Real Mount and Blade Game

As the skull of the last Abyss Warlord Gnoll exploded under the Judgment Spear of the Holy Tree Knight Calanzo, a cracking sound of bones dislocating suddenly echoed deep within the Ancestral Tomb passageway.

Twelve pseudo-divine abominations, formed from divine remnants and resentment, shattered the rock wall and appeared, their filthy black cores pulsating in their chests, absorbing all the energy left by the dissipation of the End Wolf Shadow.

"Gun formation secured! Light arrows cover coordinates!" Shen Mu's command echoed across the [Tallinn] network.

Just as the foremost, flesh-mountain-like pseudo-god abomination raised its massive, bone-tumor-covered foot, the icy barrage of arrows from the Vaegir Icewind Archers' phalanx swept in.

Arrows imbued with the chilling energy of order pierced the gaps in the bone tumor, the extreme cold and the foul energy clashing and exploding into an ice explosion that blasted its lower limbs to pieces. The moment the monster collapsed to its knees, the Rhodok Heavy Radiant Burst Crossbow completed its charge. "Overload Thunderstorm!" Bandark waved his battle flag, twelve blinding bolts of lightning piercing the darkness—this was the desperate tactic the Rhodok ballistae had developed in dire circumstances. The Mountain of Flesh pseudo-god abomination carbonized and disintegrated in the plasma, at the cost of two ballistae exploding due to overload, their operators impaled in the chest by splattering hot metal.

A sudden storm of violence swept in from the left wing.

The centipede-like pseudo-god tore through the rock wall and stormed into the formation, its hundred-legged limbs sweeping away the entire Swadian squad.

"Kujit, the curse of nomads!" Shen Mu's voice froze time.

Thirty bandits emerged from the shadows, their arrows, imbued with withered runes, piercing the monster's joints.

The limbs struck immediately withered and brittled, and the charging Holy Tree Knights seized the opportunity to hurl their Judgment Spears. As golden light pierced the centipede's skull, Legolas's Emerald Arrow precisely struck its ruptured cranial cavity, and the blood-sucking vines, fueled by the power of nature, shredded its central nervous system.

The real crisis comes from the dome. Flying pseudo-gods with pustules on their backs spray a rain of putrid acid that corrodes shields and melts soldiers into blood.

Swadian heavy infantry hastily raised their shields to form a tortoise-shell formation, their holy runes flashing violently under the acid corrosion.

"Purification Array, Reverse Flow Mode!" Kalanzo roared, his voice thick with bloodlust. At the same time, the Holy Tree Knight plunged his longsword into the ground, golden light patterns surging back along the acidic path like living things, burning against the flow of the pustular pseudo-divine abomination's jet chamber.

As the monster crashed to the ground, its entrails burning, the waiting Rhodok spearmen unleashed "Strangling Spear Barrage," pinning it to the ground like a burning torch with sixteen enchanted spears.

The most dangerous battle took place in the right-wing tunnel. Three multi-legged bone worms, the pseudo-divine abominations, pierced through the rock strata, instantly dismantling the Vaegir archer formation. One of them lunged straight at the command node, its mandibles only ten meters away from Shen Mu.

"Martyrdom Judgment!" Three Holy Tree Knights smashed through the tower shield and charged out, their Judgment Armor bursting forth with dazzling light.

They transformed into humanoid bombs, penetrating the bone worm's abdominal cavity, and the purifying flames exploded the worm's body from the inside out.

The splattered blood evaporated in front of Shen Mu under the holy light barrier automatically generated by the thorny fortress. His cold pupils reflected the vanishing afterimages of the knights—the "mark of martyrs," paid for with their lives, was the Holy Tree Knights' last trump card.

When the Blade-wielding Proto-God was cornered by the Khergit archers' arrow barrage, the Swadian heavy cavalry launched their final charge.

The 30-ton armored formation surged forward, trampling over the corpses of their comrades, their lances tearing through the air with explosive roars.

The forelimbs of the false god Niege were broken like withered branches before the torrent of steel. Horses trampled over the broken carapace, leaving behind a mess of filthy flesh mixed with the embers of holy light.

Shen Mu's right arm slashed forward like a battle axe. The torrent of steel swept over the remains of the false god and surged toward the core of the ancestral tomb, crushing the resurrected bones with every step.

