When Alka and the others had already blown up the digestive chambers within the flesh, the external ritual immediately began to operate. Urulius transformed into a dragon, floating in the center of the vast ritual. As the ritual progressed, the surrounding materials transformed into a liquid-like substance, imprinted into the runes of the magic circle below, and began to shimmer.
Surrounding the inner circle were ten puppet girls, assisting Urulius in the ritual.
The outer circle was maintained by Anris and the members of the Spell Council, who led him.
As the magic circle operated, the energy of the flesh began to be absorbed. Atop the massive magic circle stood a luminous green energy ball, tinged with a hint of blood-red. It was clearly visible that the color within it was being drawn entirely from the direction of the Flesh Mountain.
As the energy was absorbed,
The entire Flesh Nest was clearly becoming increasingly anxious.
A large number of flesh-and-blood monsters began to gather and run toward the direction of the ceremony.
They were completely different from the stumbling, slow-moving gait they had previously exhibited.
All of their bizarre limbs aided their movement.
Some were running, some were crawling, and some were even leaping and tumbling. Combined with their human-like physiques, they looked incredibly deformed and distorted.
A heavy song wafted in.
The heaviness of the song seemed to carry a strange power. The monsters, swiftly running, entered the realm of the music, their speed slowing noticeably as if they weighed a thousand pounds.
Various energy beams and mana-generated light bullets blazed out.
These attacks all had a distinctive bright red hue.
A dark gray energy wave swept across, but it only slowed the monsters down.
"Forget they have no souls, please."
Lucille, who resembled a normal human, clutched a massive sword. That gray energy wave was the soul attack unleashed by her cursed sword.
However, the flesh monsters before her lacked souls, making it completely ineffective.
Without a solution, the spell on the cursed sword illuminated, and Lucilia, transformed into a soul, immediately passed through. Holding the greatsword, her soul began to wreak havoc among the horde of flesh monsters.
A single strike could cut the monsters in half.
The puppet girls rushed forward, and the surrounding members of the Holy Machine Church also drew their weapons.
Faced with their overwhelming strength, the flesh monsters, despite their sheer numbers, were unable to push their defensive formation back even a meter.
The entire formation continued to function normally, uninterrupted.
As the energy gathered, the flesh of the once towering figures visibly shrivelled and grayed.
It was as if the body had weakened.
Lucelia slashed through the surrounding monsters with another sword strike and gazed at the mountain of flesh.
"It seems I overestimated him. He could only send these small monsters to stop us."
"This means that the powerful flesh monsters have either been eliminated by Alka and his men, or they are still trying to stop them. After all, that's where the most deadly situation lies."
But regardless, the fact that only these small fry could be sent here was enough to demonstrate the weakness of the Flesh Nest.
"I think you seem to have forgotten that our strength has reached the seventh stage. How many seventh-stage monsters in the Infinite Sea can form a small team like us?"
Hearing Jason's words, Lucelia nodded. Indeed, they were already very powerful.
Even large forces would avoid offending them if possible.
The ritual continued.
A fatal crisis began to unfold.
The Flesh Mountain's massive maw, used for predation, was destroyed, and most of its digestive tract, used to digest the flesh and blood for energy, was also destroyed.
And those hidden within were completely unable to recover without food.
And their own energy was being drained.
They were practically doomed.
Finally, the sound of a powerful heartbeat rippled through the center.
With this throbbing...
The surrounding flesh monsters immediately began to swell as if pumped with blood, attacking frantically.
"Be careful, this monster has grown stronger."
Then they saw several powerful flesh monsters emerge from the distant wall of flesh.
They were similar to the ones they had seen in the Alka Mirror.
But there were only three or four of them.
Watching these charging monsters...
Jason smiled. "Finally, something decent."
With the sound of drumming, the core of the flesh mountain was revealed.
A waiting Alka saw this happen, and a dream mirror immediately appeared beside him.
He fell down with Juanlu, instantly arriving on the other side next to Xia Daiti and the others.
"The target has appeared, move forward."
With that, the four of them gathered together.
Faced with the sheer mass of flesh before him, Xia Daiti swung his fist fiercely.
He transformed into a crashing moon.
