103: Chapter 103 Second Awakening!

Nineteenth Stronghold.

The beast tide swept in like a tidal wave. Thousands of high-speed monsters stampeded across the plains, a vast, dark mass, their shrill roars merging into a single continuous sound.

The perimeter defense line of the stronghold kept shrinking.

"We can't hold them off!"

"Rear guard, reinforce the position quickly!"

"The stronghold's shield has dropped to 72%!"

Many Contestants had sweat on their foreheads.

These agile-type monsters were shockingly fast, making them nearly impossible to hit with ordinary skills.

Just then, a steady figure slowly stepped forward.

Gu Han.

His dark combat suit with gravity patterns fluttered even without wind.

A-Rank Talent [Gravity Control] activated.

Boom—

An invisible gravity suddenly descended.

The bodies of the large group of charging monsters suddenly sank.

Their speed plummeted.

Their movements became sluggish.

The beast tide that had been frantically charging the defense line seemed to fall into a quagmire.

Gu Han raised his hand, and gravity chains shot out one after another, instantly pinning several high-tier monsters to the ground.

Immediately after, the environment of the entire Chaotic Battlefield changed abruptly.

[Battlefield Rule Change: 15x Heavy Pressure]

All the Contestants' expressions changed; their bodies felt heavy as mountains, and their speed dropped sharply.

However, Gu Han's expression remained calm; his Gravity Control talent granted him the ability to be completely immune to heavy pressure.

The environmental change actually became his home turf.

"It's over."

Gu Han raised his right hand.

[Ten Thousand Jun Heavy Pressure]

Rumble—

A massive gravity field covered the entire area in front of the stronghold, and swaths of monsters were forcefully pressed into the ground, unable to rise again.

The Nineteenth Stronghold was completely stabilized.

...

Meanwhile, at the Forty-Eighth Stronghold.

The situation here was even more tragic.

Amidst the broken walls and ruins, a large number of monsters broke through the defense line.

Many Contestants were forced to retreat while fighting.

"We can't hold it!"

"Hold the line!"

Someone couldn't help but roar in anger.

The next second.

The shadows beneath their feet began to expand crazily, and darkness spread like a tide.

Countless shadow soldiers crawled out from the ground, blades and spears bristling, as the Shadow Legion descended.

Han Zhiyuan hid within the darkness, fully activating his A-Rank Talent [Shadow Legion].

The shadow soldiers charged into the beast tide without fear of death; shadow chains rose, and Shadow Guard Commanders were born continuously.

The previously precarious defense line was instantly pushed back, as the beast tide and shadow tide collided.

The entire ruin turned into a dark battlefield.

...

As time passed, the points of the various strongholds began to grow crazily.

The leaderboard kept refreshing.

Countless Contestants kept their eyes glued to the changes on the leaderboard.

Because everyone understood that this beast tide was the time when the real gap would be created.

And just at this moment, at the Third Stronghold.

The situation changed abruptly.

As the top-tier super stronghold of the Chaotic Battlefield, the monsters spawned here far exceeded those in other areas.

High-tier shadow beasts covered the sky and earth, and the stronghold's shield constantly trembled.

Thirty Contestants attacked with all their might, yet they were still retreating step by step.

"Block them quickly!"

"We can't retreat any further!"

"The stronghold can't hold on much longer!"

In the center of the crowd, a cold, solitary figure slowly opened his eyes.

Karen Walker.

From the beginning to the end, he had not made a move.

Someone couldn't help but look at him, their eyes filled with confusion and dissatisfaction.

But the very next second, Karen finally raised his head.

His pale purple pupils slowly lit up.

"Noisy."

He spat out these two cold words, and his A-Rank Awakened Talent [Nether Form] triggered instantly.

Hum—

In an instant, with Karen as the center, billowing pitch-black mist surged out crazily from his body, like a black tsunami sweeping in all directions.

First, the ground beneath his feet collapsed inch by inch, and fine cracks spread across the entire battlefield. Ghostly green ghost fire slowly rose from the cracks in the ground, and a chilling, bone-piercing wind instantly enveloped a thousand-meter territory.

The bright daylight sky above was instantly obscured by thick, ink-like black clouds. The daylight was completely extinguished, and the sun disappeared entirely. In less than three seconds, the entire Third Stronghold fell from daylight into an eternal night where one could not see their own fingers.

Low, piercing wails of lost souls sounded one after another from deep within the black mist. Chilling winds howled, shadows surged, and dark purple nether lightning snaked through the clouds. The environment of heaven and earth was completely and forcibly rewritten.

The exclusive Nether Domain was completely formed!

All the Contestants in the stronghold felt a chill, feeling as if their blood was nearly frozen, their senses greatly blurred, and their movement speed slowing down involuntarily. Extreme fear and oppression rose in their hearts; this was bloodline suppression purely from the dark netherworld.

"How is this possible? Could his talent have already awakened!"

"How long has it been since he awakened his talent!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Everyone who saw this scene said in terror.

Without pausing in the slightest because of everyone's terror, Karen initiated the first stage of transformation—Semi-Nether Form.

The black mist instantly enveloped his whole body, and crisp yet dull bone-cracking sounds rang out one after another. Sharp, pitch-black keratin claws quickly grew from his limbs, and his skin was covered in hard, cold, dark-gray scales. His originally gentle eyes completely transformed into vertical, ghostly purple pupils. While his humanoid outline remained, the ferocious aura around him surged several times over.

