novelODS Chapter 1120 Experience Devouring
Chapter 1120 Experience Devouring
According to the laws of the void, the process of destroying a world is clearly divided into three stages, which usually last about three years.
Spreading Phase: The Void launches an attack from one direction, usually the edge of the world, with the devouring line gradually advancing, like a purple tide engulfing the continent.
At this stage, the defending side still has strategic depth.
Full Phase: When the devouring lines finally close, the entire world is completely enveloped within the void's "body".
Although the void itself continues to move within the astral plane, the swallowed world will remain within it for about a year.
This year will be the true purgatory, with void creatures pouring out from every corner of the world and every spatial rift. The defenders will completely lose their rear and depth, and be caught in an endless siege from all sides.
The world with the fiercest and most tenacious resistance in history has seen its resistance forces completely exhausted, defeated, and eventually disheartened during this stage.
Fading Phase: After one year, the Void begins to "digest" or abandons the process, and the Devouring Lines begin to recede from the place where they were first invaded.
If a sufficient number and quality of intelligent life and civilization still survive in the world at this time, then the world will be judged by the astral plane as having "successfully resisted".
No matter how broken, the world will begin a difficult and slow process of self-healing and recovery under the watchful gaze of the astral forces, and will eventually be rewarded with a golden age of abundant resources, active rules, and unleashed potential.
"Because we were unable to obtain complete information about the core defense plan of Aegira before," the voice of the Destruction Ape carried the excitement of an information gatherer, "I've been thinking about how they're going to deal with that deadly 'full-scale phase'..."
"Now, seeing Lebia, seeing this fortified city, I understand."
He pointed to the defense core below, which remained orderly and efficient even under the purple sky.
“In the core area of this continent, I can sense a… strong, almost tangible divine aura!”
"It envelops this place, stabilizes the rules, and empowers the warriors, as if it has directly projected and anchored the power of a divine kingdom into the material world!"
He reminded his companion again, his tone grave.
The King of Resistance remained silent.
That silence, like the stillness before a storm, was more unsettling than any roar.
His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the steel forest standing tall amidst the purple turmoil below, the efficient killing machine, the unbreakable barrier of will.
The power Lebia displayed, and the defensive miracle that Tesira City was currently putting on, did not make him back down. Instead, it was like a poisonous thorn, deeply embedded in the depths of his soul, which was corrupted by the void but still retained the resentment of the past.
He saw the possibility of "success," and this possibility was frantically stimulating the destructive desire deep within him—a desire to prove that all resistance would ultimately fail, a desire belonging to "divine revelation."
……
The icy mountain wind, carrying the unique fishy and sulfurous smell of the void dust, lashed against the only remaining western coastline of the Taliel continent.
The once vast land is now three-quarters submerged under a churning purple sky.
Only the narrow strip of land along the coast, like the gnawed-out seams of bones, stubbornly gleams with the light of order.
The devouring line, like the throat of a greedy beast, slowly wriggled in the distance, each slight advance signifying that yet another piece of land was being completely dragged into the "body" of the void.
However, on the edge of this land that was about to fall completely, the flames of resistance still burned fiercely.
Fortress at node 4-22.
Behind the crenellations of the city wall, the air seemed to be frozen with the stench of blood and the scorching heat of steel friction.
A mixed squad of soldiers, codenamed "Gray Rock," is experiencing yet another brutal shockwave.
The purple waves roared and crashed against the defensive line formed by enchanted giant shields. The sounds of shattering armor, the hissing of energy weapons, the roars of soldiers, and the muffled groans of the wounded intertwined to create a symphony of purgatory.
"Left flank! Three 'Digging Claws'! Hammer, hold the line!"
Captain Hack's voice was hoarse but pierced through the noise as he cleaved a ravenous beast that pounced on him with his chainsaw sword, splattering foul-smelling purple blood all over his body.
"Leave it to me!" the dwarf warrior Braum roared in response, his power hammer crashing down with a dull thud, smashing the ferocious clawed creature that tried to crawl out of the wall crack into a bloody pulp along with the rock.
However, just as his old strength was exhausted and his new strength had not yet been generated, a purplish-black energy spike shot out from the pile of corpses and instantly pierced through the heavy armor plate on his leg!
"Ugh!" Bronn staggered, the excruciating pain causing him to kneel on one knee.
