The Era of Gods

Chapter 326: The Extinguishment of Faith in an Instant

A legendary Nightmare Behemoth was slain at the front lines, but the battle was not over; at this moment, the Children of Nightmare had no escape.

As one by one, the Super Large Flesh Monsters fell, Lin Xiao’s heart also eased with the mass slaughter of these creatures.

These Flesh Monsters had enormous bodies but their individual strength was too weak; even those of Rank 6 were weaker in combat power than Steel Golems, utterly worthless except in numbers.

However, easing his heart did not mean letting down his guard, for now was not the time to be careless.

After all, this was a battle against an experienced Child of Nightmare equivalent to a high school senior, roughly on par with the level in a higher education college, and among its peers, it was one of the stronger individuals, with substantial resources and more than a few trump cards, so it was too early to celebrate.

With the enhancement of several Ancient Treasures, even the weakest Small Fishman in Lin Xiao’s Clan possessed at least Level 4 combat power. Their overall strength allowed them to crush the opposition and quickly push the adversary back in a series of retreats; every time the Child of Nightmare moved against him or his Clan, Slarda and the Flame Lord blocked the attacks, and Lin Xiao’s Incarnation had not even needed to act.

Pushing forward for over ten kilometers, they could soon visibly see the first Flesh Nest.

It was a Giant Meat Mountain over a hundred meters high, surrounded by a massive thick carpet of flesh, with a surface full of folds like a human brain, and undulating with each breath like a human’s belly. Along the edges of this structure were long fissures that, every so often, would open to reveal a pink flesh color from which Flesh Monsters encased in thick, viscous membranes would slide out.

These newly-born Flesh Monsters were about five to six meters long and lay upon the thick carpet of flesh surrounding the mountain. Numerous sprout-like flesh tentacles would extend from the carpet and insert into the creatures’ bodies, supplying them with nutrients. In less than half an hour, this process could mature the creature to a state where it could free itself from the dried-up membranes and join the battle.

It was as if there was a barracks that pumped out soldiers, spawning Flesh Monsters with the nominal strength of Rank 6 every half an hour or so. This production capability was quite formidable.

And within this Nightmare Realm, heaven knows how many Flesh Nests there were.

Without hesitation, Slarda immediately ordered the Fire Elements to start casting, conjuring a Rain of Fire that scorched the earth, with a Rank 7 Elite Fire Element leading a group of Fire Elements to summon a Flame Meteorite with a diameter of hundreds of meters to crash down.

The Flesh Nest gathered a vast amount of Nightmare Power to form a shield that blocked the first impact, but it couldn’t withstand the second and third consecutive strikes by meteorites. Even though the Child of Nightmare interfered twice, the continuous meteorite barrage ultimately breached the defenses and melted away the Flesh Nest in one swoop.

This creature, upon death, left behind a crystalline Flesh Seed as spoil of war, which, after being passed through numerous subordinates, ended up in the hands of Lin Xiao’s Incarnation.

This object was called a Flesh Seed Body. If one could prepare a large amount of flesh and lay this seed down, it would absorb the flesh and grow, eventually becoming a new Flesh Nest.

It was called a “seed body” because it separated from a mother body, and due to the limitations of the seed body, its growth ceiling was as it had been seen before; at most, it could hatch Flesh Monsters with the Constitution and Strength of Rank 6, unable to spawn stronger Flesh Monsters, even if using a dragon corpse.

If there were seed bodies, naturally there would be mother bodies. Lin Xiao looked towards the depths of the Nightmare Divine Realm with considerable interest.

Four hours later, the scouting troops discovered a second Flesh Nest guarded by a large number of Nightmare Creatures in another location, which was seized by the Wise Goblins leader Alemente leading a troop.

With the Child of Nightmare’s main forces defeated, the subsequent resistance was minimal. Most of the peripheral areas had already abandoned defense, and along the way, there was little resistance of any significance.

Lin Xiao speculated that the enemy had concentrated their main forces at the central part of the Nightmare Divine Realm, preparing for a final stand.

There lay the True Body of the Child of Nightmare, as well as the core of the Nightmare Divine Realm, which not only maximized the True Body’s power but also relied on the core’s defenses.

Generally speaking, the central defense of a Divine Realm was the strongest; influenced by the True Body, it naturally suppressed the enemies. Numerous examples proved that many battles where the weaker overcame the stronger in a desperate counterattack, took place at the core.

Therefore, there was still a fierce battle to come. Only by thoroughly defeating the enemy’s final defenses at the core of the Field could the victory over the adversary be formally declared.

As the Child of Nightmare contracted its territory, the battle to conquer the peripheral areas of the Nightmare Divine Realm went very smoothly, quickly overcoming each Flesh Nest to acquire Flesh Seeds.

It is worth mentioning that as territory was continuously captured, when the area held reached a certain extent, the power of Lin Xiao’s God’s realm began to enter the Nightmare Realm, starting to suppress the opposing Field. The pervasive Nightmare Power that was present everywhere within the Nightmare Realm began to recede with the suppression, revealing a gray world.

Influenced by Nightmare Power, the primary colors within the Child of Nightmare’s realm were gray and black; whether it was plants or creatures, they had turned gray and black from years of exposure, even the iron ore buried in the ground had a grayish tinge.

None of the resources in this Nightmare Realm could be used directly; they had to undergo a process of Purification to remove the Nightmare Power before they could be utilized.

