Chapter 1621: The Cycles of Creation and DestructionTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Once the attack commenced, a bizarre guttural howl rang across the entire Lair of Nightmares, as though tons of seawater was cras.h.i.+ng against the thick walls of flesh. The howling was everywhere and was getting louder by the moment.
Then, Hao Ren noticed that the walls of flesh had started to convulse as bundles upon bundles of protruding objects were being squeezed out of the layers of muscle and skin. The moment they appeared, they quickly transformed into horrifying mutated monsters.
The target of the monsters was clear. Upon appearing, they roared and charged at the invaders of the lair. What welcomed them, however, were the rapid firepower of automated droids and defender drones.
Hao Ren had released the “guards” that were standing by in his Dimensional Pocket, and those long-range combat specialists responded quickly to fight the monsters. As the latter were clearly fodder borne of flesh and blood, they did not need to waste their time against such powerless food for powder.
Seeing the monsters transform, Hao Ren even felt a tinge of relief.
Just as the sprites had told him, the defensive capabilities of the lair guardians are limited. Any guards not inside the nightmare would affect the operations of the ma.s.sive brain, so all the guards within the lair are mindless mutants, As they do not need to fight against the powerful corrupted giants or the minions of madness, everyone was confident in executing the next phase of the operation.
But the weak guards does not mean Hao Ren could easily destroy the ma.s.sive brain in the middle of the lair: While it may not have too many guards around it, it was secure behind its thick layer of defensive barrier, and that st.u.r.dy defensive barrier was the headache of the attackers.
*Boom!*
Another bright white beam smashed against the barrier surrounding the brain monster, and the ma.s.sive energy blast twisted the s.p.a.ce around the barrier, but as it dissipated, the hundreds of layers of s.h.i.+elding were undamaged, and the few outer layers that were broken through were restarting to regenerate.
But Hao Ren had quickly noticed that the regeneration was slower than antic.i.p.ated.
“Focus fire! Don’t stop!” He quickly reminded the rest. “The s.h.i.+eld’s regeneration cannot keep up with the damage we are doing!”
Ma.s.sive explosions rang across the lair as the defender drones and automated droids held the tide of mutants back while Hao Ren and his elite team targeted the platform the monster was on with a concentrated barrage of attacks; at the same time, the disaster brought on by the collapse of the pillars were still spreading, and the shock wave within the planet’s cavity had pushed the hull resetter to the limit, leading to the Lair of Nightmares and the layer it was in was thrown into a veritable storm as it quaked violently, heralding the coming of the end!
However, the Lair of Nightmares itself was still stable, as the dimension formed from the corrupting power of chaos while damaged by the collapse of the crystal pillars, was still able to hold on to its form. Now, the master of the lair had realized the physical danger it was in, and it was trying to rouse itself from its slumber.
An eye-catching red glow appeared skin of the gigantic brain within the layered barrier as the entire bio-tissue started convulsing violently as if it was suffering spasms and an indescribable mental pressure descended upon everyone.
The monstrous brain had sensed danger in its dreams and it was struggling within the dream to wake up, but just like what the sprites had said, the dreamer was too deep within the dream, and its connection with the nightmare was too tight, and it could not return to reality within a short period of time.
However, the brain monster’s struggle within the dream had a feedback effect on the real world. Hao Ren noticed unnatural ripples appearing on the rock pillars and crystal prisms, and objects between illusory and reality started forming within the ripples. For Hao Ren who had experience fighting Lockmarton head-on before, he immediately realized that was to come.
“Watch out for the shadows!” Hao Ren yelled. “The Nightmare is already seeping in, monsters will appear from the shadows!”
As he deployed the last of the automated drones and defender droids out of his Dimensional Pocket, he commanded again, “Vivian, big guy, three of us coordinate our attacks on that b.l.o.o.d.y brain. The rest of you go smash the creeps! Don’t get caught by the illusions!”
“Awoooo.” A bright howl came from behind and another powerful light beam smashed against the brain monster’s s.h.i.+elds, but this time around the shot was clearly off, and the latter part of the howl was mixed with confusion and being rattled. Hao Ren quickly turned to Lily and saw that the silver-haired mega husky was tossing about as if trying to throw something dirty off her back.
