Chapter 571: Pre-Battle Declaration

Chapter 571: Pre-Battle Declaration

In no time, Rayne arrived high above the Fallen Hammer Mountains, looking down.

Although Grand Astrologist Darian had found Graham's trail, and the general area was within the Fallen Hammer Mountains, the problem was that the Fallen Hammer Mountains were a massive, thousand-mile-long mountain range. Finding a hidden Late Dawn Wizard in such a vast area was no easy task.

Of course, having a general area was better than nothing.

For others, such a vast region would take even a seasoned Dawn Wizard like Elder Ivan nearly a month to search. But for Rayne, who had reached the peak of the Full Moon stage, it wouldn't take nearly as long.

Rayne was confident that he would find the target within half a day at the earliest, or within three to five days at the latest, even in such a vast and sprawling mountain range.

Just as Rayne was about to take action, he suddenly thought of something.

"Given Graham's character, he must be hiding in the mountains, waiting for the right moment!"

"He would either seek out areas with a high concentration of people to perform a blood sacrifice, or find places with many spiders to use their spirits for the summoning."

"If that's the case..."

Rayne's eyes brightened, and he instantly vanished from the spot.

About an hour later.

Rayne returned to the same place, his face showing signs of contemplation.

"I've already checked the eleven county towns at the edge of the Fallen Hammer Mountains, and there's no sign of him."

"As for other villages, the population is too small, and there aren't enough skilled individuals to perform a high-quality blood sacrifice."

"It seems likely that he's in an area where vicious spider species are prevalent."

In the next second, his figure disappeared into the sky once again.

Soon, Rayne arrived in a rugged valley, an environment favored by the black mist spiders of the Fallen Hammer Mountains.

"Unfortunately, there are no signs of human interference."

Rayne's gaze first focused on the black mist spider nests where the spiders were entering and exiting. After a while, he shifted his attention to a fist-sized black mist spider, examining it closely before shaking his head.

"Indeed, these black mist spiders, though numerous, are too weak. They are among the weakest of the vicious species."

"If I were Graham, I would likely not choose black mist spiders."

A few minutes later, Rayne arrived above a dense forest.

Below the forest was a large swamp, home to many colonies of swamp venom spiders.

"There are no signs of artificial modifications either."

Rayne picked up a swamp venom spider the size of a washbasin, which was trembling, and sighed.

Rayne then visited over a dozen areas where various spiders were prevalent, but found no trace of Graham.

"No sign at the giant web spider nests."

"No sign at the black widow spider nests."

"No sign at the wild thorn spider nests either!"

This made Rayne frown, and he began to doubt his judgment.

"Could it be that Graham has buried himself somewhere?"

"If that's the case, I really wouldn't have much of a chance."

"No, that's not right!"

"Judging by his actions in Cyrodiil Highlands, he's not the type to just hide without a plan. I must have overlooked something!"

After much thought, Rayne believed his reasoning was sound. Graham must have a plan, but the hiding place had yet to be discovered.

"Could he be in the Hammer Tunnel?" Rayne mused, recalling the area.

"Although there are many caravans there, if multiple caravans were to go missing, the Empire's garrison would certainly report it."

"But..."

After some thought, Rayne decided to check it out anyway.

In a flash, Rayne arrived at the Hammer Tunnel he had passed through before. The faint heat from the magma permeated the air, and several caravans were moving orderly toward the other end of the tunnel, showing no signs of panic.

This indicated that there had been no major incidents in the Hammer Tunnel recently.

"Below is lava, and spiders generally prefer the shade... No, that's not right!"

"There is a type of spider that likes heat—the rare and powerful lava spider."

Rayne suddenly remembered something!

A rare, dark red spider resembling a small calf came to mind.

In a series of quick flashes, Rayne arrived at a lava field below the Hammer Tunnel.

"I found it! He's really here!"

A smile finally appeared on Rayne's face.

Before him was a lava spider nest, where hundreds of lava spiders were carrying the bodies of various beasts into the nest.

Upon closer inspection, the lava spiders had several black stripes on their bodies, clearly different from their original form.

Someone had clearly tampered with these lava spiders.

Through the hot steam from the lava, Rayne could see the familiar figure that had fled from the Cyrodiil Highlands, deep within the nest.

Graham was near a large, mostly completed altar.

At the center of the altar was a massive, dark red rock-like body, with a wagon-sized lava spider perched on top. Around the altar were various vicious creatures hunted by the lava spider swarm.

After a moment's thought, Rayne did not immediately move to kill Graham. Instead, he observed and listened to Graham's muttered thoughts.

"Even though I've killed a rare epic-level lava giant, I'm still far from summoning Lord Nayubrekkan. I need at least two more to complete the summoning."

