The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 156 - 115: Who Said That?

Chapter 156: Chapter 115: Who Said That?

Rod had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"Justice Execution" had been stuck under the state of Weak Burning for a long time, and as a consequence, he hadn’t ignited the Fourth Star either.

After all, under a non-Constant Burning state, the star would continuously consume humanity, resulting in too great a loss.

Dealing with humanity all the time was somewhat unbearable.

He just wanted to be dealt with humanity.

After careful preparation, the team set out quickly to hunt down evil spirits.

The Corpse Wasteland was a vast area in front of Sword Pass, at whose end lay one of the core strongholds of the inner defense circle, the Dawn Fortress.

The so-called defense circle was actually a continuous defensive line established by human strongholds such as castles, fortresses, bastions, and outposts, relying on patrols and regular hunts to clear out the monsters from the depths of darkness.

The defense circle is divided into three layers: outer, middle, and inner.

The outer defense circle represented the limit of control the Royal City had, facing the barren darkness and resisting the greatest threats.

The middle defense circle was the central part of the entire defense line, with numerous patrol teams and combat clusters clearing out the vast majority of monsters that reached this layer.

The inner defense circle was at the end of the defense line, responsible for sweeping away the threats missed by the first two layers, including parts of the Red Soil Plain, some towns and villages, as well as the outer areas of the Royal City.

However, this still could not guarantee the absolute safety of the kingdom’s hinterland.

Therefore, the Royal City had also established numerous defense zones, with the Guardian in charge of the safety within the region, and the Royal City also formed cleaning or hunting squads from time to time to eliminate threats appearing on the Red Soil Plain.

Sword Pass belonged to the Seventh Defense Zone, with Jon as the Guardian in charge of the middle section of the inner defense circle, including Sword Pass, Dawn Fortress, and the Giant Fortress, as well as the southeastern area of the Red Soil Plain.

Along the way, the captain of the hunting squad, Blackfish, continuously briefed them on the situation here.

He was a young Seventh Level Combatant, around twenty-something, tall and thin, and very enthusiastic with much to say.

The team had a total of ten people, five scouts and five combatants, carrying only spare light and Red Tear Stones, so their light extended only a few yards, with the Black Fog within arm’s reach.

But they were not worried, for they knew the Sword Pass Fortress was close by.

Soon, they arrived at the predetermined location.

"We will split up here,"

Blackfish said.

"Two people in a team, a Spiritual Visionary paired with a combatant. The evil spirits are scattered over a wide area, and we can be more efficient this way."

"This is a Ghost Light Bomb, use it to call for help if you’re in danger; this is a Star Disk for navigation, don’t lose your way."

"Now, let’s synchronize our time. It is now the evening clock hour one, a quarter past seven minutes. The hunt duration is two clock hours. Be sure to return to Sword Pass Fortress before nightfall. Any questions?"

The team answered in unison, "No."

"Anna, Mia, Ian, Rage, you each pair up with a combatant. Rod, you’re with me."

Anna couldn’t help but say, "Captain Blackfish, Rod is very fragile, you must take good care of him."

Blackfish laughed, "Don’t worry, when we left Sword Pass, your captains repeatedly nagged me about it, and the Defense Chief also warned me. After all, he is a complete Spiritual Visionary. He’s precious, you know. Even if I die, he won’t."

Anna was not convinced of his strength, "Let me be in a team with Rod."

She paused briefly, "My characteristic is Magic Awakening."

As soon as his words fell, everyone’s gaze turned towards him.

Blackfish was stunned for a moment before choking out two words, "Impressive, impressive. It seems that your combat level does not represent your true strength. But now that you two Spiritual Visionaries are traveling together, it frees up two of our Stone Wood Cores."

He patted his chest and said with a smile.

"Rest assured, my characteristic is Defense Barrier, a Seventh Level combatant. I once fought valiantly alongside Lord Alan on the Hill of the Dead..."

A warrior shouted, "Stop blowing your own trumpet! You were knocked out cold on the ground the whole time."

