Chapter 717: One Last Fight, One Last Treasure Hunt

"Now it’s your turn."

Lian’s voice echoed across the frozen plateau.

White Oblivion did not answer, he was standing farther away, his clothes still looked undamaged, but the inhuman calmness on his face had been replaced by clear anger.

Around them, the remains of thousands of Withered were scattered among the ice and stones.

His two Unholy servants were also gone, and the network he had created to destroy Hollow Sun had been completely destroyed.

Lian looked at Roderick’s face for a moment, unlike a few minutes ago, he could no longer sense that anger and hatred from him.

What happened? Did the Calamity suppress all his anger? Hide it?

Naturally, someone whose plan of several decades or even several centuries had failed should not suddenly become so calm.

Unless he still had a backup plan or ... had forgotten his anger and hatred?

Whatever the case, he would find out sooner or later.

Then he opened a system window.

[ Second Evolution Quest ]

[ Requirement: Devour One of the Five Calamities. ]

[ Status: Incomplete ]

[ Reward: Second Evolution Unlocked ]

His gaze remained fixed on the quest requirement.

He had already devoured Black Silence, but to complete his Second Evolution, he had to devour another Calamity at this stage.

And now, the second Calamity was standing right in front of him.

Finally.

He closed the window.

’Apparently, one of us has to turn the other into a part of himself.’

But before starting the battle, there were still a few things to take care of.

Through Hive Dominion, he checked the condition of his four Special Members.

One, the huge six-armed ant, was still suffering from severe damage to two of his limbs and cracks in his body’s natural armor.

Two, the Eight-Disaster Wolf, could barely put weight on one of his legs, the wound on his side was still open, and traces of blood could be seen on his dark fur.

Three was not in any better condition either, parts of his defensive structure and jaws had been broken during the battle with the Forsaken Apostate.

Only Four, the Nine-Venom Castellan, still had relatively good mobility; although his body was not free from injuries either.

Without taking his eyes off White Oblivion, he gave an order.

’One, Two, Three, return to the Colony Home.’

Three immediately raised his head.

"My lord! I can still fight!"

’I know. But I don’t need you to fight right now.’

"But this creature—"

’Go back and heal.’

There was not the slightest sign of hesitation in young Vorhelm’s voice.

’That’s an order.’

Three closed his mouth, looked at his master for several seconds, and then lowered his huge head.

"As you command, my lord."

Lian gave the return order through the Colony connection.

Summoning energy surrounded the three severely injured members, and a moment later, One, Two, and Three disappeared from the battlefield and returned to the Colony Home.

Only Four remained.

’My lord, will you also order me to return?’

’No, I have another task for you.’

He took a book out of his storage space, and its cover briefly reflected the red light of the sunset.

Celestial Book of Treasure.

He handed the book to Four.

’Use this to search for the treasures of this land, find and collect as many as you can.’

Four received the book.

’While you fight that thing?’

’Exactly.’

Young Vorhelm glanced at the plateau, which had been almost completely destroyed by the previous battle.

’There’s no telling what will happen to this place after the next battle, I don’t want to find out later that all the treasures were destroyed along with it.’

Four remained silent for a moment....then answered.

’I understand, I shall collect the treasures I can reach and move them out of the dangerous area.’

’Good, don’t waste time.’

The Nine-Venom Castellan lowered his head slightly and moved toward the eastern part of the plateau.

Lian watched Four until he had moved away from the main battlefield, and then his attention turned toward the Bone Minstrel.

The skeleton was still near Rindo, Alicia, and Noah, playing his guitar.

All three humans still had white eyes.

Although the destruction of the corruption network had cut White Oblivion’s main connection to them, the damage to their souls and identities had not disappeared immediately.

"Musician!"

The skeleton raised his head.

"Ah, my beloved lord! Is another performance waiting for us?"

"Take care of those three, don’t let any of them leave the safe area."

The musician looked at the motionless humans and then lowered his head with an exaggerated gesture.

"Leave their lives in my bony hands! Although I must admit that my number of hands is rather disappointing when it comes to carrying three people."

