Oran City.
This international metropolis, having just undergone a bloody change in regime, was in a state of extreme turmoil.
The fall of the four major ruling powers, the Sect’s hasty takeover, and the rampant looting that was difficult to quell within the city had kept its level of organization at a freezing point.
It’s often said that the wretched have their own share of faults.
But this time, Oran City was truly about to take a massive fall.
When the blood-red light released by the Broken Star Ring swirled down, multiple fissures even cracked open in the forest area outside the city.
A black tide of cave dwellers surged madly from underground. Nourished by the bloody aura of the Star Ring, not only did they return to the surface, but their atrophied skeletons erupted with terrifying Power far beyond that of any Wild Beast.
“Fire! Fire!”
Members of the armed Sect pulled their triggers, but without their usual acceleration effects and Enchantment buffs, the bullets undoubtedly lacked their ultimate killing power.
TING! TING!
When they struck the thick, keratinous carapaces of the elite cave dwellers, they only threw off strings of feeble sparks.
The defensive line was torn to shreds the moment contact was made.
It was a one-sided slaughter, with no suspense whatsoever.
What was even more appalling was that they weren’t just killing. They were plundering, brazenly absorbing the flesh and blood essence of the people to nourish and strengthen themselves.
Moreover, the Rune Essence that burst from the corpses was also being collected. The enemy was like a swarm of cold, merciless worker ants.
It was unclear if they were gathering sustenance for some special existence, or simply plundering offerings to appease a god.
In an instant, multiple border regions were violently smashed through.
And in this moment of desperate wails, the ground in the northwestern outskirts of Oran City suddenly collapsed.
Not long after, accompanied by a foul, stinking miasma so thick it was suffocating, a terrifying flesh-and-blood behemoth over three hundred meters long slowly crawled out of a forbidden zone of the Abyss.
Its body was like a malformed amalgamation pieced together from countless corpses, rotten flesh, and slime. Among the exposed, decaying flesh, one could see innumerable human faces opening and closing their mouths, and severed limbs still writhing.
Although it looked as if it could fall apart at any moment, it was sustained by the light of the Broken Star Ring.
FWOOSH!
With a roar from the behemoth, thousands of blood-red tentacles of varying lengths shot out from its bloated body.
As they whipped through the air, these fleshy tendrils could easily pierce the main armor of a tank.
And as it slithered rapidly forward, the concrete buildings in its path were as fragile as toy blocks.
BOOM!
The earth trembled. A commercial skyscraper spanning an entire city block was crushed and destroyed. The survivors hiding inside were ground into a bloody pulp and absorbed.
The behemoth’s tentacles acted like efficient harvesters, madly snatching up the panicked crowds fleeing in the streets, absorbing their flesh and blood essence and their Rune Essence.
「An hour later.」
An absolute protection barrier fully unfurled around the Rune Core’s crucial location. After sheltering as many people as possible, the Sect members could only submit vast quantities of rare crystal minerals and supplies to the crystal prism tower, activating a two-hour absolute invincibility mechanism.
But this measure was clearly a last resort.
Outside the barrier was a bloody scene, like an Asura Purgatory.
The scene shifts, crossing a boundless, unending sea of trees to Dongfu City in the north.
When Elemental Suppression reached 80%, the Eastern Territory’s border, facing the same dense, dark horde of cave dwellers, displayed a completely different, terrifying resilience.
“Hold the formation! Don’t cast Magic recklessly! Conserve your Spiritual Power!”
“Third Squad, coat your weapons with Exorcism Grease!”
In the Eastern Territory, the outer walls of many border towns were already riddled with holes from the assault. Elite monsters had even forcibly broken through several weak points and charged into the outer districts, but the defensive line as a whole had not collapsed.
“Die, you dregs of a bygone era!”
A melee defender, wielding a thunder greatsword smeared with Exorcism Grease, easily slashed through the hard, keratinous layer of a cave dweller—a hide that could deflect even Armor-Piercing Bullets.
Of course, this was an undoubtedly risky move.
At the very least, a Spellcaster engaging in close combat was in constant peril. Not only were body-enhancement and movement Runes heavily suppressed, but even the effects of Elementalization were mediocre at best.
The Elemental Particles their bodies transformed into were sparse and unstable, making it nearly impossible to gain immunity to physical damage.
The best solution was undoubtedly to drink a Blessing Potion.
However, while there were no purchase limits on this specific counter-item, it was expensive, only lasted for one minute, and couldn’t possibly be supplied to so many defenders at all times.
“Ugh...”
The next second, this Thunder Sword Mage let out a pained grunt.
He had just cut down one cave dweller but was powerless to deal with the Bone Blade Longsword slashing at him from the side.
The lightning flashing around his body only lasted for half a second before abruptly dissipating. With a sickening squelch, the sharp Bone Blade pierced through his abdomen.
But soon, dense clusters of emerald green light swirled around the Mage. Bottles of Recovery Potion shattered on the ground near him. Even under the suppressive environment, this extravagant, cost-is-no-object approach forcibly saved his life.
At the same time, the sharp whistle of Arrows cut through the air.
Long Arrows smeared with highly concentrated Exorcism Grease streaked past like meteors.
Any cave dweller struck by a precise hit fell with a wail.
“Everyone, hold the line!”
“We cannot easily give up on the life of a single comrade.”
Compared to the out-of-control situation in Oran City, Dongfu City, under the relentless tide of attacks, had managed to erect a wall of steel in the bloody mire.

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