That Black Iron Legion, symbolizing the last resistance of Long City's native undead, was melting away like ice thrown into a raging fire, at an unprecedented speed!
This brutal internal struggle did not bring Shen Mu any joy.
His cold gaze pierced through the boiling battlefield, landing deep within the surging core black domain.
The Abyssal Will was accelerating its consumption!
The madness of the Abyssal Lesser Undead and the resolute counterattack of the Black Iron Skeletons both resulted in the offering of more, forcefully “purified” energy torrents, which were more efficiently devoured by the core existence. That darkness was like a bottomless black hole, greedily sucking up every trace of death and destruction's essence on the battlefield.
The black-blue mist rolled even more violently, and the invisible pressure emanating from its core was like an ever-rising tide of Abyssal seawater, heavily pounding against the Elf Forest Bulwark, even penetrating the sense of order brought by the Holy Light Corridor, once again planting the seed of “unknown fear” in the soldiers' hearts.
On the Bulwark, the Holy Light Torch Tower at the top of the “Holy Light Torch Tower - Elf Forest Frontline Tower” encountered its first “physical” probing from the core black domain!
Several black-red gas columns, sticky as asphalt and emitting a pungent sulfur stench, shot out silently from the core of the surging black mist like deformed tentacles reaching out from the depths of hell. They did not attack the Bulwark in a straight line, but twisted and writhed strangely in the air, aiming directly at the burning flames of the Torch Tower!
They wrapped around the highly condensed faith light at the top of the tower as if alive, emitting a grating “sizzling” corrosion sound.
The golden runes flowing on the tower's surface instantly burst into scorching light, and automatically activated purification rays shot out like a sudden downpour towards these evil energies.
The dark-red gas columns were continuously purified and evaporated, emitting foul black smoke, and their corrosive momentum was forcefully curbed.
But everyone noticed that the time required to purify these energy columns was far greater than clearing a few Abyssal Lesser Undead!
Moreover, these energies projected directly from the core carried a deeper chaotic will, and their corrosiveness far exceeded that of Abyssal Lesser Undead core crystals!
The tower's light showed extremely brief, almost imperceptible fluctuations in brightness.
“The Abyssal Will… it's 'licking' the light!” Legolas's voice was hoarse, his emerald eyes filled with solemnity.
A probe!
The opponent was using its own power to personally experience and assess the might of this newborn Torch Tower!
The battle erupted again after a brief silence, but this time, the spearhead was no longer directed solely at the fortress itself.
A squad of ten larger Abyssal Lesser Undead, with markings on their bones so dark they were almost black, suddenly broke away from the chaotic battle at the edge of the core.
They did not scramble madly as before; instead, guided by some ineffable will, their target was extremely clear—they stealthily moved along the edge of the Holy Light Corridor's light, heading straight for one of the closest and earliest-built medium Torch Towers near the core!
This was not a blind charge. They used terrain shadows to move quickly, evading the sight of patrol outposts, attempting to bypass the defending infantry and Crossbowmen, and strike directly at the tower's base!
On the upper levels of the Bulwark, a Wood Elf mage responsible for the “Sentinel's Eye” detection magic changed his expression drastically.
“Sir! Target Torch Tower S-7, Abyssal Lesser Undead squad approaching! Ten in number, high-speed stealth! Intending to attack the tower body!” The voice echoed through the command center via amplification magic.
Shen Mu's eyes remained cold, without any hesitation.
Buzz!
The light at the top of the targeted medium Torch Tower flared again!
The rune array, originally designed for area purification and single-target automatic defense, was operating under overload according to preset instructions!
The runic orb at the top of the tower spun rapidly, highly focused!
The next moment!
A Holy Light ray, only as thick as an arm but blindingly bright and trailing a faint golden thread, shot in with incredible precision from an awkward angle, like a spear of judgment cast by a god!
It had no area of effect, concentrating its energy to the extreme.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
The ray flashed three times in succession at a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch!
Each flash precisely pierced the core crystal of a stealthy Abyssal Lesser Undead! There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a muffled cracking sound.
The hit Abyssal Lesser Undead instantly stiffened as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, and a concentrated burst of golden-white Holy Flame erupted from their core, instantly purifying them from the inside out into scattering burning bone fragments!
The entire process was as fast as lightning and silent.
The two remaining Abyssal Lesser Undead were startled by this sudden precise strike and fell into a brief state of confusion.
