Trafford Buyers Club

Chapter 3994 The Song of the Purple Moon (45) — The Radiant King

...This feeling is like having your abdomen slashed open with a knife, and then the other person's hand roughly reaching into your abdominal cavity, pulling and rummaging around wantonly.

The tremors of the Golden Nightmare Labyrinth were like convulsions—the crucial point being that the Labyrinth's Will was currently powerless to stop it from happening.

Strictly speaking, the [Labyrinth Will] is not equivalent to the will of the Lord of [R'lyeh].

After all, the Lord of R'lyeh had already perished when it was used as the main material for the labyrinth. This was merely an intelligent consciousness, similar to a weapon spirit, born from the body of the Lord of R'lyeh through magical crafting techniques.

Of course, it is far more complex than the traditional concept of a "spirit artifact".

But it...it really hurts!
—Don't go any deeper, you monster!

As Boss Luo continued to penetrate deeper into his body, the [Labyrinth Will] even instinctively cried out—until Boss Luo finally stopped his steps.

All around were "walls of flesh" with a muscular texture—and the mental pollution seemed to have reached its peak here, with "Eyes of the Labyrinth" rapidly growing out of the "walls of flesh," their pupils even turning completely crimson.

In order to gain the opportunity to directly evolve into a [Super Artifact], [Maze Will] is going all out at this moment.

“Even a blurry image will do.” Mr. Luo gently closed his eyes. “Then, I’ll leave it to you, Mr. Maze.”

"..."

—I have a feeling you're the final boss?

—Or is it the kind where the hero team is almost wiped out before slowly entering the second stage of transformation?

A continuous stream of nightmare energy is being poured into the [Golden Nightmare Labyrinth]...

And you know what? With the [Maze Heart] pumping blood at overload, something actually did vaguely appear in front of Boss Luo...

A wisp of mist appeared, almost invisible if you weren't paying attention... but it looked more like flocculent matter that was difficult to gather.

……

……

The Eye of the Labyrinth has blossomed almost everywhere in the Golden Nightmare Labyrinth—it's not just a few groups of intruders here... but also a large number of mysterious divine beings!
——【The Crying Angel】!
No matter how peculiar the characteristics of the "Weeping Angel" may be, it is still essentially a living being—and all living beings are bound to experience fear!
At this moment, the numerous Weeping Angels stored in the maze suddenly let out howls—but without something to watch over them, they were unable to move!
[The Crying Angel] tries to remove her hands from her eyes and meet the gaze of [The Eye of the Labyrinth], instinctively wanting to use the characteristics of her race to fight against this fear that originates from the depths of her soul!
However, to the despair of the Crying Angels, their gaze—an almost unsolvable ability—had no effect on the Eye of the Labyrinth.

When the means of survival fail, it's like a cheetah losing its claws and the ability to run—it can only helplessly and fearfully await death in despair, becoming food for other hunters.

Perhaps, the failure of their abilities is what the Weeping Angels ultimately fear...

……

"What... is going on here?"

The witch's mirror creation is currently creating a mirrored passage to resist the properties of the [Weeping Angels]—that's right, since temporarily retreating from the Divine Dragon, the witch's group has arrived at a place where a large number of [Weeping Angels] are placed.

However, the drumming that wasn't very pleasant to watch seemed to have stopped... and it had stopped for a while. Instead, the maze felt more and more lively.

Could it be... that the Pirate King has been defeated?

The lack of information prevented Miss Witch from accurately grasping the current situation... There was no way to escape, and it seemed that she could only follow Testarossa down this dark path.

—I don't want to…

"Your Highness, these [Weeping Angels] seem to be collapsing on their own?" Claude adjusted his glasses... well, a wise look in his eyes.

In fact, as long as he's not eccentric, Claude is quite wise—in Testarossa's opinion.

“Hmm… their souls are also collapsing.” Testarossa looked at them with a hint of doubt.

Outside the mirrored passage, there were statues of the "Weeping Angels," many of which were covered in cracks... some even looked as if they had been weathered for millions of years.

Prolonged starvation can also cause the Crying Angel to die naturally—but this takes an extremely long time, a time so long that it leads to despair!

Look at these "crying angels," which have been preserved from the last divine era until now. They are only slightly emaciated and their wings are not fully extended. You can tell how well they can withstand hunger.

"Collapse?" The witch was taken aback. She was completely unfamiliar with this concept, and the only knowledge she had of it was from what she had just heard. She couldn't help but subconsciously say, "Is it because the passage of time has finally caused their souls to perish at this moment?"

In fact, even the immortal beings in the void will eventually perish—"immortality" is relative to the level of life... Strictly speaking, it should be "not easily decayed".

Testarossa pondered, "For some reason, this place seems to be frantically draining the soul power of these [Weeping Angels], thus accelerating their annihilation."

