Chapter 249: The Semi-Divine Reinforcements of the Hall of Valor?
The two players unleashed an extraordinarily high amount of damage.
Unfortunately, they had originally thought they could take down two demons, but their leader's Celestial Stars had just missed its timing, resulting in the damage falling slightly short. The severely injured demons were instantly shielded by their "teammates."
When the two players turned around, they nearly spat blood; their leader was currently drinking a potion to restore energy and hadn't cast any skills.
In the next second, they found themselves surrounded by more than ten demons.
Their expressions turned to despair—this was the end!
But just then, the Celestial Stars returned!
The terrifying impact and Flame controlled all the surrounding demons and provided the two players with massive shields, allowing them to easily withstand the nearest demon's attack as they retreated back into the crowd.
Afterward, a few reckless players attempted to kill the demons, but they were outplayed by Sterl. In such an urgent battle situation, the players didn't question anything; they merely lamented their fate.
Even in their final desperate attempt, they couldn't kill the enemy.
Since that was the case…
The players' spirits gradually waned. They mechanically repeated their skills and drank potions to fend off the demons' assaults, but they all knew they were merely waiting for death.
The rate at which the blood-red energy was being siphoned was accelerating.
The players had begun to feel increasingly weak, even their skill-casting speed had slowed down a bit.
Meanwhile, Sterl pretended to drink potions frantically, maintaining the frequency of Celestial Stars, even increasing it to stabilize the stalemate.
Once the players realized that it didn't matter whether they tried hard or not, they decided to give up.
For a moment, the surroundings appeared to be filled with fierce energy collisions, yet the battle itself had lost all meaning.
Time passed second by second, and the extraction speed of the blood-red light points had gone from a fine drizzle at the start to now resembling falling snow.
Many players could barely stand, and the legendary demons, seeing this, actually halted their assaults, sneering as they stood by, seemingly waiting for the players to be completely refined.
Sterl's Bionic Tear could finally stop its movements.
Earlier, he had feigned drinking potions, but now that all the players had exhausted themselves, if he had to hold up against the onslaught alone, he would truly need to drink potions. The problem was, he had no potions on him…
At that moment, the blood-red energy had thickened into a mist, making everyone feel a sense of suffocation and limited visibility, as if they were trapped in an infernal prison.
The prayers from the Blood Cult seemed to have received a response. Beneath Florence, a blood-colored light flashed, blasting open a massive opening in the ground!
It seemed as though something was about to be born.
But in the next instant!
A towering beam of light pierced through the crimson barrier!
Everyone couldn't help but turn to look, only to discover that it was the king, who had previously been captured by the princess, making his way to the edge of the battlefield. He held in his hand something resembling a signal flare.
It was he who had released that beam of light.
"Ancestors, grant us your protection!" the king shouted loudly.
"May the glory of the Hall of Valor be with us!"
At that moment, some players recognized what the king held in his hands…
It was a rescue item granted by the Hall of Valor, capable of summoning a semi-divine being!
Instantly, the expressions of the players shifted from despair to exhilaration, as if they had come back to life.
Indeed, the Hall of Valor's most loyal family had deep roots!
Naturally, the members of the Blood Cult looked somewhat grim. However, they had reached the most critical juncture and chose to ignore the beam of light, continuing their prayers.
Within the hollow space blasted open beneath Florence, a mysterious power was gathering. The sky rumbled with thunder, as if the entire world was fiercely resisting whatever was about to descend.
The players felt a terrifying presence on the verge of arrival, trembling uncontrollably.
Thud, thud, thud! Thud, thud, thud!
They felt their hearts racing faster than ever, with such high blood pressure that they nearly burst their veins. Meanwhile, the members of the Blood Cult, as if basking in sunlight, opened their arms and cried out joyfully to the sky, "Our Lord! We can feel your Divine Power!"
"Thank you for your blessing!"
At that moment, neither the members of the Blood Cult nor the players could see what was truly being nurtured beneath Florence.
Only Sterl, in his true form, stood coldly in a corner of the blasted underground world's rock wall.
He saw countless streams of blood overflowing from the rifts in space, forming a small underground lake.
Then, chunks of flesh began to wildly squeeze out from within. With each piece that emerged, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky!
The protective shield formed by the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array was beyond the players' ability to shake, yet this remarkably powerful divine formation began to show signs of damage under the thunderous strikes!
At the same time, the rifts in space continued to tremble, tearing away chunks of flesh from the masses.
Sterl could even sense the Divine Power contained within those pieces of flesh. If he were to step forward and seize them now, he could potentially replenish a significant amount of Divine Power to store in his divine authority.
