Chapter 284: Chapter 145: The Advent of the Netherworld, The Final Day

Huh?

"A hundredth place? Or maybe tenth?" Gong Jun clearly hadn’t broadened his imagination.

"Why don’t you guess a little bolder, a little higher? If that were his actual rank, he’d probably be having nightmares," Yan Ziqian said.

The implication was obvious.

First place!

Was it for real...?

Even Ms. Cheng was taken aback by this conclusion. It completely shattered her perception of him. She knew Su Chen was strong, but she never imagined he was *this* strong.

...

As the time reached four in the morning.

All was calm and quiet.

After their failed offensive, Oran City launched no further attacks under the cover of night, as if they had admitted defeat.

According to sources from the Sect relayed by official channels, the Security Council learned that Oran City was in utter chaos. The news of their defeat at the front lines had instantly ignited pent-up civil unrest.

For many of the Olan People, it was a rude awakening, a profound shock to their worldview.

It turned out Rune synthesis formulas were open-source and free to the public.

It turned out you didn’t need to pay extra fees to use Rune buildings at all.

Of course.

To many die-hard Olan People, they still agreed with some of the ideas of the four ruling coalition powers. After all, if they didn’t collect taxes, how could they use the crystal prism towers, or build more defensive towers and wall units?

At the very least, the chaotic apocalyptic situation had indeed improved after it was brought under control.

Besides, if they could have successfully plundered Dongfu City, their lives would have become much more comfortable.

The problem was, they had lost today.

When internal conflicts could no longer be diverted outward, it inevitably added fuel to the fire within the city. Even more frenzied looting destroyed what little market order had been painstakingly restored.

"I was thinking of sowing the seeds of anger to light a fire, but it seems that won’t be necessary."

A high-level executive from the Lorentz Conglomerate stood on the rooftop of a skyscraper, looking down with delight at the city devouring itself below.

Making people vent their anger in an uncontrollable, spiritual frenzy... was precisely the specialty granted to them by the Lord of Anger, the Calozan Monarch.

Beneath the night sky, embers of fire still glowed. Turbulent streams of Elements drifted up from the ruins and piles of corpses everywhere. The scene was even more ghastly than the most brutal warzone in Dongfu City.

"We have enough soul material for the sacrifice."

He said in a low voice, "The advent ritual to break the barrier of reality can now begin."

"You’d better pray it works. The military and the Dominator organization are already very displeased," a representative from the Omega Conglomerate expressed their dissatisfaction. Their conglomerate spanned finance, heavy industry, and munitions factories, making them a military-industrial complex that outsiders dared not provoke.

As such, they had close ties with the military.

This defeat had also sparked new thoughts and schemes within their own ranks.

The enemy was far more difficult than imagined. Their defenses were so tight that they had withstood a missile barrage. It was impossible to destroy their teleportation nodes, and infiltration tactics were ineffective due to the small number of operatives and the enemy’s anti-stealth detection methods.

With the three-pronged attack being defeated one by one, it was tantamount to inadvertently supplying the enemy. Had they known this would happen, they would have been better off just concentrating their forces on the main Rune Core.

The fact that a large number of people in the top fifty of the contribution leaderboard were pushed down after today’s battle also made the various powers-that-be increasingly dissatisfied.

This was especially true for the top ten, which had fallen from holding seven spots to only four. The person in first place seemed to have a commanding, unshakeable lead. Even the second-place Desert Beast Master, Wyatt, couldn’t reclaim the top spot no matter how hard he fought or how desperately he tried to catch up.

"Tell Mitra and General Caleb to assemble their forces at dawn. If they continue to hold back, they can’t blame anyone but themselves for not getting a piece of the pie," the Lorentz executive said dismissively.

"Aren’t we departing immediately?" the distinguished guest beside him asked, displeased.

"No. First, we’ll purge those sanctimonious traitors in the city. We’ll clean house before we set out. Relax, the ritual is about to begin."

...

「Before dawn.」

All was silent and desolate.

Deep within a dark pine forest just five li from Dongfu City’s southern front, three Demon Warlocks in stealth cloaks were lowering six Soul Artifacts into a fissure in the earth’s ley lines.

There was a bronze basin embedded with wailing human faces, a crystal skull sealing thousands of souls, a Bone Wheel wrapped in cursed scripture, and an eerily inscrutable Human Skin Drum. Each item contained thousands of refined souls.

