The success of this lightning raid—reaching the final stronghold within the planned window—owed most to the upgrade to Level 6 tires.
To ensnare every royal at the endgame, Wei Huan had varied his pace along the route, staging exhaustion and delay in a series of calculated performances. The goal was to convince the dark beast royals that he was faltering and could not possibly arrive on schedule.
Dark beast royals were cunning, powerful, and prone to flight—hard prey to corner and kill.
Wei Huan had slain one in a random battlefield only because that royal had been young and arrogant, allowing itself to be drawn into combat with no escape.
Add his reborn knowledge: royals possessed illusionary transformation, capable of assuming unimaginable forms to hide, then slipping away once disengaged—insidious and impossible to guard against.
Thus, in seven years of war this lifetime, humanity had killed zero royals.
Even in the previous cycle, the tally fit on one hand.
For all these reasons, Wei Huan had resolved to slow down if necessary, to trap and eliminate as many royals as possible—one was better than none.
Mu Zhong's words changed everything, birthing the true deception now unfolding.
Mu Zhong had said, "I keep wondering—how do the dark beasts gather intelligence?
We enter random challenges too, yet we receive no data on them. We don't know the grade of territories ahead, the number of dark beast lords in the assessment world, or whether royals are present.
As invaders, the dark beasts should likewise lack Challenge World support. They ought to be as blind as we are.
Factor in Mind Parasites. Isn't it possible every move we make is deduced from data they collect?
Through our battles en route, kill ratios against their forces, scout observations—all funneled into confirmation of our position and remaining combat strength."
Wei Huan grasped the implication instantly.
He ventured, "You're saying we can bypass them?"
Mu Zhong replied, "Later it might be impossible, but right now—yes.
Challenge World combat rules forbid flight over territories. We have no aircraft; thirty-meter altitude cannot clear high walls.
We must detour. In other worlds, rerouting demands massive computation and risks exposure.
But look at this world—any sea not covered by territory is safe zone!"
Everything clicked.
They deployed an identical duplicate vehicle as a decoy, left in place.
Liu Chengzhi was ordered to remain—not as punishment, but to gift him merit and prestige.
With Liu Chengzhi and the decoy holding position, Wei Huan used the dust cloud of a collapsing territory as cover, rocketed to the vanguard, and raced along the river-like gaps between territories before they fully merged. He arrived at the royal enclave.
Credit belonged to the Level 6 tires. Without them, this serpentine path would have been impossible within the time limit; the raid would have been a farce.
In truth, when Wei Huan reached the end and saw a Level 4 city—lacking any miracle structure—squatting at the bottleneck like a cork, his heart wavered for an instant.
He had always believed royals were here, yet this ordinary stronghold blocking the way filled him with bitter reluctance.
Like sharpening a blade for seven or eight days only to cut grass—this was not what he wanted.
"Attack!"
Seated at the helm, one hand on the colossus, the other gripping his staff, Wei Huan triggered eight teleport gates the moment they entered enemy territory. Undead legions poured out like a reversed waterfall, granting no breathing room—an all-out assault.
Progress read 99%. The exit lay ahead. The path forward was blocked; retreat impossible. Royal or not, this territory had to fall fast.
Time was running out.
Fifteen minutes remained before these strongholds ascended to Sequence Five. The favorable situation could flip.
Wei Huan held nothing back. Every hidden undead surged forth.
Ghost Crows ferried two months' stockpile of underworld fire bombs, forming a green cloud as they streaked overhead.
"Boom!"
"Boom-boom!"
A Level 4 territory boasted at most a Level 5 shield.
Against underworld fire bombs, the shield tore like paper.
Bombardment shattered it into glittering fragments that vanished like broken glass.
Bombs rained onto the ground, savaging structures in emerald fury.
Then a pinpoint of condensed starlight flashed from the wall. The next instant it struck Wei Huan's face.
"BOOM!" The Level 6 shield exploded.
A Level 4 territory could field only Level 4 weapons and heroes. Only one explanation could shatter a Level 6 shield.
"Legendary hero? Or pseudo-divine?"
"Damage crossed two tiers—pseudo-divine."
"Pseudo-divine—that makes this a royal territory!!"
The final words ignited Wei Huan. Excitement blazed visibly.
His eyes flashed. He straightened from his slouch. Green flame erupted in his left eye.
As his vision descended onto the battlefield, he commanded, "Signal full engagement. Wake Xu Qingqiang."
Pseudo-divine heroes and miracle structures were privileges exclusive to dark beast royals.
