The evening sky was darker than the afternoon. What made it worse was that the light emanated from the Red Moon which strengthened the Gling controlled by the Queen.
The Queen was having a hard time as some transcendents were attacking the Gling incessantly without giving the Gling a break. Even with the body and power strengthened, she could not catch them or make them go away.
Then she saw that the transcendents scattered around the city started to gather at her location.
“Hold it so that it doesn’t have an idea of attacking anything else! Keep attacking in waves!” one transcendent had the idea of using the Gling’s own tactic against the giant Gling.
The others then followed as one kept attacking while the remaining transcendents rested and even listened to the communication channel.
Then they realized that they needed to take the giant down.
“What should we do?”
“We are unable to take it down.”
“This needs a miraculous feat.”
Murmurs could be heard between the clash of the transcendent and the giant. Then the transcendent switched with someone else to keep the giant Gling company.
Long Wu arrived at the scene while watching the works of the Hunters switching members to deal with the Gling.
“You are still hurt from dealing a lethal blow.” Lucian said while twirling his scythe. He looked at Long Wu with concern since he knew that Long Wu was the number one expert in the civilization.
“I know but the threat needs to be eliminated.” Long Wu replied while looking at the dagger that reflected some light from the Red Moon. He knew that opening the gate was filled with risk of backlash but he had to do it in order to defeat the Gling.
“Don’t push yourself too hard. Please take care of your body. Someone cared for you, remember.” Lucian gave his advice.
Long Wu looked at Lucian before nodding while letting out a breath.
Then with a strong shout to everyone around, he said, “I am Long Wu! I will become the blade that will make the Gling fall, so listen to me.”
Then he said again, this time in the way that the Hunters understood.
“Transcendent with me to strike the place I attack! Follow me!”
Then the transcendents stood behind Long Wu as if they were trained to do so. Long Wu then regulated his breath while also channeling his transcendent energy to the energy pathway as well as powering up his core.
After that, Long Wu checked the energy reserve and realized that it was only sixty percent full. It meant that opening the gates took about at least twenty percent and it drained the energy fast. It also meant that he needed to make the blow count.
“After me!” Long Wu then quickly moved to the side of the Gling, identified its weakness that could be exploited and launched his attack.
The weakness he wanted to use as a focus was on the left side of the Gling where it could lead the way to the internal organs as well as the heart that let it gather and distribute transcendent energy.
‘Let me test the power of the gate properly.’ Long Wu then grew more skillful in opening the gates inside his body, only using ten percent of his entire reserve to manage it. His foundational power increased manifold as well as the berserk and rampaging undead element.
He launched a deep stab which caused the Gling to react. It was too bad that the reaction was a last-minute sense of danger and it was too late to properly dodge.
The stab then penetrated the side of the torso and reached as far as its beating heart. The blow was deadly as purple blood flowed through the gaping hole.
As if that was not enough, the transcendents behind Long Wu launched an attack that worsened the injury. The Gling roared in pain as it swung its limbs at Long Wu and the other transcendents. It swung the limbs chaotically and all of the transcendents did an evasive maneuver.
Long Wu felt that his body was filled with power to the brim. He launched another attack, this time it was a slash made using the dagger. The Queen who controlled the Gling felt the threatening attack and decided to deal with the source of the threat first.
One of the limbs then shielded the neck of the Gling as it managed to even sever the upper part of the limb so effortlessly. The Queen knew that this transcendent was both familiar and the biggest threat to both of her forces in the field.
‘Damn it! It is also this guy who turned the tide and now he wants to do the same! My Gling is under the effect of the Red Moon of the Rage but it could not protect itself from his attack at all.’
The other limbs reacted and tried to keep Long Wu off from reaching out his attack to the Gling. But the other transcendents coordinated the attack and aimed at the injured limb. This exacerbated the injury it sustained while the transcendent also did not forget to aim at the open injury on the torso.
Despite trying to protect the injured part, some attacks bypassed the limbs that covered the injury. It was the case of overwhelming firepower.
Some of the attacks were melee, while others involved shots, making it even more dangerous. Attacks imbued with the undead element were even more effective on the Gling’s injury.
Seeing this caused a flicker of hope to appear in the eyes of the transcendents present and they could only attack the injured part since the defense of the giant Gling was almost impregnable.
Long Wu on the other hand had to regularly regulate the circulation of his energy; trying to channel it into his attack was paramount since the characteristics of his energy changed the moment he opened the first point in his body.
