Real Mount and Blade Game

The battlefield before the entrance to the ancestral tomb has been crushed into a boiling crucible of chaos.

The air was filled with the smoky smell of bones, blood from the abyss, and the acrid smell of souls being torn apart and dissipated.

After Shen Mu ordered the "Thorn Barrier" to transform into an inner arc compressed defensive array, and the human alliance completely abandoned its offensive, retreating into the sharply defined "Steel Spikes," the thick fog of ash from the Seventh Dynasty's undead on the western battlefield did not dissipate due to the "retreat" of the human allies.

As if confirming Erian's earlier threat, the vortex of ashes that had once been greedily devoured by the abyss and symbolized the will of the Black Emperor Anhe stubbornly reassembled itself once again.

Under the pull of the laws of death, the broken skeletons were reassembled, and the shattered bone blades were fused together by an invisible force. The enormous "skeleton shadow" that had been almost dismembered by the abyssal wretch struggled to draw the last divine dust from the depths of the filthy earth, emitting a tooth-grinding sound of bones grinding together, and dragged its broken body to stand once again on the edge of the battlefield.

In the empty eye sockets, the eerie green soul fire, though no longer at its peak, exuded a madness born of desperation.

Without any command, the reassembled undead army, like puppets driven by invisible shackles, roared silently, carrying a thin but resolute tide of ash, and rushed once again toward the abyssal wreckage that was surging wildly out of the entrance to the ancestral tomb!

A new battle erupted instantly, witnessed by the cold defensive lines of the human alliance.

However, this time, the undead army was clearly weakened. Their ash mist was no longer as dense as before, and the skeletal soldiers moved stiffly and sluggishly.

In contrast, the Abyssal Corpse, after having just devoured the core essence of the Anhe Legion, underwent an even more terrifying transformation in its individual form.

The bodies of the inferior skeletons became even more twisted and swollen, and the filthy aura flowed like tangible slime on their bodies. In particular, some of the large, corrupted gnolls of the abyss had dark patterns made of pure polluted energy, resembling blood vessels and tendons, clinging to their bone armor, exuding a chilling sense of power.

Shen Mu stood at the core node of the thorny fortress, the invisible [Tallinn] network unfolding around him, incorporating every heartbeat and every breath of the entire allied defense array into his cold calculations.

His deep eyes flashed with a cold, data-driven intensity far beyond what ordinary people could comprehend. He clearly "saw" that the Abyssal Corpse, shrouded in black mist, was almost utterly overwhelming the newly coalescing undead army!
The black mist greedily eroded the already thin gray mist, like strong acid dissolving thin paper. Every wisp of ash swallowed, every cluster of soul fire forcibly extinguished, turned into viscous abyssal nutrients, which were continuously siphoned back into the core of the twisted divine remains deep within the ancestral tomb—the location of the "End Wolf Shadow"—along the filthy veins.

The pulse emanating from the entrance to the ancestral mausoleum grew heavier and clearer with each beat, carrying a blasphemous rhythm, greedily craving more.

Just then, a figure enveloped in extreme resentment and icy deathly aura, like a vengeful spirit tearing through space, suddenly burst through the edge of the combat zone and rushed straight towards Shen Mu's command node. It was none other than the messenger of the undead legion—Erian.

His face, a blend of the wood elves' former elegance and the absolute decay of death, was now twisted and deformed by extreme rage and the impending annihilation of his legion.

The black lines on his skin writhed like living things, and the eerie green soul fire deep within his eye sockets burned fiercely, almost bursting forth.

The holy aura of the thorny ramparts scorched his dissipating death energy, emitting a hissing sound, but he paid no heed. His voice, hysterical and penetrating, resounded in Shen Mu's ears:

"Shen Mu!!" Arian roared, his voice shrill and inhuman. "Fulfill your promise! Your covenant with the Black Emperor! The Abyss is completely devouring the foundation of our Emperor's power! Every bit of their growth is graveyard soil for us! Attack! Attack now! Crush that source of filth! Your power is the only hope to break the chains at this moment!"

The light flowed silently through the thorny barrier, illuminating Shen Mu's expressionless profile.

