The decision was made. Whether a mountain of blades or a sea of fire lay ahead, he would forge a path through. Besides, it remained to be seen whose blades and whose fire they truly were.
Wei Huan's eyes flashed with a cold, murderous intent. He gazed into the distance, his left eye—burning with green spectral flame—refining its focus on the battlefield.
Within the city shrouded by the protective shield, four titanic figures were rampaging, searching for something with frantic destruction. Wei Huan knew they were hunting his undead—specifically those loathsome little Kobolds. The diminutive Kobolds were difficult to clear; the beasts could only demolish buildings in an attempt to crush them. After all, a Kobold was as fragile as a newborn; in this transcendent Challenge World, even a stray gust of wind from a high-level battle could claim its life.
Wei Huan did not believe now was the right time to enter. Even his sturdiest summon, Big Bear, who feared neither death nor damage, could not withstand the concentrated assault of four Royal Primordial Spirits. To continue the fight, he would have to breach the shield again and endure another explosive backlash.
The enemy's intent to bleed his Nether Power and exhaust his Golden Scrolls was clear. To avoid falling into their trap, Wei Huan decided to take a risk.
"Mu Zhong."
"Present."
"Drive the vehicles in. Have Xu Qingqiang and Captain Xue stand by for combat."
Mu Zhong had clearly anticipated this. He smiled. "They are already prepared."
Why should he get bogged down in a war of attrition? This wasn't a duel on a stage. Just because he preferred caution didn't mean he lacked the means to break a deadlock.
Three minutes later, the Dark Beast royals—who had been scavenging the city for undead—saw three war machines slowly advancing from the edge of the territory.
One was boxy and angular, reminiscent of a tank, painted in forest camouflage and hovering a hundred meters above the seabed. Beside it was a flamboyant red sports car with wheels that nearly grazed the silt and a body so flat it seemed the pilot had to lie down; its exaggerated rear wing made it look like a peacock in full display.
These two vehicles flanked a third, forming a tactical triangle. This lead vehicle was an "Initial White Vehicle," yet it was anything but ordinary. It was a compact, rounded white van—a model that usually looked pathetic and fragile. But closer inspection revealed its transcendence. It flew a hundred meters high; currently, fewer than thirty vehicles in all of humanity possessed flight capabilities. Its chassis was not made of common iron forged by men; a light circulated deep within its material, flowing with powerful energy and exuding an otherworldly aura.
Without a doubt, these were three Level 6 vehicles. And the one leading the formation belonged to humanity's strongest: Wei Huan.
Because of him, the "Initial Van" look had become the most coveted aesthetic. Countless Challengers had stripped away their ornate car shells to "return to basics," pretending to be Wei Huan. But once they started driving, the ruse was exposed. So far, Level 6 vehicles were strictly controlled by the Challenge Legions, held in reserve as the "edge of the blade" for this opening war.
As these three vehicles arrived before the Dark Beast Royal City, their purpose was self-evident.
In the livestream, viewers who had briefly shifted their attention to the main army groups were called back in droves.
"Big moves incoming!"
"Wei Huan is using his vehicles!"
"His van isn't just Level 6, is it? It's definitely the strongest in humanity. It has Level 7 weapons!"
"A Level 7 weapon against a Level 6 shield? He should have brought it out sooner—one shot, one kill!"
"Steady now. Once you engage in close-quarters vehicle combat, the risk skyrockets. Colonel Wei chose long-range combat for the safety of the crew."
"They're facing Dark Beast royalty, and a whole pack of them at that. Since the enemy is being so cautious, we'll play along."
"I just want to know when Colonel Wei will be promoted to General? He's more than earned it."
On the road to the city, the chat bubbled with speculation, only falling silent when Wei Huan reached the Royal City walls. The view from his perspective was overwhelming. Even though most viewers had seen the beasts from a "god's-eye view," seeing those massive shadows through the vehicle's monitors—towering giants moving slowly through the silt-clouded water behind the shield—created a crushing sense of pressure.
The Dark Beast royalty could manifest in any shape they deemed powerful. Countless tentacles were common, as were centipede-like royals with long bodies where every leg was a grotesque arm. Others were humanoid but covered in eyes. These nightmares, shifting in the murky depths, were so immense that one had to tilt their head back to the limit and still fail to take in their full scale.
