CH 124

"Is the fire out?"

Both of them were startled at the same time, but in the next moment, the fire quickly returned, dispelling the shadows and their panic.

"The Fire Protection Ritual!"

Beowood suddenly realized.

"Let's go to the Fire Protection Ritual!"

The two of them quickly ran towards the center of the fortress, with the wooden puppet following behind them.

On the way there, the fire went out several times, as if someone was pulling a curtain, but it quickly lit up again.

The fighting personnel also gathered from all directions, and their hearts calmed down when there were more people.

The group quickly arrived at the central hall on the third floor of the fortress, where powerful spiritual fluctuations accompanied by dazzling flashes and booming sounds were emanating from.

There was a fierce battle going on in the hall.

From a distance, Rode saw many white evil spirits and many familiar soul waveforms, including Steel Hand, Black Fish, Dark Leaf, Bach, Mole, and others.

The room of the Fire Protection Ritual was completely shrouded in a layer of orange mist, and some evil spirits were frantically attacking it.

Suddenly, Rode saw a huge presence, its soul floating invisibly, like a large shadow pervading the space, shrinking towards the Fire Protection Ritual, enveloped in the yellow mist.

In an instant, the fire dimmed again, and shadows covered the world. The evil spirits became extremely fierce, and everyone except Steel Hand huddled together, leaving only him standing motionless in the midst of the evil spirit encirclement.

When Rode rushed into the hall, a new force had already engaged in battle with the evil spirits.

A bright moonlight arrow flew past his eyes, hitting the shadowy mass and shooting it down from the room of the Fire Protection Ritual.

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"The Eternal God Emperor"

The fire once again illuminated the fortress.

Mole shouted loudly, "Eliminate the giant evil spirits first! The power of the fire is diminishing!"

Steel Hand shouted, "I'll hold them off! Black Fish, Raisin, assist me!"

Rode sensed the Justice Star, which was still dim. The skill "Justice Execution" could only be used once every two days, and it was not yet time.

Without the "Spiritual Quartet", Rode couldn't inflict damage on strong monsters.

He saw a large number of fighting personnel rushing towards the giant evil spirits, so he turned around to intercept the evil spirits.

These "fallen evil spirits" were much stronger than Rode. They were accustomed to using sneak attacks, always attacking from underground, above, or behind.

But Raisin and Black Fish, who were at the forefront, had the "Bulwark" attribute, and their backs were the strongest. As long as they protected their feet and heads with spiritual energy, they would be fine.

Steel Hand's attribute was "Steelized Spiritual Energy", and his spiritual defense was very strong. He alone held back a large number of evil spirits.

And Rode had the Soul Eye. Once he knew their methods, he would never be attacked again.

And there was the wooden puppet.

It was a natural nemesis of evil spirits. The wooden branches on its body could absorb spiritual bodies. Once an evil spirit was entangled by it, it could never escape. Rode took the opportunity to shoot at close range, creating an opening, and then followed up with a "Spiritual Energy Critical Strike" to eliminate it.

Rode gradually ate away at the battlefield from the edge.

But the situation on the main battlefield was extremely bad. There were too many evil spirits, and a large number of them almost overwhelmed Steel Hand and the others, spreading towards the rear and severely affecting their main attack point, Bach.

Rode had a thought. He remembered that he still had many soul ashes on him, which might be effective.

He took out a piece of "Brain-Eating Demon's Soul Ashes", infused it with spiritual energy, and threw it into the group of evil spirits.

Accompanied by a burst of light, a gray-white giant brain appeared in the midst of the evil spirits, with many organ-like intestines spreading out from the lower part of the brain.

Dark Leaf exclaimed, "Brain-Eating Demon? How did it appear here?"

Mole was even more shocked, "Brain-Eating Demons are also semi-spiritual realm creatures, just like evil spirits, but their attributes conflict with each other! It's impossible for them to appear in the same area!"

Before he finished speaking, the Brain-Eating Demon began to fiercely attack the evil spirits. Its intestines flew in the sky, entangling and attempting to swallow any evil spirit it encountered.

The evil spirits were provoked and turned to attack the Brain-Eating Demon.

A battle between humans and monsters, and monsters against monsters, unfolded before their eyes.

