Chapter 1897 - 1896: Seal

Dense mist swept past He Ao’s eyes, and immediately after, an expansive countryside appeared in his field of view.

Skeletons rose from the ground like grass planted on the plains, swaying in the cold wind.

Below the plains, intricate purple light paths had long been formed, and a giant covered in red radiance, terrifying and twisted, was now standing right in the center of those light paths, raising its head to look at He Ao above.

Is that the angelic form of Sulan?

Boom—

In just an instant, the pitch-black coffin crashed to the ground alongside He Ao’s smoke-covered body, landing in the middle of the red light paths.

"I told you," the red giant parted its lips slightly, a laughter like thunder echoing between heaven and earth, "You can’t escape from the palm of my hand."

"This isn’t your achievement," He Ao lowered his head, glanced at his own hand, then turned back to look at the black coffin behind him.

Both his body and the coffin seemed both illusory and real, much like Sulan just moments ago.

This indicates that he hasn’t actually been fully drawn into this plain; his body is still primarily in the surface world.

He raised his head and looked around.

The plain covered with bones, upon closer inspection, still bore some illusory characteristics, and through this illusion, the grand external city could be faintly seen.

This is likely an illusion constructed by Sulan, making He Ao believe he has already been drawn in.

He turned around, looking at his surroundings.

However, this powerful ’pull’ indeed took effect, yet its power didn’t stem from a technique constructed by Sulan but from other special mystical connections.

Soon, a figure appeared in He Ao’s field of view, "Anke?"

The figure was standing amidst the bones, seemingly in a daze, as if losing God, with its body rapidly turning white.

As He Ao’s shout echoed, the figure suddenly came back to its senses, looking towards He Ao’s direction, "Old man?"

He swiftly glanced at the surrounding bones in shock, quickly ran over, standing beside He Ao, "What happened?"

"Someone used you as an intermediary to pull me in here," He Ao glanced at Anke’s body, noticing a strong purple radiance entwined around him, already permeating his soul, forcibly pulling him, and then using some ritual method, pulling He Ao’s body and dragging him towards this area.

He Ao lifted his gaze and looked at the giant red figure ahead, "Ai Luoti, I know you’re here."

This level of power doesn’t seem freshly planted; Sulan had no chance to embed power in Anke earlier, so it must be the angel he came into contact with beforehand.

There is only one possible answer.

The angel of the witch’s path, adept in souls and deception.

The sealed state has the downside of being unable to thoroughly examine surrounding souls.

"See, I told you, you can’t deceive people," a voice mingling lightness with a hint of enchantment sounded, somewhere behind the red giant, "I brought you out, your thoughts are easily seen through."

Hearing this, the red giant’s expression slightly darkened.

At this moment, a dark silhouette flew from behind the red giant.

She wore a thin, veil-like black fabric that barely concealed her fair skin, sitting atop a smooth wooden broom, a big magical pointed hat on her head, fiery red lips and lovely features faintly visible under the brim.

She appeared as though a beautiful witch stepping out from a mythic tale.

"Darling, do you like my new look?" Ai Luoti adjusted the brim of her hat, smiling at He Ao, "Isn’t this your style?"

She slightly raised her foot, her fair bare feet lightly lifting from under the black veil, her toes resembling clusters of white grapes, flexing and folding, "Remember you once told me, during your youth, you loved reading magical witch stories, boys turn into men, but their tastes rarely change."

He Ao looked at her, his expression unchanged, "Your presence here, does it signify a deeper collaboration between the Grim Reaper and the Witch of Desire?"

"Affairs of the Divine Being," Ai Luoti placed her hand on the broom, fingers gripping its wooden handle and jested, "How should I know? I’m here only because your little brother handled the Federation, got them to release me, as promised, I’m doing something for him."

Her gaze lowered, she laughed, looking at He Ao, "Of course, there’s a tiny bit of personal grudge, last time you hit me so hard, almost got me killed."

