"Look at the sky!"
"The sky is splitting open!"
The imperial forces were terrified to discover a massive rift opening above them in the heavens. On the other side of the rift was a vast, silent, star-studded yet fear-infested, indescribable atmosphere of a distant, unknown world. At the heart of that darkness, at the end of countless star clusters, lay an existence beyond mortal comprehension, slumbering in the void.
No one could see its true face, nor could anyone fully grasp the extent of its indescribable form that surpassed the limits of ordinary beings' imagination. Its existence, whether in name or form, was a nightmare too intense for the physical and spiritual capacities of common beings to withstand. If ones soul or psychic wasn't strong enough, even the most resilient and determined individual could collapse into madness at the mere perception of its presence.
At this moment, everyone present could feel its emanating aura, as if it was awakened from eons of deep slumber by some ritual... This was an Evil God awakening!
What exactly did an Evil God represent? Descents of Evil Gods upon this world had been exceedingly rare throughout history, but they occurred once every few tens of thousands of years, being referred to as a special natural disaster. Whenever an Evil God emerged, it invariably resulted in the devastation of billions of beings. Each time, to vanquish an Evil God, at least tens of millions of troops had to be mobilized, empowered with divine spells and protected by the local deities of this world, to neutralize the pollution directly caused by facing the Evil God and to hopefully defeat and seal it temporarily. However, throughout history, no Evil God had ever been slain.
At that very moment, a calamity of earth-shattering proportions seemed poised to descend once again, with the terrifying aura continuously seeping into this realm through the fissure. In just a few seconds, not only did the sky turn blood-red, but even the air, the flora, and every individual present seemed to be covered by a bloody filter.
The empires army was enveloped by this horrifying aura and bizarre atmosphere, leaving everyone in disbelief.
"What in the world is happening?"
"Something is being summoned!"
"Retreat!"
"Quick, retreat!"
The imperial officers first thought of retreating, but under such circumstances, where could they possibly retreat to? The area enveloped by the eerie crimson was vast. Even if they activated teleportation scrolls or similar items, escaping such a vast distance was implausible.
At that moment, Kofiepol, Blakely, Kroft, the Black Barbarian King Sanja, and the Formless Swordsman Sato, who were among the top echelons of power, simultaneously sensed an unprecedented, horrifying force brewing. It was a chaotic consciousness that had awakened. No language could adequately describe it; it was an existence beyond mortal comprehension, impossible to gaze upon or deconstruct, with all beings mere ants before it.
This indescribable entity, from the end of the infinite cosmos, had sensed a special ritual and cast its "gaze" across countless billions of miles to this distant world. For ordinary beings, this would herald a calamity of world-shattering proportions! Being observed by such an entity was no trivial matter; for any being not sufficiently powerful, it was extremely lethal.
Arghhhhh!
Countless imperial soldiers, by the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even up to several hundred thousand, fell into unprecedented agony as their life force and strength were drained. These forces converged and compressed in mid-air, coalescing into an invisible black hole.
Following that, something bizarre occurred. Within a thousand-mile radius, all beings were affected by an invisible gravitational force, causing their bodies to undergo changes.
"No, no!"
"Help!"
"Someone, help me!"
A duchy knight, in terror, discovered that his skin was melting like wax, fusing with his winged mount. He lost his balance and, while spinning in the air, collided with another knight undergoing the same melting process.
Instead of bouncing off each other, the two knights merged like clumps of clay, becoming entangled and continuing to collide with more comrades. In no time, hundreds, thousands of duchy knights were bizarrely "stuck" together, merging into a monstrous amalgam of thousands of limbs, countless heads, and a chaotic mix of human and equine parts.
Such amalgamations were numerous on the battlefield. All units that were no higher than Level 5, even powerful beings like the Guardian Knights, couldn't escape this calamitous transformation, becoming part of this grotesque feast of mutation. Within mere minutes, amidst endless screams of agony, hundreds of gigantic flesh masses took shape. Each of these fleshy masses was formed from countless living beings, mounts, and various wild animals and beasts nearby. Even the most abstract expressionist painters could not envision such a wildly horrifying scene.
The hundred or so flesh masses, having devoured enough material, seemed to have completed their initial accumulation. They then ascended to a higher stage, merging with each other to ultimately form a relatively smooth, spherical object. Meanwhile, the blood-red glow that had covered thousands of miles was now all drawn in, absorbed by this orb made of flesh, causing it to emit a dazzling blood light. This orb obscured the sun, hanging high above like a blood-red moon.
"How could this be?"
"What in the world is this?"
"The army! Where is the empire's army?"
At the scene, there were barely a thousand survivors left. The ritual to summon the avatar of the Evil God, the Blood Moon, could only affect and sacrifice targets up to Level 5, while Level 6 beings could resist it. Among these survivors, the vast majority were of Level 6 strength, and even those of Level 5 who survived did so because they had higher-level divine magic or other means to offset the influence of the Evil God. Yet, in the blink of an eye, an army of more than a million was gone, leaving less than a thousand. This stark reality was laid bare before them, leaving everyone in shock and disbelief. The empire's top brass and the Heroes present had never witnessed such bizarre and terrifying methods.
[You are being affected by the Blood Moon, -100 HP permanently, -100 MP permanently!]
[You are being affected by the Blood Moon, -100 HP permanently, -100 MP permanently!]
[You are being affected by the Blood Moon, -100 HP permanently, -100 MP permanently, all stats -12%!]
