Nine hundred Blood Demons hissed in a low chorus, their voices echoing through the ruins like the breathing of ancient behemoths.
The crystal in the center of the Bloodspeaker's mask flashed, and invisible waves of psionic energy spread out, causing the Blood Demons to quickly disperse.
They scattered throughout Rusty Town, hiding in the shadows of the ruins, their crimson eyes flickering under the dark red sky.
Jiang Lin leapt onto the back of the 3rd-rank peak crimson claw-wing, his golden hair fluttering in the wind and his robes billowing.
“Let's head back.”
A streak of blood-red light soared into the sky, racing toward the Ash Mountains.
...
Ember Headquarters, Intelligence Room.
A silver-haired woman stood silently before the floor-to-ceiling window, her gaze fixed on the southeastern horizon.
Four hours had passed since Jiang Lin’s departure. The sky had turned from dark red to a deeper ink-black, and the outlines of the distant mountains were barely visible in the night.
Behind her, several members of the Emberflame were tensely monitoring various instruments.
On the holographic projection table, energy readings from the direction of Rusty Town were fluctuating violently—a tide of energy that only a large-scale battle could produce.
“Captain, the number of Aberrants is dropping rapidly!” a monitor exclaims.
“There were over five thousand just a moment ago, and now there are less than three thousand... no, twenty-five hundred... two thousand...”
His voice trembled more and more as he stared in disbelief at the data on the screen.
The silver-haired woman did not turn around, but her fists tightened.
She knew the youth was strong, but she never imagined he would be this powerful.
Taking on five thousand Aberrants single-handedly, including at least ten 4th-rank Aggregates...
This had already exceeded her understanding of what “powerful” meant.
“Captain, the number of Aberrants has dropped below one thousand!”
“It's still falling... eight hundred... five hundred...”
“Three hundred... one hundred...”
“The signal of the last Aberrant has disappeared!”
The monitor stood up abruptly and turned to the silver-haired woman, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“The Aberrants in Rusty Town... they've all disappeared!”
Dead silence fell over the intelligence room.
Everyone stared blankly at the holographic map.
The massive cluster of light that was once marked with a dark red skull, representing five thousand Aberrants, had completely vanished.
The silver-haired woman stared at that spot, her lips trembling slightly.
“He did it...”
The streak of blood-red light trailed a long tail of fire across the dark red night sky, like a reverse meteor racing toward the Ash Mountains.
Jiang Lin stood on the broad back of the 3rd-rank crimson claw-wing, his long golden hair snapping in the wind from the high-speed flight.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling the fierce wind rushing against him.
The wind still carried the characteristic foul stench of pollution, but high in the air, the smell had thinned considerably.
Below him, the outline of the East Continent loomed in the darkness.
The Ash Mountains were like a winding black dragon coiled upon the earth.
Deep within the mountains, the purification zone of Ember Headquarters emitted a faint blue glow, looking particularly striking in the dark red world.
“Thirty kilometers to go.”
Jiang Lin estimated the distance while simultaneously checking the situation in Rusty Town through the mental link of his contract.
The nine hundred 2nd-rank Blood Demons had already hidden themselves throughout the ruins according to his orders.
The Bloodspeaker was currently hovering atop the highest ruined clock tower in Rusty Town. The crimson crystal in the center of its mask pulsed slightly, sending out invisible ripples of mental energy that covered every inch of the forward outpost.
Everything was normal.
Jiang Lin pulled back his thoughts and looked toward the approaching Ember Headquarters.
This base, hidden deep in the mountains, looked even more mysterious at night than during the day.
The purification zone's protective shield emitted a soft blue light, completely isolating the pollution outside.
Through the semi-transparent dome, he could see the outlines of the buildings inside and scattered moving lights—the Emberflame members on night patrol.
The crimson claw-wing began to descend, its bone wings adjusting their angle as it glided toward the landing platform in the center of the headquarters.
When the blood-red figure appeared at the edge of the purification zone, a commotion immediately broke out below.
“Alert! Unidentified flying object approaching!”
