Chapter 685 - 431: Shining on All Things

Chapter 685: Chapter 431: Shining on All Things

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「World’s Peak.」

Sunlight bathed Zhou Chen, turning him completely golden.

Ordinarily, he should have been instantly vaporized by the intense heat at such a close distance. Yet, when the ferocious sunlight fell upon him, it brought only a pleasant warmth.

This was to be expected. After all, he had established a Soul connection with it. The Artificial Sun wasn’t a Forbidden Object so dangerous that it would kill its own Receptor.

"This is... the Sun...?" Danika’s voice was filled with shock and awe.

She had never seen a real Sun. Her entire understanding of it came from ancient books and legends. In truth, she didn’t have any strong feelings about it. At most, she regarded it like an extinct species, feeling a slight sense of loss only when reading stories about it.

This was normal for the Gaia People. To them, the Sun was an extinct "species." Their ancestors, going back eight generations, had never seen it. It was hard to expect them to have any special attachment to the Sun.

But now, gazing upon the Sun from so close, Danika finally understood why her ancestors had lavished it with such unreserved praise in the old texts. She also understood why, throughout ancient history, so many had relentlessly pursued the dream of reigniting it.

It was just... so beautiful...

"Truly beautiful..." the Nameless Ghost sighed in admiration.

[Mission: Ignite the Sun—Triggered.]

[Mission: Ignite the Sun—Complete. +50,000 EXP!]

LVL 39 → LVL 42!

The experience required to level up increased in the Middle Stage, but Zhou Chen figured his Level was still far ahead of the other Players. All those bosses he’d killed and missions he’d completed hadn’t been for nothing.

After marveling at the Sun’s beauty for a moment, he began to wonder, ’How am I going to tell all of Gaia that I’m the one who lit the Sun? If I don’t let everyone know it was me, I won’t receive any aspiration value.’

As he was pondering this, a sudden sense of crisis washed over him.

’Something’s coming... Something is here!’

Zhou Chen snapped his gaze downward. Far below, under the vast sky, a small black dot was rapidly ascending, heading straight for him.

The distance was too great for even an Ascender to see clearly, so Zhou Chen pulled a telescope from his Player Backpack and adjusted the magnification as he peered through it.

A few seconds later, he got a clear look.

It was a dragon.

A Dark Giant Dragon, its body festering with decay and reeking of a potent Abyssal Calamity!

"Looks like something’s here," the Nameless Ghost said after a moment. "That’s a minion of the King of the Abyss!"

The King of the Abyss was the title of Gaia’s final boss. Some also called it the Abyssal Incarnation or the Final Calamity.

"It’s the Dark Demon Dragon Mazixidun, the watchdog that guards the gates to the Royal City," Danika said in a low voice. "It has killed many Heroes and was the greatest obstacle for the allied forces attacking the Royal City, dealing them a devastating blow."

"It was once a powerful Giant Dragon of the Dragon Race. After failing to seize power, it pledged allegiance to the King of the Abyss and was completely corrupted. Abyssalization, accompanied by Twist and mutation, follows in its wake. To this day, a massive number of mutated soldiers from the allied army still wander outside the Royal City’s gates—all its doing."

"Any weaknesses?" Zhou Chen asked. This was clearly going to be a tough opponent.

"I don’t know," Danika said helplessly. "Very few have ever returned alive with intelligence on the Dark Demon Dragon, and what they did bring back was trivial. Many Players have challenged it, but in the end..."

Zhou Chen understood. The strategy guides mentioned this Royal City watchdog. It was incredibly powerful—so powerful that Players couldn’t figure out its skill mechanics even after dying over and over. They were always insta-killed within a few moves of starting the boss fight. There was, however, one Player who had charged it head-on. By relying on mechanics like invincibility frames and Bounce Back, they had managed to knock off a third of its health bar. The guide’s recommendation, therefore, was to just brute-force it.

’So I have to brute-force it...’

Zhou Chen glanced at the furiously burning Sun beside him.

"Whoa, hold on! You’re not thinking of smashing that thing with the Artificial Sun, are you?!" The Nameless Ghost instantly figured out his plan.

"Why not? The Sun is extremely effective against Abyssal Power. One hit might be all it takes to turn it to ash."