His figure flickered, and he directly merged into the sky-filling black mist, completely hiding his tracks; no one could capture his whereabouts.

The next second, a cold light flashed within the black mist.

Sharp claws broke through the air, each strike carrying the bone-eroding power of the Nether. As the claws tore through the monsters' bodies, the black mist crazily eroded their flesh through the wounds. The wounds could not heal, and the monsters' HP continued to decay.

In just a few breaths, a dozen high-tier shadow beasts all fell to the ground.

But the surging beast tide was still endless and boundless.

Seeing this, the coldness in Karen's eyes deepened, and he no longer held back even a shred of his strength.

Second stage, Full Nether Form, completely unleashed!

Boom—

Black mist erupted, and the heavens and earth changed color.

Rumble—

The sky-filling black mist violently expanded and surged, and its coverage directly broadened to a thousand meters.

His original humanoid body completely disintegrated and dissolved, quickly reorganizing and transforming in the center of the black mist.

A huge, hideous skeletal outline quickly propped up a massive body, and a three-zhang-tall giant nether beast rose from the ground. Curved, pitch-black giant horns on its head pierced the black clouds, wide bone wings stretched open, sharp fangs were exposed, and its whole body was covered in indestructible dark heavy armor. Four feet stepped on the ground, and every step made the earth tremble violently.

An extremely terrifying dark pressure swept across the entire scene, pinning all the Contestants and the entire beast tide in place, unable to move.

...

A-Rank Awakened Talent Full Form, descending upon the battlefield!

[Domain Enhancement Fully Effective]

The entire Nether Domain was completely solidified. The skill casting speed of all monsters in the area was directly reduced by 30%, their bodies were constantly eroded by shadows, and their HP continued to drop. Any abilities with Light or Holy Light attributes had their power directly weakened by 50% within this domain.

"The rumors are true! His talent has really undergone a second awakening! He is a prodigy cultivated with heavy investment by the Walker family from the Fourth Safe Zone, one of the super Safe Zones!"

"A monster! To have a second awakening of his talent so quickly, this is just too monstrous!"

"The Walker family is really willing to throw resources at him, huh?"

The nether beast that Karen had transformed into lowered its head to overlook the boundless beast tide below, its vertical pupils full of indifference and contempt.

He gently flapped his bone wings, and a fierce wind of black mist swept down, directly swallowing a large area of monsters.

Immediately after, his giant claws slammed down, and Nether Bite was triggered simultaneously. His fangs, wrapped in highly toxic shadows, tore apart the strongest Shadow Lord in front in one bite, and the corrosive power instantly disintegrated all of the Lord's self-healing abilities.

Facing the group attacks of the sky-filling monsters, he opened his mouth and inhaled, fully activating [Shadow Devour]. All incoming monster skills and ranged attacks were swallowed and dissolved by the black mist, while he simultaneously plundered massive amounts of monster life force, instantly replenishing his own losses.

Finally, the beast looked up to the sky and let out a roar that shook the heavens.

[Lament of Ten Thousand Souls]!

Thousands of lost souls within the domain wailed simultaneously. An invisible mental shock swept across the entire scene, and all remaining monsters instantly fell into chaos, their offensive completely collapsing, standing dazed on the spot and becoming living targets.

There were no flashy or complicated moves, just domain suppression + physical crushing.

The boundless beast tide was vulnerable before the Full Form Nether Beast.

One person, locking down the entire super stronghold defense line.

All the Contestants on the scene stared blankly at the towering dark beast in the center, filled with shock, unable to say a word.

Compared to the sharpness of Victor's tech mechs, the heaviness of Gu Han's gravity field, and the trickery of Han Zhiyuan's shadow legion, Karen's Nether Form was a top-tier power that truly changed the world and altered the battlefield environment with his own strength.

A-Rank Awakened Talent was inherently superior to all A-Rank Talents.

Third Stronghold, beast tide completely wiped out.

The leaderboard points soared, creating a massive gap and crushing all the prodigies on the scene.

...

Until the end.

The Third Stronghold returned to silence.

All the Contestants on the scene stared blankly at that towering nether beast.

No one spoke.

At this moment, they finally understood.

Why A-Rank Awakened Talent was known as an existence that surpassed A-Rank Talent.

Just as everyone was shocked.

A new system announcement slowly sounded.

[Leaderboard refreshing in real-time...]

[Rank 1, Wen Xiaoyou, Total Points: 4288888]

[Rank 2, Ye Guanqi, Total Points: 2976000]

[Rank 3, Karen Walker, Total Points: 2634600]

...

[Rank 8, Su Lianwu, Total Points: 2498000]

[Rank 9, Raymond, Total Points: 2400000]

[Rank 10, Elena St. Lance, Total Points: 2380000]

...

[Rank 53, Lin Yan, Total Points: 1250000]

Countless names were rearranged, and the entire Chaotic Battlefield was completely boiling over.

And on the other side.

At the exit of the Samsara Demon Slaughter Arena, a void rift slowly opened.

The figures of Lin Yan and Wen Xiaoyou stepped out.

The two of them did not know that the entire Chaotic Battlefield had already been turned upside down.

Lin Yan looked up into the distance.

The beast tide was soaring there, and the sounds of killing were deafening.

The real main battlefield had finally arrived.