Almost simultaneously, a swift purple shadow pounced from the side towards the elven ranger Lyria, who was firing her alchemical crossbow at the flying aberrations.
Leah reacted extremely quickly, rolling to the side to narrowly avoid the fatal bite, but the sharp appendages still managed to cut a deep gash in her shoulder armor, and the eerie void toxins instantly turned the area around the wound purplish-black.
"Bron! Lydia!" Hack's eyes widened in horror.
Human shield warrior Tom roared and forcefully pushed aside the pressure in front of him with his tower shield, and quickly rushed forward with another human swordsman, Leo.
Tom used his shield to protect the temporarily incapacitated Bronn, while Leo wielded his enchanted longsword, the sword light like a curtain, forcefully repelling and shattering the monster that attacked Leah.
"Quickly! Healing potions!"
Hack rushed to the two men's side and quickly pulled out two vials of potions that shimmered with an emerald green light from his tactical pouch at his waist.
He deftly pried open Bronn's leg guards and poured the medicine onto the deep, bone-exposing wound.
When the medicine came into contact with the flesh, it made a slight "sizzling" sound. The purplish-black corrosive energy was quickly neutralized, and the flesh began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The other bottle was taken by Leah herself, who gritted her teeth and drank it down. The purplish-black color on her shoulder quickly faded, and the wound began to close.
"My health is down by more than half, and I've been hit by the 'Intermediate Void Toxin' and 'Severe Leg Wound' debuffs," Braum panted, looking at the status bar that appeared in his field of vision. Although his face was pale from blood loss, his eyes were still sharp. "Damn it, I was careless!"
“Me too, ‘minor laceration,’ the toxins have been cleared.” Leah wiped the sweat and blood from her face and quickly checked her status.
Just then, the commander's clear and calm order came through the communication crystal: "'Gray Rock' squad, third echelon take over! Withdraw immediately for rest! Repeat, 'Gray Rock' squad, withdraw for rest!"
Without the slightest hesitation, several fresh troops who were already prepared in the rear pounced like cheetahs, precisely filling the gaps they had left behind, and the shield wall was once again as solid as a mountain.
Hack and Leo supported the immobile Bronn, while Tom protected Lydia. The five of them quickly retreated from the front line along the pre-designated safe passage.
Inside the fortress, a temporary medical camp was set up near the base of the city wall.
The strong smell of disinfectant mixed with the stench of blood.
The makeshift hospital beds were filled with wounded soldiers, while healers and alchemists in white coats moved among them, efficiently treating various injuries.
The glow of data flickered intermittently in the tents—the wounds of the seriously injured were healing rapidly under the combined effects of divine magic and alchemical potions, severed limbs were being reattached through precise alchemical surgery, and health bars were steadily recovering.
Bloom and Lydia were carefully placed on two empty beds.
The healer quickly came over to check on them and confirmed that their condition was stable. They mainly needed time to recover their health and remove any remaining negative status debuffs. He nodded and went to treat the more critically injured.
Hack, Tom, and Leo didn't leave. They found a few ammunition boxes in a nearby corner, sat down, and took off their helmets, revealing tired but resolute faces. The tent wasn't quiet; the groans of the wounded, the whispers of the healers, and the distant rumble of the city walls mingled together, but the atmosphere here offered a bit more breathing space compared to the city walls.
On a nearby hospital bed, a human warrior with his arm wrapped in thick bandages and abrasions on his face stared blankly at the personal information panel in front of him, which only he could see.
He muttered to himself, his voice filled with disbelief and awe: "Level nine... I actually reached level nine! A year ago, before I was called upon, I was still a guard in the mine, barely scraping by to reach level six. I felt like my life was pretty much over..."
His words resonated with many.
Leah leaned back on the hospital bed, brought up her own panel, and looked at the experience bar that was approaching level nine. A smile appeared on her pale face.
"Who can argue with that? A little over a month ago, I was stuck at level seven, and my experience points were crawling by like a snail. How long has it been? I feel like I'll be able to climb up to the next level soon."
Captain Hack had his eyes closed, seemingly trying to recover his strength in every second. Hearing this, he opened his eyes and a tired but proud smile appeared on his lips.
"As long as we keep fighting and survive, brothers, each of us has a chance to reach level 10. Reaching the maximum level is no longer an unattainable dream."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a heavy, powerful force.
Level 10!
