Chapter 712: A Dangerous Plan Begins

Lian passed by him without stopping.

But when his gaze returned to the battlefield, his steps stopped for a moment.

The western part of the plateau had almost completely turned into ruins.

The pillars that had survived the Forsaken Apostate’s previous attacks were now piles of broken stones.

A deep crack extended across the stone ground, and parts of the cliff’s edge had collapsed.

On the left side of the battlefield, One was supporting himself on his four healthier arms.

Parts of the huge ant’s natural armor were broken, and blood flowed down through the cracks, one of his upper arms had almost completely stopped moving, and another had suffered severe damage around the joint.

Even so, One was still trying to stand against Vesperis.

On the right, Two was standing on a section of cracked stone ground.

The Eight-Disaster Wolf’s side was covered in blood, and one of his legs trembled slightly when he moved.

His eight eyes were still watching the enemy, but his reaction speed had clearly decreased, of course, three of his eyes were bloody and severely injured, and it seemed he could no longer use them.

Four was not in any better condition either.

Part of the Nine-Venom Castellan’s defensive covering was broken, and the poisonous flows around him had become weaker than before.

His voice echoed in Lian’s mind through the Colony connection.

’My lord... I am pleased to see your return.’

Lian kept his gaze on him for a moment.

’You held out well.’

But when his attention moved toward the central part of the battlefield, his frown became slightly deeper.

Three, the Dreadmaw Sovereign, was standing in front of the Forsaken Apostate.

Parts of his body’s defensive structure were broken, his jaws were injured, and blood flowed down from several deep wounds.

Even so, he had not retreated, even now, he was still standing between the knight and the location of Lian’s cocoon.

The Forsaken Apostate raised his sword, and despite his injuries, Three pressed his limbs harder against the ground.

"If you want to get past me, you’d better find a bigger sword!"

The knight did not answer and brought his blade down, but before it struck, a calm voice echoed in Three’s mind.

’Enough.’

The Dreadmaw Sovereign remained motionless for a moment and then turned his head.

Lian was standing farther away.

’I’ll handle the rest.’

Three said nothing for several seconds and then answered in a rough voice.

’My lord... I can still fight.’

’I know, that’s why I still need you.’ He glanced at his injuries.

The Dreadmaw Sovereign lowered his head slightly and retreated without arguing.

Farther away, the Bone Minstrel was still playing his guitar.

His melody reduced the pain from the Colony members’ injuries to some extent and maintained their twenty-five percent combat power boost.

But the damage caused by the two Unholy was too severe for the music to heal quickly.

Lian checked the condition of all four members through Hive Dominion.

They really suffered this much damage?

His gaze remained on Three for a moment, despite all his pride, he stood in front of the cocoon this entire time.

He took a calm breath, but before looking at the knight again, something on the eastern side of the plateau caught his attention.

Rindo and Alicia were standing behind one of the huge rocks.

Both of their eyes were still white.

And Noah, whom Lian had passed only a few moments earlier, was still showing no reaction to his surroundings even after Lian had left the cocoon.

All three are still corrupted.

He thought about his meeting with Hollow Sun for a moment.

The judge had explained that thousands of Withered were carrying White Oblivion’s corruption, but Rindo, Alicia, and Noah were not prisoners of the prison, they were humans from the outside world.

So why would he corrupt them?

If the Calamity’s only goal was to kill Hollow Sun, there was no need to keep these three alive.

On the contrary, killing them could have removed one of his biggest problems.

But the two Unholy servants had repeatedly avoided dealing deadly blows to them, and now, all three were losing their identities.

Lian turned his gaze toward White Oblivion.

’Wait.’

’The Calamity acts like a disease.’

In his mind, two images came together.

A human leaving the prison, and a corruption that would be carried into the outside world without that person even noticing.

’So these three aren’t just hostages.’

Young Vorhelm narrowed his eyes.

’He wants to turn them into carriers of his corruption.’

If Hollow Sun was destroyed and the exit opened, the corrupted Rindo, Alicia, and Noah could carry White Oblivion’s disease into the outside world.

At that time, the Calamity would spread, more people would forget their identities like these Withered, and gradually turn into killing machines.

But another question still remained.

Then why didn’t he kill me?

