Chapter 23

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As the beastly roars summoning from the Bandasia Divine Shrine gradually drifted into the distance, the higher beasts and ordinary wild animals across the Bandasia continent instinctively began converging toward the direction of the shrine.

Not only the creatures on land—the eagles and hawks soaring in the azure sky of Bandasia emitted sharp, piercing cries, their vast wingspans nearly three meters wide as these magnificent birds of prey howled through the air.

The beast god worshiped at the Bandasia Divine Shrine was the supreme deity of the entire Bandasia continent, ruling not only the land but the skies as well.

As they drew closer to the dense Bandasia forest, the young cub riding on the back of the grey wolf Wolberly wore an expression of unceasing wonder.

“There really are so many, so many fluffy ones!” the tiny cub exclaimed excitedly, seemingly having forgotten its hunger. The little one, no bigger than a speck, wriggled about on Wolberly’s back, glancing left and right in amazement.

Countless wild beasts unseen by Su You all surged toward the same destination at this moment—antelopes, grey rabbits, foxes, cheetahs... these creatures, which should not naturally coexist peacefully, paid no heed to one another’s presence.

So much so that even Wolberly and Berriman, mortal enemies, running side by side, did not strike anyone as strange.

If there was any oddity here, it was the humanoid cub on Wolberly’s back—but no matter how cautious the higher beasts were, upon seeing that cub’s bright aquamarine eyes scanning left and right, they instinctively ignored him, as if deep within their hearts, they had already accepted him as a being posing no threat whatsoever.

Yet, apart from Su You, the remaining ninety-nine candidate kings did not share such fortune.

Including Silvarando, the wing-blooded hybrid soaring in the air, all the candidate kings faced the angry roars and snarls of ferocious beasts as they approached the beast tribes in this grand charge toward the shrine—

“Leave! Leave!!”

Each roar from the higher beasts conveyed the same message—leave our ranks, leave this place!

We are heading toward the Bandasia Divine Shrine, a sacred place belonging solely to the beast tribes!

No outsiders are allowed to come near! No outsiders!

Even Silvarando, flying in the sky, was attacked by birds of prey. Massive eagles and hawks, claws extended, swooped down at him, their enormous feathers, comparable to the wings of the wing-blooded, serving as their weapons.

As a hybrid wing-blooded, Silvarando’s flying ability was not exceptional; he could not hover for long nor reach the soaring heights of these grand birds of prey.

Below his flight path, several ferocious beasts roared sharply in his direction—Silvarando was certain that if he dared to continue approaching this pilgrimage path of the beasts, the number of hostile beasts awaiting him both in the air and on the ground would only grow.

These ferocious beasts would never allow beings from outside Bandasia to glimpse their sacred ground!

Even with his SS-level potential, Silvarando could not single-handedly confront such a massive and frenzied horde at this moment.

Facing the threat of these birds and beasts, after brief deliberation, the hybrid wing-blooded warrior ultimately chose to retreat—originally advancing nearly alongside the first wave of beast hordes and fierce birds, Silvarando now decisively withdrew.

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The higher birds of prey circling low in attack, upon seeing Silvarando’s tactful retreat, emitted a series of sharp cries before roaring again into the sky and continuing their flight toward the Bandasia forest.

Only when the ferocious beasts charging across the plains below ceased their threatening low growls toward him in the air did Silvarando halt his retreat.

This golden-haired, finely featured hybrid wing-blooded warrior only flapped his wings to hover again after confirming he had reached a safe zone.

At this moment, his bound War King System 002 finally issued an approving voice after he had made a series of decisions: [Very good, Silvarando. You have made a very wise choice for yourself.]

Silvarando hovered lightly in the air, observing the direction where the beast hordes advanced, and intently wondered aloud, “...What exactly are these beasts gathering for?”

As one of the War King candidates, Silvarando certainly could not understand the situation unfolding here as clearly as the audience might.

The War King System 002, serving as the guidance system for online contestants, was also partially restricted in information access; yet as one of only nine original-level systems in this competition, even with limited data, System 002 could still provide analytical support to its host.

