Ch. 143 - Marching to the Underground

In the Inverse Universe, there was no sunrise or sunset, so there were no nights or days.

Therefore, even during the early morning of fortress time, the light in the Inverse Universe remained dim and gloomy.

Having arrived early at the designated position, Tianyang took out a bottle of Star Essence Supplement and drank it. After continuous battles these past few days, even though he had time to rest, the regeneration of the Star Essence in his body was clearly unable to keep up with the consumption.

So, for the past few days, the young man had to drink one or two bottles of the supplement just to barely maintain the fighting capacity he needed.

Now, this was already the last bottle of the supplement, and after finishing it, Tianyang let out a breath.

The Star Essence in his body slightly surged.

Moments later, the signal for the final assault was issued, but Tianyang didn’t rush out.

Their task today was still to protect the Elemental Heart and the Hunters at the rear. So after the signal for the final assault was given, the first to launch an attack were the mechanized soldiers and various combat vehicles.

Especially the heavy-armed mechanized soldiers, who opened fire right from the start, throwing various special munitions like there was no tomorrow, blasting the dark creatures in the direction of the tree circle, causing chaos and confusion.

Even so, the dark creatures continued to surge like a tide, but compared to the previous days, this wave of black was clearly much smaller, no longer carrying the overwhelming terror of before.

The second wave of attacks was the responsibility of the Elemental Heart and the Hunters. One by one, gray elemental javelins were thrown into the air, then fell like a sudden downpour onto the distant black tide.

Gray waves instantly erupted in the black tide.

Next, the wind howled within the black tide, and several tornadoes formed out of nowhere, the roaring winds sucking up the dark creatures and tearing them to shreds within the columns of wind.

Even those who managed to evade the tornadoes faced the next fiery storms and chilling frosts, which tested the luck of the dark creatures.

The various abilities unleashed by the Elemental Heart were like miniature natural disasters, plunging the dark creatures into fatal strikes.

Coupled with the rain of arrows released by the Hunters working together, the number of dark creatures who could break through the fire line dwindled to a very small amount.

But no matter how few there were, they could not be neglected, so Tianyang and the other Ascenders began to engage in the final killing on the battlefield.

After slaying a few Stalkers, Tianyang suddenly heard a shout of surprise. It turned out that several Tree Spirits had appeared on the battlefield without anyone noticing. A frontline War God-class soldier was swept away by a Tree Spirit and thrown over a hundred meters away, unable to get up for a moment.

As soon as the Tree Spirit struck, someone yelled and rushed over, it was Kun Lan, a member of the three-headed hound team.

This guy, with a curved blade close to his arm, circled the Tree Spirit, chopping off several tree vines. With a twist of his blade, he pointed it forward and began to stab furiously at one of the Tree Spirit’s legs.

After stabbing a dozen times, Kun Lan crossed his dual blades, tearing open a huge gash.

The Tree Spirit immediately knelt on one knee, and at that moment, a shadow leaped up.

It was the nameless warrior wearing a ghost mask, whose name was still unknown. He was in mid-air, gently caressing the hilt of his sword, and as he landed on the Tree Spirit, he instantly drew his sword!

A cold light flashed on the Tree Spirit, and countless tree vines were severed by the ghost-faced man. Even the Tree Spirit’s body had been cut open with a massive gash.

“Hey, don’t steal my kill!” Kun Lan shouted, crazily cutting at the Tree Spirit, causing its branches and leaves to scatter.

The ghost-faced man, who had landed on the ground, silently turned back. It looked like if they kept it up for a moment longer, they would be able to bring down this Tree Spirit together.

Tree Spirits were particularly troublesome among the dark creatures because they did not have a will cage; they were composed of multiple independent forms.

Therefore, to kill them completely, one had to kill as many of the human-faced demon flowers as possible. When the number was insufficient to sustain the Tree Spirit’s form, then the Tree Spirit could be considered truly “dead.”

Tree Spirits possessed good physical resistance, and ordinary people wielding particle swords might not even be able to cut a single vine from them.

While Kun Lan and the ghost-faced man seemed to be handling it easily, the consumption of Star Essence was far beyond what was needed to deal with other dark creatures.

Thus, as more Tree Spirits appeared on the battlefield, the pressure on Tianyang and the others noticeably increased.

With a powerful cleave, Cang Du also used the Springwater Longsword to sever a few tree vines, but for this monster standing seven or eight meters tall, losing a few tree vines was probably no different from a human losing a few hairs.

The Tree Spirit turned around and lifted its foot to kick at Cang Du, who did not dare to be careless and performed a large backward leap to evade the attack.

Just as he landed, Cang Du saw Tianyang charging towards the Tree Spirit. The young man darted between the Tree Spirit’s legs, sweeping the Crimson Moon Warblade, not only cutting a wound into the Tree Spirit but also setting its leg on fire.

At that moment, the burning characteristic of the Crimson Moon Warblade held a significant advantage.

Tianyang waved his battle knife, the crimson glow flickering, and flames erupted from the Tree Spirit’s body, leaving Cang Du feeling a bit frustrated.

He was already at the third rank, yet when facing the Tree Spirit, he was not as fierce as Tianyang, who was only at the first rank. Cang Du silently decided that after returning to the fortress this time, he needed to find a weapon with burning properties to keep as a backup.