Graham gazed at the massive lava giant's corpse on the altar, his face devoid of joy.

"Damn it! If it weren't for that Rayne last time, I would have succeeded!"

"Now, where am I supposed to find epic-level sacrifices in this hellhole?"

"If I wait for the spider spirits to meet the requirements, it will take several more years."

Seeing this, Rayne fell into deep thought.

Since his last battle with Nayubrekkan, Rayne had studied the relevant information.

Compared to a blood sacrifice, a 'Spider Spirit Summoning' had fewer requirements, waiving the need for intelligent sacrifices and instead requiring a high-quality spider as a vessel.

He had come here to complete the final step of his ascension by killing the avatar of the eldritch deity Nayubrekkan, not just to kill Graham.

Killing Graham alone would have little meaning for Rayne.

What was interesting now was that Graham was also trying to summon the eldritch deity Nayubrekkan!

In other words, to complete his ascension as quickly as possible, he should help Graham.

"Could it be that I have to help Graham complete the summoning?"

Rayne's expression became somewhat peculiar.

While he had heard of the term 'aiding the enemy,' this was the first time he was actually doing it.

"The best way to make the enemy willingly accept this unexpected help without much suspicion is to make it seem like a coincidence."

"Given that the surrounding area is a lava region... Perhaps I can find two epic-level lava creatures that are enemies of each other, and then..."

Rayne's eyes gleamed with determination, and he smiled.

"It won't be easy, but I have to do it!"

In the next instant, Rayne vanished from the spot.

Finding two such lava creatures, even for someone with subspace traversal abilities and at the peak of the Full Moon stage, was extremely difficult.

Rayne's figure flashed through the dense underground lava rivers.

"Hmm, there's a sleeping epic-level lava hellhound here."

Suddenly, Rayne found a massive, dark red creature with three vicious dog heads in an underground lava lake, several hundred kilometers away from the lava spider altar.

It was a legendary lava hellhound, known to have the bloodline of the hellish three-headed hound.

"But that's not enough. I need another enemy creature as well."

Rayne happily noted the location and continued his search along the underground lava rivers.

Half an hour later.

Rayne finally found another epic-level creature.

"Huh? Another epic-level lava hellhound?"

Rayne was a bit speechless. It would have been better if it were a lava giant or an ancient fire demon, as they were natural enemies of the lava hellhound. A battle between two epic-level beasts that ended in mutual destruction would be more plausible.

"This..."

The pair of lava hellhounds left Rayne somewhat indecisive.

Suddenly, the Communication Mark on Rayne's chest flashed!

"Lord Iron Throne, the Vile Demon at Cologne Cathedral is showing unusual activity, expanding outward again, and seems to be preparing for another attack." Olena's anxious voice came from the mark.

"Huh?"

Rayne’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately said, "Alright, I’ll be right back."

After a moment’s thought, Rayne decided to go with the two lava hounds.

"After all, even among dogs, there are internal conflicts."

With a flash, Rayne appeared above the Lava Lake. A large metallic hand made of Dark Silver quickly formed in mid-air, reaching into the lava and grabbing the half-asleep lava hound by the neck.

"Whimper~"

The lava hound, which had intended to roar in anger, trembled in fear upon sensing Rayne’s power.

At the peak of the Full Moon stage, Rayne was almost an unbeatable existence in the lava hound’s perception.

After two more attribute points, Rayne brought the lava hound back to the previous location, using another Dark Silver metallic hand to pull out the second lava hound.

Rayne then quickly observed the claw and mouth shapes of the two lava hounds before swiftly killing both epic-level creatures.

Next, he rapidly transformed into multiple pairs of metallic claws, creating fake wounds on the two lava hounds.

Once he was done, Rayne threw the two lava hound corpses into the Lava Lake nearest the lava spider nest, then released a fire spell to trigger an energy fluctuation.

When the wandering lava spiders arrived and discovered the lava hound corpses, Rayne nodded and flashed away from the Fallen Hammer Mountains.

As Rayne returned to the airspace above the Imperial Capital Temeril, he noticed a massive, several-hundred-meter-tall Vile Demon looming over Cologne Cathedral.

Surrounding it were corrupted birds, griffin riders, and even a few dragons enveloped in Malevolent Qi, circling the Vile Demon as if ready to attack at any moment.

In the sky on the other side, the Empire and Federation’s joint forces were on high alert.

Led by the Red Queen Menya, the Imperial Guardians, top-flight knights, and a large number of griffin riders, along with dozens of large armed dirigibles from the Federation, were gathered in the air, stretching for miles.

Rayne even spotted several tall Elven elders among the Empire’s upper ranks, with Auben Yue Ren, the Elven Druid Elder, at the forefront.

Clearly, the Elves were here to provide support.

As for the goddess Matilda, she was hidden in the distance as a reserve.

