Chapter 339: Fight Like a Warrior (Request for Monthly Votes)

The bloody light shed by Xie Yue spread along with the expansion of the Black Black Tide, shrouding the battlefield.

The great battle continued, yet the lantern in the Recorder's hand was gradually extinguishing.

This bone lamp had once devoured myriad civilizations; every spark of fire upon it represented a sacrificed civilization.

Whenever a civilization army was annihilated by the Black Black Tide legion under the control of the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit, devouring the civilization warriors from within the spatial interior outward, one spark on the bone lamp would extinguish, the base of a civilization tombstone would collapse with a rumble, and that civilization would cease to exist.

The Black Black Tide's sweep through the subspace caused the lamp flame to flicker violently, reflecting the panic on the Recorder's haggard Iron Face.

Although he had heard of the Black Black Tide, this was his first clash with it.

Only now did he understand how terrifying the Black Black Tide described by the clan elders truly was.

In terms of war systems, his civilization army was completely suppressed.

Those evil influences sucked into independent battlefields not only failed to disconnect from the Black Black Tide but transformed into thousands of surgical knives, conducting precise dissections on the civilization army.

Corroding the smelting secret arts of the Living Bronze Civilization, disrupting the celestial power of the Star Orbit Civilization, launching mental assaults against the symbiotic system of the Blood Vine Ancient Tribe... For every civilization trait analyzed by the evil spirit warriors behind the Black Black Tide, new types of evil influences could be rapidly generated to suppress the civilization army.

To him, it felt like a puzzle game in the eyes of the evil spirit warriors.

Every civilization was a question.

The rapidly generated evil influences were the answers provided by the evil spirit warriors.

He had posed ten thousand questions, hoping to limit the Black Black Tide's war decision-making efficiency through an excessive volume of problems.

Under normal circumstances, when a faction encountered civilization spaces that segmented the battlefield, it would completely lose unified command capabilities, relying solely on the combat power within the civilization spaces to independently form separate battle legions.

The role of core command became entirely ineffective.

But the problem was that all these questions were far too simple in front of the evil spirit warriors.

He did not even need to ponder to provide answers rapidly.

It was still a case of solving ten thousand questions simultaneously and submitting answers simultaneously; the ideal situation of command failure simply did not exist.

The Recorder's expression was panicked, the bone lamp trembling in his palm.

Fine cracks on the lamp wall were spreading, and the originally brilliant sparks of fire were extinguishing one after another.

He realized that the strategy of segmenting the battlefield was accelerating his own defeat.

Every time an independent space was separated out, it was equivalent to gifting the Black Black Tide a laboratory for analyzing civilizations.

"Return to Burial."

Instantly, invisible power radiated outward from the bone lamp as center, spreading in concentric ripples.

These ripples were like a signal.

When the ripples of Return to Burial spread to the battlefield's edge, the civilization spaces within nearly ten thousand civilization warriors boiled like furnaces, spitting out all the devoured evil influences.

This time, the Recorder no longer pursued battlefield segmentation but instead fed all nutrients back to the civilization warriors.

The battlefield returned once more to the clash between civilization warriors and Black Black Tide evil influences.

First to return to position were the civilization warriors smelted by the Mechanical Civilization.

The giant mecha cast from alloy upon its body unfolded with a rumble; the energy core in its chest jetted out blue-purple energy streams, instantly vaporizing approaching evil influences.

Subsequently, chainsaw-like light blades popped out from its joints, carving dazzling arcs through the black mist; wherever they passed, evil influences were entirely decomposed into black mist.

But such attacks did not truly kill the evil influences, nor could they devour the power of dead evil influences like players could.

Even if civilization warriors absorbed the evil influences, that portion of power would still return to the Black Black Tide, breeding anew into evil spirit warriors to return to the battlefield.

Compared to the casualties of the civilization warriors, the energy loss inflicted upon the Black Black Tide was completely negligible.

Just then, countless soft-bodied evil influences shaped like octopuses suddenly generated; their eight tentacles were covered in suckers, and once attached to the mecha's surface, they began secreting strong acid, causing the alloy armor to emit ear-piercing hisses as it corroded.

