Strip me of my armor? I'll summon the Emperor in a flash!

Chapter 11 Battle Against the Shadow Guardian

The grotesque laughter, like a rusty knife scraping bone, echoed through the cave, its chilling tone carrying a sinister malice.

The sound seemed to come from the deepest hell, each syllable creating a viscous echo on the rock wall, causing the stalactites on the cave ceiling to tremble.

Thick, almost tangible shadow power suddenly erupted, crimson veins churning within the black mist, like thousands of venomous snakes coiling and bursting through the cave.

The sunlight outside was instantly polluted, and the vegetation within a radius of hundreds of feet withered and died at a visible speed. Even the surface of the rocks was covered with spider web-like corrosion marks.

"Even a centipede dies but does not fall down!" Li Yan's pupils shrank suddenly, and he gripped the Dark Aurora Sword tightly in his hand.

He lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his figure transformed into a blur, instantly teleporting several feet away.

The ground where they had stood had been corroded by shadows, leaving sizzling, charred pits.

"Ding! Suppress and kill the Shadow Guardian!"

Reward: Dark Ultimate Emperor progress 20%

"Although I don't know how you vile creatures escaped extermination," Li Yan flicked his wrist, the Dark Aurora Sword humming as it traced a ghostly blue arc of light, "today I will ensure your complete annihilation, body and soul!"

Within the churning black mist, five twisted figures gradually solidified. The fiery head resembled burning charcoal, with bluish-purple ghost flames flickering between the cracks;

The foul water flowed continuously with a tar-like viscous liquid, corroding the ground and producing plumes of white smoke.

"Hehehe," the fiery man's jawline stretched exaggeratedly to his ears, sparks flying with his laughter. "You think you can rest easy after killing us a few times? In this game of chess—"

He suddenly launched an attack, his bone claws tearing five bloody streaks, shouting, "You're not even a pawn!"

Li Yan dodged the attack by sidestepping, and the sword blade collided with the bone claw, sparking dazzling flames.

Taking advantage of the moment, the treacherous water extended its tentacle-like arms from the shadows, its viscous venom trailing spiderwebs in the air: "Submit to the Emperor, and I will grant you your favor!"

A flash of cold light, and half of a black arm fell to the ground.

Li Yan's sword momentum didn't stop; he unleashed a crescent-shaped sword aura: "Shut up!" The severed arm twitched wildly on the ground, turning into a pool of boiling black water.

Suddenly, the evil tree burst forth from the ground, its withered, branch-like fingers aimed straight for his back.

Li Yan turned around and used his left hand to block the evil tree's sneak attack with the Dark Aurora Shield.

"You guys are really, really annoying!"

Li Yan suddenly swung his sword in their direction.

Its body soared into the sky, heading towards the outside world.

"Jie Jie Jie!"

The Shadow Guardian followed closely behind.

……

ERP Research Institute
The piercing alarm shattered the silence of the research lab, and the scarlet warning lights spun wildly on the ceiling, turning the entire space blood red.

The data stream on the computer screen suddenly became erratic, several warning windows popped up one after another, and glaring red exclamation marks kept flashing.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Meizhen's fingers hovered above the keyboard, and her pupils suddenly contracted.

She knew that sound all too well—it was the highest-level alarm that the satellite monitoring system had detected a high-energy response.

She quickly brought up the holographic projection, her fingertips flying across the virtual keyboard, a series of codes scrolling across the screen like a waterfall.

“This is impossible.” Her voice trembled slightly as she stared at the monitoring footage that suddenly appeared on the main screen.

In the video, two blurry black shadows are colliding at supersonic speeds at an altitude of 10,000 meters, and each contact causes visible spatial distortion.

Her pale face was reflected in the metal surface of the control panel. The alarm blared more and more urgently, like some kind of ominous countdown.

"Mijin! What happened?"

Dongshan's voice came from behind.

He strode closer, his combat uniform collar still damp with sweat, clearly indicating he had just come from the training room.

Surprisingly, his arm, which was originally severely injured and not yet healed, is now moving freely, and the muscle lines are even more defined than before the injury.

His eyes gleamed with a sharp light, and his whole being radiated vibrant vitality.

"See for yourself." Meizhen's voice was a little hoarse as she tapped the control panel, zooming in on the satellite image. "But...is your body really fully recovered?"

Dongshan stretched his shoulders, his joints making a crisp sound: "The headquarters' nano-repair agent is amazing. Not only have the injuries healed..."

