Chapter 364 - Declaration of War

Han Wu followed Ban Tu’s instructions. He placed his hands on the stone pillar and focused, trying to sense everything around him. A strange energy seeped from the pillar and flowed into his body. He fixed his awareness on the glowing core of that energy and circulated his own in rhythm with its movements. In the next moment, his consciousness shifted into an empty space. In the next instant, a locust appeared without warning and merged with him.

From the side, Qin Shuang and Jing Jing watched as thick black matter oozed from Han Wu’s body, wrapping around him until it hardened into armor.

“It’s done.” Ban Tu clapped his hands. He had witnessed many awakenings, yet each time the process struck him as profound.

Han Wu lowered his hands from the pillar and looked down. The tight, black armor clung to his body and gave him a sharper, more imposing presence. At the same time, information about the armor appeared before his eyes:

[Flying Locust Armor: Organisma (Grade: Yellow); Skills: Hyper Jump, Flight, Black Locust Might]

“Congratulations on awakening your armor,” Ban Tu said.

Han Wu felt raw power coursing through it and turned to him for an explanation.

Ban Tu nodded and spoke slowly. These suits of armor were divided into three categories: Organisma, Potentia, and Elementa. Each had its own distinct strengths.

Organisma armor drew on animal traits. For example, the Tiger Armor granted razor-sharp claws, while the Bull Armor vastly increased physical strength.

Potentia armor bestowed versatile powers. For instance, the Steel Armor hardened the body like iron, while the Rubber Armor allowed the user to stretch and bend at will.

Elementa armor were the most coveted, granting mastery over elemental forces. At their highest grade, users could merge entirely with their element, rendering them immune to physical attacks.

Beyond categories, these suits of armor were ranked by grade: Yellow, Black, Earth, and Heaven. Each upgrade multiplied the armor’s strength tenfold or more, though the actual power varied with the individual.

Han Wu absorbed the explanation and gained new insight into his armor. Jing Jing and Qin Shuang, eager to test their own luck, reached out to touch the Profound Armor Pillar. Their exceptional talent allowed both to awaken armor of their own.

Jing Jing received the Skeleton Armor, a Yellow Potentia armor equipped with Bone Bullet, Bone Shield, and Iron Bones.

Qin Shuang awakened the Lightning Armor, a Yellow Elementa armor so rare that even Ban Tu felt a stab of envy. Her armor granted only two Skills, Thunder Sparrow Wave and Heavenly Thunder, but both carried devastating power.

The three now stood armored, yet their Yellow grade remained too low. The path to the Heaven grade still stretched far ahead.

Han Wu asked how they could upgrade their armor, but Ban Tu only replied that they would have to fight in it to discover the method themselves. Each set of armor had its own way of evolving, and the truth usually revealed itself only in real battles.

The trio felt dissatisfied with such a vague answer, yet they kept silent. As outsiders brought in to suppress the rebellion, they preferred not to provoke the man in charge.

Han Wu then requested a map showing the locations of the Monster Armor Association’s bases. After receiving it, he left with Qin Shuang and Jing Jing.

Ban Tu watched them go with a vicious smile.

The three companions entered the quarters Ban Tu had prepared. Han Wu spread out the map and studied the bases’ locations. The Armor Civilization spanned an enormous territory, but half of it had already fallen to the Monster Armor Civilization. Worse still, many enemy operatives disguised themselves as ordinary civilians, living undetected in cities under Ban Tu’s rule.

How many more were hiding in those cities? Han Wu had no time to track them down one by one. His most urgent task was to prevent open rebellion and the outbreak of war, and the only way forward was to dismantle the enemy bases. However, he had only Qin Shuang and Jing Jing at his side. The three of them, powerful as they were, could not hope to destroy so many bases alone. Fortunately, they had their units to summon.

Han Wu quickly devised a plan and chose to strike the nearest base that night. The three waited until darkness fell, then activated their armor and set out for battle. Within ten minutes, they reached the base, where two dog-like monsters stood guard.

The sight almost made Han Wu laugh. He had never imagined they would rely on dogs for security. Suppressing his amusement, he motioned to the others. “Let’s move.”

They nodded and linked to their divine realms. Qin Shuang summoned her Thunder Sparrows, which soared into the night sky with arcs of lightning flashing across their wings. Jing Jing brought forth a skeleton legion numbering in the hundreds of thousands, led by several Unique Skeleton Knights. Han Wu unleashed the largest force, calling forth nearly 50 million locusts, a swarm that dwarfed his companions’ armies.

Everyone in the Monster Armor base noticed the approaching tide of enemies. They froze in shock as countless Thunder Sparrows, skeletons, and locusts appeared at their gates.

The alarm blared, and nearly everyone within the base prepared for war. Warriors summoned their Monster Armor and charged into battle as lightning poured from the skies.

The members of the Monster Armor Association had skin tough enough to withstand direct strikes. Even so, the Thunder Sparrows’ lightning left them paralyzed. Fortunately, Han Wu’s locusts swept in at the critical moment. At the start of the fight, they dove from the skies and detonated on impact. Each explosion tore open a rift in space where the locust had perished and left jagged cracks that slashed through the battlefield.

The association warriors fought with courage, but most lacked the awareness to avoid the spatial tears. Many fell victim to the invisible blades cutting through the air.

Jing Jing’s skeleton army fought just as fiercely. Armed with the Rank 6 Death’s Sigh and Forbidden Bone Flute, she had elevated her undead troops into something extraordinary. Circular holes now marked their bones, a transformation caused by the flute’s power. These openings allowed them to pull free pieces of their own frames and play them like instruments to release forbidden songs that stirred death aura.

The army advanced like a host of living bone flutes, and their hollow melody echoed across the battlefield with chilling resonance. Death aura gathered around them and wove into black veils that draped their skeletal forms. The shrouds hardened their defenses and made them unnervingly resilient.

The death aura also spread across the base, gnawing at the Life Energy of every living thing it touched. Those who fell to it or who died in combat rose again as skeletal soldiers under the command of her Skeleton Knights.

With Han Wu’s locusts tearing open space itself and Jing Jing’s death-shrouded army pressing forward, the outcome of the battle was already decided.