Chapter 534: Despair Domain and Counterattack

"I have contacts in Shi Ying Town; follow me for now, and I will take you there once I finish my business here."

While replying to the girl's message, Rod casually responded to the half-goat woman Miss Miss Ainala's question.

He crushed another elemental shard with a crack in his hand.

Wild and rough spiritual energy surged into his body again.

A slight sensation of swelling and needle-like pain arose, but the solid spiritual energy truly began to circulate through every inch of his body.

Ho~

Don't say that.

It's actually quite enjoyable once you get used to it.

Especially the feeling of not having to ration such outrageously expensive items, like standing up to pedal a bicycle that others are too reluctant to use.

He secretly used the Brass Spirit-Testing Sphere.

—439 marks.

Good progress; this wasn't a breakthrough driven by the smooth mood during the battles with the Red Dragon and Aurelio.

One palm-sized elemental shard can provide about 5 marks of spiritual energy enhancement.

"Mr. Rod! The great cause I am undertaking involves the safety and balance of Shi Ying Town, and even the entire Twilight Hills! You should first set aside your personal needs and emotions!"

The half-goat woman Miss Miss Ainala said anxiously.

"That makes sense~"

"Mr. Rod! Every second you delay, someone could die! Coral Bay has two great dragons! Not one! Two! You cannot be so selfish!"

"Yes, indeed~~"

Rod answered casually, still following Pamelia as they walked briskly forward.

His mind automatically filtered out the nonsense he didn't need to hear.

The dog-person Sharon applied in the group to slay the Bloodthorn Clan leader on the city wall, Thasaya.

She looked extremely angry and annoyed that the guy kept announcing 'Rod's death'.

Back at the rear, the elf Lady Kali, acting as commander, approved the application.

She dispatched the halfling Lily, carrying the 【Pod of Victory】 capable of killing warlocks, to assist.

On the other side.

The underwater Ritual Site No. 6, built jointly by the zombie Selena and the arachne Watching Yuna to seal the Purgatory passage, succeeded.

Here, Rod had first called a halt to the ritual's activation, allowing the two of them to join the battlefield.

With the great dragons, a squad of sixteen mages, and two clan leaders removed from the fight, plus the fact that forces could not be replenished due to the mind flayer Hart's lingering influence after a vague resurrection.

Coral Bay suddenly fell into a clear disadvantage.

"Mr. Rod!"

"What is it?"

Rod was annoyed.

Why is this woman constantly screaming?

"You cannot be so selfish! Your current actions are indirectly creating slaughter!"

". Then why don't you go first?"

"No! At this time, I cannot contact anyone in Shi Ying Town!"

"Then just follow me properly; won't it be fine once I finish?"

Miss Miss Ainala looked at Rod.

She shook her head with a disappointed expression.

Short-sighted and greedy people; why are they all like this in this world?

"Alright, please hurry up."

At the same time, she glanced at Rod's crude and unskilled method of absorbing the elemental shards, further confirming that he was an ignorant country thief.

Unable to hold back, she frowned and spoke:

"Mr. Rod, I must remind you that elemental shards are products of solidified spiritual energy crystals; if not filtered by spells, such forceful absorption will allow tiny crystals within them to enter your body, causing Crystal Disease!"

Crystal Disease.

It is a condition where, after absorbing tiny solid spiritual energy crystals, the crystals treat the human body as a culture medium and begin to grow.

It is said that in the late stages, the flesh is directly replaced by crystals, making life worse than death.

"Thanks for the reminder."

Rod smiled and crushed another elemental shard right in front of her.

The stinging flow made him shiver slightly.

Slightly enjoyable.

". Hmph!"

Not much time passed.

The three of them crossed the viewing garden of the Montes Sea Area and followed the Purgatory passage, which carried a scorching, evil, sulfurous scent.

They arrived inside a huge room formed entirely of black-red jagged mountains.

From afar, one could see that the center of the room was a blood pool similarly enclosed by black-red rocks.

This area could already be considered part of Purgatory.

The half-goat woman Miss Miss Ainala stopped at the connection point between the two areas, covering her nose.

"Be careful to block your breathing, Mr. Rod; the sulfur of Purgatory can burn your lungs to shreds."

"Thanks for the reminder; I prepared for it in advance."

Rod replied politely.

In truth, there wasn't.

The 【Other-Space Affinity】 brought by the war soul of the Fungus-Rot Warrior Gorgon was enough to grant him immunity to the damage and effects of natural traits.

He strode forward and arrived at the edge of the Blood-Birth Pool.

The acrid stench of sulfur and rust rushed at his face.

The pool water boiled like a sea of blood, dark-red liquid churning, souls wailing as bubbles burst, and twisted silhouettes struggling faintly at the bottom.

The evil aura was maxed out.

Splash—

Three or four dark elves suddenly stood up from the pool water.

Before the red pool water on their bodies had even fully slid off, Rod's golden sword had already sliced off their heads.

Another splash of something crashing into the water.

He turned his head to look at Pamelaya beside him.

"Come on, it's time."

Pamelaya nodded blankly, as if she had lost all hope.

She let her long dress fall from her body, revealing a graceful figure.

Then she took out a dagger.

And began carving strange, eerie runes into her own abdomen.

The wounds cut by those runes began to writhe like living flesh; Pamelaya didn't need to carve with any great precision, for they could twist and squirm into shape on their own.

