Chapter 243-4: Etherbreath World, Calamity Rampant (4) |
Among the destructive operations, the most excited were those players who had chosen the monster build growth route.
They transformed into war machines and rampaged through everything in the city.
The feeling of sweeping away like withered reeds, the exhilaration of crushing everything, was hard to experience in Monster World.
But in this small world, they finally found a stage of their own.
Facing the players rampaging in the city, the warriors in Lifebreath City emerged continuously, launching counterattacks again and again.
But this level of resistance, in the players’ eyes, was not even as good as the small-scale confrontations on the starter village battlefield.
The Etherbreath warriors’ bio armor made from spirit materials produced in the small world was far too weak and could not withstand a single blow.
It gave the players a feeling of dealing true damage the whole time. A casual strike could sweep a swath clean.
Only one thing displeased the players.
Players who descended later found that the city was full of fellow townsmen and promptly summoned vehicles to leave.
A feature of small world instances was that the explorable areas were vast, and there was no need at all to stubbornly stick to one location.
Going outside to explore and finding a new city to feast on alone was the most enjoyable mode.
Soon, all kinds of vehicles tore through the sky, carrying players away.
At that time, players without vehicles could only stare blankly or choose to run as their form of travel.
The new instance even attracted large numbers of newbie players from the Boundless Forest Domain region.
In Monster World, they were the lowest-tier noobs, but in the small world, they could also easily beat up the natives.
This included players who had embedded the Extraction Inherited soul.
The attribute boosts brought by Inherited soul upgrades were enough to let them transform into invincible supermen here, one punch to slay an Etherbreath warrior.
Under the players’ violent crushing, all the Etherbreath warriors in the city were slaughtered.
But the destruction was not over.
Just now, in a violent smash by a monster build player, a section of ground was smashed through.
As a result, they unexpectedly found a resource storage room and reaped a handsome resource gain.
The player who obtained the boon posted a bragging screenshot in the regional chat channel, making the other players green with envy.
This was also why players continued destroying the city.
A city was completely destroyed by players in just 2 hours.
Not a single intact building remained in the city.
Even the surface was smashed through by monster build players, who wanted to see whether there were still hidden resource boons beneath the surface that had not been discovered.
After all, the official post had said there were lots of hidden boons in the small world.
So as long as there was a sliver of possibility, the players would not let it go.
Digging thirty feet into the ground was the proper attitude toward hidden boons.
—
Sixty-eight kilometers north of Lifebreath City.
Tidebreath City.
The City Lord of Tidebreath City, who had just completed memory sac implantation surgery, wore a grave expression. Bending his renewed body to rise, he lowered his head to look at the warrior kneeling before him.
“You mean Lifebreath City was invaded by an unknown force and has already fallen?”
“City Lord, the information comes from the Etherbreath Network. It cannot be wrong. The invasion crisis has now spread to multiple cities.”
Hearing the words ‘Etherbreath Network,’ the information recorded in the memory sac surged up.
The Etherbreath Network his subordinate mentioned was the biological network system of the Etherbreath World, constructed based on the operating principles of biological neurons.
Each neuron was an independent biological unit capable of receiving and transmitting information.
These neurons communicated through bioelectrical signals, forming a vast network that covered the entire Etherbreath World.
Realizing the severity of the problem, the City Lord of Tidebreath City could not be bothered to tune his new body. He rose at once and said.
“Unfold city defenses. The entire city will enter a war-ready state. I will contact the Super Beast Legion right now.”
After the order was given, Tidebreath City’s defense system started up rapidly.
The entire city was like a giant beast awakening from slumber, letting out a dull roar.
Atop the central bio tower of the city, a blood-colored pillar of light shot into the sky and, upon reaching a certain height, extended outward in all directions.
The rapidly generated energy shield looked like a layer of translucent film, covering the entire Tidebreath City. Its surface was covered with fine vein-like lines resembling blood vessels that delivered energy to every corner of the defensive shield.
Hundreds of bio defense towers within the city also activated.
These structures twisted and grew in the air, their surfaces sprouting spikes, like giant beasts that had come alive and stood within the city.
The notified warriors quickly entered a state of war, donning bio armor, equipping claw blades, and putting on breathing masks.
All the city’s warriors walked out of the buildings and looked up at the clear sky.