Blackfish’s face turned red as he angrily said, "What do you know? I’ve also battled with a Corrupted Giant Dragon, you know? That dragon was bigger than the entire Sword Pass."

"Come off it, you’ve told that story a hundred times. Does taking one shot from two thousand yards away count as battling?"

Blackfish yelled, "If you belittle me again, I’ll get angry! It wasn’t two thousand yards; it was only one thousand eight hundred!"

The warriors all showed a look of helpless resignation and fell silent.

"In any event."

Blackfish slapped his chest.

"I am very reliable! The safety of young Brother Rod is on me, let’s set out!"

Anna heaved a sigh and had no choice but to set off with another warrior.

Rod followed Blackfish towards the northeast.

Along the way, Blackfish kept emphasizing how strong, dependable, and proficient in combat skills he was, and tried to instill his superior war concepts in Rod.

"My Spiritual Power Strength is as high as 21 thousand ticks, and my Spiritual Power Level has already reached 5. Whether in the academy or the legion, I am the strongest in my group or team. You just boldly point out the location of the monsters; leave the rest to me."

"Although I don’t know your organizational sequence numbers, it’s clear to me that you usually operate in the Safe Zone and the core areas, and aren’t very familiar with how we fight in the outer regions."

"Here, when you see a threat, you must not rush in recklessly; you must approach with care and caution, checking for traps nearby following the Flor Principle and looking for other threats..."

"Right, what’s your preferred combat style?"

Rod casually answered, "Steadfast."

Blackfish slapped his thigh, "Exactly, it needs to be steadfast! You must have patience, persistence, and determination because the monsters are endless, and so are the threats. You need to keep your edge, ready to strike at the critical moment..."

Rod almost didn’t listen to a word he said. All he wanted was to quickly hunt more monsters, obtain more souls, and finish making the "Soul Firewood" as soon as possible to enhance the Strength of "Justice Execution."

The blankness of the invasion surface always gave him a strange unease.

Only with greater power and more cards up his sleeve could he shake off this feeling.

Suddenly, Blackfish shouted, "Here it comes! There’s something nearby!"

Rod turned quickly and indeed saw a white Spiritual Body.

It was about twice the height of a person, its head squashed like mashed paste, arms were long scythes, and it had no legs.

Text swiftly appeared on the Eye of the Soul.

"Furious Evil Spirit"

Rod knew it was the true name given by the Soul Wave readings of the Eye of the Soul.

Under the true name, there were no specific details, indicating there were no records of it in the Soul Altar.

——These are the results of Rod’s recent research into the Dream Realm.

Evil Spirits swayed through the air, emitting strange whining sounds.

Firewood shouted, "Watch out, it’s nearby, my badge is vibrating! These Evil Spirits are very tough. The scythe in their hands deals a lot of damage and can’t be blocked by normal Spiritual Defense. Their attacks are unpredictable and cunning; don’t rashly approach it. We’d better... What on earth are you doing?"

Rod paused for a moment, then dashed out with the speed of an arrow.

The Evil Spirit was startled and screeched as it charged towards him.

Firewood’s badge vibrated wildly, indicating that the Evil Spirit was enraged.

In a hurry, he activated a Defense Barrier; layers of light barriers flickered across him as he drew his sword, and a powerful Spiritual Power Light shone on the blade.

"Don’t be afraid, Rod, I’m coming to save you!"

Bang!

Rod shot the Evil Spirit.

There was a huge hole in its soul, its protective Spiritual Energy was deficient, and it was full of vulnerabilities.

The Sealing Spirit Bullet had a powerful Spiritual Power Shock effect. Even if a soul had no vulnerabilities, it could be forced to reveal one. If it struck directly at the soul’s hollow, it would instantly cause a huge stiffening effect.

The Evil Spirit was hit precisely at its most vulnerable spot. The Sealing Spirit Bullet shattered into powder upon colliding with the Spiritual Body, but the powerful Spiritual Power Shock effect had already penetrated the crevices of Spiritual Energy and entered into the hollow of the soul, causing a great shake to its entire Spiritual Body.