“It's... it's him! He's back!”
“Quick, notify the Captain!”
Jiang Lin ignored the noise below. The crimson claw-wing landed steadily in the center of the landing platform, its bone wings folding as its dark red eyes scanned the surroundings.
He leapt down from the Blood Demon's back and landed firmly.
Almost at the same moment, several figures rushed over from different directions, led by the silver-haired woman.
Behind her were three fully armed Emberflame members, their energy weapons already charged. But the moment they saw who it was, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“Mr. Matthew.”
The silver-haired woman stepped forward quickly, her eyes sweeping over Jiang Lin.
“Are you... alright?”
Jiang Lin shook his head slightly.
“Rusty Town has been cleared.”
His tone was flat, as if he were merely stating a trivial matter.
“Are... are you serious?” a young Emberflame member couldn't help but ask, his voice shaking.
Jiang Lin did not answer.
He simply raised his right hand, and a fist-sized crystal emitting a dark red glow appeared in his palm.
The moment the crystal appeared, the temperature in the entire room seemed to drop by several degrees.
The dark red light inside it writhed and flowed like a living thing, and the wave of pollution energy it emitted made everyone present instinctively take a step back.
“An Aggregate core crystal,” the silver-haired woman whispered, her voice dry.
“And it's from... a 4th-rank Aggregate...”
“I have thirteen of them,” Jiang Lin said, putting the crystal away.
“I'll keep one; you can have the others.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.
“Additionally, Rusty Town has been occupied by my people.
“From now on, it will be the Blood Demon Legion's forward outpost.
“Your people can go there, rebuild on the ruins, and turn it into a front-line fortress against the Aberrants.”
“Your people? You mean... those blood-red monsters?” someone asked.
“Correct. They are called Blood Demons, and they will be our most important combat force against the Aberrants in the future.
“There are currently nine hundred 2nd-rank peak Blood Demons there,” Jiang Lin said calmly.
“They will clear out any Aberrants that try to approach and protect any humans who enter the outpost.
“Of course, that's provided your people don't attack them first.”
“We... we understand.”
The silver-haired woman took a deep breath and turned to the Emberflame members who were still standing in a daze.
“Pass down the order. Organize an engineering team and logistics personnel immediately. We set out for Rusty Town at dawn tomorrow to establish a forward outpost.”
“Yes!”
Several members snapped out of their shock and hurried away.
The silver-haired woman turned back to Jiang Lin, her gaze complicated.
“The Leader has been waiting for you. She said that you must come to see her as soon as you return.”
Jiang Lin nodded and, without saying more, walked out of the intelligence room.
In the corridor, the busy Emberflame members instinctively stopped and stepped aside to let him pass, their eyes filled with awe and curiosity.
Jiang Lin ignored them and walked straight to the large metal door.
The door slid open silently. The circular room was still bathed in light from the transparent dome, and the sun—though setting—cast warm shadows across the polished floor.
Leah was still sitting in her wheelchair, her silver-white hair draped over her shoulders and her eyes covered by white bandages.
But a faint smile played on her lips.
“You're back.”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Lin walked up to her and stopped three meters away.
“I need to know more about that evil god.”
Jiang Lin spoke, his golden eyes staring directly at Leah.
“He's different from the enemies I've faced before. He's not an opponent that can be overwhelmed by numbers, nor can he be solved by simple physical suppression.”
He paused before continuing.
“My Blood Demons are suppressed to the 3rd-rank peak in this world. No matter how much they devour or grow, they cannot break through that limit.”
“That limit is the suppression of the world core,” Leah said calmly.
“Since Mozos bound himself to the world core, he has been continuously sucking its energy.
“That energy was supposed to maintain the vitality of this world and support higher levels of power, but he has stolen it all.
“Over three hundred years, the upper limit of power this world can support has dropped from the 5th-rank all the way down to the current 3rd-rank peak.
“Any life form, as long as it is on this planet, will be suppressed by those ‘world shackles’ and will be unable to break through.”