This sheer disparity in size triggered a primal, insurmountable fear.
"It's like the difference between a human and an ant."
"That centipede body is disgusting. Reminds me of a twisted horror movie."
"The Dark Beasts have no class. That thousand-eyed monster has eyes even on its backside."
"Hahaha, you sure are looking closely."
Wei Huan observed the four rampaging royals with his own eyes. As he looked at them, they realized he had arrived. They stepped out from the murky water in unison, approaching the city walls to stare him down.
The long centipede leaned down, tilting its head like a snake to inspect him; Wei Huan's vehicle was smaller than one of its fangs. The Thousand-Eyed Monster possessed a bloated body with six arms and no head; as its eyes blinked in rhythmic succession, it induced a sense of vertigo in any who watched.
Another royal resembled a sea anemone, its limp tentacles swaying in the current, several thick limbs draped over the wall—each one lined with eyes. By contrast, the final royal appeared the most "normal": a thick-skinned wild boar covered in jet-black bristles, with massive bone spikes protruding from its joints, indicating devastating charging power.
As these four royals glared at Wei Huan across the void, the ferocity in their eyes was plain, yet it couldn't entirely mask a sliver of fear. Wei Huan's lethal reputation echoed throughout the Dark Beast plane. For thousands of years, the royalty had lived supreme lives, pampered by the entire race. Even in the eight years since the Challenge World began, royals usually escaped with heavy injuries; none had actually died.
Yet in this single year, they were falling one by one at Wei Huan's hand. If he could kill that many, he could certainly kill them. Faced with the man himself, even the haughty royalty felt a chill of trepidation.
Unfortunately, they could not flee. While they usually enjoyed absolute freedom and luxury, they were subject to one command they could not refuse. The Dark Beast King had ordered them to hold this position at all costs—to use their very lives to grind down Wei Huan's strength. They were forbidden from retreating a single step.
The terror of being unable to escape reached a fever pitch after their brief stare-down with Wei Huan, igniting their primal savagery.
"ROAR!!"
"AWOOOO!!"
They opened their fanged maws, howling and brandishing their claws in a desperate display of intimidation. Wei Huan watched the four Primordial Spirits with an expressionless face. Having already ground their kin into the dirt, why would he fear their posturing?
On the virtual screen before him, the faces of Xu Qingqiang and Captain Xue appeared, maximized to full size. He gave the command calmly: "Prepare for the first volley. Long-range teams, stand by. On my mark, fire in unison."
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
At his command, the three vehicles simultaneously emitted beams of white light. The beams were only as thick as a man's arm, but they functioned like constant-stream lasers, focusing relentlessly on a single point on the territory's shield. Vehicle energy depleted rapidly, but the Level 6 shield plummeted toward the breaking point just as fast.
The Dark Beast royals knew these were Level 7 weapons. After all, Level 7 human weaponry had appeared on other battlefields involving the main armies. As the strongest human, the Necromancer's vehicle was bound to be superior. Three vehicles could break a Level 6 shield with ease; they had to intervene.
The four royals struck simultaneously. They leaped from behind the walls, assaulting the vehicles to interrupt the damage to the shield. They had to force Wei Huan back into using his undead; they couldn't allow the vehicle assault to succeed. If the battle turned into a conventional "Vehicle vs. Territory" siege, Wei Huan would have the energy reserves of the entire human race behind him, turning the attrition into a farce.
The power of four manifested royals was terrifying. The entire sea seemed to go dark. The sheer displacement of water caused by their movement rivaled the power of a Level 6 scroll from the shop. The ocean surged violently; before the true attacks even landed, the turbulence sent the three vehicles rocking, causing the laser beams to waver.
In response, the white van in the center deployed a transparent, bubble-like protective shield. It didn't just cover itself; it expanded to shield the vehicles on its left and right. The rushing seawater slammed into the shield like waves against a jagged reef, exploding into a dense cloud of bubbles.
Then came the first physical strike: a massive tentacle. This specific limb had been specially tempered by the royal; it was exceptionally thick and powerful, descending like a lash meant to split the world.
BOOM!
