Chapter 136

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Chapter 136: Rest

Another kind of monster mixed among the other demons, unnoticed by anyone until the light of the first soul amulet burst open.

With limited resources, members of the special forces and Professionals prepared more talismans, while even the most ordinary soldiers were equipped with at least two types of talismans. One developed by the Archmage Tower, used to prevent fierce fires and effectively counter attacks from the numerous fire attributes in the abyss; one provided by the Saroism, blessed silver divided into strands as thin as hair entwined within the soul amulet, these slightly effective exorcism tools had no ability to harm evil spirits, but they could indeed protect the wearers.

The soldier gasped in shock, gazing at the Phantom Shadow behind him under the faint glow of the talisman. It floated weightlessly, manifesting under the talisman’s faint light. It was so close, its outstretched body half wrapping around the soldier’s, its almost human-like face right behind his head, its tongue reaching out to lick the soldier’s face. It looked like a huge plastic sheet clinging to people due to static electricity, a bit funny to think about.

The only reason they stopped behind was simply blocked by the soul amulet.

Transparent Phantom Shadows descended from the sky, slowly approaching, silently attaching themselves to people’s backs, wrapping around their bodies. They had no faces, no limbs, no heads, just a chaotic, invisible mist that would morph and grow only when close enough to a living being. When attaching to a horse, it sprouted hooves; when attaching to a person, the mist formed limbs and a face.

A face identical to the victim’s.

The Phantom Shadows could mimic any living being they licked. They only took form after a meal. And after digesting for just over ten minutes, they would become transparent again, blending into the air, ready for the next meal.

Phantom Shadows were not the same as ghosts; the latter were humanoid spirit bodies, while the former were monstrous creatures. Their attacks were not fatal, yet facing them required full attention. These invisible creatures clung to the backs of the living, their invisible tendrils delving into people’s bodies, their mouths licking the victim’s souls. Initially, you would feel your limbs go cold, then your limbs would weaken, even your tongue would become numb. The strongest, most well-fed people would collapse to the ground after a feeding session as if experiencing severe hypoglycemia.

Imagine this happening on a battlefield.

The soul amulet was glowing softly, with numerous small tentacles wrapping around the edges of the light. The soldier was quite brave, but still sweat profusely in this situation, as if he saw the giant octopus tentacles through the submarine window. He saw the Phantom Shadow’s "head" wriggling, vaguely trying to form a face but then dissipating in the light.

This scene kept happening all over the battlefield, with a faint glow shining, tentacles continuously wrapping around and retracting, feeling like being burnt and unable to move on, unwilling to leave. The Shaman’s magic wand was shaken loudly, but it did not have much effect on the Phantom Shadow. Even though they were both spirit bodies, the Phantom Shadow could not be compared to ghost fire, as this level of evil spirits had strength comparable to Ancestor Spirit.

The power of the Ancestor Spirit spread through the Shaman’s spells, evenly covering a certain range. This dilution allowed a Shaman to influence an area of several kilometers, but it also meant that the power could not be concentrated. How could the evenly distributed power of the Ancestor Spirit drive away multiple Phantom Shadows over a wide area?

"Humility, honesty, compassion, bravery!" The roar rang out at the edge of the battlefield, the chant growing louder, "Justice! Sacrifice! Glory! Faith!"

Swish!

The sound of many weapons being unsheathed and cutting through the air.

The Paladins’ wooden staffs opened up, clubs clashed with mortals, and weapons pointed at demons – now was the time to use weapons. Battle axes, long spears, or mauls hidden in their wooden staffs were held in their hands, with the Invisible Hand hanging at their waist.

Professionals have once again become the openly righteous Guardians of the Aryans over the years, with more and more people possessing innate abilities. Authorities rescued and supported various legacies, allowing various professional legacies to flourish openly. The dusty warehouses were opened again, weapons and armor in the memorial halls were taken out, duplicated, and used. Craftsmen and factories forged new equipment, sporadic Paladins gathered once more, standing on the battlefield with youthful vigor, their silver hands glistening brightly, holding shining pearls.

The Invisible Hand, symbolizing control over their own destiny, was not a sacred relic of inheritance, just a recent ornament. But the faith of these Paladins was as unwavering as their predecessors – their determination to fight fate was incomparable.

"Humble, honest, compassionate, brave!" they shouted, a faint golden light rising amidst their cheers, "Justice, sacrifice, glory, faith!"

