34: Chapter 34 Conquering the Shadow Demon World

[Campaign Target: World No. 15001 · Shadow Demon Realm]

[Danger Level: S-]

[Suggested Minimum Units: 5000+]

Su Bai stood on the metal platform in the center of Secret Chamber One, watching the deep blue portal slowly expanding before him.

Beyond the portal was a void of pure darkness.

Su Bai squinted, his consciousness sinking into the Netherworld World.

Grayish-white Yin Qi surged like a vast sea.

The Ghost King hovered in mid-air, clad in pitch-black armor, his golden vertical pupils staring directly toward the portal. His aura was completely restrained, yet that invisible sense of oppression still caused the surrounding Yin Qi to tremble slightly.

Black and White Impermanence stood side by side. White Impermanence still wore a smile, his funeral staff lightly tapping the ground; Black Impermanence looked fierce, his soul-locking chain slowly slithering around him with a faint metallic friction.

The Ghost Bride floated behind the Ghost King. This time she wasn't smiling, just quietly watching the portal. Her red dress fluttered gently in the Yin Qi, as if she were waiting for something.

Sadako stood by the well and looked up. Her long hair slid down, revealing a pale face. A rare look of solemnity appeared in those hollow eyes.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman gripped her scissors, standing at the edge of the Yaksha Wasteland. She remained silent, but her grip on the scissors was tighter than usual.

The Mushroom King stood at the edge of the Mycelium Deep Forest, his purple eyes piercing through the mist to land on the portal. Behind him, twenty thousand Mushroom People were busy; spores drifted and mycelium spread, everything proceeding as usual.

They would not participate in the battle.

This was Su Bai's command.

The Mushroom People were the foundation of the Netherworld's future, the source of Power Of Faith, and the seeds of civilization's cycle.

This kind of brutal war was not for them to fight.

Furthermore, the Ghost Soldiers and Soul-Hooking Messengers Su Bai created personally could all be resurrected in the Netherworld World after death.

But if these Mushroom People died, they were dead for good.

That would be a loss for Su Bai.

Besides, with so many hero units, clearing a Rank 4 world wasn't particularly difficult for Su Bai.

Two hundred and fifty-eight Ghost Soldiers and sixty Soul-Hooking Ghosts lined up in neat formation.

This was the entire force he intended to bring into the Shadow Demon Realm this time.

Su Bai scanned these beings, his voice calm but firm:

“The Shadow Demon Realm, Rank 4 S-class difficulty. Twelve invasions, all failures. Seven Creators fallen.”

“But that was them.”

“The Netherworld is different.”

His gaze fell upon the Ghost King.

The Ghost King nodded slightly, a cold battle intent flashing through his golden vertical pupils.

“Set out.”

The deep blue portal fully took shape.

The Ghost King was the first to step inside.

Behind him, Black and White Impermanence entered side by side.

The Ghost Bride took a deep breath and followed.

Sadako floated up from the well and noiselessly vanished into the portal.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman gripped her scissors, took one last look toward the Mycelium Deep Forest, then turned and stepped into the darkness.

The Ghost Soldiers and Soul-Hooking Ghosts marched in single file, entering in an orderly fashion.

The portal slowly closed behind them.

The Shadow Demon Realm.

Pure darkness.

No sky, no earth, no up or down, no compass directions.

Only eternal, all-consuming darkness.

And countless pairs of eyes lurking within that darkness.

The Ghost King hovered in the void, his golden vertical pupils narrowing slightly.

He could sense at least ten thousand auras stirring around them. Those auras were hidden extremely well; had he not just broken through to Rank 4 and significantly enhanced his perception, he might not have even noticed them.

“Interesting.”

He spoke in a low voice, his words echoing in the darkness.

In the next second, he fully unleashed his [Ghost Kings Pressure].

The invisible pressure swept out like a tide, instantly enveloping a radius of several thousand meters.

Startled cries and screams rang out in the darkness.

The lurking Shadow Demons were shaken out of their concealment by the sudden pressure, revealing their forms.

They were about two meters tall with slender builds, completely pitch-black as if condensed from pure darkness. Their eyes were an eerie deep blue, like flickering ghost fires in the dark. Their arms and legs were covered in fine scales, and their fingertips were sharp claw-blades capable of tearing an enemy's throat in an instant.

Adult Shadow Demons were generally Rank 2.