However, the thin shadow of the End Wolf on the dome suddenly collapsed into a black hole, and a thick, asphalt-like primordial black tide erupted from the depths of the ancestral tomb.

This is not a physical attack, but the final manifestation of the rules of the abyss—the Profane Law: Eternal Calamity of the Filthy Veins.

The moment the black mist touched the ground, the earth transformed into a writhing swamp of flesh and blood. The remains of fallen soldiers convulsed and rose, their eye sockets flaring with filthy soul fire; fangs sprouted from the acid-corroded surface of the Swadian shield, biting back at the shield-bearer's arm.

"Hold fast to the walls of your soul!" Caranzo's warning was drowned out by the venomous shrieks of the Black Tide.

Dozens of Rhodok crossbowmen suddenly turned their explosive crossbows towards their comrades, their fingers that had been pulled by the black mist turning into withered bones.

"Rule analysis 86% activated Thorn Garden - Root Erosion!" Shen Mu's ten fingers traced afterimages in the void.

From the base of the thorny barrier, countless luminous roots pierced into the swamp of flesh, golden veins spreading wildly across the filthy earth. Where the roots met the black mist, blinding flashes of light erupted, forcibly transforming the corrupting rules into nothingness—but this purification could not keep pace with the rate of decay.

The three Radiant Ballistae on the left flank were engulfed by resurrected corpses. Before dying, the operators activated the self-destruct program, and a thunderstorm turned the entire area into scorched earth.

The shadow claws that coalesced within the black tide tore at the barrier of holy light.

A skeletal claw made of fragments of regularity broke through the defenses and pierced through Bandak's left shoulder.

Commander Rhodok roared and severed the claws with his sword, but the wound spread out with spiderweb-like black patterns.

“Cut off my arm!” he roared at his adjutant, and finally his entire left arm carbonized and fell off in the holy light.

Even more deadly is the "Painful Resonance"—the despair of the fallen is infused into the minds of the living soldiers through the Black Tide, driving the entire Vegia sniper phalanx into a frenzy, where they begin indiscriminate firing.

"Proceed! Only the destruction of the ancestral tomb's core can end the contamination!" Shen Mu's voice pierced through the soul with a shriek.

The human alliance transformed into lava flowing upstream, scorching a path forward through the filthy tides. The Tree Knights cleared the way with their martyrdom marks, each explosion tearing a brief clearing in the black tide; Khergit archers fired their nomadic cursed arrows at the joints of the resurrected skeletons, slowing their regeneration; Swadian heavy infantry discarded their corroded tower shields, using their flesh and blood to withstand the pressure.

Metal fragments kept peeling off the surface of the thorny barrier, yet it continued to advance under Shen Mu's control. The struggle between the roots at the base of the barrier and the black tide left behind a crystallized mixture of holy and foul matter in the passageway.

When the sharp spikes of the thorny ramparts touched the giant toothed stone gate in the inner courtyard of the ancestral mausoleum, Shen Mu suddenly raised his right fist.

The deafening sounds of battle abruptly ceased, and the torrent of steel froze instantly.

A leaden-gray mist rose from the passageway behind. Within the mist emerged the tattered battle banner of the Seventh Dynasty, and the venomous curse of Aerion before his annihilation echoed in the fog: "Those who break their oaths will be forever damned."

Even more chilling were the gigantic, pale eyes that coalesced in the mist—the manifestation of the final will of the messenger of the dead.

Transparent chains of law extended from the edge of the gray mist, causing the abyssal black tide to retreat with a gentle touch, but also slicing the retreat route of the human alliance into pieces.

“The undead are about to pay the price.” Legolas pointed his Emerald Bow at the gray mist, the bowstring humming taut. The soldiers instinctively tightened their formation, the purifying flames of the Holy Tree Knights flickering erratically under the oppressive force of the gray mist.

The entire battlefield formed a terrifying triangle: in front lay the core of the ancestral tomb, surging with black tides, and behind it was the fog of the dead, blocking any escape route. The human alliance was caught in the middle of this clashing millstone of conflicting rules, like a sacrifice.

Shen Mu stared at the boiling, leaden-gray data stream in the [Tallinn] network. Analysis revealed that the gray fog was weaving the rules of "Return of the Dead," a forbidden necromancy technique powerful enough to annihilate an entire legion.

