Within a Dharma Image, there is actually no physical sensation. Even after sustaining such heavy injuries, aside from its power weakening as energy dissipated, the Dark Beast Royal still felt terrifyingly strong. Unlike other Royals, this was its territory. Every Dark Beast in this domain would offer up all its energy for the Royal, sacrificing their lives without hesitation.
It was the strongest.
That was why it had stepped forward the moment the attack began, withstanding the sudden human onslaught. Saturated with this abundant energy, it felt invincible. It could not lose!
Yet, strangely, just as a chill emanated from its neck—a place that shouldn't have been able to "feel"—its vision underwent a bizarre transformation. It began to fall. Falling, falling, falling...
Until the vibration of hitting the bottom registered. Its vision jolted, and as it was forced to roll over, it saw its own headless torso. Thick black smoke billowed from the cleanly severed neck. Deep within that smoke, a human—not even as large as one of the beast's fingers—held a toy-like axe, slowly backing away until he vanished from sight.
For a brief moment, it was dazed. 'Is there such a person among the humans?' To sever its Dharma Image in a single blow required a horrific amount of damage. It was impossible for it to be completely unaware that such a powerful individual existed among them.
But soon, as its Dharma Image collapsed entirely, its thoughts stuttered. When it regained its senses, its true body lunged with pure killing intent toward a hunched, ferocious figure with a single horn on its head. It knew this human was a powerhouse—brutal, bloodthirsty, and frantic in combat. His terrifying speed and combat style had even prompted some Dark Beast Royals to emulate his form.
Unfortunately, time had been too short. They hadn't adapted to fighting in their new bodies before being slaughtered. 'Stupid fools,' it thought, 'they haven't even mastered the new form yet, but they dare to attack the Necromancer. It's suicide!'
The next second, its body, which appeared to be lunging at Xu Qingqiang, suddenly twisted in mid-air. Using its agile tail to churn the seawater, it catapulted itself in the opposite direction and turned to flee.
The hot-blooded rage had finally cooled. These humans were terrifyingly strong; they couldn't be faced head-on. Run!
It also knew that the tiny Burrow Beasts floating in the water were no ordinary creatures. They were horrific. Once entangled by them, even if they couldn't kill it directly, they would drag its pace to a crawl. Of course, it wasn't afraid of them; while these small undead were good at hiding, they had a fatal weakness. They were susceptible to impact—easily swept away by air currents or, in this case, water currents.
Part of its tail tentacles swept forward, deliberately churning the water to create turbulence, successfully flushing away those disgusting little things.
But... there were still too many. Humans were everywhere, and those loathsome undead were omnipresent—above, below, left, and right. Dammit! Where should it go?
It hesitated, looking toward the spot where its Dharma Image had just been broken. The dark energy there hadn't dispersed yet, making it the area of highest density. Vision would be obscured there; it might be its only chance. It dove straight in.
Yet, the moment it crashed into the dark energy, a white light swept across its path.
"Ugh!" The pain didn't register until a second later.
It clutched its neck. A bone-chilling cold radiated from the exact same spot. It saw a human figure flickering indistinctly within the mist. Dead memories rushed back like a tide, and its mind was filled with disbelief. 'Falling to the same human twice?!' And it wasn't a desperate defeat after a bloody battle; it was carelessness. Carelessness twice?!
"Swish!" As Hammer casually swung his blade to decapitate the Royal again, even his face held a hint of disbelief. The first time he cut the Dharma Image, it was a coordinated effort, a deliberate opportunity created by the team. But this strike... how did this guy just deliver his head to the axe?
Hammer, having harvested another life in passing, exited the scene with a confused expression, re-hiding himself in the thick mist. He understood his talent well, so he had specifically learned stealth techniques from the Gambler sequence. Although his body didn't use an active ability to vanish, as long as he could reduce the number of times he was "noticed," it was functionally the same as stealth.
In this chaotic battlefield, there were many places to hide, but the nearest was this lingering dark energy. He planned to use this thin veil to leave the combat circle and look for the next opportunity. As for this Royal, Xu Qingqiang and the others would handle the cleanup.