But the madness in their eyes ultimately overwhelmed their nascent “obedience,” and they roared again, charging towards the tower base.
What awaited them were attacks already prepared in the ground fortifications. The roar of Rodok heavy crossbows and the whoosh of Vigia sharp arrows immediately followed…
Shen Mu's gaze never left the churning dark core to the west. The Abyssal Lesser Undead squad's attack on the Torch Tower seemed more like a probe, a feint. When those three deadly rays pierced through the Abyssal Lesser Undead, he clearly felt that the heart-pounding pulsation deep within the core black domain seemed to pause for a moment.
Not surprise, but more like… a brief pause after calculation. A cold, evaluative “gaze” swept across space, over the Bulwark, and over the Torch Tower that had just delivered the fatal blow.
On the Bulwark, all soldiers witnessed this brief but deadly exchange. Confidence in the Torch Tower's power greatly increased due to the precise ray, but the invisible, evaluative cold gaze from the core Abyssal Will sent shivers down everyone's spines, as if their skin had been licked by a snake's tongue.
That was not merely a massive energy source; it was a thinking, extremely dangerous predator.
At this moment, the chaotic “internal struggle” battlefield in the core black domain was gradually nearing its end.
The number of Abyssal Lesser Undead, in their madness, did not decrease but increased, continuously pouring out from that darkness. And the Black Iron Legion, representing Long City's native power, finally showed signs of defeat after paying a huge price.
Their last assembled area was rapidly being encroached upon and swallowed by a dark-red tide like a bursting dam. Sporadic bursts of huge ghostly green energy flashes, like the last flicker before a dying candle extinguishes, were quickly engulfed by the surging dark red.
That, which symbolized the last stubbornness of Long City's old-era undead, was rapidly extinguishing.
The battlefield was rapidly “purifying” itself.
Abyssal Lesser Undead became the absolute dominant force in the core area. They gathered in groups, like schools of piranhas, greedily cruising through the thin gray mist and the newly born black mist, whose edges were tinged with a faint dark-red blood light.
When they looked east—at the golden corridor piercing the darkness and the rock-solid fortress further away—the dark-red soul light, driven by pure destructive desire, for the first time clearly carried a deep-seated hatred, synchronized with the core will!
Inside the Bulwark, the brief joy of victory was replaced by deeper pressure. Soldiers watched the battlefield in the distance gradually unify into a dark-red hue, feeling the increasingly heavy and malicious gaze in the air, and tightened their grip on their weapons.
On the observation deck, Shen Mu's upright figure stood like a stabilizing needle. His cold gaze swept over the scarred but still sturdy Bulwark, over the Holy Light Torch Tower cluster burning fiercely at the top, and finally returned to the core black domain in the west.
The gray mist was completely a thing of the past, compressed and transformed.
A deeper, stickier “Abyssal Black Mist,” like congealed blood, with ominous dark-red veins flickering at its edges, was devouring the remaining space at a visible speed, and slowly… spreading towards the Elf Forest.
It was moving.
It “devoured” its opponent, it “tasted” the flavor of Holy Light.
Its gaze was now firmly locked on the Elf Forest Bulwark, at the intersection of golden light and the steel forest.
The newborn Abyssal Will had completed its final preparations.
The decisive battle was no longer far off.
The next dark tide would carry boundless Abyssal demonic flames and overwhelming death intent, with a completely unified, tyrannical will, crushing towards the wedge of light that had pierced the eternal night.
Up and down the Bulwark, everyone knew that the calm before the storm was over.
“Roar—!!!”
Just as the Black Iron Legion, symbolizing the last resistance of Long City's native undead, completely disintegrated and was utterly swallowed and assimilated by the surging dark-red tide—
From deep within the core Abyssal Black Domain of Long City, an indescribable shriek erupted!
That was not a sound; it was the tearing of pure will, the roar of destructive origin, filled with the bloated feeling of devouring all things, a deep-seated hatred for light, and… a cold declaration of completed metamorphosis!
The next second, a black-red pillar of light, sticky as congealed blood and thicker than a mountain, suddenly tore through the surging black mist and shot into the sky!
The pillar of light pierced through the lead-gray sky above Long City, like a demonic pillar connecting to hell. It was not static; its interior was filled with twisting, churning shadows, as if flowing with lava and asphalt.
A terrifying sulfur storm erupted with it!
The gale was no longer invisible; it carried skin-scorching high temperatures, a nauseating sulfur stench, and the acrid smell of burning bones, sweeping out violently from the depths of the core black domain like ten thousand horses galloping!