"Maximum power for the defensive arrays," his order silencing the officers' restlessness, "they're waiting for us to open this door."

Time flowed by in deathly silence. From behind the stone gate of the ancestral tomb came a greedy sucking sound, as the abyss frantically digested and devoured energy.

The giant eye in the gray fog suddenly turned, staring at the foul black light seeping from the cracks in the stone gate.

Just as cracks appeared in the Swadian shield wall due to mental pressure, a shriek far more ferocious than the one directed at humans suddenly erupted from the depths of the gray fog. Countless undead cavalry phantoms materialized in the fog, their skeletal warhorses rearing up and charging towards the ancestral tomb's rocky walls!

Instead of attacking the human defenses, they crashed into the densest part of the black tide at the cost of burning their soul fire.

The rock wall cracked open like a spiderweb upon impact, and the chains of the undead law were driven deep into the fissures.

“They are tearing at the very source of the abyss.” Kalanzo watched in shock as the gray mist swirled and receded, revealing rock layers with gaps gnawed out by the undead.

Before its giant eye dissipated, it turned towards the human alliance one last time. The pupils no longer churned with pure resentment, but with a deeper sorrow—like a trapped beast bound by invisible chains.

Shen Mu raised his hand to suppress the arrows from the Kujit horse archers: "Save your ammunition, the real prey is behind the door."

"The thorny ramparts roared as they rolled through the retreating gray fog, the remaining patterns of order extinguished beneath the tracks."

As the last wisp of gray mist dissipated, the giant gate of the ancestral mausoleum slowly opened under the impact of holy light.

Before the allied forces lay the remains of the jackal god Yenogu, lying atop an endless throne of bones, and pulsating, bloodshot, black cores filled with foul eyes throbbing within the skeletons' chests. Each eyeball reflected the blood-stained thorny ramparts.

The final destination of the Blade of Despair is just around the corner.

The thorny ramparts rolled over the retreating gray fog through the passageway, their tracks leaving fiery red marks on the remaining patterns of order left by the undead.

When the ancestral tomb's massive gate burst open amidst the impact of holy light, what appeared before the human alliance was not the expected vast army—but rather the remains of the jackal god Yenogu, lying across the throne of bones.

The hundred-meter-tall divine remains are embedded in the rock wall in a kneeling position, with a filthy black core full of bloodshot eyes pulsating in its chest cavity, each eye reflecting the blood-stained spikes of the thorny barrier.

"The pollution concentration has exceeded the critical threshold!" Bandak's roar was swallowed by the heartbeat of the black core.

With each pulsation of the ten-meter-diameter sphere, a viscous, asphalt-like substance seeped from the ancestral tomb's rock walls, solidifying upon landing into a jackal tyrant wielding a lava battle axe.

The twelve tyrants roared to the sky at the same time, and their axe blades smashed into the ground, causing a foul earthquake. The Swadian shield wall instantly cracked.

"Sacred Tree End Formation!" Kalanzo's Spear of Judgment pointed directly at the Black Core. Three hundred Sacred Tree Knights simultaneously plunged their longswords into the ground, golden veins surging like living things toward the ankles of the divine remains—this was the "Root Cage" they had created by burning their life force.

Holy light chains suddenly shone from the knees of the divine remains, and the tyrant, who was about to charge, was trapped in a quagmire.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Sharpshooter Vaegir launched the "Frozen Echo Arrow," which had severely injured the Abyss Warlord. The icy arrow pierced the Tyrant's joints and exploded a second time, with the extreme cold energy eroding it in the opposite direction along its energy channels.

The abyss's counterattack was blasphemous.

The three bloodshot eyes on the surface of the black core suddenly turned to the left flank, and the Rhodok ballista position being stared at instantly changed. Fangs grew from the steel crossbow arms, and the operator's hand and trigger fused into a lump of rotting flesh.

"Sever the neural links!" Shen Mu's command echoed across the [Tallinn] network.

At the critical moment, the Khergit scouts hurled lassos wrapped with withered runes, pulling the poisonous spider away from the front lines.

“It is transferring pain.” Legolas’s emerald bowstring hummed.