"Could it be because of these eyeballs?" Gerdev suddenly said.

At this moment, he was staring through the mirrored passage at a strange pupil growing next to a statue of a [Weeping Angel]—Gazef was already used to the fact that this labyrinth was alive, like a huge organism, along the way.

Anyway, the Great Old Ones usually create things that make people physically uncomfortable... the more disgusting, the better.

"Claude, don't look at those eyes!"

Suddenly, Testarossa spoke, and in a very stern tone!

Your Highness rarely speaks in this tone. Even on the battlefield, Your Highness always maintains a calm and composed demeanor.

“Your Highness, I…” Trusting His Highness, Gerdov immediately looked away. “I don’t think I feel anything is amiss.”

Testarossa remained silent, but stared directly into the eye that Gazef had been gazing into earlier—in fact, upon closer inspection, one would find that each of the [Weeping Angels] around them had such an eye present... a clear division of labor.

"Gazef, are you really not feeling unwell?" Claude asked in a deep voice.

He is Testarossa's most fervent follower. If His Highness says there is a problem, then there must be a problem... If there is no problem, then it must be that the problem has not yet been revealed—even if there really is no problem, Claude will make it appear!

“I…” Gerdov opened his mouth subconsciously, then assessed himself, “I feel fine.”

“Get out of here as soon as possible,” Testarossa said abruptly.

It wasn't that she was afraid of anything... With her abilities, it would be very difficult to find anything that could truly harm her under the [Sun] – not that it didn't exist in the [Radiant Moon], but the probability of encountering such an opponent in this endless void was too low.

If you really come across such a great prize, what are you waiting for? Of course, you should rush to the Void Casino!

But her own fearlessness doesn't mean that Claude and Gazef can escape unscathed—they can't just slip away from the battlefield and return with heavy losses, can they?
—Does Testarosa have no pride?

Just then, a flash of light suddenly shot out from the dimly lit passage!

Claude frowned, and with a wave of his hand, a series of dark red rays wove together to form a shield—the flash of light struck the line shield directly!
The shield dented slightly, and the flash seemed to have run out of power and disappeared!
But Claude looked surprised – he hadn't had much trouble blocking the flash, but it had taken him nearly 30% of his strength.

However, the mirrored passage was not so lucky, and was instantly shattered by the aftershock of the impact... Seeing this, the witch took the opportunity to retrieve the [Star Creation] magic mirror that would have killed her.

"Are there any more enemies?"

The witch frowned, instinctively pulling Xiaomeng back, still... showing respect by retreating!

Click, click, click…

From the source of the flash came a series of heavy footsteps... like the sound of armored boots striking the ground.

Cloud frowned and stepped in front of Testarossa, extending his arm to protect her, while simultaneously handing back the Sword of Light he had borrowed from Gazef.

Although his will is stronger than Gazef's, the Sword of Light is ultimately bound to Gazef, and only he can use it to fully unleash some of the Sword of Light's properties.

"Gazef?"

Unexpectedly, Gerdov remained motionless, his gaze fixed on the direction from which the footsteps were coming, a look of bewilderment in his eyes.

"Gazef!" Claude called out again, slightly annoyed... his voice a little louder.

Could it be that this guy suffered a huge blow after being defeated by that woman before?

Your Highness's Holy Knight should not be so fragile!

“That was… the Annihilation Dragon Slash? The Annihilation Dragon Slash… How is that possible…” Gazef muttered to himself, his bewildered gaze growing increasingly somber.
"They're here!" the witch whispered.

Finally, the owner of the footsteps emerged from the darkness... and there stood a white knight in pure white armor!

The White Knight, standing nearly 1.9 meters tall, wore a pure white, radiant armor that gave him a sharp and imposing presence... especially the large golden jewel embedded in the chest of the armor!

At this moment, the white knight wielding two golden longswords unleashed a powerful and surging aura, like a hurricane!

A sudden gust of wind tousled Testarosa's white dress!

Under the release of this extremely oppressive aura, Miss Witch gasped in shock—she had just gotten rid of that terrifying woman who had given Claude a good beating, and now she had encountered another monster-level guy?
Is there a high-level beacon of the [Primordial] realm in this wretched place, or even an opportunity to advance to the [Sun] realm...? At this moment, the witch was filled with regret—she had entered the labyrinth and had gained nothing so far!

“Ottoman…Dis?” Claude’s pupils contracted sharply in an instant, and his previously wary expression turned serious!

In an instant, dark red threads wrapped around Claude's hands... and after wrapping, they turned into a pair of red horn gloves.

“The Radiant King of the Holy Demon Empire, you… you actually came after me?” Claude even subconsciously adopted a defensive stance.

—【Holy Demon Empire】?
Upon hearing this, the witch's expression changed slightly. This empire, isn't it...?