She softly sighed, her words filled with a hint of melancholy, "Never met true love, day and night, only heartless people."

The melancholic tune echoed across the vast plains, accentuating the delicate, pitiable girl in the sky, moving one to tears.

"Old man, this girl seems pretty miserable too." Anke beside He Ao couldn’t help but wipe a tear from his eye.

He Ao gently raised his hand, stirring a breeze in the void.

The lamenting tune abruptly stopped.

The tune essentially made no sound, merely a sort of echo resonating in the depths of one’s soul, manipulating emotions, which He Ao promptly cut off.

Anke suddenly snapped back to reality, disorientedly surveying the surrounding, "Old man, I’m not feeling as bad anymore, what happened?"

"I turned off her echo," He Ao casually remarked.

Anke: "Ah?"

"Alas." Ai Luoti glanced at He Ao, her hand on the wooden staff, sighed softly like she was wronged.

"Alright, what are you two babbling about?!" The red giant Sulan took a step forward, gazing at He Ao, "Elder brother, you’re dead today!"

The brilliant red radiance beneath his feet lit up, illuminating the intricate array, dazzling with radiant brilliance.

Dashes of purple light emerged from the depths of the array, intertwined with the red radiance, releasing captivating luminosity.

Meanwhile, around He Ao’s small black coffin, streaks of purple radiance also lit up, sketching out intricate patterns linked to the array below.

He Ao lifted his head, gazing at the red giant, "You aren’t an angel of the Grim Reaper’s path?"

"Elder brother, following the divine path offers no prospects," the red giant Sulan sneered, "No Divine Being would nurture an usurper god within the same path, a widely known secret among the Angels of the Firmament, only you bumpkins are unaware."

"Hmm?" Ai Luoti beside turned to look at the red giant.

The red giant didn’t speak further, instead stepping forward again, his foot landing on the ground.

The luminous array instantly activated, along with the purple radiance enveloping He Ao’s black coffin, erupting with surging power.

Although He Ao has not yet been completely drawn into this plain, it is obvious that Sulan has already used the Array and the connection between this space and He Ao to transfer power into the seals of the Coffin of Time.

At this moment, the power of the Coffin of Time is rapidly strengthening.

"When I completely enter this space later, they will loosen their guard on you, and your bonds will break, at that time I will find a gap to send you out."

At this moment, a voice resonated in Anke’s mind.

Anke looked up at He Ao, eyes filled with confusion.

"Don’t ask so many questions, and don’t worry about me," He Ao’s voice echoed in Anke’s mind once again, "Just run when you get the chance."

What Sulan said was actually true; although there was quite a difference, in some ways, Anke did resemble Denos’ son.

This was actually the original reason why He Ao chose Anke.

Hearing He Ao’s words, Anke fell silent.

The Array shone with even more dazzling light, and as He Ao’s body was further pulled into this world, the seals surrounding the black coffin grew stronger.

He Ao raised his hand, leaving behind a bit of power, attempting to open a path to the outside world.

This path he certainly wouldn’t be able to escape through, but it might be able to send Anke out.

In that instant, a brilliant purple glow suddenly shone on the black coffin, and the coffin, which had opened slightly, seemed to be forcibly pressed down by some external force.

The black glow emanating from the coffin suddenly flickered violently, causing his body to flicker just as violently before it instantaneously collapsed.

This surging black glow retracted in an instant, pouring into the dark coffin.

Boom——

Subsequently, the lid of the coffin was sealed shut, and strands of purple light, like chains, tightly locked the entire coffin.

"It’s done!" The Red Giant laughed aloud at this sight, "Big brother, you finally have to die! Good riddance!"

Beneath his feet, the red-purple Array burned with a surging glow, and above the cloud-covered firmament, a certain twisted and terrifying power loomed.

"It’s coming!"

The Red Giant looked at all this with excitement, clenching his fists as the surging light unfurled between heaven and earth.

