Chapter 222: After the Apocalypse

In the real world, a temperature of close to -200°C was roughly the same temperature as liquid nitrogen.

The vast majority of living organisms were unable to survive such extreme temperatures, and a human would only be able to survive in such an environment for an extremely short time before they were frozen solid, becoming as brittle as glass.

Not long after Yamata no Orochi unleashed this forbidden technique, the entire basin was reduced to this temperature. Concealed in an obscure corner of the basin, Hook’s body began to freeze solid within a matter of mere seconds. His joints were the first parts of his body to freeze solid, followed quickly by his feet and legs. He barely had a chance to even cry out for help before his entire body was completely frozen.

Everyone else in the basin was also struggling immensely against the glacial temperatures.

Nie Yiyi was expending an enormous amount of psychic power, using the wind around her to ward off the glacial temperatures in an attempt to save herself, but she was too weak to sustain this for very long. As her psychic power was being rapidly exhausted, her core temperature was also steadily dropping, and it wouldn't be long before she suffered the same fate as Hook.

With just a single forbidden technique, Yamata no Orochi had killed virtually all of the remaining combatants below the S tier in a short time, including even the rats that were hiding in the shadows.

Among the team of gun-wielders that Adam had previously run into at the airdrop site, there was a sniper with a concealment ability. Thanks to that ability, he had been able to survive to this point, and he was lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to snipe Adam down.

However, Adam had come here in his Sludge form, then immediately transitioned to his Clown form, so no suitable opportunity had arisen for the sniper.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

However, all snipers were well aware of the virtues of patience. No one had their guard up all the time, and as long as he had enough patience, an opening was definitely going to present itself.

He discovered that whenever Adam switched between forms, there was a brief moment in which he would return to his base form. That was his weakness, and the sniper knew that if he could capitalize on that window of opportunity when it next arose, then he would be able to take down Adam in a single shot.

Prior to arriving in the final zone, all of his teammates had already perished. After witnessing the fearsome power displayed by the likes of Yamata no Orochi, Diana, and the three psychic mutants, he had already given up all hope of surviving to the end.

He had severely underestimated this game, and as an adventurer and an adapter, he was going to have to pay the ultimate price for his lapse in judgment.

He had already accepted his own fate, but before he met his demise, he wanted to avenge his teammates.

Unfortunately for him, as the freezing temperatures spread through the basin, the embrace of death was coming far too quickly.

In one final act of desperation and defiance, the sniper fired a bullet at the spot where Clown had last appeared, following which he was frozen into an ice statue.

Before long, only the most powerful participants of the battle royale remained, but they were hardly thriving themselves.

Mole was warding off the glacial temperatures using the lightning that was coursing all over his body, while Rabbit and Armadillo were also doing the same with their soul power and yellow sand, respectively, but this was taking a huge toll on them.

In order to keep themselves from being frozen, they were having to constantly expend an enormous amount of psychic power.

"We can't keep going like this!" Mole's brows were tightly furrowed as he watched his own lightning flickering unsteadily around him. "I'm not going to be able to keep this up much longer!"

"We have to kill that damn snake!"

"But it's too strong for us!"

"That's true..."

While the three of them were discussing how to proceed, Eyeless was unable to deny himself any longer.

He raised his blade as he turned to Yamata no Orochi with a resolute expression.

.

"Even if this is where I'm destined to fall, I must face this challenge head-on!"

……

Everyone was struggling for survival under the effects of Yamata no Orochi's almighty forbidden technique, and as the one being directed targeted by the attack, Diana was in an even more terrible situation than everyone else.

She was the one who was situated closest to Yamata no Orochi, and as a result, she was the first one to be beset by the glacial temperatures.

As soon as the air temperature began to plummet, a layer of frost instantly appeared over her scales, and she felt as if her blood were about to freeze solid as her speed was drastically diminished.

She immediately tried to retaliate with a draconic breath, but as soon as the pillar of black flames erupted out of her mouth, it was forcibly snuffed out by a burst of glacial energy.

The same burst of glacial energy then swept over her to immobilize her entire body.

All of a sudden, Diana lost all movement in her wings, causing her to plummet out of the sky like a dead weight, but before she could crash to the ground, she was caught between the jaws of two enormous serpentine mouths.

Yamata no Orochi had opened two of its cavernous mouths to catch Diana, with one of them sinking its fangs into Diana's neck, while the other chomped down viciously onto her abdomen. At the same time, they were tearing viciously at her body, trying to rip her in half with the assistance of the glacial temperatures.

"So what if you've completely mutated?" Oni no Miko's feeble voice rang out from atop one of Yamata no Orochi's heads. "Yamata no Orochi is a world-destroying deity! Among dragons, only the god of all dragons could hope to stand against it! You've challenged an opponent far more powerful than yourself, and it's time for you to die for your insolence!"

While Oni no Miko was speaking, two more serpentine heads sank their fangs into Diana's body.

With four heads tearing at Diana's body at once, it didn't take long before one of her wings was ripped off, and a large volume of blood came gushing out of her body onto the ground.

Under normal circumstances, Diana possessed tremendous physical resistance, but unfortunately, her dragon scales had become very brittle due to the extreme freezing temperatures. In addition to that, Yamata no Orochi possessed limitless physical strength, so it was no surprise that Diana's body was struggling to hold itself together.

However, Diana wasn't without allies.

While she was caught between Yamata no Orochi's jaws, Adam had already appeared behind Oni no Miko.

"You're sounding really frail there, Miko. Are you about to die? Let me help you along!"

As soon as Clown appeared, it immediately fired a string of bullets at Oni no Miko's head and shoulders, punching a series of holes into her body.

It was clear that Oni no Miko was indeed in an extremely feeble state, as evidenced by the fact that even attacks of this caliber were able to injure her so severely.

After being pelted with bullets, more black mist began to surge out of Oni no Miko's body, and she resembled a fuel tank that was supplying Yamata no Orochi with power.

With increased nourishment from the additional influx of black mist, Yamata no Orochi became increasingly more violent, tearing at Diana's body with tremendous force.

"Let me see how long it'll take for you to bleed out!"

Clown continued to persist, conjuring up a whole host of clones to attack Oni no Miko at once, hoping to overwhelm her with sheer numbers.

However, at the same time, a giant serpentine head appeared in front of her to shield her from all of the oncoming attacks.

At the same time, three more of Yamata no Orochi's heads swept violently through the air from different directions, devouring or shattering all of Clown's clones.

Every single one of Yamata no Orochi's heads was a formidable opponent in itself, and it was certainly not an easy task to bypass those heads and kill Oni no Miko.

Under the freezing temperatures, Clown's clones were extremely slow and sluggish, and they were virtually nothing more than sitting ducks that were quickly shattered into ice crystals.

Thus, Adam's first sneak attack ended in failure.

However, he had successfully managed to draw the attention of four of Yamata no Orochi's heads, and with the other four heads continuing to tear at Diana, all of its heads had been distracted.

Right at this moment, a fearsome blade suddenly slashed through the air at an alarming speed.