From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

Erebus unleashed a shadow energy shockwave that stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers, its power shocking everyone present.

"This is... the Ring of Annihilation!"

Queen Orianna recognized the move at a glance; it was a divine power that only the Shadow Demon could wield.

Normally, demigods cannot unleash the Ring of Annihilation, but Erebus did.

In an instant, the Ring of Annihilation destroyed nuclear weapons within a star field spanning tens of thousands of kilometers.

The nuclear explosions spread out in a continuous chain, forming a ring around Nebula City, and countless asteroids were reduced to ashes in the explosions.

The continuous explosions created a picture of world destruction.

Queen Orianna and High Priestess Sona joined forces to unleash magic that withstood the Annihilation Ring that was heading towards their side.

As a result, the sacred artifacts and the Scepter of the Sea God of the Elven race almost exhausted their divine power.

Seeing this scene, Lu Heng finally witnessed just how powerful the strongest demigod in the abyss truly was.

……

Erebus's Annihilation Ring destroyed all the nuclear missiles aimed at Nebula City.

This interrupted the nuclear offensive against Nebula City, giving the Shadow Demon an opportunity to counterattack.

While observing the situation, Lu Heng pressed the communicator and asked in rapid succession, "Professor, are the losses serious?"

Xavier Matrix’s emotionless voice came through the communicator: “3156 nanomachine factories lost, 40% of missiles lost, offensive forced to a halt, the situation is turning around.”

Lu Heng then pressed on, "Is there a solution?"

Xavier Matrix: "Yes, the production progress of the largest yield strategic nuclear bomb has reached 92%. As long as this nuclear bomb is detonated within ten kilometers of Nebula City, it can take away the entire asteroid."

Lu Heng had previously heard data about the power of this strategic nuclear bomb from Xavier Matrix; its power was dozens of times greater than the largest yield nuclear bomb ever tested by mankind.

Therefore, even if nanomachine factories are responsible for manufacturing, the progress is very slow.

A nuclear bomb with such power, if it hits the Shadow Demon's main city, would definitely wipe out the entire Nebula City and the asteroid below it.

There are two problems now.

First, how can we drag the war out until this nuclear bomb is completed?
Secondly, after launching a strategic nuclear missile, how can we ensure that the missile can be delivered to the Shadow Demon capital city?

……

Outside the battlefield, the recruiting force led by the White Eagle Federation had been subdued by Joyce Bruno, and the nearly three hundred-strong team was all observing.

After Erebus unleashed the Ring of Annihilation, Joyce Bruno's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he said, "Just as I predicted, this Shadow Demon demigod is not so easy to deal with. The Great Xia people cannot win."

The recruit from the Kingdom of Sindhu quickly chimed in, "Mr. Bruno was wise. If he had rashly joined the battle just now, he would definitely have been severely injured by the Ring of Annihilation."

Joyce Bruno was confident that he had a clear understanding of the situation, and that participating in the war would be tantamount to suicide, so he began to plan the retreat after the Swordholder Alliance's defeat.

He plans to strictly adhere to the strategies of the "Survival Mode," with survival as his primary objective.

[Survival Mode] has a key rule: recruits do not need to complete any tasks, as long as they survive to return, there will be no penalty.

This is different from other modes. Most modes require recruiters to complete at least the main quest. If they fail to complete the main quest, they will be penalized by having their divine energy deducted.

Survival Mode is a special case; this mode allows recruits to evade all missions, including the main missions.

……

After the nuclear offensive was halted, the tide of battle turned.

The Shadow Fiend began to fight back.

Lu Heng ordered the sword-wielding troops to retreat and defend a distant star field to protect the remaining nanomachine factory, while asking:

"Professor, how long until we have strategic nuclear weapons?"

Xavier Matrix gave an exact time: "3 hours, 7 minutes and 18 seconds".

Three hours is not a long time, but it's not short either.

After a moment's thought, Lu Heng instructed, "Mu Yu, go protect the strategic nuclear bomb manufacturing plant. The rest of you, fight and retreat. If Erebus doesn't catch up, do everything you can to stop the Shadow Demon's counterattack."

“Okay.” Su Muyu withdrew from the battlefield and, following Xavier Matrix’s guidance, went to guard the nanomachine factory that manufactures strategic nuclear bombs.

Erebus did not catch up; as a demigod, he used the Annihilation Ring, a technique only true gods could possess.

If this ultimate move were unleashed by a true god, it would be enough to destroy the world. The Annihilation Ring released by Erebus is less powerful, but it is still terrifying enough.