System 002: [Based on analysis, the current convergence of beast hordes is typically seen in groups with a beast king—an absolute authority within the herd. When the beast king issues a summoning command, the herd gathers toward the beast king’s location.]

Silvarando fixed his gaze on the colossal primeval forest, a canopy so dense it blocked out the sky. Watching the swiftly migrating diverse beasts both on land and in the air, he accurately observed, “These migrating herds come from entirely different clans.”

System 002 responded calmly: [Therefore, the beast king residing in that forest is no ordinary leader—in this 12768th dimension, there exists a ruler above all herds, possibly the King of All Beasts, or perhaps...]

This dimension’s beast tribes share a unified deity or faith.

Silvarando fully understood the implication left unsaid by System 002.

In today’s grand cosmic entertainment era, faith-based civilizations in the main universe have been utterly destroyed, but among the billions of subordinate dimensions, the frenzied entertainment wave from the main universe has yet to completely sweep through every one of them.

Within these countless primordial subordinate universes, many still preserve faith traditions—while gods may not exist, lifeforms within these dimensions choose to believe in deities and faith.

The orc warrior Salvador’s dimension is one such place, as is Silvarando’s own dimension.

Hovering in the air, the hybrid wing-blooded warrior watched the frenzied migration of the beasts toward the forest’s depths. Their fervor resembled that of zealous devotees, sensing the call of their god and rushing headlong toward the seat of their faith.

So...

Silvarando’s eyes turned toward the distant, sky-blocking, unfathomably deep forest—if he wished to uncover the true reason behind all this, he would still have to attempt entering that mysterious wilderness.

Yet, clearly, now was not the time.

Silvarando observed the beasts charging across the plains and the hawks flying overhead—the initial wave of the beast tide had passed, and the most powerful S-ranked beasts had all entered the forest.

Following them were beasts of A and B rank... As their ranks decreased, they posed virtually no threat to Silvarando, an SS-ranked warrior.

At the same time, Silvarando also sensed other War King candidates converging in the area—not all candidates chose to boldly hover in the sky like him. Whether hiding behind massive trees or in the wasteland, Silvarando’s keen perception had already detected their presence.

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“One, two, three...” Silvarando silently counted the emerging candidates, until reaching ninety-seven, when everything abruptly ceased.

“None more?”

Frowning, Silvarando extended his senses further outward.

But even at the limit of his perception, he could not detect the presence of the remaining two candidates.

Could it be... that within the brief time since arriving in the 12768th dimension, some candidates had already perished?

System 002 perceived Silvarando’s doubt and calmly replied, “As of this moment, no candidate deaths have been recorded in this season of ‘Super Meta War Kings: Chaos Battle II.’”

“No deaths?”

Silvarando paused—could it be that the absent candidates chose to forego gathering points, instead relying solely on survival scores to advance through the knockout rounds?

“002,” Silvarando summoned his system, “What are the numbers of the absent contestants?”

System 002 coolly reported, “The candidates not detected within the host’s sensing range are numbers 001 and 098.”

Silvarando was stunned—a pair of extremely contrasting numbers, 001 and 098.

This disparity ruled out the possibility that these two candidates had allied.

So... why would these two candidates ignore the sweeping beast tide engulfing the entire 12768th dimension and refuse to come?

Or perhaps... these two candidates had appeared but had already left the area, venturing into realms even closer to the ferocious beasts?

Considering this possibility, Silvarando’s gaze toward the distant forest grew even deeper.

Meanwhile, across the plains still traversed by beast hordes, on the land itself, nine War King candidates appeared one by one—some blazing with fierce flames, some with skin resembling flowing azure waters, others armored as if with impenetrable shells.

When these eight S-ranked candidates and one SS-ranked candidate gathered together, even the charging beast tide instinctively avoided this perilous zone.

On this wasteland, the aura and pressure radiated by these nine top-ten candidates were equally formidable, yet within the hearts of all nine, including Silvarando, a shared question lingered—where, exactly, was that candidate numbered 001?