It was no wonder Han Kexin found it hard to accept. This woman had a very high opinion of herself and was not willing to be outdone by anyone. If it were only about losing to Zhang Nu, that would be one thing; over time, she had gradually come to accept and adjust her mindset. But now, one of Zhang Nu's summoned units was stronger than her. How was one supposed to compete with that?
What Han Kexin didn't know was that Long Yi had not advanced to Level 6 through the usual promotion pathway of the Demon King's Altar. Instead, he had been elevated through multiple rounds of Demon King baptisms and enhancements by the Dragon Elder title, which was much cheaper than the standard upgrade path.
Among Zhang Nu's subordinates, Zhang San and Li Si had fixed promotion paths. Upon advancing to Level 6, not only would their strength increase significantly, but they would also acquire the potential of mythic dragons. However, the cost and sacrifice were too high. Even the wealthy Potato Great Demon King was currently finding it difficult to afford.
Zhang Nu asked, "How about it? My subordinate is decent, right?"
Han Kexin gritted her teeth with irritation, "Hmph, what's there to show off about."
But then she thought about it. She was only a Level 5 monarch. Even though she had recently become stronger with three pieces of epic grade equipment, she wasn't too confident about defeating this dragon in one fell swoop. The best-case scenario would be an even fight.
What was happening? Was she now not even able to defeat a subordinate of this potato seller?
At that moment, Zhang Nu said, "You might want to think about my proposal."
"What proposal?" she asked.
"Of course to join Darkness City!" Han Kexin then remembered that Zhang Nu had mentioned this when they were at the bottom of the sea, but she hadn't taken it seriously at the time.
"You, a potato seller, dare to think about annexing me? Absurd!" she exclaimed.
"It's not annexation. It's a merger!" he corrected. In a merger of a large group acquiring a smaller one, by scale, Zhang Nu would definitely be the chairman, and Han Kexin could be the CEO. Joining forces for business, wouldn't that be delightful?
Recently, the Darkness City forces had been developing too fast. Its territory was expanding, and its influence widening. As Zhang Nu was somewhat hands-off, he felt the need to find a competent CEO, and Han Kexin was not only powerful but also had exceptional personal abilities. If she agreed to formally join under Zhang Nu, becoming the executive vice-lord of Darkness City would be no problem. This would also benefit Han Kexin, offering her a larger platform to showcase her talents, and Zhang Nu could easily elevate her to Level 6.
Han Kexin wouldn't even consider such an offer in the past. She might even have felt insulted. But now, she found herself somewhat tempted. Zhang Nu indeed intended to recruit Han Kexin under his command. Securing the Succubus Queen would not only greatly enhance the strength of Darkness City but also allow direct amalgamation with the Gloom City and its million inhabitants, gaining an opportunity to develop in the underworld.
However, there was no need to rush. Both were powerful Demon Kings with extensive enterprises. Even someone as decisive as Queen Han would need to seriously consider giving up independent development to become a second-in-command.
At that moment, the rampant flames were engulfing the base's vicinity, turning it almost entirely into a fiery battlefield. The dragon fire, not extinguishing quickly, consumed the distorted followers who lacked intelligence, walked into it in rows, receiving a grand cremation package. Soon, most of the distorted followers were reduced to ashes in the attack.
As one wave calmed, another arose. Thousands more of the cultists emerged, not only the ordinary distorted followers but also:
[Distorted Unity Priest] Level 5 lord unit.
[Distorted Unity Warrior] Level 5 elite unit.
The Unity Priests possessed the abilities of summoning, energy attack, and energy shields. Furthermore, they had a certain level of judgment, not mindlessly charging like the ordinary distorted followers. Unity Warriors, towering at several meters tall and formed by the fusion of dozens to hundreds of bodies, were shrouded in a powerful daemonic aura and could withstand the fire for several seconds.
The proportion of these two types of lord-level monsters wasn't high, only about fifty in total. Yet, the intensity of the second wave was significantly stronger than the first. To speed up efficiency, Zhang San and Li Si also joined the battle.
Han Kexin laid down a large number of colorless and transparent hyper-energy silk lines, her Level 4 skill. These lines were invisible to the naked eye, sharp as divine weapons, slicing through any solid material as if it were tofu. However, Han Kexin soon discovered that this high-intensity attack seemed ineffective against these distorted Evil God monsters. Dozens to hundreds of followers would shatter upon hitting the web of silk, but they quickly reformed, merging into Unity Warriors.
Ordinary slicing was useless! Han Kexin released her domain. Hundreds to thousands of spiritual soul silk lines were unleashed, controlling hundreds to thousands of Unity followers, freezing them in place.
"Hey, what are you looking at? Help me out~!" she called.