Ai Luoti, sitting on a flying broom, also looked up at the sky.

In that instant, in the area unnoticed by their gaze, Anke raised his hand, revealing the scalpel he had just taken from the underground doctor.

Then, without hesitation, he raised the scalpel and ran it across his own neck.

Fountains of blood splattered onto the black coffin.

At that moment, the dazzling red-purple glow stalled for an instant.

"Old man," Anke rasped, staring at the black coffin with blood gushing from his throat, "We poor folks don’t have anything of value, if given kindness, we can only repay with our lives."

The purple glow entwining the black coffin flickered violently at this moment.

Under Ai Luoti’s construction, Anke was the key connection between He Ao and this world.

Now, with Anke’s death, this connection was rapidly collapsing, and the power transferred from the Array to the black coffin was disappearing quickly.

Feeling all these changes, a faint smile curled up on Anke’s lips.

From the few words just now, he roughly guessed that he had become some sort of key node.

Good, his life was worth it, and he would not die in vain.

The lid of the black coffin slightly trembled, the tightly closed coffin had begun to show slight slack.

And in the sky above, the horrifying power that was looming had now started to recede.

"What is this damned situation! I hate surprises the most!" The Red Giant Sulan angrily looked toward Ai Luoti in the sky, "Ai Luoti, what are you up to!"

"Don’t worry, don’t worry!" Ai Luoti, sitting on the flying broom, dove down, "Can’t you just be a bit calm while doing things? Isn’t death your divine domain?"

——

Yilan City · White Jasmine Palace

"The current situation doesn’t look favorable to us," Lante looked at the documents in his hand, then turned his gaze to the old general in front of him.

"Lank City has been breached," Corvey shook his head as he sat opposite Lante, "In the short term, the Gray Stone Palace troops will cut us off. Even with Dawn City using every means to attack Lank City, it would take at least one or two weeks of hard fighting to retake it."

"Once we’re cut off, they’ll have to break us down one by one," Lante placed the documents on the table, "Do you think they’ll still concentrate their main forces in Dawn City?"

Corvey shook his head, "From a strategic depth perspective, Dawn City is the farthest from Gray Stone Palace and the western areas controlled by the consortium. If they continue to focus their main attack on Dawn City, it would easily have their supply lines cut off by us from behind. The next offensive direction for Gray Stone Palace could either be an attack on Kaye City or on us."

"Which do you think is more likely?" Lante glanced out at the cloudy sky outside.

"Kaye City is closer to the southeast, with the eastern region’s largest north-south mountain range, the Kaint Mountain Range, to the west. If they want to attack Kaye City, they’ll either have to go south or north,"

Corvey looked at Lante, organizing all the routes clearly without unfolding a map, "Going south requires passing through Saint Joen City, which is currently controlled by the Nolanka Group. Coupled with the endless supply to Kaye City, it’s difficult to remove in a short time."

Accompanying his words, Lante raised his hand to open the projection map, quickly locating the route Corvey mentioned.

"What about going north?" Lante looked at the contents on the map.

"Going north would pass through the southwest of Lank City," Corvey said, looking at Lante, "And Lank City is quite close to us. We only need to dispatch some mobile units to disrupt their logistics."

"Is it possible to go over the mountains?" Lante looked at the majestic mountains on the map.

"Kaye City and the Nolanka Group are not like the small city of Lank. One or two small units crossing the mountains wouldn’t pose any threat to them at all." Corvey shook his head.

"The Nolanka Group’s combat strength is the strongest and most stable," Lante gazed at the map before him, "If I were Skewis of Gray Stone Palace, I would prioritize attacking the Nolanka Group, eliminate the most stable enemy, then proceed to dissect Yilan City and Dawn City. However,"

he turned to Corvey, "it is not impossible that they might want to advance on Yilan City first, what do you think they’ll attack first?"

"Us." Corvey stated directly.