Chapter 39: Evil Spirit | Monsters Are Coming
Emperor's Mound Mountain Range, Northern Region.
A bottomless chasm split the land like a great scar, its surrounding soil covered in sticky, threadlike substances. A pitch-black tower rose from the depths, piercing into the clouds.
At its peak hovered a massive dark red eye, flickering with ghostly light as it watched over every movement in the vicinity.
Atop the platform stood a humanoid figure with arms crossed. Over two meters tall, its skin was dark red, as if scorched repeatedly by flames. Its eyes were deeply sunken, like burning embers filled with violent and destructive intent.
"That is the aura of an Anti-Tide Legion warrior."
Just then, a crack opened within the Eye of Insight hovering above him, and a raspy voice emerged from within.
"What is this Anti-Tide Legion?" the humanoid Evil Entity asked indifferently.
"According to intelligence shared from other nodes, it is a powerful army of warriors who have renounced their faith. Their leader is known as the Anti-Tide. They are one of the greatest obstacles to our race's conquest of this world."
"Renounced their faith?"
Faced with the question, the dark red eye explained at once.
"You have only recently arrived from the Dungeon World and are unfamiliar with this world's history. Based on the intelligence shared by other nodes: this world once had a mighty god known as Emperor, worshiped by all life as the one true god. For some unknown reason, Emperor fell. The Anti-Tide Legion was formed several thousand years after his fall, originally to oppose our kind. The Legion's warriors believe the Emperor abandoned them and chose to forsake their faith, recognizing only the Anti-Tide."
"Meaningless faith," the Evil Entity sneered with disdain in its eyes.
"Do not underestimate the Anti-Tide Legion warriors. Our race's warriors stationed at other nodes have fought them many times and hold little advantage. The strength of life in this world far surpasses what you encountered in the Dungeon World. Do not let your guard down," the dark red eye warned sternly.
The Evil Entity ignored the eye's warning and turned his gaze toward the Blood-Soaked Plains of the Emperor's Mound Mountain Range. Black fluid emerged from his body, solidifying into a twisted set of black armor, with sharp black spikes protruding from every joint.
"I'll test them myself."
As his voice fell, the Evil Entity transformed into a streak of black light, tearing through the sky straight toward the Blood-Soaked Plains.
—
Northern Blood-Soaked Plains.
Broken Star sat motionless, watching the sneaky figures in the distance peeking out, waiting for him to resume slaughtering Evil Entities. His face was expressionless; he no longer even had the desire to attack.
By now, he had lost count of how many he'd killed, there was no end.
Sitting on the ground, he was starting to consider something.
Should he give up the trial and leave?
Pride and frustration clashed in his mind as he sighed in defeat.
He wanted to persist but didn't know how to continue.
These mysterious creatures even dug up the ground in every place he had passed through, leaving him unable to store the number of crystals required to complete the trial.
Although his rune armor had a record function that documented the large number of Evil Entities he had slain, enough to pass the trial, the examiners never judged by battle records. Only the number of collected crystals mattered. Even losses of crystals during the process were considered part of the evaluation.
As Broken Star struggled to think, he suddenly sensed a powerful energy fluctuation and sharply looked up toward the northwest sky.
A streak of black light, accompanied by heavy death energy, came speeding toward him.
"An Evil Spirit?!"
Realizing the attacker was an intelligent Evil Entity, Broken Star's expression grew solemn.
He sprang up, pressing his left chest.
Click, click, click.
The gears engaged, and his rune armor lit up instantly. Powerful energy rippled outward from him in waves.
His disheveled blue hair swirled in the energy surge as two energy blades rapidly extended from the backs of his hands.
Boom!
The Evil Spirit warrior landed in front of Broken Star, sending rocks and dust flying everywhere.
When the dust cleared, the Evil Spirit warrior revealed his grotesque form, locking wild, manic eyes directly on Broken Star.
Swish!
At the same moment, Broken Star's energy blades fully formed.
Without a word, both figures charged forward and clashed at the center.
Their figures flashed apart after colliding.
The Evil Spirit warrior looked down at the blade mark across his chest, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Instantly, he shifted his body at a sharp angle to narrowly evade another incoming slash, twisting and delivering a powerful side kick that sent Broken Star flying.
