Chapter 3: Pandemonium.
The dark clouds then started to rain while approaching the masses, a ghoulish green liquid fell in place of rain drops.
The instant the first line of people were touched by the strange rain.
" Arrrgh!!!!" They let out piercing screams as the green droplets began corroding their bodies like acid.
[Those who fail to choose a card within the next few minutes will be eliminated]
The cheerful voice returned. But this time their was a spine chilling change in tone at the end of it's sentence, as if an evil deity had given out a death sentence.
Like the commencement of a domino effect, everyone stopped being calm, in that moment, the only thing that overwhelmed them was fear.
To their right, left and behind were dark clouds raining corrosive acid, enclosing towards them like a shrinking barricade.
A scene of pandemonium ensued as the greatest stampede in history began, everyone began fleeing towards the glowing cards in the distance. Those who couldn't keep up where knocked down and trampled till their bodies were nothing but meat paste.
Screams of agony and pain echoed throughout the void as billions of people struggled to survive. When the others saw the first batch touch a card, then enveloped by a golden light that caused them to vanish, they're will to survive grew even more and and more.
Su ping who was amongst the masses struggled as well, being jostled from all sides by countless limbs desperately clinging to life.
An elbow slammed into his face as an extremely beautiful woman hurried to over take him but, Unfortunately tripped and was swallowed in an instant by the masses. Vanishing without a trace, not even her pitiful screams were headed from within the thundering sounds of billions of stomping feet.
Su ping was horrified, but when his gaze move upwards, his heart lurched at the site of the countless smiling emojis on the hovering panels in the skies now twisted into repulsive looking sadistic expressions.
Su Ping closed his eyes in fear and ran for his life, pushing and shoving his way through the behemoth of a stampede, eventually he reached the cards.
[Worm King]
' Huh?!'
But before he could touch one, he paused and someone else quickly grabbed it.
When he heard the sound of the arriving batch of people behind him that sounded more like an Ancient primordial beast, Su Ping hurried to grab a card but each time he tried, someone else would grab it.
[Blood Goblin King]
Grabbed!
[Succubus Queen]
Grabbed!
[Ogre King]
Grabbed!
" Damnit! Just leave one for me!" Su Ping eyes were filled with desperation, at this rate all the cards would vanish! He felt like an old lady during a Black Friday flash sale.
" Get out of the way you fool!" An angry middle aged woman who looked savage, covered in blood and entrails, swung her purse at Su Ping.
The moment the purse connected with his face, Su Ping felt as if he'd been smashed with a brick, the force knocking his teeth out while sending him tumbling backwards.
Before he could react, he felt his body being enveloped by a golden light.
[Congratulations on acquiring a top 1000 bloodline: Dark Dragon King.]
The next moment, his vision blacked out from the blow.
Su Ping's consciousness flickered back into being the next moment, but the world he awoke to wasn't the horrific void, but a suffocating, pitch-black space.
' What is this place?!'
' I can't breathe–'
" URRGHH... COUGH! COUGH! "
The space was too tight for him to properly move around, he unconsciously opened his mouth to scream but swallowed several mouthfuls of the strange fluid instead.
' I need to get out of here!'
He realized a viscous warm fluid enveloped him, its metallic tang though tasted good in his mouth but he didn't let the thought persist because it lapped at his chin, threatening to flood into his mouth and drag him into oblivion.
Panic surged through him, his heart hammering like a trapped bird as he thrashed, his hands pounding against the slick, unyielding walls that encased him.
Each strike echoed with a dull, organic thud, the sound muffled by the liquid that clung to his skin, and with a final desperate shove, the barrier gave way. A crack splintered through the darkness, and Su Ping tumbled out, gasping for air as the fluid leaked out the tight space from behind him.
He landed on a jagged outcrop, the ground beneath him rough and warm, like stone baked under an unnatural sun.
Above, a blood-red sky churned with clouds that seemed to pulse with a life of their own, while a purple moon hung low, its eerie glow casting long, distorted shadows across a landscape of twisted spires and gnarled, thorn-covered vines.
The air was thick, heavy with the scent of ash and something sweeter, almost sickly, like overripe fruit left to rot.
' Urrgh that's smells like a rotting corpse.'
Su Ping's breath hitched as he scrambled to his feet, only to freeze when a holographic panel materialized before him, its surface shimmering with an otherworldly light.
' F*ck, that demon is back again!' Su Ping flinched, raising his hands to block his face but after awhile he realized that the translucent panel didn't hurt him.
He glanced at it and saw the familiar notification he'd seem before, on it.
[Congratulations on becoming the Dark Dragon King.]
[Current Location: The Abyss.]
[As a player of the Kings Game, Survival is your number one priority.]
[Current player count: 15 Billion!]
[Players are spread across the 3 dimensional planes: Mortal Plane, Heavenly Plane, Abyssal Plane]
[You have already been set as the Dark Dragon King. Please remember the following important points!]
[1. Death will result in the loss of your gaming privilege!]
[2. Victory condition: Conquer one of the 3 Realms.]
[3. After clearing the victory condition, you may choose from the following: Ascend the river of reincarnation, remain in the current cosmo's, or challenge a higher level universe.]
[4. The game starts with a safe period of one month. After the safe period, King players will be able to see each other's territory's across the 3 Realms Map.]
[5. Those who fail to attain a territory within the safe period shall be automatically disqualified.]
[6. As a King, you must be prepared to face subjugation attempts from other Kings. This includes the threat of other rulers, adventurers, mercenaries or factions of any kind, at all times.]