But there was nothing there.
No, there was, just as Hao Ren started to wonder “what was on Lily”, he caught sight of a semi-transparent gray fog appearing out of thin air as it coiled on to Lily’s limbs and even caught her neck in a stranglehold. The mega husky had a const.i.tution that was beyond comprehension so the mist strangulation could not do too much damage to her for the time being, but in her canine form, she faced a different problem: She could not get rid of the coiling mist as easy as she could in human form.
A chaotic, brooding and oppressive voice, part sounding like sleep talk, part malicious whispers resonated in everyone’s mind, and the voices were filled with obscure vibrato and illogical words, but the meaning of it was someone imprinted directly into everyone’s minds, making it understandable, “tiny… insignificant… meaningless… I shall awake soon, and you shall fall, this temporary struggle will be your eternal nightmare…”
Hao Ren realized that this was the second phase of the attack. The dreamer could not rouse itself immediately, but its thought is able to cross the boundaries between reality and the nightmare, and this power can be projected directly into reality, and even seep deep into the minds of everyone present. As it entered a half-awake state, everyone would continuously be hearing the monster’s murmur within their minds, and the illusions would grow more frequent and realistic as the murmur continues.
And this was already foreseen in the battle plan. After all, this was not the first time Hao Ren faced a monster of the nightmare, and compared with Lockmarton, the brain monster before him was a much weaker foe.
“Big guy! Soul Chain!” Vivian yelled at Y’zaks as she slammed two lightning b.a.l.l.s to the back of Lily to wake the latter up. “Chain it to Hao Ren!”
A loud ‘HAH!’ later, countless of green fel runes appeared on Y’zaks demonic form and following that, a powerful spell most favored by the demons, and viewed by many to be foul magic was cast by the demon.
Links upon links ethereal chains appeared near everyone in the room, and as they were all prepared, the soul chain latched onto everyone’s spirit without any delay, and the focal point of the chain was not the caster Y’zaks, but Hao Ren who was in the midst of changing his weapons.
As the soul chain was connected to him, Hao Ren kept Grungnir and his pistol away as he pulled out two long blades that looked like shards of s.p.a.ce itself.
At the very same moment, a bl.u.s.ter of chatter rang in everyone’s head:
“Oh my G.o.d, long time no see! I have not been out for like ages… Oh, b.u.g.g.e.r me, why is there fighting here! This storm of blood and flesh, don’t tell me you have already entered the lair of madness? How many times do I need to say that violence solves nothing… while it can definitely take care of the problem maker permanently, can’t we look for a more gentle, more civilized option? And why is this place so G.o.dawful disgusting, and what are those ugly monstrosities doing here. If this goes on screen it’ll be censored all over the place…Eh, my bro is here too? Such rarity to see Hao Ren you drawing both of us out. Eh eh, bro, why aren’t you talking? So rare we get to come out and get some fresh air and fun….”
“Oh.”
The ma.s.sive flood of blather echoed in everyone’s minds and immediately drowned the brain monster’s murmurings, and the illusions that came with the murmur were dispelled as well.
Hao Ren lifted both swords and sent a provocative stare in the brain monster’s general direction.
To fight a rambling lunatic, the best option was to get another rambling lunatic to argue with it. This strategy could simply be called fighting blather with prattle and it was super effective in that instance.
Of course, the gulf of its effectiveness was even bigger. Simply put, the G.o.dslayer’s blade had sunk into madness, ran through a G.o.ddess and created a saga-level incident more than once, and was even bitten by another G.o.ddess. While its ramblings may drive you crazy, it does not affect its capabilities. In a fairer mental slugfest, this thing could kill over forty of the ma.s.sive brains just by rapping while throwing in a manzai comedy skit or two for good measure…
Well, as the brain monster had not fully awakened yet, its powers took a big hit.
Lily had broken out from the illusions and started throwing Doggoblast after Doggoblast towards the barrier around the brain monster, while Vivian and Y’zaks powerful magics followed behind. Hao Ren, as he needed to maintain the soul chain’s stability could not join in the fray, but the cannon platforms that he had summoned already had a preset target.
In this hail of unrelenting a.s.sault, the barrier protecting the brain monster could not even hope to regenerate in time.
Its time was running out.