C1105 Chaos

"I knew it," Lin Zhuyun stated, her demeanor detached, her eyes devoid of any disturbance.

She offered no response, merely gazing at Yu Yuan with a tranquil acceptance, as though she had resigned herself to her fate.

Clang!

A diamond-shaped silver shield intercepted the Baneblade that Yu Yuan had swung. The shield, with its ancient and simple design, adorned with intricate patterns marked by the passage of time, suddenly blazed with light, momentarily blinding Yu Yuan.

Once his eyes adjusted to the glare of the silver shield, he saw Elena's father standing protectively behind it. With a complex look, Fernand slightly lowered the shield, revealing his resolute and sharply defined face. He spoke with a hint of reluctance, "Sorry, but my king's command is to protect her."

The diamond-shaped silver shield held back the Baneblade's assault. The vicious blade beams, resembling serpentine streams of blood, were also thwarted.

Simultaneously, a chilling energy emerged from within the shield, effectively cutting off Yu Yuan's remnant soul and vitality from probing further.

The Bloodhell's potency required contact with the blood and flesh of living beings. Unable to strike Fernand, the blood light failed to penetrate the silver shield, rendering it incapable of unleashing Bloodhell's full terror.

Yu Yuan, wielding the Baneblade, sensed the Bloodwraiths within the blade howling in a frenzy, their bloodlust unquenched. Yet, the silver shield remained impervious.

Fernand, a Shura of ninth-level bloodline and the King of Bandits, was expected to possess a holy weapon. The Baneblade, Bloodhell, though sinister, was considered a heavenly weapon in the Everlands, on par with the holy weapons of the Otherkin.

With a ninth-level bloodline, Fernand could naturally withstand the Baneblade's force.

Realizing the Baneblade was ineffective for now, Yu Yuan quickly devised a new strategy.

Whoosh!

The Crucible of Evil soared towards Lin Zhuyun, causing General Fernand's expression to darken. Narrowing his eyes, he bellowed, "Bloodline, Scythe of the Shura!"

Scythes, forged from refined blood essence, fanned out from behind Fernand. Without waiting for the Crucible of Evil to draw near, the eerie scythes struck out at the cauldron.

Crack!

A nearby member of the Silverscale Tribe was accidentally caught in the crossfire, his body cleaved by the sickles, spilling blood and shattering bones, which only made the sickles appear more sinister.

Ice energy from the Dark Realm surged forth, enhancing the sickles' deadly power.

Snap!

The cauldron, with Yu Yiyi at its mouth, narrowly avoided a direct hit from the sickles. She frowned slightly, ready to summon the Bane for battle, but her instincts told her something was amiss.

The cauldron swiftly veered away, avoiding further entanglement with the sickles.

In the space where the cauldron had hovered, a dense dark energy materialized like an immense black shroud.

Fernand, clutching a diamond-shaped silver shield in one hand and Lin Zhuyun in the other, soared upwards and landed atop the black shroud, a manifestation of the Dark Realm's ice energy.

The shroud whisked them away rapidly, vanishing into the depths of darkness near the Deathwing Lair, leaving no trace of their direction.

The Frost Well, having burst from the nest, still ensnared the Frost Queen.

Her deep blue eyes, alight with wisdom, gazed at the cauldron and Yu Yiyi from a distance, as if she had much to convey.

The ultimate Bane, now with the might of an Unbound Realm cultivator and the Demon God among the Star-Spawned Terrors, was awakening its lost memories.

This meant that the Frost Queen had regained her identity and was privy to many secrets.

"She, along with the ice energy and the true well, are the catalysts for Lin Zhuyun to refine her Solar Spirit and achieve a new breakthrough," Yu Yiyi, maneuvering the cauldron, paused behind Yu Yuan, who wielded the Baneblade. Her voice was ethereal as she continued, "Her sister once ventured into the Frozen Hellscape, later traveling to the Embers Sea, where she took possession of Lin Zhuyun."

"With the aid of the Abyssal Leviathan, Lin Zhuyun turned the tables and assimilated that Sky Fiend."

"Now, she seeks to go even further, to assimilate the Frost Queen, to take the ice energy refined over the years and the crystalline physique, using her mastery of possession techniques."

"Lin Zhuyun views the Frost Queen's demonform as the ideal Solar Spirit Body, intending to use it for her own ascension."

