Chapter 283: Imperial Ranking War: Paradise Destroyed

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The Free Heavenly Paradise Team entered the valley without realizing that they had already walked into a trap.

They were vigilant, at least by their standards. Nobody was carelessly wandering around, and their senses were spread throughout the surrounding forest as they moved. After hearing about the elimination of the Berserk Mountain God Empire, they knew that the Heavenly Bronze Empire was hunting the remaining teams, so they weren’t completely relaxed either.

Their problem was that they were looking for the wrong enemy.

They watched the trees for monsters, checked the ground for signs of beast territories, and searched the surrounding cliffs for hidden lairs. Whenever they encountered tracks, broken branches, strange scents, or other indications that a powerful monster might be nearby, they slowed down and investigated before continuing.

They were looking for signs of the secret realm.

They weren’t looking for people.

That was their mistake.

There were signs everywhere.

Several trees along the valley had been disturbed recently, but not by monsters. Patches of soil had been pressed down by human footsteps, while some branches had been deliberately bent and broken to create better lines of sight. There were even faint traces of chakra lingering in several places, subtle enough that an ordinary person might have dismissed them as remnants from some passing monster.

The Free Heavenly Paradise Team didn’t notice any of it.

They continued deeper into the valley.

Diana watched them approach from her concealed position.

She didn’t move.

Neither did Lily.

The fifteen members of the Heavenly Bronze squad were scattered throughout the valley exactly where Diana had positioned them. Every escape route was covered, the traps had already been prepared, and the enemy had entered the most advantageous section of the battlefield without realizing it.

Diana waited until the entire formation had passed the first marker.

Then she raised her hand.

The first explosion tore through the valley.

It wasn’t aimed at the Free Heavenly Paradise Team directly. It was a flare, an opening signal meant to announce the beginning of the attack while simultaneously triggering the other formations hidden throughout the valley.

The sound was enormous.

It echoed between the cliffs, shaking the surrounding trees and sending dirt and debris into the air. The Free Heavenly Paradise Team immediately reacted, but the suddenness of it shattered their formation before they could properly organize.

"What was that?!"

"Ambush!"

"Enemy attack!"

"Protect the center!"

The commands came from different directions at once, overlapping as everyone tried to understand where the attackers were coming from.

Then the other traps activated.

Explosions erupted along both sides of the valley, cutting off retreat routes and forcing the group toward the center. Formations buried beneath the soil released bursts of chakra, while concealed attacks came down from the surrounding cliffs.

Panic spread instantly.

They had walked into a trap.

That much was obvious.

What they couldn’t understand was how extensive it was.

There wasn’t simply one enemy waiting for them. The entire valley seemed to have been prepared specifically for their arrival.

The first Heavenly Bronze members emerged from the surrounding vegetation.

Then more appeared.

The Free Heavenly Paradise Team tried to regroup, but the ambush had already done its job. Their formation was scattered, their attention divided, and their enemies were attacking from positions that had been chosen in advance.

The first few members fell before they could even raise their weapons.

Then Diana entered the battlefield.

She came down from the ridge like a siege weapon given human form.

Her shield slammed into the ground with enough force to crack the earth beneath her feet, and the impact sent several opponents stumbling backward. Before they could recover, she advanced with her sword already swinging, cutting through the first enemy’s defense and forcing the others to retreat.

Diana wasn’t simply using her shield to protect herself.

It was a weapon, a wall, and the force driving her forward at the same time.

More than ten members of the Free Heavenly Paradise Team immediately surrounded her, believing that numbers would be enough to stop her advance. Blades struck her armor from multiple directions, martial techniques exploded against her shield, and several opponents attempted to attack her exposed sides.

Diana endured all of it.

Her armor absorbed the attacks while her shield moved with practiced precision, blocking the strikes that could actually threaten her. Every time she raised it, someone was forced backward. Every time she lowered it, her sword came through.

She advanced.

She wasn’t pushed back.

That was what frightened them.

There were more than ten people attacking her, yet Diana continued walking toward them as though their combined strength was nothing more than an inconvenience. One opponent attempted to strike her from above, only for her shield to catch the weapon before she drove her shoulder into his chest and sent him flying.

Another tried to attack from the side.

Her sword found him first.

The blade tore through his defense, and he collapsed before he could recover.

Diana was a lance and a wall at the same time.

