352: Chapter 353 A Fierce Struggle

"Move out!"

Lin Muyang gave the order, and the two teams quickly split up. Shen Muyao and the others immediately began constructing ice walls, summoning plant barriers, and laying magical traps, transforming the damaged hall into a temporary fortress. Meanwhile, Lin Muyang took the lead, turning into a streak of light as he charged toward a relatively intact passage entrance on the other side of the hall!

Behind him, Feng Ling let out a long cry, transforming into a fire phoenix to clear the way; Lilia's holy light shone brilliantly like a moving lighthouse; Jialiya waved her hand, and countless bone golems and ghosts crawled out from the shadows of the floor and walls, roaring as they pounced on the bugs swarming from the side paths; Xu Ruohan's angel legion spread their wings of light, following closely like a golden sword.

"Boom!"

The passage wasn't spacious, but it was enough for their size. Feng Ling's Nirvana Fire was like a red-hot iron plunging into butter; wherever it passed, the swarms crowded in the passage were instantly vaporized, clearing a charred path.

Lilia's holy light followed closely, purifying the residual fel energy and providing healing and buffs for everyone. Jialiya's undead creatures charged fearlessly into the side chambers and pipe crevices, perishing along with the bugs inside or at least temporarily blocking those emergence points.

The battle became more tragic and direct in the narrow space. The bugs' acid corroded the metal walls, making a "sizzling" sound and a pungent odor; energy beams grazed past everyone's shields, leaving deep scorch marks on the walls. Occasionally, heavy Assault Bugs with exceptionally large bodies and dark gold shimmering carapaces would burst through the walls, only to be instantly focused and killed by Alice's blood-red impact or Elabess's dark magic.

Elena followed nervously behind Lin Muyang, her azure eyes constantly scanning the dimmed angel script and runic markings that occasionally appeared on the passage walls, guiding the team in the right direction.

The sights along the way were shocking. Ornate relief murals were corroded beyond recognition by acid, exquisite crystal lamps lay shattered on the ground, and dried dark green bug blood flowed everywhere.

From time to time, the remains of angel warriors clad in silver or white armor could be seen. Most maintained a fighting stance, their light blades or longbows already dimmed, entangled with bug corpses several times their number, silently telling of the tragedy before the fall. Some chamber doors were wide open, revealing the wreckage of living quarters inside with personal belongings scattered about, yet they were empty, save for the slimy trails left by the crawling swarms.

"Turn left. Ahead is the intersection leading to the Corridor of Glory. Pass through there, then go through three Energy Transfer Stations, and we'll be close to the outer barrier of the Central Spine Area." Elena pointed to a fork in the road, her voice trembling slightly; clearly, the carnage before her was a huge shock.

The Corridor of Glory—the name sounded grand, but what appeared before everyone now was a main road that had been even more thoroughly destroyed. Where statues of past angel heroes should have stood on both sides of the corridor, there was now only a floor of rubble and broken pedestals torn apart by bug limbs.

At the end of the corridor, an incredibly thick energy barrier flowing with pale gold runes stood like a wall of sighs, completely blocking the path ahead. The barrier's luster was already very dim, its surface covered in cobweb-like cracks, and it flickered violently like a breath, clearly under immense pressure.

Beyond the barrier, the scene was hellish. The swarm, several times denser than before, was like a sea of black pitch, completely flooding every inch of space in front of the barrier! They were layered upon each other, frantically ramming, biting, spitting acid, and firing energy beams, bombarding the tottering barrier.

Inside the barrier, dozens of angels in even more ornate but heavily damaged white battle armor could be seen, their backs to the barrier, forming a circular formation and struggling to hold on. They constantly released holy light attacks, purifying the front row of bugs, but more bugs instantly filled the gaps. A thick layer of bug corpses and angel remains had already piled up on the ground; the battle had clearly lasted a long time and was nearing its end.

"It's the armor style of the Royal Guard! They're still alive!" Elena whispered excitedly, but then her face turned pale because anyone could see that the barrier and the angels inside could collapse at any moment.

"It seems this is the last outer line of defense leading to the Central Hub." Lin Muyang's eyes were cold as he scanned the scalp-tingling sea of bugs. There were more types of bugs here; besides the Drones and Assault Bugs seen before, there were Slayers shaped like giant mantises with sharp energy blades for forelimbs, as well as Psionic Bugs floating in the air, constantly releasing mental interference waves. The swarm's attacks were also more layered, with close combat, long-range, control, and attrition working in tight coordination.

"No time to clear the way slowly." Lin Muyang's mind raced, and he made a decision instantly. He took a deep breath, and the surging power within him began to move according to a mysterious trajectory. He didn't use any skills; he simply spread the five fingers of his right hand and aimed at the center of the densest sea of bugs in front of the barrier.

The next moment—

An indescribable primal vibration, as if originating from the dawn of the universe, erupted from Lin Muyang's palm! There was no light, no sound, but in everyone's perception, that patch of space seemed to be fiercely "clutched" by an invisible giant hand and then suddenly "released"!

"Vroom—!!!"

The silent shockwave spread in a sphere! Wherever it passed, space itself seemed to turn into a transparent, resilient gel, twisting and vibrating violently! Those bugs directly hit by the shockwave, no matter how hard their carapaces or how large their bodies, were completely decomposed and annihilated from the most minute structural level within a thousandth of a second!

As if erased from a picture by an eraser, they instantly turned into basic energy particles and vanished into nothingness! The bugs slightly on the edge were hit head-on as if by a ten-thousand-ton hammer; their carapaces shattered, their organs turned to mush, and they flew backward at a terrifying speed, crashing into the swarm behind them and triggering a series of collisions and chaos.

With just one strike, a huge, empty hole was carved out of the sea of bugs within a radius of hundreds of meters in front of the barrier! At least tens of thousands of bugs were wiped out in that one blow!

The angels struggling inside the barrier were completely shocked by this sudden, beyond-comprehension strike, and their offensive even faltered for a moment. The pressure on the barrier plummeted, and the frequency of its flickering slowed down.

Lin Muyang lowered his right hand, his face still calm. He looked at the stunned angels inside the barrier, especially a blond, blue-eyed male angel holding a broken light spear and standing tall at the very front despite his heavily damaged armor. His voice penetrated the barrier and the vacuum, clearly reaching the other's ears:

"Open the door. We are reinforcements."

The angel captain shuddered, coming back to his senses from the extreme shock. He looked at Lin Muyang, then at the group of beautiful girls behind him, each with a different temperament yet all exuding powerful auras, as well as a group of battle angels who were clearly summoned creatures. His eyes were full of disbelief and caution, but even more so, an excitement and hope of surviving a desperate situation.

He didn't hesitate for long—in such a desperate situation, any variable could be a turning point, let alone when the other party had shown crushing strength and had just cleared the way for them.

"Deactivate the barrier! Quick!" the angel captain ordered hoarsely, his voice gravelly.

The pale gold barrier flickered a few times and finally vanished like a soap bubble in a burst of energy turbulence.

Lin Muyang led the assault team across the floor covered in bug corpses and energy residue, walking up to the group of scarred, nearly exhausted Royal Guards. The strong smell of blood, the characteristic sour rot of the bugs, and the burnt smell of overused holy power mixed together, filling this corridor of death.

"Thank you for your support." The angel captain braced his body and gave Lin Muyang a standard angel military salute, though his movements were a bit staggering due to his injuries. His blue eyes stared intently at Lin Muyang, full of inquiry and questions: "You are...? I've never seen beings like you. And those angels, their power forms are very strange, yet their essence seems..."

"Those questions can wait until later," Lin Muyang interrupted him.