The toxic cloud formed from the mixture of decomposing flesh, rotten blood and all sorts of noxious pieces from the bodies of the undead rose towards the skies.
With solemn expressions on their faces, Dan, Natalie and Grace swiftly manifested their Spiritual Energy and enveloped their bodies. Making sure that not even a thread of the air could get inside their bodies.
Flying there in the air, Dan scoured the area and realized that none of the undead managed to escape the explosion. They all died beneath the rubble. Wiping the sweat on his forehead, he heaved a sigh of relief before turning to look at his wives and saying.
"There are currently no signs of movement underneath. However, we can"t be too lax. Particularly, from this corrosive toxic cloud which can even seem to corrode our Spiritual Energy..."
Dan lifted his hand and exposed the tip of his finger to the cloud. Upon touching, his nails instantly turned black as Dan hurriedly retracted his hand and covered it with his Spiritual Energy. Natalie and Grace who stared at him all this while was taken aback.
After all, Dan was a cultivator at the Divine Soul Realm, once a cultivator stepped on that realm. It meant that the particular cultivator had transcended the limits of mortality and attained a state of living that no mortals could possibly achieve. His physique, and everything within his body were reinforced and should be as hard as steel.
However, a single exposure from the toxic cloud instantly corroded his flesh. What would happen if they exposed their bodies to the outside world for an extended period of time? The answer was obvious, it meant nothing but certain death.
Faces turning pale, the two women looked increasingly apprehensive and fidgety as time pa.s.sed by. Sweeping their gazes at the ground, they wanted to land for floating in the air meant continuously consuming Spiritual Energy. And once their Spiritual Energy ran out, they would be helpless like mortals in such harsh conditions.
Dan understood their worries, surveying around. He pointed at the soccer field and beckoned towards the two.
"We should land as fast as possible, the energy expenditure of just flying around in the air will soon become too much for us to handle... Let"s go there and land..."
Natalie and Grace didn"t express any objections. After all, they desperately wanted to land. The sensation of not stepping on solid ground combined with the anxiousness towards the unknown felt too surreal and scary for them.
Landing on solid ground, all three heaved sighs of relief but never diffused their guards. Staring warily at the surroundings, Dan observed the destruction ahead while his wives surveyed the other directions in tacit understanding.
They have fought together for so long that communication wasn"t necessary. All three of them could perceive what the other required and act on that requirement. Such a state of seamless cooperation was something that even blood bonded brothers would find hard to achieve.
"Not a single trace of undead could be seen within a kilometer from my side, Dear, Grace..." Natalie reported and Grace nodded her head in understanding.
"Not any undead is visible in my sight too... How about you, Dan?"
Dan nodded his head, he confirmed the deaths of the several thousands of undeads that converged earlier at the school building. The explosion not only destroyed the building but also sent innumerable rocks flying in all directions. Some of the undead were crushed by stones while some were annihilated by the shockwaves of the explosion.
"Yeah, not even a trace can be seen. It seems like we killed them all..." Dan heaved a sigh of relief, but the tense lights that lingered within his pupils never faded out. Natalie and Grace relaxed and placed their heads on each other"s shoulders as they sat there on the soft bermuda gra.s.s.
Everything that they had experienced in this world from the start has all been so surreal and unbelievable that they couldn"t even understand whether they were in a virtual or real world anymore.
Staring at Dan"s direction with bitter smiles, they wondered if he really dreamt off such a ridiculous and dangerous world in his heart and what influenced him to dream off such a world. After all, not anyone had enough mental capacity to think of such a detailed, mysterious yet dangerous world.
"Don"t get too relaxed now, I told you guys earlier that if this world is indeed based on the world in my heart, something like that undead army earlier was just a taste test... Something bigger and stronger will definitely appear..."
Dan warned his wives with solemn expression on his face. His words made their blood run cold, indeed. Dan told them earlier that the world that he had in his heart wasn"t so simple that it would end with the annihilation of an undead army. In that case, then what could they do to escape this nightmare?