She could absorb the attacks of an entire group while continuing to move forward, and every step brought her closer to the people desperately trying to stop her.

The Free Heavenly Paradise Team began backing away.

That only made things worse.

Because Lily was there.

Where Diana was forceful and overwhelming, Lily was almost impossible to follow with the eyes.

She moved through the battlefield like a pink blur.

Every step was light, every turn precise, and her cherry-pink hair followed her movements as she slipped between enemies, leaving behind faint phantoms that resembled drifting cherry blossoms. The images weren’t simply beautiful. They made it difficult for her opponents to determine where she actually was.

One man turned toward a phantom.

Lily was already behind him.

Her rapier flashed, and a precise thrust pierced his throat. She withdrew the blade before his body even finished falling.

Another opponent noticed her movement and attempted to intercept her, swinging his weapon toward her side. Lily lowered her body, allowing the strike to pass over her, then stepped forward and drove her rapier through the opening in his defense.

Another fell.

There was no hesitation in her movements.

The Lily who had once been timid and hesitant was nowhere to be seen on this battlefield.

She had grown.

The young woman who had once struggled to stand confidently beside the people around her had become someone who could enter the middle of a battlefield without waiting for another person to protect her. Her movements were graceful, but there was nothing fragile about them anymore.

Every thrust had a purpose.

Every stab landed where she intended.

Every movement was controlled.

The Free Heavenly Paradise members quickly learned that trying to chase her was a mistake.

Those who were too slow were killed.

Those who hesitated were killed.

Those who turned their backs were killed.

Lily didn’t need overwhelming strength to terrify them.

She only needed an opening.

The two women fought differently, but the result was the same.

Diana crushed the battlefield through sheer force.

Lily dismantled it through precision.

Together, they turned the carefully prepared ambush into a slaughter.

The Free Heavenly Paradise Team desperately attempted to fight back. Some gathered together and concentrated their attacks on Diana, hoping that enough force would eventually bring her down, while others attempted to surround Lily and restrict her movement.

Neither plan worked.

Diana simply kept advancing.

Lily simply kept moving.

The fifteen members of the Heavenly Bronze squad followed their captains’ movements, attacking isolated opponents and preventing anyone from escaping the valley. They didn’t need to improvise much because the battlefield had already been designed for them.

Ren had predicted the routes.

Diana had prepared the positions.

The rest was execution.

One by one, the Free Heavenly Paradise members fell.

Their numbers dropped rapidly.

Thirty.

Twenty-five.

Twenty.

The panic became desperation.

They finally understood that they couldn’t win.

They had been cautious. They had been armed. They had been prepared for monsters.

It didn’t matter.

They had never been prepared for an enemy that knew exactly where they were going to walk, exactly where they would stand, and exactly how they would react once the trap was triggered.

Several tried to flee.

They were intercepted before leaving the valley.

Others attempted to hide among the trees.

The Heavenly Bronze members found them.

A few tried to regroup and force their way through Diana.

She stopped them herself.

Her shield slammed into the first man, her sword followed the opening, and the rest immediately lost their nerve. Diana stood in their path like an immovable fortress, her armor covered in marks from their attacks but her footing as steady as ever.

Lily wasn’t far behind.

Her movements became even faster as the battlefield emptied, her cherry blossom phantoms appearing and disappearing between the remaining enemies. She slipped past another desperate attack and delivered a final thrust that dropped another member of the Free Heavenly Paradise Team.

The battle didn’t last long after that.

The remaining survivors were hunted down.

There was nowhere left to run.

The valley that had seemed like a safe route only moments earlier had become their grave.

When the final member fell, silence returned to the battlefield.

Diana lowered her sword and looked across the valley.

Lily stood nearby, her rapier dripping with blood.

The fifteen members of the Heavenly Bronze squad remained standing.

Not one of them had been lost.

The Free Heavenly Paradise Empire Team, however, had ceased to exist as a participant in the Imperial Ranking War.

Then the World System spoke.

Its voice was as cold and indifferent as it had been the day before.

[The Free Heavenly Paradise Empire Team has been completely eliminated.]

[All surviving participants have been removed from the Imperial Ranking War.]

[The Free Heavenly Paradise Empire’s participation in the Imperial Ranking War has ended.]

The announcement echoed throughout the secret realm.

Two teams.

Two days.

And two complete eliminations.

The Imperial Ranking War was changing much faster than anyone had expected.