Die, Replay, Repeat

In the blink of an eye, a massive arm, like a decaying mountain of flesh, came crashing down from the sky.

"No!"

Yan Changshou's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he screamed in pure desperation. His twisted body used its last ounce of strength, but against such a monstrous force, it didn't stand a chance.

Taotie grabbed him effortlessly, hurling him straight into its gaping, abyss-like mouth.

His scream was abruptly cut off. One bite, and Yan Changshou ceased to exist.

To Taotie, Yan Changshou's many lives were nothing more than a cruel joke.

Then, Taotie's projection shattered like a fragile bubble.

At that moment, Fang Xiu slowly came down from the sky. The black flames that wrapped around him allowed him a brief moment of flight. That was a small benefit of having reached the third tier and unlocking more of the Genesis Mask's powers.

He touched down gently. In the same breath, the dark flames forming the mask vanished, leaving his face pale and drained.

But before he could fall, countless silver threads sprang out, attaching themselves to his joints and keeping him upright.

"Summoning Taotie right now… is too much," Fang Xiu muttered under his breath. "Even though it was just a projection, barely a fraction of its real strength, it's still beyond what I can handle."

He looked utterly spent, his Spiritual Energy all but gone.

The Manifestation of Pain was powerful, but calling forth such strong entities demanded a solid base of power. Without the Genesis Mask, summoning even a sliver of Taotie would've been impossible.

"Xiu, are you okay?" Xiao Chuxia's voice came from a distance as she ran toward him, still shaken by Taotie's monstrous sight.

"I'm fine."

"What was that thing?" she asked, eyes wide with confusion.

Fang Xiu shot her a cold glance. "You don't need to know. Just understand this—lie to me again, and you'll join Yan Changshou in hell."

Xiao Chuxia's face paled, and she frantically shook her head. "I swear, I won't. Never again!"

"You'd better not. Now, let's go."

"Go? Where?" she asked, still bewildered.

Fang Xiu had already started moving toward the arena.

"The fight isn't finished yet. In fact, the real battle is just beginning."

Xiao Chuxia scrambled to catch up.

She was right to be confused. Yan Changshou's death hadn't settled anything. The true challenge still lay ahead with Joker.

As long as Joker remained undefeated, Fang Xiu couldn't claim victory over the Pokers.

And though he had little strength left for combat, Fang Xiu knew not all battles were fought with fists. Some, you win with words.

Sure, Taotie's projection looked fierce and overwhelming, but it was just smoke and mirrors—enough to crush someone like Yan Changshou, who relied more on tricks than raw strength. But against Joker? Fang Xiu doubted that illusion would work.

Given that Yan Changshou had his hidden cards, Joker likely had even more.

As Fang Xiu made his way back toward the arena, he activated Taotie's Mouth, devouring the nearby Snakeworms to restore some of his drained Spiritual Energy.

By the time he arrived, he had regained about half his power.

The arena was nothing more than rubble now, with the Class-S Specter Yan Changshou had unleashed running wild. Its rampage knew no bounds, slaughtering anyone in its path—whether they were from the Pokers or the headquarters.

The Specter had a ghastly body, corpse-like in appearance, and sprouted massive, blood-red wings behind it.

They resembled butterfly wings, but instead of beautiful colors, they were layered with scales.

Every flap sent waves of deadly, foul-smelling wind across the battlefield.

The air itself seemed to rot from its touch, corroding anything caught within its gusts.

Standing firm against this horror was Xiao Zhenhua, recently returned and fighting for his life.

Fang Xiu, meanwhile, watched the chaos from a safe distance, casually snacking on smaller Specter creatures.

The sight of him feeding was so unsettling that Xiao Chuxia had fled far away, unable to handle the horror.

Fang Xiu's eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the scene.

Xiao Zhenhua was fighting hard, but it was clear he was no match for the Class-S Specter. His All Equal ability, while strong, was barely enough to keep the creature at bay. He was completely on the defensive, doing all he could just to stall for time.

Fang Xiu's gaze shifted to the other battles raging nearby. The captains were locked in an intense struggle, their abilities clashing with no clear victor emerging.

They were all at the peak of the fourth tier—tough and skilled enough to keep from being overrun easily, though none of them had a decisive edge.

But Fang Xiu's attention soon turned to the heart of the battle—Fang Moli and Joker.

At first glance, it seemed Fang Moli was winning. He had Joker pinned down, trapped in a vortex of flashing sword strikes, leaving no room for escape.

"Die!" Fang Moli shouted, unleashing a powerful slash with the Xuanyuan Sword. A brilliant arc of golden sword energy lit up the sky.

Joker's body was split in two, falling apart as if he'd been slain.

But the next moment—

PUFF!

Joker's body exploded, not in blood, but in pieces of wood. They were broken puppets.

Fang Moli's face paled. "A Specter Gadget substitution? That can't be!"

He stared in disbelief. All this time, the Joker he had fought wasn't real—it was nothing but a clone!

Somehow, Joker had infused his power into a Specter Gadget, creating an eerily lifelike copy.

It wasn't the clone that scared Fang Moli—it was how strong it had been. If Joker's fake body could stand up to him for so long, how powerful was the real one?

"How could a fourth-tier expert be this strong? Unless…" A disturbing thought crossed Fang Moli's mind.

"Could Joker be a fifth-tier? No… now's not the time to think about that. Where is his real body?"

Fang Moli's grip tightened around his sword, his eyes darting around the battlefield. He was on high alert, ready for a sneak attack.

But nothing happened. Silence stretched on.

Then, a scream shattered the air.

It was Xiao Zhenhua's voice.

Fang Moli whipped his head around, only to see Joker standing behind Xiao Zhenhua.

No one had noticed Joker sneak up on him. His arm was buried deep in Xiao Zhenhua's chest, holding his still-beating heart in his hand.

With a casual squeeze, the heart burst, blood splattering across the battlefield.

Xiao Zhenhua's eyes went wide, frozen in shock and regret as life left his body.

No one had seen it coming. Instead of striking Fang Moli, Joker had gone for the unexpected, ambushing Xiao Zhenhua in cold blood.

Xiao Zhenhua was no pushover, but he was trapped in an impossible situation. He had to deal with the relentless Class-S Specter while also defending against Joker, who might very well be a fifth-tier powerhouse.

Caught between these two forces, even someone as strong as Fang Moli might have fallen. Xiao Zhenhua didn't stand a chance.

And so, he died. Despite arriving later than the others, he was the first to fall.

With Xiao Zhenhua gone, the Class-S Specter was unleashed in full force. No longer restrained, it tore through the remaining headquarters members, leaving death in its wake.

Bodies littered the battlefield as it rampaged on, killing anyone in sight.

Watching the horror unfold, Fang Moli's blood boiled. Rage consumed him.

His eyes flared with fury, and in a burst of raw emotion, he charged toward the scene, determined to end the slaughter.

But Joker was waiting. He sneered, his voice oozing with cruel satisfaction. "Fang Moli, my clone forced you to draw the Xuanyuan Sword again," he taunted. "If I'm right, you've only got one strike left in you. So, what's it going to be? Will you use that final blow on me—or on the Class-S Specter?"

Joker's words hung in the air like a noose tightening around Fang Moli's neck. He was forced into a nightmare of a choice.