Within Xinghuo City,
Ten thousand survivors gathered in the plaza.
Beneath the candlelight that illuminated the sky, they looked out at the darkness beyond the city walls, their eyes filled with worry and unease.
"Teacher Wei, will City Lord Brother come back safely?" Xiao Ming, still an elementary school student, asked softly, tugging anxiously at Wei Dayong's hand.
Hearing the question from his former student, the bald Wei Dayong lowered his head and vigorously rubbed the child who had rescued him from the snow:
"Don't worry, our City Lord is the strongest! He can defeat any monster! So the City Lord will definitely return safely!"
Upon hearing Wei Dayong's words, Xiao Ming's eyes lit up. He turned and ran towards his anxious companions:
"Everyone! Everyone! Teacher Monk said that handsome City Lord Brother will be alright!!!"
"Xiao Hong! Stop crying! Teacher Monk is a Legion Commander, he wouldn't lie to us!"
Wei Dayong's face darkened as he watched Xiao Ming, who called him Teacher Wei when it suited him and Teacher Monk otherwise:
"This brat."
But as he turned to look at the darkness outside the city, Wei Dayong's heart sank.
Even though he was no longer augmented by Legion power and was merely at elite level strength, he could still clearly sense a formidable, malevolent force expanding in the distant west!
"Boss... please don't be alright..."
Like Wei Dayong, the ten thousand soldiers who had returned from the battlefield all remained within the plaza, waiting anxiously.
Suddenly!
BOOM!!!!
A deafening sound erupted from the light barrier!
Wei Dayong looked in the direction of the sound.
But upon seeing the source of the noise, Wei Dayong's pupils contracted, and he cried out in shock:
"Boss?!"
Yes, it was Chen Luo, who had collided with the barrier, that caused the tremendous sound.
However, Chen Luo's condition could by no means be described as good.
His battered body was covered in a corrosive, dark power.
These agonizing forces were continuously eroding Chen Luo's body.
And upon closer inspection, Chen Luo's body could only be described as tragic.
Both legs and his right arm were completely gone.
His bare upper body was crisscrossed with wounds.
One eye on his once handsome face was completely blinded.
All the survivors who saw Chen Luo's current miserable state were left bewildered.
The legion commanders reacted the fastest. Hutao grabbed Su Xiao's arm and cried out:
"Quick! Take me up there!! I need to heal Chen Luo!!!!"
Su Xiao gazed at Chen Luo's mangled body, her mind racing.
But ultimately, emotion overcame reason. She gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing with blue light.
Just as she was about to pick up Hutao and rush towards Chen Luo, a dark figure abruptly appeared beside him.
...
The Great Lich surveyed the panicked survivors within the light barrier with amusement:
"This is your territory? Only a little over a hundred thousand people, how cramped."
"However, there are quite a few children. I favor children's brains the most; although the information volume is not much, they are tender enough."
"You seem to be quite popular. I see a few people even wanting to rush up to save you."
Immobile...
Within the city, everyone was unable to move...
Not restricted by any skills, nor controlled by any power.
The moment they saw this dark figure, their primal instincts clearly told them not to move!
That dark figure, though appearing to be merely a dried corpse draped in a robe,
was only human-sized compared to the terrifying monsters that could be as large as mountains.
Yet, as it stood there, it was like the embodiment of death itself.
The absolute disparity in power caused everyone's primal instincts to blare alarms.
Do not move! Stay put!
Otherwise! You will die!
Cold sweat poured from their bodies. Survivors with weaker constitutions even collapsed to the ground.
This was a creature of Abyssal level. Even through the protective light, its mere presence was enough to plunge the weak into uncontrollable fear.
The fear of humanity brought Ulquiorra immense pleasure. It couldn't help but laugh maniacally:
"Hahaha! That's more like it!! Why should the weak resist?!"
"They should be like these lambs, cowering on the ground in fear! Awaiting the judgment of the strong!!"
As its excitement grew, the Great Lich Ulquiorra suddenly turned and roared at Chen Luo:
"And you, trash who doesn't respect strength, have disappointed the great Abyssal Lich's recognition!!!"
But the moment it turned, a fist of flesh and blood, burning with starlight, slammed into its desiccated face!
...
An agony like being sliced by a thousand blades coursed through his entire body.
The pain was particularly intense where his right eye had been gouged out.
But the moment he collided with the light barrier, Chen Luo knew where he was.
This was the rear!
This was the home he had built in the apocalypse!
These were the people who trusted him!
He suppressed the pain with his will, and his depleted spiritual energy propelled his body to deliver a final fiery punch at the monster.
In his only remaining golden dragon eye, there was a resolve to die.
But,
*Bang!*
Flames mingled with flesh and blood, scattering in all directions.
And Ulquiorra, the one who had been attacked, slowly retracted a single finger.
Its indifferent, dark pupils quietly gazed at Chen Luo, whose limbs were all destroyed.
"So weak, why do you still resist?"
"Have you not yet recognized the gap between us from everything that just happened? Human!"
Chen Luo's eyes dimmed.
Abyssal level was a complete monster. Even a Great Lich, whose physical body was not strong, could completely crush him.
His surprise attack of starlight had been torn apart by this monster, and what followed was a complete massacre.
His legs were torn apart, his eyes gouged out.
He was pinned to the dark earth and dragged along frantically.
And with every attack he suffered, the aura of the underworld would spread and erode him.
The S-class healing spell could, with a low probability, repair severed limbs, but the aura of the underworld eroded even the healing power itself.
The pain made Chen Luo's consciousness blur, but this soul-deep agony prevented even shock.
Only when Chen Luo collided with the barrier, feeling his companions so close within the barrier,
did Chen Luo muster his spirit and deliver his final punch.
However, Chen Luo's full-force punch,
was easily blocked by a single finger from the Great Lich.
The Great Lich grabbed Chen Luo by the neck with one hand, gazed at his mangled body, and revealed a cruel smile:
"Heh heh! Insect, I've thought of an interesting game."