Zhou Chen tried to control the Artificial Sun with his mind, but he couldn’t move it at all.

’Well, this is awkward...’ Zhou Chen gritted his teeth and strained, but it was no use.

The thing was a true behemoth; to Zhou Chen, it felt like trying to move a mountain. Shifting it would require far greater Willpower—at least that of a Tier Four Ascender.

After a few seconds, he gave up and materialized the Dream Light and Shadow. The pure, ethereal Light of Spiritual and the Soul-Burning Flame surged along the spearhead, glowing brilliantly.

Then, he hurled it downward with all his might.

The Crystal Spear transformed into a streak of iridescent light, flashing through the sky. In an instant, it crossed the vast distance and pierced the Dark Demon Dragon’s skull.

The Super Long-Range Attack was a success. Zhou Chen had triggered the boss fight. A tense, fast-paced, and magnificent symphony swelled in his ears as the boss’s name and a health bar appeared in his line of sight.

—[Dark Demon Dragon Mazixidun]—

As the Dream Light and Shadow struck, the Light of Spiritual erupted, melting a massive crater into the Dark Demon Dragon’s head.

The health bar dropped by a small chunk. Thanks to his high Attribute Values and the Light of Spiritual’s suppressive effect on Abyssal Power, the damage was significant.

Immediately after, the Dream Light and Shadow re-formed in Zhou Chen’s palm. At the same time, the spreading Cyan Flame in the crater on the Dark Demon Dragon’s head detonated, unleashing the terrifying Rule of utter destruction.

Although he hadn’t advanced to Tier Four, Zhou Chen could already use a Rule and unleash some of its power, similar to Li Xiye when she was at the Tier Three Peak.

Even from this great distance, Zhou Chen could see the flare of the explosion in the sky far below.

The Dark Demon Dragon’s health bar dropped by a large chunk. Clearly, the damage dealt by the Rule was far greater.

’If it’s this hard to deal with, I’ll just snipe it from beyond visual range!’

Having made up his mind, Zhou Chen hurled the Dream Light and Shadow again, followed by the Demon-Breaking Sword. He then equipped his Arm Cannon and began firing wildly downward.

The Dark Demon Dragon’s head had been shattered by the explosion, but the viscous Abyssal matter composing its body writhed, and the hideous head regenerated. Facing the incoming bombardment, it beat its wings and swerved at an incredible speed to dodge.

It was incredibly fast, closing the distance to Zhou Chen at high speed even as it dodged his attacks.

’It’s getting closer...’ Seeing that he couldn’t take it down from a distance, Zhou Chen braced himself, preparing for an aerial dogfight.

But then, the unexpected happened.

When it was about three thousand meters from the Artificial Sun, the Dark Demon Dragon suddenly let out a pained roar. Scorched craters materialized all over its body, spewing thick, sizzling smoke. The Abyssal essence permeating its form began to boil like water, destabilizing as if it were about to disintegrate.

Its health bar began to drop. The Dark Demon Dragon realized something was wrong, and with a beat of its wings, it tried to flee.

But the Artificial Sun suddenly fired a thick, blazing column of light. It surged forward and pierced straight through the Dark Demon Dragon’s enormous body, tearing it apart as easily as ripping through paper and leaving only a heaven-shaking, mournful roar in its wake.

’It has an auto-attack system?’ Zhou Chen stared in astonishment at the mangled remains of the Dark Demon Dragon. He hadn’t known the Artificial Sun had that function. It seemed to have automatically triggered upon detecting Abyssal Power.

At that moment, the Artificial Sun’s light grew even more intense. Ferocious heat radiated outward, becoming a terrifying cataclysm that incinerated everything in its path.

In an instant, destruction descended. A torrent of light beams rained down on the Dark Demon Dragon’s sundered remains, swiftly melting the watchdog, burning it to cinders, until finally, not even ash was left.

The health bar hit zero. The BGM cut out. A mote of light flew toward him from the distance.

[Soul Fragment of the Dark Demon Dragon Mazixidun: Can be used to learn Skills or forge a Weapon.]

Zhou Chen was dumbfounded.

’That... That’s it? It’s over?’