He suddenly clenched his fist, the air crackling between his fingers. "I feel like my physical abilities are at least three times better than before."

"That's good." Mei Zhen breathed a slight sigh of relief, but her gaze quickly returned to the screen. "Xin Nan and Bei Miao's recovery progress has also exceeded expectations. As for the Wind Eagle Armor..."

She paused, then continued, "The energy adapter being developed by headquarters has entered its final testing phase. You'll be able to summon it again soon."

The image on the screen suddenly shook violently, and the two dark figures collided again, the shockwaves even interfering with the satellite signals.

Dongshan squinted, trying to make out what it was: "This is...fighting in the sky? Who can fight at that height?"

"Not human." Mei Zhen pulled up the energy analysis chart; the peak values ​​on the chart had already exceeded the monitoring limit. "Based on the energy characteristics analysis, one of them is Li Yan's Dark Emperor Armor, but the other..."

Her voice suddenly turned serious. "The energy readings are completely inconsistent with the mutant beasts we've recorded before, yet they exhibit similar fluctuation frequencies."

The control room suddenly fell into dead silence, with only the piercing sound of the alarm continuing to blare.

The two of them looked up at the screen simultaneously, staring at the two dark shadows tearing through the clouds, a sense of foreboding creeping into their hearts.

Meizhen's fingers flew across the control panel, slowing down the playback speed of the satellite surveillance to one percent of its original speed.

The initially blurry image gradually became clear, and the high-speed moving afterimage finally revealed its true form.

“These are not two people at all!” Dongshan’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, his voice dry as if sandpaper was being rubbed.

His pupils reflected the split image on the screen—around that aloof black figure, five twisted and writhing black shadows were swirling.

The five shadows, like viscous asphalt, constantly merged and separated, sometimes coalescing into human form, and sometimes transforming into a sky full of black mist.

In the surveillance footage, Li Yan's Dark Aurora Sword drew a dark blue arc, and wherever the sword light passed, tiny cracks appeared in the space.

The five Shadow Guardians were cut in half at the waist by this sword, but their broken bodies wriggled and reassembled as if they were alive.

As the fiery head reformed, it emitted a piercing shriek, its flame-formed features twisting into bizarre shapes.

"One against five," Mei Zhen's fingernails dug unconsciously into her palms, "and his energy readings are still climbing."

On the monitoring screen, the curve representing Li Yan's combat power has broken through the historical peak and is still rising.

Dongshan's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his knuckles turning white from the force. His gaze was fixed on the black figure, his eyes churning with complex emotions—anger, resentment, and a hint of fear that even he himself was unwilling to admit.

The humiliation of having his Wind Eagle Armor stolen surged back into his mind, and the image of Li Yan casually taking the Wood Shadow Stone that night flashed through his mind.

"What...what kind of monster is this?" His voice was so low it was almost squeezed out between his teeth.

Just then, the screen on the right side of the main control panel suddenly lit up, and a middle-aged man appeared on the screen.

The laboratory behind him was filled with sophisticated instruments, and several people in white coats were busy operating various instruments.

“Dr. Garu!” Dongshan recognized the figure as it appeared.

“They are the Shadow Guardians,” Dr. Garu’s voice came through the speaker, carrying his characteristic composure. “The Shadow Guardians sealed away by the Imperial Armor thousands of years ago.”

Meizhen turned around abruptly: "Brother? What are you doing—"

“I was notified when the satellite alert was triggered.” Dr. Garru adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting the cold glint of the screen. “Worse still, according to the energy spectrum analysis…”

He pulled up a set of fluctuation curves, "These shadow guardians seem to be immortal!"

Dongshan's breath hitched: "Immortal and indestructible?!"

Dr. Garru frowned deeply, his gaze behind his glasses fixed on the illogical battle on the screen.

The satellite footage was still playing in slow motion. Li Yan's Dark Emperor Armor was still handling the attack from the five black figures with ease. Every sword strike was accompanied by energy fluctuations that seemed to cause the space to tremble.

"This is impossible!" Dongshan's voice was filled with undisguised shock. "They were clearly shattered so many times, how could they still reassemble?!"

Dr. Garrut took a deep breath and rapidly tapped his fingers on the virtual keyboard to bring up the energy analysis graph.

The data stream on the screen flickered wildly, eventually settling on a set of bizarre waveforms.

“On the surface, that’s certainly true.” His voice was low and solemn. “As you’ve seen, Li Yan’s armor has torn the Shadow Guardians apart with every attack, but their energy core has never dissipated.”