On the other side, civilization warriors shaped by the Rift-Sky Civilization flashed rapidly across the battlefield, continuously performing spatial teleports.

Each swing of the Rift Blade in their hands could tear space, sucking surrounding evil influences into it and transporting them to the Void World.

Letting them be shredded by the power of the void.

But under the illumination of Xie Yue, even the black mist shredded by the void counter-current would fold back to the battlefield within the next second.

The offensive of the Rift-Sky civilization warriors held no practical significance.

It merely exiled those powerful evil influences to the void briefly, but they would soon return to the battlefield nonetheless.

And the most dazzling combat power on the battlefield belonged to the warriors shaped by the Soul Civilization: the Awakened.

Ancient soul runes were branded upon its forehead.

Chanting spells continuously, countless soul chains extended from independent spaces, wrapping around Black Black Tide evil influences and purifying them in large groups.

However, a piercing shriek suddenly erupted from the depths of the Black Black Tide; a blood-colored figure rushed out from within the black mist, the bloody light it released colliding with the soul chains emitted by the "Awakened," exploding with terrifying energy fluctuations.

This strike shook the Awakened until it spat fresh blood, and the light radiating from its body dimmed by several degrees.

The one who appeared was precisely the commander of the Black Tide of Pain under the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit: the Demon Seed.

This was also the only rule-level unit possessing self-awareness within the Black Black Tide controlled by the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit.

With the appearance of the Demon Seed, red mist surged forth from the black fog.

Pain-type units surged forth like a Black Tide, their released power transforming into an emotional cage that shrouded the battlefield.

At this moment, the Demon Seed also hung above the battlefield, arms spread wide; countless blood-colored threads burst forth from within its body, linking up with the pain-type units.

The Corridor of Wailing thus unfolded.

This was the ultimate killing move developed by the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit, requiring coordination with the Demon Seed's rules to use.

It turned emotions into substantial weapons.

When fighting against players, he never used this move.

Because it held no meaning whatsoever; as long as players broke through the emotional threshold, they could exempt themselves from any effects brought by emotions.

But there were no players here.

Five ultimate emotions erupted simultaneously at this moment, stirring up all sorrow and pain within the memories fused by the civilization warriors.

The first to erupt was the Abyss of Despair, executed by the Daughter of Lamentation in linkage with the Demon Seed.

Within the minds of the mechanized civilization warriors, images of their home planet exploding suddenly reflected; the precise gears inside their bodies suddenly stopped rotating.

Then they knelt to the ground, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Endless despair completely shrouded them; that was the feedback of countless pains from the twilight hour of civilization.

Under the influence of rules, this kind of emotion could not be escaped at all.

Just then, the Hell of Rage woven by the Skeleton of Furious Rage in linkage with the Demon Seed shrouded the battlefield.

The civilization warriors refined from the Curse-Blood Dragon Tree Civilization suddenly looked up to the sky and roared; what floated in their minds were the resentment, hatred, madness... of countless living beings when their civilization collapsed... These emotions caused them to lose control completely.

Next came the Eternal Despairing Echo released by the Death Bell Acolyte in linkage with the Demon Seed, the Web of Repentance released by the Spider Mother of Regret in linkage with the Demon Seed, and the Endless Fear released by the Throat of Dread in linkage with the Demon Seed.

The five ultimate emotions ran rampant across the battlefield, bringing extreme agony to all civilization warriors.

There was always at least one emotion that could cause civilization warriors, who had fused civilization memories, to collapse.

Even the Recorder, who controlled the civilization warriors, was affected; expressions on his Iron Face uncontrollably shifted between sorrow, pain, and despair from moment to moment.

He wanted to suppress the surging emotions, but it was to no avail.

The entire battlefield thus fell under the control of the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit.

This evil spirit commander, who would fly into a rage when facing players at Emperor Tomb Mountain Range and whose emotions would fluctuate violently for various reasons...

When facing the civilization army of the Stele Abyss Clan, displayed only absolute coldness and terrifying battlefield domination capabilities, like a precise war machine without emotion.