The full-force blow caused the Level 7 shield to vibrate violently. Next, a giant hand descended—disgusting eyes lining its palm and back. It slammed against the shield; from the inside, the crew could see the eyes on the palm burst with blood vessels upon impact—a gruesome sight.
The centipede royal leaped, a row of transparent wings sprouting from its back to carry it through the water. It twisted its body and latched onto its own territory's shield, using its massive frame as a literal meat shield to block the three vehicles' lasers.
Finally, the boar-like royal charged from a distance, smashing through its own city wall to ram the vehicle's Level 7 shield. This strike was particularly heavy, sending the shield's energy reserves plummeting to the bottom.
This coordinated assault wasn't just the strength of four royals; it was backed by the sacrificed energy of hundreds of thousands of Dark Beasts within the city. The intensity was staggering. The sight of the flickering shield made every viewer's heart seize. Unlike sending an undead army, a vehicle-led "face-tanking" assault left almost no room for error.
Fortunately, it was a Level 7 shield. Despite the relentless pummeling, it held.
By contrast, the Dark Beast Lord's Level 6 shield fared worse. Once the centipede royal—unable to endure the concentrated heat of the three lasers—retreated with a scream, the barrier shattered in the next second.
'Pop! Pop!'
The shattering of a shield made no physical sound, yet the resonance echoed in everyone's minds. Two crisp cracks overlapped, and then the world went chaotic.
First, the territory's Level 6 shield exploded, sending a massive shockwave outward. The gargantuan damage lashed against the vehicles' already weakened Level 7 shield. The Level 7 shield then shattered in turn, releasing an even more terrifying counter-burst of energy.
The circular explosion damage was like a celestial axe, condensed into a ring of razor-thin silk that sliced through miles of ocean in an instant. The entire underwater world fell silent for a heartbeat.
What followed was jaw-dropping. The boar-like royal, being the closest to Wei Huan's vehicle, bore the brunt of the force. Its massive body froze, and then, starting from its snout, it was sliced clean in half down to its tail. Its Primordial Spirit shattered instantly, leaving behind the physical body of a black, bone-spiked pig less than ten meters long.
Its face bore a strangely human expression of shock. It had chosen this form because it concentrated most of its energy in its forehead for protection and as a weapon. On the battlefield, it was an unstoppable juggernaut. Yet its prideful defense was like wet paper before the backlash of a Level 7 shield; it was sliced through with ease.
Behind it, the other three offensive-type manifested forms were even less capable of resisting that razor-sharp cutting force.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
In a single stroke, all four Royal Primordial Spirits were broken. The Level 7 shield's destruction was more than Sequence 5 Lords could handle. Even with the energy of tens of thousands of subjects, they only reached a temporary Sequence 6 level—they were powerless against the lethality of a Tier 7 collapse.
In an instant, the fragile physical bodies of the Dark Beast royalty were exposed to the human war machines.
The lasers from the Level 7 Sentry Towers fired—'swish, swish, swish!' Three precise shots rang out. The first to fall was the many-eyed creature.
"AH!"
Its bloated belly was pierced through. Black blood gushed out, polluting the sea as its body rapidly shrunk, and it turned to flee. The next shot hit the tentacled royal, obliterating its thickest limb. It recoiled in agony, its body twitching as it tried to scramble back over the city wall.
Even the black boar, despite its thick hide, couldn't withstand the Level 7 weaponry. However, it was agile; after being knocked over once, it scrambled up and ran even faster. The blood trailing from its belly blurred its path as it lunged toward the city gates.
Wei Huan had no intention of letting them go. He ordered the vehicles to pursue. Leaving a tiger to return to the mountain invited future disaster. He was here to hunt royalty, and he wouldn't let a single one escape...
"Boss, what's going on?" Xu Qingqiang suddenly asked. "We keep missing."
Wei Huan blinked. A thought struck him. "Is what you see different from what we see?"
Xu Qingqiang had been suspicious. Hearing this, he cursed. "Shit. An illusion?"
"It's the Thousand-Eyed Monster's ability," Wei Huan said, watching the stumbling boar. It looked clumsy, hit multiple times by Level 7 weapons and swaying as if it might collapse at any moment. "That one is the City Lord."