Boom!

A weird muffled sound echoed from the Void, as if a taut drum of a soul had been pierced with a hammer.

The Evil Spirit fell straight from the sky, its Spiritual Energy in chaos and its Spiritual Body wildly unstable.

Rod raised his right hand, and a sickle-shaped crescent appeared on the back of his hand. His right hand became transparent as dazzling light and steam began to rise.

Firewood stopped midair, looking uncertainly at Rod’s right hand.

"What is this? This pressure on my soul... My soul is trembling. Its instinct threatens my soul. No, no, the feeling—it’s compressing my very existence... This is an attack targeted at the soul!"

Boom! Another muffled sound.

Firewood saw Rod’s right hand thrust violently into the Void as if grabbing something, then yanked it out with force.

An invisible scream echoed in the air.

This was the wail of the Evil Spirit.

Although Firewood couldn’t see it, he knew that a monster’s soul had been permanently dispersed, its condensed darkness thrown back into the Void to return to its Source.

Tiny specks of black ash scattered, and a pale clump of ash fell to the ground.

Firewood took two steps forward and picked up a hard clump from the ashes.

It was like a badge, bearing the emblem of crossed swords.

This was the ashes of the Evil Spirit.

Firewood looked at Rod, who was staring at the Void with a face full of joy at whatever he was seeing.

He couldn’t help but ask, "Is this what you call being steady?"

Rod turned around, his face clearly showing a bright smile from the good haul.

"Exactly, we can only be absolutely safe after the monsters are dead."

——

Firewood was at a loss for words for quite a while.

If this reasoning held, all his combat styles were the riskiest.

"You absolutely must not do this again!"

Firewood said seriously.

"When working outside, you must listen to the captain’s arrangement, and I’m not just the captain, but also the strongest one. Your strange soul attacks might be strong, but surely they take a lot out of you, I bet you can’t use it a second time. Don’t try to be a hero, just identify the location, and I’ll handle the killing..."

"Here it comes again! My badge is vibrating!"

Rod quickly turned around and indeed saw another Evil Spirit. He charged with the speed of an arrow.

The Evil Spirit was instantly enraged and roared down towards Rod, its vulnerabilities in Spiritual Energy and soul even more significant.

It seemed these Evil Spirits had a congenital incompleteness that amplified vulnerabilities when agitated.

Rod barely needed to aim.

With his current level of Spiritual Power, the Spirit Gun recharged in less than a second.

Bang!

The Sealing Spirit Bullet instantly hit the Evil Spirit.

Its whole Spiritual Body trembled as if a bomb had exploded inside a skin drum, with Spiritual Energy shattered and its Spiritual Body shaking unstably before falling from the sky.

Rod concentrated his mind again, and in just three seconds, Spiritual Energy filled the sickle-shaped badge, his right hand, steaming with light power, fiercely struck the Evil Spirit, gripping its Soul string.

With a pull, he tore the entire Evil Spirit to shreds.

[Furious Evil Spirit’s Soul]

Soul Without Spirit +17

This was the benefit of using the "Soul Blast"; it seemed that tearing apart the entire Spiritual Body allowed him to directly gain a number of Soul Without Spirits.

The haul was good, the key was they were thin-skinned and fat-filled, easy to hunt.

Rod’s heart was filled with joy. Even if he couldn’t find powerful souls, hunting a few hundred of these kinds of Evil Spirits would be enough to make [Soul Firewood].

Firewood approached, his expression somewhat blank.

"How is your gun so powerful?"

Rod smiled and said, "Because my bullets are special."

"How many more times can you use that soul attack?"

"Hmm... probably fifty times or so, it seems different monsters’ Soul Strength requires different amounts of Spiritual Power. The souls of Evil Spirits are too fragile, like paper."

Firewood’s eyes bulged out.

"Who the hell said you were fragile? Huh?"