But what plunged Ling Canghai into deeper despair was the aerial glimpse he caught earlier: he had seen at least a hundred such Trampler. If every single Strider possessed the same strength as this one, it was simply too terrifying!
"Retreat! Break through to the east of the city!"
Clutching his bleeding chest, Ling Canghai forced himself to stand, leading the surviving disciples to charge toward the weakest point of the enemy line.
In contrast, the weaker sects and academies were already in dire straits.
A school team, led by only two Soul Sages, was cornered by a dozen Reavers.
Their defensive Soul Skills were like paper against the Reavers' sharp blades, and screams of agony rose one after another.
Suddenly, several beams of deep blue energy shot from the shadows, accurately hitting the two Soul Sages—it was a long-range snipe from the Dissemblers. The hit Soul Sages instantly froze, then were torn to shreds by the swarming Reavers.
"Phoenix Sky-Piercing Strike!"
Ma Xiaotao's figure, like a ball of blazing fire, charged into the fray. Her Phoenix True Flame transformed into a massive firebird, engulfing dozens of Void Soldiers.
The searing flames warped the space around them. The Void Soldiers emitted harsh screeches as their pitch-black outer shells constantly melted and dripped, exposing the wriggling core of negative energy inside.
Yet, even so, they dragged their burning bodies forward, crawling and trying to pounce on the nearby wailing civilians.
"Such troublesome creatures."
Ma Xiaotao snorted coldly. Her enormous Phoenix Wings spread out behind her, and the intensity of her flame abruptly increased several times over.
This time, the firebird pierced directly through the Void Soldiers' bodies, completely igniting their cores.
Artoria shielded Nan Qiuqiu behind her, slowly raising her Sword of Promised Victory (Excalibur).
The dazzling light patterns flowing on the sword's body moved like living things, converging into a brilliant column of light that shot into the sky.
"Excalibur!"
With a low roar, the column of light crashed down like a falling meteor, instantly vaporizing the Void Soldiers along the entire street and ripping a vacuum several hundred meters long through the dense enemy ranks.
"Quick! Follow the light path to break out!"
Nan Qiuqiu shouted at the surrounding civilians, but in the chaos, people had already lost their minds, simply running around aimlessly.
"Teacher..." Bai Xiuxiu hid behind Skirk, her small face pale with terror as she watched a Void Spectre tear apart a family of three trying to flee.
Skirk looked at the constantly expanding spatial cracks in the distance, a flicker of complexity in her eyes.
She lifted her delicate hand, and a terrifying cold white mist instantly spread out, freezing over a hundred Void Soldiers into ice sculptures.
"Just save as many as we can," she murmured softly, condensing dozens of ice cones on her fingertips and precisely shooting them at the Void Soldiers attempting to sneak attack the civilians.
But her gaze swept over the expanding spatial rifts in the distance. She knew in her heart that this small effort was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
Intense booming from Soul Cannons echoed from the direction of the Mingdu Hall, but the sound quickly became sparse.
A Strider that had just stepped out of a rift casually slapped a three-story-tall Soul Cannon tower into scrap metal.
Its chest erupted in a wave of dark energy, which swept across the street like a tide. The entire street instantly turned into scorched earth, and the dozens of Soul Engineers behind the tower were annihilated before they could even scream.
"You spawn of evil!"
Ma Xiaotao roared and charged forward. The Phoenix True Flame behind her solidified, fiercely colliding with the Strider's energy wave.
Rumble!
Amidst the deafening explosion, the flame and the dark energy erupted into a mushroom cloud. Ma Xiaotao was sent staggering backward, a trace of crimson blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.
She wiped the blood away, her eyes burning with an even fiercer fighting spirit: "Interesting. Again!"
On the high platform outside the general's tent, Ju Zi watched the flames soaring into the sky over Mingdu. Her fingernails dug deep into her palms, drawing beads of blood.
The Command Spell on her hand lit up again, emitting an ominous red glow. With her action, dozens more spatial rifts tore open across Mingdu, and more Void Soldiers surged out like a tide.
"No... don't..."
She trembled all over, and tears finally streamed down her face.
An invisible force was controlling her body. Every time the Command Spell lit up, it felt like a knife carving out her heart.
The message she had sent to Lu Jingming was her last struggle. She didn't know what else she could do, only watching helplessly as this prosperous city descended into a living hell by her own hand.
Fire Phoenix Douluo, Luan Feng, remained guarding the entrance of the general's tent. The Fire Phoenix Sword in her hand shook violently. The Fire Phoenix pattern on the blade flashed brightly then dimmed, letting out an unwilling hum.