Whether segmenting the battlefield or gathering for combat, the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit had created crushing advantages.

The Black Black Tide evil influences under his control advanced in a sweeping posture.

At this time, behind the forest of steles, the Recorder watched the civilization warriors retreating step by step, the bone lamp in his hand still trembling violently.

The speed at which sparks of fire extinguished upon it had not alleviated even after gathering for combat.

Cracks on the lamp wall grew more numerous; the "Civilization" rule-derived brand already showed signs of returning to its initial form.

This battle could be described as a total collapse.

In the Recorder's eyes, the war advantages that the Stele Abyss Clan could easily create when confronting other racial factions had all become suppressed weaknesses in front of the Black Black Tide.

The terrifying battlefield dominion demonstrated by the advantage of the full system, he had finally witnessed it.

The Recorder's fingers dug deeply into his palm, dark golden beads of blood seeping out from beneath his aged skin.

The bone lamp emitted fine cracking sounds of being overburdened in his hand; with every additional crack on the lamp wall, a civilization tombstone collapsed with a rumble within his perceptual vision.

The civilization warriors, who had once been invincible in other worlds, now fell in large groups like wheat being harvested.

In this desperate situation, the Recorder chose to gamble his life.

The bone lamp vibrated, invisible ripples spreading across the battlefield.

The remaining civilization warriors suddenly froze, then collectively turned to converge toward the center.

All civilization traits began to forcibly fuse.

This was the Stele Abyss Clan's final combat technique: Ten Thousand Burials Return to One.

Only the highest-grade rule-derived brands could execute it, fusing all civilization traits into one.

But this step required oneself to have detailed understanding of different civilizations.

What he held in hand was merely a secondary rule-derived brand; forcibly releasing civilization fusion would only cause the rule-derived brand in his hand to shatter completely.

But now he had no retreat left.

The sparks of fire within the bone lamp simultaneously floated into the air, and all civilization warriors rapidly fused.

The life intensity of the main body warrior climbed rapidly.

The precise gears of the Mechanical Civilization bit into the rune arrays of the Curse Civilization; the regeneration traits of the Plant Civilization and the decay laws of the Undead Civilization eroded each other, resulting in conflicting explosions; the cognition and memories of the Interstellar Civilization were forcibly compressed into the symbiotic consciousness... A brand new civilization was born through the method of forced piecing together.

It finally took form as a civilization giant a thousand meters tall.

Its left arm was a cannon barrel entangled with metal and flesh, its right arm a whip-blade condensed from plants and viruses, its chest embedded with 3,800 energy cores from different civilizations, and thirty-six pairs of wings of varying lengths extended from its back.

The civilization giant under Ten Thousand Burials Return to One crushed the earth beneath its feet, launching a final charge toward the Black Black Tide.

On the Black Black Tide front, the figure of a Demon Seed Warrior rose from the tides, rapidly growing taller under the infusion of Black Black Tide energy.

Yet compared to colossal entities like that Civilization Warrior, its form still appeared exceedingly small.

As the will of the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit descended, the Demon Seed spread its arms, facing the challenge of the Civilization Giant head-on.

The Civilization Giant fired its Collapse Cannon; the Demon Seed neither dodged nor avoided, allowing the beam capable of annihilating mountain ranges to pierce through its body.

However, its damaged body rapidly healed under the infusion of Black Black Tide particles, leaving its combat power unaffected.

Roaring with mouth agape, it synchronized with the five Great Emotion Evil Spirits to simultaneously release ultimate emotional damage.

Civilization fusion also meant that all negative emotions were integrated along with it.

This ultimate emotional damage was comparable to "true damage" in games.

Even the Civilization Giant trembled uncontrollably.

Seizing the opportunity, the Demon Seed surged forward, its form turning into a streak of bloody light, its five fingers like blades striking straight at the giant's chest.

When the Demon Seed made contact with the Civilization Giant, the forcibly fused civilization consciousness completely collapsed.

The giant fell to its knees, and countless phantom images of civilization tombstones began to emerge upon its body.