He was more dangerous than all his companions.

He should have been a greater threat to the Calamity’s plan than anyone else.

Even so, White Oblivion had clearly said that keeping Lian alive was important to him.

Young Vorhelm suddenly thought about the difference between Roderick’s body and his own existence.

Roderick was the Calamity’s physical Vessel, a body through which White Oblivion could exist in the physical world.

But a Vessel could not necessarily leave a prison that had been built to contain the Calamity itself.

But now, when he examined himself more carefully, a very faint flow of corruption was moving around his existence.

Unlike his three companions, this flow was not only moving toward his identity, it seemed to be trying to establish a stable connection.

An Anchor...?

Lian remained silent for a moment and then looked at White Oblivion.

’So Roderick is your Vessel.’

’But you want to turn me into your Anchor.’

With such a connection, after the exit opened, the Calamity could keep its presence or influence connected to a powerful living being, someone who belonged to the outside world.

And who would be more suitable for this than a human who had managed to resist two Unholy?

Of course, White Oblivion still did not know Lian’s real secrets.

He did not know that Lian had devoured Black Silence and possessed a title that gave him greater resistance against the corruption and possession of Calamities.

He slowly nodded.

’So that’s why you were waiting for us to arrive.’

He no longer needed to ask Hollow Sun about this matter, the signs were right in front of his eyes.

Three humans to carry the disease into the outside world, and one powerful human to become an Anchor that would maintain the Calamity’s main connection.

The Calamity probably intended to erase all his memories and identity as well, turning him into nothing more than a being whose only purpose was to serve as an Anchor.

Young Vorhelm gave a short smile.

’You really made a bad choice.’

At that moment, White Oblivion noticed his presence and glanced at him, then spoke in the same cold and emotionless voice.

"Fortunately, you are alive, otherwise, continuing my work would have become more difficult."

Young Vorhelm now understood the meaning of those words much better.

"Don’t worry."

He took one step forward.

"I’m not going anywhere until I add you to my collection."

White Oblivion looked at him for a moment.

But Lian no longer intended to talk.

’Now that I know how to stop you...’

His gaze moved toward the two Unholy servants.

’First, I’ll take these two out of the game.’

He gave a new order through Hive Dominion.

’One, Two, Three, Four. You don’t need to defeat those two Unholy anymore, just hold them back for a few more moments.’

’What do you intend to do, my lord?’ Four asked.

Young Vorhelm looked at White Oblivion for a moment.

’It’s time to end this game.’

Then he took something out of his storage space.

Crown of Eight Paths.

An ancient treasure created by the followers of the God of Chaos, which gave its owner eight powerful Seals to restrain targets.

The more Seals were focused on a single target, the faster their restraining power increased.

But Lian did not intend to use all eight Seals on one enemy.

He now had three different targets.

The two Unholy and the network of corruption that connected thousands of Withered to White Oblivion’s plan.

To restrain creatures at the Unholy rank, he would have to spend a large amount of mana, but that was not a problem.

He had a plan, and to carry out that plan, he would need to use all his remaining elixirs and herbs, and even so, the pressure he was about to endure might cause his body to collapse.

He could only hope that his body would be able to withstand the plan he had in mind.

In front of him, the Forsaken Apostate raised his huge sword, the knight had noticed the change in the energy flow around Lian, and his twelve gray wings opened behind his body.

"What are you doing, human?"

Lian did not even look at him and only raised his index finger slightly.

The first Seal appeared, a complicated symbol made of energy formed directly on the upper part of the Apostate’s armor.

The knight immediately reacted, moving one of his wings toward the Seal, but before he could remove it, the second symbol appeared on another part of his armor, followed by the third.

The Forsaken Apostate turned his sword toward Lian, but just as he began to move, the fourth Seal activated.

Clack!

A heavy sound came from the armor’s joints.

The knight’s wings, which had been moving freely only moments earlier, were forcefully pulled toward his body.

The Apostate tried to open them with greater force, but every movement increased the resistance of the Seals, and his huge feet sank into the stone ground.

Cracks spread in several directions from beneath his armor, the knight grabbed his sword with both hands and tried to raise the blade.

But he only managed to move it a few centimeters.

"This..."

His voice came from behind his helmet.

"What kind of power is this?"