Chapter 272: Proof of Dominance

Chapter 272: Chapter 272: Proof of Dominance

Lance reacted in a flash. He threw out his arms, grabbing Nieve by the shoulder with one hand and snatching the still-dazed Bazzer with the other, forcibly steadying them and preventing them from falling amidst the panicked crowd.

With one final, violent, earthquake-like tremor.

The entire Underground City suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Then.

An announcement from the Underground City’s consciousness appeared in everyone’s minds.

The moment they saw the message, the ten thousand people in the square were plunged into profound shock, so stunned that for a moment, no one could make a sound.

This was because the announcement heralded an unprecedented mode for the Summer Crown.

[The Heroic Spirit Species has been fully awakened.]

[The rules of the Summer Crown have been forcibly changed. Now officially entering the ultimate mode: Phased Deathmatch!]

[Warning: The entire Underground City is now completely sealed. All means of escape are nullified, and no messages can be sent out. From this moment until the end of this Summer Crown, no one may leave this Underground City.]

[Team Ranking Rules Reset: All participating teams must complete consecutive assaults on three designated special regions. If any one of these regions is not successfully conquered, the trial will be deemed a failure for all, the team rankings will be completely voided, and there will be no team victor for this event.]

[If all three regions are successfully conquered, the teams that cleared them will be re-ranked according to their cumulative Crown Value.]

As for the individual rankings, the rules were even more brutal.

It was dubbed the [Iron Guard Trial].

[Ten Iron Guard Lords will soon descend upon the second region.]

[A Trial Taker must, under isolated conditions and without any outside assistance, single-handedly hunt down an Iron Guard and successfully claim the "Iron Blood Seal" it drops.]

[Only those who hold a Seal will be qualified to enter the final settlement phase for the individual rankings. The final placings will be determined by the amount of Crown Value each person possesses.]

The recent silence was shattered as the crowd erupted into chaos!

This meant that this Summer Crown was going to be exceptionally bloody and brutal.

First, there was the team competition.

Of the nearly one hundred Guild teams of all sizes present, only three could ultimately place on the leaderboard.

And that was only if they could successfully conquer three unheard-of special regions.

While cooperating to clear the new areas, they would also have to constantly watch out for a knife in the back.

The rules for the individual rankings were even more outrageous.

There were only a mere ten Seals, the only proof of completion!

Out of a massive pool of nearly ten thousand Adventurers, only ten people would even qualify to vie for a spot on the leaderboard.

This extreme imbalance—not nearly enough to go around—would absolutely lead to people killing each other for a spot.

But the competition for rankings and rewards wasn’t what terrified everyone present the most.

The truly terrifying part lay in the final warning attached to these rules.

[Special Declaration: Should the trial not be completed by the deadline, the Heroic Spirit Species will assume control of the Underground City and command hordes of Demons to conduct an extermination sweep. At that time, there will no longer be any safe zones within this Underground City.]

[Only when the number of survivors within this plane drops to 100 will the Underground City’s spatial anchor reopen.]

This was a hopeless situation, the likes of which had never been seen in the history of the Summer Crown.

This was no longer about pleasing the will of the Underground City according to precedent.

This was clearly a sealed meat grinder, set up to stage a bloody massacre of tens of thousands of people!

They could either fight with all their might in this meat grinder to reap glory and clear the trial together...

...or wait for time to run out and be drowned by the sea of monsters.

The captains of the three Grand Guilds present immediately realized the severity of the situation.

All these anomalies were caused by that awakened Heroic Spirit Species.

"The communication channels to the Star Realm have been completely sealed. Even if we wanted to call for help, no message would get through."

By this point, Bazzer had steadied himself with Lance’s help.

The Minstrel’s face was incredibly grim. He stared at the Obsidian Stele and explained to Lance.

"The Heroic Spirit Species is a very unique type of Dungeon Lord."

"The will of the Underground City does possess the ability to call upon the Heroic Spirit Hall in the Star Realm, but a Heroic Spirit rarely answers such a summons."

