Chapter 584: Chen Chu Steps onto the Frontlines, the Battle Escalates (I)

Boom!

A burst of blood-red light erupted and turned into a towering three-faced, six-armed phantom behind Alexis.

A vast and awe-inspiring aura of supreme dominance then spread across the battlefield, exuding an oppressive force that destroyed the surrounding void. The sheer weight of the intangible pressure caused the very fabric of space to collapse.

The demon god phantom tilted its head slightly, its gaze fixed on the golden sword light that cleaved through the void and split the sky in half. Swifty, it raised and clasped its six arms together.

Boom!

The golden sword light, powerful enough to sever heaven and earth, was instantly obliterated along with everything else in a radius of several kilometers. All that remained was a pure zone of darkness and destruction.

Within this annihilated zone, all matter and energy were eradicated, leaving no trace of existence. Even the golden sword law infused with the strike of a heavenly king was obliterated.

Compared to the devastating explosion of a crystalline hydrogen bomb, the demon god phantom's attack seemed more contained. However, its sheer destructive force was infinitely more terrifying.

Even after the destruction of the space, the residual power of principles left behind rendered the void irreparable, creating a miniature forbidden zone resembling a black hole.

After shattering the sword light, the demon god phantom, now drained of power, gradually dissipated. Alexis soon came into view, hovering above a massive rift spanning dozens of kilometers.

It stared at the black hole with a grim expression. It was over ten kilometers in diameter and emanating an immense gravitational pull that devoured everything around it.

What enraged Alexis further was that its bloodline mark—capable of unleashing the demon god's strike—had been exhausted, by a human genius no less. Worse, that human was still alive.

In the instant the human activated the golden longsword, he also deployed another forbidden weapon, vanishing amidst a distortion in space-time.

Like Chen Chu, Xia Zuo was another human genius destined to reach the king level. Both had been granted life-saving forbidden weapons by the Federation's upper echelons.

However, Chen Chu only had one weapon that had been personally refined by three supreme powerhouses while Xia Zuo had two forbidden weapons bestowed by two heavenly kings—an attacking device and a teleportation device.

Such life-saving forbidden weapons were incredibly difficult to craft and extremely valuable, requiring the refiners to sacrifice a sliver of their perfected laws or even principles. Consequently, each genius could only use such an artifact once.

Compared to Xia Zuo, who had consumed two heavenly king-level forbidden weapons, Alexis suffered an even greater loss. Its expenditure involved a trace of the demon god’s law power, and that had been used up in the presence of a mythical-level colossal beast for protection against a single human genius.

The cost was astronomical, leaving Alexis feeling bitter and enraged.

The bloodline descendants of the Purgatory Clan’s demon gods were numerous, but even as an unparalleled prodigy, Alexis had been granted only one such bloodline mark as a life-saving measure.

With a twisted expression, Alexis lowly snarled, "I swear I will kill every last one of you despicable humans."

The dark colossal beast flew over, its nine dragon heads bearing solemn expressions.

Be cautious, Your Highness. These humans are far more troublesome than we anticipated.

Even though the colossal beast was at the middle stage of the mythical level, an Eighth Heavenly Realm expert managed to slightly damage its scales—an outcome it found utterly inconceivable.

Although it was partly because it chose to rain down attacks from above instead of taking the fight seriously from the get-go, it was enough to highlight the madness and ferocity of the human race.

They were ruthless, decisive, and unafraid of death. Greater caution had to be practiced.

Alexis turned his icy gaze toward the frontline. "Let’s go, Talost. We’re going to the main battlefield. Unless I slaughter tens of thousands of humans, I won’t quell the hatred in my heart."

...

Meanwhile, deep within a spatial storm thousands of kilometers away, the Celestial King and Demon God Deorus shifted their gazes away from their standoff.

Seated atop the skull of an ancient beast, Deorus unleashed his demon god aura. "That’s Alexis’s demon god mark. It seems he encountered one of your human geniuses."

His lips curled into a sinister grin.

On the frontlines, the kings and demon kings of both sides remained locked in stalemates. No king-level powerhouse dared venture into the rear of the Purgatory Clan. Under these conditions, it was natural for human experts to take action.

Considering Alexis is strong enough to rival ordinary demon kings, its opponent must be quite formidable for it to be forced into using its demon god mark. Perhaps the human is a late-stage Ninth Demonic Mark freak who is as strong as Alexis.

Deorus completely dismissed the idea that a middle-stage Ninth Demonic Mark human could gain demon-king-level power.

