519: Chapter 454: The Call to Counterattack, the Civilization Legion Leads the Way

After the Marshal's Order Domain crushed the four hundred million Chaos Beasts, the chaos crystals floating in the Void Realm looked like fragments of stars, flickering with a dim light amidst the gray-white mist.

The five hundred thousand reinforcements finished setting up defenses around the Iron Wall Fortress, and three thousand projections of divine kingdoms surrounded the Great Wall of Civilization, forming a circular defensive line. But the Marshal did not Order a pursuit. He stood on the city wall, looking in the direction of the guixu rift, silent for a long time.

The guixu rift had not closed. Although the godhead integrity of the Lord of Nothingness had dropped to sixty percent, it was still alive. It retreated deep into the rift, frantically absorbing guixu energy to repair itself. The width of the rift fluctuated between 180 and 200 kilometers, and the dark red light flickered on and off, like a dying heart beating.

"Marshal, why not pursue?" Lin Zhou stood beside him, the water level of the river of civilization still slowly recovering.

"Because there is still something deep in the rift." The Marshal raised his right hand, the dark red crack in his palm glowing faintly. "It is not the Lord of Nothingness, but the Gate of Guixu. The Lord of Nothingness is merely a gatekeeper; the Gate of Guixu is the real threat."

[Gate of Guixu · Intelligence]

- Location: Deepest part of the guixu rift, behind the lair of the Lord of Nothingness

- Form: A huge dark red door frame, about 1,000 kilometers high

- Status: Half-open (The Lord of Nothingness is trying to open it completely)

- If fully opened: guixu energy will pour into the New Universe, and the power of the Lord of Nothingness will recover or even increase

- Current opening progress: About 60%

"The Gate of Guixu..." Lin Zhou's pupils contracted.

"The Lord of Nothingness is the gatekeeper. If it doesn't die, the gate cannot be closed. But if the gate doesn't open, it cannot recover its full power. Right now, its godhead integrity is only sixty percent, and it needs the guixu energy provided by the gate to repair itself. If we can stop it from opening the gate, it will slowly weaken."

"How do we stop it?"

"Attack inside." The Marshal turned around and looked at Lin Zhou. "The Command Headquarters has decided to organize ten elite legions to counterattack the guixu rift. The goal is to destroy the energy core of the Gate of Guixu and prevent it from opening completely. Your Civilization Guardian Legion has been appointed as one of the vanguards due to your outstanding performance previously."

[Vanguard Legion · Roster]

- First Vanguard: Civilization Guardian Legion (Lin Zhou)

- Second Vanguard: Order Legion (Directly under the Marshal)

- Third Vanguard: Thunder Legion (Second Theater)

- Fourth Vanguard: Steel Legion (Fourth Theater)

- Fifth Vanguard: Judgment Legion (Inspectorate)

- Sixth Vanguard: Moon Radiance Legion (Belonging to Su Yueyao)

- Seventh Vanguard: Dragon Cavalry Legion (Belonging to Zhao Hao)

- Eighth Vanguard: Heavy Armor Legion (Lei Zhan)

- Ninth Vanguard: Sword Cultivator Legion (Newly formed, composed of those recognized by Flying Swords from the Shushan Sword Tomb)

- Tenth Vanguard: Allied Vanguard (Allied forces of various races)

Ten legions, with a total strength of about three hundred thousand troops. Among them, although the Civilization Guardian Legion had less than five thousand people left, its comprehensive rating ranked third, second only to the Marshal's Order Legion and the Thunder Legion of the Second Theater.

[Vanguard Legion · Comprehensive Rating]

- First Place: Order Legion (Marshal) — Rating 97

- Second Place: Thunder Legion (Second Theater) — Rating 89

- Third Place: Civilization Guardian Legion (Lin Zhou) — Rating 85

- Fourth Place: Steel Legion (Fourth Theater) — Rating 82

- ...

"Third?" Lin Zhou was somewhat surprised.

"Although your legion has the fewest people, the Fire of Civilization has the strongest suppression effect on guixu. Deep in the rift, your combat effectiveness is twice that of other legions." The Marshal patted his shoulder. "At dawn tomorrow, the entire army will advance. The target is the energy core of the Gate of Guixu. Destroy it, and the Lord of Nothingness will lose its source of power."

At dawn the next day, the ten legions lined up in front of the guixu rift. The divine kingdom projections of three hundred thousand people unfolded in the Void Realm, illuminating the entire starry sky as if it were daytime. The Marshal stood at the very front, expanding his Order Domain, covering an area with a diameter of fifty thousand kilometers. Within the Domain, the rules of Chaos became invalid, and the concentration of guixu energy dropped by ninety percent.

