Monsters Are Coming
Chapter 39 Evil Spirit

Chapter 39: Chapter 39 Evil Spirit

Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, Northern region.

A seemingly bottomless ravine splits the earth in two like a natural moat, with sticky web-like substances crawling over the nearby land. A pitch-black tower rises straight from the chasm, piercing the sky.

Atop the spire hovers a large, dark red eye, occasionally flickering with a dim light, surveilling the movement of the grass and wind in the vicinity.

On the tower’s platform, a humanoid figure stands with arms crossed over its chest, over two meters tall with dark red skin as if burnt repeatedly by flames. Its eyes, deeply set within their sockets, are like burning coals, filled with malice and an aura of destruction.

"It’s the energy of the Reverse Tide Army Soldier."

Just then, a crack opens atop the Eye of Insight hovering above its head, and a hoarse voice emits from within.

"What’s the origin of the Reverse Tide Army?" The humanoid Evil Spirit Warrior inquires indifferently.

"According to the information shared by other nodes, this is a powerful legion formed by warriors who have forsaken their faith. Their leader is known as Reverse Tide, one of the biggest obstacles to our race’s dominance of this world."

"Forsaken their faith?"

To the query, the dark red eye immediately explains:

"You’ve just arrived from the Dungeon World and are not yet familiar with the background of this world. According to information shared by other nodes, this world once had a mighty deity, known as Emperor Zhao, who was the true god worshiped by all life here... After his unknown demise, the Reverse Tide Army was established thousands of years later, initially to oppose us. The soldiers of the Reverse Tide Army believe that Emperor Zhao abandoned them and chose to forsake their faith to honor Reverse Tide instead."

"Trivial faith." A trace of disdain appears in the eyes of the Evil Spirit Warrior.

"Do not underestimate the soldiers of the Reverse Tide Army. Our soldiers across other nodes have clashed with them multiple times and have not gained much advantage. Also, the strength of life on this world is not comparable to the Dungeon World you previously helped conquer. Set aside your contempt," the dark red eye solemnly warns.

Ignoring the advice of the Evil Eye, the Evil Spirit Warrior’s gaze shifts towards the direction of the Blood-Colored Plain in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range. A black viscous liquid emerges from its body, wrapping around and solidifying into a fierce armor, with sharp black spikes at every joint.

"I’ll give it a try."

As the words fall, the Evil Spirit Warrior transforms into a streak of black light that tears across the sky, speeding directly towards the Blood-Colored Plain.

...

Blood-Colored Plain, Northern region.

Duan Xing looks emotionlessly at players lurking and waiting for his slaughter, unable to muster the urge to charge forth and kill.

Up to this point, he has lost count of how many he’s killed; there seems to be no end.

Sitting idly on the ground, he begins to ponder one thing.

Whether he should give up the trial and leave this place.

His pride and sense of defeat clash within his mind, and Duan Xing can’t help but let out a despondent sigh.

He wants to persist but doesn’t know how to continue.

These mysterious creatures even dig three feet into the ground in places he’s been, making it impossible to gather enough Evil Crystals to complete the trial.

Although his Rune Armor has a data recording function that can prove he has killed a large number of Evil Spirits, enough to complete the trial task...

The Inspector never uses the combat records as a reference, only judging the completion of the assessment by the number of collected Evil Crystals. Encountering the frustration of losing Evil Crystals is also considered part of the assessment.

While Duan Xing is deep in thought, he suddenly feels a strong surge in energy and quickly lifts his head towards the northwest sky.

A black light streak, carrying a thick aura of death, is speeding towards him.

"An Evil Spirit?!"

Realizing that the one attacking is an intelligent Evil Spirit Warrior, Duan Xing’s expression becomes extremely grave.

He abruptly stands up and presses his hand against his left chest.

Click~click~click.

The sounds of gears meshing echo, and the runes on his Battle Armor suddenly light up, and a surge of energy ripples outward from him.

His disheveled blue hair dances in the wind stirred by the energy, and two sharp blades rapidly form and extend from the back of his hands.

Boom!

The Evil Spirit Warrior lands in front of Duan Xing, scattering stones and dust in all directions.

As the dust settles, the Evil Spirit Warrior with its ferocious appearance and its mad eyes looks straight at Duan Xing.

Shing!

At that moment, Duan Xing’s two Energy Battle Blades finish materializing.

Without any words, both figures move and vanish from their spots, colliding at the center.

After crossing paths, they separate.

The Evil Spirit Warrior looks down at the blade marks on its chest, a trace of surprise in its eyes. It suddenly sidesteps, narrowly avoiding another slash, then twists its body and delivers a side kick, sending the approaching Duan Xing flying away before quickly following up.

Boom!

Duan Xing’s blade clashes with the Evil Spirit Warrior’s Arm Guard, sending sparks flying.

As a dense aura of death envelops him, Duan Xing finds it hard to breathe.