Sunlight fell on Tidebreath City’s bio energy shield, reflecting a gentle glow.
But this tranquility carried a heavy oppression.
Time ticked by. Tension spread through the city. An invisible sense of pressure was like a great mountain pressing on their backs, making the city’s warriors extremely nervous.
Just then, a hoverboard trailing colorful streamers cut across the sky above the city.
But after flying out a short distance, the hoverboard slid back and hovered over the city.
Then a figure fell from the sky.
He finally landed on the city’s bastion.
The figure standing on the bastion slowly raised both hands, and a domain field suddenly expanded with him at the center.
Four elements of raging Inkflame, Thunderburst, Dissolve, and Ice Mist Breath interwove in the air, forming a massive vortex of energy.
At the center of the vortex, the figure shrouded in the four elemental energies brought an almost suffocating sense of oppression to the warriors in the city.
Rampaging elemental energy collided with the city’s defensive shield, crackling.
Crack.
Cracks appeared on the surface of the energy shield. The fine vein-like lines snapped rapidly under the impact of the raging elements.
The city’s warriors looked up at the sky, sweat seeping from their faces beneath the breathing masks.
“Wha… what kind of monster is that.” A Etherbreath warrior gazed up at the sky, muttering in a low voice, unable to hide the fear in his tone.
The city’s defense system had actually been damaged by a single combat unit among the invading force.
This was a defense system forged by gathering the strength of the entire city.
Hearing his murmur, the warriors around him subconsciously clenched their fists, eyes locked on the sky, their breathing growing heavier.
The energy vortex continued to expand. Inkflame, Thunderburst, Dissolve, and Ice Mist Breath were like four ferocious beasts, madly tearing at Tidebreath City’s defensive bastion.
Every impact was accompanied by a deafening boom and the sound of the shield breaking.
Every detonation felt like a stomp on the hearts of the city’s warriors, filling them with boundless despair.
They knew that in the face of such an existence, any resistance was futile.
A deep sense of powerlessness and despair flooded their hearts like a tide.
The sky was still clear, yet it felt more terrifyingly dark than ever.
Rumble.
At last, with a thunderous crash, the energy shield shattered completely.
Like a pierced bubble, it turned into countless fragments and rained down from the sky.
All the warriors’ hearts sank to rock bottom.
The figure shrouded by the four elements had no more obstacles. Following the drifting debris, he dropped straight down from the sky.
The raging elemental domain slammed into the ground, as if the firmament had collapsed and the earth were shaking.
Boom.
Four torrents of elements, Inkflame, Thunderburst, Dissolve, and Ice Mist Breath, erupted in an instant.
Like four ancient ferocious beasts that had broken their bonds, they swept across the shrouded area with irresistible force.
Inkflame was like the karmic fire from hell. Wherever it passed, everything was burned to ash. Even the air was ignited, emitting shrill explosions.
Thunderburst became countless electric serpents, madly roaming through the sky, rending the heavens and smashing the earth. Every bolt of lightning carried the power to obliterate everything, splitting swaths of buildings into fragments.
The invisible acid released by Dissolve corroded and melted everything it touched. There was no material in the city that could resist this corrosion.
Ice Mist Breath froze the drifting debris in mid air. At a glance, it was as if time had stopped at that moment.
The four elements interwove, forming a feast of elemental torrents that moved with this Calamity-like figure.
Like doomsday descending, they gradually devoured the entire city.
Tidebreath City’s streets cracked under the impact of the elemental torrents. Buildings collapsed under the ravages of the elements. The whole city howled under the power unleashed by this Calamity figure.
The Etherbreath warriors did not even have the courage to approach the elemental domain.
But that figure had no intention of letting them go.
When the warriors in the city tried to withdraw toward the city gate, the figure who looked like a demon in their eyes summoned a dazzling hoverboard and flew back into the sky.
As he did so, he raised both hands to the heavens, and a jet-black fireball formed above his head as he ascended. Its size expanded rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, black arcs coiling over its surface.
In the blink of an eye it became a black sun, releasing surging waves of energy.
A chuunibyou line resounded over the city at this moment.
“How many floors does it take to carry a bag of rice?”
With that, the raging ink-black fireball gradually grew larger under the despairing gaze of the Etherbreath warriors.
Only the sound of the howling wind and the pounding of their hearts remained in their ears. Fear spread wildly in their hearts.