"All troops — advance!"

The Marshal stepped into the rift first. Lin Zhou led the Civilization Guardian Legion closely behind. Inside the rift, the dark red light surged from the depths like a tangible sea of blood. The Order Domain pushed the sea of blood aside, revealing a passage about one hundred kilometers wide. On both sides of the passage were gray-white walls of guixu energy, with countless twisted runes flowing on the surfaces.

[guixu Rift · Internal Environment]

- Width: 100 to 200 kilometers

- Depth: Unknown

- guixu energy concentration: 500 times that of the outside

- Rule stability: 5% (Increased to 80% within the Order Domain)

The team advanced about one thousand kilometers and reached the lair of the Lord of Nothingness. The lair was a huge spherical space with a diameter of about ten thousand kilometers. In the center of the space, the main body of the Lord of Nothingness was suspended. Its godhead integrity had recovered to seventy percent, and it was frantically absorbing guixu energy. Behind it was a huge dark red door frame — the Gate of Guixu. The door was about 1,000 kilometers high, and countless guixu runes were carved on the frame. The door was half-open, and gray-white light poured out from the crack.

[Gate of Guixu · Status]

- Height: 1,000 kilometers

- Opening progress: 65%

- Energy core: Located at the top of the door frame, about 10 kilometers in diameter

"The energy core is at the top of the door frame." The Marshal pointed to the brightest mass of dark red light. "Destroy it, and the gate will stop opening."

"I'll go," Lin Zhou said.

"No. You go deal with the Lord of Nothingness. Leave the energy core to me."

The Marshal leaped up and flew toward the top of the Gate of Guixu. His Order Domain was partially suppressed deep in the rift, shrinking from fifty thousand kilometers to ten thousand kilometers, but it was enough. The Lord of Nothingness sensed the Marshal's aura, its gray-white flame eyes filled with hatred. It opened its huge mouth, and a dark red beam of light shot toward the Marshal.

Lin Zhou rushed forward, the river of civilization transforming into a giant shield to block the light beam. The shield shattered, and he was knocked back.

[Lin Zhou · Status]

- godhead integrity: 70% → 65%

- river of civilization water level: 60% → 55%

"Your opponent is me." Lin Zhou's voice exploded in the Void Realm.

The Lord of Nothingness lowered its head, looking at this ant that had injured it repeatedly. Its left eye was blind, but it still had sight in its right eye. It raised its right arm, and a dark red tentacle lashed out at Lin Zhou. Lin Zhou dodged, simultaneously swinging his sword at the tentacle. The sword light, bolstered by the Order Domain, regained its power and severed one of the tentacles.

[Lord of Nothingness · Status]

- godhead integrity: 70% → 68%

- Tentacles: One severed

Wang Meng led the Civilization Guardian Legion to charge out from the flank. Five thousand people threw their Flying Swords simultaneously, the rain of swords falling upon the Lord of Nothingness, leaving five thousand sword marks. Each sword mark was imbued with a wisp of the Fire of Civilization. The flames burned on the dark red scales, and the godhead integrity of the Lord of Nothingness dropped from sixty-eight percent to sixty-five percent.

Lei Zhan's shield wall blocked another tentacle of the Lord of Nothingness. Qin Qing's Net of Law entangled its right arm. Iron Face's Fire of Justice performed an existence judgment on its right eye. Su Yueyao's moon radiance suppressed its guixu energy. Dragon Breath from the Dragon Vein Golden Scale scorched its back.

[Team · Siege]

- godhead integrity: 65% → 60%

The Marshal flew to the top of the Gate of Guixu. The energy core was suspended above the door frame, ten kilometers in diameter, dark red throughout, with countless guixu runes flowing on its surface. In the center of the core was a mass of gray-white flame — that was a portion of the Lord of Nothingness's power. The Marshal raised his right hand, the golden light in his palm intertwining with the dark red cracks.

"Hand of Order — Shatter!"

The golden palm struck the energy core. The core vibrated, the dark red runes shattered, and its integrity dropped from one hundred percent to eighty percent. The Lord of Nothingness sensed the core was damaged and struggled frantically, its godhead integrity rising from sixty percent back to sixty-five percent — it was using its own power to repair the core.

"Lin Zhou, speed up the attack! It is distracted!" the Marshal shouted.

Lin Zhou compressed the river of civilization into a beam of light and shot it into the old wound on the chest of the Lord of Nothingness. The beam exploded inside the wound, and the godhead integrity of the Lord of Nothingness dropped from sixty-five percent to fifty percent.

