148: Draw the sword

High above, a stream of light pierced through the clouds.

They were two shadows, fast enough to rip through the air, one after the other, heading straight for the Red Soil Plateau.

Su Jin was in front, Bai Xiao was behind.

After being promoted to a Legend, Bai Xiao's understanding of space was different; each step he took was like shortening the distance of space, rather than simply flying.

The mountains and rivers along the way blurred into streaks of color beneath their feet, rapidly receding.

Frontline reports indicated some changes, so they went ahead first.

The Infinite City's army was advancing at full speed behind them, but it was estimated they wouldn't make it in time.

On the Red Soil Plateau, the five thousand Azure Thunder Dragon Riders led by Huo Jun were already conducting combat patrols nearby.

By their calculations, they should have already entered the battlefield.

When they truly stepped into the Red Soil Plateau's territory.

Even at an altitude of ten thousand meters, the scent of smoke and blood still assailed them.

The land was scarred.

Giant craters spewed black smoke, and countless wreckage of war constructs lay scattered, like skeletons gnawed by a giant beast.

The shouts of battle shook the heavens and earth.

On the Blue Star Alliance's front line.

The Xuanjia Elite Warriors and the Phalanx Crossbowmen of Tiance Manor formed battle formations.

Under Ling Feng's command, they were like resilient reefs, stubbornly resisting the impact of the undead horde.

Zhou Yong's mechanized forces provided firepower support and defensive barriers.

Drone swarms and automated turrets wove a dense net of fire in the sky above the battlefield.

And on the flank of the battlefield, a cavalry unit, like silver lightning, repeatedly charged and struck.

Wherever they passed, undead bodies exploded in pieces, and electric arcs spread like spiderwebs.

The warhorses' double horns flickered with lightning patterns, and the knights' long spears were wreathed in electric light; these were the Azure Thunder Dragon Riders under Huo Jun.

The battle situation did not seem as critical as described in the reports.

In fact, the Blue Star Alliance side subtly held the upper hand.

Su Jin's gaze swept over the chaotic battlefield, then fixed on the massive spatial rift.

There, the fighting was truly brutal.

A tall, sacred figure floated in mid-air.

She was surrounded by pure golden radiance, as if she were the only light source in this chaotic battlefield.

It was Apolosi, the Guardian of Radiant City, the 'Lord of Radiance'.

She merely raised her hand casually, and dozens of light spears materialized out of thin air.

Then, like divine punishment, they fell, piercing through several Gold-tier Three-Eyed Race psionicists.

Those psionicists didn't even have time to raise their shields before they were purified and dissolved in the holy light.

Bar's largest war construct.

As soon as it aimed its main cannon at Apolosi, it was enveloped by an even thicker golden beam of light, descending from the sky.

Amidst a bone-jarring metallic screech.

The armor of this war beast melted inch by inch, finally detonating with a roar.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

Bar roared furiously.

She commanded the few remaining war constructs under her, but couldn't even touch Apolosi's clothes.

And Prophet Margan of the Three-Eyed Race, with disheveled hair, had a dim vertical pupil on his forehead.

The might of a Legend was terrifying.

“Lord Su Jin!”

A communication connected; it was Zhou Yong, his voice tinged with weariness.

Su Jin and Bai Xiao's figures flashed, appearing beside Zhou Yong.

“It seems we're late?”

Su Jin glanced at the battlefield.

“No, you've come at just the right time.”

Zhou Yong's expression was somewhat solemn.

“Apolosi arrived in time and suppressed Bar and Maergan with swift and decisive action. The defeat of the outer enemies is only a matter of time.”

He paused, pointing to the writhing spatial rift.

“But the problem is, Maergan and his group were just a decoy.”

“Just now, 'You' of the Dark Star Empire, with a team of elites, took advantage of the chaos and entered that rift.”

“You?” Su Jin frowned, he remembered that name.

A top ten Lord on the Dark Star Empire's leaderboard, second only to Kasa and Lilith.

This person was not well-known, acted mysteriously, yet could rank among the top on the leaderboard, definitely not an ordinary individual.

Moreover, he was a Lord specializing in stealth and assassination, and he had entered an unstable planar embryo.

This was not good news.

“Why didn't Apolosi pursue him?” Bai Xiao asked.

Zhou Yong gave a wry smile, pointing to the entrance of the rift.

“You'll see if you look there. Maergan... he's gone mad.”

Everyone looked.

They saw Maergan, after enduring a light spear from Apolosi, not retreat but advance, charging directly to the very front of the rift.

He spread his arms, gathering the power of his remaining Mind Hacker guard squad behind him.

The dim vertical pupil on his forehead suddenly burst open, transforming into a purple vortex that continuously collapsed and spun.

“With my broken body, I will build the last bulwark for my race!”

Maergan let out a frenzied roar.

His body was rapidly shriveling, all his life force and psionic energy being frantically devoured by that purple vortex.

The vortex emanated a chilling aura of annihilation.

Any matter that approached it, whether light or energy, was twisted and disintegrated.

This was a suicidal tactic.

He used his life to block the only entrance!

“Damn it!”

Apolosi in the distance had a grim expression.

She could easily kill Maergan, but the annihilation field he created by detonating his own origin firmly sealed the space.

Forcibly breaking through would only cause a more violent spatial collapse, and then, not to mention entering, it might just open the rift to its widest.

If they directly woke up the guy inside, that would be trouble.

The Dark Star Empire and the Three-Eyed Race used almost all of their main forces as a decoy, and the lives of their top Lords as a lock.

All to send 'You' and his team into that secret realm.

What they were plotting was definitely something very troublesome.

“There's no time.”

Su Jin said, looking at Maergan, who was using his life to buy time.

Everyone's gaze converged on him.

Even Apolosi in the distance cast an inquiring look.

Su Jin turned to Bai Xiao beside him.

“Look, he seems very eager to die.”

Bai Xiao's answer was as concise as ever.

“Then grant his wish.”

Before his words finished, his figure had already vanished from his spot.

The next moment, Bai Xiao appeared before that purple annihilation field.

“It's you? But even you won't be able to get in...”

A twisted smile appeared on Maergan's shriveled face.

He recognized this newly promoted Legend, but he didn't care.

His burning life could sustain him for a moment longer; as long as he could buy enough time for 'You,' everything would be worth it.

Bai Xiao ignored his taunts.

He raised his right hand, gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist.

It was an ancient-looking longsword, unremarkable.

But the moment he grasped the hilt.

The entire world seemed to fall silent for an instant.

The wind stopped, the sound of explosions vanished, and everyone's heart skipped a beat.

An indescribable 'end' artistic conception, originating from the roots of the world, permeated the air.

The smile on Maergan's face froze.

He felt it.

It was a pure 'severing' power, transcending rules.

Bai Xiao slowly drew his sword.

A pure 'nothingness' to the extreme.

It was not black, nor was it void, but a conceptual 'nothingness'.

The Blade of Laws.

Wherever the sword's edge passed, the purple annihilation field, built with the lives of Maergan and his people, was like a canvas cut open by scissors.

Silently, a straight crack appeared.

That crack could not heal.

Because what was severed was the rule itself.

“No... impossible...”

True fear emerged from Maergan's shriveled eye sockets.

Their last reliance, the bulwark they bought with their lives, was so fragile before this man...

Bai Xiao took a step, passed through the crack, and appeared before Maergan.

He sheathed his sword.

“Your sacrifice is meaningless.”

The cold words fell.

Maergan's body, along with the annihilation field behind him, was swallowed by that 'nothingness'.

Completely vanished, leaving no trace.

The entrance, wide open.