TDU Chapter 470
TL Note: Just wanted to thank luduck again for the ko-fi! They also shared a neat song, which I’ll be sharing here cause it’s totally TDU-esque xD
Chapter 470 Dare to Die
This sudden upheaval left everyone momentarily bewildered. That ball could have easily killed them yet she had slammed it forcefully to the ground.
Could it be that Terrestrial Horse was also tired?
“How unfortunate indeed…” Terrestrial Horse lamented. “Originally, all the mechanisms should have released this ball with me, greatly reducing your chances of survival… but now…”
Qiao Jiajin picked up his bat and glanced at the black liquid at its tip, feeling a sense of unease.
When he had just smashed one of the balls, a large amount of the black liquid had splattered onto his bat and clothes.
It appeared to be some kind of oil.
Looking toward the distant ground, he noticed that everyone’s bodies had, more or less, been smeared with this black oil.
Those two tiny black balls had actually poured out a substantial amount of this strange liquid.
Terrestrial Horse now reached into her bamboo tube once more, only to find a single ball remaining inside.
“I am now the sole pitcher…” Terrestrial Horse forced out between clenched teeth. “I must admit, your peculiar technique has greatly reduced your death rates considerably and even pushed me to change tactics. Those two balls were meant to end you, but I’ve devised something more amusing.”
Qiao Jiajin reached out to wipe his bat, only to find the black oil unusually sticky. Wiping with his left hand would soil his left hand; wiping with his right hand would soil his right. There was no way to clean it.
He quickly lifted his gaze and focused on Terrestrial Horse. After all, she still had one final strike yet to be delivered.
Before the eyes of all present, Terrestrial Horse slowly drew out a coarse iron ball.
This would be her final attack, and also the most devastating one.
Even the somewhat dull-minded Qiao Jiajin felt a chill of foreboding the moment he saw the iron ball.
Years of street brawls had taught him that if he dared meet such an iron ball with his bat, the consequences for his body would be catastrophic. And with the ground now slicked with oil, the mere sparks from metal clashing against metal would already be fatal.
So was he… to swing, or not?
Qi Xia instantly understood Qiao Jiajin’s concern. Thus, he called out, “Fists, the method of victory is clear. Do not hesitate."
Qiao Jiajin glanced at Qi Xia, pondered for two brief seconds, then turned to the group still pushing the wheelbarrow. “Young ones, the instant Big ol’ Horse makes her move, you shove that wheelbarrow forward with everything you’ve got.”
“Will it work, Qiao ge?”
“Not sure,” Qiao Jiajin said. “This is the final pitch, either we all die together, or we all live together.”
Although Qiao Jiajin’s brief words offered no real promise of good news, the group felt a flicker of reassurance.
At this moment, Qi Xia slowly nodded. Qiao Jiajin had already gained his {Reverberation}. This Terrestrial Horse’s game was not a loss; at worst, even if Qiao Jiajin perished here, it would not be entirely unfortunate.
Moreover, for reasons unknown, {Purge All Power} had inadvertently destroyed all the game props scattered across Terrestrial Horse’s arena. From this angle… did Terrestrial Horse even have a fallback plan?
Whether the iron ball was caught or not, victory was already sealed.
If Terrestrial Horse took a moment to ponder, did she honestly expect the {Sacred Guardians} to stay indifferent?
To forgive one who defies the rules was to erode the {Sacred Guardians}’ sovereignty. Within {End Point}, the equilibrium of {Earthly Branches} and {Participants} was so tenuous that a single crack would bring irreparable disaster. Terrestrial Horse’s demise was therefore inevitable.
To endure more than two decades as an {Earthly Branch}, only to fall to a senseless demise—none would accept such a fate.
Everyone on the straight track gripped the wheelbarrow, their gaze locked onto Terrestrial Horse’s actions with Qiao Jiajin.
If they could just slightly influence the iron ball’s trajectory, they could emerge victorious from this treacherous game.
Qiao Jiajin slowly lifted the metal bat to his ear, reasoning from Terrestrial Horse’s perspective. Her previous strikes had not ended the game. In this round, if she sought to win, her target would certainly be the ones in the wheelbarrow.
‘It’s just a game of baseball,’ Qiao Jiajin muttered to himself. ‘Hit it, and we win. Miss it, and we die.’
He gripped the battered, dented bat with both hands, inhaled deeply several times to steady his mind, and fixed his eyes on Terrestrial Horse’s shoulders and arms.
“Everyone…” Qi Xia called back to those beside him. “Prepare to extinguish a fire.”
At his words, the members of Qi Xia’s team decisively removed their leather jackets, gripping them in their hands, eyes fixed intently on the arena. Qi Xia himself moved slowly toward the wall and picked up a ball from the ground.
Under the watchful gaze of all, Terrestrial Horse stepped back, calculated her trajectory, and hurled the iron ball with all her might.
At the same moment, Qiao Jiajin swung his bat with full force.
Both of them unleashed every ounce of strength in their arms, sending them hurtling toward the other.
The rush of air whistled past, and a black line streaked through the air. Qiao Jiajin swung at it with all his might.
{Clang}!!
A crisp sound echoed through the air, immediately followed by the snap of bones in Qiao Jiajin’s arms. In the next instant came the crack of his metal bat splitting in two.
Countless sparks exploded outward like a cosmic eruption, scattering in every direction.
At the same time, the group pushing the wheelbarrow immediately mustered every ounce of their strength, driving the {Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse} forward.
The iron ball’s trajectory was slightly deflected by Qiao Jiajin’s bat, originally heading toward Qiu Twenty sitting on the wheelbarrow. Fortunately, the ball’s trajectory was slightly off, and it flew by just ten centimeters away from him, its tremendous momentum carrying it far into the distance.
What followed was the roaring spread of fire across the arena.
The first to ignite was Qiao Jiajin’s bat, followed instantly by his arms and then his entire body. Soon after, the ice along the track and the leather jackets on the others also caught fire.
Before they could even leave the track, the blaze had engulfed them completely.
Nearby, the rest of {Cats} stood ready, palms slick with sweat. When they saw Qiu Twenty and the wheelbarrow flying off the track, they immediately charged forward, draping their leather jackets over the group’s bodies and legs. The flames were largely suppressed in an instant.
Qiao Jiajin discarded his broken bat and frantically rolled on the ground, but the fire fueled by the sticky black oil proved resistant to simple stop-drop-roll. Just as despair was about to overwhelm him, Qi Xia ran forward with the mud ball that had lost its toxicity, efficiently smearing it over the areas where Qiao Jiajin was on fire.
Though screams rent the air, all was brought under control within ten seconds.
Thanks to {Cats}’ exceptional coordination and agility, Terrestrial Horse’s self-directed {arson} was extinguished before it could spread further.
In the smoke-filled arena, only ragged breaths remained.
Even Qi Xia found himself admiring the difficulty of this game.
If the previous games had been made harder because of his own prior interference, who had tampered with this game?
Was it truly within Terrestrial Horse’s present ability to orchestrate such a level of chaos?
To guarantee survival in this game, one required not merely physical stamina, combat prowess, and intellect, but also mastery of the {Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse}’s history, profound comprehension of the {Big Dipper}, and the skill to confront a {Terrestrial-grade} adversary in the final round.
‘The mastermind behind this game is no ordinary figure…’ Qi Xia mused. The Terrestrial Horse before him could not possibly be the designer of this game, yet he also knew that all his memories regarding his time as an {Earthly Branch} had vanished.
Now, all he could do was hope that the mastermind was no longer among the {Earthly Branches}; otherwise, facing such a strategic genius, even he could not be entirely confident of victory.
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