Bazzer swallowed hard and continued.

"And once a Heroic Spirit does answer the call, the Underground City will usually grant it immense authority to please the distinguished guest, hoping to entice it to descend again in the future."

"From the scattered historical records, those Heroic Spirits willing to answer an Underground City’s call were, without exception, blood-soaked butchers of war in their past lives."

Bazzer looked at the surrounding crowd and let out a long sigh.

"Look at these rules. This one is clearly a Tyrant who revels in slaughter."

However, as a seasoned veteran, Bazzer quickly composed himself and patted the dust from his clothes.

"But there’s no need for everyone to despair. No matter how the rules are changed, the upper limit of the Summer Crown’s difficulty is still restricted by the laws of the Material Realm. It’s impossible for there to be a truly unsolvable scenario."

"This time, the Rusted Stone Echo Dungeon has gathered the very best elite teams from the entire White River Province. With these Grand Guilds taking the lead, there won’t be any challenge we can’t overcome."

Bazzer’s words, spoken at just the right volume, seemed to echo the true thoughts of most Adventurers present.

Although this turn of events had certainly caught everyone by surprise, the situation had not yet deteriorated to an unsalvageable point.

However, just as the announcement of the rules concluded and the crowd had quieted down slightly, another strange phenomenon occurred.

On the giant Obsidian Stele, the empty top-ten section of the individual rankings suddenly erupted in a blinding white light.

Then.

Ten corporeal pillars of white light shot out from the stele, landing precisely on ten different people in the square.

Unsurprisingly, one of the pillars of light landed on Lance.

That wasn’t even the worst part.

The moment the pillar of light enveloped him, the tiny skull mark above his head—which had originally just signified his status as an unwelcome guest—was catalyzed by the light. It rapidly expanded, finally transforming into a massive, sickly green skull phantom over half a man tall, hovering conspicuously above him.

It instantly drew the unblinking gazes of everyone around.

Lance’s face wasn’t just dark with grimness anymore; it was literally green.

He was just about to curse the Underground City...

...but in the next moment.

Lance’s expression suddenly froze.

Those ten pillars of light were actually rewards given by the Underground City.

The pillars of light contained the exact coordinates of the ten Iron Guard Lords hidden in the second region, meant to save everyone the time it would take to find them.

But the information Lance received was completely different.

He had been personally targeted by that Heroic Spirit Species.

[Special Mission: Proof of Dominance]

[Your name in the Star Realm (Victor of the Contest Between Two Dragons) has successfully attracted the attention of the Heroic Spirit Tyrant.]

[As an ancient Dominator who was once defeated by the hand of a White Dragon, and as you are both of the True Dragon Species, he is invigorated by the aura you exude and is eager to test your mettle!]

[He has used his authority to randomly place a lock on four other Trial Takers who hold the coordinates to the Lords.]

[They can only remove the lock and obtain the Lords’ final coordinates by killing you in this square.]

[They have the right to abandon this trial, but once they accept, it will be a fight to the death.]

[This mission will directly affect the quality of the crown-title you ultimately obtain. It is mandatory.]

[Special Note: A Dominator is never stingy with rewards for a Hero. Provided you survive.]

The very moment he finished reading the message...

...Lance distinctly felt an icy gaze fall upon him.

It was not the gaze of a human.

It was a terrifying creature hidden in the darkness, its bronze-green Giant Dragon’s eyes wide open!

The next second.

Lance whipped his head around and spoke rapidly to Nieve.

"Take Bazzer to the Silver Hand right now! Get as far away from me as you can!"

’Those four Professionals who were locked down would never let me leave this square.’

It wasn’t just Lance who received a notification.

Just as the giant skull above his head transformed again, twisting into the shape of a ferocious, skeletal Dragon Head, everyone present received an area-wide notification from the will of the Underground City in their minds.

[Witness]

[All of you shall bear witness to a struggle of life and death.]

[Regardless of the outcome, all onlookers will receive a small amount of Crown Value as compensation, granted by the Underground City.]