The super-giant protective shield covering the entire Imperial Capital, even more powerful than the one over Starfire Main City.
But at this moment, this shield, capable of easily withstanding nuclear blasts, flickered erratically.
Even more bizarrely, the millions of Candlelights that had been suspended in the sky, strengthening the shield, instantly burned out, as if struck by an unimaginably terrifying blow.
A deep, grand melody suddenly reached the ears of those who had been joking moments before.
It sounded like countless voices singing in unison, like countless instruments playing, yet the melody was incredibly somber, causing everyone who heard it to feel an involuntary, deep-seated oppression.
And as the millions of Candlelights instantly ignited and extinguished, the melody seemed to grow louder.
At the city gates, the gazes of the people became vacant.
Whether it was the Zero-tier former Imperial Capital soldiers or the First-tier powerhouses from Starfire City, all stood frozen in place.
The melody seemed to resonate within everyone's minds, conjuring within them an image of a black curtain being drawn open.
Within the curtain lay unfathomable, endless darkness, and this melody flowed from that darkness.
The volume of the melody grew, and terrifying cracks began to appear across the giant protective shield above the city.
Within the Imperial Capital, be it the soldiers at the city gates, the generals in the command center, or the civilians in the rear shelters,
all stood like inanimate dolls, and as the melody in their minds grew increasingly piercing and sharp, black blood began to flow from everyone's eyes.
If anyone could see their system panels, they would find terrifying judgments constantly refreshing.
[Warning! Oppressed by a high-level existence! Mental stability decreasing!!]
[Warning! Influenced by a high-level existence! Physical stability decreasing!!]
If the melody were allowed to continue playing in everyone's minds, the people of this city would undergo a horrifying transformation.
At this moment, four powerful figures, shimmering with the light of power, charged into the Imperial Capital's protective shield.
The anomalies within the city were instantly observed by the four.
The situation was extremely critical. Three of them immediately dived towards the mountains of Candlelights on the ground, frantically igniting new ones.
Meanwhile, Hu Tao, clad in silver hair and white robes, sat high in the sky, the pure white radiance around her surging intensely.
Her originally bright and pure eyes, accentuated by the boundless light, made the maiden appear quite sacred.
A voice, akin to singing yet also like a lament, emanated from Hu Tao's lips, instantly reaching the ears of everyone in the city:
"Great Edict! Subjugate the Outer Path!!"
Bright, sacred radiance erupted from the city, originating from Hu Tao.
The power of the Purgatory high-tier was unleashed without reservation, instantly pouring down.
Within the light, the eerie songs in everyone's ears gradually weakened, and the black curtain conjured in their minds began to blur.
But in the next moment,
the black blood flowing from everyone's eyes transformed into streaks of mournful black light,
forming a black curtain between the city and Hu Tao, resisting the holy light descending from the sky.
The eerie melody then truly began to play in reality.
At this moment, the chorus of what seemed like billions of beings became clear.
It was not a song, but the wails and curses of billions of beings, an irrepressible hatred towards the world and all things.
Accompanied by the melody composed of curses, the black curtain, from bottom to top, began to push back Hu Tao's power.
Instantly, Hu Tao's delicate face turned pale; even she could not withstand the terrifying pressure.
However, on the ground, three streaks of light flashed rapidly, and the mountains of Candlelights were visibly diminishing at an astonishing rate.
*Whoosh!*
The starlight of the Candlelights ignited from the ground, and countless Candlelights, like myriad stars, slowly ascended.
In an instant, billions of Candlelights, like a flowing river of stars, forcefully broke through the blockade of the black curtain.
Amidst the light of the Candlelights rising from the earth and the holy radiance descending from the sky, the black curtain, emitting the eerie melody, slowly dissipated.
As billions of Candlelights ascended into the high heavens, the cracks in the protective shield quietly vanished, and the eerie melody completely disappeared.
The people who had been frozen in shock regained their consciousness.
Their memories of what had just happened were even quite hazy.
Under the residual power of the high-level existence, the weaker ones didn't even know how they had died.
Seeing that the protective shield had stabilized and the malevolent aura within the city had completely vanished, Hu Tao, her face pale, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But only then did she realize that her power had been completely depleted during the recent confrontation.
Deprived of energy support, Hu Tao could only cry out in alarm as she plummeted towards the ground.
Instantly, a beam of icy light shot up from the earth.
Su Xiao steadily caught the falling Hu Tao, and looking at the girl's somewhat pale face, she patted the child's head like an elder sister.
"Thanks to your power, otherwise, by the time we ignited enough Candlelights, ordinary people might have already been harmed."
Hu Tao smiled shyly, then looked worriedly towards the outside of the protective shield.
"Sister Xiao, what we resisted just now was only the residual aftermath. I wonder how Chen Luo is doing?"
"The monster over there is probably much stronger than the Lich we faced before."
Upon hearing this, Su Xiao, though her eyes still held a trace of worry, comforted her.
"Don't worry, he's Chen Luo. He will definitely win!"
————
Outside the protective shield,
the summer sun shone upon the devastated land!
While the four legion commanders stabilized the rear,
Chen Luo forged soldiers with divine fire and, with the Blade of Flame, completely vanquished the Corpse of the Dead!
In an instant, the ten Corpses of the Dead, which had reached the limit of Purgatory, were once again reduced to ashes by the brilliant starlight.
And the golden blade energy that had cleaved through a hundred bones shot straight towards the black curtain.
If Su Xiao and the others were present, they would have recognized this black curtain as identical to the one that had appeared above the Imperial Capital, intercepting Hu Tao.
However, the difference was that what Hu Tao and the others faced was merely an illusory ripple of power.
What the blade energy was about to strike was the actual, fully unfurled curtain.
Within the darkness of the curtain, the eerie melody grew increasingly resonant, and countless resentments and curses seemed to manifest as tangible entities, playing out in the darkness.
As the Corpse of the Dead were turned to ashes by Chen Luo's manipulation of starlight,
and as the golden blade energy was about to cleave through the curtain,
the cursed melody within the curtain reached an unbearable crescendo!!
*Buzz!*
The golden blade energy, capable of cleaving anything, shot forward directly.
The pitch-black darkness of the curtain suddenly rippled like water.
A black-armored hand slowly emerged from the water-like darkness.
Moving with extreme slowness, the hand then steadily grasped the sharp golden blade energy!
*Bang!*
With a gentle clench of the hand, this blade energy, which had cleaved through a hundred bones, shattered into countless points of light!