Dark Leaf exclaimed with joy, "Great! Quickly, focus on attacking and eliminate the giant evil spirits!"

Mole's eyes were filled with confusion, "Is there such a thing?"

"Mole, forget about it! Let's eliminate the giant evil spirits first!"

Everyone fiercely attacked the giant evil spirits. It seemed that they had no offensive power and were just floating around the Fire Protection Ritual, seemingly looking for an opportunity, but their souls were extremely tenacious and couldn't be eliminated in a short time.

The Brain-Eating Demon's frenzy-like attack didn't last long and was soon cut into pieces by the evil spirits.

Seeing that they were about to pounce again, Rode took out another "Brain-Eating Demon's Soul Ashes" and threw it.

The moment it appeared, Rode sensed its presence in his mind."Another Brain-Eating Demon!"

An Ye exclaimed, "Everyone, attack with all your might! This is the best opportunity!"

"Why are there more?" Mole couldn't believe it. "Did it float over from the Spirit Realm? Why did it come here specifically?"

"Never mind, Teacher Mole!"

The second Brain-Eating Demon didn't last long either. The evil spirits seemed to be extremely angry at the presence of the Brain-Eating Demon. They not only tore it into pieces but also devoured its remains.

Rode simply threw the remaining six soul ashes out.

When the six Brain-Eating Demons appeared on the battlefield, all the evil spirits seemed to be stimulated and flew over to besiege them.

An Ye laughed and said, "This is the blessing of fire! Everyone, attack quickly!"

Mole's prosthetic eye popped out of its socket. "Did the evil spirits poke the Brain-Eating Demon's nest before they came?"

"Teacher Mole, kill the evil spirits!"

The six Brain-Eating Demons persisted for a long time but were eventually torn into pieces and devoured by the evil spirits.

Suddenly, Rode had a flash of inspiration. He remembered that he still had a piece of "Contaminated Brain-Eating Demon's Soul Ash" made from a contaminated Sunstone.

What would happen if these evil spirits ate the contaminated monster?

Would it become even more powerful, adding to the contamination?

Or would it become chaotic like the summoned monsters?

Rode decided to take action. He took out the contaminated soul ash and threw it into the group of monsters.

The moment this giant brain appeared, it began to attack all nearby spirits frantically. Its connection with Rode's mind became chaotic and filled with meaningless screams.

Its violent attacks were met with even more violent counterattacks. After the evil spirits finished feasting on the giant brain, they also became abnormal.

Their pale spirits were stained with a feces-like yellow color. They became extremely unstable and repelled each other. They wandered aimlessly in the air for a while before suddenly starting to kill each other.

Countless sickles were raised against the same spirits, reaping each other.

Soon, the shattered spirits filled the hall. Illuminated by the fire, pale flames ignited and turned into ashes.

The pressure on their side greatly decreased. An Ye laughed so hard that his jaw dislocated, but he didn't forget to strike a heavy blow against the giant evil spirit.

Finally, after Bach's Moonlight Giant Arrow hit again, a flaw appeared on the giant evil spirit's spirit body.

Rode, who had been waiting on the side, immediately used "Soul Strike."

His semi-spiritualized right hand touched the spirit strings of the giant evil spirit and skillfully grabbed them.

However, when Rode pulled outward, he felt a powerful recoil from the spirit strings.

Rode was shocked.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. He immediately activated all his spiritual power and pulled outward, but the recoil became even stronger.

"Soul Strike" had a time limit. After five seconds, his semi-spiritualized right hand would turn into a physical form and be expelled.

In a desperate situation, Rode shouted, "Karamon, strengthen me!"

Karamon, who had been by Bach's side, was taken aback. "Is your Spiritual Cannon ready? I remember it still had half a day left."

"Give it to him," Bach said calmly but firmly.

Without hesitation, Karamon raised his hand, and a white light fell on Rode.

In an instant, Rode felt his spiritual power boiling, and a powerful force came from the depths of his soul. He forcefully broke the spirit strings and pulled out his right hand.

Buzz!

It felt like something had broken in the void. The body of the giant evil spirit stiffened, and then collapsed like a deflated jellyfish.

Countless light gases rose from its body, engulfing the entire hall.