Enough to climb to legendary heights.
For these ordinary soldiers who were not geniuses and came from humble backgrounds, in the old days, this almost represented the pinnacle of ordinary warriors, a height that countless people could never reach in their lifetime.
Although the rise of the Night's Watch broadened the path to legend through data-driven rules and the guidance of Cana, and various ways to comprehend the rules were established, level ten itself remains a huge milestone that requires a massive amount of experience points to reach.
And now, on this apocalyptic battlefield, this milestone is approaching them at an unprecedented speed.
Their conversation, like pebbles thrown into calm water, resonated with the other soldiers in their hospital beds.
An old soldier with a broken leg, undergoing alchemical prosthetic adjustment, chuckled gruffly: "Hey, you little brats, I spent twenty years in the Kingdom's army before I reached level five."
"Even lying here recovering, I can feel my experience points increasing! This battle... was fucking... worth it!"
His words elicited a burst of laughter that was both painful and unrestrained.
That's right.
Aside from the lack of resources and the inability to protect them, the greatest psychological support these soldiers received was actually experience points.
They had never seen such an exaggerated speed of experience point acquisition. The feeling of becoming stronger through combat alone captivated them.
This made them exceptionally brave in battle and also mentally resilient, able to persevere for a long time.
It was the combination of various circumstances that made them resolutely stand firm against the tide of emptiness.
"Yeah, it feels like the experience bar jumps every time you kill a Voidling!"
"Before, to fight in the Abyss, you had to venture into dangerous territory, but now... there are 'experience packs' everywhere!"
"I only regret that I didn't kill faster or kill more!"
The soldiers chattered amongst themselves, their voices filled with a yearning for increased strength and a complex mix of emotions about the "gifts" that came with this brutal war.
This widespread and rapid rise in rank is the most direct and brutal illustration of the intensity of this war of attrition.
Every day, every moment, countless void beings are "harvested" on this land, becoming nourishment for the warriors of Aegir and the world itself.
The divine kingdom on earth, the core of its will.
Kana's divine sense, like an invisible breeze, swept through every corner of Aigella.
Naturally, they also happened to "hear" the bloody yet vibrant conversation in the medical tent of Fortress 4-22.
The soldiers' exclamations about rank and experience clearly entered his consciousness.
Seated on the throne, Kana's seemingly eternally calm face revealed a faint yet genuine smile.
The smile held a complex, indescribable quality, but more than anything, it conveyed a sense of relief.
"Experience points..."
The flow of rules runs through Kana's consciousness.
This core setting, which he personally wove into the underlying rules of the world and which has now become one of the cornerstones of the Aegir resistance, originates from his profound understanding of the world's will and his "transactions".
The world itself is both ignorant and vast, and it instinctively rejects all external invasions.
When the invaders' lives end in this world, the energy and vitality they carry from other realms are useless "impurities" or even "toxins" to the world itself. They will only dissipate or be assimilated as the void erodes them, and cannot bring any benefit to the world.
It was Kana who, in the initial construction of the data-driven rules, proposed that crucial "contract" to the world's will.
The life essence that escaped when these invaders died was intercepted and transformed through rules.
A portion of it is transformed into "experience points" that nourish the growth of individual warriors, stimulating their potential and strengthening their power.
The other part directly feeds back into the world itself, becoming a valuable energy for the world to resist the erosion of the void and maintain the stability of its own rules.
This is essentially a form of "plunder".
They plundered the lives of the invaders and used them for their own purposes.
The naive world accepted the working mode of this "antivirus software".
After all, this not only eliminates the virus, but also makes the world itself stronger and more resilient.
This mechanism has already shown its power in the war against the abyss and evil gods.
When the evil god retreated and the "experience" brought by the Void Vanguard became scarce, Kana even had to guide the Night Watch's power deep into the abyss to actively "hunt" in order to maintain this growth.
Now, the catastrophe of the Void's full-scale invasion has arrived.
The endless stream of void creatures became an inexhaustible "experience mine" for the world of Aegira.
Every fallen Void Aberration, every annihilated Void Beast, provides strength to the soldiers guarding the front lines and injects a resilient resistance into the crumbling world barrier.
"I've always believed that only the void can devour all worlds. I never imagined that I would become the one being 'fleeced'?"
A hint of mockery flashed through Kana's mind. (End of Chapter)