Atop the ridge, the howling gale whipped up sand and dust, battering against the cold exterior of the off-road vehicle.
The earth beneath their feet let out a rhythmic, increasingly violent wail.
The black tide of beasts surged like a breached dam of ink, converging from all directions on the horizon toward the slowly descending steel behemoth.
It was like a flood sweeping away everything in its path, the eyes of every Pola Beast burning with greed for Life Source Essence.
Xia Dou's face was deathly pale. She gripped the handrail tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.
"Boss... so many... with so many Pola Beasts, why would the Lighthouse dare to land at a time like this! Are they crazy!" she shouted, her voice barely audible amidst the roar of the engine and the tremors of the ground.
Bai Yuekui did not answer. She simply stood there quietly, her snow-white hair dancing wildly in the wind.
Her gaze pierced through the dust-filled sky, locking onto the massive airborne fortress.
Inside the Lighthouse, the Dustminers who had just been freed from class oppression barely had time to show a glimmer of hope for the future before their expressions froze into an even deeper despair.
Panic spread as cries, prayers, and curses mingled together.
However, right in the center of this chaos, a path was cleared.
Marc stood before the massive gate at the very front of the Lighthouse. Behind him were over a hundred of the most elite former Hunters and guards.
There was no fear on their faces, only unwavering resolve.
Ran Bing stood behind him, tightly gripping her weapon. She looked at Marc's back, which stood like a mountain, blocking out all the despair before them.
Just then, a lazy yet clear voice echoed through the Lighthouse's broadcasting system, resounding across the entire battlefield and reaching Bai Yuekui's ears on the ridge.
"Show them the power of the Lord of Light and Shadow!"
As soon as the words fell.
"Roar—!"
Marc threw his head back and let out an inhuman roar.
An incredibly dense black aura violently erupted from his body!
This was not any known energy form from the Mana Ecology; it was a deeper, more primal dark power brimming with the aura of destruction and rebirth.
The black aura coiled around his body like a living creature. Immediately after, the hundred-plus warriors behind him erupted with the exact same power!
Under the terrified gazes of countless people inside the Lighthouse, and under the watchful eyes of Bai Yuekui on the ridge, whose pupils suddenly shrank.
Their bodies began to emit teeth-aching cracks of bone.
Skin tore apart as muscle fibers twisted, restructured, and expanded at a visible rate.
The dense black aura rapidly solidified, transforming into terrifying bone armors that gleamed with a dark luster, perfectly fitting their mutated bodies.
Sharp claws pierced through their fingertips, and jagged bone wings violently unfurled from their backs, tearing their combat suits to shreds!
In just a few seconds, over a hundred human warriors had transformed into a legion of hideous, terrifying monsters of various shapes.
Though their appearances were horrifying, their formation was strict, and their bodies exuded a cold aura filled with power and absolute order.
The Mutant Beast that Marc had transformed into was the largest. Ignoring the changes in the warriors behind him, he was the first to charge into the black tide of beasts!
A Calyx Beast, roughly the size of a small truck, lunged at him with its massive maw wide open.
Marc did not even look at it. In the instant they crossed paths, he simply swung his bone-armored right claw.
"Squelch—!"
The dull sound of sharp blades slicing into flesh rang out.
The massive Calyx Beast was torn completely in half, from head to tail!
Foul-smelling blood and internal organs spilled all over the ground.
Marc's roar served as the horn for the charge.
The Mutant Beast Legion behind him followed closely, cleaving into the flood of Pola Beasts like a battle axe!
A one-sided massacre began.
These Mutant Beasts, transformed from humans, displayed an overwhelming level of combat power.
Their speed was as fast as phantoms, and their strength was beyond imagination.
Ordinary Pola Beasts were as fragile as paper before them.
Sharp claws easily tore through carapaces, and the wind pressure generated by the flapping of their bone wings was enough to send smaller Pola Beasts flying.
They did not even need tactics; they only needed the purest form of violence.
They plowed paths paved with flesh and shattered bones through the boundless tide of beasts.
"What... what is this!"
On the ridge, Xia Dou screamed in disbelief.
Bai Yuekui's pupils also shrank to pinpricks. She could sense it more clearly than anyone else.
The immense energy surging within the bodies of those monsters she called "Mutant Beasts."
Moreover, this energy was different from the Mana Ecology. It was a pure, domineering dark power she had never seen before!
Just as the low-level Pola Beasts were slaughtered to the brink of extinction and the black tide visibly thinned out.
"Rumble—"
The earth suddenly split open, forming a bottomless chasm.
A... a Pola Beast even larger than the Lighthouse, seemingly surpassing the Monarch-class, slowly crawled out from the fissure.
Its body was covered in countless crimson, constantly swiveling compound eyes, each reflecting a purgatory-like scene.
Merely by appearing, its massive, suffocating fluctuation of Life Source Essence spread out like a tangible domain.
The movements of all the Mutant Beasts slaughtering on the battlefield momentarily stagnated.
It was a suppression originating from the deepest level of life.
All the compound eyes of that powerful Pola Beast simultaneously locked onto the Lighthouse.
It opened its indescribably massive maw, preparing to unleash a roar capable of utterly destroying everything.
At this exact moment.
Everyone's gaze, whether it was the survivors inside the Lighthouse or Bai Yuekui on the ridge, involuntarily focused on the Lighthouse's exit.
Ian strolled out leisurely. He even casually adjusted his collar, as if he were not walking onto a battlefield, but attending a banquet.
He looked at the Monarch-class Pola Beast that blotted out the sky, a trace of disdain curling the corner of his mouth.
"Emperor Hero Armor, Assemble!"
he muttered softly. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly overpowered all the noise in the world.
A pillar of golden light piercing the heavens and the earth crashed down, completely enveloping him.
As the light dissipated, the majestic, divine, and peerlessly domineering ultimate Emperor Hero Armor was already equipped on his body.
That supreme aura of ruling the world and looking down upon all creation actually caused the roar the Pola Beast was preparing to unleash to weaken abruptly.
Ian loosely gripped his right hand.
Endless particles of light converged from the void, forming a massive sword forged entirely of gold in his palm, its blade flowing with profound runes.
Aurora Sword!
The aura emanating from the blade seemed capable of purifying all evil in the world.
Holding the massive sword, under the gaze of that Monarch-class Pola Beast, he leaped from the edge of the Lighthouse thousands of meters in the air.
That golden figure carved a streak of golden light between the dim sky and the black tide of beasts.
"Boom!"
The Emperor Hero Armor's feet landed steadily on the ground.
He looked around, his gaze sweeping over the trembling Pola Beasts, before finally landing on that massive Pola Beast.
"The moment you decided to come here, you were already dead!"