The radiant light from the Paladin shone as brightly as the sun, filling all those touched by it with a warmth from within, dispelling darkness and dampness. It was the Holy Light, emanating from unwavering faith, a near divine radiance—not of the divine, but of the ultimate in humanity. Protecting Aryan, banishing demons, shaping destiny…such resolute beliefs became their faith, no need to bow before any gods or demons, for they themselves were the masters of this Holy Light.

Many, many years ago, the templars charged towards demons shouting their vows. Many, many years ago, the Paladins charged at the enemies for the survival of humanity. They may have seemed stern, rigid, and lacking in compassion, but sometimes even their enemies had to admit that they possessed traits worthy of respect. Noble virtues never die, heroic souls never fade away, a new legion of Paladins once again fights for Aryan, as if the past has come alive again. If that old knight, Alexander, who fell in battle years ago, could see this scene, he would surely be very proud.

The Holy Light radiated from their raised weapons, a radiance more uplifting than that from the soul amulets. These Paladins sprang into action, mounting onto… their vehicles.

Do you think they’ll be riding horses?

Horses are too slow.

The latest models of heavy-duty combat motorcycles thundered, their operation principles similar to those of magic-powered vehicles (those ones that run on steam and magic energy), much smaller in size than armored vehicles, higher maneuverability, superior carrying capacity, and speed far surpassing horses. The armored Paladins mounted the motorcycles proudly, securing weapons at the front, starting the engines, and racing off in a cloud of dust.

This scene… is slightly hard to look at directly.

The brave Paladin rode a tall and grand motorcycle, a sparkling sword/axe/spear/mallet planted in a basket-like position, even with the motorcycle painted in a retro style, the atmosphere on-site grand and intense, the whole scene still possessed an indescribable mix-and-match feeling, akin to a "vacuum cleaner unearthed from an ancient tomb" or a "thousand-year-old jade carved with Doraemon." If some time-traveler longing for a Western fantasy epic story were to arrive on this battlefield, they might very well be internally shaken by this sight.

Tasha thought she had to break the classical beauty for practical reasons, even if people would criticize her for it.

"The Paladins are here!" The host was so excited that he was spitting while speaking, with a face full of joy. "They are dressed in shining armor like the morning light, riding majestic and fast steeds, surrounded by a golden glow on their faces like Guardians! Listen! That’s the sound of the Paladins’ steel warhorses! Their roar is like thunder, their speed faster than any ordinary horse, they breathe out rolling black smoke, like brave fire dragons! Oh! These Paladins are just like dragon slayers from legend, stepping on evil dragons!"

"As long as you’re happy," Tasha thought.

The motorcycle Paladin team quickly dispersed, heading to different places under the command of their headsets. Wherever the golden light went, transparent Phantom Shadows were knocked out, as the two were as incompatible as oil and water. Once these creatures lost their invisible protection and couldn’t get close, they became very fragile, like snails out of their shells.

The Paladins did not slow down, they charged at the Phantom Shadows that were forced out of stealth mode, drawing their weapons to slash the Phantom Shadows under their motorbikes.

The battle was still under control.

Creatures fell intermittently from the cracks, and the Aryan defenders cleaned them up at a rate that kept a dynamic balance with the creatures’ increase. While controlling the number of creatures, they slowly rotated different military units, ensuring everyone had enough time to eat and rest. They were prepared for a prolonged battle, and on the first day of the Abyss Passage opening, despite some casualties, the situation was quite optimistic.

The first day ended like this, and by nightfall, to everyone’s surprise, the creatures’ fall suddenly stopped.

The Aryan defenders took another hour to clean up all the creatures that had fallen to the Primary Material Plane, with only a few slipping through the cracks. During this time, the Abyss Passage remained quiet, and detection instruments confirmed that no more Abyssal Creations were sneaking over. The same was true for the next hour.

The drones heading towards the passage lost signal before they could pass through. No need for special inspection, onlookers could see with their eyes the drones’ downfall: they couldn’t enter the passage, getting twisted into a pile of scrap metal at the entrance.

Space turbulence blocked the passage connecting the abyss with the Primary Material Plane, it’s unclear when it happened.

"I have good news and bad news," Victor said. "Which one would you like to hear first?"

"The bad news," Tasha replied.

"Someone has tampered with the spatial passage again," Victor pointed to the sky. "When the passage opens again, the strength of the demons that can pass through will increase by a level."

Indeed, one can’t rely on luck, the passage won’t close on its own.

Tasha sighed, asking, "What’s the good news?"

"We have at least a day or two of break before the new guests arrive," Victor answered. "We managed to expand the passage to allow Low-Level Horn Demons through, at the cost of three Lava Behemoths. It will take more cost and time to expand the passage again to its current state."

