The soil surrounding the massive crater, spanning tens of thousands of miles around the imperial capital, was entirely a brilliant, lustrous glazed color.
This was the peculiar land scorched into existence by Chen Luo's flames.
While nuclear bombs were powerful, that was only relative to humans.
In reality, a direct nuclear explosion on the surface of the planet could barely even scratch the surface of this colossal blue sphere.
Only by calculating the blast site, employing clever methods, and achieving terrifying dose amplification could nuclear bombs barely alter some terrain.
However, the basin before them, a thousand meters deep, was already a terrifying spectacle that humans of the current era would struggle to create with explosives.
And all of this was merely Chen Luo's preliminary test after stepping into the Abyss level.
Chen Luo, suspended in mid-air, gazed at the smooth, mirror-like ground beneath his feet. No more undead skeletons crawled out from the unknown darkness.
The skeletons, which had reached a peak of hundreds of millions, had all perished, leaving not even ashes behind.
Ten colossal fists, burning with flames, hung high in the sky.
Bathed in the light, Chen Luo exuded a formidable aura.
"Stop these pointless tricks! Hurry up and come out! Fight me head-on!!"
The great tomb in the distance seemed close, yet when Chen Luo attempted to fly towards it, he found he could not approach it by even a single step.
No matter how he flew, the distance to the tomb remained unchanged.
It seemed to exist in this world, yet also seemed impossible to truly touch.
Hearing Chen Luo's words, a cold voice echoed through the space around him:
"Tricks? Ignorant human! The battle has only just begun!!"
"Undead Calamity—Death Legion!!!"
A beam of black light suddenly shot out from the silhouette of the great tomb!
Within the ground, originally scorched smooth as a mirror, countless black energies, as if drawn by an unseen force, began to manifest and converge towards the black light!
The sun seemed to be stained black. As this pervasive black energy appeared, it rapidly gathered and condensed under the influence of the black light.
In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of pitch-black skeletons slowly coalesced upon the glazed ground.
Each skeleton was about five meters tall, appearing to be cast from obsidian.
But upon closer inspection, it was revealed that this blackness was actually formed by countless faces contorted in agonizing screams.
Their sheer density made them appear black.
As the black energy poured in, the aura of these skeletons grew increasingly terrifying.
Elite—Lord—Nightmare—Calamity—Inferno!
The aura of each colossal skeleton had now firmly entered the Inferno level!
Each colossal skeleton, merely by standing there, seemed to allow glimpses of countless beings wailing and crying to flicker upon them.
[Corpse of Resentment (Second Tier Inferno)]: A special creation of the SSS-rank special skill "Undead Calamity."
The undead are a race of skeletons and souls, but by nature inclined towards negative energy and inherently hating all living beings, they have chosen to make enemies of all life.
The broken bones and wailing souls of countless beings have become the source of the undead race's exponential growth.
And when the King issues a command, the ordinary undead, seemingly his subjects, completely lose their right to choose. They can only, under the King's ambition, have their individuality erased and be transformed into eternally resentful, eternally wailing spirits of the dead.
When the Corpses of Resentment appeared upon the land, the true ferocity of the Undead Calamity was revealed!
...
The cold voice now carried a hint of excitement:
"Behold, these magnificent creations filled with beautiful hatred!! Under my great power, these ordinary undead are also qualified to achieve a leap in their life strata!"
"Complete energy conversion! This is the true great leap in life class!!!"
"Such undead! Are the apex of all races!!"
Theodore's words were somewhat abrupt, but Chen Luo understood their meaning.
When the millions of skeletal knights before had been silently swallowed by the land of death, Chen Luo had assumed the Undead King had recalled them to conserve strength.
But now, it seemed this madman had personally killed millions of the undead in that instant.
And it was likely that this madman, through some unknown means, had transformed all the undead within the imperial capital's range into pure death energy and soul grievances.
This was why Chen Luo had not received any kill notifications until now!
This was why Chen Luo saw the "Corpse of Resentment" as merely some kind of creation!
Because within the entire imperial capital, the only enemy present was the Lord of the Undead, "Theodore"!
All other undead had been killed by this so-called King himself!
Thinking of this, Chen Luo could not comprehend Theodore's mindset:
"Aren't you their King? Ulquiorra! Gallitio! Don't these undead have intelligence?!"
"As their King, why did you kill these undead who worshipped you?!"
The cold voice seemed to hear an amusing joke:
"Hehehe... Naive human! Are you mocking me?"
"I am one! I am all! As long as I exist! The undead will forever exist!"
"Everything else is merely sustenance on my path to advancement!!"
"I, Theodore, King of the Undead, seize this once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity presented by the start of this game! To achieve Tier Three! And lead the undead race towards true eternity!"
"Ulquiorra? Gallitio? These fools who haven't broken through to Tier Two in tens of millions of years! What right do they have to share eternity with me?!"
Black energy slowly coalesced in the air, and a burning black eye suddenly formed in mid-air, glaring at Chen Luo with malice.
"Human! You are already Tier Two! And your power is immense! You even make me feel threatened!"
"Under my power, these weak beings can also enjoy Tier Two strength!"
"And the price is to completely lose their individuality, and their souls to endure forever in agony! What a minuscule price!"
Hearing Theodore's words, Chen Luo's anger could no longer be contained.
With a flash of light in the air!
Chen Luo, wielding a long sword forged from starlight, instantly sliced the pitch-black eye, filled with malice, into two!
The power of starlight clashed and annihilated the black flames on the eyeball. From within the gradually dissipating black eye, a hint of mockery emerged:
"Heh... Are you perhaps pitying them? But the reason I killed them was to deal with you!"
Hearing Theodore's words, Chen Luo suddenly looked up:
"Pity? I just hate that you touched my spoils! You've robbed me of the fun of exterminating your entire race!"
"But it doesn't matter! After I kill you! I'm sure your drop will satisfy me!"
"Incompetent skeleton who calls himself a king!"
Hearing Chen Luo's words, a trace of venom flashed in Theodore's nearly dissipated black eye:
"Then let me witness your power! Arrogant human!!"
*Dong!!!*
Tens of thousands of "Corpses of Resentment" stepped forward in unison.
Countless vengeful eyes slowly grew upon the black skeletons, staring fixedly in Chen Luo's direction.