Chapter 88: The Roar of the Myriad Demons Devouring Heaven Array

As the dark shadow at the base of the tree stirred, Shen Yan withdrew his hand from Luo Li’s chest. The warmth of her heartbeat still lingered in his palm, but there was no time to dwell on it now. With three swift taps of his fingertips in the air, his remaining Spiritual Power erupted in a ripple, reactivating the warning runes.

The System Interface flickered like a lightbulb about to lose power: 【Warning: Mental Power remaining at three percent. Recommend immediately terminating all operations.】

“Shut up,” he muttered under his breath, biting the tip of his tongue to force himself alert. In his mind, he typed a command: “Load the preset protocol for the ‘Myriad Demons Devouring Heaven Array.’”

The ground trembled faintly as a dark-red talisman line emerged from beneath the fallen leaves, winding like a serpent. Luo Li pushed herself up against the ancient tree, her fox tail sweeping away the rotting leaves. When she saw the talisman line, she sneered, “When did you bury this thing here?”

“Last time you insisted I didn’t understand Demon Clan traditions, so I casually copied your ancestral battle Formation Diagram and modified a version,” Shen Yan gasped for breath. “Now it’s called—‘Group Buff v2.3,’ supporting remote hot updates.”

She didn’t reply, only raised her hand, bit the tip of her finger, and let a drop of essence blood fall onto the intersection of the talisman lines.

In an instant, the entire earth seemed to come alive.

Hum—

A low resonance rose from deep underground, like thousands of war drums being struck simultaneously. The drop of blood quickly seeped into the soil, spreading along the talisman lines and awakening one dormant Formation Eye after another. In the distant forest, Demon Clan warriors on guard abruptly looked up, their bodies now adorned with flowing silver light patterns, as if awakened by some ancient power.

Shen Yan sat cross-legged, pressing his hands against the ground as the Terminal Interface scrolled frantically with code. He embedded the program into the Demon Power resonance frequency and activated full-band broadcast mode.

“Brothers and sisters,” he muttered softly while debugging parameters, “it’s welfare time. Free buffs have been delivered. Please check your inbox.”

Almost at the same moment, the Demon Power within over seven hundred Demon Clan warriors began to cycle and accelerate automatically, with muscle strength, reaction speed, and perception range all significantly enhanced. A System Notice popped up: 【API Interface connection successful. A total of seven hundred and thirty-two nodes connected. ‘Myriad Demons Devouring Heaven Array’ activated.】

Luo Li stood atop the tangled roots of the ancient tree, tilting her head back and letting out a clear, piercing fox cry. It was the opening note of the Demon Clan’s oldest war song, unheard for a century.

As her voice spread, the light patterns of the formation pulsed in rhythm, as if the entire Western Wastes were responding to her call.

“Done,” she said, coughing lightly as she landed, traces of blood still fresh at the corner of her mouth. “Your turn to perform.”

Before her words faded, the sky abruptly tore open.

A figure strode through the void, each step twisting the air into chaotic data streams. His black-gold combat attire fluttered sharply, a blood-colored scythe held horizontally before him. The eyes beneath the half-bronze mask were cold, devoid of any semblance of life.

Ye Shi’er had arrived.

He didn’t even glance at Luo Li, his gaze locked directly on Shen Yan. “The code you write always likes to overcomplicate things.”

In the next instant, the scythe swung out.

A pitch-black fissure tore through the sky, aimed straight for Shen Yan’s vital point. Wherever it passed, Spiritual Energy collapsed, and even space was sliced into “404”-shaped afterimages.

At the critical moment, Shen Yan slammed his hand against the ground and shouted, “Recursion Trap—Initiate!”

The ground erupted with a deafening explosion, countless translucent demonic shadows gushing forth from beneath, layering upon each other to form a massive vortex of Data. These shadows were not physical entities but coalesced from the repaired Memory Fragments of the ancient Formation, each carrying remnants of killing intent and Obsession.

The Scythe slashed into the vortex, its power continuously replicated, decomposed, and rebounded, as if trapped in an infinite Loop of deadlock.

“You think these petty tricks can stop me?” Ye Shi’er sneered, flicking his wrist as the scythe transformed into a chain-blade, tearing through the vortex’s core by sheer force.

But in that brief opening, two figures had already soared into the air.

Luo Li’s Nine Tails unfurled, transforming into nine blazing chains that lashed toward the scythe’s trajectory; Shen Yan’s Silver-Thread Soft Armor shimmered with an eerie blue light as he condensed a sword of light formed from Code Flow in his hand, its blade constantly refreshing with running Logs.