"If we could stop for a year or two, that would be good news. But just one or two days?" Tasha shook her head. "Not much time to prepare, not much influence."

"Actually, there might be even better news, but that’s just my guess," said Victor. "Do you want to hear it?"

He was referring to the time when Tasha told him to stop guessing, even at such a crucial moment that could affect the fate of the world, Victor still cared about it. Tasha chuckled and nodded at him.

"Regarding the matter of expanding the passage – in past invasions, we never did it this way," Victor said. "The Abyss lacks discipline, and no Demon Lord is willing to sacrifice their power."

The creatures of the Abyss were in chaos, fighting each other. Tasha could already feel it during the first day of defense.

Without any commanders, the Abyssal Demons acted on instinct: the instinct of killing and devouring projected by the Abyssal Will, and their instinct of comparing strengths. The portals in the sky did not send out a coordinated army, the first batch of Fire Salamanders fell to the ground, followed by the second, the third, the fourth… until the last Fire Salamander, all just coming in one after another, with no coordination. Most of the Abyssal creatures were mixed up in a mess, the waves of the same type appearing only because of the limitations of the portal.

As Victor said, the only strategy of the Abyssal army was "If you can squeeze through, then hurry up and do it."

The passage between the Abyss and the Primary Material Plane slowly opened, initially only allowing Little Devils and Will-o’-Wisps to come through. The explosion of the Lava Behemoth expanded the passage, allowing more advanced creatures to come through. So when the larger Little Devils, Demon Spirits, and other higher-ranking creatures rushed through, the numbers of Little Devils and Will-o’-Wisps coming through naturally decreased, because the throughput of the passage was limited.

Similar to passing through the narrowest part of an hourglass, when the heavy iron ball starts pushing through, the amount of sand that can pass through from many to very few – but it won’t completely disappear, after all, there are still gaps between the iron balls.

The instinct of creatures made low-level monsters gather together and cooperate at a basic level, just like companies crowding onto a train – if one company temporarily has the advantage, then that wave will consist entirely of people from that company. This is the reason why a large number of the same type of creatures appear together, and basically the only reason.

"Is it impossible to attack the other side and sacrifice a side to expand the passage?" asked Tasha.

"It’s possible, that’s why all the big demons think so," Victor shrugged, "Everyone is prepared, so the cost of sacrificing a side will become very high, with no impact in the end."

"So, for the current Abyss Lords, ‘opening the passage early’ is more important than ‘paying a high cost’," said Tasha.

"Exactly," Victor nodded, smiling, "The Abyss has given up the most common tug-of-war, they probably can’t afford to consume more than us."

This was a pleasant surprise.

The Abyss has been isolated from the Primary Material Plane for hundreds of years, demons are unaware of the human world, and the human residents know nothing about the Abyss during these centuries. The information obtained from the Abyss traitor Victor is not optimistic, the internal strife of Aryan over the past few centuries is worrisome, but considering that an equal decline may also be occurring in the Abyss…

The serious internal struggles of the Primary Material Plane are heartbreaking. The betrayal and civil war in the Abyss have been never-ending. The Primary Material Plane has suffered from magical decline, but as the "Primary Material Plane", humanity is absolutely unable to escape from being one of the branches of the World Tree, also the main beneficiary of the "branches" nourishment.

This war may perhaps end sooner than they expected.

Not to say it will become very simple.

The abyss was on the brink of life and death, demons were already crazy, and once they were desperate, it was hard to imagine what they would do. In this situation, the demons were destined to give it their all, the faster the war progressed, the shorter they were from facing their greatest challenge. This was going to be a fierce battle.

"Let’s take it one step at a time," whispered Tasha, looking into the distance.

The news of "one or two days of rest time" spread quickly, and everyone made the most of this break. The outcome of the initial battle had already spread throughout Aryan, and everyone was discussing the same thing. Soldiers who were unharmed called home to reassure their families that they were safe and sound.

The medical room was crowded again during the break, all the wounded soldiers were here, regardless of the severity of their injuries. Even soldiers with minor injuries complained but cooperated, everyone wanted to recover before the next battle and return to the battlefield as soon as possible.

A warrior was pierced through the abdomen by the Horn Demon’s iron chains, leaving a pile of rust in his intestines from the dirty weapon full of spikes, posing a greater risk of infection than blood loss. Saro’s Saint Child prayed at his bedside, a gentle light flowed into the warrior’s abdomen, and all the difficult-to-remove rust evaporated, like snow in the sunlight. Saro’s divine spell targeted the demons, anything tainted by demonic power could be purified by Saro God’s magic. Priests walked through the ward, and the ancient art of dragon-slaying finally proved most useful.