Because this move was beyond his level, he did not continue to pursue and instead retreated back to Nebula City.

The high-ranking Shadow Demons who were originally sent back to defend split into two groups: one half guarded the Satellite Cloud City, while the other half rushed out to continue their raid on the Nanomachine Factory.

The Swordholders' team did their utmost to stop the Shadow Demon.

Xie Shi'en was able to unleash the ultimate move of the fifth-tier class [Corona Wizard], which he had been preparing for a long time.

With the support of multiple S-rank skills, he created a massive Corona Mirror, focusing the energy of the star into a blazing beam of light that shone on the charging Shadow Demon.

Shadow Fiends are inherently afraid of starlight, but ordinary starlight is too weak to cause any real damage to them.

Xie Shi'en's [Corona Wizard] ability is to use the energy of stars to launch attacks.

Amplified by multiple S-level skills, the coronal ray struck, instantly vaporizing any Shadow Demon that touched it into smoke.

One by one, the Shadow Demons were reduced to ashes under the coronal rays, causing them to scatter and flee within the coronal attack range, not daring to approach Xie Shi'en's location.

……

The battle has reached a stalemate.

Erebus is hiding in Nebula City to recover his strength, while the Swordholders are stalling for time, waiting for the strategic nuclear bomb to be completed.

Time ticked by second amidst the fierce battle.

All participants' levels also continue to increase during the battle.

When Lu Heng severed Erebus's arm, his source energy level had already been upgraded once.

In the process of joining forces to fight against the high-level Shadow Demon, they continuously absorbed energy, and their source energy level increased again, breaking through to level 60.

[Source Energy Level increased to 60, all attributes +6, Agility attribute +1.8]

The Zero Civilization once revealed that reaching a Source Energy level of 60 is the minimum standard for advancing to demigod status.

This means that Lu Heng has reached the level where he can touch the gate to demigodhood.

Of course, reaching level 60 does not mean you can become a demigod.

In fact, the higher the source energy level, the higher the success rate of advancing to demigod.

Level 60 is just the minimum standard.

After three hours of fierce fighting, Erebus had recovered most of his strength and was ready to fight again.

Lu Heng checked the time and asked again, "Professor, how much longer?"

Xavier Matrix: "12 minutes and 5 seconds."

"Okay, launch immediately once manufacturing is complete."

As he spoke, Lu Heng turned and disengaged from the battle, flying backward and handing the battle line over to Queen Aureanna.

Queen Alleanna commanded the Swordholder alliance to continue holding off the Shadowfiend. Three hours later, a new batch of nuclear missiles manufactured in the nanomachines factory was launched.

The sky once again witnessed a breathtaking scene of countless nuclear bombs flying overhead.

However, the nanomachine factories near Nebula City were destroyed by the Annihilation Ring, resulting in the remaining nanomachine factories producing fewer nuclear bombs than expected.

These numerous miniature and medium-sized nuclear bombs alone are unlikely to be effective; their primary purpose is to restrain the Shadow Demon's defensive forces.

……

12 minutes and 5 seconds later, the strategic nuclear bomb manufactured by the nanomachine factory was completed and launched directly after computer testing.

Su Muyu stayed by the nanomachine factory and activated an invisible force field, which made the final stage of manufacturing the strategic nuclear bomb go smoothly.

After the strategic nuclear missile was launched, Su Muyu spread her energy wings, flew to the nuclear missile, and followed it towards the Shadow Demon City.

Since it is located in space and there is no air resistance, as long as the human body can withstand the acceleration of the missile, there is no danger in standing on the missile and accelerating together.

Of course, this is all predicated on the nuclear warhead not exploding.

After the strategic nuclear missile is launched, the thruster continues to accelerate, reaching speeds exceeding 50 times the speed of sound.

At such high speeds, it only takes half an hour to traverse a distance of 30,000 kilometers.

Fifteen minutes after the launch of the strategic nuclear missile, he met Lu Heng.

Lu Heng slowed down and landed on the nuclear missile, escorting it with Su Muyu towards the Shadow Demon City.

This strategic nuclear weapon has always been under the influence of an invisible force field.

On a scale of tens of thousands of kilometers, even the demigod Erebus could not find this nuclear bomb.

However, as the distance increases, the chances of a strategic nuclear weapon being detected will increase exponentially.

Time passed by minute by minute.

After regaining his power, Erebus emerged from Nebula City, his gaze sweeping across the land like a mountain, searching for the human who had previously injured him.

However, as he scanned the area, examining every single speck of dust, he couldn't find Lu Heng's figure.