In her scarlet eyes, humanity and bestiality were tearing at each other in a frenzy. Just a moment ago, she was about to break free of the control, but the brand Celenova had left deep in her soul suddenly erupted, almost burning her soul to ashes.
Now, her pupils were slowly being swallowed by a deepening blackness.
In an anomalous space, the Annihilation Gang leader Celenova floated quietly in the starry sky.
Her pure white hair brushed against her pale cheek. She overlooked the tragic state of Mingdu in the water mirror below, her vacant eyes completely devoid of emotion.
At her feet, the dark Star Ring rotated slowly, seemingly absorbing some unseen power.
This destruction was not an aimless slaughter but a precise "Purification." The Soul Power bursting forth in the battles, the emotions of fear, and even the wails of death were all being silently absorbed by the Star Ring, converting into nourishment for her power.
Mingdu's night sky had been completely stained red by firelight. Screams, explosions, and the clashing of energy interwoven into a tragic requiem of despair.
No one knew when this disaster would end, and no one knew what terrifying scene would unfold when the Annihilation Gang leader finally made her move.
In the depths of a dark alley, foul-smelling blood and grime trickled along the corner of the wall.
Zhongli Wu, clad in a black robe, stared intently at the figures continuously falling on the street, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.
The many Elders of the Holy Spirit Church were spread out in a fan shape, each holding a faintly glowing Soul Tool, but they didn't move. The souls that should have drifted out were, upon the moment life ceased, transforming into specks of light and dissipating into the air, leaving not a single trace of a remnant soul behind.
"How is this possible..."
A Heretic Soul Master Elder stammered. The Soul Devouring Bottle in his hand was empty. "Even if they were killed by these monsters, it's impossible for no souls to be left!"
Zhongli Wu snapped his head around, his face beneath the black robe distorted in fury. Mingdu's population of tens of millions, plus the experts gathered for the Soul Master Tournament, should have been a once-in-a-century feast for the Holy Spirit Church!
His original plan was to use the Antimatter Legion's massacre to collect a massive amount of souls to practice his heretical arts, even to attempt to break through to the Limit Douluo realm.
But now, it was as if someone had snatched the food from his mouth. All the "delicacies" had evaporated into thin air.
"Which bastard is pulling the strings behind this?!"
Zhongli Wu roared. His Soul Power surged, and the bloody mist churned like waves. "Search for them! Tear up the ground if you have to, to drag out this soul-stealing rat!"
He didn't believe anyone could snatch souls right under the noses of them, the Heretic Soul Masters—unless it was a top-tier expert in the spatial or soul domain.
On a tall building rooftop, the night wind billowed Lu Jingming's robes.
He calmly overlooked the hellish scene below, his gaze sweeping over the panicked civilians and resting on the battle-crazed Antimatter Legion.
A wisp of Soul Power wrapped around his fingertip trembled lightly—it was the feedback from his psychic link with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata (the Great Tree King). The Ley Line Network was operating normally, and the Dreamscape had taken in over five hundred thousand souls.
"There must be a bottom line sometimes; I don't want to lose my humanity." Lu Jingming murmured to himself.
He could clearly sense the souls pulled into the Dreamscape. They were sleeping there, as if in a peaceful dream, awaiting the moment they could see the light of day again.
The restorative power of the Abyss Flower and the divine power condensed from the nascent form of the Life God Position slowly flowed within his body. The combination of these two powers was enough to regenerate broken flesh—provided the soul was preserved.
His gaze shifted to the Soul Masters who had fallen in the fighting, his expression showing no emotion.
War was cruel. People died. Lu Jingming couldn't resurrect everyone, not to mention the greater consumption required to revive a Soul Master.
But civilians were different. They were the most innocent victims of this disaster, and a line he didn't want to cross.
"Celenova's appearance was unexpected, but I was the one who started the Holy Grail War. Naturally, this mess should be cleaned up by me." Lu Jingming whispered.
In the depths of Mingdu Imperial Palace, the luxurious bedchamber was filled with a dense medicinal odor.
The middle-aged Emperor lay on a golden silk-wood bed, his chest rising faintly, his face flushed with a sickly color.
The calming incense in the gilded censer before the bed had long burned out, leaving only cold ashes.
Xu Tianran sat in a wheelchair, his pale fingers lightly tapping the armrest. The crisp sound was jarring in the silent room.
The explosions and screams from outside the window seemed distant. His face showed no emotion, only a serenity that was almost bizarre.
"Sure enough, it's as she predicted."
Xu Tianran curled his lip into a cold smile. "The so-called agreement is nothing more than dust in the eyes of an Annihilation Gang leader."
He had never truly trusted Celenova. Collaborating with the Annihilation Gang leader was always a measure of expediency.