"It seems the energy absorbed from the last consumption has been fully absorbed, and now it’s time for further expansion", Rayne said, frowning slightly.

Rayne had thoroughly studied the Vile Demon’s combat methods through the goddess Matilda.

The Vile Demon’s power was extremely high. Even as a True God, or Solar Sovereign, Matilda couldn’t completely eliminate the Malevolent Qi core.

Without the core, Malevolent Qi would slowly recover and grow.

The only solution was to use the Chrono Key Shard to consume the Malevolent Qi core.

This was the tactic Matilda had used, sacrificing her own lifespan to drive the Chrono Key Replica and consume Malevolent Qi, then sealing the remaining Vile Demon.

While the battle was ultimately won, Matilda’s long lifespan was significantly depleted.

Aside from the Vile Demon’s core, the difficulty of dealing with the corrupted creatures varied depending on the concentration of Malevolent Qi.

Generally, creatures at the legendary level would be severely injured by fire energy of the same level, while epic-level fire energy could completely eliminate Malevolent Qi.

However, if the Malevolent Qi concentration was at the epic level, it would be extremely challenging to deal with.

Even a Late Dawn wizard would find it difficult to completely eliminate such Malevolent Qi.

This is why battles against the Vile Demon were so difficult. A single mistake could lead to infection, and completely eradicating it was extremely challenging.

With a flash, Rayne appeared beside Red Queen Menya. "I’m here."

Seeing Rayne, the Imperial Guardians, elite soldiers in the dirigibles, and others all breathed a sigh of relief.

Their demigod had arrived!

The enemy was too powerful and terrifying. Just the sheer size of the Vile Demon, towering hundreds of meters tall, was enough to instill despair.

Even ‘King of the Red Dragons’ Strasz would seem like a child compared to this Vile Demon, the difference was that great.

"Rayne, the Vile Demon’s aura seems even stronger", Menya said, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, it draws energy from the creatures it corrupts every time."

"By the way, has the Sky City not been repaired yet?"

"Not yet, but even if it were repaired, it wouldn’t be suitable for this battle against the Vile Demon."

"Huh?"

"Because the Sky City’s lower levels seal another Vile Demon. I’m worried", Rayne said gravely.

Both he and the goddess Matilda were still unsure of the relationship between the floating Vile Demon and the one at Cologne Cathedral.

Were they multiple sub-bodies of the same entity?

Or were they independent Vile Demon entities?

According to ancient texts, these legendary evil beings, created by the Void Overlord, arrived in different eras.

The most obvious evidence was the nearly 20,000-year gap between the ancient goblin era and Matilda’s era.

So, Rayne was more inclined to believe they were different Vile Demon entities.

However, the key issue was that Vile Demons could apparently split and fuse at will.

This meant that if the Sky City were to participate in the battle and an unexpected situation led to the fusion of the two Vile Demons, even Rayne might be unable to handle the situation.

Therefore, the Sky City was still floating above the Cyrodiil Highlands, relying on abundant mineral resources and the Construct Association’s manpower to fully repair it.

"I understand, that does seem more prudent", Menya nodded.

Suddenly, a massive roar interrupted their conversation.

"Roar!!!"

With a roar from the Vile Demon above Cologne Cathedral, a terrifying demonic sound swept through the area.

The corrupted creatures under its command roared and howled, preparing to attack the human alliance!

Faced with the Vile Demon’s impending attack, Menya first nodded to Rayne, then rallied the troops through a magical transmission:

"I am Menya Dragan. Here, I see an army composed of the Empire, Federation, and even Elves, ready to face the Vile Demon’s invasion!"

"This scene is so familiar!"

"Much like 10,000 years ago, when the goddess Matilda led humans and other races to fight the Vile Demon and the eldritch deity, it is so similar."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are all humans. Faced with a brutal and heartless monster like the Vile Demon, fear will naturally arise in our hearts."

"But if you choose to turn and run now, you might survive, but one day, when you reflect on your actions, will you regret your cowardice?"

"By staying, even if you might die, you can proudly tell everyone that you fought bravely to protect your home and family! You can proudly tell the Vile Demon that we humans will never surrender!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, glory is with us! I am with you!"

Menya’s powerful pre-battle speech seemed to have a deafening effect, like a spell.

Thousands of people, whether in the sky or on the ground, regardless of their status or strength, overcame their fear, raised their weapons, and shouted:

"Glory is with us!"

"Glory is with us!"

However, the alliance’s roar clearly enraged the Vile Demon!

The corrupted dragons and other flying minions of the Vile Demon, like a black waterfall, swooped down toward the alliance in the sky.

On the ground, the countless corrupted beings charged at the alliance’s positions like a horde of zombies.

The battle had begun!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end