But he remained motionless.
Exposing a bit of Divine Power at this moment would be nothing short of madness.
"So this is the price of going against the heavens," Sterl thought, unable to suppress a sigh as he observed the scene before him.
Initially, he had considered the Archduke of Blood, who devised such a bug-exploiting operation, to be a genius. Now, however, he realized that he was not a genius but a reckless fool.
Because once this bug-exploiting formation was born, it would face the relentless squeezing from both worlds.
The main world of [Transcendence] unleashed its thunder for punishment, while the stable rifts in the underworld grew unstable, forcing the Archduke of Blood to endure immense suffering just to transfer his bodily organization over.
"Fortunately, I didn't hastily change my target for refining; otherwise, I might have become the target myself," Sterl thought, feeling a twinge of fear.
He was relieved he hadn't rushed, planning to wait until the last moment. If he had been targeted by the thunder from [Transcendence], he would have been reduced to ashes!
What a disaster!
But now…
Sterl sensed that the targeting of the two worlds, even if it was aimed at him, was a test. If the Archduke of Blood could endure it successfully, he would gain the qualification to exploit the bug.
And this qualification would belong not only to the Archduke of Blood but also to the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array, and to the Blood Sacrifice Array under Sterl's control!
Therefore, Sterl couldn't help but shout in his heart at this moment.
"Come on, demon who wants to exploit the bug! You are the best! Do not be defeated by hell, do not be obliterated by the thunder!"
As Sterl was lost in thought, his pupils suddenly constricted. It seemed that after paying an extremely heavy price, countless pieces of flesh erupted, and from within them, a single…
At the same time, at the location of the royal palace, numerous legendary demons stood on high alert.
But in the next second,
Boom!!
A terrifying chill descended from the sky, accompanied by the rift torn open by the soaring beam of light, revealing a figure clad in dazzling ice armor.
"Supreme Ice Lord, Frederic??"
A player called out the name of the semi-divine being.
He was the strongest among those beneath the supreme deities!
The arrival of such a figure filled the players with excitement!
They felt a surge of hope—no, they should say that with this semi-divine's strength, he could easily suppress all the legendary demons, and even if he couldn't destroy the array, he should be able to lead the players to safety with ease.
"Supreme Lord, this is a god-level formation. Can you break it? If not, you must take us away!"
"Supreme Lord…"
The players shouted one after another.
The Supreme Ice Lord surveyed the situation around him and felt it was quite tricky.
A god-level formation…
It was precisely because he was called the foremost being beneath the gods that he recognized just how vast the gap was between himself and the divine.
Frederic had initially planned to showcase his prowess as a semi-divine being by crushing everything in his path, but now he couldn't afford to think about that any longer. He raised his hand, ready to take the players of the Hall of Valor and the king of House of Radiance to safety.
Meanwhile, members of the Blood Cult, crazed with fervor, launched themselves at the semi-divine being without hesitation. The demons dared not engage with Frederic, but the fanatical cultists, undeterred, unleashed streams of blood-colored light shooting into the sky.
In that moment, the players looked on with disdain; these zealots were truly seeking death.
The Pope of the Blood Cult wore a helpless expression. She had never imagined that House of Radiance had such a trump card!
If the formation lost the king, its most crucial bloodline, it could very well fail.
The success of the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array wasn't guaranteed; it required a massive amount to offset the probabilities.
"My Lord…"
The Pope knelt on the ground, her eyes clouded with despair.
If she weren't required to oversee the array's continued refinement, hoping that the Archduke of Blood might get lucky and obtain the Radiance bloodline, she would have wished to end her own life in atonement.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
However, in just half a second, or rather, in the blink of an eye, before anyone realized what was happening…
Boom!!
The so-called strongest being beneath the gods, the Supreme Ice Lord, exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
He was left without a complete corpse.
Though he may have had some life-saving items, none were used before he was simply gone!
Instantly, the expressions of the players and the king turned from relief to shock, freezing in place.
At the same time, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, utilizing the gap in the crimson barrier that had been previously breached.
Boom!!
The thunder roared!
It struck fear into everyone's hearts!
The flashing light of the lightning mirrored the players' expressions, each one bewildered, stunned, and…
Desperate!
Previously, they had felt numb but still fought and resisted the onslaught of the demons. But now, they had completely given up!
Their fighting spirit vanished!
One by one, they collapsed to the ground, powerless.
Meanwhile, many of the Blood Cult's followers hadn't even reacted yet. Before they could shift their expressions to joy, they noticed something slowly drifting towards them from a distance…