Cang Du resolved that he would no longer rely on that rookie to perform when encountering the fire-phobic dark creatures in the future!

After slicing once more, Tianyang approached the back of the Tree Spirit. Lowering his center of gravity, he pushed off forcefully with his legs. The enhanced agility from his physical strength allowed him to leap ten meters into the air, surpassing the height of the Tree Spirit.

With both hands tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, he surged his Star Essence, instantly reaching peak activation.

As he descended, he struck down with his sword, dragging a streak of crimson light that bisected the Tree Spirit’s body.

Upon landing, several more streaks of crimson light erupted from within the Tree Spirit!

The Tree Spirit froze momentarily, and suddenly, its body seemed to disassemble, rolling down countless black particles.

A single strike obliterated it!

The human-faced demon flowers that made up the Tree Spirit were almost entirely slain by Tianyang in an instant, leaving the few that remained unable to reform into a Tree Spirit.

They scattered but still emitted piercing cries from unknown origins, their roots writhing as they lunged at Tianyang.

Cang Du unleashed several powerful slashes with the Springwater Longsword, killing these creatures. He glanced at Tianyang with a complex expression before turning to charge at another target.

Tianyang rested for a moment before facing a new opponent, but by this time, he had less than half of his Star Essence remaining, and he felt the battle knife in his hand becoming heavier.

Fortunately, the number of remaining enemies was limited. After two hours, the battle finally came to an end.

All the dark creatures in the high walls laid slain, but when the people arrived at the circle of strange trees, they found no trace of the Black Prince reported by the Raven Squad.

Only the high-backed stone chair, resembling a throne, remained in its original position, with a crown-like helmet placed upon it.

Tianyang caught a distant glimpse of the helmet on the stone chair and felt an uneasy thought arise in his mind.

Previously, in the Arid Valley Town, they had confirmed before encountering the Black Prince that it possessed the ability to evolve rapidly.

Now that the crown laid there, with the Black Prince missing, could it be that it had undergone another transformation?

Tianyang remembered that just within this tree circle, the three Black Princes had been fighting amongst themselves. Perhaps their goal was to devour the other two.

Just like how the long-haired prince hunted the Dark Dwellers, it was clear that the Dark Dwellers could provide the “nourishment” necessary for the Black Prince’s evolution.

Then, if one of the princes devoured the other two, what would the remaining one transform into?

A new king?

This conclusion sent a shiver through Tianyang's heart.

The crown-like helmet on the stone chair was eventually placed on a table. In a relatively spacious room of a building outside the high walls, a temporary command center was established.

Fei Mei stood with her hands clasped behind her, intently observing the helmet on the table. After a moment, she turned around, scanning the few people in front of her. “What do you all think?”

Ling Feng, who was wiping his hands with a handkerchief, glanced at the helmet indifferently. “According to the previous report from the Raven Squad, the Black Prince seems to be capable of continuous evolution. This helmet might be a remnant left behind after its latest evolution.”

“I’m more concerned about where the so-called Black Prince is right now!” Xie Hong, dressed in a high-ranking storm uniform and sitting to the left of Ling Feng, said solemnly. “Isn’t the ultimate goal of this operation to eliminate the Black Prince and prevent the emergence of a Black King? But after fighting for so long, we haven’t even seen the Black Prince, let alone the sorcerer mentioned in the reports!”

Xie Hong shot a glance at Ling Feng from the corner of his eye. “I’m beginning to doubt whether this so-called Black Prince really exists; could it be that the Night Walker made a mistake?”

Ling Feng put away his handkerchief without looking at Xie Hong. “I can’t say for certain where the Black Prince is. But I can confirm that there are Dark Dwellers, and possibly sorcerers, are operating beneath this city.”

Fei Mei responded, “So, it seems your scouts have returned?”

“To be precise, only one has returned,” Ling Feng replied, stamping his foot. “Just beneath this battlefield, my people discovered a complex network of caves.”

“Deep within, there are bizarre, indescribable plants growing. They cut through some of the roots and found that there were hollow tubes inside those things. Can you guess what they discovered in those tubes?”

Xie Hong, lacking patience, interjected, “General Ling, is this really the time for riddles?”

Ling Feng replied calmly, “Xie, your patience seems to need some improvement.”

“You—”

Fei Mei coughed lightly, stopping Xie Hong from exploding. “Ling Feng, stop keeping us in suspense.”

Ling Feng then said, “Human corpses, to be precise, incomplete digested remains.”

The female general’s expression sharpened. “Could they be the missing slain soldiers?”

Ling Feng nodded. “Exactly, and not just one; there are many… So I have reason to believe that the dark creatures are brewing something. They wouldn’t collect human corpses for no reason; perhaps this war on the surface is merely to facilitate their collection of corpses.”

“Therefore, I propose… we must advance into the underground caves. The Black Prince we are searching for is likely hiding down there!”

A silence fell over the room.

After a moment, Xie Hong shook his head. “Entering the underground caves is too risky! First of all, the space in the caves is limited. Vehicles and mechanized soldiers can’t fit in.”

“Secondly, even if we only send soldiers down, in such a confined space, we could easily be annihilated. Don’t forget, those sorcerers are most adept at this kind of thing.”

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