Hammer turned to walk away, but a sudden surge of water pushed him forward. Being underwater, things weren't as stable as on land. The feeling was familiar. Hammer turned around and saw the Royal—revived again and shrunken by another degree—charging at him once more.
"?"
"..."
"Swish!"
Hammer's combat reflexes were maxed out. Besides, when someone sticks their neck under your axe-blade, it would be rude not to oblige. Black blood splattered again—at this concentration, it wasn't even like blood, but dark energy condensed into liquid form.
Hammer shook his body, leaped backward, and made eye contact with Xu Qingqiang, who had just rushed over. He saw shock in Xu Qingqiang's eyes. Hammer gave an embarrassed smile. His honest, ordinary face was the kind you'd pass on the street and forget instantly—ordinary build, ordinary face.
Just then, the Royal revived yet again. Strangely, it tried to charge toward Hammer once more. It looked as if it had completely forgotten how it just died. 'It can't be that it's just running blindly, can it?'
Xu Qingqiang didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from crushing the creature. Having been killed three times consecutively, a Royal at this level was a pushover for him, even without the Bloodlust blessing.
After easily finishing the beast, Xu Qingqiang couldn't hide his envy as he looked for Hammer—only to find that the man had vanished. This guy's talent was truly terrifying. Unless he deliberately pushed himself into your field of vision to prove his existence, he was almost impossible to find.
'This guy must have had a pretty lonely life growing up,' Xu Qingqiang thought as he reached out and grabbed a Royal that had transformed into an octopus to escape, stuffing its head into his mouth.
With a "crunch" and a swallow, there wasn't much flavor—just pure dark energy accompanied by the Royal's shrill scream as it went down his throat. The Bloodlust duration was almost up, and his overstimulated body was beginning to feel the onset of weakness. As this energy entered him, it rapidly repaired his exhausted cells, like pumping air back into a shriveled balloon. The weakness receded.
The Bloodlust blessing took a heavy toll. Even though Mu Zhong had been a High Priest for a long time and the recovery time for blessings was decreasing, Bloodlust still required 25 days to reset. Technically, the vehicle had a Sequence 5 Dancer with [Ancestral Soul], who could provide a version that only took 12 days to recover, but she wasn't here. In that hurried, unexpected moment, they were lucky the support classes could get in at all. They didn't even have a healer; they had forced Captain Fang, a powerful Knight, to act as a "Nursemaid."
Xu Qingqiang's Bloodlust state required him to feast on Royals to quickly fill the "pit" of weakness. Eating this Royal just about balanced the scales. This time, after dying four times and being eaten by Xu Qingqiang, the Royal did not revive. The count on Wei Huan's data-glasses jumped.
[Quest Progress: 7]
Inadvertently, the number had reached a satisfying level. There were only so many Royals; killing seven significantly reduced their overall combat power. As the enemy weakened and they grew stronger, could the total annihilation of the Dark Beasts be far off?
Furthermore, Moji, who had been idle enough to catch fleas lately, finally had work to do. As the Royals died one by one, it was busy "usurping." In this short time, it had received the "loyalty" of over ten thousand Dark Beasts. These weren't ordinary beasts; they were elites comparable to the Lords Wei Huan had faced head-on.
When the Royals fled, they had taken large numbers of high-level Lords with them. Now, those Lords were drained and unable to move, huddling outside the combat circle. Not only did they not cause trouble, but they also survived. This high-end combat power was now Moji's for the taking—a perfect foundation for its future.
Wei Huan looked forward more and more to the day Moji would turn this world upside down. With this Royal dead, the Dark Beasts within a 500,000-kilometer radius were leaderless. Countless severed soul-threads, like broken data cables, searched for the next King. Some connected to surviving Royals, but most were seized by Moji.
Wei Huan had no time to focus on Moji's status. He only noted that the Lords huddling nearby—who had been a lingering threat—were now scurrying away under Moji's orders. Moji had clearly sensed his thoughts and driven them off to avoid upsetting him. Wei Huan thought this was quite clever of the creature.
