Chapter 380: All Present

Instead, from the dent where it was hit, over a hundred sharp spikes suddenly erupted!

Although Heimu greatly reduced the damage, at such close range it remained lethal!

JiAssassin's left arm instantly rose, and the forearm armor unfolded into a small shield.

"Chichich—"

The spiky rain struck the shield; most were deflected, but a dozen or so pierced the shield's edge, embedding deep into the Mecha's left shoulder and rib armor, and the purple‑black energy began to spread.

The Mecha's movement briefly stalled.

With that pause, Huan Long seized the opportunity.

Its massive body, with astonishing flexibility, lunged forward, and from its mouth flashed out three purple‑black tentacles tipped with suction cups and covered in barbs!

The tentacles moved far faster than any previous attack, precisely coiling around JiAssassin's waist, right leg, and left arm!

A tremendous pulling force came, trying to drag the Mecha toward the gaping maw that seemed to lead to an abyss.

JiAssassin's rear main Thruster roared wildly, its violet‑red tail flame blazing bright enough to light half the street, holding against the tentacles' pull; in the air a sour‑tinged metallic screech mixed with the sound of stretched biological tissue.

The Mecha's right‑arm plasma hammer tried to strike the tentacles, but the tentacle surfaces exuded a slick corrosive fluid, making the attack hard to land.

A cruel gleam flashed in Huan Long's compound eyes; another idle forelimb rose high, its blade tip aimed at the temporarily restrained Mecha, ready to deliver a decisive blow.

At that moment—

"Boom!!!"

A beam of purple‑black magical energy, over two meters in diameter, pierced the sky from the side‑upper battlefield without warning!

Black Tower arrived.

She hadn't even fully landed, still perched sideways on a hovering Magic Staff, her left hand extended forward, a seven‑layer nested purple Magic Array rotating before her palm, and the Magic Cannon that had just flattened a small hill was fired from it.

She showed little expression on her face.

The beam hit!

"Puff—!!!"

The tentacle bases snapped in response!

Purple‑black ichor and shattered tissue splattered out!

Huan Long let out a shrill, distorted wail of pain, its whole body staggering backward from the sudden blow and agony, its grip on JiAssassin's force loosening.

Mecha Assassin reacted lightning‑fast, and in the instant the restraints eased, its waist and legs gave a secondary thrust burst, while the entangled left‑arm armor "Kacha"-ed off and fell away!

At this cost it gained instantaneous acceleration, like a needlefish breaking free of a net; violet‑red streaks shot skyward, instantly creating a near‑hundred‑meter gap, hovering in the air with its chest core flashing rapidly, yet its posture remained upright, locking onto the giant insect below that writhed wildly from pain.

On a slightly lower building rooftop not far away, Black Tower slowly descended.

Behind her, other figures began to appear—

On the final battlefield stage, all the players finally gathered.

Black Tower glanced at the damaged yet undaunted JiAssassin in the air, then at the unusually frenzied Huan Long giant insect below, and let out a soft "Tsk".

"It seems," she said lightly, as Spell Arrays unfolded again behind her in layers, "the warm‑up is over."

In fact, what gushed from Huan Long's severed limb wasn't blood but a viscous purple‑black fluid.

The fluid, after hitting the ground, didn't dissipate; instead it twisted and swelled like a living thing, spawning within seconds dozens of snarling insects the size of small cars.

Meanwhile, its massive Insect Body began an even stranger transformation—its upper shell writhed and peeled away, and from it rose a translucent female silhouette over ten meters tall.

The silhouette's face was blurred, long hair billowed, arms encircled, hollow eyes gazed down on all life, while its lower half remained fused to the ever‑growing insect body.

"Extinction Great Lord, Huan Long…"

The silhouette spoke, its voice echoing directly in everyone's deepest consciousness, mixed with a hoarse chorus of countless insect cries, "…will offer the greatest tribute of Destruction to you all, to this realm."

The moment the words fell, the ground within several hundred meters of Huan Long erupted simultaneously!