His gaze remained fixed on the distant core of devastation and destruction, without even a hint of turning his head. His indifferent voice, devoid of any inflection, clearly responded to the roar of the undead messenger: "Messenger of Erien, my human legions have fulfilled their duty. We tore open the 'Wall of Corruption,' forcing the Abyss back to the ancestral tomb. These countless corpses bear witness to the blood we shed."

He slightly raised his hand, indicating what everyone could see—a mountain of corpses formed by the remains of the Abyss wreckage killed during the assault, the blood of the human soldiers who fell had already soaked the scorched earth.

"The Abyss's current frenzied counterattack far surpasses its previous one; a transformation of its power is underway. If we rashly attack its core, my soldiers will pay the price of their lives to fill the insatiable maw of a glutton. My duty is to protect my soldiers, not to share the Abyss's wrath with you. This price is not stipulated in the covenant, and I cannot pay it again."

"Foolish!! You're digging your own grave!" Arian's soul fire exploded violently, the deep green flames almost bursting from his eye sockets. He took a step forward, the condensed deathly energy impacting the light barrier of the thorny fortress, sending ripples through it.

"Open your eyes and see clearly! They are not 'attacking' us, they are 'feeding'! A gluttonous feast! Every wisp of soul fire torn from the skeletal warriors is the finest fuel in the Abyss Forge! The ancestral tomb of the gnolls is itself a huge incubation ground twisted by the abyss! The fragments of Yenoguna's long-dead, broken, yet still containing the power of laws, are the core fuel of this evil forge!"

Arian's voice carried a chilling edge, each word like a tolling death knell, "Let the abyss devour so unhindered, it will use the remains of Yenogu as a breeding ground to refine, absorb, and ultimately steal the remaining fragments of 'tyranny,' 'hunting,' or 'legion domination' from the remains! Once it succeeds... even if it only obtains a trace of godlike power..."

He suddenly pointed at Shen Mu, his voice piercing the sky, "Shen Mu! Do you think your so-called fortress, your so-called defensive array, can stop a 'false divine abomination' born from the filth of the abyss and walking among mortals?! At that time, the thorns will be completely broken! The fortress will collapse! All living beings and dead souls here will become its food! None will escape!!"

This prophecy struck like a thunderbolt, deeply affecting the hearts of every officer in the defensive formation.

Kalanzo's knuckles turned white as he gripped the Scepter of the Sacred Tree; Bandark's resolute face was taut; the icy arrows on the bowstrings of the Vaegir archers trembled slightly; and the soldiers on the Rhodok heavy crossbow control console gasped for breath. Legolas' lips were pressed tightly together, his eyes filled with even deeper worry. As the wood elf most acutely aware of divine perception, he understood better than anyone the terrifying possibility of this prophecy. A silent cloud of despair spread across the human steel lines.

Shen Mu became the only still point in this heavy, dark cloud.

His eyes were deep, reflecting the apocalyptic scene of rolling black mist and melting ashes in the distance.

The rapidly flowing data paused slightly, as if incorporating Ereen's warning into a new, massive computational model. After a brief, suffocating silence, he spoke slowly, almost emotionlessly, his voice as flat as still water: "Your warning... I received it."

He nodded slightly, his tone utterly indifferent, "This matter concerns survival, it's no child's play. At this moment, I need to... weigh the options." The word "weigh the options" carried a chilling, calculating edge.

After saying that, Shen Mu's gaze turned back to the vortex of destruction without any hesitation.

Their posture remained cold and indifferent, and their defensive array remained as solid as a rock, unchanged in the slightest!
"Shen Mu—!!!" Arian's roar turned into a complete scream, the pain, humiliation and overwhelming resentment contained in his voice almost solidified into a tangible form.

The ash mist surrounding him surged, boiled, and twisted violently like runaway volcanic lava! The two eerie green soul flames in his eye sockets were no longer burning flames at this moment, but ignited infernal explosives!

Suddenly, the light exploded, the intense, ghastly green light, so bright it was impossible to look directly at, was like two small suns, carrying a vicious curse that burned the soul, as if it would instantly ignite Shen Mu's indifferent back and the entire steel barrier!
What was reflected in that light was the hatred accumulated by the dead over a thousand years, and the desperate rage of the legion on the verge of complete annihilation!
But this fury was completely crushed in the next second by the terrifying scene at the center of the battlefield, which was a hundred times worse!
The moment Shen Mu uttered the word "weigh," the will of the abyss seemed to have fully understood his choice of "inaction."