Zhang Nu conjured an abyssal thunderbolt, channeling it along Han Kexin's silk lines, instantly reaching all the controlled distorted monsters. With his current strength, the effect of the godly thunder was astonishing. In the blink of an eye, all the distorted bodies turned to charred remains! Han Kexin didn't expect the potato seller to be so powerful, instantly electrocuting all the controlled distorted bodies. Such damage output- truly unmatched.
"These monsters don't seem to be that difficult to deal with."
"Don't let your guard down. The real challenge has yet to arrive!" remarked Zhang Nu.
After the second wave of monsters was cleared, the third wave immediately emerged. This batch had more variety, with an increased number of Unity Warriors and Unity Priests, and many other types of massive, mutated creatures, making the challenge even tougher.
However, they were still not enough. With this number, it was impossible to defeat the five-person team. After all, the weakest among them were monarchs. With flashes of lightning, storms of fire, a single magical attack, this batch of monsters was also dealt with. Zhang Nu didn't even need to step in; the Queen and the Darkness Three Dragons were more than enough.
While fighting, Han Kexin grew curious, "What exactly is this Unity Cult? Why do all its followers look so grotesque?"
Zhang Nu, having access to hidden information, could easily look up various data, but he thought it best not to tell Queen Han directly. He pondered for a moment and said, "According to the information revealed by Moji of the Xarians, the Unity Cult seems to worship a terrifying Evil God known as 'The Unifier of All.'"
"Just from the name, it's apparent that this Evil God is dedicated to unifying everything - that is, merging all life and even matter into one."
"Judging by the behavior of these followers and minions of the Evil God," he continued, "they seem to fit this pattern."
Han Kexin also noticed that the most striking feature of these Evil God followers was that they were all monsters created by the crude fusion of a large number of beings. The more beings that were merged, the larger their size and the stronger their power. The Evil God was truly an irrational being. Is there really such an Evil God as 'The Unifier of All' in this world?
The fourth, fifth, sixth...eighth, ninth wave. The level of the monsters kept increasing, and the difficulty rose sharply. By the time Queen Han and the Darkness Three Dragons reached the ninth wave, they were feeling considerable pressure. Even these four monarchs were strained. It was clear that ordinary challenge teams couldn't possibly get past the ninth round.
Finally, the tenth round arrived. This was the last one. Zhang Nu witnessed a spectacular scene: thousands, even tens of thousands, of Evil God monstrosities emerged simultaneously. Thirty of them stood nearly a kilometer tall, resembling flesh mountains with bodies as vast as the mountains themselves, all stitched together with limbs and flesh, like thirty-five gigantic wriggling worms emerging from the ground and heading towards the base.
Where they passed, the psychic contamination was extremely severe. Anyone who got close or even saw them could fall into hallucinations or madness if their willpower or strength wasn't sufficient, eventually becoming part of them due to the contamination by the Evil God's aura.
[Distorted Unity Cult Archbishop] Level 5 overlord unit...
So these thirty-five flesh mountains were the archbishops of the Unity Cult. True to their title as archbishops, they had managed to merge into this form, representing the top-tiers of Level 5 overlords! They had extremely thick HP pools and strong attack capabilities. Apart from their lack of mobility, they virtually had no weaknesses, being not only hard to kill but also able to devour nearby followers to rapidly heal.
Even someone as strong as Han Kexin found it difficult to handle such massive creatures. She attempted to extract the souls of the Unity Cult Archbishops for an attack, but their souls were fused just as their bodies were, interconnected, making it extremely hard for even a Level 5 monarch like her to pull them apart.
"The number is too great!"
"This won't be easy to handle!"
"Especially the thirty-five giant meat mountains!"
Their power was indeed formidable. The Darkness Three Dragons and the Succubus Queen, even if capable of dealing with thirty-five archbishops, would probably struggle for a long time. And there were thousands of other Level 5 monsters. This was beyond the capability of these four monarchs.
Seeing this, Zhang Nu immediately took action, summoning a crystal of ice containing energy powerful enough to make even a Level 6 monarch tremble. This was no ordinary magic - it was an S-rank spell: Glacier Descent!
Every S-rank skill was incredibly precious. Among S-rank attack skills, Glacier Descent might have one of the lowest damage effects, but it possessed unparalleled control and sealing abilities.
Zhang Nu opened a space, using his teleportation ability to instantly cast the spell into the center of the monsters. The next second, a burst of cold wave erupted, freezing everything in its path, creating an apocalyptic scene where even the archbishops were immobilized once frozen.
Han Kexin was astonished. She was also proficient in elemental magic but had never seen a skill with such an exaggerated range and effect. Zhang Nu's Glacier Descent, spanning at least several tens of kilometers in diameter, immobilized all targets, robbing them of their mobility.
Such a powerful control technique! The area of effect was massive! The amount of mental power required for such a spell must have been immense.
The Dark Three Dragons and the Succubus Queen immediately took action. Most of these powerful monsters, especially the archbishops, were dealt with in their frozen state.