They had encountered a monster capable of weaving illusions again. If it weren't for the fact that Sequence 5 and 6 worlds were notorious for these mental-attack types, they might have truly stumbled. No wonder the Dark Beast royalty dared to face him despite knowing he had a Level 6 vehicle and Level 7 weapons. It was because of these specialists!
'Does this creature merely distort vision? Does it prevent AI targeting from locking on? Or does it have other powers?'
Wei Huan wasted no time. He summoned his "treasure."
Moji stepped out of the portal, glanced around the vehicle, and seeing his Master nearby, immediately understood his role as a mascot. He flopped onto the floor and went back to sleep.
Through Moji, Wei Huan confirmed Xu Qingqiang was right: they were indeed being interfered with by an unknown energy. It was a mental attack that functioned like a distortion of light. While the Thousand-Eyed Monster couldn't create a fully logical dreamscape, it was constantly warping their perception. It made them believe they were attacking and routing the beasts, when in reality, the royals—perhaps having taken only one or two hits—had used the light distortion to break line-of-sight and slip back into the city.
Wei Huan gazed at the shadows retreating into the city. He wouldn't let them go. He summoned his undead army again—undead who were still under the four-fold boost of the Judgment and Blessing. They were already empowered; he would use them until their strength faded.
The first to charge were the Two-Headed Hidden Demons. They were not only powerful but fast. From a single portal, three would fly out at once, surging toward the territory.
With Moji acting as an "anchor," Wei Huan's eyes would no longer be deceived. His sight, in turn, became the anchor for the undead. The Hidden Demons turned into flying daggers, diving into the Royal City, locking onto the Thousand-Eyed royal first.
The other royals knew their survival depended on the Thousand-Eyed one's special ability. Their entire tactic revolved around it. The Thousand-Eyed royal could not die.
The Wild Bone Boar was the first to turn back and face the Hidden Demons. Unfortunately, it underestimated the quadrupled attributes of the undead. It tried to intercept them, only to be swarmed and bitten until it was a bloody mess.
A thousand-armed centipede swam like lightning out of the murky depths. Its arms were as flexible as they were sharp; it swept past the boar, sending several Hidden Demons back to Wei Huan's Great Tomb in quick succession.
But Wei Huan never feared the sacrifice of his Hidden Demons, and his target wasn't the boar. Under his command, the demons bypassed the two defenders and struck at the Thousand-Eyed royal again.
Suddenly, a tentacle lashed out, crushing the nearest Hidden Demon into pulp. There were many Hidden Demons, but there were also many tentacles. Through the relentless pursuit, the Thousand-Eyed royal managed to scramble back into the Lord's Hall.
A new round of protective shielding began to form. If it succeeded, Wei Huan's new batch of undead would be trapped inside, achieving the enemy's goal of draining his Nether Power.
"How much longer?" Wei Huan asked Mu Zhong.
Mu Zhong's system was tracking the timing. "27 seconds. They used the Thousand-Eyed ability to stall for time."
"What are they trying to do?" Wei Huan mused. "Even if the shield reactivates, the undead I left inside can still kill them. Are there more royals in this city?"
"24 seconds," Mu Zhong replied. "Your suspicion is likely correct. We might be falling into a trap. Since they have a mental-attack type royal, they wouldn't stop at just this..."
"Correct. I see them."
Wei Huan, who had been locked on the battlefield, shifted his gaze for the first time to the surroundings and finally spotted the anomaly. At some unknown point, two more Dark Beast Royal territories had been established in a ring around them, cutting off their retreat.
They were now surrounded by three Royal Cities.
Sensing their ploy had been exposed, as soon as Wei Huan looked at the cities behind him, a swarm of various massive Royal Primordial Spirits manifested within them. Among them were two or three more Thousand-Eyed types.
It seemed these creatures were responsible for blinding their perception, successfully using their intelligence gap to complete an encirclement.
Wei Huan scanned the encroaching royals—thirty-four massive Primordial Spirits were slowly pressing in from the surrounding cities. For a moment, it felt like the legendary Monkey King facing the hundred thousand celestial troops—a crushing sense of dread from the projected titans.
Wei Huan murmured, "What is this? The final showdown?"