The terror of this pseudo-divine's strike stirred no fear in Wei Huan—only exhilaration.
His sight, lodged in a Demon Eye Lord, spotted the human female hunter atop the wall.
Clad in leather armor from Blue Star's ancient Amazon legends, crimson cape billowing, she stood at the wall's forefront like a war goddess, wielding a bow nearly taller than herself.
The moment Wei Huan saw her, she sensed him.
She drew and loosed—an arrow that threaded countless Demon Eye Lords to strike the one hosting Wei Huan's vision.
"Swish!"
In seconds his viewpoint was forcibly returned.
This confirmed her pseudo-divine status.
Wei Huan felt no irritation.
If she was truly royal, haste was unnecessary.
Drag a royal into combat, and escape became impossible.
With that thought he re-projected his sight into another Demon Eye Lord.
This time he ignored the pseudo-divine and peered farther.
Joy surged. At the horizon's edge stood two more territories.
Within them he glimpsed completed miracle statues.
Three royals?
Fear never crossed his mind—only dread they might flee.
Ghost Crows raced ahead on instinct.
Block first. Kill the front one, then the rest.
Under Wei Huan's control the Demon Eye Lord swept the territory again. Excitement cooled to calculation.
The royal lord had recovered from Wei Huan's opening blitz.
It unleashed its ultimate.
Thick black fog erupted within the territory, roiling like a living thing. Centered on the lord hall, it spread a thousand meters in moments.
Recruited troops, reinforcing dark beasts, the pseudo-divine hero—all vanished into the mist.
The shift was lightning-fast. Wei Huan knew this was the royal's innate gift, devastating, yet he could not stop it.
"Full shields!"
"Ranged fire!"
He activated his rarely used Dot Mom. It emitted a soft "Ee" and stepped over the war vehicle on slender legs, charging forward.
As preparations completed, the fog above the territory coalesced into a thousand-meter colossus.
The mass condensed into a beast—part crocodile, part dragon—immense and oppressive. Scales solidified until it seemed alive.
Too vast.
The War Clan's tamed three-hundred-meter white rhino was already monstrous.
Before this black dragon, it was a younger sibling.
A thousand meters defied imagination—the sky seemed torn open, a cosmic titan gazing down.
Only witnessing it revealed human insignificance.
Breath held, the dragon opened jaws that could swallow the heavens and bit.
Demon Eye Lords in the air were first.
Mistakenly believing the dragon mere smoke was fatal.
They burst like overripe berries without contact.
The maw scraped the ground, erasing frontal undead—including Big Bear—instantly.
Swift Wolves and Shura Horses fared worse.
The colossal head barreled toward the war vehicle.
"Fear nothing! On my mark—three, two, one—fire!!"
While most crew witnessed a royal ultimate for the first time and froze, Wei Huan remained ice-calm.
His voice snapped ranged gunners from stupor. They obeyed reflexively.
Arrows and spells erupted from war platforms.
"Swish-swish-swish!"
"Ee!"
Dot Mom met the charge like a mantis before a tank, attempting to halt a head ten times its size.
Attacks landed first—nose, teeth, eyes—blasting plumes of black smoke. The head deflated slightly.
Dot Mom collided amid the haze.
"EEEEE!!!"
Its cry pierced eardrums.
Flying Monkeys coiled around it screeched, then detonated—"Boom!"—unable to withstand the impact, returning to the grand tomb.
Dot Mom, humanity's great hope, shattered piece by piece until it crumbled.
Faces paled.
But Wei Huan's countermeasures continued. War vehicle cannons joined the barrage.
Sustained fire with arrows and spells hammered the dragon head.
Attentive eyes noted Dot Mom's sacrifice had slowed the lunge.
Smoke poured thicker.
The head visibly shrank.
It opened wide once more and bit the shield.
The Level 6 shield burst with a "Bang!"
Yet its counterattack triggered—visible lightning lashed the dragon's face.
"Crackle!"
A muffled roar echoed.
The majestic head dissolved like true smoke.
The fog-shrouded territory reappeared.
Walls stood intact, weapons firing.
But recruited troops, dark beasts, and the pseudo-divine archer—all weakened perceptibly.
Wei Huan ordered, "Support vehicles forward. Maintain shields."
Then, "Bloodlust active. Judgment up. Melee prep teleport."
This was not the first royal "fusion technique" humanity had seen. Near the ancient battlefield's end, royals had unleashed it—stronger, with ten-thousand-meter manifestations that shook earth with every blow.
Here nearly everyone witnessed it for the first time.