[You've slain a "Distorted Unity Followers". Rift dungeon points +1000!]
[You've slain a "Distorted Unity Priest". Rift dungeon points +3000!]
[You've slain a "Distorted Unity Warrior". Rift dungeon points +3000!]
[You've slain a "Distorted Unity Cleric". Rift dungeon points +9000!]
[......]
[You've slain a "Distorted Unity Cult Archbishop". Rift dungeon points +30,000!]
Under Zhang Nu's powerful crowd control, the tenth wave of monsters was safely overcome.
Han Kexin glanced at the time and said, "Hey, it's a miracle. We completed the 12-hour time-limited instance in less than three hours, and not a single survivor died. We should receive a high rating for this rift dungeon."
However, Zhang Nu cautioned, "You're relaxing too soon."
"What do you mean? Isn't it over?" Han Kexin hadn't even started to speak when suddenly the ground beneath them began to shake violently. To her horror, she saw mountains collapsing, and an unbelievably huge entity rising from the earth.
Its size was colossal, a hundred times larger than the thirty-five archbishops combined! The mere pressure from such an enormous being was suffocating, not to mention that it was composed of severed limbs, indistinct bloody heads, and flesh of unknown origin! It was too massive! Creating such a thing must have required sacrificing millions of people, effectively grinding millions into a gigantic meatball. This absurdly large, almost inconceivable meatball was now slowly rising from the ground, breaking free from the earth's crust and ascending into the sky. It covered the huge blood moon, replacing it with its red glow. Almost instantly, the entire world was enveloped in a bloody light, as if soaking in blood, creating an oppressive atmosphere that felt suffocating.
Zhang Nu looked up, and information about this formidable opponent immediately appeared.
[Ruler of Tomorrow: Flesh Moon] Level 5 mythic unit...
Description: The Flesh Moon is the initial ultimate form of a Unity Cult worshiper. It is the ruler of tomorrow, and when the blood moon rises, it signifies the end of civilization, and the world will become a wasteland. All life on this planet will become its nourishment. Once it absorbs the nourishment of the entire planet, it will travel to the dark depths of the cosmos to merge with the 'Unifier of All,' becoming a part of the Evil God and thus achieving ultimate unity."
[You are being corroded by Evil God Aura. HP -0!]
[You are being corroded by Evil God Aura. HP -0!]
[You are being corroded by Evil God Aura. HP -0!]
[......]
Zhang Nu knew this was the trigger for the boss battle, but it was spectacular beyond imagination. The level and performance of the boss in a boss battle are directly correlated. The five had obviously triggered the highest-level boss since the maximum level of this rift dungeon was Level 5 mythic, and this Flesh Moon was probably an overwhelmingly powerful existence even among Level 5 mythics!
Under the coverage of the Flesh Moon, the Xarians screamed in agony, unable to withstand the contaminating radiation for long. Han Kexin was stunned, "What kind of monster is this? How are we supposed to fight it?"
"Let me handle it," Zhang Nu stepped forward, his third eye on his forehead opening. A Death Stare landed on the Flesh Moon.
-52321!
Such terrifying damage only caused a giant wound on the Flesh Moon, like a canyon, but it quickly began to self-repair.
Han Kexin could see that the Flesh Moon emitted a strong gravitational force, sucking in countless distorted beings from the planet. They crazily filled the canyon, allowing the Flesh Moon to rapidly heal. The HP of the Flesh Moon was not only in the hundreds of thousands, but its healing blood bags were literally everywhere.
Unfazed, Zhang Nu activated Death Sacrifice, instantly converting all his HP and MP into power. During this process, his Rebirth from within the Flames activated, allowing him to instantly recover all his HP and MP. This cycle effectively created an abundance of energy out of thin air.
"Arcane Avatar!" Zhang Nu, utilizing the tremendous energy from Death Sacrifice and his own MP of tens of thousands of points, summoned a 300-meter-tall giant. This giant, almost tangible, had every inch of its skin brimming with the power to destroy mountains. The effect of this same magic, when used by Zhang Nu, was far more potent than when used by Luo Zheng.
Zhang Nu commanded the giant to charge towards the Flesh Moon. The giant, overflowing with energy, caused the earth to tremble and the space around it to distort with every step. It summoned a war spear, its surging energy erupting and rapidly converting into force. Like a meteor streaking across the sky, it ultimately pierced straight through the moon.
The next second, a terrifying explosion erupted from the center of the Flesh Moon, ultimately shattering it into pieces.
[You've slain the final boss, "Ruler of Tomorrow: Flesh Moon". All obtained rift dungeon points are doubled!]
The avatar summoned by Zhang Nu destroyed the Flesh Moon with a single attack. This level of power was unprecedented and unheard of for both Han Kexin and the Darkness Three Dragons, leaving them utterly astounded. The magnitude of the shock was immense!"