Chapter 1185: A Warning of Destruction
The martialists were out of the pan and into the fire.
They could not approach the corrupted area controlled by the Fallen Evils. If they wanted to escape, they would have to crawl out of the hole that stood ten meters tall in front of them while avoiding those black tentacles. Once being caught by those tentacles, it would be impossible to wrench away from their grip. They knew they were now facing an unbeatable enemy, and not everyone had the courage to step forward and walk into the arena of death with their head held high.
The only person who chose to fight was Fei Yuhan.
"You guys go first!"
She hollered over the speaker phone. A flash of white shadow streaked out from the darkness and zoomed toward the magic creature. Fei Yuhan's body emanated a soft, bright glow, which was the manifestation of the release of her Force of Nature. Before this, she could only cover her arms.
The twisting tentacles instantly lunged at her like serpents. Fei Yuhan brushed past them, barely dodging their attacks. When she foresaw a confrontation that was unavoidable, she struck them with her palm and cut those tentacles with a knife-hand. White light congregated at the tip of her fingers and formed a shape of a sharp sword.
The other martialists all fled, attempting to get out of the hole.
Sir Youlong was the first to reach the edge of the wall.
"Ludicrous. Do you think you could escape from me?"
The magic creature swung his arms down towards Sir Youlong. The arms that was not long enough to reach the wall suddenly expanded rapidly, becoming thicker and longer.
Sir Youlong wheeled around at the last second and tried to block the strike, exploding his arms with piercing light, but in an instant, the giant hand had smashed him into the ground!
The thunderous crash left a deep ditch at the bottom of the hole, and the concrete slabs were pulverized.
Sir Youlong was reduced to a bloody sack of meat.
The magic creature then scooped up that bloody, muddy body, along with some mud, and tossed it into the "crack" it stood astride. Instantly, the corrupted area expanded again.
Roland realized that it was using the martialists' Forces of Nature to expand the corruption. For some reason, he felt indignity, as though someone had robbed him of his possessions. Those Forces should have belonged to this world, belonged to him.
It was intolerable.
"Your Majesty, what do we do now?" Phyllis and Dawnen asked together behind him. "The tentacles almost filled the hole."
"We have to kill the monster before the other group arrive here, but you cannot be seen," Roland said as he patted Ling's head. "Go knock out those materialists caught by the tentacles. Be fast, and wait for further instructions."
"That's easy. I'll do that right away..." Ling replied sprightly as she submerged herself into the shadow.
"Then we'll confront that monster," Roland said as he gazed at the enemy who stood ten meters tall. Although he had dealt with similar monsters before and knew that the key to the victory was to wrench the astrolabe out of its body, it was extremely hard to approach the magic creature. After a moment of contemplation, Roland whispered instructions to Phyllis.
"Your Majesty, that's — " Phyllis exclaimed in surprise.
"Do what I say. We must kill it," Roland cut across Phyllis decisively. "This is an order!"
"Yes..." Phyllis conceded after a moment of hesitation. "As you command."
"So, the last problem is her," Roland mumbled. He looked toward Fei Yuhan as his eyebrows contracted. She was still struggling to stand up, attempting to launch an attack although she had suffered two blows from the monster and was covered in blood.
Despite the injuries, her movement was less agile, yet she was still fighting with incredible obstinacy.
More tentacles reached out to her from different directions, which made it even harder for Fei Yuhan to approach the monster. The magic creature was too busy dealing with the fleeing martialists, or else she wouldn't still be standing at this point.
In the meantime, Ling had approached to the center of the corrupted area soundlessly.
"Your Majesty, everyone was knocked out," Ling reported over the speaker phone.
"Good job — " Roland's words rested on the tip of his tongue when he suddenly realized that the speaker phone channel was on for all the team members. Fei Yuhan apparently had heard Ling's voice, for she stumbled and, for the third time, got thrown out by the giant hand. The white light enveloping her had, by that time, completely faded out, and Fei Yuhan lost her consciousness.
"Now!" Roland yelled. The plan did not go as smoothly as expected, but this was a chance they need.
"Excuse my impertinence, Your Majesty," Phyllis said as she spread open her claws, clutched Roland's ankles and started to spin. Roland was thrown into a whirl of color, feeling his inside churning. When the spinning speed reached its maximum, Phyllis suddenly released him, and, like an arrow that cracked through space, Roland darted toward the magic creature under the momentum.
The moment Roland left the protection of the Veil of Invisibility, the monster saw an "unidentifiable object" streak towards it. It immediately turned away from the unconscious martialists to Roland, ready to swing its huge hand down as a giant swatted a fly.
They bumped into each other.
Roland went through its black arm and ran into its chest. Its colossal body was not as sturdy and robust as it appeared. Instead, it was simply an illusion covering emptiness.
The magic creature growled in terror and suddenly yelled with a look of dawning comprehension, "It was you! You didn't listen to my advice!"
Roland grasped the spinning astrolabe in its body and wrenched it. The scarlet interface gradually turned into a blueish white, and Roland felt his power inside him whoop in exuberance as if his expectation had been fulfilled. Roland asked, "Was the monster I killed last time your brother? Sorry, he didn't say it clearly, so I didn't hear his kind advice."
"We are one, we are united — " the magic creature's voice trailed off. "Stop your foolish act. This is my last warning, otherwise you'll be regretted for what you did. Everything will be reduced to nothingness, and our endeavor's workover the past thousands of years will be wasted. You can't... bear the heavy guilt brought about by such an... horrific atrocity..."
When its astrolabe was completely separated from its body, the monster stopped talking.
Blinding white light flooded over the hole, and Roland felt deeply content as if he had attained what he desired.
He could hear the throb of the ground underneath him clearly.
For a moment, Roland had a delusion that he and this world became one.
In the chaotic Realm of Mind, the Nightmare opened its eyes abruptly!
It just sensed a rhythmic beat it had never heard before that constrasted with the disordered surroundings.
The Nightmare had had similar experiences when it had tracked down the legacy shard, but its previous attempts were all fruitless. Due to the extreme complexity of minds, any mistake would make her lose a sense of direction.
Nevertheless, this time, everything seemed to be clearer.
This indicated that the origin of this beat was very close.
Valkries grinned.
It had found the traces of that mysterious man.