Chapter 280: Summoning

Is that the Grand Cultivator?

He looks awfully plain.

Luo De was slightly disappointed.

Even the Blood Sui Tree and Skull Rose in his garden grew uglier than him.

Not to mention the fat gardener piled with tumors and the grotesque plague beasts.

Compared to them, the Grand Cultivator even looked a bit handsome.

"See, good thing I stopped you."

Sharon boasted.

"Yes, yes, thank you."

"But this guy's internal plague is incredibly strong."

"I heard plague mages are desperate to get close to beings like this—is that true?"

"Of course it's false. You have a plague domain too—would you want to get close to a monster at this level? But if I were to dissect it, I'd be interested."

Sharon stared at him in silence.

With so many races and classes across the continent, stereotypes ran rampant.

Like dog-men eating shit, dwarves born clutching hammers in their fists, or necromancers mating with skeletons.

Hmm. The last one might actually be true.

When Sharon and Dimia were still studying at Bahadur Magic Academy, they'd seen a classmate specializing in necromancy sneak into the school's necromantic breeding graveyard and perform unspeakable acts on unformed bones.

Too gruesome to recall.

On the front lines.

With the Grand Cultivator's appearance, a shift in the tide emerged.

The Grand Cultivator rose into the sky.

In his hand, the massive pruning shears slashed downward at the dark elf forces— Xukong snapped.

BOOM!

Two colossal, razor-sharp energy currents instantly crossed like giant scissors!

Blood, organs, and severed limbs flew everywhere.

Each crossing spread vast waves of plague downward.

It regenerated countless plague beasts while corrupting the attacking dark elves and spiders into new plague beasts.

The wave of beasts surged backward in layers, launching a counterattack.

Luo De and Sharon watched from afar as the Grand Cultivator snipped left and right, gradually moving away from the garden, seeming urgently eager to hunt down the dark elves.

It seemed this summoning ritual indeed had a time limit.

Neither intended to fight the seemingly ninth-rank creature, waiting for the best opportunity.

Among the web ruins, atop the giant nest.

Wind howled.

The gray-white moon glowed with an eerie hue.

Anas, the dark elf female leader, stared at the magical projection before her, her face dark.

Beside her, Leiya wore an expression of disbelief:

"Wasn't the Grand Cultivator trapped in the Aether Vortex's arena? Then why…?"

A male dark elf cried in terror: "His ability rapidly converts troops—we can't hold even if we send out everyone, let alone his control over mutated plants and alchemical techniques!"

Another, slightly calmer man said: "I don't believe the Grand Cultivator escaped the Aether Vortex's arena. Countless even more formidable cosmic beings perished there."

"Then what is this before our eyes?!"

"Perhaps… it's a summoning. The Grand Cultivator excels in cultivating mutated psychic plants—producing a plant with summoning ability isn't surprising."

Leiya nodded beside him.

"His actions are frantic, and he's injured—I agree it's a temporary summoning."

"What good is all this talk? The key is how to stop him! He'll be here before long!"

Everyone fell silent, at a loss.

All turned to their leader, Anas.

Anas frowned in thought.

In the real dimension, the five of us together might hold him off.

But here in the Dread Field, magic and spirit are crushed too severely—I have no confidence at all.

This is a task issued by Lady Luo Si. Anas wanted to prove her people's worth, but she feared failure even more.

"Prepare to summon Lady Luo Si."

She opened her dry lips and gave the order.

"What?!"

"We can't disturb Lady Luo Si!"

"She'll see us as useless!"

Anas swept her cold gaze over the dissenters and said firmly:

"Then you mean we fail the mission—and the entire Hopkins Clan dies with us?"

The objections died instantly.

She declared resolutely:

"I don't care about failure or becoming useless. We've endured such humiliation underground for so long—there's no dignity or pride left to speak of. My only wish is for the Hopkins Clan to survive, to find our own homeland."

After reaching adulthood, dark elves choose their partners—usually five to ten—who live together and raise children collectively, without distinction.

The people around Anas were her closest partners, yet now they were stunned by her words.

They had never imagined their partner held such an ideal.

Then they hardened, nodding in agreement.

"I'll gather all the spider-converted elves—Lady Luo Si will enjoy these snacks."

"I'll collect the ritual materials."

"…"

Everyone took their roles, and tasks were swiftly assigned.

Anas nodded.

"Leiya, tell Elder Lila to keep activating the 【Solar Explosion】—even if it can't harm the Grand Cultivator, it can delay him… hmm?"

Mid-sentence, she froze, staring at an unnatural shadow moving along the edge of the web ruins.

"【Shadow Step】? Yuna Yufei? Where did those two brats learn that spell? Leiya, drag them out—none of Lady Luo Si's offerings may be lost."

"Understood."

BOOM!!!

A violent wave of searing heat surged forward.

Vast pools of blood instantly evaporated; bones were crushed to dust by magical friction, raining down like bone hail.

Luo De watched the distant 【Solar Explosion】 erupt.

"Still under half an hour—the dark elves are desperate, forcing a legendary spell."

"Shall we move now?"

The gardener and plague beasts, swept up by the counterattack, flooded the front lines in droves, overconfident.

The garden was now defenseless.

"Not yet."

A colossal hemispherical crater appeared on the battlefield, as if scooped out like an ice cream ball.

This 【Solar Explosion】 had struck straight at the Grand Cultivator—resulting in no distinction between friend or foe.

Countless plague beasts and spiders vanished.

The Grand Cultivator in midair now had his entire left arm charred and withered; his previously dominant aura dropped a notch.

He moved his pruning shears, slicing off the blackened limb.

Puff—

A new left arm instantly grew back.

His aura surged back to its peak!

Plague, after all, is the domain of decay and regeneration.

As the master of the garden, the Grand Cultivator didn't care for such minor setbacks.

"So far, the obstacles against the Grand Cultivator are still too weak—even as a summoned form, he can clear the entire Dread Field."

Luo De shook his head.

Sharon, however, was growing impatient.

"Then when he clears everything, won't we have nothing left to play with?!"

No sooner had she spoken—

BOOM—

A blue lightning bolt streaked down from afar.

Accompanying it came unusual clouds shimmering with blue aether.

(End of chapter)