A huge black line entered Rode's body.

[Soul of the Soulless +10050]

Rode's smile immediately disappeared.

What's going on?

I clearly killed it with "Soul Strike," so why is there no soul?

As the light gases descended, a loud cheer rang in his ears. He felt like he was being hugged by countless people, and excited voices echoed in his ears.

But Rode didn't pay attention. He felt that something was wrong.

And this sense of wrongness was also noticed by Steel Hand, Bach, An Ye, Mole, and others.

---

After cleaning up the battlefield, the fortress quickly returned to order.

Fortunately, there were no large waves of monsters during this time, or else things would have been disastrous.

Steel Hand called a meeting in the command room, and all combat personnel who were not on duty attended.

He first reported the losses.

This unexpected attack by the evil spirits resulted in the deaths of nineteen people, including six combat personnel and thirteen logistics personnel.

This battle happened very unexpectedly. The evil spirits that suddenly appeared from the Spirit Realm first attacked the spiritual energy generator located in the basement. However, Mina reacted quickly and immediately activated the inner layer of spiritual energy protection.

Although the spiritual energy generator suffered significant energy loss, it did not sustain fatal damage.The evil spirit then turned its attention to the Fire Guardian Ritual site, and Mole promptly activated the defensive shell of the Guardian Flame.

However, the subsequent appearance of a giant evil spirit caused significant damage to the fire, severely weakening its power and reducing the range of the field to within two hundred yards.

"I strongly suspect that this attack was deliberate."

Steelhand said solemnly.

"The attack of the evil spirit was too targeted. Normal monster groups couldn't possibly act so precisely."

Blackfish asked curiously, "Can anyone control monsters?"

Darkleaf replied, "Complete control is impossible. Monsters will corrupt your spirit, consume your sanity, and ultimately lead you to madness and death."

Steelhand glanced at him, "How do you know so much?"

Darkleaf coughed, "Calil's Voice of the Non-Human has conducted similar experiments."

Rode was taken aback. Could it be the case with soul ashes or wooden puppets?

Fortunately, someone asked the question he had in mind, "Is Rode's wooden puppet a monster?"

The wooden puppet stood nearby, having already been inspected.

Steelhand shook his head, "This is not a monster, but a man-made construct. However, I've never seen this model of Rode's before. It's unexpectedly strong. Which master created it?"

Rode touched his nose and replied, "It was a gift from a friend."

"That must be a very good friend. Such constructs are very expensive, almost impossible to use on the battlefield, and can only serve as personal protection."

Rode could only nod, "A very good friend indeed."

At this moment, Mole walked in with Mina and Annabel, his face grim, and said:

"We've checked all the traces. It's definitely man-made. Someone brought a rotten substance that can attract evil spirits and threw it into the basement and near the Fire Guardian Ritual site, attracting a large number of evil spirits."

Whoosh—

Everyone stood up, the warriors of Sword Pass were filled with rage.

Many drew their weapons, looking around, trying to find the traitor.

"Don't rush." Mole said solemnly, "There's worse news. Near us, probably on the Corpse Wasteland, there's a powerful evil spirit overlord. It controls all the souls of the evil spirits. The giant evil spirit is one of its shells. I found an abnormal signal in the spirit world. This is its mark. It has remembered us. For a long time to come, it will drive the evil spirits to attack us."

Everyone's heart sank into an icy pit.

They barely survived this attack thanks to the sudden appearance of the Brain Eater.

If the evil spirits hadn't suddenly gone mad and started killing each other, their losses would have been much greater.

And this nightmare was to come again?

Blackfish said blankly, "Didn't we kill all the evil spirits?"

Mole shook his head, "The active evil spirits on the Corpse Wasteland are just a small part. There are more evil spirits sleeping in the unseen depths. This is where the Twilight Legion of the Third Age was defeated, countless warriors were buried here, hence it's called the Corpse Wasteland. The evil spirits are their lingering resentful souls."

Steelhand asked the question on everyone's mind, "What do we do?"

Mole was silent for a moment before answering, "Three methods."

"First, passive defense, fully prepared to meet the attack."

"Second, take the initiative to attack and kill the awakened evil spirit overlord."

"And the last one."

He paused before continuing:

"Request for reinforcements."