The human race simply doesn't possess that kind of potential. Only the True Demon Clan can break past quasi-mythical limits and reach mythical-level strength at the middle stage of the Ninth Demonic Mark.

But it doesn't matter how monstrous that human genius is. Alexis’s mark can unleash a demon god's strike that can kill a demon king—what more a Ninth Demonic Mark human?

The Celestial King, however, remained unfazed. Terrifying principle power swirled around him, sealing the heavens and the earth.

The standoff between the two served a clear purpose: to prevent either side from interfering in the mid-to-lower-tier battlefield below.

Every great war was a test of endurance and an opportunity to temper strong warriors. Those who emerged victorious from the War of Civilizations would be honed into unparalleled experts, their will and cultivation unmatched.

In warzones like this, many cultivators experienced explosive growth in strength after each major conflict. With sufficient resources, they could improve at an astonishing speed.

Compared to the relatively "slow-growing" Purgatory Clan, humanity developed faster. After all, they still possessed unique characteristics of their original world and were not yet fully assimilated into the mythical world.

In just ten days based on the Purgatory Clan's concept of time, humanity could nurture a new wave of fresh blood.

Fueled by the continuous influx of resources acquired from the mythical world, the Human Federation had seen an increase in middle-level to high-level cultivators over the years. Technological advancements accelerated at an incredible pace.

As the overall numbers increased, the emergence of king-level powerhouses also became more frequent.

Thus, the Celestial King did not concern himself with short-term losses. As long as the older generation could hold the line, humanity would rise at an unprecedented rate.

Meanwhile, Demon God Kaodes opened its eyes in the subspace demonic temple of the Purgatory Clan’s rear base.

Kaodes's gaze pierced through the subspace, observing the frontlines over ten thousand kilometers away. After a moment's contemplation, it closed its eyes again, patiently awaiting the right moment to strike.

Even demon gods found it important to utilize the element of surprise. Approaching the frontlines recklessly would immediately alert the Celestial King.

Demon gods’ mastery over principles turned them into immense sources of energy. Their mere presence distorted the natural order, creating independent realms with broken natural laws. Hence, other powerhouses of similar rank like Heavenly King Zhenwu could detect them once they were in a certain range.

Boom! Boom!

At the rear of the Purgatory Clan’s frontline battlefield, two brilliant flashes of crystalline hydrogen bombs lit up the heavens.

The expressions of several demon kings in the vicinity darkened. These explosions signified the obliteration of yet another two legions.

Despite the prolonged combat, humanity's artillery support from the rear showed no signs of weakening.

"Die!"

As the hydrogen bombs exploded, five kings thousands of kilometers apart on the battlefront launched simultaneous attacks. Their offense further escalated the intensity of the war.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The clash between the kings reverberated in the sky. The power of their laws shook the heavens, causing energy waves to ripple violently across a hundred-kilometer radius and stormy gales to form and howl through the battlefield.

Above Abyssal City, in the subspace domain, a massive map projection flickered into the air. A white-haired girl calmly reported the current state of the conflict.

[All forty-six known invasion squads have been completely annihilated. More than six hundred aliens above the Seventh Heavenly Realm were slain, forty of which were Ninth Heavenly Realm.]

Even Waling hesitated for a moment as it reached the next part of its report.

[Most of these were killed by Major General Chen, who displayed astonishing endurance and unconventional speed. He traveled over forty thousand kilometers within nine hours.]

More than forty Ninth Heavenly Realm-level demons and hundreds of high-level powerhouses—though many of these elites were from the Purgatory Clan’s vassal races—constituted a significant loss for the enemy.

The Ninth Demonic Mark elites were notably far superior in single combat to Ninth Heavenly Realm humans. Moreover, they held the rank of legion commander within the Purgatory Clan.

[However, five of the twenty-one squads we dispatched to infiltrate the enemy's rear have gone missing. Three successfully destroyed their designated enemy long-range strike legions.]

[Above the main battlefield, Heavenly King Balong and eleven kings are engaged in combat with one great demon king and fourteen demon kings. The battle has entered a critical phase.]

[As for the main frontline, Mech No.1 has been deployed but is now being held back by a late-stage mythical-level demon king, preventing it from breaking through the enemy's positions as it did last time.]

"That’s to be expected. Trump cards are only effective when the opponent is unaware. Once exposed, they will inevitably prepare countermeasures,” Heavenly King Zhenwu replied.

"It’s time. Deploy the orbital battleships into the battlefield. Activate the super electromagnetic cannons and have them lock onto designated targets and initiate sustained long-range bombardment.

"Also, inform Chen Chu that he now has authorization to directly engage on Battlefield Three."