Lian raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

"You don’t need to take them anywhere for now, just keep an eye on them."

"As you command!"

And the sound of the guitar echoed across the plateau again.

White Oblivion had watched all of this.

When Lian turned toward him again, the creature tilted his head slightly.

"You sent your servants away."

"Yeah."

"And now you intend to fight me alone?"

Lian shrugged.

"If I have to bring my entire Colony every time I fight someone, I’ll get used to relying on them pretty quickly."

White Oblivion remained silent for a moment, and then his gaze moved toward Lian’s body.

"You have used almost all your power, do you really think you have a chance against me?"

His tone was calm, but there was an endless coldness in it.

A coldness that seemed to reach the bones and had no limit.

Young Vorhelm did not deny this.

His mana was still below one percent, his Eclipse and End Cores were almost empty, and the Wings of God had also disappeared because of his lack of energy.

But his physical injuries had completely healed after leveling up, and more importantly, he had not used all his resources yet.

He raised his right hand, and a small Seal appeared between his fingers.

Mana Reserve Seal.

Something Miranda had given him.

During his rest periods, he had stored part of his own mana inside this Seal; a reserve that he could now use without relying on his exhausted supply of elixirs.

Miranda...

The corner of his mouth rose slightly.

The Seal activated.

A thin flow of mana entered his body and slowly increased his almost empty reserves.

Of course, the recovery was not instant.

The Seal could only release the mana that had been stored earlier at a certain speed. Once the stored mana was exhausted, there would be nothing left to transfer.

Also, this mana could not directly refill the separate energy reserves of his Eclipse and End Cores.

But for now, it was enough.

Lian opened and closed the fingers of his right hand.

’At least I can fight again.’

White Oblivion sensed the change in the energy flow.

"So you still have a few things hidden."

"Usually, it’s better not to spend everything you have before a battle." Young Vorhelm answered.

The man looked at him for a few moments and then slowly said.

"You only see power in what you can destroy."

Lian raised an eyebrow.

"No, but crushing something that’s trying to kill me usually works."

"And what if there is nothing to crush?"

Young Vorhelm’s gaze remained on Roderick’s face for a moment.

"Then I’ll have to find whatever is hiding behind it."

White Oblivion gave a faint smile, but this time, unlike his previous emotionless smile, something similar to contempt could be seen in it.

"Worlds have always had beings who could destroy mountains with a single strike, some could split oceans, and some could even burn the sky."

He took one step forward.

"But they still remembered who they were."

Lian remained silent.

"I do not need to destroy their mountains, I only need to make them forget who they are, what they have, and what their goals are."

Young Vorhelm looked at him for several seconds.

Unlike ordinary monsters, Calamities had not been created to physically destroy worlds.

They acted like viruses or parasites, they entered a world, spread into the existence of its inhabitants, and gradually spread their corruption.

Humans began to doubt each other, and civilizations lost their order.

Living beings turned into killing machines, and eventually, what had once been a thriving world was destroyed from within.

Without the Calamity necessarily having to destroy even a single mountain with its own fist.

That’s why these creatures are dangerous.

He looked at Roderick’s body.

But this also had an important limitation.

White Oblivion was currently inside a physical Vessel.

Roderick’s body.

Therefore, his physical strength and the amount of power he could release in the physical world were limited by the capacity of that body, although the Calamity could still use his own innate abilities.

Powers that directly targeted the minds, memories, and souls of living beings.

Lian understood this very well, so I shouldn’t expect him to fight like an ordinary monster.

White Oblivion slowly raised his head.

"You can destroy this body, human."

He paused for a moment.

"But can you destroy something that has never stood before you?"

"I’ll start with this body of yours for now." Lian gave a short smile.

"You destroyed my plan, and with your death, you must bring about my freedom."

Apparently, the Calamity really did have another plan, but this seemed more like a last-minute attempt than something planned in advance , and it didn’t seem to be good

At that moment, White Oblivion took his first step, and a strange light appeared on the horizon.