‘If I continuously opened another, would it become more terrifying?’ Long Wu thought about the possibility of the eight gates in the future.
He felt that it was enough to cause injury that could reach the heart since he could perceive that the heart was the weakness. He just attacked the injured part while avoiding the limbs that moved erratically.
It also allowed him to worsen the injury and he took the chance. He used the dagger to launch a slash attack that flowed as if it were a crescent blade. It hit the injury and more blood sprayed out while it continued further into the flesh.
Until it almost reached the heart that was beating, it was insufficient to reach the heart because of the power of the attack and the size of the giant.
“Tsk. Not fatal.” Long Wu felt that it was unfortunate but he had to carefully evade and attack the Gling to eliminate it. The presence of the others also helped him alleviate some pressure but the Gling’s focus now was on him.
The ground shook slightly as the legs of the Gling moved to reposition itself. The transcendents had no choice but to change their position while Long Wu dashed to the back of the Gling, trying another attempt at attacking the neck.
However, the Queen moved so that the attack missed. Fortunately for Long Wu, it was actually a feint attack to gauge the reaction of the Gling. The fact that the Gling could dodge meant that its focus never left Long Wu.
“This is troublesome.” Long Wu realized that he could not end it if the focus of the Gling was solely on him. He needed another surprise attack so that he could reach the weakness of the Gling.
“Can you try to cause some damage to the Gling?” Long Wu then asked Lucian who was beside him at this moment. It was because he knew the capabilities of his subordinates that he could not ask anyone else.
But the reinforcement transcendents could probably do something similar to him.
“I am not sure if my strongest attack will reach what you were capable of, but I’ll try my best.” Lucian answered before he let out a small black mist from his body. Then he attacked the injury on the torso, where there was a gaping hole and also did something to increase the intensity of the undead element.
The attack was not blocked by the limbs and managed to dig deeper into the injury and managed to hit the heart. Purple blood flowed and it was not stopping; instead, it was increasing.
The Gling roared in pain as its attack became more chaotic and the transcendents had to avoid being hit.
But that moment was when Long Wu opened the gate, arrived at the wound in the torso and launched another attack. This time it was the combination of the fist and the stab of the dagger. He finally had the opening that he needed and he fully exploited that.
The Gling looked like overwhelmed by its instinct so it could not properly launch a countermeasure that should be easy.
“No!” That was the last thing the Gling said before its body fell to its knees as its heart was finally destroyed. Long Wu coughed up red blood as he fell to the ground. Opening the specific point in his body caused a strain to his body and, multiple times, caused it to worsen.
He kept coughing for some reason as he felt his legs give out. He kneeled while trying to stabilize his body. Lucian came to his side, concerned that Long Wu was in that situation due to them requesting to deal with the Gling.
“I am fine with some rest.” Long Wu said before he went into another coughing fit again. Lucian gave Long Wu some first aid since his condition was not good.
Then the Hunters gathered around him and checked on him. They gave a small part of their energy to let Long Wu quickly recover. Long Wu could only nod and thanked them profusely.
Then the medics came and checked the condition of Long Wu’s body and realized that his whole body had different degrees of injury. They then treated him alongside the other transcendents who were injured in the mission.
But now that the threat was gone and the traitors were all neutralized, they could proudly say that their mission was done.
-
Dian looked at the newly popped-up system message in front of him. The Third Star Battle started to take a toll on the Cerulean Defense Force due to the active card by Chikara.
But he believed that the three races working together could manage this and his expectation was not misplaced.
[Name: Eight Inner Hidden Gates
Category: Foundational
Introduction: The human body is a treasure waiting to be discovered. In it, eight specific points can increase the foundation of the human body.
-Gate of Opening
The first specific point where it all began. Increasing the foundation of the body by two to sevenfold. There is definitely backlash if the body is not sturdy and prolonged use will definitely cause backlash. It can be used with all existing transcendent energy.
-?
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-?]
Dian looked at the updated Transcendent Tree category and realized that the Eight Inner Hidden Gates had finally produced a result.
If I remember, the one who started the research into the depth of the human body is a transcendent scientist called Maito Dai. But the one who accomplished this is Long Wu. He shared it so that it can be verified.
Dian thought while also reassessing the potential of the humans under him. He did not expect that such an increase in the foundational level would happen this early. He was happy but also concerned about humans.
