Chapter 275: The Others Lay Siege

Wooo!

Viscous, cold, dark fog swept across the heavens and earth. This stretch of the world seemed to transform into a ghostly realm at this moment, with countless rustling sounds emanating from the black mist, and faintly visible, many grotesquely twisted figures darting within.

Gaze after gaze, brimming with malice, turned toward the fresh, living flesh inside the stronghold.

Li Luo, Jiang Jiang Qinge, and the others stood atop the stronghold's high wall, their faces solemn as they gazed at the distant spreading black fog. Just as they had anticipated, when that Great Calamity-class Other appeared, it would also drag along many other Others.

This scene truly was a siege by ten thousand demons.

At the top of the central high tower of the stronghold, a massive light barrier descended like an inverted bowl, protecting the stronghold within. That faint curtain of light gave the many students the little sense of security they had.

And how long this sense of security could last, no one in their heart had an answer.

Duze Duze Honglian also climbed onto the high wall at this moment. After half a day of cultivation, her strength had swiftly recovered. As she gazed at the boundless black fog in the distance now, a trace of fear flickered in her eyes, and her voice, somewhat hoarse, said: "It really is that Great Calamity. I can feel its power of malice."

"This Great Calamity is terrifyingly powerful. Previously, when we encountered it, I was covering the rear and made contact with it for an instant, and its power of malice invaded my body, forming a deep-level contamination."

"Our strength simply isn't on the same level."

Li Luo wasn't surprised by this, because the two sides were never on the same level to begin with. Duze Duze Honglian had only just stepped into the Earth Sha General stage, but this Great Calamity possessed strength equivalent to the peak of the Heavenly Gang General stage.

"The fact that you managed to escape back might be because it wanted you to lead the way for it," Jiang Jiang Qinge said coolly.

Duze Duze Honglian's expression shifted slightly, but she didn't retort. Although Jiang Jiang Qinge's words were harsh and blunt, this might indeed be the truth. Otherwise, given the crushing power of that "Smiling Face Demon," the probability of her escaping probably wouldn't have been too high.

"What's the plan from here?" Duze Duze Honglian asked coldly.

No matter how poor their relationship was, right now they were ultimately grasshoppers on the same rope. If they truly let that Great Calamity-class Other break through the stronghold, no one here would be able to remain unscathed.

"First, we'll rely on the stronghold's power to defend. We've made some preparations over the past few days. Let's first test how long we can hold back this Great Calamity-class Other. If we can hold out until reinforcements arrive, that would be best," Li Luo said.

"Although saying this might be a bit of a blow to you, I think you'd better not hold onto that kind of hope," Duze Duze Honglian said in a low, eerie voice.

Li Luo fell silent. Duze Duze Honglian's fighting spirit was quite low, which was likely because she had personally witnessed the terror of that Great Calamity-class Other. But in a situation like this, besides exerting every ounce of strength to resist, was there any second path they could choose?

Could they possibly actively open the stronghold and surrender directly?

Don't be ridiculous.

While they were speaking here, suddenly some sounds of commotion arose within the stronghold. Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge's gazes shot over, and then they saw, with their pupils contracting slightly, rolling black fog condensing in the sky, gradually forming a giant smiling face.

That smiling face was by no means unfamiliar to Li Luo and the others, because over these past few days they had already been made somewhat neurotic by this eerie grin.

The black smiling face swayed slightly in the sky, looking down upon the interior of the stronghold. Within those pitch-black eye sockets, it seemed to emanate an extreme power of evil. Just a single glance was enough to give birth to boundless fear in one's heart.

Hiss hiss!

The smiling face in the sky let out a piercing laugh. It had no intention of communicating with the crowd whatsoever. As its laughter rang out, one could see countless Others surging out like a tide from within the viscous black fog.

Those Others were mostly low-grade Others, bizarrely shaped, looking both terrifying and twisted.

The Smiling Face Demon had launched its attack directly.

Sizzle sizzle!

Countless Others charged in, first crashing into the light barrier shrouding the stronghold. At the moment of contact, the light barrier didn't budge at all, while those pouncing Others were instantly dissolved into wisps of faint black smoke.

Quite a few students secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The stronghold's defenses were still fairly reliable.

But Li Luo, Jiang Jiang Qinge, Duze Duze Honglian, and the others remained expressionless, their gazes still heavy and solemn, because this was merely the Smiling Face Demon testing the power of the stronghold's light barrier.

Sure enough, after that first wave of probing ended, the boundless black fog rippled once more, and immediately afterward, Others surged forth like a tide again.

The Others appearing this time had the power of malice rising from their bodies far stronger than those low-grade Others from before by an unknown margin. They should all count as Corrosion-grade Others, and among them, some even had crimson energy flowing across their bodies.

Those were Others approaching the Crimson Corrosion grade.

If encountered in the wild, many teams would need to join forces to deal with them.

Yet here, they were nothing more than cannon fodder.

This second wave of attack swept in with little technical sophistication, purely meant to consume the power of the stronghold's light barrier.

In this collision, everyone could sense that the speed at which the stronghold's light barrier purified Others had slowed compared to before. Some Others even managed to slam viciously into the light barrier before being obliterated.

Ripples spread out across the surface of the light barrier.

This caused some students' expressions to shift slightly.

Jiang Jiang Qinge then raised her hand and waved it lightly, and a cold, clear voice spread through the stronghold: "Everyone, follow the previous plan and channel energy into the central tower in sequence."

As her voice fell, one could see a wave of students within the stronghold swiftly surging toward the central tower's location, then sitting cross-legged at its four sides. The next moment, streams of phase force rose from within their bodies, and finally, like wisps of smoke, surged toward the central tower.

And the light barrier emanating from the central tower grew ever brighter at this moment.

The light barrier covering the stronghold likewise became resplendent.

Seeing this scene, many students couldn't help but let out low cheers.

"Hiss hiss..."

In the sky, the Smiling Face Demon also let out an eerie, piercing laugh at this moment, and then everyone saw the Smiling Face Demon slowly drift to the position directly above the stronghold.

It was located outside the light barrier, and within the pitch-black eye sockets on that smiling face, crimson flames gradually began to burn at this moment, like two pupils radiating boundless malice.

With the appearance of those two crimson pupils, the eerie smiling face seemed to truly come alive.

A bizarre power descended from the heavens, seemingly piercing straight through the light barrier's protection.

Li Luo also saw that giant smiling face with its ignited crimson pupils. His expression wavered slightly, and evil flames rose within his heart. A surge of chaotic, murderous emotion welled up inside him.

At the same time, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

"Steady your mind!"

But just at this moment, a cold, clear voice suddenly rang into his ears, and at the same time, resplendent, domineering light flooded his vision. This made Li Luo's heart jolt, and his wavering mind swiftly recovered.

As his mind recovered, Li Luo's expression also couldn't help but turn somewhat ugly. Was the Smiling Face Demon really this terrifying? Clearly separated by the light barrier's protection, its power could still transmit inside and affect his mind.

And even he was like this...

Thinking of this, Li Luo hurriedly looked into the stronghold, and sure enough, he saw many students looking up at the Smiling Face Demon in the sky, and then at the corners of their mouths, eerie smiles were slowly curling up...

Some of the mentally weaker ones even had the muscles at the corners of their mouths being torn apart. That was... a sign of the beginning of contamination.

This made a thick chill rise in Li Luo's heart. So this was the power of a Great Calamity-class Other... so bizarre, so silent and invisible, that just the collision of gazes alone could form contamination.

Li Luo's expression turned exceptionally ugly. Facing such a powerful Smiling Face Demon, could they truly hold out until reinforcements arrived?