“Then what about the evil god? Why isn't he affected?” Jiang Lin asked, voicing his confusion.
“We aren't entirely sure.
“But we speculate that he has found a way to ensure he isn't entirely within this world.
“One or two hundred years ago, after he completely took control of the West Continent, he likely moved most of his body into the void.
“Now, he only extends his tentacles into this world, connecting them to the world core.”
Jiang Lin thought for a moment and asked, “Then what about the rank of these tentacles? Are they suppressed to the 3rd-rank peak by the world power, or are they like his main body?”
Leah replied, “Energy detection data shows that the strength of these tentacles is suppressed by the world's power; they are only at the level of the 3rd-rank peak.”
“If they're only at the 3rd-rank peak, why haven't you found a way to cut them off all these years?”
Leah sighed. “It's too difficult to cut them off completely.
“We've used weapons of mass destruction left over from the past, but in the end, the speed at which we destroyed the tentacles was slower than the speed at which they grew back.
“Moreover, the diameter of those tentacles can easily reach several kilometers. We simply can't destroy them all at once.”
Jiang Lin's eyes lit up. “Are the tentacles made of flesh and blood?”
Leah nodded. “Yes, why?”
Jiang Lin finally looked relieved. “It's nothing.
“It's just that I finally have an idea of how to deal with this evil god.”
If the opponent's combat power on this planet was limited to the 3rd-rank peak...
Then as long as he stayed safely behind his Blood Demon army, he shouldn't be instantly crushed by the opponent's realm advantage.
Although as an evil god, the opponent was surely invincible within the same rank, the situation was definitely better than he had imagined based on the current information.
However, Jiang Lin still had some concerns.
After all, those tentacles connected to the world core were part of the evil god's main body and were the most heavily polluted parts.
His Blood Demons had previously devoured the flesh of Aberrants without issue.
But if they were to directly devour the flesh of an evil god, he didn't know if they would be killed by the pollution.
Furthermore, if he only targeted the tentacles, it was indeed possible to drive the opponent off the planet.
But once the opponent realized he couldn't win the war of attrition, he might choose to cut off the tentacles and leave this world.
If that happened, Jiang Lin wouldn't be able to complete the Trial of Blood (3).
He would lose out on many benefits.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Lin asked, “What if one leaves this planet? Would they still be affected by the world shackles?”
Leah fell silent for a moment.
“I don't know.
“In three hundred years, no one has successfully left this planet.
“Three hundred years ago, we still possessed the technology to launch aircraft and leave the planet.
“But today, that heritage has been lost to time. Only those hidden ‘Old World Remnants’ might still possess the technology from back then.”
Jiang Lin pondered for a while and then asked, “What about those eyes of yours? Can you see a related future?”
Leah's lips pursed slightly. Her eyes, hidden behind the bandages, “looked” toward Jiang Lin, and she remained silent for a long time.
“Regarding the future... I see it more and more unclearly,” she said, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible fatigue.
“Before you arrived, I could see many lines.
“Clear ones, blurry ones, short ones, long ones... every line led to a different ending, but the end point was always destruction without exception.
“But now, those lines have begun to entangle, weave, and become chaotic.
“I see countless possibilities, but I can't see any of them clearly.
“It's like... like someone throwing a stone into a calm lake. The ripples spread out, and all the reflections are disturbed.”
Jiang Lin frowned slightly. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“A good thing,” Leah replied.
“Because chaos means variables. And variables mean possibility. For the first time in three hundred years, this world has a ‘possibility’.”
She paused and raised her pale hand, her fingertips lightly tracing the air as if touching something invisible.
“But I can faintly sense... if you want to completely slay Mozos, you must leave this planet.”
“Leave?”
“Correct,” Leah nodded.
“His main body is not in this world.
“He has only extended his tentacles in, binding them to the world core.
“What you can kill here is only an insignificant part of him. You will never be able to touch his essence.”
Jiang Lin fell silent.
This was consistent with his guess.
But the question was, how to leave?
Did he really have to go looking for those so-called Old World Remnants?
...
Rate on N.U.