This was the first time Miss Witch had heard Claude and his group talk about their origins!

"Rebels, huh?" The White Knight's gaze swept casually over Claude, lingered briefly on Testarossa, and finally settled on Gazef!
The moment he met the White Knight's gaze, Gazef instinctively lowered his body, gripping the Sword of Light tightly with both hands and pointing it... However, the blade swayed slightly uncontrollably.

The white-clad knight said calmly, "Gazef, you don't seem to have grown much."

"...[Radiant King], I am no longer the person I used to be!!"

With a sudden, frenzied clench of his teeth, Gazef unleashed a burst of light from the Sword of Light, causing it to surge dramatically... Flash!
This was almost the strongest attack Gazef could deliver so far—at least, Cloud could feel it!

Space shattered inch by inch due to Gazef's sudden madness... The power of this sword was fully released, enough to pierce through any small world below the Silver rank!
Such a powerful blow struck the [Radiant King] directly, but only left a shallow mark on his white armor... In fact, the mark disappeared in the next moment!
“How could this be…” Gazef stared incredulously at the white knight before him, his eyes filled with horror.

All that could be heard was the Radiant King saying calmly, "Although I don't know why I'm here, and I seem to have become stronger... But, Gazef, is this really all the power you have? Even before I appeared here and became stronger, you still seemed too weak."

"what--!!!!"

Gazef's eyes turned bloodshot, and he seemed to have completely lost his mind, unleashing a frenzied barrage of strikes with the [Sword of Light]... The once pure white blade of light had now turned gray... then dark gray, then grayish-black...

In the end, the blade of the Sword of Light completely disappeared!

At this moment, Gazef could only grip the bladeless hilt of the sword and continued to swing it wildly... In fact, Gazef's strength was rapidly declining, eventually stopping only when it was reduced to a mere fragment of the three-star [Morning Star]!
"Boring."

[Radiant King] shook his head and casually swung his sword at Gazef—yes, just swung it!

Just then, a dark red thread instantly wrapped around Gazef's body, pulling him back and allowing him to dodge the subsequent strike from [Radiant King].

"Heh, a lizard-like creature." [Radiant King] merely glanced indifferently at Cloud, who had rescued Gazef. "How annoying."

Claude took a deep breath and calmly said, "[Radiant King], you left the battlefield so abruptly... Has the internal strife of the [Holy Demon] Empire been resolved? I'm very curious, how did you find out His Highness's whereabouts?"

"Internal strife within the Empire?" [Radiant King] chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous. You insignificant rebels think you can cause internal strife within the Empire? That's the most laughable joke I've ever heard!"

It's not going to amount to anything...

Claude was stunned... The Free Army, under His Highness's leadership, was already close to entering the Imperial Capital, and they were still not a threat?
"No, you're not the [Radiant King]!"

A hint of doubt flashed in the eyes of the [Radiant King], and he did not even deny it. "Indeed, I also feel that I am a little strange... But it doesn't matter. Since they are rebels, we are already here. Let's just settle things once and for all."

Having said that, [Radiant King] raised the sword in his left hand and then swiftly brought it down!
Claude's expression turned serious than ever before, and he was about to make a move.

"Deadline".

Just then, Testarossa's voice suddenly rang out... The princess raised her hand and drew a black straight line right in front of everyone!

A straight line is like an absolute boundary separating two worlds!
The light of the [Radiant King]'s strike vanished silently the moment it touched the black line.

“Your Highness…” Claude was suddenly taken aback.

Testarossa stepped forward slowly and said calmly, "Since it's the Empire's [Radiant King] in person... Claude, this is beyond your capabilities. And..."

She narrowed her eyes and chuckled softly, "I'm also curious to know, what's the difference between this [Radiant King] and the real one?"

Based on my intuition alone, this [Radiant King] seems to be even stronger than the real one?
Testarossa was inwardly groaning. Even if the true Lord of R'lyeh were alive, he couldn't compare to the Radiant King... How did she even manage to create this Radiant King?

Angie...you're definitely messing with me!
……

……

"Your strength... has increased?"

Lady Xinone was suddenly startled. Her power seemed to have increased significantly again... by about 200%, and this increase was still continuing, though it had become very slow!

It seems that the Golden Nightmare Labyrinth has absorbed a massive amount of nightmare energy during this period?

That's quite a feat...

The sudden surge in strength caused Lady Xinone to have a subconscious illusion... She glanced quietly in the direction of the maid, but quickly looked away.

Shaking her head, Lady Xinone decided against trying to extort money.

Although his strength has increased dramatically, he still cannot break through the [Fourth Node]... He has only gotten a little closer, and he still cannot see the end!
From the limit of [Radiant Moon] to [Sunset]... just how far is it?
It's not as simple as just being one level apart...