Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener-Chapter 794: Secret Rune Resonance! The Terror of the Legion!

Beneath the Elven Ancient Tree, this ancient tree, which had stood for who knew how many years, had lost all vitality due to the upheaval caused by the Ancient Tree of the Abyssal Prison's rebellion. Now, it had become nothing more than a living specimen.

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This was the Elven Ancient Tree's true purpose, or rather, in the eyes of the Dream Spirit Empire's high command, it was merely a tool for monitoring the state of the Abyssal Prison.

Under the canopy, Sterl stood with his sword drawn, surrounded by an impenetrable force of heavily armored soldiers. Above him, the spinning meat grinder, like a death bell, drew nearer with each passing second.

Amidst the encirclement of the army, Sterl's figure appeared incredibly small, like a drop in the vast ocean, a tiny ripple that could easily be drowned.

Yet, at this moment, he slowly raised the Sword of the World, his aura becoming sharper and heavier.

'Overlord Sword · Chā!'

His eyes narrowed, and the Sword of the World gleamed with a faint red light. In an instant, a sword mark appeared above his head.

All the crossbow bolts flying toward him were enveloped by this sword mark, which seemed like a ravenous beast devouring them, reducing them to nothing but dust.

Sterl shook his slightly numb arm, and his reddened eyes turned toward the massive army awaiting him in the distance.

He did not immediately use the Dream Orb to leave; instead, he raised his heavy sword and charged toward the wall-like formation of heavily armored soldiers!

Even if he were to retreat now, he would inevitably have to battle the Dream Spirit Empire one day. Why not take this opportunity to personally experience just how powerful this world's military force truly was?

He exploded into full speed, instantly disappearing from his position as though he had teleported, and appeared at the front of the legion, right in front of the heavily armored soldiers holding shields.

He raised his foot, and a fierce wind pressure surged from behind him. Then, with a single powerful kick, he propelled himself forward!

The soldier in front of him seemed to sense something, and the green secret runes on his chest activated to their maximum. He let out a low growl.

The power of the runes spread across his shield and his feet, as if taking root, embedding themselves deep into the earth!

Boom!!

With a kick to the shield, a faint recoil spread through the shield, but Sterl easily absorbed it. On the other hand, the soldier's body disintegrated into a mist of blood, and the shattered shield, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, flew out in all directions.

The scattered fragments had immense power, and with a single flash, they pierced through the bodies of dozens of soldiers.

"Kill!"

"Monster! Die!"

This brutal kick not only failed to shake the courage of the soldiers but instead ignited their fury.

A soldier gathered the power of the secret runes, his spear glowing green as the runic power seeped into it. He thrust the spear forward with all his strength.

With a loud bang, the spear struck Sterl's Starry Battle Armor, but the resilient armor easily absorbed the blow, leaving no mark on him. However, the spot where the spear had struck now had a clear, visible dent.

Sterl raised his hand, slashing with the Sword of the World. The sword's incredible sharpness and durability easily cleaved the soldier in half, along with his spear.

After testing the general strength of these soldiers, Sterl was even more certain of their capabilities.

These ordinary soldiers not only reached the divine tier in terms of rank, but their killing power was extremely formidable. It was somewhat similar to the combat system of the Nightmare Overlord—they didn't wield flashy abilities, but each strike was deadly. They were purely focused on combat, with all their power condensed into the runes and techniques they had mastered.

If these soldiers were to face a [Transcendence] divine of the same tier 1v1, they could easily overwhelm them.

However, in terms of versatility, the [Transcendence] gods would likely come out on top.

After testing their general power, Sterl's aura grew even heavier. The slaughter was officially beginning!

With each swing of his great sword, he unleashed a relentless, overwhelming force.

Especially with the added effect of Swordsmanship Grandmaster Lv10's derivative ability, his slashes now carried the effect of light overbearing physique, enhancing his strike power by one tier. These soldiers were cut down as if they were mere vegetables being sliced.

'Overlord Sword · Chā!'

Another sweeping slash, and the heavily armored soldiers surrounding him were cleaved in two, falling to the ground dead.

But as soon as these soldiers died, more soldiers quickly surrounded him.

These soldiers seemed incredibly experienced in encircling and eliminating enemies with strong individual combat abilities.

Heavy shield soldiers were positioned at the front, while the long spear heavy armor soldiers behind them took advantage of the opening to attack. On one hand, the heavy shield soldiers' defense wore down Sterl's stamina, and on the other, they provided excellent conditions for the soldiers behind them to strike.

Additionally, under the pressure of the siege, the enemy's movement was steadily compressed, and the pressure on him increased with each passing moment. Before long, Sterl would find himself severely injured, drained of strength.

Now, this was the situation Sterl was facing. At first, after a wave of attacks, none of the soldiers had even come close to him. But now, with each new wave of assault, dozens of spears pierced his body.

