Chapter 1231 - 836: Chaos (2)

Chapter 1231: Chapter 836: Chaos (2)

On the battlefield, Cedric’s sacrifice to engage the Legendary Creature to its limits was fully utilized by the other three.

Boom! Boom! Boom!... Amidst the continuous explosions and flashing lights, the remaining Destroyers were one by one taken down under Baron’s brute force hammer strikes, Isabella’s Demon-breaking Arrow prowess, and Lydia’s lethal poison assaults.

The last floating jellyfish was pierced through the core by Isabella’s concentrated triple explosive light arrows, collapsing after a silent, anguished energy scream.

The five powerful Destroyers were completely eradicated under the efficient cooperation of the Soul Guardian Squad.

Yet victory did not bring any respite; it merely made the situation clearer.

Baron and Lydia panted heavily, sweat soaking through the heavy armor, and the glow of Baron’s chain whip dimmed.

Isabella’s face turned slightly pale, as the continuous overload from the Demon-breaking Arrows took a great toll on her.

Oliver maintained the Domain, and while the range under the Holy Light was enough to protect the squad, it couldn’t cover the distant swarms and the faltering militia line.

More fatally.

The stalemate between Cedric and the Annihilation Throat did not cease.

The latter’s flow of purple-black crystalline brilliance on its surface regained stability, with the blue light inside its rotating crystalline head intensifying, as the silent and formless "Echo of Silence" kept strengthening.

The golden light on Cedric’s giant shield dimmed noticeably, and his feet sank deeper, with crystalline cracks spreading like a web from the center of their clash, extending tens of meters.

Each clash of Rules felt like a landslide, causing the space to tremble faintly.

The sturdy Gate of Void, amidst the intense energy clashes and Rule conflicts brought by the Destroyers and Legendary Creatures’ descent, did not weaken but instead became more solid and deep, its diameter expanding nearly a meter silently.

The swirling purple-black chaotic energy inside the gate slowly rotated, forming a vast and cold vortex.

An even more immense, profound, and heart-pounding energy wave was being vigorously brewed deep within that vortex.

The outlines of new, stout, and strangely twisted energy appendages were trying hard to emerge from the vortex.

The night sky over the town of Hampton was divided by the intense Holy Light and destructive purple-black flames, interwoven with the screeches of Land Birds, the screams of the militia, and the hissing of the swarm.

The Soul Guardian Squad cleared the formidable enemies in a short time, but the cost was considerable, and the greatest threat—the life-like breathing, expanding depth of the Gate of Void—was the true horror about to descend.

......

Tate Continent - Deep within the Cyan Forest

Moonlight was shattered into pieces by the gnarled branches of ancient oaks.

The night breeze, once whispering like elves, now carried an eerie humming and hissing sound.

The familiar, fresh fragrance of moss, night dew, and nectar in the air was replaced by an icy "emptiness" as if capable of draining life.

At the heart of the forest, a twisted rift, with unstable purple arcs flickering at its edges, opened silently like an ugly scar on the world’s body.

Purple-black mist surged from it, instantly shriveling and yellowing lush ferns in its path, and the bark of ancient trees, rich with life, crystallized into tiny, sickly purple crystals.

Some weaker woodland sprites, deer, and even a few Elven patrol soldiers on the outskirts, unable to escape the surging purple mist in time, underwent horrifying mutations.

Their skin hardened with purple crystals, hollow purple flames ignited in their eye sockets, and they emitted inhuman screams, void-assimilated, turning on their former companions.

Elf warriors gathered on the relatively safe treetop platforms and limestone heights, their arrows showering like silver rain on the low-tier Void Creatures emerging from the rift.

"Crystal-foot Bugs" slithering, "Screamers" emitting ear-piercing spirit cries, and those grotesque forms, twisted from once-friends.

Judging by the Void Creatures pouring out, the level of threat from this Void Rift was not yet irreparable.

"Hold the line! Aim for the glowing joints!"

An Elf Captain shouted tensely, his moon-blade longbow pulling taut, each shot precisely driving into the core of a Crystal-foot Bug.

Yet while the Elves’ archery was exquisite, it was far less devastating than the Enchanted Arrows of the datafied Night Watchers.

However, the real threat was not physical attacks.

"Ah—!"

A young Elf Crossbowman suddenly cried out, clutching his head as if struck by an invisible heavy hammer, staggering backward, blood trickling from his mouth.

More pained moans and suppressed sobs followed from the side.

"That sound... Whisper... So agonizing..."

A female Elf Hunter, her face pale, held onto a tree trunk with fingers white from force, nails deeply embedded in the bark.

Lacking the Night Watchers’ Blessing of resilient nerves and Attributes, the Elves’ resistance to Void mental corruption was far weaker than the Night Watchers’.

Those "Screamers"’ pervasive spiritual screams and the Void Rift’s soul-luring whispers to annihilation were like cold venomous snakes burrowing into their minds, tearing will, disintegrating resistance.

Their combat effectiveness plummeted, each moment of endurance accompanied by soul-wrenching torment.

In this chaos and agonizing resistance, the silhouettes of three Elves swiftly dashed toward the Elder commanding at the rear—a platform of ancient tree roots protected temporarily by a powerful Nature Barrier.

"Elder Gloriel! We can’t continue to withstand this!"

Among them, an Elf Adventurer—Aelion, once a renowned Hawk Knight, now wore a humble Adventurer’s badge on his chest, his expression anxious.

"This is the Void! Pure destruction! Our warriors lack Blessed bodies and spiritual protection; resisting is slow suicide! Too many companions have gone mad or fallen to the whispers!"

Another, Faleia, once a Forest Minstrel, now clad in tight leather armor, evidently had gone through Adventurer training, her harp slung on her back, her tone hurriedly added.

"Elder Gloriel, we must call for help! The Night Watchers! Only the Night Watchers truly understand how to counter these damned Rifts! They have specialized countermeasures, have the experience.

"They have Healers like the ’Holy Lighters’ capable of dispelling whispers and corrosion over a large area! Only they can close this thing, rather than us futilely sacrificing our people."

Elder Gloriel, bearded white, facial lines etched deeply with worry and compassion for life withering.

He was about to agree when a voice, full of pride and anger, interrupted sternly.

"Cowardly statements!" Forest Guardian Keilas strode forth.

He stood tall and straight, his silver armor gleaming under the moonlight, his handsome face filled with disdain for Aelion and Faleia and extreme confidence in his own Power.

Among the strongest warriors of the Cyan Forest, pride ran deep in his bones.

"This is our continent! Our Cyan Forest land! Our ancestors repelled countless monsters here, and such a trivial space rift won’t be meddled by these unknown Human organizations.

"Elven pride does not allow us to grovel to outsiders, notify the Night Watchers? That is a disgraceful denial of our millennia-old power heritage.

"Continue the attack! I can sense this rift’s strength is weakening; we Elves are enough to purify it!"

Amidst the screeching and mental torment, these words sounded exceptionally jarring and unrealistic.

Aelion and Faleia were instantly enraged.

"Keilas! Is your pride written with the pain and lives of our people?!" Aelion roared, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Open your eyes and see clearly! Look at the wailing around! Look at the brothers and sisters driven mad by the whispers!

"Look at those warriors still resisting but being rapidly eroded! ’The Power is weakening’? Open your pride-blinded eyes! The rift is expanding! The erosion deepens!"