Chapter 229 - Sealing the Rift

The trio searched the ships and uncovered extensive information on how to seal the rifts. It seemed the generals from the Wei Kingdom had come not only to eliminate all outsiders but also to seal off the rifts.

Han Wu and Qin Shuang led a small elite force and set sail. The rift nearest to them lay just outside their shelter. Until now, they had been powerless against it, lacking the knowledge to seal it.

As they approached, they saw the rift still pouring vast amounts of black oil into the Warring Kingdom Civilization. The surrounding waters had turned into thick, sticky tar, ready to solidify.

The ships stalled three kilometers away; the viscous oil made the waters too thick to cross. The oil clung to the water like a living organism, creeping slowly up the ships’ hulls in an attempt to contaminate them. Luckily, the vessels had been outfitted for this. The ships’ barriers repelled the black oil and kept it from touching the hulls.

Han Wu and Qin Shuang carried the sealing materials with them and took to the air, riding atop a Dark Cursed Bug roughly the size of a pickup truck. From there, they examined the rift up close. As if sensing their presence, the rift ceased spewing oil downward and instead launched goblets of black oil toward the duo in an attempt to corrupt them.

In response, the two transformed—Qin Shuang into a Thunder Sparrow and Han Wu into a half-dragon. They unleashed a simultaneous bolt of lightning aimed straight at the rift.

The wild lightning tore through the black oil, but only managed to shrink its spread. They had less than a minute before the rift would recover and unleash another torrent of oil.

“We need to seal it fast!”

Fortunately, this rift was smaller than those the generals had described. It required fewer resources to close.

Qin Shuang nodded sharply. “You set up the array. I’ll keep it from spewing black oil.”

She then shifted into her Sonorous Brigade form and infused lightning into her arrows before firing at the rift. Han Wu watched her devastating assault and suspected that even his toughest Vanguard Iron Stupa could not withstand three of her arrows.

Luckily, they fought on the same side, so no conflict would arise. Han Wu rode his Dark Cursed Bug and started setting up the array.

Beneath them, the black oil fought back. Goblets of oil slowly approached, shifting into humanoid forms before hurling smaller goblets at him. The massive Dark Cursed Bug used its bulky frame to block the attacks.

At the same time, the black oil spread across the bug’s surface, attempting to seize control of its mind and turn it into a puppet. Unfortunately for the oil, it had met its natural enemy. The Dark Cursed Bug lacked intelligence.

The black oil penetrated its body but failed to dominate its mind. Instead, it transformed into pure energy and started crystallizing on the bug’s forehead. The crystal darkened as more black oil seeped into it.

Seizing the moment, Han Wu finished setting up the array. Once activated, it fired an energy beam at the rift and slowly closed it.

Just as the rift was about to close for good, something tumbled out. The object dropped into the pool of black oil below and grew rapidly. What had started out the size of a football soon transformed into a towering beast over ten meters tall.

The beast resembled a mutated dinosaur with black scales, blood-red eyes, razor-sharp claws, and teeth. It roared at Han Wu and his Dark Cursed Bug and sent shockwaves that churned the surrounding water.

Han Wu’s Dark Cursed Bug reeled from the impact, and the dark crystal on its forehead cracked and shattered. At that moment, the mutated dinosaur opened its mouth to devour the fragments as if they were some rare delicacy.

Han Wu acted swiftly and transformed into a Dark Cursed Bug. He zipped through the air, gathered all the falling crystal shards, and stashed them safely in a bag.

The mutated dinosaur was furious that it hadn’t tasted a single fragment and roared numerous times. However, the wide gap between them weakened the shockwave, and Han Wu absorbed the fading force with his powerful body.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He returned to his Dark Cursed Bug’s back and healed its broken head. At the same time, he summoned Lightning Lances, each crackling with wild energy, and fired them at the mutated dinosaur below. When the lances pierced its flesh, the lightning detonated from within, tearing into its core and leaving it badly wounded.

Nearly a tenth of the mutated dinosaur’s mass was obliterated in the blast. But in seconds, the viscous black oil swarmed over the damage and regenerated the wound. Not only did it recover, but it also looked stronger than before.

Han Wu frowned. Taking it down was far more difficult than he had expected. Its body, made of pure black oil, seemed immortal. If he couldn’t find its weakness soon, the consequences would be disastrous.

Unable to harm Han Wu, the mutated dinosaur shifted its focus to the ships. It let out a deafening roar and charged toward them. Han Wu’s Lightning Lances and Qin Shuang’s lightning-infused arrows slowed the beast but failed to kill it.

The ships were vital to their plans. If Han Wu hoped to expand his territory, he needed them to carry his army beyond the small region they occupied and across the vast ocean.

He had no idea how long he would have to wait for another fleet if the ships ahead of him were destroyed now. He needed to stop the mutated dinosaur at all costs. He transformed into the Frost Metallion, and the air around him dropped several degrees quickly. Using his might as a High Lord, he froze the black oil coating the water’s surface in an instant. The freezing shockwave engulfed the mutated dinosaur. Its movements slowed, then stopped entirely. Within seconds, it was locked in a thick sheet of ice—only a hundred meters from the fleet.

Once he confirmed it was fully frozen, Han Wu leapt down from his Dark Cursed Bug to examine the dinosaur up close. To his surprise, he couldn’t access any information about it. That meant that the unknown civilization ranked higher than the Divine Civilization. Now he faced a dilemma. He couldn’t kill it, yet sealing it forever was not an option either. The frustration gnawed at him!

He noticed that bubbles were already forming beneath the ice as small cracks appeared and vanished. The black oil fought back fiercely to escape its icy prison.

Qin Shuang landed beside him. “I have a plan. Why don’t you try using your new Destruction Aspect to deal with it?”

The suggestion struck Han Wu like a spark—simple, yet brilliant. His Skull Guillotine carried a 10% chance of killing an enemy instantly, regardless of rank. He wasn’t sure if that kind of attack would work on the mutated dinosaur, but it was worth a shot.

He summoned the Skull Guillotine. The blade rose slowly and marked the mutated dinosaur for death. A skeletal visage materialized above the creature and snapped its jaws shut. The frozen mutated dinosaur shattered into fragments.

Han Wu rushed to confirm the kill. The Skull Guillotine reported a successful execution and revealed that it had absorbed a strange energy from the mutated dinosaur. That energy somehow deepened Han Wu’s grasp of the concept of destruction, and the Skull Guillotine’s chance to mark enemies for death had now increased to 11%.

The mutated dinosaur was truly dead, but what caught Han Wu off guard was that the black oil contained such potent energy, one that enhanced his destructive power. If the Skull Guillotine absorbed enough of it, could it reach a 100% chance to mark foes for death? He looked forward to discovering the answer.