Though these attacks were nothing to his Transcendence-enhanced body, they were like the ticking health bar of a boss, slowly but surely accumulating until it would eventually empty.

But Sterl, seemingly indifferent to his injuries, continued to swing the Sword of the World, relentlessly slaughtering the soldiers around him.

As the cost of the siege against him, in just one hour, at least five thousand soldiers lay dead around Sterl.

Moreover, Sterl began to sense something was off. From the information he had gathered from the Ghost Old Man, the former War Demon had once fought his way through hundreds of thousands of soldiers alone.

If the strength of those soldiers was equivalent to what he was facing now, wouldn't that make the War Demon even stronger than the Nightmare Overlord?

Realizing something was wrong, Sterl quickly searched through the memories left behind by Asa and soon found the source of the problem.

"Secret rune resonance?"

"Is this an arcane skill created from War Soul Resonance…"

From Asa's memories, Sterl immediately pinpointed the key cause: it was the secret rune resonance arcane skill.

When activated, secret rune resonance allowed the commander's rune power to connect with all the soldiers, thereby maximizing their rune strength, enhancing their physical power and basic attributes, and generating a defensive shield around them.

Furthermore, after activating secret rune resonance, the commander and the soldiers could transmit messages freely, with perfect coordination, making the army highly flexible and efficient.

Upon realizing this, Sterl's eyes lit up with understanding.

The ability of secret rune resonance was essentially a stripped-down version of some of the effects of War Soul Resonance!

Although it wasn't as powerful as the full War Soul Resonance, the Dream Spirit Empire had overcome its most difficult limitations. And from what Sterl could observe, the effects of secret rune resonance were far from weak. After activation, the entire legion's combat strength had been amplified by more than just a single fold!

This explained why it hadn't been as easy for him to slaughter these soldiers, compared to what he had read about.

However, this made sense. After all, this wasn't a game. Enemies wouldn't just stand around waiting; they would continuously grow stronger, and eventually, they would crush every threat in their path.

Even so, Sterl was still in a very good state. At least for the short term, the current assault couldn't pose a real threat to him.

While Sterl was analyzing the situation, another set of eyes was also studying him.

The owner of those eyes was none other than Monroe, watching from the distance.

As he observed Sterl battling through the siege, Monroe furrowed his brows, a trace of confusion appearing in his eyes.

It wasn't that he was shocked by Sterl's immense power, but rather, he was puzzled by why the legendary War Demon, the one who had instilled fear and despair in the Dream Spirit Empire and was considered the strongest after the Nightmare Overlord, appeared so… weak.

Yes! Weak!

His fighting power was even inferior to that of his strongest legion commander!

"Is it because he's been sealed for too long, causing his power to weaken? Or was he wounded by Asa?"

Monroe analyzed the information he had gathered so far.

However, after thinking it over, Monroe still couldn't believe that this was the true strength of the War Demon.

Even now, with the enhancement of secret rune resonance, the Dream Spirit Empire's army had far surpassed its previous power, but the War Demon's performance shouldn't have been so utterly lacking.

With that thought, Monroe's mind shifted, and under the activation of secret rune resonance, his command was instantly transmitted to the entire legion.

In the next moment, as Sterl was slaughtering soldiers around him, he paused for a brief second, sensing a faint threat approaching from behind.

Without hesitation, he spun around and, in the heat of battle, unleashed the perfected Overlord Sword · Chā, honed through the trials in the Land of All Beings and warfare.

With the added power of Swordsmanship Grandmaster Lv10's derivative ability, the sword's momentum was overwhelming, unstoppable!

With a muffled grunt, the incoming longsword was cleaved in half, the hilt still grasped by the arm attached to it.

The Centurion who had attempted to ambush him lost his entire right shoulder and flew backward, his body crashing into the crowd. His breath faltered, his strength dissipating.

"Can't hold back anymore?"

After dispatching the Centurion, whose strength far exceeded that of ordinary soldiers, Sterl narrowed his focus, forming a sensory range that spanned a hundred meters.

Within this range, he could perceive even the direction of a single speck of dust with perfect clarity.

Once the sensory field was established, sharp, needle-like auras began to surge from all directions, unmistakably coming from elite officers hidden within the legion.

These officers had clearly received orders and were preparing to strike against him as a group.

As for the reason—Sterl knew well: the commander of this legion wanted to force out his true strength.

"Kill!!"

"For the Empire! For Glory!"

This brief distraction did not affect the surrounding soldiers' assault. Thousands of soldiers closed in, aiming to cut Sterl down with their blades.

It should be noted that before the battle began, the commander had made a promise: anyone who could kill the enemy would be appointed as the Marshal's deputy and be given another chance to reforge their runes!