst into flames from head to toe as though he had been doused in gasoline. His fleshy wings folded together in pain, and he clutched the medicine box as he fell from the air.

Nurse Lin seized the opening and rushed in front of Xu Kai. She slashed at lightning speed, cutting through the air and sending a blade of energy grazing past his face.

"Xu Kai, did you see that? This is the power of alienation. I couldn't have produced blade energy before."

"So you were even stupider before you alienated?"

"Hehe, keep mocking me. Last time, under the stairwell's rules, I could only use my blade skills for about a second. Here, my Talent won't be suppressed."

Leng Chong lay dying on the ground, but the two had no time to spare for him as they faced each other.

In that instant, Nurse Lin's entire bearing changed. The red pupils in her eyes split, taking on the shape of two half-blade silhouettes.

"My Talent is a passive Talent: Blade Soul!"

With that, Nurse Lin actually stepped through the air. Blade energy lurked faintly wherever her feet landed. The sight dazzled Xu Kai. Clearly, what Nurse Lin had said just now hadn't all been empty boasting.

Faced with those blade silhouettes, Xu Kai's first thought was to dodge. He flashed backward and felt a gust of forceful wind. Before he could react, his vision went dark, and he died.

After loading back, Xu Kai gauged from the position of his wound that the first strike had come at him diagonally. He turned sideways to dodge, but another gust of forceful wind followed, and he died again.

After loading back once more, he drew on his previous two attempts, first turning sideways, then bending down to dodge. Unfortunately, he was a little too slow and was cut down by Nurse Lin again...

On his one hundred and twentieth load, Xu Kai watched the blade silhouettes rush toward him, his expression calm.

As though he could see the future, he jumped a meter straight up, passing just over the head of Nurse Lin, who was lying flat on the ground. Nurse Lin flipped over in an instant, but Xu Kai had already adjusted his footing and leaped again. He then released Weird Energy and pulled diagonally, slipping sideways past the Nurse. He had no weapon; he merely held his index and middle fingers together, and the Weird Energy they formed slid along the Nurse's side, opening a huge gash.

Blood gushed from the Nurse's side, but she didn't panic. She walked a few more steps forward, then turned to face Xu Kai again.

"Cough, cough. Such exquisite close-combat skills. It's absurd! What exactly is your Talent? You can control fire and have such exquisite close-combat skills too."

As Nurse Lin spoke, she pressed a hand over her wound, using her alienated state to let it slowly heal.

It wasn't that Xu Kai didn't want to press his advantage. He first looked over at Leng Chong, who had already lost consciousness and collapsed on the ground. Xu Kai fixed his gaze on him, and flames burned once more, finally reducing Leng Chong to ashes.

Finishing off Leng Chong was the best choice. There was no telling what traps Nurse Lin might have up her sleeve.

Besides, based on his last experience in the Arena, once he dealt with Leng Chong, he could leave after completing a round of duels.

As that thought crossed his mind, Xu Kai looked around. His gaze sharpened, and he was somewhat puzzled.

He couldn't leave the Arena. Unlike last time, he couldn't easily dispel the fog clouding his perception and return to the cafeteria.

Last time, Xu Kai had killed a random patient and immediately returned to the cafeteria. Yet this time he couldn't. Why was that...?

While Xu Kai was pondering this, he looked up and saw something flash on Nurse Lin's arm. Something appeared there.

"Are you wondering why the Arena hasn't disappeared? Because I have the key."

Nurse Lin held up the object in her hand and waved it. Xu Kai narrowed his eyes.

It wasn't a key, but a large ladle—Fat Auntie's ladle.

"You're working together?"

"Hehe, who knows? Oh, right, Stone Statue Weird sends his regards. It's time for you to die, material!"