Chapter 94 – The True Trial

“Ding!”

“Prompt: ‘Specter • Red Robe’ has advanced to Rank Zero, Level 8.”

Crimson blood converged, expelling the dross and absorbing the essence.

Unnoticed, the specter—whose dress had initially only been stained red as if dyed with blood—now had her entire garment soaked in a bloody hue. Her entire spirit form transformed from semi-transparent to remarkably solid, almost like a living person… if not for her lack of visible toes beneath the red dress, her floating mid-air posture, and her slightly translucent head.

Specter Red Robe had mutated!

And she had acquired a new skill: ‘Blood Robe.’

This was an advanced skill that integrated offense and defense. Defensively, it allowed her to use the blood robe as a shield to block and neutralize enemy energy attacks, particularly those like fire and lightning that typically countered spirit entities.

Even if the blood robe faded from evaporation, Red Robe’s spirit form within would remain unharmed.

Offensively, the blood robe could serve as a spear, an extended medium. At this moment, Red Robe combined the ‘Tear’ skill with the blood robe, unleashing a massive blood claw several meters long, interwoven with red and black, its power significantly heightened compared to before.

Red Robe might not be able to create skills on her own, but she could mutate and awaken.

With this transformation, even her intelligence had notably improved.

So, where was Rakshasa’s opportunity?

…

After the battle concluded, the first task was resurrection.

Undead General raised his hand, strands of black smoke emanating from his palm and drifting in all directions. It was as if he were summoning spirits, reviving the fallen Skeleton Warriors and Specters—whose spirit forms had vanished, leaving only residual crystalline fragments—bringing them back to life.

Otherwise, how would Lord Mu dare to let the Specter cavalry unit charge alone into the monster-infested mire?

Mu Yuan had firmly secured the assistance from the goblin allies. Outside the territory, the number of goblins had thinned considerably, but various monsters continued to emerge from the Crimson Mist, assaulting the territory.

The monster tides were becoming increasingly frequent.

So much so that Mu Yuan couldn’t find a break to clear the monster corpses outside or collect the spoils of war.

But this wasn’t a bad thing; the loot wasn’t going to grow legs and run away.

“The Crimson Mist is no longer dense and is starting to thin. Based on this, the trial might only have a few hours left.”

“I’m probably secure. In the recent goblin monster tide, there were no shortage of commanders, warriors, shamans, and all sorts of strange, powerful monsters.”

Lord Mu felt somewhat confident.

Coupled with the monsters’ increased enthusiasm, the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward as he took small sips of coffee.

Sure enough, one hour, two hours passed… Tianyuan Territory remained as stable as Mount Tai, firmly at the top of the leaderboard, unshakable by anyone.

There were only minor changes in the top ten, with the fourth-ranked Tide-Calling Territory surpassing Sky Thunder Territory to claim third place.

“Good, just maintain this until the end…”

Crack—

About a dozen meters behind the earthen wall, the ground suddenly bulged upward in segments, as if something beneath was continuously striking it. The raised earth cracked, fissures spreading with a series of snaps, until it finally gave way with a bang, exploding.

Amid the flying dirt and rocks, from the breached hole, a serpentine figure emerged.Only half of its exposed body was seven to eight meters long, with a bulging abdomen. Its massive, flower-like mouthparts at the top opened and closed, “vomiting” clumps of mucus-covered objects.

The objects squirmed and quickly rose.

They were monsters, one after another.

Humanoid monsters.

「Burrow Assassin (Common ★★★): Tier 0 Level 9」×9

「Minotaur Warrior (Rare ★): Tier 1 Level 3」×2

「Night Hunter (Rare ★★): Tier 1 Level 7」×1

And the specially marked ‘Burrow Worm,’ which seemed to be a biological troop transport.

At this moment, far more than one Burrow Worm had appeared. In four visible areas, the ground bulged and massive worms emerged, vomiting out waves of monster figures.

They were clearly well-prepared, entirely different from the goblins that had come bearing blessings earlier.

Of the five Burrow Worms, three breached outside the earthen walls, while the other two broke directly into the territory’s interior. The strongest among them was the Night Hunter, covered in sticky fluid, curvaceous yet ghostly and terrifying.

Her eyes were similarly crimson, but she seemed to retain some intelligence.

She immediately targeted a nearby Silver Slime, thrusting her dark-hued dagger as if popping a giant bubble.

Then she flashed past an Imperial Guard, her blade splattering blood.

Unstoppable and undefendable.

She was too fast and fought without honor.

Boom—!

The ground suddenly trembled, rapidly approaching from a distance. The Hurricane Falcon detected a horde of monsters, larger than before, surging from the northwest. They appeared only one to two kilometers from the territory.

Why hadn’t the War Falcon spotted them during reconnaissance earlier?

With a large monster horde approaching from outside and elite monsters wreaking havoc within, the situation had suddenly become perilous.

Mu Yuan: “…”

He just wanted to maintain his ranking—why was there a new storm?

Deadbone immediately commanded the Imperial Guards and Skeleton Warriors to intercept the Minotaur Warriors and Burrow Assassins that had breached the territory.

But they couldn’t stop the ghostly Night Hunter.

She seemed well aware of Deadbone’s threat and gave no opening, charging straight toward the center of the territory. Arrows and thrown spears from Sharpshooters and Skeleton Warriors were easily dodged or deflected.

Aside from the mucus, she didn’t even gather dust.

This was the strongest enemy Tianyuan Territory had faced since its establishment, far surpassing the previous ogres.

A ‘Professional Tier Late Stage’ expert!

Her crimson, snake-like pupils narrowed with cold malice, fixed on Great Lord Mu Yuan standing at the third-floor window of the Mage Tower, and she sped toward him.

Whoosh—

Seventeen on the watchtower drew her bow and swiftly fired two Triple Shots. Six arrows traced mysterious arcs through the air, like six linked shining stars, firmly locking onto the black-leather-clad hunter and constantly shifting trajectories.

The Night Hunter’s expression shifted slightly; she realized she couldn’t evade them completely.

She brandished her blade, clinking and clattering as she deflected and severed the arrows—hard to avoid but not powerful enough.

Then she surged forward as if teleporting, leaving a series of afterimages.

In the next moment,

Boom boom boom boom—!

One Bone Spear after another, like cannonballs, chased her tail, relentlessly crashing down and blasting out craters, yet still falling just short.At this moment, the Night Hunter was only two to three hundred meters away from the Mage Tower.

She seemed unstoppable!

It was time for Lord Mu to take action.

Mu Yuan held his breath, his gaze locked firmly through the Lord’s vision on the figure speeding by, leaving trails of afterimages in her wake.

In an instant, he connected with the surrounding Arrow Towers, launching swift and precise arrows.

He predicted, he blocked paths, the arrows forming a net-like trap.

However, the destructive power of these arrows might not yet match Seventeen’s skill-enhanced attacks, making it difficult to deal with this Night Hunter who excelled in speed.

She was incredibly fast.

But had she ever witnessed the speed of lightning?

“Thunder, come!”

Mu Yuan murmured softly.

Long before Deadbone and Seventeen began pursuing and shooting at this enemy, he had already ordered the distant Thunder Coil Tower to begin charging.

One after another, bolts of lightning crackled and surged upward along silver rails, ultimately converging at the tower’s pinnacle, condensing into increasingly dazzling and brilliant thunderous radiance.

Aiming at the figure flickering with afterimages but unable to escape the Lord’s perspective, the lightning crashed down heavily.

A pillar of bluish-purple light shot skyward.

The dark-skinned, curvaceous Night Hunter turned to ashes within the thunderous radiance.

(End of Chapter)