Each tombstone represented a civilization swallowed by the Stele Abyss Clan, and now they were collectively backlashing.

Within the fragments of the Mechanical Civilization, ten million engineers wailed that their life's work had been burned to ash; within the Sorcery Civilization, countless figures in black robes furiously denounced the evil invaders... All anger, pain, death, and sorrow erupted at once.

The collapse of the Civilization Giant was a collective backlash of different civilizations.

Its massive body began to disintegrate.

Countless cracks split open across its back, and its wings withered and fell like dead leaves.

Every falling feather turned to ash mid-air.

The Civilization Giant threw its head back, emitting an inhuman wail from a throat where metal and flesh merged, sounding like the superposition of ten million voices, the final accusation of countless civilizations before their extinction.

The Demon Seed, controlled by the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit, watched all this with indifference.

Its hand remained embedded in the giant's chest, with bloody energy flowing between its five fingers.

Seeing this scene, the Recorder trembled in the distance.

The ultimate weapon of civilization was being dismantled from within.

The civilizations it once viewed as nourishment had, under the influence of emotional damage, become spiritual weapons that crushed the Civilization Giant.

Finally, the giant's body crashed heavily to the ground, transforming into a turbulent sea of boiling energy that quickly dissipated under the Black Black Tide's devouring.

Not even its last resort could withstand the Black Black Tide's invasion; the Recorder fell into complete despair.

Run!

In that instant, it hesitated no longer, turning to become a streak of grayish light that tore through the air, fleeing madly toward the horizon.

Its tattered robes fluttered loudly in the wind, constantly shedding fragments during the high-speed flight, resembling a mummified corpse undergoing weathering.

The terror of death enveloped its heart.

Failure in the Burial Fire Trial would cause it to lose the opportunity to enter the Core Layer.

But compared to staying alive, losing these things was negligible.

"Want to escape?"

Suddenly, the Evil Moon blazed with intense bloody light; chains of crimson radiance cascaded down, instantly nailing the entire space in place.

No matter how the Recorder activated the Spatial Leap Device imprint in its hand, it could not tear through space; the entire space seemed to have transformed into a reinforced cage.

The Black Black Tide boiled in response.

The viscous Black Tide rose like a living creature, transforming into a sky-shrouding giant wave that swept outward, surrounding from all directions.

The Recorder struggled frantically, attempting to tear through the Black Black Tide's encirclement.

But all resistance was futile; its power before the Black Black Tide was like a single drop of water trying to oppose an entire ocean.

Before long, the Black Black Tide completely submerged it.

Black mist poured into its mouth and nose, ear canals, and eye sockets, even penetrating into its mental sea of consciousness.

Its consciousness began to blur; in its final field of vision, only endless darkness remained.

The Burial Fire Trial had failed completely.

The Black Black Tide receded, and the luster of the Evil Moon gradually subsided.

A few shattered fragments of rule-derivative imprints, their energy exhausted, fell from the sky.

The Earth-Nian Evil Spirit did not even spare them a glance.

The opponent's strength was not bad, but merely "not bad," far from reaching the "Livestock Level."

Compared to brawling with the livestock back home, this confrontation could be called a satisfying match, very stress-relieving.

Just as the Earth-Nian Evil Spirit controlled the Black Black Tide to cross the original Stele Forest region and advance toward a farther direction,

within the Stele Abyss Clan's Burial Fire Hall,

inside the dim hall, thousands of bronze soul lamps burned quietly.

Each lamp represented a Stele Abyss Clan warrior fighting outside while undergoing the trial.

Suddenly.

"Crack!"

One soul lamp abruptly exploded, the sparks from the bursting wick tracing a dim light through the darkness.

Outside the main hall, a figure dressed in Hall Guardian attire, sitting cross-legged upon the altar, suddenly raised its head.

Dark golden pupils ignited within the shadows, like two burning fireballs.

"My son."

The low voice shook the entire hall until it rustled; then, the figure slowly rose, and the Burial Fire imprints coiling around its body shattered inch by inch.

"Elder..." It suddenly raised its head, looking toward the depths of the great hall.