Orcs were handed over to Druids whenever possible, as potions with natural properties had quite a good effect on them. A few Orc Warriors exhibited atavism during the fierce battles, requiring special doctors— their body structure became somewhat different from humans, with temperatures rising several degrees. This sudden change caused concern among the doctors but was also welcomed as doctors specializing in Orcish medicine crowded into the special ward surrounding those few patients, their eyes keen, making others a bit nervous.

"Doctor, I just sprained my ankle, I don’t need to be hospitalized, right…" a big burly man said, shrinking his neck, appearing somewhat calm but with his round ears twitching non-stop.

"Sir, although you and your companions are currently special cases, in future fierce battles, more of our comrades will likely experience similar phenomena," the head of the Orc department solemnly stated. "Now is valuable free time for observing your condition, which may save many lives in the future."

The big man was moved by these words, couldn’t help but grab the doctor’s hand and shake it back and forth. The chief physician’s slender hand seemed like a little girl’s in his huge palm. His eyes filled with tears, he said in a booming voice, "Thank you, doctor! I will stay in the hospital!"

"Great!" The chief nodded swiftly, held his hand out, and excitedly said, "Come, let’s administer anesthesia!"

"Wait, wait, why do we need anesthesia?!"

The soldier’s cries disappeared at the end of the hospital room.

Compared to the surgeons who perform surgeries, Mavis and her apprentice, who provide medication therapy, are much more popular. When Pharmacist, wearing a green leaf badge, entered a room, people there would lift their heads and subconsciously start salivating. They jokingly referred to it not as receiving treatment, but as a small feast. During wartime, the half-elf had been away from the cafeteria for a long time, channeling all her cooking enthusiasm into pharmaceuticals.

The aroma of potions wafted for miles, and the same potion could surprisingly create different flavors. Fortunately, children and Craftsman Dwarf didn’t go to the battlefield, or else nurses wouldn’t be able to stop the patients from exchanging tastes.

Tasha had a rare opportunity to help out, her skill, "Add One More Spoonful of Sugar," was powerful enough to make ordinary people bleed to death. However, it was noted in the skill description that dragons could eat it. She poured the soup into the flying dragon’s mouth, and the dragon twisted its neck, slowly restoring the parts contaminated by the Demon Spirit spell. It was better this way; the consumption of ingredients was much less than creating a new dragon.

While Tasha was cooking, Victor curiously paced around. The demon body was as strong as a dragon, and after watching the lively flying dragon and tasting a spoonful of soup himself, he stood still in place for ten minutes.

"How does it feel?" Tasha asked him after finishing her work.

"Very delicious," Victor slowly revealed a somewhat pained smile, "but my stomach has just burnt through."

"…"

So the dragon twisted and turned, not to chase away pollution?

"Now, I am the only person in the world who has tried your cooking," Victor proudly announced.

"Are you even human?" Tasha teased.

"Well, then I am the only living being in the world who has tasted your cooking," Victor said.

"Even the dragons have tried it," Tasha pointed to a nearby dragon with a droopy look using a ladle.

"Regardless, can they compare to me!" Victor huffed. "We have all tasted it, but would you really equate me with these brainless pseudo dragons?"

"Of course not," Tasha replied, "There’s no need to eat that stuff, no one can compare to you."

Victor chuckled, and loudly kissed her.

On the battlefield, the lights shone brightly.

In the distant city, the lights were bright. Many people fell asleep peacefully in their tiredness, while many others stayed awake all night due to excitement or worry. Vines called "Night Lamps" wrapped around plants near the battlefield, growing on the ground. These plants, improved and optimized by the Druid, were fire-resistant, sturdy, and easy to care for. They didn’t shine during the day but emitted a faint light at night, enough to illuminate the battlefield. If night vision goggles were not enough for night battles, these plants would be very useful.

Unicorns wandered on the battlefield, their pure white bodies shining like moonlight. There were only a few people chosen by unicorns who awakened as Beastmasters, making it difficult to form an army. It was better to use them for non-combat purposes.

Unicorns had no masters, only companions. When their companions asked for help, they came. As these beautiful and noble creatures walked across the battlefield, black mist rose from the land polluted by demon corpses, blood, and magic. The unicorns’ horns sparkled with starlight, removing all resentment and impurity wherever they passed. Diseases brought by the abyss could not infect this plane.

The moon shone brightly tonight. Tomorrow would be a clear day, wouldn’t it?