This indulgence pushed the abyss's greed and ferocity to an unprecedented peak! It completely abandoned any vigilance or restraint on the side of the Thorn Barrier defensive array, and poured all the unleashed, even larger and more terrifying power onto the "feast" it had long coveted—the Seventh Dynasty's undead legion!
"Boom—Pfft!!"

The thick, ink-like black mist, this time no longer in the form of waves, collapsed, condensed, and transformed into a colossal, sky-covering abyssal maw! Countless newly formed abyssal wrecks, born from the black mist and even more ferocious and powerful than before, surged out of the maw like locusts, crashing violently against the barely formed, flickering ashes of the ash-covered land with the force of a landslide and tsunami!

A gigantic bite!

Wherever the rolling black mist passed, the skeletal soldiers of the Seventh Dynasty were like withered leaves thrown into a blazing fire!

The ash mist was instantly torn apart and purified, emitting a piercing cracking sound, like billions of broken bones being crushed, and a silent, yet soul-shaking, agonizing scream caused by countless souls being forcibly torn from their skeletons!

The skeleton, which had just been pieced together by necromantic power, instantly crumbled like a cheap clay toy. The faint soul fire within, bearing the divine mark of Anhe, was greedily sucked away by the abyssal black mist as if it were sucking out marrow!
Even the colossal skeletal shadow, despite its frantic swinging of its claws and smashing several of the leading Abyss Corruption Giant Skeleton Gnolls, was immediately swarmed by even more vile skeletons, like maggots clinging to its bones. Their filthy tentacles plunged directly into the gaps in its massive skeleton, savagely tearing and gnawing at the precious bones that made up its body and contained the divine dust of Yenogu!

Death is spreading and collapsing at a terrifying speed visible to the naked eye!
The ash mist was swallowed up in large swathes by the black mist, becoming dim, thin, and even beginning to disintegrate and dissipate.

The last line of the undead army was utterly crushed and annihilated in the face of this one-sided and extremely cruel feast!
Deep within the ancestral tomb, in the area symbolizing the core of the "Shadow of the End," a low, humming sound, brimming with gluttonous satisfaction, emanated, like a blasphemous hymn played by the wails of countless souls.

Its core rhythm is rapidly escalating at a heart-pounding pace. The essential power contained within that pulse, originating from the fragments of divine remains, is accelerating its condensation. A distorted, blasphemous yet overwhelmingly majestic wave is beginning to radiate outwards!
It is growing! It is transforming! Nourished by the filth of the abyss and the essence of the dead, it is frantically marching towards that indescribable state of "pseudo-divine abomination"!
Erien stood at the very edge of the human defense line, watching helplessly as it all unfolded.

He watched as the legion representing the Black Emperor's last foundation was so easily and thoroughly torn apart and devoured; he felt Ankh's power being desecrated and corrupted at the heart of the abyss, as if being thrown alive into a furnace of souls; he heard the silent wails of his former comrades and current kindred spirits being utterly annihilated in the darkness... The ash mist around him completely lost control, swirling wildly like a tattered, ultimately desperate banner in the wind.

His eyes, burning with the fiery heat of a furnace, were fixed on Shen Mu's cold and indifferent back, which remained turned away from him.

There was no roaring, no howling, only an extreme coldness that transcended all words and emotions.

The blazing, pale green soul fire no longer exploded, but instead condensed, solidified, and refined into two poisoned daggers, imbued with the almost tangible resentment and curses of the dead from the depths of the abyss!

The curse and rage contained in that gaze were enough to freeze the blood of the living and send chills down the spines of even the bravest warriors.

The human alliance's cold shield wall transformed into a chilling observation window. Inside, a fortified barrier of flesh and blood stood ready; outside, the remnants of the dead were being swallowed whole by the abyss and marching toward destruction.

And Shen Mu is the most ruthless judge behind this cold observation window—at least, in Ereen's eyes.

"We just need to keep waiting, keep waiting." Shen Mu's eyes were filled with indifference as he looked at the Abyss Corpse Force undergoing changes, showing no emotion whatsoever, only the cold indifference of someone in a superior position. (End of Chapter)