---
Wei Huan pulled his focus back to the center of the battlefield. It looked chaotic. In the area that was originally the undead sector, all 77 human warriors had jumped in, fighting in what appeared to be a disorganized melee.
Of the original nine Royals, only six remained. These survivors had calmed down and become cunning; they began to team up, no longer lingering to fight but focusing solely on escape. On the other side, only two Royals remained, pinned down by five hundred Double-Headed Hidden Demons. They were in a stalemate, but escape was impossible. The Hidden Demons were draining them; soon they would be like deflated balloons.
The real issue was the group of six. Realizing escape was difficult, they began a joint breakthrough. Keeping them all there would be hard, which was why Wei Huan moved Captain Xue and Xu Qingqiang to this side. The two Royals on the other side weren't going to die immediately, but if the six here escaped, it would be a loss. Better to focus fire and kill what they could.
Among the six, four were heteromorphs—tentacle types. Tentacles were excellent for both offense and defense, and since they were just appendages, losing a few didn't matter. The other two were beast types. Notably, one had originally taken a human-like demon form similar to Xu Qingqiang, but after seeing another Royal in that form get insta-killed, it retreated to its "comfort zone," transforming into a massive monster resembling a giant Hidden Demon.
Now these six were charging as one. Even though Captain Xue was shouting "grandsons" until his voice was hoarse, the Royals didn't look back.
No choice left.
"Poof, poof, poof!"
The shrunken Burrow Beasts and Facehuggers that had circled ahead of the Royals restored their original size upon Wei Huan's command. Bleached bones intertwined, forming Bone Fortresses. The Bone Fortresses, absent for a long time, reappeared. Green projected nets couldn't trap the Royals, but they turned into entangling ropes, like spider silk, binding them.
Green "Death Ropes" were everywhere, tightening around the fleeing Royals. Nether Flame bit into the Dharma Images, burning dark energy until it hissed and bubbled like a branding iron on flesh.
However, the Royals possessed immense strength and were coordinating. Ordinary Burrow Beasts, even at seven or eight meters tall and numbering in the tens of thousands, could only cause superficial wounds. The reason Wei Huan and his team had killed five so quickly was because of their genuine strength and their experience in fighting this specific race. In most cases, sheer numbers couldn't bridge the gap in power.
The barrier of Burrow Beasts and Facehuggers didn't even hold for thirty seconds. The Bone Fortresses rooted in the seabed were uprooted. Some Royals even used the fortresses as morning stars, swinging the "Death Nets" to clear the obstacles ahead.
Fortunately, those thirty seconds gave Wei Huan time to redeploy. The fastest Ghost Crows caught up, dropping Nether Flame Bombs into the center of the bunched-up Royals. Wei Huan had been hoarding these bombs for nearly two months. He had planned to use them in the Opening Battle, but after developing the "Vortex Mob-Grind Combo," he hadn't used many. He had thrown a bunch earlier, but he still had over 90% of his stock left.
The distance between the two sides was now perfect for the bombs to do their work. Green light fell—each bomb looked no larger than a soybean, but they exploded into hundred-meter flares of fire. Tongues of fire licked the giant bodies, creating charred smoke as dark energy leaked out profusely.
Xu Qingqiang leaped out from a Kobold's mouth, preparing to ask for another Bloodlust blessing. The flares of fire and churning water behind him made him snap his head back. After staring for two seconds, he asked Wei Huan, "Are we really doing a mob-grind?"
"Let's try," Wei Huan said. "I have a lot of Nether Flame stock. Might as well clean it out."
"Show-off," Xu Qingqiang muttered. He reached for a cigarette, then remembered he was underwater and only had one left. It was so precious he only smelled it before bed. It was currently tucked away in a spatial box Mu Zhong had made for him; he was keeping himself alive on the scent alone until they got back.
As they spoke, the roar of the bombs traveled far through the water, stirring massive waves on the coast. Without their thick-shelled shields, the bunched-up Royals were being torn apart. They abandoned their tactics and scattered in different directions to save themselves.