As their territory expanded, most of the Nightmare Realm started to clear, with only the central part remaining under the dense occupation of Nightmare Power, akin to a video game’s map where only a small central area was shrouded in black fog of war.

Through the occasional Scout sent on a reconnaissance mission, it was found that the mother nest of flesh and blood was indeed there. As that area was populated only with Nightmare Creatures, no one could get close. They could only see from a distance a Giant Meat Mountain nearly three hundred meters tall, with an even larger shadow looming behind it, emanating a terrifying presence that made it difficult for the scouting Air Element to maintain its form.

After no less than a hundred scouting missions and the loss of several hundred scouts, Lin Xiao had a rough understanding of about half of the situation in this core area.

After synthesizing all the information, he fell silent.

“`

The enemy had amassed a force here that was stronger than he had anticipated.

Or rather, the enemy’s defenses here were stronger than he had anticipated.

What caught his attention the most was the biological defense columns derived from the blood nest mother, thick columns of flesh dozens of meters high growing from the ground, each with a huge eyeball at the top that could still rotate, capable of both combat and surveillance functions. Many of the scout sentinels had been discovered by these things.

In this core area, the mother nest of flesh and blood was frantically spewing out super large flesh monsters. The rate of spawning was much faster than its offspring, and the number of super large flesh monsters accumulated during this period was already around four to five thousand. Coupled with the previous ones and the existing high-end nightmare creatures, the combat power that had barely reached the Rank 6 level of battle readiness amounted to as many as seven to eight thousand.

Although most of them were just showpieces and might even double-team a true Rank 6 transcendental being and still possibly lose, the sheer numbers were a factor. Other teams without the Extraordinary Magic Network might actually fail if they faced them.

After all, this was akin to a Rank 7 senior warrior-level Nightmare Lord who was about to take the college entrance examination, with an entire year’s worth of extra accumulation over them.

The rate of accumulation in the third year of high school is much greater than in the first year, and under certain circumstances, even more than the combined accumulation of the first and second years.

In such a scenario, a direct assault would definitely not work. The old method would have to suffice, summoning water elements from the Extraordinary Magic Network as cannon fodder.

After all, at this point, all areas surrounding the Nightmare Realm had already been taken, so there were no worries about defense.

And this time, the summoning of the water elements wasn’t limited to thirty thousand. He had gathered all of his seventy thousand subordinates—thirty thousand Wise Goblins, twenty thousand Supreme Naga, and twenty thousand Earth Dwarves—to perform the summoning together.

The staggering seventy thousand Rank 6 super large water elements were divided into four groups, each group containing fifteen thousand, converging from four directions towards the center in a frontal assault, coordinated with other troops for assistance.

Yes, the other troops were just support and wouldn’t actually join the battle.

His method was simple: if the opponent was defending in such a shameless way, then he could also attack in a shameless manner.

Every day, a wave of water elements was summoned to continuously erode the enemy’s living strength, to slowly grind them down, with no rush whatsoever.

This battle was crucial as it related to the survival of the Divine Realm, his own life, and death; it permitted no regard for rules. As long as victory could be achieved, even the dirtiest of tactics could be employed.

The fact that shameless tactics are called shameless is precisely because they leave the opponent feeling helpless.

He incessantly summoned water elements to send them to their deaths to exhaust the enemy, and when the losses were almost too great, he would retreat, waiting until the next day to continue the summoning and exhaustion.

This daily summoning and attrition visibly reduced the number of nightmare creatures amassed at the center of the field. By the sixth day, the forces had advanced to the very center, where one could see with the naked eye the mountain-like mother nest of flesh and blood.

The progress of the battle was going smoothly, and the more it progressed, the more cunning Lin Xiao became. Initially, the members of the Clan assisted in the offensive, but later, they simply stayed far from the battlefield, sending waves of water elements to attack and wear down the enemy in turns.

This tactic was incredibly cheeky. The Children of Nightmare, no matter how much they wished to gamble everything for a counterattack, couldn’t find an opportunity.

By now, the outer periphery of the core had already been gradually overtaken by the expanding power of Lin Xiao’s God’s realm. The Child of Nightmare’s control over its domain had greatly diminished. If it dared to charge out from the core, Lin Xiao would immediately become aware and prepare his response accordingly. In such a state, the Child of Nightmare found itself unable to even consider a desperate attempt.

Every time the True Body took action, Lin Xiao stayed far away, and the Child of Nightmare didn’t dare to leave the core. If it did so, Lin Xiao would be ready to encircle and kill it.

The Child of Nightmare’s tactic of withdrawal might sound heroic, a fight with its back against the wall, but if it was too disadvantaged, it was simply waiting for death.

Moreover, the opponent had made a major taboo. It had lacked the resolve to endure significant losses and go for broke, thus dividing the battle into three parts.

It did not continue to attack after suffering heavy losses in the first battle when the two realms had just fully connected.

The second battle took place just outside the core.

The third was defending the core.

If it had the determination to launch an all-out attack in the first wave, it’s not to say it could have won, but it certainly would not have lost so miserably.

At the very least, even if Lin Xiao could win, he would have suffered heavy losses.

Unfortunately, there are no ifs in this world. The tides of war change in the blink of an eye; miss an opportunity, and it’s over.

The situation was just like this, with continual attrition, the Nightmare…

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