More genuine cicada insects burst from the soil, no longer confined to a fixed shape; some resembled multi‑legged tanks, some flew like aerial bat‑fish, others were pure fleshy artillery, surging toward everyone like a tide!

The sky was also obscured by flying winged insects.

"Are the insects holding a meeting or what!"

Gui Naifen's scalp tingled, yet she immediately assumed a stance, the Dragon Shadow on her Flame Spear resurfaced, albeit dimmer than before.

"The numbers… far exceed estimates," Artoria said gravely, her holy sword crossed over her chest, the Wind King Barrier poised to unleash.

"We must first clear the stray troops!"

San Yue Qi swiftly nocked her bow, firing a string of ice‑blue arrows; each arrow could freeze a small patch of Insect Swarm, but the ice was quickly shattered by the oncoming insects.

Black Tower hovered mid‑air, brows slightly furrowed, rapidly analyzing the battlefield: "The target's main response remains focused on the lower half of the Insect Body; the upper silhouette is mainly a mental interference. The Insect Swarm's reproduction rate is abnormal, with external supplementation… perhaps a ley line?"

At that moment, the ever‑silent JiAssassin moved.

It didn't charge straight at Huan Long's core; instead it descended to the ground, embedding the six remaining blade limbs on its back into the earth!

The blade limbs' tips glowed intensely violet‑red, spreading complex patterns like tree roots.

Immediately, a dense series of "Kacha" sounds rang from the ground beneath everyone's feet—

Countless smaller insects with purple‑red compound eyes burst from the "Hatching Ground" created by JiAssassin!

"Eh?!" San Yue Qi jumped in surprise, "We have insects over here too?!"

"It's another application of Breeding power."

A Xing gave a brief explanation, already hefting a bat as she charged toward the nearest wave of enemy insects, "Control, differentiate, for my use."

She swung the bat, smashing a charging enemy insect into the air; two nearby mechanical insects immediately pounced, precisely biting the enemy's weak joint and tearing it apart.

JiAssassin's Insect Swarm was far fewer than Huan Long's, but excelled in coordinated efficiency and possessed some resistance to the same‑source contamination.

They moved like a well‑trained army, swiftly forming a dynamic defensive line around the group, focusing on intercepting enemy insects attempting to flank or attack from range, greatly easing the frontal pressure.

"Well done!"

Gui Naifen's pressure eased, and she wielded her Flame Spear more flamboyantly, igniting a multi‑legged tank insect attempting to breach the line into a torch.

"Then,"

Black Tower withdrew its observing gaze, its violet‑black eyes Lock onto Huan Long's upper‑body illusion, "Begin the decapitation."

She no longer conserved mana; her hands formed a void in front of her, and a complex Magic Array over five meters in diameter, composed of thousands of tiny violet prisms, instantly materialized!

At the center of the Magic Array, highly condensed mana emitted a piercing, shrill whine.

In the next instant, thousands of violet beams poured out of the Magic Array like a torrential downpour!

Refracting continuously in the air, the trajectories became jagged and bizarre; the vast majority bypassed the intercepting Insect Swarm and the Insect Limb that Huan Long swung for Blocking, concentrating into a barrage toward that semi‑transparent female illusion!

Huan Long's illusion emitted a silent shriek, its arms flinging open, and in front of it coalesced a shield made of countless Insect Shadows.

The beams hammered the shield, exploding into a sky of violet‑black light fragments and Insect Body debris; the shield quivered violently, visibly dimming, yet it was not completely pierced.

Just as Black Tower's attack drew fire, Artoria moved.

"Wind—!"

She let out a low shout, mana erupted, the ground beneath her cracked, and she transformed into an emerald comet that tore through the air!

Her sword pointed at the critical Node linking Huan Long's illusion and the Insect Body.

"Despicable ambush!"

Huan Long's illusion sensed it, and a scythe‑shaped Insect Limb, hidden behind the side‑rear of the Insect Body, unusually thick and encrusted with crystals, shot out at an incredible speed, intercepting Artoria!

However, another scorching figure arrived from behind first!