Richard scanned the map. The monster stronghold siege went on until 16 August, 12 noon.
The night was dark.
The points on his attribute panel had reached an overwhelming 990,000.
His other gains also extensively bounced.
Dark crystal–19,800. Gold points–198. Experience points–990,000. Richard had also reached a level (1,090,000/1,200,000).
It had only been a day and a half, but he had already gained as much as he had in the last instance dungeon.
At 00:00 on the 17th of August…
The dark clouds in the sky suddenly surged with a vast wave of energy.
The energy connected to heaven and earth surged toward the dark crystal in the monster stronghold.
Richard stopped in advance and rode on Alves’s back. He watched the scene from above the sand of Twilight City.
In the sparse monster strongholds ahead, the dark crystals emitted dark light at the same time.
The space around the dark crystal started to ripple like a lake after the energy from the sky poured.
It rippled wave after wave.
The moment the fluctuation reached a limit, ‘Crack!’
The crisp sound of breaking glass resounded through the sky.
Then, with an explosion, countless crystal-like space fragments flew out.
When Richard focused his attention, he saw an eye-catching spatial rift where the dark crystal was.
The dark crystal that emitted a mighty magical wave was at the bottom of the spatial rift. It forcibly supported it.
The foundation stone.
‘Roar!’
The moment the crack appeared.
Low roars came from it as if countless bloodthirsty devouring-limb demons were on the other side of the spatial gap.
The sound they made was creepy.
“All troops, be on guard!”
Richard’s eyes fixed on the spatial rift.
His expression was grave.
The dark gargoyles at the back also held their axes tightly. They were ready to launch a fatal attack at any time.
The throat of the skeleton blood dragon already glowed with a blood-colored light, and its breath brewed.
Xina held her sword. Her Blood Qi filled the long sword, and her killing intent was awe-inspiring.
Gunter quickly chanted an incantation, and the magic power in its body surged like a tide.
Under the highest level of alert.
There was a new movement in the spatial rift in front of them. Three companies of void hunters guarded the rift…
One after another, monsters with fist-sized tumors all over their bodies and distorted appearances passed through the spatial rifts.
These monsters had stooped divine bodies and raised high backs. And their limbs were on the ground, like hunting wild beasts.
The most shocking was their tongues. They were more than 1.5 meters long.
Dense barbs, each that glowed with a deep blue color, covered their tongues. The poison the barbs contained could kill mammoths in an instant.
Void licker, level 7, Rare 3-stars potential. Other attributes: Dark energy that couldn’t be detected shrouded the licker.
Richard’s eyes were still on high alert even after he saw his opponent’s stats. He didn’t let his guard down just because his opponent’s level wasn’t high.
It was only the first wave of enemies.
There was still a long time to go.
Endless monsters that attacked the city would be strenuous.
He looked to the other side and saw a monster stronghold left behind on purpose. There was only one squadron of void hunters stationed there.
The void licker from the spatial gap was a level 5 and 3-stars potential.
The more dark crystals there were, the sturdier the monsters would be.
With that in mind, Richard immediately directed Alves to fly into the sky and look at the center, where a level 19 void slayer guarded the monster stronghold.
When he looked over, his heart jumped.
Only a few monsters appeared from the spatial rift. It made Richard frown.
[Void licker, level 10, Rare 3-stars potential.]
As expected, the more dark crystals there were in the monster stronghold, the sturdier the enemy would be.
After the void licker appeared, the level 16 and level 17 void hunter heroes that guarded the ordinary strongholds suddenly turned and left. In the blink of an eye, they gathered around the level 19 void slayer.
Only the level 14 void hunters were left to guard the portal.
Richard planked an eyebrow.
‘Was this what the system had said about the guards’ strength that decreased after it opened the spatial rifts?
‘It honestly wasn’t lying.’
The most strenuous to deal with in a monster stronghold was the paralyzingly soul-devouringly powerful hero unit.
After he left, the threat of the remaining level 14 void hunters dropped instantly.
‘Roar!’
After the void lickers passed through the spatial rifts, they immediately rushed toward Twilight City.
However, Richard cleared most of the monster strongholds. So there were very few of them left.