Like a fireball dropping into cotton, the flesh immediately began to disperse. Alka and the others continued their pace, piercing forward like a bullet.
The flesh had little resilience, only slightly stronger than ordinary flesh.
Due to their immense speed and power, they quickly reached the beating heart. When the space ahead cleared, everyone immediately stopped their advance and dispersed.
This was a cabin.
The ceiling was covered with densely packed pipes, through which one could see a blood-like fluid flowing.
In the center was a massive, heart-like object, seven or eight meters tall, beating continuously. The entire heart was a vibrant red, pulsating, expanding, and contracting.
"You damned pagans, how dare you disturb our new life?"
The voice was a humanoid creature.
It resembled a model, with a smooth head, devoid of hair or pores, and even without facial features.
The skin on its face was the same pale color as its body.
It was more like a film covered in a grayish-brown pigment.
The figure stood there, clad in strange robes.
"We, the newborns, will be..."
Before he could finish his words, a silver beam of light struck directly beside him.
The impact of the violent force was so overwhelming that the talking humanoid before him was instantly reduced to a bloody foam.
Then, without losing any strength, the force penetrated and struck the heart directly.
A round hole then appeared in the center of the massive heart. A large amount of blood gushed out like a fountain, dyeing the entire cabin blood-red, and the plasma flowed continuously.
The one who struck the silver force was Xia Daiti.
"So much nonsense."
Looking at the man who had been reduced to a pulp,
Alka looked at the two people beside him and could only shrug helplessly.
"Get ready to go out."
A mirror appeared at their feet. The moment Alka stepped inside, he threw something outside, and they were instantly teleported out.
The object thrown out was a chaotic mass of elemental energy, forcibly bound together by Alka using the power of space and the mirror.
Without Alka's control, the compressed chaotic energy immediately released.
The overactive elemental energies collided with each other.
"Bang!"
At this moment, Alka and the others had emerged from the flesh and blood.
Appearing next to the ritual.
The moment they emerged, they looked behind them.
The place where their heart was beating exploded, sending a huge vibration.
Then, like a fountain of energy, it erupted into the sky.
The various elemental energies exploded in the sky, creating a vibrant display of fireworks, tinged with a hint of blood, and surprisingly beautiful.
All the monsters, as if losing control, fell to their knees, motionless.
These flesh puppets were soulless, even less powerful than ordinary animals.
Because, besides being soulless, they lacked even instincts. Like puppets on strings, they moved entirely by the bonds of their flesh and blood nests.
And the vast mass of flesh and blood nests, resembling a mountain of flesh, began to shrink, like a dried-up body devoid of nourishment.
Deprived of moisture, deprived of nutrients, deprived of the essence of flesh and blood.
The flesh and blood shrank, darkened, and dried, until it transformed into a pitch-black ash.
The entire process took only about ten minutes.
Destruction was visible to the naked eye.
Everyone watched as the monstrous flesh and blood that occupied half the island was reduced to knotted, blackened ash in just a dozen minutes.
"Is this the end?" a scholar from the Church of the Holy Machine muttered to himself as he observed the scene.
Arka passed by and patted him on the shoulder. "Not yet, friend, there's another big one over there."
...
On the battlefield of flesh and ash, as everyone cleaned up, they finally harvested two Holy Grail-level treasures.
According to Alka's observation, one of them must have been left behind by the island's primary authority, the one who had been shattered to pieces by Xia Daiti's punch. The other Holy Grail-level treasure was unknown.
Alka picked up one at random and handed the other to Anris.
It was like trophies.
They no longer cared much about Holy Grail-level treasures.
Then they returned to the ship. The Holy Machine Church's reconnaissance team would remain here to handle the situation.
Alka and his companions had obtained the intelligence they sought, and it was time to return to the vicinity of Whiteman Island and begin their business.
After a brief voyage,
Alka and his companions took this opportunity to rest aboard and organize their operations.
Soon, they once again docked the ship near the massive steel vessel.
"I already know what you did on Blacksteel Island. Thank you," Saflov shook Alka's hand, unable to conceal his excitement.
The destruction of an island's inhabitants meant many questions had been answered. While Whiterun might not be as easy as Blacksteel, at least they knew the core issue, making future tasks much easier.
