Chapter 516: Battle Line
[V6C46 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
That fierce beast contained—within its body of a mere hundred kilograms—an amount of blood several times that of other land beasts. The sanguine liquid poured continuously into Qianye’s abdomen, whereafter it was absorbed by his body in its blood-boil state and transformed into abundant blood energy. The energy converged into his blood core which then pumped out strands of auric flame blood.
In the blink of an eye, not a drop of blood was left for him to absorb. Only then did he manage to restrain his severe bloodthirst.
Qianye tossed the withered beast corpse to the side. That violent and primitive suction of blood also served to vent the depression in his chest. He stood in a momentary daze before checking his injuries once more.
His injuries had healed several times faster during the blood-boil state. New granulation tissue was growing rapidly on that terrifying wound he had carved on his chest, and the defect had mostly closed up. He fished out a roll of bandage from Andruil’s Mysterious Realm and bound up his wound, then moved his arm around to confirm that his movements weren’t being affected.
The black titanium in his body had dwindled and lost the ability to spread after what remained of it was mutually consumed by the auric flame blood. However, a stubborn portion still remained within his body and would need to be cleared away gradually, but it was just a matter of time.
The price was a complete expenditure of his blood energy, but sources of blood energy were everywhere in this world of hidden dangers. Qianye also discovered that the Book of Darkness and Wings of Inception seemed to possess intelligence. They would restrict their absorption of blood energy when his body was in danger and refrain from competing with the blood core. This meant that he could refill his blood energy stores after killing a couple of wild beast hordes.
Qianye noticed the Wings of Inception while inspecting his body—this sentient, potential Grand Magnum was flapping its wings at this moment. The two fully-formed feathers upon it were vivid and life-like down to its fine barbs.
Soon, Qianye had finished dressing his wound. He then clothed himself properly and put all kinds of equipment in easily reachable pockets before leaving his temporary shelter.
The caverns within the mountain opened up in all directions like a giant maze, and enemies could appear from any direction. Even Eden with his Unshrouding Eye had long since withdrawn his pride as he advanced slowly and with due vigilance.
They were merely exploring a segment of spine left behind by a void colossus who had died countless years ago. The void colossus’ entire skeleton was surely beyond the limits of one’s vision if even a single segment of its spine was so big. It might’ve been as big as a complete void landmass when it was alive. How majestic an entity was this?
The remnant will left behind by the colossus was even able to suppress countless experts. If the void colossus was a mammoth, the people of the two factions weren’t even ants. Perhaps everyone added together would barely be equal to one of the ant’s limbs.
Just a corner about the truth of this world was already so shocking. The geniuses of the two factions found, to their shock, that the power they worshipped, strove, and yearned for was nothing before this void colossus.
Eden felt as though he had returned to being a rookie. He was just as cautious and indecisive back when he had just made his debut on the battlefield.
A black shadow suddenly flickered past the end of the tunnel, but there was nothing there when he glanced over with the Unshrouding Eye.
Eden gestured toward Nighteye and whispered, “Wait for my signal. Shoot to kill as soon as I designate the target, no matter what it is.”
However, that which Eden received was not Nighteye’s reply but a cold gun muzzle instead. The sniper rifle in Nighteye’s hand was pressed against the back of Eden’s head, its trigger half drawn. A single tremble of her finger would result in a blast.
A head-shot at such a close distance would kill Eden in a single shot regardless of the type of origin bullet. Even the absence of a physical bullet wouldn’t change the outcome.
“What are you doing?!” Eden was frozen with extreme shock.
“Do not attempt to order me around next time. I will kill you if this happens again!” Nighteye spoke word by word. Her undisguised killing intent made it clear that she wasn’t joking at all.
Eden simply couldn’t make sense of the matter. “This isn’t ordering you, it’s cooperation! Haven’t we always worked together like this since entering Giant’s Repose? We’ll only get far by cooperating in what each of us do best. Don’t forget, those imperial experts aren’t the only ones, Sky Demon’s avatars are here, too!”
“Do not attempt to command me,” Nighteye repeated once more.
“Fine, fine, I get it.” Eden raised his hand and said with a wry laugh. He already understood Nighteye’s temper. This contemplating lady was, in fact, extremely obstinate. There was surely no more room for negotiation on something she had repeated twice.
Nighteye slowly lowered her sniper rifle.
As the two began their advance once more, an enraged Eden kicked the cave wall and mumbled, “Now, how are we going to fight this battle?”
Nighteye only pretended not to hear.
Time passed by slowly as experts from various parties gradually pushed into the cavern. The deeper one went, however, the greater their chances of running into a member of the other faction. At the same time, the aboriginals and wild beasts there were even more powerful.
Outside of Giant’s repose, both factions were pouring in a steady stream of people.