"Quick, quick, quick!" Xu Qingqiang saw the opening. He signaled the team. Red light flickered over him again, and his laughter turned shrill and piercing as he sped away.
---
Wei Huan and his team had the Royals figured out. Unless a truly powerful Royal appeared, the threat was diminishing. Without the help of territory troops or local heroes, they were just large snails without shells. Once their weakness was found, they were easy to hit.
The Challenger squads teleported or sprinted, concentrating on pre-assigned targets. Xu Qingqiang was a step late getting his buff and fell behind the main group. He noticed one "sneaky" Royal among the scattered survivors running toward him. It was shrinking its size as it ran. This one was cunning; it intended to drop its Dharma Image in the chaos and escape in its smallest form. With a Royal's shapeshifting abilities, once it left their line of sight without the Challenge World's restrictions, its chances of escape were very high.
"Jie-jie-jie!"
Xu Qingqiang immediately abandoned his original target and charged at this one. Bolstered by Bloodlust and seeing the enemy had lost significant energy to the bombs, he decided to duel the Royal without teammates.
Wei Huan frowned. This was still a Royal. Coordination was one thing, but going solo was a bit arrogant. He hurriedly dispatched nearby undead to support Xu Qingqiang, but he was a step late.
The Royal 'had' intended to transform and flee, but it hadn't fully decommissioned its Dharma Image yet. Xu Qingqiang arrived too fast and was swatted to the ground by a thick tentacle whip. With his ten-fold attributes, he wasn't afraid of the impact; he only failed to dodge because he was focused on grabbing the enemy. He wanted to use the strike to seize the tentacle and climb his way to the main body for close-quarters slaughter. He was a primary combatant with vast experience and combat instincts far superior to any military expert. The plan was sound.
The plan 'should' have been fine, but this Royal's talent involved a hint of spatial laws. When the blow landed, although it didn't hurt Xu Qingqiang's body, it destroyed a spatial item on his person.
As he fought, Xu Qingqiang felt his chest go light. He looked down; his pocket was empty.
'Where's my smoke?'
'Where is my cigarette!!'
In his shock, he forgot to dodge and was sent flying by a follow-up whip. The pain woke him from his daze, and then that pain transformed into absolute, ultimate fury.
He twisted in the water, stopping his momentum mid-flight. His entire presence became increasingly terrifying. The single horn on his head, normally 30 centimeters, grew to nearly a meter in the blink of an eye. Small nubs on his brow bone finally erupted, forming a pair of black-red horns that curved downward like a ram's.
His body didn't grow, but the twisted, thorny demon patterns on his skin began to writhe as if alive. His aura surged again. When he looked up, there was nothing human left in his face; he looked like a demon that had completely lost control.
"JIE-JIE-JIE—!!"
Then, like a cannonball, he slammed into the Royal. Even using the Hero-grade Demon Eye, Wei Huan couldn't clearly track his movements. He only knew Xu Qingqiang was angry—angry enough to lose control. The Royal was torn to shreds by his claws and frantic biting. It didn't take long for the man to break the Dharma Image alone.
But Xu Qingqiang's rage didn't subside. He hunted the Royal, screaming "Jie-jie-jie" and "Smoke, smoke, smoke!" No one knew exactly what he was yelling.
But the Royal was the unlucky one. Facing the wrath of a "chain-smoker" who just lost his last cigarette, the frantic, suicidal combat style made the beast wish it were a lit cigarette itself just to end it. It wasn't just that it couldn't fight back; it couldn't even see its enemy. It only knew that it hurt everywhere. Its thoughts would snap, and when it regained consciousness, it felt light and weak—it had died once.
It tried to resist, but couldn't see the foe. It tried to run, but its legs snapped the moment they moved. Leg move, leg snap. Wing move, wing snap. It experienced death over and over. Its strength waned. Despite its desperate struggles and shapeshifting, it was like a fish in a bowl—there was no escape.
In its despair, it finally closed its eyes and never woke again.
"Jie-jie-jie!"
"SMOKE! SMOKE! SMOKE!"
The chain-smoker's fury over his lost cigarette had not yet dissipated. Xu Qingqiang was absolutely livid.