Then everyone gathered once again in the steel vessel's conference room.
"I know everything about your experience on Blacksteel Island. Can you replicate that process on Whiterun?"
At Saflov's words, Alka nodded.
"It's certainly possible to replicate, but judging by the extent of the White Man Island situation, it won't be so easy to resolve.
The effort required would be several times greater than that of Black Steel Island."
After all, the flesh and blood of White Man Island essentially encompasses the entire island.
Not to mention, this is Signpost Island, with a population and land area many times larger than Black Steel Island.
So we must proceed with caution.
Saflov nodded, then said sternly to the group, "After you eliminate that mass of flesh and blood on Black Steel Island, the flesh and blood on White Man Island will begin to move faster.
We don't have much time left, perhaps less than a month."
Hearing this, everyone nodded.
A month should be enough.
"So what should we do now?" Saflov asked, looking at Alka. After all, the entire Black Steel Island operation this time was carried out by Alka and his team, including the flesh-absorbing ritual and the final assault.
The others had only slightly refined the details of the overall plan.
Hearing this question, Alka didn't hesitate and spoke directly.
"First, we need to send enough people to scout around the island. Based on the data we obtained on Black Steel Island, we can estimate how large a ritual, or even how many rituals, we need to construct to deal with the flesh and blood of White Man Island.
Performing the ritual on the island is obviously unrealistic. We can only do it on a boat, but we'll have to get the boat closer, which is also a problem.
Furthermore, White Man Island is so large that its tentacles and captured limbs circle the island. Clearing them out will be a hassle.
We also need to conduct reconnaissance and scanning, trying to locate the digestion pools on their island.
Unless we push him to his limit, he won't dare to escape or face this mortal danger."
After hearing Arka's words, Saflev nodded.
Then everyone began to discuss. "Perhaps... we could seek help from the Church of Storms. They're much stronger than us in underwater battles.
Let them help us clear out those predatory tentacles below the surface of the sea," Anris suggested.
Hearing this, Saflev frowned, thought for a moment, then nodded.
"No problem. I'll send them a request after the meeting. At their speed, they should be here in five days at most."
Jason asked from the side, "How are we going to find the digestion pools and pipe entrances in the flesh? There's no place to stay on this island."
Simon thought for a moment and said, "We can use the Holy Machine Church's reconnaissance machinery, and then have the Council members affix some temporary spells to it.
This method should be feasible, but it might be a bit costly."
Saflef waved his hand and said, "Compared to the problems on Whiteman Island, these costs are nothing."
"Then let's make sure it's done. Simon, you'll be responsible for working with them to construct the reconnaissance machinery, and Xiadaiti can provide temporary assistance."
Then he turned to Saflef and said, "The materials for the ritual and the investigation of the entire flesh area will be left to you."
Saflef nodded.
"Once the Church of Storms' members arrive, we'll begin dealing with his predatory tentacles, testing and eliminating them first."
"Then, the strongest among us will form the assault team. That's it for now, and we'll discuss the final course of action later."
Then everyone continued to discuss details and their respective responsibilities.
The meeting soon concluded.
The surrounding fleets began to bustle.
The letter to the Church of Storms was already on its way.
The next day.
One after another, mechanical aircraft flew out from the steel ships like a swarm of bees, circling the island for reconnaissance.
Speedboats circled the island, constantly measuring its flesh and blood using various machines and spells.
Some troops had already begun to move on the island.
Shoot the monsters above.
The monsters were completely killed and chopped into pieces, leaving their flesh and blood lying around.
Using this method, they used the detectors above to specifically mark the entrances to the interior of the island.
Alka also began to use his clone to wander around the Flesh Island.
His ability allowed him to stand on a mirror, become invisible, and observe without standing on his flesh.
He discovered that some of the passages actually connected to a digestive tank.
It seemed necessary to conduct a detailed search to avoid wasting unnecessary energy and resources.
From time to time, they would bring Xia Daiti with them to scan the interior of the monster's flesh.
However, since it was flesh and blood, it was difficult to penetrate the detection wave deeply. There were many obstacles, and it wasn't easy to detect sufficient information.
Soon, members of the Church of the Storm arrived.