Chapter 587 - 389: Siege of the Insect Race, Might of the Demon Artifact

Separated by an entire world, the Nest’s main body could not exert its full power. Yet, this rage-fueled Soul Shock still allowed Ian to feel the terror of a Level Five Insect Nest.

The tearing agony that assailed his Soul was far more profound than any physical wound.

Ian raised a hand, wiping the blood from the corner of his eye. His gaze grew even sharper.

He slowly raised his head, looking toward the Rift.

Through the twisting, expanding Rift, he could clearly see the behemoth behind it.

It was a living nest, hundreds of miles in diameter, its surface covered in constantly writhing flesh and Shells. Countless Energy veins pulsed slowly, emanating a suffocating, Level Five pressure.

It seemed to have already torn the Rift to its absolute limit.

A forelimb composed of pure biological tissue and covered in a thick, chitinous Shell was emerging from the Rift, gripping the very edge of the Esok World!

Its arrival was imminent!

Ian took a deep breath, suppressing the stinging pain and turmoil in his Soul.

He glanced down. After the recent high-speed culling, the once-endless sea of insects had become much sparser.

Within his sensory range, scattered groups of the Insect Race still surged about, but only at the fringes of his Domain and in the more distant regions it had not yet covered.

The most conspicuous were several bloated Mother Insects hiding behind the swarms, protected by layer after layer of countless Level Four Guard Insects.

They were the core of the Insect Nest. As long as the Mother Insects lived, they could endlessly produce new members of the Insect Race.

’First, I’ll deal with the biggest threat.’

A cold glint flashed in Ian’s eyes, and he ignored the remaining members of the Insect Race.

He took a single step and appeared directly in front of the wildly expanding Rift.

At the edge of the Rift, fragments of space continuously shattered and reformed with a dull, cracking sound.

The countless compound eyes on the Nest’s forelimb all turned, fixing their gaze on the nearby Ian. The frenzied killing intent was so thick it nearly solidified.

"Trying to get in?" Ian’s mouth split into a ferocious grin. "Did you ask for my permission?"

He knew that conventional Rule-based attacks would struggle to inflict any real damage on the Level Five Nest’s main body through the world barrier.

His Domain, though powerful, was useless against the Nest’s main body on the other side of the Rift.

And yet, the Nest’s Soul Attacks could penetrate the barrier to harm him.

’It’s time to let this trump card draw some blood.’

Ian slowly closed his eyes. This Forbidden Demon Artifact, which he had continuously fed with the Pole Rule ever since its Refining, was being actively awakened for the first time.

The flesh between his eyebrows bulged slightly, then parted to the sides.

An eyeball of pure Dark Gold slowly emerged from between his brows and opened a tiny sliver.

The moment that mere sliver opened, an aura of destruction so potent it could collapse space itself began to spread.

The colossal Nest on the other side of the Rift seemed to sense something, and its frenzied assault faltered for a moment.

For the first time, a look of shocked suspicion flickered within its countless compound eyes.

At that moment, Ian was frantically pouring all of his Spiritual Power and the Power of Rules into the Dark Gold eye at the center of his forehead.

Deep within the pupil, a nebula began to spin wildly. Starlight and dark purple veins violently collided, undergoing Annihilation to generate wisps of hazy, gray, destructive Energy.

"Did you really think... I couldn’t hurt you?!"

Ian’s eyes snapped open, and the sliver of an opening on the Dark Gold eye between his brows suddenly widened.

"Star-Devouring!"

His cold, sharp cry pierced the spatial barrier.

From within the Dark Gold eye, the hazy gray beam, now charged to its absolute limit, shot out in utter silence!

There was no earth-shattering boom, no dazzling brilliance—only a single beam of pure Annihilation.

It easily pierced the chaotic spatial turbulence, ignored the weakening effect of the world barrier, and shot straight for the behemoth behind the Rift.

The beam’s speed was so great it transcended thought.

HISS!!!

The instant the hazy gray beam touched the Nest’s main body, all of its biological tissue, Shells, and Energy veins vanished without a sound.

Along with them, the portion of the Nest’s Will and the Soul fragments carried by that tissue were completely erased.

"Aaaargh!!!"

A shriek, like a hundred million members of the Insect Race screaming at once, erupted from the Nest’s core beyond their world.

The shriek pierced the world barrier and exploded across the skies of the Esok World.

BOOM! RUMBLE!!!

The entire world barrier began to vibrate violently.

Centered on the Rift, dense black spatial fissures materialized out of thin air only to rapidly disappear, stirring up chaotic spatial storms that swept in all directions.

The sky became a mirror on the verge of shattering, covered in wandering black cracks.

The Earth wailed, the ice plains collapsed, and distant mountain ranges disintegrated amidst the tremors.

Ian bore the brunt of the impact. He was struck violently by the spatial storm and the Nest’s agonized soul shriek, letting out a muffled grunt as a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. His figure drifted rapidly backward.

The Dark Gold eye between his brows had already closed, slowly receding back into his forehead.

But he continued to stare intently at the main Rift.

Behind the Rift, the massive shadow of the Nest was frantically retreating and contracting.

The part that had been annihilated by the [Star-devouring Eye] was clearly a grievous, fundamental injury.

It stopped its assault on the world barrier, and the forelimb that had tried to push through retracted. The Rift’s expansion began to slow, its edges showing signs of sealing shut and shrinking.

The chaotic spatial storms continued for over a minute before gradually subsiding.

The black cracks in the sky slowly vanished, and the tremors shaking the Earth gradually subsided.

The main Rift still remained, but it had shrunk from its previous state of frenzied expansion to nearly half its size, and it was still slowly sealing itself shut.

Behind the Rift, the terrifying shadow of the Void Nest was still rapidly moving away, its withdrawal bordering on a panicked retreat.

The Nest’s main body had taken the full force of the [Star-devouring Eye]’s attack. For a short while, it would not dare to assault the world barrier again.

Ian hovered in the air. The Dark Gold eye between his brows had long since closed and vanished, leaving only a faint, burning pain.

He raised a hand and rubbed his temples. That last attack had been incredibly draining, and his Sea of Spirit felt hollow and empty.

Though luck had played a part, the results were immediate and undeniable.

The greatest threat from the Insect Race was temporarily neutralized, and the possibility of the Nest’s main body attempting another descent had been reduced to an absolute minimum.

Ian finally let out a long sigh of relief.