Just as they began to place the formation eyes in sequence and draw the Dark Array, following the forbidden demonic knowledge that had been imparted to them, a sharp eagle’s cry suddenly echoed through the forest.

A flock of Celestial Patrol Thunder Falcons with wingspans exceeding ten meters was patrolling the sky nearby. Dongfu City’s aerial sentinels, dispatched to the periphery, had discovered them.

SPLAT!

The Thunder Falcon suddenly vomited blood from its internal organs. From a distance, a Five-Star Secret Art Bishop who was personally guarding the array had cast a spell, causing the great bird to fall, stunned and silent.

"Hurry up."

To avoid their preliminary work being discovered too quickly, their group of "visitors" was very small, but every single one was a famous figure on the leaderboards, serving as their protection.

This Secret Art Bishop was ranked second on Oran City’s arena leaderboard and third in the Trial Tower. After failing to assault the Rune Core for two consecutive days, he was only ranked 21st on the personal contribution leaderboard. This was what infuriated him the most, making him eager to restart the war immediately.

Before long,

the lines of a Dark Array were completely drawn.

At the heart of the array, the six Soul Artifacts began to tremble rapidly amidst a cursed chant. Myriad souls shrieked as they soared into the sky, forming a pillar of Netherworld light that pierced through heaven and earth.

In an instant,

the ground collapsed.

Reality was pierced like a thin sheet of paper.

A massive rift in reality, spanning two realms, slowly tore open in the sky above the forest. A gap boomed open in the night curtain, its edges rapidly dripping with viscous, dark blood.

The world barrier began to be penetrated and disintegrated at this moment.

Gradually, a Netherworld Gate forged from bone and Obsidian began to take shape.

A passage spanning two planes was thus opened.

The dark, decaying aura of the Netherworld surged forth.

In an instant,

black mist roiled, and swarms of Black Nether Crows shrieked as they flew out. Numerous translucent, wailing Vengeful Spirits also charged forth, followed by armored undead knights who descended slowly, treading on steps of Void.

The moment they appeared, they immediately surged toward Dongfu City.

The distant city reacted as quickly as ever. Beacon fires were already lit, and air-raid sirens blared, rapidly waking everyone who was asleep.

"It’s a pity the Gate of Bones is of a limited level. If we could have sacrificed the souls of one hundred thousand Professionals, it would have been enough for a clone of the great Monarch to descend personally," a female Demon Warlock remarked coldly.

"This is enough."

An executive from Lorentz wearing a pair of peculiar glasses sneered.

In accordance with the contract they had signed with the monarch Vesela, and the forbidden demonic knowledge he had transmitted to them, they had successfully forged the array’s Soul Artifacts and sacrificed the souls of thousands of Professionals. They had broken the reality barrier of the Main Plane, allowing the Netherworld to descend.

After being screwed over many times before, they had made sure to carefully revise the contract’s terms, doing their utmost to avoid vague clauses about Netherworld Creatures not distinguishing between friend and foe or having unclear targets.

Only after a round of haggling and adding quite a few extra bargaining chips did they manage to add a clause with a clear scope of action.

The next instant,

a fifteen-meter-tall figure in black armor stepped out of the Void.

He wore heavy armor forged from wailing souls. His eyes had no pupils, only two clusters of eternally burning, pale Soul Fire. The Nightmare Warhorse beneath him let out a series of neighs.

The figure slowly raised its head. Its hollow gaze swept over everyone present without a word before it charged straight toward Dongfu City.

’We didn’t get screwed over.’

The Demon Warlocks held their breath. Immediately, they signaled to the rear, telling all personnel to prepare for battle.

...

4:37 AM.

The night was thick.

At the Qingye Collection campground, inside a three-story camping supply store.

Su Chen opened his eyes inside the RV. Xiaoye, who was standing guard by the door, suddenly became alert and woke its master through their Spiritual Link.

The link conveyed far more information than could be spoken in a few words.

But it was definitely not a false alarm.

"Time to get up."

Su Chen whispered, his voice completely devoid of drowsiness. His movement also woke up Ruoruo, who was sleeping while hugging his left arm.

She furrowed her brow and nuzzled her face against his chest, a hint of lingering sleepiness and attachment in her movements.

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