Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 858 - 736: Assault on the Shadow Realm
The [Corrupt Odorous Crawler] raised its head to look at the night sky. The holy light shone down, easily dispelling the thick shadow covering its body and thoroughly exposing this twisted demon to the sunlight.
Sizzle... Sizzle...
Even though the desecrated dark creature had donned a shimmering Magic Robe, it was still releasing a series of charred black smoke under the [Solidification: Solar Flame] carried by the "Jade Coronet."
Countless maggots squirmed inside and outside the humanoid monster, emitting sharp, strange cries as they vied to burrow into its body, leading to a nauseating maggot swarm.
In the brilliant light that turned night into day, Aiven, Anita, Nymph, and Serra, a total of four Tier 4 or near Tier 4 combat powers, had formed a circle around it.
The Crowned Demon's constantly churning eyes "looked" at the few in the sky, seemingly unbothered.
The world-renowned "Battle of Dierben Castle" had long since ended, and intelligence related to it had already spread through several countries and even Extraordinary forces across the continent.
Especially on the side of the Galliot Duchy, which had risen dramatically as the biggest winner, being dissected and analyzed repeatedly without end.
These few were all stars on the battlefield, and the Crowned Demon not only knew their names but was also well aware of the abilities they had used on the battlefield.
Including Aiven's claimed "Vitalist School" affiliation, it had correctly guessed most of it.
After all, how could a conspirator be worthy of the name if they didn't gather intelligence before acting?
The only surprising part for it was that, before its actions tonight, the third-party intelligence organization cooperating with it had clearly reported that these peak combat forces of the Duchy had appeared in separate locations thousands of kilometers apart.
Why could they now gather here in a unified manner? And how did they know about its attack on White Swan Castle?
As a fact,
the outside world believed that the [Hurricane Missile] with its ultra-long-range attack capability was the "Crown of Miracles'" Legendary Battleship Skill, with [Dream Cruise] being Aiven's never-revealed ace.
Hearing Aiven's contemptuous assessment, the Crowned Demon was not the least bit angered:
"Haha, ordinary strength? Let's say so. But tonight's show has just begun. Let's... wait and see!"
Running away was merely a cautious instinctive reaction upon encountering the unexpected, but it certainly did not mean that the prestigious Crowned Demon was only capable of this. Naturally, the more its enemies underestimated it, the happier it would be.
Unwilling to continue listening to its threats.
Wrapped in emerald dragon scales, in a half-dragon, half-human form that is both heroic and beautiful, Anita, surrounded by water light, plummeted from the sky and struck fiercely with her Dragon-slaying Sword.
As a Titled Knight walking the "Heroic Path," Anita believed: No more words, just strike it down!
Boom——!
The [Corrupt Odorous Crawler] gently stepped back, disappearing into the shadow behind it just before the sword light landed, leaving only a deep gouge ripped into the ground.
Seeing this.
Aiven, who was prepared in advance, unhesitatingly activated [Bloodline Plugin: Shadow Dragon] to follow into the Shadow Realm Crack, with the other three boarding the "Jade Coronet" and following the signal from Bess's remote guidance to break through the air as well.
Whoosh!
Five minutes later.
Two thousand kilometers away, in Georgia Steel City.
Peeling away a layer of shadow, the Crowned Demon leisurely stepped out.
Looking at the bustling city in front of it, it sneered and raised its hand again, a ball of pale green gas rapidly spinning in its palm.
Woo woo woo...
The previous "Cholera" was merely to plunge this territory into prolonged turmoil, as the God of Rotting Flies, whose main divine position is [Disease], actually held power over all existing pathogens in this world.
The one it held now, while not highly contagious, had the lethality of the "Marburg Virus," capable of killing half the humans in a small city within 48 hours! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
However, in the mere span of a few breaths this spell took.
Zap!
A blazing white lightning bolt shot out from the void, sweeping across before it could react, vaporizing part of the flies constituting the Crowned Demon's body and the virus in its hand into dust, rendering them useless.
The Crowned Demon, emerging from the distant shadow, suspiciously looked at Aiven, who also emerged from the shadow. It wasn't hard to understand the other possessing an ability similar to its [Shadow Jump], but how could he precisely locate its position?!
"Follower of the 'God of Rotting Flies,' you can't escape today. Surrender obediently and I might grant you a quick death."
With the [Libra Balance Holy Sword] hanging at his waist, Aiven wore a mocking smile, looking at it as if it were a piece of meat on a cutting board, confident he'd save at least a few million Golden Lions.
Swish——
At this moment, just a short while after Aiven, the "Jade Coronet" also descended here, riding on a river of emerald light.
"Everyone can talk tough. If you have the skill, keep up with me!"
The once composed Crowned Demon, now with vigorous writhing maggots on its face, jumped back into the Shadow Realm amidst a black smoke.