He pointed to the constantly flickering black dots on the waveform graph, "These Shadow Guardians are not physical entities, but pure energy aggregates. As long as their core remains intact, they can infinitely regenerate."

"Immortal and indestructible?" Mei Zhen's fingertips trembled slightly, and she subconsciously bit her lower lip. "Doesn't that mean they can't be completely destroyed?"

“Theoretically, yes.” Dr. Garru adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting the cold light of the screen. “Unless… we can find a way to destroy their energy core.”

His gaze returned to the battle scene, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

Li Yan's Dark Emperor Armor remained as steady as Mount Tai despite the siege of the five black figures, and every swing of his sword carried an overwhelming and destructive force.

The surface of the jet-black armor was covered with flowing, eerie blue energy patterns, as if some ancient runes were breathing.

"I must say, this armor is truly powerful." A rare hint of admiration flickered in Dr. Garu's voice. "If we could study it, perhaps we could decipher even more powerful armor technology."

"Brother!" Meizhen looked up abruptly, a hint of wariness flashing in her eyes. "That's Li Yan's armor! He's..."

“I know,” Dr. Garrut interrupted her, raising his hand calmly, “but science should never be bound by stance. This armor is almost identical to the Imperial Armor we’ve been studying, but the data on the Imperial Armor is far too limited.”

He tapped the screen with his fingertip, bringing up a set of comparison images.

On the left is a blurry image of the Emperor Armor they had previously recorded, and on the right is Li Yan's Dark Emperor Armor.

Despite their contrasting colors, their structures and energy processes are strikingly similar.

“If we could analyze the composition of this armor,” Dr. Garu’s voice gradually lowered, as if he were talking to himself, “perhaps we could find the true way to fight the Shadow Guardians.”

Dongshan clenched his fist even tighter, his knuckles turning white from the force.

His gaze was fixed on Li Yan on the screen, his eyes burning with complex emotions—anger, resentment, and even a hint of indescribable jealousy.

“Doctor,” he spoke slowly, his voice hoarse, “if this armor is truly that powerful, then why…is Li Yan still unable to completely eliminate them?”

Dr. Garrut paused for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

……

"Give up!" The evil metal's head, formed from black energy, twisted and deformed in the void, its crimson eyes flashing with bloodlust. "You can't kill us!"

Li Yan remained silent as an abyss, the Dark Aurora Sword humming and trembling in his hand.

Where the sword's edge sliced ​​through, space was torn apart with fine black cracks.

He flashed forward, his sword light like a waterfall, instantly splitting the evil fire into two churning purple flames.

"Even the Emperor's Armor of yesteryear couldn't kill us," the scattered flames reformed a hundred meters away, their fiery forms twisting into a terrifying ghastly face, "let alone a mere imposter like you?!"

Five dark figures darted through the clouds, each attack carrying corrosive shadow energy.

Suddenly, the tentacles of the foul water burst forth from the shadows beneath Li Yan's feet, and the viscous black liquid condensed into countless poisonous needles in the air.

Almost simultaneously, the branches of the evil tree coiled around from all directions, each withered branch covered with sharp thorns.

"Judgment - Dark Dragon Slash!"

Li Yan suddenly sheathed his sword and stood still, the dark blue patterns on his armor suddenly lighting up.

A colossal dragon composed of pure dark energy materialized behind him, its scales crackling with chaotic, purplish-black arcs of electricity.

As the dragon swung its tail, the clouds within a kilometer radius were instantly cleared, and the space cracked like a spiderweb in the glass.

"roar--"

The dark dragon let out a roar that could shatter mountains, and charged toward the five guardians with an aura that could annihilate everything.

The metal barrier hastily erected by the evil metal vaporized in the dragon's breath, and the flames that the evil fire tried to escape into the void were torn apart by the dragon's claws.

This time, the scattered shadow power did not reassemble as usual, but instead dissipated into specks of black light between heaven and earth.

Only a small portion of the shadow power remained, and the evil fire was reconstructed.

However, the aura of malevolent fire was visibly much weaker than before.

"How is this possible?!" The evil metal barely managed to condense half a body, its surface covered with corroded holes.

To his horror, he discovered that the energy devoured by the dark dragon had completely severed its connection with its original body—something that had never happened in a thousand years.

A trembling voice echoed in the mental link: "He...he's devouring our very essence!"

"Our essence has diminished!"

"Quickly, go and invite the Great Emperor!"

"Only the Great Emperor can defeat him!"

(End of this chapter)