The Eye of the Elf clearly saw that when the Holy Light Chains burned the knees of the divine remains, the corresponding blood eyes on the surface of the black core oozed foul blood, while the wounds of the human allied soldiers simultaneously festered—this was the manifestation of the rule of "pain refraction".

The moment the purifying roots of the Thorn Barrier touched the Bone Throne, soldiers immediately clutched their chests, knelt down, and vomited black crystals.

Shen Mu's pupils reflected the frantically scrolling data stream of [Talin].

The red and black curves representing the rules of the abyss and the blue dots symbolizing casualties on our side are rapidly merging.

"Martyrdom!" This command brought a knowing smile to the commander of the Holy Tree Knights.

Thirty heavily wounded knights crashed into the spear of judgment, their flesh and blood vaporizing in the golden light into pure purifying power—the ultimate form of the "Mark of the Martyrs"!
The burning phantom of the knight pierced through the tyrant's body, leaving a trail of filth in its wake, tearing a path of pure light through the black tide that led directly to the Bone Throne.

"Now!" Shen Mu's figure disappeared from the command node.

A blinding blue light burst forth from the top of the thorny ramparts, and the entire war machine disintegrated into billions of metal fragments, which, under the control of [Tallinn], carried him like a comet towards the Black Core.

The tentacles of abyssal rules came to strangle him along the way, but were all severed by the golden light flowing on the surface of the fragments.

What Shen Mu held in his hand was no longer a physical weapon, but a spike of rules forged from half the energy of the barrier. The tip of the spear was spinning a fragment of lead-gray order derived from the gray mist of the undead.

When the spear tip was only three meters from the black core, all the bloodshot eyes locked onto Shen Mu simultaneously. Flames of resentment powerful enough to tear the soul gathered in his pupils, and the howl of the End Wolf Shadow materialized into a sonic wave that blasted towards him.

Behind Shen Mu, twelve gnoll tyrants who had broken free from purification were raising their lava battle axes and bringing them down!

The spikes of rules tore through the filthy gale, and the lead-gray fragments of order spinning at the spear tip collided violently with the flames of resentment bursting from the black core's blood-red eyes!

The shockwave from the clash between the two forces of law sent the twelve jackal tyrants flying.

Shen Mu's combat suit shattered in the energy turbulence, revealing spiderweb-like data stream patterns on his exposed skin—a manifestation of the overloaded operation of the [Tallinn] network.

"Pain reflection in effect! Left Wing Third District soldier suffers cardiac failure!" Bandak's roar blared through the communications channel.

Blood seeped from the bloodshot eyes on the surface of the black core, corresponding to the burning locations of the Holy Light Chains, while black mist simultaneously burst from the chest cavities of thirty wounded soldiers on the human front.

Shen Mu's pupils contracted, and [Talin] instantly froze the wounded's vital signs: "Broken chain!"

The medic swung his sword and severed the wounded soldier's contaminated limbs, while Legolas's natural runes sealed the wounds at the same time.

The excruciating pain of sacrifice is transformed into a data stream that injects itself into the thorns of rules, and the fragments of order at the tip of the spear suddenly blaze brightly!
"Sizzle—!" Lead-gray patterns coiled around the black core like venomous snakes. The power of the dead, originating from the messenger of the undead, frantically eroded the filthy structure, causing the black core's pulsating frequency to become disordered.

The final wolf's howl materialized into a sonic blade, slashing towards Shen Mu, only to be disrupted by the microscopic cutting patterns formed from fragments of the thorny barrier. The abyss's final counterattack had arrived—the three-headed, multi-legged bone worm, a pseudo-divine abomination, pierced through the rock strata and launched a surprise attack, its mandibles only half a meter from Shen Mu's back!
The remaining twenty-nine Holy Tree Knights simultaneously detonated the Martyrdom Mark, and the purifying flames bound the bone worms like chains.

Amidst the exploding holy light, Shen Mu's arm muscles shattered inch by inch, and the spike of rules finally wedged into the center of the black core!

"Crack!" A deafening sound, like a glacier splitting open, came from the chest cavity of the divine corpse.

Lead-gray cracks spread across the surface of the filthy sphere, now covered in bloodshot eyes, and the finger bones of Yenogu's remains suddenly twitched violently—the necromantic order's purge of the blasphemous remains was now being detonated through Shen Mu's hand! (End of Chapter)