After all, human was the Core Race that Dian saw and developed. The fact that the Eight Hidden Inner Gates could use all types of transcendent energy meant that humans could potentially wield all kinds of transcendent energy.
My approach needs to change for the next Auxiliary Ability Card.
Dian thought as he shifted to another panel where the Ceruelan Defense Force on the other side of the Rift fended off numerous Glings who flooded the territory. There was also the trouble of the elves becoming stronger that the three races noticed.
“How’s the supply route going? Can it be recovered?” Dian asked Leif.
“Central Plains City is the biggest hub for the supply to go to the frontline and now that such a big event happened there means that the supply will be delayed.” Leif replied.
Dian nodded in agreement.
“But now that the threat has gone, we can truly conquer the other side of the Rift.” Even the usually silent Ghylea spoke up.
“True. This is the turning point of the battle. But first, we need to get some things straight.” Dian said with an air of authority.
Ghylea and Leif looked at Dian who was sitting on the throne and could not help but expect something from him.
“There will be some issues now that there is a way to communicate with the opponent’s race. We all know that the language barriers exist to maintain the condition suitable for Star Battle at our rank so the fact that it is down means that something will change the way our races interact with the enemy.
“Next issue that I want to highlight is the matter of the traitors. Most of them were arrested but the sleeper cells still exist even in the Comberth Continent. I want someone to watch for them since I want to focus more on the remaining stage of the Star Battle.
“The last and probably the most important. I need your suggestion in befriending someone who is previously arrogant and conceited.”
Dian said the last sentence in almost like a whisper. Ghylea and Leif knew that the victory was decided from this point but they did not expect that Dian wanted to form a connection to the other Planet Master.
They knew that the one Dian wanted to talk about was the leading Planet Master. The one closely resembled the Queen of the Gling Swarm.
“To be honest, Master, the first problem you spoke of will be inevitable. The language barrier is supposed to be active until the completion of the Star Battle. If the Planet Master System deemed it fit to be brought down, it meant that the result did not interfere with the preceding Star Battle.” Leif said this since he knew a bit about the language barrier.
He continued, “As for the traitors, well they are thoroughly suppressed but it will not last forever. There is no way to completely eliminate this idea since it has already germinated and grown. But we can keep it to the lowest possible and keep them from becoming a variable in the Star Battle, unlike now.”
Dian nodded with a gratified expression. He felt that what he had experienced slowly affected the people under him in some way.
This is the effect I want. I can do this but managing so many things at once can be quite taxing and having a helper alleviates a lot of the pressure. Dian thought.
Then Ghylea spoke about the third matter.
“The last matter that you mentioned, I think it would be better if you overwhelm her with irresistible force. Only then could the arrogant and conceited person face reality and listen to you. At least, that is what my experience told me.”
Dian did not expect that the only way to communicate was through force. But he had to admit that the idea was not without basis.
It was the way of the Planet Master when they were in the Star Battle. Civilization became their primary strength while the Auxiliary Ability Cards were the support. He had long accepted that might makes right and even had to work with it.
“Fine. I can accept what you two are saying. At least we need to first end this Star Battle first before we discuss things further.” Dian said before he and the other two returned to their position.
Dian was arranging some things, like communicating with Tatsumi using the Library of Consciousness. Dian found out that communicating using the Afterlife Model did not even use energy points which were a precious resource.
That was why he exploited this for his own benefit and often shared his knowledge about the current situation with Tatsumi which then relayed it to the rest of the Cerulean Defense Force.
Usually in the Star Battle, anything that directly involved a Planet Master used energy points. For anything as small as communicating with the race to the manifestation as well as controlling the environment to one’s advantage, it used energy points.
Outside of that however, it almost did not consume any energy points. Dian found out about this and soon knew that this was a balancing act by the Universe Council.
“Thanks to exploiting a loophole, I can communicate with the humans as effectively as possible. Now that the first foundational category has finally been added to the system, what kind of surprise will I find when the other is fully revealed?”
Dian looked at the Transcendent Tree at the foundational category and saw that the second one was revealed but like the Eight Inner Hidden Gates at the beginning, it was only a partial reveal.
[Name: Nine Psyche-Locks
Category: Foundational
Introduction: The mind of a sentient being is a mystery waiting to be revealed. It is especially so with the mind of a human. Due to some circumstances, some locks prevent human from reaching their potential.
(Incomplete)]
Dian looked at the panel and realized that this would be difficult for the current human civilization to improve on this one. The mind was a domain of intangible and obscure at least to the current human.