Published at 4th of September 2026 6:53 am

Chapter 2263: Surrender

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Vikar, Alderic, and Erok had their eyes glued to the screen. The monitor didn’t allow them to see through the chaos. The dark fire, the thick smoke, and the black gas covered the battlefield.

What surprised them was the fact that there was no noise transmitted from the monitor. They thought there was something wrong with the broadcast, but quickly crossed the possibility.

There was no issue with the System. It was one of the Calamities that got rid of the sound. That was to cut them from surrendering. The fool Neret was panicking and was killed before he could figure out what happened.

A chuckle rang in the room, and the trio turned toward the source. Milecor was the smile on his life, which turned into a smirk when the three pairs of eyes locked onto him. His prophecy came true. Once the spirits were involved, they were no match for the Executive Administrator.

It was not because they were not strong enough, but because they would be killed before they could do anything. It was a duel, supposed to be one against one. That didn’t apply against their opponent, who could summon spirits that were as strong as God Rank.

They would be overwhelmed and killed before they could do what they were capable of. That was what happened to Tang Shaoyang’s fifth opponent in the last War of Worlds. It was repeated to Neret in the second duel.

His chuckle burst into laughter. He didn’t laugh at Neret, more for himself, mocking himself for accepting the job. What made him think that he could finish the job?

The one who commissioned the job should be aware as well that there were not enough. Unless they could set the battle on their terms, meaning they needed more than just five mercenaries to handle someone like Tang Shaoyang. So why did the Executive Administrator hire them to fight their fellow Executive Administrator, a new Executive Administrator?

As Milecor kept questioning himself, he connected the dots. The job was to kill, but their employer knew they were not enough to kill the target. So why? The answer was obvious when greed was no longer clouding his judgment. This was a setup.

"We have been had! That fucker knows we can’t finish the job! That fucker is using us to test out their new friend!" He burst out in anger.

The other three were still confused, thinking that Milecor had gone insane after losing the duel.

"You dumb brute! Look!" Milecor pointed at the screen.

Neret’s body was no longer there. They saw Tang Shaoyang take it, and the giant Calamity claimed the weapon.

"Can you win against him?" He questioned.

The trio looked at the screen, and they could not answer it. The answer was obvious, but they didn’t want to admit it.

"And based on our information about him, he has more than one hundred spirits! He hasn’t summoned them all! Now tell me, can you win against those things? Those are all Rank 9 Calamity!"

Again, the question remained unanswered.

"Then why did that fucker hire us to fight him? They should be aware that we need more than just five mercenaries to kill him! Then why?"

Erok, Vikar, and Alderic understood what Milecor tried to imply. When they thought about it again, it made even more sense now. The reward for the job was too good to be true. That was the reason why they accepted the job when their leader recommended it to them.

"They try to gauge the new guy before trying to finish him off by themselves. We are just bait to see the depth of him! If they truly want us to kill him, this is not the method. We are fighting on his terms, not our terms!"

"We are bound to be at a disadvantage!"

"We all five together can’t even scratch him, let alone kill him. Now we have to fight him one by one, and on his terms. This is suicide!"

Milecor said piece by piece, connecting the dots, and his voice got higher and higher in anger. They had been fooled. The worst part was that they could not do anything about it.

Erok, Vikar, and Alderic exchanged glances. This was the truth behind their hiring. The Executive Administrator Loke Ponteus was using their greed and grudge to accept the mission, and they fell for it, beautifully.

*** ***

[3rd duel: Tang Shaoyang (Tang Empire) vs Alderic Valmos (Silver Star)]

Tang Shaoyang watched the floating notification. He wished that Alderic Valmos would come out right away. But that was his wishful thinking. A minute passed, and Alderic Valmos didn’t show up.

[You are scaring him with your spirits.] Vandir’s chuckle could be heard in his head.

Tang Shaoyang looked behind him, and the spirits looked at him. After a quick observation, he nodded as what Vandir said made sense. His Calamity Spirits were quite terrifying, but he would not recall them. He wanted them to see his spirits.

Another minute passed, and his next opponent finally showed up. He was surprised to see his opponent was a human after facing an Ogre and a Lizardman. But then he remembered that Silver Star was a human-dominant faction.

Another surprise was the fact that Alderic didn’t use Bloodline Transformation. Now he even noticed that the man didn’t even hold a weapon despite wearing a full set of silver armor. He tried to say something to ensure the space was still muted. That was to ensure his opponent could not surrender right away.

He didn’t know what the deal was with his third opponent, but he would soon find out after the countdown. As the countdown ticked down and the duel started, something unexpected happened.

[Alderic Valmos surrendered!]

[Tang Shaoyang won!]

[4th duel: Tang Shaoyang (Tang Empire) vs Vikar (Silver Star)]

Tang Shaoyang was surprised and confused for a moment. He didn’t hear anything. His opponent’s voice was still muted, but he quickly understood what had happened.

Alderic was using his will to relay his intent to the System, and the System picked it up. But here was another question: why did his opponent surrender right away? Alderic didn’t even try, not even a single move.

Something happened in the last two minutes when he had to wait for Alderic to show up. Something happened in Arnain’s back room that made Alderic surrender.

Vandir was laughing in his head [I told you. You are scaring them with your spirits. You should summon more gentle and cuter spirits instead.]

Tang Shaoyang tuned out what Vandir told him, and he wished Alderic would say something. However, his opponent merely stared at him before disappearing.

He frowned, not liking the current situation. These people were wasting his time with this nonsense. Because the duel wasted his time. Added that he needed to attend the World Congress as well, more time was wasted, and he didn’t get to enjoy the duel or kill the people who challenged him.

He wanted to use these mercenaries to send a message about what would happen to the people if they accepted the job to kill him. That didn’t happen with them surrendering. No material from their body as well. He was annoyed.

He had a guess at what happened. These greedy mercenaries realized that they were no match for him, so they abandoned their job. They were hired, after all. They were not the people of Arnain. They would not take a stupid risk because Arnain was not their home.

Or maybe they were afraid of his spirit, just like Vandir said. To confirm it, Tang Shaoyang recalled all his spirits before going to the 4th duel.

His fourth opponent didn’t delay their duel. Vikar showed up in less than ten seconds. He quickly picked up the clue after Alderic.

Vikar was also human, wearing similar silver armor. He also didn’t have his weapon, and there was no Bloodline Transformation. He had a hunch Vikar would surrender as well, and he was proven right.

[Vikar surrendered!]

[Tang Shaoyang won!]

Share