[......]
Satoru Sato looked at the continuously popping notifications, his expression turning extremely ugly. He immediately activated a high-level appraisal skill to see what exactly the object above his head was.
[Avatar of Evil God: Flesh Moon] Level 6 mythic unit
A Level 6 mythic unit! Satoru Sato had never encountered such a high-level existence apart from himself, being the foremost among the Seven Sword Saints of the Sunset Empire. What kind of trick was this? Could this also be an act of Darkness City? It seemed he had underestimated Darkness City's methods.
Before Satoru Sato could figure out how this Blood Moon was summoned, the attack of the Blood Moon had already begun. Accompanied by energy fluctuations, the Blood Moon summoned countless blood-red fine needles as thin as cow's hair. These needles fell like rain, penetrating everything, covering the few survivors present, making it impossible to avoid.
[You are under attack by Deathly Blood Rain, -532 HP! You are being corroded by Evil Gods aura, all stats -34 points!]
[You are under attack by Deathly Blood Rain, -532 HP! You are being corroded by Evil Gods aura, all stats -34 points!]
[......]
Satoru Sato exclaimed, "This thing is extremely powerful, reaching the level of an emperor. Let's deal with it first before anything else!"
The two Grand Dukes, the empire's Chief Knight, and other high-ranking officials of the Thunder Empire were trapped in a state of shock and despair, finding it hard to extricate themselves. Such a massive and elite imperial army, which took so many years and so much effort from the empire and their noble houses to build, was gone in an instant, all sacrificed to summon this monstrosity before them.
Undoubtedly, such a brutal reality was something the two Dukes and the Commander of the Guardian Knights couldn't accept. For a moment, they were unable to respond, but it was the Hero from Ahsan nation, Sanja, who stepped forward at this crucial juncture.
"Hmph!" he scoffed, "No matter what it is, I will blow it up!"
Sanja activated some kind of berserker high-level skill, and his whole body instantly burst into flames, turning him into a blazing fire giant. Although he didn't know where the Blood Moon came from, it was clear that this entity was no less powerful than him. For Heroes, hunting other demons and monsters could also provide training points, but the points provided by ordinary monsters were too limited. But this was different. If he could defeat it, the cultivation points he would gain might not be much less than killing a Level 5 or 6 Demon King!
With that thought, the Ahsan Hero breathed fire and shot up like a rocket. He turned into a fiery meteor, breaking the sound barrier and reaching speeds over ten times the speed of sound, and aimed a punch at the center of the Flesh Moon.
"Fiery Heaven Explosion Fist!"
This was an extremely powerful S-level skill. If this punch were to land on the ground, it would turn everything within a few kilometers into scorched earth; both its destructive power and range were terrifying! The Black Barbarian King, Sanja, believed that even if the Blood Moon was formidable, it was nothing more than a mass of flesh and blood that couldn't possibly withstand such an attack.
However, at this moment, something happened that shocked Sanja. As he broke through to thirty times the speed of sound, finally piercing through the aura of the Evil God and unleashing all his raging energy onto the Blood Moon, the Blood Moon seemed unaffected, absorbing all the energy.
"How is this possible?!" Sanja was completely stunned by this scene.
No one knew the power of this punch better than him. Even Satoru Sato wouldn't dare to block it directly; if hit without resistance, the outcome would be instant incineration into ashes. Yet, such an attack had no effect on the Blood Moon.
The Blood Moon released countless tentacles that bound Sanja before he could react, dragging him towards it.
"No!"
"No!"
"Stop!" Sanja struggled desperately.
He couldn't muster any strength; it was all absorbed by the Blood Moon. Eventually, he landed on the surface of the Blood Moon, sinking into it like quicksand or a swamp, and was consumed by the Blood Moon amidst his unwilling roars and struggles.
The great Black Barbarian King, a Level 6 monarch-class Hero, was so effortlessly defeated before the Blood Moon!
Satoru Sato realized he couldn't continue the fight. Even with his current strength, the chances of defeating the Blood Moon were probably no more than twenty to thirty percent. But what would it matter even if he won? The imperial army had been completely wiped out. With just the few of them remaining, invading the Chaos Forest was impossible.
As a Hero, when faced with the current debacle, Satoru Sato felt he had no advantage to leverage and thus decisively chose to preserve his life. Without any intention to engage, Satoru Sato activated several spatial teleportation scrolls and escaped over a hundred miles away, leaving the affected area behind. The two imperial dukes, the empire's chief knight, and several hundred other elite warriors had the capability to buy time for themselves, allowing for an orderly retreat. The waters of the Chaos Forest ran deep, too deep for the average person to fathom. If this attempt failed, there would be other opportunities in the future; nothing was more important than preserving one's life.
However, just when the island nation Hero thought he was safe, a spatial fluctuation appeared in front of him, and a figure cloaked in a hooded cape that masked their presence was suddenly transported before him, giving off a somber and mysterious aura.
"Who are you?!" Satoru Sato was both shocked and angered. To be able to lock on to him and appear so precisely in front of him required an incredibly advanced level of spatial magic, almost to an unbelievable extent.
The mysterious cloaked figure calmly responded, "To someone about to die, who I am doesn't matter."
"How dare you!" Satoru Sato was furious. "You think you can stop me all by yourself? That's utterly ridiculous. Do you even know who I am?!"
The cloaked figure showed no interest in idle chatter and simply stated, "Stop wasting time. Show me what youre capable of."