Only a few monsters emerged. When they ran across the vast land, it seemed a little empty.
There was no sense of oppression.
The void licker moved very fast. In the blink of an eye, it passed through the black earth and appeared on the yellow sand.
Richard waved his hand.
The sand on the ground formed a giant hand and grabbed one of the void lickers like a chicken.
He let it float in the air.
The void lickers curved tongue writhed wildly.
The air whistled like a steel whip. It pierced into a person’s body and broke their bones.
Richard looked at that ferocious posture.
He shook his head after a while.
It was too ugly… No future.
The giant hand of sand squeezed hard.
‘Crack!’
The sound of shattering bone armor rang out.
The other party’s body suddenly went limp. At the same time, it keenly sensed that dark energy slowly spread out from the corpse.
[Ding~ You have slaughtered a void licker (rare). You have obtained 10 points.]
Although these monsters looked ferocious and terrifying, they had not exceeded the scope of life.
However, the dark energy… It seemed strange.
As Richard pondered, he let the hand of sand disperse. He looked at the spatial rifts not far away, where three companies of void hunters still guarded.
He waved his hand while he ignored the monsters that swarmed toward Twilight City.
“Destroy that spatial rift!”
Gunter immediately led its troops and swarmed forward.
Without the powerful hero unit, the Twilight City troops immediately became more at ease.
Even though the number of soldiers this time was only two more companies than before.
But the difficulty level was multiplied.
Fortunately, the three heroes were strong enough. And Alves attracted most of the energy.
Under their joint efforts, they took over 20 minutes to take down the monster stronghold.
Richard looked at the void lickers that crawled out of the spatial gap and had an idea.
‘I wonder where the other side of the spatial rift leads to?’
The moment this thought rose, it grew like wild grass.
The light on his body surged, and the sand around him transformed.
He controlled the sand and stepped into the spatial rift.
Without the slightest obstruction, he disappeared before the eyes.
But then, he tried to use Sand Transformation to sense the other world.
An indescribable sense of danger surged into his heart.
It was like a god of death stared at him.
That panic-stricken feeling sent a chill down his spine.
He gritted his teeth and cut off all contact with the Sand Transformation.
Only then did that fatal feeling disappear.
When he returned to his senses, bean-sized sweat shrouded his forehead.
Richard was bewildered.
That plane was not the one he knew. A power that his body rejects surrounded.
It was more like… The otherworld was not like any other dimensional plane.
It was a world that did not belong to the power system of the “Shining Era.”
Richard’s brows furrowed at the sight of the spatial rift.
He felt that this instance dungeon was simple as he had imagined…
He opened the [Forum Chat] and sent a private message.
[Do you know the plot of the later versions of the “Shining Era”?]
Not long after, [Where’s Your F*cking Italian Cannon] replied.
[The subsequent version? My sister mentioned that the “Shining Era” seemed to have fallen into turmoil at the end, but she’s not in charge of the specific version information.]
Richard’s brow furrowed.
‘Was it in turmoil?’ Could the aura he felt be a plot of a version?
‘The instance dungeon’s activation of this guard mode seemed complex.’
He turned his head and looked at the strange-looking void hunter.
He kept this matter in mind.
Although t could not charge the general situation, if he could predict the future in advance, he could still make many arrangements. He wouldn’t be at a loss when a problem occurred.
His heart settled down.
[Where’s Your F*cking Italian Cannon] also noticed something wrong.
[Big Brother, did you find anything?]
Richard explained what it felt like to cross the spatial rift.
[Where’s Your F*cking Italian Cannon] quickly appeared solemn.
[Big Brother, I’ll let my sister know immediately. She’ll reply if there’s any news.]
Richard didn’t say much.
After he closed the private message, he looked at the dark crystals that emitted rich energy. With a wave of his hand, the sand moved and carried these crystals out.
Without the crystal’s energy support, the spatial rift slowly shrank and finally disappeared.
One of the monster exits was closed.
The only pity was that he only had 150 dark crystals.
It was the stronghold of three companies of monsters.
Although it was easier to conquer without the level 18 boss as a guard, the rewards have shrunk accordingly.