Boom!
Broken Star crossed his blades just in time to block the Evil Spirit warrior's armored arm, sparks flying.
Thick death energy swept over him, making it difficult for Broken Star to breathe.
"Kill!"
Faced with the Evil Spirit warrior's relentless assault, Broken Star's fighting spirit ignited.
This wasn't his first time fighting an Evil Spirit, but this one was unlike any he'd faced before. Both its combat technique and regeneration far surpassed its kin.
The wounds left by his blades healed rapidly on the Evil Spirit, while wounds continued accumulating on Broken Star himself.
The glow from his rune armor grew dimmer with each exchange, and after more than ten minutes of fierce combat, Broken Star gradually weakened.
Boom!
At that moment, the Evil Spirit warrior's heavy punch broke through his dual-blade defense, smashing into his chest. Blood spurted from Broken Star's mouth as he flew backward, rolling across the ground before coming to a stop amid clouds of dust.
As Broken Star gritted his teeth to rise again, the dark figure pierced through the dust, attacking in a kneeling charge and slamming directly into his chest.
Two black spikes broke through the rune armor and stabbed into his chest.
Boom!
Broken Star's body was driven into the earth, the red glow fading briefly from his eyes, returning to pure white.
In his dazed state, his rune armor suddenly activated, its energy core rotating automatically.
A surge of energy burst from the armor, blasting the grinning Evil Spirit warrior away. The overflowing energy encircled Broken Star, rapidly healing his wounds.
As he stood back up, his aura surged dramatically.
Feeling the new strength, a trace of shock flashed through Broken Star's eyes.
"Father…"
The Evil Spirit warrior attacked again, and Broken Star charged to meet him, blades clashing with the warrior's fists.
Bang!
With every collision, ripples of energy radiated outward from their battle.
Although his strength had increased greatly after healing, Broken Star still struggled against the Evil Spirit warrior, falling behind in both skill and raw power.
After an hour of brutal fighting, Broken Star was covered in blood, wounds splitting open across his body. He stood unsteadily, as if ready to collapse at any moment.
Yet his eyes remained filled with unyielding fighting spirit.
The Evil Spirit warrior wasn't faring much better.
Its quickly regenerating black armor was now covered in cracks, its left arm broken and hanging limp, unable to heal any further.
Boom!
Unable to continue fighting, Broken Star finally collapsed.
Seeing this, the Evil Spirit warrior grinned viciously, raising his hand to condense a black spike, slowly approaching Broken Star.
Just as the spike was about to pierce Broken Star's face, a voice suddenly rang ou.
"Taunt!"
At the command, the Evil Spirit's memories automatically reorganized.
Intense hatred surged within him, and the spike uncontrollably shifted direction toward the source of the voice.
But the mysterious hatred only lasted a second before the Evil Spirit warrior broke free of it. With a puzzled expression, his spike cleaved through a fat figure, turning it into black mist.
"Rule power?"
As the Evil Spirit turned to finish off Broken Star, another voice called from behind.
"Hey! Align with me!"
Hatred surged once more, forcing the Evil Spirit to spin around and hurl his spike backward.
The target was slain instantly, but new hatred immediately swelled within him, making him instinctively turn toward yet another figure in the distance.
Meanwhile, the regional voice channel and player forums had exploded.
"Brothers, requesting reinforcements! The God of Wealth is about to fall! Hurry and save him, we can barely hold on!"
"Calling all nearby brothers to rush to these coordinates, if the God of Wealth dies, who will hand out red envelopes in the future?!"
"Holy crap, is the God of Wealth really about to die? I won't accept it! I still need him to unlock my third Star Vein. We're rushing over right now, everyone nearby, hold the line!"
"No! I haven't even gotten my first red envelope from the God of Wealth yet! Protect him, protect him!"
—
The news that the God of Wealth was on the verge of death spread like wildfire.
Over the past week, the God of Wealth had helped many players unlock their second Star Vein.
In their eyes, he was a walking red envelope machine, whenever you found him, you got rich.
Though many hadn't yet received his gifts, they believed there was always next time. If he died now, that chance would be lost forever.
Upon hearing the news, countless players sprinted toward the coordinates.