Mydei had just relayed his father's order to pull back the lines, having all the guards and Iron Golems retreat into the city. With no one to obstruct it, the [Strife] Titan strode toward the city walls.
Seeing the Titan about to reach the city gates, Mydei, who was standing at the entrance, couldn't help but feel a knot of tension in his gut. No matter how much he trusted Fu Zhu, with the enemy right at his doorstep, his subconscious was on high alert, especially since Fu Zhu had yet to make a move on the wall.
"What is Fu Zhu doing?"
Mydei muttered the question under his breath, his expression hardening as he prepared to intercept the [Strife] Titan's advance.
He was different from the others. He could be revived, making him the best candidate to stall it.
A few more seconds passed with no response from above. Mydei took a deep breath and lifted his foot to meet the enemy. But as he took the first step, a wave of inexplicable dread crushed his nerves, freezing his leg in mid-air.
He stared out from the city in horror. His vision was filled with nothing but the [Strife] Titan, which had now stopped in its tracks. Where was this feeling of dread coming from?
Wait a minute... the [Strife] Titan stopped?!
Mydei noticed the anomaly. The Titan would not stop for no reason, so what had forced it to a halt?
He scanned the area again but still found nothing else. The source had to be either in the sky or underground!
He lifted his head and saw the creature that had filled him with such terror.
---o---
A creature over ten meters tall, a pitch-black skeleton devoid of hands and feet, upon which sat three horrifying skulls. It floated silently in mid-air, a blood-chilling hiss emanating from its empty maws.
The sun was high in the sky, yet every person who laid eyes on the horrifying creature felt their body turn to ice. Some, upon meeting its vacant eye sockets, fainted on the spot.
On the city wall, Dan Heng had also subconsciously met the gaze of one of the Wither's heads. A piercing pain shot through his mind, and he immediately ducked his head, clutching it as he shouted a warning to the others.
"Don't look at It!"
Despite Dan Heng's warning, March 7th and Mem both reflexively looked up toward the Wither. Fortunately, Evernight, who was standing beside them, reacted swiftly, snapping open her umbrella to block their line of sight and severing the visual connection.
Shielded by the umbrella, March 7th finally came to her senses. She patted her chest, rattled, and turned to thank Evernight, only to find her face deathly pale, one hand pressed to her cheek. She had already been hit.
"Evernight, are you okay!?"
"I'm... fine. Fu Zhu, what in the world did you summon?!"
The latter half of Evernight's sentence was sharp, her voice filled with disbelief that Fu Zhu could summon something so terrifying.
---o---
Fu Zhu took out several cartons of milk and golden apples from his inventory and distributed them. The current situation had slightly exceeded his expectations.
"Things went a little sideways. One of the spectators glanced at the Wither."
This wasn't his first time summoning a Wither. He had done it before in the Simulated Universe, where Herta and Screwllum had challenged it. The Wither he summoned back then hadn't been enhanced, and his current enhancements were only to the Wither's size and attack range; there were no other mechanical changes.
In other words, this Wither should have been mechanically identical to the one in the Simulated Universe.
Yet now, it was displaying a new ability he had never seen before, something akin to a 'Killing Aura' that was triggered by eye contact. It had no effect on him, but it clearly worked on other creatures.
Fu Zhu knew why this had happened, just as he'd told Evernight.
"Spectators?" Evernight asked. After drinking the milk and eating the golden apple, she felt much better, but she still didn't understand what Fu Zhu meant.
"[Destruction] Aeon, Nanook."
The moment Mem had helped him use the command to summon the Wither, Fu Zhu had clearly felt Nanook's gaze fall upon it. And unlike the blessing Qlipoth had granted the Iron Golems, Nanook seemed to be extremely pleased with the Wither!
The power of the Path the Wither received was stronger than that of the Iron Golems by leaps and bounds.
At this, Dan Heng began to worry.
"Will this get out of your control?"
He was concerned that Fu Zhu's creation, having gained the attention of Destruction, would break free from his command. Then they would have to face two BOSSes at once. If any innocent civilians were harmed, it would be a terrible sin.
Although events had taken an unexpected turn, Fu Zhu remained unconcerned.
"Don't worry, everything is under control. It's just one Wither."
In Minecraft, the Wither was an exceptionally easy BOSS to bully. Players had gone so far as to create fully automatic Wither-killing farms because dispatching them manually was too inefficient.
Hearing Fu Zhu's confident tone, Dan Heng relaxed considerably.
"That's good."
Outside the city, the Wither continued to float in mid-air, letting out an occasional hiss. The others wondered why the monster remained motionless, but only Fu Zhu knew that it was still in its 'spawning' phase. It would only begin to move once its health bar was fully restored.
However, it seemed that because of Nanook's glance, this Wither's health regeneration speed was much slower than usual.
---o---
Far beyond Amphoreus, the fleet of the Antimatter Legion faced off against the fleet of the Luofu. Both sides were on high alert, neither daring to make the first move, terrified that they would attract the attention of the Ender Dragon and incur its wrath.
Aboard Celenova's flagship, several of the rarely seen Lord Ravagers, a sight seldom witnessed in the cosmos, were gathered.
Celenova, Zephyro, and Asat Pramad all wore grim expressions.
Just moments ago, they had all noticed that He had cast a glance toward Amphoreus.
"He glanced at Amphoreus. Don't tell me that besides The Irontomb, we're about to get another colleague?"
Asat Pramad speculated on the meaning of Nanook's gaze. He was somewhat surprised that this tiny planet, Amphoreus, could host two beings capable of attracting His attention.
And from the looks of it, if the Ender Dragon hadn't been present, He might have even projected Himself over for a closer look.
Zephyro, who had been standing to the side, suddenly stirred and turned to leave.
"Stop this pointless speculation. I'll go see for myself what's true and what's not! And while I'm at it... I'll rescue our other colleague from Fu Zhu's hands."