10:00 PM.

As a heavy truck fully loaded with high-purity Radiant Ore Crystals dumped its contents, it immediately drew the intensely expectant gazes of many.

A few seconds later.

A tsunami of cheers erupted in the Cultural Square.

“It’s here! It’s really here this time!”

The towering crystal prism tower began to tremble.

VMMMM!

A beam of energy shot out from it, piercing the heavens. Even more complex and profound Demon Patterns appeared on the surface of the tower’s crystals as its height increased, finally reaching one hundred and thirty meters.

The crystal prism tower had officially advanced to Level 6!

At that moment, the entire city’s architectural system took a qualitative leap forward.

[Unlocked Level 6 building units: Barrier (Advanced City Wall), Void Intercept Tower, Magic Energy Light Cannon (Advanced Defense Tower), Fortress (Advanced Residence), Regional Barrier.]

“Fuck, finally Level 6.”

“We made it! We finally made it before this dangerous night was over.”

A group of people spoke with lingering fear, their taut nerves relaxing slightly.

But when everyone’s gaze went past the brilliant city lights and toward the northern night sky, a heavy stone undoubtedly weighed down on their hearts.

Compared to yesterday, the Broken Star Ring spanning the heavens was clearly closer.

Dragging desolate, deathly dust in its wake, it slowly pressed down on Dongfu City.

It hung extremely low, creating a visually oppressive effect.

“The ambient Elemental activity has dropped drastically…”

Little Zeus looked uneasy, his voice trembling. “The Elemental Suppression is already way past 30%. My Discharge Skill has lost its kick, and I can’t even get far with my Lightning Warp.”

Thirty percent!

This meant that the power, range, and even casting speed of all elemental Runes would be reduced by a third.

For Spellcasters who relied on Elemental Power to survive, it was like slow suffocation.

Sleep would be hard to come by tonight.

…

Time passed in agony.

According to the calculated new world clock, it should have been just after six in the morning, long past dawn.

The absurd thing was…

Many of those on watch or who hadn’t slept could only see a despairing, deathly gray when they looked up at the sky.

The sun had not risen.

Or more accurately, the star that should have been illuminating the earth was completely obscured by the immeasurably vast Broken Star Ring.

The entire world suddenly lost its color. Heaven and earth were filled with a hazy, deathly gray hue, like an old black-and-white photograph.

Light was banished, and shadows spread.

But more terrifying than the darkness was the ever-increasing sense of oppression.

The air seemed to thicken, filled with a stagnant presence.

“My Fireball Technique… why is the Fireball only the size of a tennis ball?”

A Spellcaster trying to light a brazier stared with surprise at the small, flickering flame on his fingertip.

The Level 4 Fireball Technique, which could once easily shatter rock, was now as weak as a candle in the wind.

“This suppression must be well over 60% by now.”

Daylight had arrived, but instead of weakening in the sun, the suppression had skyrocketed as the Broken Star Ring drew even closer.

This was a severe blow targeting all Rune Casters.

Everyone felt an unprecedented discomfort. Whenever they tried to cast a spell, it felt as if their internal Rune Circuits were clogged with sand, making them sluggish. Every attempt to mobilize Elements required twice the Spiritual Power, and the resulting effects were greatly diminished.

“This is simply unbelievable…”

Yan Ziqian stood on the encampment’s rooftop. Though his nearsightedness had long since been cured, he instinctively pushed up a pair of non-existent glasses, his expression grim. ‘In this age of Magic, for a persistent phenomenon similar to a Forbidden Demon Realm to appear… this Broken Star Ring is truly something else,’ he sighed to himself.

“The Star Ring could be Divine Remains,” Su Chen said, standing beside him with a placid expression.

According to the ‘Blood Tide of All Things’ described in the Underground City Star Map, when the era changed, that brilliant Star Ring would spill endless bloody light to revive the sleepers.

“For the Star Ring to have such Divine Power, it’s very likely connected to the previous Eight-armed Divine Emperor,” Su Chen added.

This wasn’t baseless speculation.

The small, desiccated corpse had once faked its death, tricking the world’s very mechanics.

He felt the slightly stagnant flow of Elements within his body, and his gaze grew colder.

His Elemental Power was being suppressed.

Even the double bonus from his Magic Blessing talent, ‘Rune Demon Body,’ was decaying along with it.

Fortunately.

After some testing, he found that his body traits, ‘Vitality Burst’ and ‘Steel Bones and Iron Flesh,’ were completely unaffected. Coupled with his already transcendent stats, he had at least some means to contend with the risks.

Faced with such a vicious natural disaster, all he could do was wait and see.

…

「High Noon.」

The main body of the Broken Star Ring was about to stop directly above Dongfu City.

With their view completely unobstructed, everyone could see it with increasing clarity.

And at that very moment.

A faint, acrid scent of blood spread out from it, drifting down from the sky and seeping into the earth below.

“Ugh!!”

「Eastern Border Forest, the Fissured Lands.」

The cave dwellers, who had been eking out a meager existence deep underground, now seemed to have answered the call of some ancient bloodline.

A bloodthirsty red light ignited in their devolved, grayish-white eyes.

Nourished by a trace of the bloody aura, a flicker of life returned to their withered, stooped bodies, and their bones began to pop and crack.

A brutal campaign had begun.

Like a black tide, countless cave dwellers crawled out of the fissures. After a brief, tentative moment, they successfully emerged from the ground and then… sprinted with all their might toward the scent of the living.

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