The ones entering Giant’s Repose at the moment were experts who had been transferred over from various lands and those who weren’t available earlier on. The tacit deadlock was still being maintained despite both factions deploying massive forces—small frictions occurred every day, but no major battles took place.
The time for the final battle wouldn’t arrive as long as Sky Demon’s avatars stood intact, and the ancient essence fragment remains unobtained.
A majestic castle had been erected upon the mountainous terrain on the Evernight-controlled region. A structure that should’ve taken at least half a year to build was finished in less than half a month—this went to show that a great number of high-ranking soldiers was involved in the construction.
However, to the tens of thousands of dark race soldiers stationed on the battlefront, it was an honor to be able to participate in the construction of this castle dedicated to Warlord Noxus and Lightless Monarch Medanzo. That was to be the encampment of the two great monarchs.
Adding the mountain elevation, the castle’s main building stood hundreds of meters above Giant’s Repose. In the main hall on the top floor, Noxus and Medanzo were standing side by side, gazing at the enormous crevice below.
In truth, both Giant’s Repose and the dark race battlefront, which stretched hundreds of kilometers, was far beyond the limits of an ordinary person’s vision. However, the great monarchs possessed such terrifying power that they could see everything at a glance. Even the empire’s defensive lines couldn’t escape their eyes.
Naturally, the empire’s overseer, Zhang Boqian, could also see the dark race battlefront.
An area at the center of the imperial encampment was hidden in a patch of hazy white mist through which even the two great monarchs couldn’t see. A prolonged gaze would reveal a speck of light in the depths of this smokey haze, one that even Noxus and Medanzo weren’t willing to look straight at.
That was Zhang Boqian’s residence at the center of the white misty clouds. Only a heavenly monarch would have the power to isolate a great dark monarch’s vision. That extremely dazzling daybreak radiance seen by Noxus and Medanzo was Zhang Boqian’s grand origin power which had reached the heavenly monarch realm.
The Evernight faction had been using every means at their disposal to inquire, to no avail, about the battle in which Zhang Boqian had ascended to the heavenly monarch realm. Presently, the two dark monarchs had personally witnessed the quality of the youngest ever heavenly monarch’s daybreak grand origin. That was a light that could dazzle even them.
The top floor wherein stood two great dark monarchs was thousands of square kilometers wide, over a dozen meters tall, and beautifully designed.
Their energy outflow would produce intense fluctuations in their surroundings, and while standing together, their power would interweave, causing space to warp and distort. Those below the level of marquis simply couldn’t approach.
Arachne Warlord Noxus’ human form was an entire head shorter than Lightless Monarch Medanzo. His countenance was clear, virtuous, and intelligent, much like those scholars at the imperial library who buried themselves in books all day—not a single sign of viciousness or cruelty could be found.
Noxus was the first to break the silence. “The empire has brought in yet another reinforced regiment. The four battleships in charge of logistics hadn’t gone back, either.”
Medanzo pondered for a moment, then said, “That means the human airship force is no longer weaker than ours. They are still inferior, though, in terms of ground forces and experts.”
Noxus sneered, “Inferior? That’s perhaps true regarding experts, but I don’t feel that their ground forces are at a disadvantage at all. We hold the upper hand on paper, but do you really think thirty percent is that big? Don’t forget that the other side has produced young generals like Song Zining. The human advantage has always been in strategy, and their armies frequently mobilize in unison to coordinate with one another. What about us? We have bigger numbers, but how many tribes actually obey orders and cooperate with one another?”
In the face of Noxus’ criticism, the dark race’s nominal high commander Medanzo broke into a muffled laugh, “You’re right! I also believe we need to centralize the authority. Let’s do it this way, from tomorrow on, the Dark Hunters will join the Windwalker Legion and remain under their command. What say you?”
Noxus’s expression changed slightly. The Dark Hunters was the most elite arachne unit. Their numbers were small, but their fighting power was significant, and they were capable of adapting to all kinds of terrain. It could be considered one of the few trump cards in Noxus’ hands.
Less than ten people in the entire arachne race had the right to mobilize them. Medanzo looking to seize control of the Dark Hunters struck a nerve within Noxus.
The latter snorted deeply. “The Windwalker Legion is just an ordinary corps that can’t even be considered elite. What qualification do they have to command the Dark Hunters? The reverse is a better choice! Why not have them join the fifth army corps?”
Medanzo looked down at Noxus with a nefarious smile and said, “Why don’t we have the Dark Hunters and the Windwalker Legion fight in an isolated battlefield? Whoever wins gains the right to command.”
A sharp glint flashed through Noxus’ eyes as he said word by word, “Lightless Monarch Medanzo, with all due respect, are you trying to incite a war with the arachne at such a time?