As if reading their thoughts, Dan said.
"I"m positive that as long as we can find and defeat that final boss, we will be freed from this world and obtain the rewards that we deserve from such hards.h.i.+ps..."
He lightly chuckled, intent on lightening the mood. But his words did the opposite effect as Grace and Natalie sighed. They thought that they could finally escape their nightmares but it seems like they still had to face another formidable enemy that they didn"t even know if they could defeat or not.
"Both of you don"t be so somber, it"s not like we"re in the real world, right? All of these around us is just a virtual world simulated by the Array..." Dan shrugged and said in a nonchalant and casual manner as if he was going on a picnic later. The two women narrowed their eyes but never said anything. Sighing, they resigned to their fates.
"Well at the least, if we"re gonna face such a formidable enemy, the rewards should be equally bountiful, right?"
Grace"s eyes lost hopelessness and despair, replaced within her pupils was the light of determination and greediness for profits. In the face of profits. the Grace who once demolished a merchant company with her own hands had surfaced once again.
Natalie also couldn"t help but stare at Dan and Grace with sparkling lights within her eyes. It seems like the prospects of certain profit also excited her beyond belief. Dan lifted a bitter smile on his lips and shook his head towards their inquiry.
Of course, he didn"t deny their questions but he also never answered. After all, even he wasn"t so sure if rewards were present upon completion of their objective so it was better to remain neutral and not answer outright.
Dan"s silence towards their questions meant something that they easily understood. Staring at each other for a moment, Natalie and Grace nodded their heads and stood up. Warily staring at the area, they eagerly looked for that final boss so that they could defeat it and claim their rewards.
Dan also perked his senses and stared at the modern necropolis. Admiring the pictureque scene that the combination of fog and the murkiness of the atmosphere created. He heaved a deep sigh and thought about the anime and video games that he could never play once again.
Holding back his emotions, Dan calmed himself down and started a search for the certain final boss that they had to defeat in order to clear their objectives and escape out of this nightmare of a world that he created in his heart.
"System, search for any source of abnormally strong concentration of Spiritual Energy and place it at the minimap..."
He instructed and the System promptly replied.
[System Function Initiating; 50%]
[System Function completed!]
A small screen manifested in his line of vision and as soon as his gaze focused on the displayed information. His eyes widened in shock when he realized that an extremely strong concentration of Spiritual Energy was approaching their vicinity in a slow, turtle-like pace.
"Grace, Natalie! Unsheath your weapons and prepare for engagement!" Dan screamed out loud in a stern tone, his voice contained far more severity than it previously had when they discovered the undead army.
Taken aback, the two women stiffened at first but as soon as they recovered their composure. They unsheathed their weapons and followed Dan"s line of sight. There, hidden above the yellowish clouds was the faint silhouette of a creature that looked as tall as a skysc.r.a.per.
Natalie and Grace couldn"t clearly see what the creature was but for Dan who had the System"s a.s.sistance. He could see the creature"s image as clear as day.
"Head filled with snakes, torso of a goat, tail of a whale, legs of a lion, and the wings of a Griffin? That creature... It should definitely be a Chimera!"
Dan exclaimed in a stern voice that contained far more seriousness than before. His calm composure completely broke as his voice couldn"t help but tremble upon that realization. A Chimera was a creature that possessed all sorts of traits from other different creatures and for Dan, it virtually didn"t have any weaknesses.
Gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth, he glanced at Natalie and Grace before saying in a solemn voice.
"It"s coming... Prepare not to die..."
With a deafening boom, no fancy effects manifested. Instead, the creature above the skies instantly appeared right in front of the three without any warning. With its appearance, an all-encompa.s.sing might surged and covered the skies, forcing all three onto the ground as the pressure from the Chimera alone, engulfed all hope that they had in their hearts.