Where the gale passed, the remaining broken walls groaned under the strain, corroding even faster. Bone dust on the ground was swept up like a sandstorm, and together with rice-sized dark-red sulfur crystals splashing at high speed in the wind, they scraped through space like countless tiny sharp blades, emitting a sharp “whoosh” sound.
On the Elf Forest Pangen Bastion, soldiers instantly felt immense pressure!
The gale slammed into the thick wooden walls, emitting a muffled roar. The high temperature and stench seeped through the gaps in their visors, suffocating them. The air felt as if countless hot needles were pricking exposed skin, and visibility became blurry due to the flying sand and stones and the refraction of dark-red crystals.
“Hold steady! Protect your faces!” A Rodok Sergeant roared, shielding the weaker Crossbowmen behind him with his massive tower shield. Vigia Sharpshooters squinted hard, trying to discern the distance against the wind and sand.
Shen Mu stood at the forefront of the observation deck, his mithril heavy armor gleaming with a cold shimmer in the sulfur wind. His cloak was blown straight back by the gale, flapping loudly, but his figure remained unmoving.
His cold gaze pierced through the raging sandstorm and churning energy tides, locking onto the black-red pillar of light shooting into the sky.
At the top of the pillar of light, endless dark energy, the pure essence of death devoured, and the tyrannical will emanating from the Abyssal Will, were converging and taking shape at an unprecedented speed!
A colossal, unparalleled phantom outline, almost occupying half the city's sky, slowly condensed and formed at the top of the pillar of light!
The form of a jackal!
More solidified and terrifying than any previous projection!
Its body seemed to be constructed from flowing black-red lava and congealed Abyssal shadows, its thick limbs filled with explosive destructive power. At the position where its head should be, two abyssal giant eyes, profound as the frigid hells of ancient star systems, suddenly lit up!
This time, it was no longer the core of burning soul fire mixed with Abyssal demonic flames.
They were two enormous Abyssal blood diamonds, purely condensed from the most evil essence!
Dark-red light surged, compressed, and spun wildly within them. Each flash radiated tangible cold killing intent and an all-devouring greed; merely gazing at them was enough to freeze the soul!
This was no longer a tentative phantom.
It was the manifestation of the complete will of the Abyssal creation of Long City—the End Wolf Shadow!
“Howl—!!!”
The End Wolf Shadow looked down at this territory it had completely devoured, its huge beast mouth opening and closing, letting out an Abyssal roar declaring complete dominance and filled with endless killing intent!
This roar, like an invisible giant wave, crashed against the Bulwark along with the sulfur gale!
Boom!
Soldiers felt their hearts being fiercely squeezed by an invisible hand, and even the thick wooden bodies of the Forest Fortress Ballistas groaned under the strain. On the few front-line watchtowers, two Vigia Sharpshooters were violently thrown back by the superimposed will impact and physical gale; if they hadn't grabbed the railings in time, they would have almost fallen off the Bulwark.
“It… it's coming!” Legolas gripped his longbow, feeling the immense wail and warning transmitted by the forest's will, his voice hoarse with difficulty.
As if responding to the End Wolf Shadow's roar, at the edge of the core black domain, the battlefield that had just calmed from the “civil war” suddenly underwent a drastic change!
Countless Abyssal Lesser Undead, as if lashed by an invisible whip, suddenly stopped their disordered roaming.
Their core crystals, completely permeated by dark red in their eye sockets, burst forth with an even more intense red light the moment the End Wolf Shadow's will descended! Countless tiny red light points instantly connected into vast crimson blood tides!
They stiffly twisted their ugly, distorted heads, their bones grinding with a grating “clack, clack” sound. The next moment, the direction of all the red light flashing from their core crystals pointed with incredible precision to the same target—
East! That Elf Forest Bulwark, burning fiercely under the dim sky, appearing so out of place, and the Holy Light Torch Tower in front of it, like golden fangs!
Pure hatred, stemming from the Abyssal instinct, erupted like a tsunami in the consciousness of all Abyssal Lesser Undead!
Slaughter! Devour! Destroy the light!
“Hoo—hoo—roar!!!”
The chaotic growls instantly transformed into a unified and fanatical war cry! The boundless Abyssal Lesser Undead, as if instantly injected with a furious military order, the massive dark-red tide suddenly churned and surged, forming destructive torrents with overwhelming force! (End of Chapter)