The half-goat Miss Ainala in the distance saw this scene.

She couldn't help frowning and asked: "What are you doing, Mr. Rod?"

"Dealing with the dark elves and ending the war, oh, Miss Miss Ainala."

Rod didn't even look up.

While listening to Pamelaya's screams, he mobilized the power of the Despair Domain within 【Despair Mycelia】.

After a brief cutting of the body—

Pamelaya's abdomen was torn open into a massive gash, and the organs inside began to writhe, coming alive like worms.

Then they burrowed out from within, still connected to her body, growing mouthparts and eyeballs in the air, and let out a howl toward the sky.

A touch too cruel and evil.

But the power of the Despair Domain could ignore the limits between organic and inorganic matter, the barrier between spirit and substance, and thereby infect every inch of the Blood-Birth Pool.

The power of 【Despair Heart】 would radiate onto every dark elf resurrected from the Blood-Birth Pool.

On one hand, this could corrupt Asmodeus's power.

On the other hand, any infected dark elf unable to resist despair would fall into an endless path of suicide, thereby accelerating the consumption of the Blood-Birth Pool's energy.

And after the Hell Passage was sealed.

Facing a Blood-Birth Pool that could no longer resurrect, even the dark elves that survived would be tormented by the Despair Domain until they were unrecognizable, hardly a threat.

"Stop! Can't you hear her screaming?!"

Miss Ainala said urgently.

Crack—

Rod crushed another elemental shard, and a great surge of spirituality flooded into his body.

——446 ke.

He turned his head and gazed darkly at the half-goat standing at the edge of Hell.

"Honestly, Miss Miss Ainala, since you came here to mediate, what exactly have you done? Why have I not seen a single one of your deeds?"

"What? What are you saying?! I've been working hard the whole time to persuade Aurelio! Let her go! She's about to die!"

"So what? I haven't seen any results, and you can't have failed to see the bones in the streets, can you?"

"Huh? Bones? Where?"

The half-goat Miss Ainala's face showed shock and horror.

She grew agitated too, an expression of disappointment and reproach appearing on her face:

"What are you saying? Why must we damage the life that nature has given us, the survival that the earth bears? Why must we let hatred defile this land?

The dark elves see your Shi Ying Town as a thorn in their eye because of the threat of the Guardian Array — why don't you just hand the array over? Throw away all your weapons, show our pacifism and kindness, and then naturally there'd be no way to fight! No one would choose to hurt a good person without weapons!

But no! From start to finish you lot were never willing to listen to the voices in the other's heart!

Peace has always been built by both sides!

My mediation at Coral Bay was already more than half successful — I successfully persuaded Aurelio to not make a move against Shi Ying Town until now!

And yet!

The fools of Shi Ying Town actually stuck their own necks under the blade!

Fools! Too foolish!

You're just as selfish as the leader of Shi Ying Town who shares your name — it's people like you who are the root of war!"

Rod was taken aback.

He suddenly felt that every single word she said was utterly laughable.

Are all the people of the Balance Association this talented?

This kind of talent should be advised to digest themselves, don't let them out.

Rod shook his head, losing interest in talking with her.

The control of Despair Mycelia had reached its final stage.

This was his first time controlling this portion of power, and due to the special nature of Pamelaia, he had no choice but to come to the scene to adjust it.

At this moment.

The dark elf's entire body was already twitching unconsciously, as if the whole person had become a vassal of viscera possessing their own consciousness.

Dragged by a stomach and lungs that had grown arthropod limbs, he was pulled step by step toward the Blood Birth Pool.

To be honest.

Rod also felt that, visually speaking, this skill was somewhat excessive.

After this incident, it would be best to use it as little as possible.

"I will not say it twice, Mr. Rod! Unleash your evil arts!"

The satyr Miss Miss Ainala shouted.

However, the thief Rod did not even turn his head, fully expressing his disdain and contempt for her.

She bit her lip in complaint and disappointment, then suddenly turned back:

"People like you are one of the sources of war wherever you go, Aurelio. Ruin him, and I can agree to your request."

As the words fell.

Heavy magical friction roared from afar, approaching madly!

A boom echoed from the Purgatory Passage!

A surging air wave compressed and expanded within the crowded Purgatory Passage, crashing onto the faces of everyone present like a giant wave.

A figure with black skin suddenly burst through the air.

"Pamelaia!!!"

On Aurelio's restored handsome face was endless anger and resentment.

He swung a rapier with power exceeding his previous limits, charging straight toward the back of that strangely familiar figure.

Crack—

Elemental fragments were crushed, and spiritual essence entered the body.

—453 marks.

When spiritual essence accumulates to a certain level.

The degree of compatibility with the physical body undergoes a new stage of advancement!

Rod's pressure surged directly to the peak, instantly completing an advancement to the high tier of the seventh stage.

Increases in strength, speed, constitution, spiritual essence capacity, mature spiritual essence, and sharp spiritual essence flooded the status panel!

—508 marks!

At the same time, blue-white mist billowed from behind him.

"Roar!!!!!"

The colossal form of the Bronze Dragon, towering like Rushan, suddenly appeared.

The terrifying majesty brought by the roar erupted instantly! Even the air trembled in response!

The moment the Devoted Body Sword was unsheathed, the black-gold attachment was already complete.

Turn around!

【Flash of Aethelorn】!

Twelve flashes!!!

(End of this chapter)