A thousand-meter dragon head was already apocalyptic. A ten-thousand-meter beast defied imagination.
The front line was a meat grinder. Against powerful royals, sacrifice was routine.
Blood debts fueled zero fear—only cathartic rage. They yearned to explode a few more.
Hatred and boiling blood drove swift compliance with Wei Huan's commands.
Two support vehicles—Level 5 upgrades—advanced.
Mu Zirui's vehicle led. He deployed its shield and stood at the output station, channeling a ultimate.
Magic surged between his palms, coalescing in his staff. Released, it became a scythe-shaped wind blade that carved toward the wall.
"Slash!"
Impact stripped health from a hundred-meter wall section. Incredibly, the center collapsed with a "Boom!"
A Sequence Four Sage destroyed a wall?
Unprecedented. Was it Mu Zirui's talent, Wei Huan's nurturing of elites, or both birthing another archmage?
Thirty thousand damage nearly drained Mu Zirui. Vision blackened, legs buckled.
Yet he grinned.
He felt Sequence Five [Forbidden Curse Mage] within reach. Post-battle, he could apply for ascension.
Exhilarating.
Under titles, war platforms, and gold gear, one strike felled a Level 5 wall segment.
Even accounting for prior undead damage, Sages had never displayed such destructive legend.
On this vehicle, he might contend for "world's greatest mage."
Short-term exhaustion forced him from the station to recover.
Wall breach was unexpected but welcome.
Wei Huan seized the moment. Undead flooded the gap. Leveraging numbers and Sprint Wolf mobility, fires ignited along the entire wall circumference.
Chaos for the royal—divide attention.
Melee assault teams could infiltrate.
"Why so many undead? Damn intelligence!"
Brave King panted on its throne, recovering from the ultimate's backlash.
Condensing territory power into a combat avatar was the royal gift—reason for dominance.
Immensely strong.
With enough citizens, warriors, heroes, it crushed foes.
But when the avatar shattered, regret and fear gripped Brave King.
Less than ten minutes to Sequence Five—yet those minutes stretched eternal. It knew humans would deny the upgrade.
Even at Sequence Five, what use?
Wall or hero upgrades required time.
Humans granted no seconds.
"Bang! Boom!" Another wall section fell.
Brave King paced, tail lashing the floor—striking Thought Parasites in frustration.
Victory odds plummeted.
"Continue! Full resistance! Slaughter the undead!!"
Escape impossible once engaged—only total war remained.
Brave King's eyes iced. It called inwardly, "My people—all dark beasts—to me."
Neighboring overlapping lords emptied cities, abandoning defense. Lords themselves joined the fray.
Distant lords heeded without hesitation—seized cores, let territories crumble, flew or swam. Broken legs or not, royals commanded arrival.
Wei Huan's side faced friction.
The pseudo-divine archer was formidable.
From the wall she struck the war vehicle, shattering Level 6 shields—Level 5 support shields lasted moments.
Even without charge time, arrows fell like machine-gun fire, each dealing ~3000 damage. A Level 5 shield's ~10,000 durability burst in under three minutes.
Mu Zirui's shield was gone. The second support vehicle teetered.
Main vehicle Level 6 shield needed recharge. Gap in coverage meant direct hull damage.
Hull loss doomed the hundred aboard.
Facing pseudo-divine sniping, tactical retreat was viable.
But retreat was impossible.
Wei Huan needed all three royal cities locked in combat—this position was his summoning limit. Retreat one step, Ghost Crows targeting rear cities lost range.
No retreat—endure.
"Ignore walls—target the pseudo-divine!" Mu Zirui commanded.
War platform ranged fired in unison.
Three burly, thick-skinned heroes materialized, shielding the archer—deflecting or tanking. Dense volleys held; she continued unbroken.
"Bang!"
The second support shield exploded.
All vehicles exposed to her sights—devastating fire imminent.
"Ee!"
Dot Mom, freshly reborn from the grand tomb, stepped through a portal.
Sequence Four Dot Mom could not fully block pseudo-divine arrows.
Wei Huan suffered in Level 5 worlds from Sequence Four suppression.
Pseudo-divine arrows stripped ~1/10 health per shot.
At her rate, ten seconds to kill.
Dot Mom emerged, blocked two arrows—two seconds.
From its abdomen swarmed burrow beast mothers.
The first was evolved "Doggo."
Emerging, green spots on its back flared. A green web shot skyward, intercepting the third arrow.
The web could not stop it, but the arrow striking Dot Mom lost over half power.
Dot Mom's survival extended dramatically.
Not instant death—counterattack window opened!