The chaos in Mingdu, even the sacrifice of ten million citizens, was nothing more than a part of his plan—to use destruction to disrupt the schemes of all factions, buying himself a chance to break the deadlock.
"Unify the Douluo Continent?"
Xu Tianran scoffed, a look of disdain flashing in his eyes. "Even standing at the continent's peak, you're just a handful of yellow earth in a hundred years. In the eyes of the gods, how are you different from an ant?"
His gaze became fervent, as if two flames were burning within. "Only eternal life, only achieving godhood, is the ultimate path!"
For this goal, he had already wagered everything.
Colluding with the Holy Spirit Church, tolerating the Antimatter Legion's slaughter of his people, even twisting his own Martial Soul... all of it was for the "God Position" promised by his mysterious Servant.
That Servant was an entity even more elusive than Celenova, yet one who understood "transactions" better.
"You can't achieve greatness without madness..."
Xu Tianran sighed softly, his finger tracing the dragon pattern carved into the wheelchair's armrest. "So what if no one has achieved godhood in ten thousand years? I, Xu Tianran, will forge a different path!"
Even if the price was the entire Sun Moon Empire being reduced to scorched earth, he would not hesitate.
"You are insane!"
A cold voice rang out from behind. Kong Deming slowly emerged from the shadows, his silver-white hair gleaming faintly in the dim light.
The Sun Moon Empire's only Tenth-Rank Soul Engineer was now deeply troubled, his eyes filled with heartache.
He looked at Xu Tianran's back as if he were looking at a completely unfamiliar monster.
He could tolerate Xu Tianran's ambition, even tacitly allowing him to consolidate power with an iron fist, but he could never tolerate anyone viewing the lives of millions of citizens as mere grass.
Every scream from Mingdu was like a heavy hammer striking his heart.
"Insane?"
Xu Tianran slowly turned his wheelchair, maintaining a gentle smile as if discussing the weather. "Perhaps. But Elder Kong, are you not also a prisoner constrained by 'ideals'?"
In his view, Kong Deming's adherence to "non-interference in the imperial family" and "guarding the Sun Moon Empire" were merely signs of narrow-mindedness.
A truly strong person should break free from all constraints, even if it meant stepping through hell to climb to the summit.
"My intuition tells me I must kill you."
Kong Deming's voice was low and firm. Soul Power began to surge around him. "Even if it goes against the creed of my life."
He had always kept to his duty. Whether it was the change of the imperial family or the struggle for power, he had observed coldly, focusing only on the research of Soul Tools.
But this time, a powerful sense of crisis made it impossible for him to stand idly by—Xu Tianran's madness would drag the entire Sun Moon Empire into an abyss of eternal damnation.
"Silver Moon Divine Light Shield!"
With Kong Deming's low shout, silver-white light instantly erupted, enveloping the entire bedchamber like a massive glass dome.
Space was completely sealed, preventing even a trace of energy from leaking out—this was a Tenth-Rank Soul Tool he had poured half his life's effort into creating. It was a powerful spatial Soul Tool, enough for him, a Rank 95 Soul Master, to contend against a Limit Douluo, or even a Demigod.
"It seems you are determined to act."
The smile on Xu Tianran's face slowly faded. Several dark figures suddenly flashed out of the shadows, blocking his path.
Leading them was Shadow Douluo, Xue Chen. The Titled Douluo was surrounded by a dense dark energy, his eyes staring coldly at Kong Deming.
"Elder Kong, forgive our disrespect."
Xue Chen bowed slightly, his attitude exceptionally firm. "His Royal Highness the Regent is the future of the Sun Moon Empire. No one can harm him."
The several Titled Douluo behind him simultaneously released their Soul Rings. The light of the yellow, purple, and black-interwoven Soul Rings was particularly dazzling within the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield.
How could they not know of Xu Tianran's madness?
But they had no choice.
The mysterious Servant's deterrent was like a sword hanging over their heads. The several Rank 9 Soul Engineer corps commanders who had attempted to resist were now mindless puppets, sent to the front lines as cannon fodder.
Instead of meeting that fate, they chose to gamble on Xu Tianran winning—at least, he had promised a stronger Sun Moon Empire.
"You..." Kong Deming frowned as he looked at the several Titled Douluo before him.
He hadn't expected Xu Tianran to still have such loyalists.
"Elder Kong, take Tianzhen and leave."
Xu Tianran suddenly spoke, a rare trace of weariness in his tone. "Leave Mingdu and never come back."
Xu Tianzhen, his innocent younger sister, was perhaps the last clean bloodline of the imperial family.
As for his father in the sickbed and his other relatives... they were nothing more than dispensable dust on his path to godhood.
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