The aftermath of the Lightning Sea was a scene of utter devastation. Charred earth stretched as far as the eye could see, littered with the smoldering remains of countless demon beasts.
The golden expanse of Thor's Sea stood as a stark boundary, a line the black tide of the demon army dared not cross.
The sheer destructive power unleashed within a ninety-mile radius had dealt a significant blow to the millions-strong horde.
Even without sentience, they understood fear.
"Whew..." Mike let out a breath, surveying the charred landscape. The mass slaughter had propelled him to level 499. He could only level up further after changing classes.
Level 500...
The number sent a shiver down his spine.
If he rembered correctly, every potential Supre Being experienced a montous event upon reaching level 500:
The opening of the Supre Abyssal.
Once this Abyssal expedition concluded and he returned to the Tower of Truth, it would be ti for his class change.
"Shadow Nine... is coming back?" The thought filled him with a strange mix of excitent and apprehension.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Ace interrupted, his voice laced with amusent. "Focus on the demon army right in front of you."
Mike snapped out of his reverie, his gaze returning to the horde. His expression shifted. The demon army, held at bay by Thor's Sea, hadn't dared to cross the electrified boundary. However, their strength was increasing at an alarming rate.
The corpses of the slain demon creatures, scattered across the Abyssal landscape, were being absorbed by their brethren, fueling their growth.
"Now you see why the Abyss is such a pain in the ass," Ace said, grinding a piece of charred bone under his heel. "You can't win a decisive victory here."
The Abyss was the Demon God's divine kingdom, a fragnt of the Tower of Truth itself. And these demon beasts, like the monsters within the Tower, respawned endlessly.
Even if Mike could wipe out the entire horde in an instant, given enough ti, they would simply reappear.
To the Ninth Demon God, these creatures were expendable, re pawns in his grand sche.
If sacrificing billions of demon beasts could eliminate either Ace or Thor, it would be a worthwhile trade.
Mike's expression turned serious. He focused his mind, peering into the distance.
[Searching for thods to weaken the demon army...]
[Purifying the Abyssal Core will permanently weaken the Ninth Abyss.]
Abyssal Core?
Mike skimd through the Eye of Truth's explanation. "Ace, how much do you know about Abyssal Cores?"
"Not much," Ace replied with a shrug. "Old guy only destroyed a few hundred of them."
"The biggest pain is their stealth. They're usually heavily guarded by powerful demon Lords."
"Stealth? That's child's play for ."
A new prompt appeared before Mike's eyes.
[Calculating optimal route...]
[Proceed 150 miles in the three o'clock direction...]
[Eye of Truth, your guide to all things hidden...]
"Whoosh!"
The golden sea vanished, and Mike, with Ace in tow, charged towards the Abyssal Core.
The demon beast wave surged forward once more.
This ti, however, their movents were different.
From a bird's-eye view, the majority of the horde continued their pursuit of Thor and Ace, a relentless black tide.
But a smaller contingent, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, had changed course, heading straight for the human corps' base camp.
Even a small detachnt, at that scale, posed a significant threat.
By the ti they reached the base, their numbers would have swelled to over a million, thanks
to the snowball effect of their relentless advance.
The reconnaissance team, observing the shift in the demon army's movents, imdiately relayed the information back to headquarters.
An urgent alert was issued to all human personnel in the Ninth Abyss.
"All units operating outside the base, abandon your current missions and return to base imdiately!"
"Ninth Abyss..."
Three hundred miles from the base, Ethan and his team had just slain the heavily injured Chief
tier demon beast. They hadn't even had ti to collect their spoils.
Suddenly, their communicators flashed red.
"Level one alert?!"
Panic and confusion spread through the group.
"What's going on?"
"Gather the materials quickly!"
"Are you kidding? We need to get back to base!"
"Are we really going to abandon materials worth millions of gold coins?"
"We're only 300 miles out. We should be fine, right?"
||
Indecision and argunts plagued the team. They lacked a clear leader, a voice of authority.
Before they could reach a consensus, a shadow swept across the sky. A giant hand descended,
scooping them up and carrying them away.
"Don't resist! It's Chief Blaze from the Magmafist Corps!"
Recognizing their rescuer, their panic subsided slightly.
Blaze Morrow soared through the air, his eyes scanning the landscape for any stragglers,
determined to bring every student back to safety.
"Chief Blaze, what in the Abyss is happening?" Ethan asked, his voice trembling.
"What's happening?" Blaze Morrow snorted. "Take a look behind you."
They did as he instructed, and their blood ran cold.
An endless tide of demon creatures, a sea of darkness, was surging towards the human
defenses.
In the blink of an eye, they were within 300 miles of the base.
The Chief tier demon beast they had struggled to kill was nothing compared to this
monstrous horde.
Chief tier demon beasts were being trampled to death within the throng.
If Blaze Morrow had arrived even a minute later, their indecision would have cost them their
lives.
"This... this..."
Many were speechless, overwheld by the sheer scale of the approaching disaster.
They had never witnessed anything like it.
Only Ethan, despite his fear, managed to maintain a semblance of composure. "Chief Blaze,
where did this demon army co from?"
"How should I know?" Blaze Morrow snapped, his frustration growing as he failed to locate his granddaughter and Little Fox. "I'm not a demon beast."
His words did little to ease their anxieties.
A seemingly endless demon army, numbering in the millions, with no signs of slowing
down...
Such events were practically unheard of in recent human history.
Supre power, while a beacon of hope and glory for humanity, also brought with it the
threat of war.
Sensing their despair, Blaze Morrow grinned, his teeth flashing in the dim light. "The real question is, what are they here for?"
Ethan, playing along, asked, "What are they here for?"
Blaze Morrow deposited another group of students within the safety of the base's defenses. Flas erupted around him, his peak Chief aura radiating outwards, a testant to his power. Standing before the approaching millions, his back to the human lines, Blaze Morrow raised his head, his voice booming across the battlefield.
"They're here to die."
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