Elite Shadow Demons could reach Rank 3.

And the Shadow Demon King was Rank 4.

The Ghost King's gaze pierced the darkness, landing on the most powerful aura.

The Shadow Demon King.

He hovered in the deepest part of the battlefield, standing two and a half meters tall, his build more robust than the other Shadow Demons. His eyes were not deep blue but a profound purple, with pupils that seemed to have stars swirling within. Ripples of spatial distortion were faintly visible around him.

Space Affinity.

Shadow Affinity.

Rank 4.

The Shadow Demon King was also watching the Ghost King.

A flash of human-like surprise crossed those purple eyes.

He had seen many invaders.

Those Creators would charge in with hundreds or thousands of units, some relying on numbers, some on quality, and some on tactics.

But none were like the being before him.

That pitch-black armor, those golden vertical pupils, that suffocating pressure...

The Shadow Demon King opened his mouth and let out a sharp, long howl.

The howl traveled through the darkness, instantly reaching across the entire battlefield.

All the Shadow Demons moved simultaneously.

They merged back into the darkness, launching attacks from all directions. Some lunged from the front, some flanked from the sides, some ambushed from below, and some dived from above.

Space folded beneath their feet; darkness condensed around their bodies.

These were the Shadow Demons.

Natural assassins.

Natural warriors.

The Ghost King did not move.

He simply hovered in place, his golden vertical pupils coldly surveying it all.

Until the first wave of Shadow Demons reached him.

He raised his hand.

[Ghost Domain] expanded.

Centered on the Ghost King, an invisible domain instantly expanded, covering a radius of a thousand meters.

Within the domain, the movements of all Shadow Demons slowed by thirty percent.

Their speed, their reactions, and their attacks were all suppressed.

Meanwhile, the Ghost Soldiers and Soul-Hooking Ghosts felt infinite power surging through their bodies.

Their speed became faster, their reactions sharper, and their attacks more lethal.

This was the Ghost Domain.

Enemies weakened by 30%, allies strengthened by 30%.

The tide of battle turned in an instant.

White Impermanence still wore his smile, but his funeral staff had turned into countless afterimages, striking at the charging Shadow Demons.

With every strike, a Shadow Demon's soul was shaken out of its body, and the corpse slumped over.

Black Impermanence looked fierce as his soul-locking chain moved through the darkness like a black dragon. The chain seemed alive, precisely coiling around the neck of every Shadow Demon that tried to approach; with a light twist, a life was taken.

Sixty Soul-Hooking Ghosts formed a battle array, their chains weaving into an inescapable net. Though their Soul-Hooking Techniques weren't as lethal as those of Black and White Impermanence, they made up for it with numbers and perfect coordination.

The Shadow Demons caught by the chains might not have died instantly, but they were pinned in place, unable to move.

The Ghost Bride's red silk threads silently merged into the darkness.

She didn't launch a frontal assault like before; instead, she wove the threads into a massive web covering the sky above the battlefield. Shadow Demons attempting to strike from above crashed into the web, were entangled by the threads, and were then eroded by Sadako's Curse Spread.

Sadako remained hovering in place, her long hair flying.

She didn't move, but her Curse Spread was diffusing across the entire battlefield through the Shadow Demons entangled in the silk threads.

One infected ten, ten infected a hundred.

The fear of those Shadow Demons was becoming the source of her power.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman guarded the edge of the battlefield, scissors in hand, wearing her mask.

Occasionally, a Shadow Demon would try to flee the battlefield, only to be met by that split-open mouth.

The scissors fell.

Not a single Shadow Demon could escape her blockade.

The battle lasted for a full half-hour.

The number of Shadow Demons was rapidly decreasing.

Twelve thousand.

Ten thousand.

Eight thousand.

The Shadow Demon King could finally sit still no longer.

He charged out from the depths of the battlefield, his purple eyes burning with the fires of rage.

Space began to warp and darkness began to boil around him.

He was going to take action personally.

The Ghost King's eyes lit up.

This was the moment he had been waiting for.

[Ghostly Qi Avatar] activated.

The Ghost King's body instantly transformed into a mass of pure pitch-black mist, a mist deeper and more terrifying than the darkness of the Shadow Demons. Within the mist, one could faintly see countless vengeful ghosts wailing, struggling, and roaring.

He moved to meet the Shadow Demon King.