The magical spiritual light shimmered over its body, thoroughly cleansing both the inside and outside to ensure no enemy mark remained.
During its escape, it stimulated the magic power within, rapidly regenerating its missing parts. Of course, along with it came... well, some potentially undesirable things.
Subsequently, it turned into a game of hide-and-seek across the entire ten million square kilometers of the Galliot Duchy. Georgia, Far Sails Territory, the Six Great Lakes, the vast Central Plains, the crucial water source at Itasca River Valley... all bore their traces.
Aiven was personally in relentless pursuit within the Shadow Realm, and as soon as it appeared in the Material World, the Jade Coronet would immediately descend.
Thus, although this treacherous Evil God's follower fled desperately, it failed to inflict any damage on the duchy.
Honestly, the movement speed of a "Shadow Jump" couldn't match the instant worldwide presence of a "Dream Cruise." Once its real-time whereabouts were known, it could be allowed a 39-meter head start.
Moreover, upon realizing its ability to traverse the Shadow Realm, Aiven specifically retrieved the Ocean Treasure: King Mansa Musa's Treasure Box.
Secret Treasure effects: It can freely enable or disable the Magic Forbidden Barrier, Immune Divination, Conceal Traces, Direction Confusion, Existence Concealment, No-fly Zone, Spiritual Isolation, Shadow Realm Ban.
Should it dare to flee to the sea or any island, it would immediately be like a turtle trapped in a jar.
Despite such measures.
Having been chased repeatedly like a dog, the face of the Foul Odor Crawler, formed of maggots, became exceedingly grim.
It realized, Aiven and his party had indeed mastered a tracking method it simply couldn't comprehend. It wasn't the unreliable divination nor superficial marks or scents, but real-time tracking that was ever-present.
Tonight, it found neither a path to the sky nor a door to the earth. If it dared to linger even slightly for a retaliatory raid on a town, it would instantly confront the overwhelming force of four Tier 4 powers.
Until now, although it appeared unscathed outwardly, thanks to its extraordinarily robust survival abilities, the renewal of maggots within had reached almost 60% of what existed before tonight, with many maggots being the grandchildren or even great-grandchildren of the originals.
The Foul Odor Crawler couldn't remember how long it had been since it faced such a predicament. The nonchalance it had before setting out for the New Continent had long been swept away.
This was a pressure it hadn't experienced even while secretly causing trouble during the Hilus Empire's Religious War.
"Damn Wizard!"
And so.
After another leap into the shadows from a large gold mine in the Elbert Mountain Range, the Crowned Demon chose not to jump back into the Material World elsewhere.
It was utterly pointless.
Even if it deemed its strength formidable with its invincible survival skills, it knew it stood no chance against the siege of four Tier 4 foes and a Legendary Battleship.
Now, the greatest threat to it... was the indistinguishable shadows behind, looking back at the shadow crack.
Embracing the firm belief of "I can counter-kill," the Crowned Demon hesitated no longer and dove fiercely into the deeper darkness on the other side of the gap.
Poof!
Guided by the increasingly numerous "positioning fragments" inside it, Aiven relentlessly pursued, breaking through a thick boundary membrane while seated on Kaka's back, emerging into a world glimmering with a faint glow.
"Kaka..."
This is no longer the Shadow Realm Crack Aiven frequently used for emergency escape, but the true Otherworld—the Shadow Realm!
The Shadow Realm is a fantastical world existing in parallel with and concurrent to the human-inhabited Material World; it's an obscure domain tinged with a faint glow, considered a projection of the Material World.
This world also contains mountains, rivers, continents, oceans, and even various human city structures, and currently before Aiven's eyes stood a vast forest shrouded in darkness, glowing faintly.
Whiss... Whiss... Whiss...
Mountain breezes swept across treetops, casting endless shadows dancing.
Yet, everything here seemed distorted, filled with stark contrasts of black and white in the brush strokes. The colors were monotonous and dull; no human with normal sensory perception would wish to linger here.
This is a peculiar paradise belonging exclusively to the Shadow Creatures; even wizards with ever-changing methods would mostly never engage with this strange world unless possessing equivalent planar traversal skills and knowledge.
After observing a series of the Crowned Demon's actions, Aiven stood interestedly from Kaka's back and inquired:
"Could it be, the corpse that initially conceived you belonged to a 'Great Wizard' of the Shadow School?"
Standing in mid-air opposite, the shadow enveloping the Crowned Demon melded into the black forest below, sneering coldly as it unleashed a roaring surge of magic power, spitting a shrill curse:
bans—
In the forest, shadows instantly awakened, transforming into a vast curtain filling the view. Accompanied by harrowing wails, the shadows of flora and trees all twisted into ghostly claws, rising to shred everything into pieces.
Zap! Zap! Zap!...
Black Witchcraft: Moon Shadow Demoness