“You cut me once, I’ll Decompile you ten times,” he grinned. “Welcome to Patch hell.”

Their combined assault merged sword light with foxfire, carving an arc through the darkness.

Boom—!

The metal mask shattered with a sharp crack, one fragment grazing Shen Yan’s cheek, leaving a shallow bloodstain; another piece struck the ground with a crisp clatter.

Ye Shi’er retreated several yards in a flash, one hand pressed against his exposed cheek, his knuckles white with tension. He stared down at the mask fragment in his palm, his voice low and distorted: “The game… has only just begun.”

As Shen Yan landed, his knees buckled, nearly sending him to the ground before Luo Li caught him.

“Can you still move?” she asked.

“Yes,” he wiped the blood from his face. “But my CPU is about to burn out.”

She said nothing, only slung his arm over her shoulder. Her nine tails trembled slightly yet remained upright, fixed firmly on the figure opposite them.

In the distance, the assembled demons had already formed their Formation, the glowing patterns on their bodies still shimmering as they turned their gaze in unison. They understood nothing of Code or Protocols, but they knew this—someone had spoken their language, awakening their slumbering battle spirit.

Ye Shi’er stood amidst the fractured shadows of branches, slowly raising his scythe as black mist began to churn around him.

“You think you’ve won?” His voice was hoarse. “You don’t even know what you’ve written.”

Leaning against Luo Li’s shoulder, Shen Yan managed a strained smile. “I do know. What I wrote is—anyone who touches those close to me will pay the price.”

After speaking, he secretly traced several Runes in the air, burying one final defensive Program deep into the soil.

It was an easter egg he had prepared long ago: 【If the caster’s life force falls below five percent, automatically trigger ‘Counterattack · Self-Destruct Level’】.

He had even forgotten its existence—it was something he had casually added during a late-night Debug session three months ago.

A pure stroke of unintended luck.

Ye Shi’er suddenly moved.

In a flash, he retreated instead of attacking, his scythe carving a strange sigil into the ground as the surrounding air instantly solidified.

Luo Li’s pupils contracted: “He’s Refactoring the battlefield Logic!”

Shen Yan’s heart tightened as his Terminal suddenly flashed a Warning: 【High-Level Permission invocation Detected, suspected Cross-Dimensional Protocol intrusion】.

Before he could react, a tremendous force struck from behind—the Formation’s own Energy had begun to reverse flow!

“Damn it!” He shoved Luo Li. “Get away—”

Before he could finish, a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.

The System Interface flickered wildly: 【Core Protocol tampered with, Counterattack Program about to misidentify target】.

With his last ounce of strength, he input a termination Command in his mind.

But before his finger could fall, a warm hand suddenly grasped his wrist.

It was Luo Li.

She had leaned back in at some point, her forehead pressed against his temple, her voice soft: “You said this program requires lifelong maintenance.”

Then, she actively pressed her hand onto the seal about to detonate.

“Are you insane?!” he roared.

“I’m not insane,” she smiled faintly. “I just don’t want to hear you reciting Code alone until dawn anymore.”

In that instant, the counter-damage Program detected the dual-contact Signal, judging it as “Shared Damage-Bearing Mode,” reducing the power by ninety percent and redirecting the impact toward Ye Shi’er’s location.

Boom—!

The shockwave sent fallen leaves flying, forcing Ye Shi’er to retreat as the black mist dissipated.

Shen Yan slumped to the ground, still clutching the incomplete termination Command. He looked up at her and saw her palm already charred black, yet she was still smiling at him.

“Don’t do this next time…” His voice was hoarse beyond recognition.

“Then don’t leave such terrible Bugs next time,” she snorted, shaking her hand as nine tails rose once more. “Otherwise, I’ll really throw you into the demon-refining furnace.”

He wanted to laugh, but the movement tugged at his wounds, causing him to cough up another mouthful of blood.

In the distance, fragments of the mask lay quietly in the soil, reflecting the fading light.

Ye Shi’er’s figure had retreated to the edge of the forest, one hand brushing over his cheek as he murmured something.

The wind was too strong to make it out.

But Shen Yan knew—this guy wouldn’t leave just like that.

Leaning against the ancient tree, he slowly closed his eyes. The Terminal was still flashing: 【Emotional Synchronization Rate has reached ninety-nine percent. Create shared Memory region?】

This time, he didn’t click “No.”

Instead, he reached out and gently grasped the frighteningly scorching hand beside him.

(End of Chapter)