"Kill!"

Facing the frenzied offense of the Evil Spirit Warrior, Duan Xing’s fighting spirit within his eyes blazed wildly.

This was not his first encounter with an Evil Spirit, but the one before him differed from those he had previously battled; its combat skills and self-healing ability were several times stronger.

The wounds his blades left on the Evil Spirit’s body quickly healed, whereas his own injuries mounted with increasing number.

Under the continuous collisions, the light bursting forth from the Rune Armor dimmed, and after over ten minutes of high-frequency impacts, Duan Xing gradually weakened.

Boom!

Just then, the heavy fist of the Evil Spirit Warrior punctured the defensive gap spun by the twin blades, striking hard against Duan Xing’s chest. His body was flung backward, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood as he landed and rolled with the momentum, only stopping after kicking up a wave of dust.

As Duan Xing gritted his teeth, preparing to fight again, a pitch-black figure pierced through the rising dust and lunged towards him with a knee aimed at the ground, crashing harshly onto his chest.

Two black spikes pierced through his Rune Armor’s defenses and into his chest.

Boom!

Duan Xing’s body plunged into the soil, and the reddish glow dissipating from his eyes briefly reverted to pure white.

Amidst Duan Xing’s fleeting consciousness, the Rune Armor appeared activated by some force, as the Energy spring at its left chest wound itself automatically.

Instantly, a surge of energy erupted from the Armor, blasting the snickering Evil Spirit Warrior away, while the overflowing energy encircled Duan Xing, rapidly healing his wounds.

Duan Xing stood up once more, his momentum climbing steadily.

Feeling the newfound power, a hint of surprise emerged in Duan Xing’s eyes:

"Father."

As the Evil Spirit Warrior attacked anew, Duan Xing resolutely met it head-on, calling forth his blades to clash against the Evil Spirit Warrior’s fists.

Bang!

With each collision, ripples of energy spread outwards from the epicenter of where their hands met.

Duan Xing, having recovered from his injuries, saw an obvious rise in strength, but he still remained at a disadvantage in combat skills and power when facing the Evil Spirit Warrior.

An hour of fierce combat later, Duan Xing was drenched in blood, his body riddled with gaping wound, swaying as if he could topple at any moment.

Yet his gaze towards the Evil Spirit Warrior was still filled with boundless fighting spirit.

In contrast, the situation of the Evil Spirit Warrior was similarly bleak.

The rapid-healing black Rune Armor was now covered in cracks, its left arm broken and dangling uselessly at the shoulder, incapable of further healing.

Boom!

Exhausted and unable to sustain the battle, Duan Xing fell to the ground at that moment.

Witnessing this scene, a savage smile formed on the Evil Spirit Warrior’s lips as it conjured a black spike in its hand, slowly approaching the fallen Duan Xing.

Just as the spike in hand was about to pierce Duan Xing’s face, a voice suddenly rang out:

"Taunt!"

Following the shout, the Evil Spirit’s memories spontaneously assembled and wove together.

Intense hatred surged from within, redirecting the black spike aimed at Duan Xing uncontrollably towards the source of the voice.

However, the inexplicable hatred that emerged lasted less than a second before it was overcome by the Evil Spirit Warrior’s will. With an astonished expression, a corpulent figure was sliced by the spike in its hand, turning into a black mist that dissipated.

"Rule Power?"

Just as the Evil Spirit was about to turn back and deal with Duan Xing, another voice came from behind:

"Hey, look over here!"

Hatred once again overwhelmed it, the Evil Spirit involuntarily spun around, hurling the spike filled with infinite malice behind it.

The target was killed with a single strike, but a new wave of hatred arose from the depths, compelling it to instinctively turn its head towards another figure not far off.

Meanwhile, the regional voice channels and Player Forum erupted into chaos:

"Brothers, we need backup! God of Wealth’s about to bite the dust, come quick to the rescue, we can’t hold out much longer!"

"Calling all brothers to urgently come to the aid of God of Wealth at these coordinates—if he’s gone, who will hand out red packets to you in the future?"

"Holy shit, is God of Wealth really going down? Over my dead body, I still need God of Wealth to unlock my third Star Vein Slot. He absolutely cannot die! Gathering the bros and rushing over now, hold on there nearby brothers, hang in there!"

"No way, I haven’t received a red packet from God of Wealth yet, he definitely can’t die, protect him at all costs!"

...

The news of God of Wealth’s imminent demise exploded among the player community.

Over the past week, the fortunes brought by God of Wealth enabled many players to unlock their second Star Vein Slot.

In their eyes, God of Wealth was a walking red packet distributor, encountering him meant making some quick cash.

Even though plenty of players had not received welfare red packets from God of Wealth, this didn’t mean there wouldn’t be opportunities in the future—if God of Wealth died, the chance to receive red packets would be forever gone.

Hearing this news, players rushed towards the given coordinates en masse.