As her words fell silent, the Frost Well that had ensnared the Frost Queen plummeted and vanished once again into the abyss of darkness. In its place stood Noeyr, the Chief Elder of the Voidweaver Clan, poised upon a gray-white World-Sundering Stone. Like a deity from ancient times, she descended from another dimension.

Beneath Noeyr's feet, the World-Sundering Stone radiated boundless light, unleashing a mystical force capable of stabilizing space and altering the very rules of existence.

"Teacher..." whispered Benin, the overlooked Voidweaver girl teetering on the brink of oblivion in the darkness. She gazed up at the Chief Elder, revered within their clan, who had cunningly seized the sacred artifact and now stood upon it. Noeyr had allied with the Blood King and the Demon God Grec to orchestrate the invasion of Ionodios. Benin watched in despair as the elite, the elders, and the people of various clans perished in droves.

As the Dark Realm and the Wintermaw's influence spread wildly, the mighty warriors of other races were forced to fight in retreat. Meanwhile, the Shura warriors, able to withdraw into the shadows at will, fought with increasing ferocity. Each return to the darkness allowed them to swiftly regain their strength and heal their wounds, emerging once more with renewed vigor.

Moreover, some unfortunate Otherkin warriors were dragged into the dark depths, forced to battle where the ice energy of the Dark Realm reigned supreme. These warriors often met grim fates, never to break free again.

"Enter the darkness, and I will take you back to our clan. You have made a significant contribution this time. In the future, once your bloodline advances to the ninth level, a place among the Elders awaits you," Noeyr said with a gentle expression, addressing her student at the edge of the darkness. "You've played a substantial role in the return of the World-Sundering Stone. I have taken note."

At these words, Benin bowed her head in embarrassment, and soon after, she was swallowed by the darkness.

"Do not engage with your Shura adversaries within the Dark Realm; retreat outward!" boomed a voice from a hundred meters above. The archdemon Green Willow manifested his serpentine form, a colossal presence floating like a mountain range. Streams of water essence, glittering like the Milky Way, flowed around him, entrapping numerous Warpbeasts.

No matter how fiercely the Warpbeast roared and thrashed within the river, escape was impossible.

"Hmph!"

A towering Platinum Shura emerged from the shadows, hurling a silver spear into the void. The spear, like a streak of cold lightning, split the air and transformed into hundreds of silver bolts, piercing the rivers refined by Green Willow and leaving numerous holes in the massive body of the demon snake.

Green Willow, with his emerald vertical pupil, hissed ferociously, thrashing his serpentine body as his terrifying demon energy vibrated, shattering the silver lightning.

His gaping maw suddenly clamped down on the silver spear, fixing his gaze on the Shura below. With a powerful bite, the spear, a holy weapon, snapped into fragments.

Green Willow shifted form, now a gaunt man, and in an instant, he materialized before the Platinum Shura.

"Let's see how you fare in a real fight."

In his hands, the remnants of the broken spear were crushed into shards.

"Yu Yuan, would you care to join the fray at the Dissolving Fortress?"

At that moment, the voice of the Songbird Queen quietly echoed in Yu Yuan's heart. Yu Yuan looked up to see the immense "Dissolving Fortress," a monstrous war machine spewing torrents of light and flames, making Warpbeasts and Shura warriors howl in agony.

Members of the Shadowkin, Nightscale Tribe, and Silverscale Tribe were also caught in the onslaught of light and fire.

Chen Qinghuang stood out distinctly at the edge of the Dissolving Fortress. The brutal skirmishes of the Ionodios Realm seemed to have no effect on her. She appeared unconcerned for her safety, unafraid of any would-be slayers.

The Songbird, having transformed from the Nest of Perdition, was on its return journey to the Everlands. Thanks to her unique bond with the Nest of Perdition, she could leave the Ionodios Realm in a flash and teleport directly to the Nest of Perdition. It was this assurance that allowed her to face any peril without fear.

"No need," Yu Yuan replied, shaking his head. He then gripped the Baneblade Bloodhell and advanced on another horde of Warpbeasts.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Suddenly, the sky filled with Ghouls, their forms wreathed in a thick death aura, as they descended upon the battlefield.

It was chaos upon chaos!

Lin Zhuyun's face was a picture of distress as she watched the Bloodhell's gates shudder under the relentless assault of the Baneblade. The silver shield, once gleaming with an ethereal light, now flickered uncertainly, its power waning.