[Lord of Nothingness · godhead integrity: 65% → 50%]

The Marshal's second palm struck down, and the integrity of the energy core dropped from eighty percent to sixty percent. The godhead integrity of the Lord of Nothingness rose from fifty percent to fifty-five percent — it had diverted another portion of its power to repair the core. Wang Meng led the army to launch a charge, and five thousand Flying Swords simultaneously pierced into the soles of the Lord of Nothingness's feet. The Fire of Civilization in the sword marks burned, and the godhead integrity of the Lord of Nothingness dropped from fifty-five percent to forty-five percent.

The Marshal's third palm struck down. The integrity of the energy core dropped from sixty percent to forty percent. The Lord of Nothingness roared, its godhead integrity rising from forty-five percent to fifty percent. It no longer cared about its own injuries; it only wanted to protect the core.

Lin Zhou's Fire of Civilization was exhausted. His godhead integrity dropped to fifty percent, and the water level of the river of civilization dropped to forty percent. He knelt on one knee in the Void Realm, gasping for breath.

"Captain!" Su Yueyao rushed over, moon radiance enveloping him.

"It's nothing. Continue the attack."

Wang Meng climbed up from the ground, covered in blood. His left arm could no longer be raised, but he gripped a Flying Sword with his right hand and threw it again. Five thousand Flying Swords fell once more, and the godhead integrity of the Lord of Nothingness dropped from fifty percent to forty-five percent.

The Marshal's fourth palm struck down. The integrity of the energy core dropped from forty percent to twenty percent. The godhead integrity of the Lord of Nothingness rose from forty-five percent to forty-eight percent — it no longer had much power left to allocate to the core.

The final palm. The cracks on the Marshal's right hand spread to his entire forearm, golden light intertwining with dark red. He gritted his teeth and struck the fifth palm. The integrity of the energy core dropped from twenty percent to zero percent. The core shattered, and dark red fragments scattered in all directions.

[Gate of Guixu · Energy Core — Destroyed]

- Gate opening progress: 65% → 0%

- Gate of Guixu: Started to close

The door frame of the Gate of Guixu began to shrink, dropping from 1,000 kilometers to 800 kilometers, 500 kilometers, and 300 kilometers. The gray-white light in the door crack dimmed, and the surging guixu energy also decreased. The Lord of Nothingness lost its source of power, and its godhead integrity began to drop from forty-eight percent, decreasing by one percent every second. It struggled frantically, but the more it struggled, the faster its godhead integrity dropped.

[Lord of Nothingness · godhead integrity: 48% → 40% → 30%]

Lin Zhou stood up, gathering his remaining strength. He poured all the remaining water level of the river of civilization into the zhan nian sword, the cyan-gold light on the blade looking like the last star in the dark red Void Realm.

"Civilization — Final Slash!"

The sword light slashed into the head of the Lord of Nothingness. Its godhead integrity dropped from thirty percent to twenty percent, ten percent, and zero percent.

[Lord of Nothingness · Status]

- godhead integrity: 0%

- Status: Disintegrating

The body of the Lord of Nothingness turned into gray-white light spots and dissipated. The door frame of the Gate of Guixu completely shrank and disappeared into the Void Realm. The rift began to close, and the dark red light faded. The Marshal knelt on one knee in the Void Realm, the dark red cracks on his right hand spreading to his shoulder, his godhead integrity dropping to thirty percent.

"Marshal!" Lin Zhou flew over.

"It's nothing. The cracks won't take my life. It's just that this hand will be useless from now on." The Marshal stood up, looking in the direction where the rift was closing. "The Lord of Nothingness is dead, and the Gate of Guixu is closed. The New Universe is safe."

The three hundred thousand troops cheered in unison. Wang Meng raised his battle axe and roared at the sky. Qin Qing knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face. Su Yueyao leaned on Lin Zhou's shoulder, her moon radiance dim but still burning.

Lin Zhou did not cheer. He stood in front of the Wall of Heroes, looking at the one hundred Flying Swords inserted on both sides of the city gate. The Fire of Civilization on the blades was still burning; although the flames were small, they were continuous.

"Captain, what are you thinking about?" Su Yueyao asked softly.

"Thinking about those who couldn't come back."

"They didn't come back, but they remained."

Su Yueyao pointed to the one hundred Flying Swords. "Their fire is still there."

Lin Zhou nodded. He walked down the city wall, went to the Wall of Heroes, and placed his hand on the wall. The river of civilization surged from his divine kingdom and poured into the inscriptions on the wall. Every inscription was glowing, and every Flying Sword was humming.

"From today on, this wall shall be called the 'Wall of Heroes'. These swords shall be called 'Kindling'."

He turned around and looked in the direction of the New Universe. The Fire of Civilization of one hundred thousand towns was like a sea of stars in the night sky.