Given the intensity of the battle, the sudden disappearance of the core super soldiers is clearly suspicious.

If other teams had fled with them, it could be said that they had escaped, but Queen Orianna had been leading the troops to hold the line and showed no intention of retreating.

Of all people, only Lu Heng was missing.

Erebus sensed the approaching threat. Instead of rushing to attack the Swordholder Alliance, he unleashed his divine power to continue searching for Lu Heng.

He was absolutely certain that this damned human was lurking in some dark corner, preparing to launch a devastating attack on his capital.

He absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen; his capital was already badly damaged.

This is the city he guards, the symbol of his royal power. Only by preserving this royal city can he continue to rule the Shadow Demon race.

He vowed to grind that damned human into mincemeat.

He kept asking himself, "Where are you? It's time to come out... Where are you?"

He asked himself the question while searching with his divine vision.

If we don't see it within a 100-kilometer radius, then we expand to a 1,000-kilometer radius, a 2,000-kilometer radius...

On a scale of two thousand kilometers, he finally discovered something strange.

At a distance of 2,300 kilometers, there is a space experiencing a slight tremor, and the location of the tremor is moving rapidly.

This clearly shows the characteristics of an object flying at high speed.

"Got you!"

Erebus snorted coldly, and a dark light shot out from his eyes, illuminating the strategic nuclear missile in the invisible force field, as well as Lu Heng and the other person, two thousand kilometers away.

Su Muyu activated the prism force field to protect the strategic nuclear missile, which continued to launch forward.

Strategic nuclear weapons are extremely fast; at 50 times the speed of sound, they can travel 17 kilometers in one second.

A distance of 2000 kilometers can be covered in just 117 seconds.

The strategic nuclear missile quickly penetrated the defensive perimeter of the Shadow Demon satellite city and continued its flight towards Nebula City.

The Shadow Fiend's satellite cities have been almost completely destroyed, but the Shadow Fiend is still maintaining this defensive perimeter to block nuclear missiles.

With the advent of strategic nuclear weapons.

With a flick of his mountain-like arm, Erebus commanded tens of thousands of shadow demons to intercept him.

Queen Orianna also led the Swordholder alliance to gather there, to hold back the Shadow Demon army.

The battle was intense, with nuclear explosions every second and shadow demons howling in agony.

With the strategic nuclear missiles penetrating within a 500-kilometer radius, the gathered Shadow Demons had already formed a massive, sky-covering formation.

Lu Heng stepped forward and charged towards the Shadow Demon army, unleashing his full combat power, activating his Thunder Tribulation form, and unleashing the Wind Dragon's Breathless Slash.

Roar!
The Rift Wind Dragon roared, its breath and flames mingling with the power of lightning, instantly slaying tens of thousands of Shadow Demons.

Lu Heng's source energy level also increased again amidst the surging energy, reaching level 61, with all his attributes skyrocketing.

With a single sword strike piercing through the Shadow Demon's defensive formation, Lu Heng escorted the strategic nuclear missile into the 100-kilometer defensive perimeter of Nebula City.

At this distance, the Shadow Demon City was already in grave danger.

Erebus roared with earth-shattering fury, charged out of the city, stretched out his mountain-like arms, and met the strategic nuclear bomb, preparing to crush it.

Such a powerful strategic nuclear bomb would be ineffective against even a demigod.

However, Erebus's body was as large as a mountain, and his arms stretched out for tens of kilometers.

If he could just crush this nuclear bomb, even if he lost his arm, it wouldn't be a loss.

A shadowy, massive arm, as large as a mountain, reached out and was within reach of the strategic nuclear missile in the blink of an eye.

Lu Heng had already fought Erebus and knew very well how powerful the opponent's divine strength was. Even if he used all his strength, he could not stop his arm.

Therefore, when Erebus's arm reached out, Lu Heng did not attack the arm with his sword. Instead, he turned around and slashed off the propulsion unit of the strategic nuclear missile, leaving only the warhead.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Heng raised his hand and opened a star gate.

The warhead of the strategic nuclear missile instantly passed through the stargate and disappeared.

Upon seeing this, Erebus roared in terror and anger, turning to look at the royal city behind him.

Above the Shadow Demon's royal city, a stargate opened, and a strategic-level nuclear warhead passed through the stargate, appearing above the royal city.

next moment.

Boom!

A terrifying nuclear explosion occurred over Nebula City, bringing about the end of the world and its destruction!
Nebula City shattered inch by inch in the nuclear explosion, and the asteroids below exploded into countless fragments that scattered in all directions.

"No!"

Erebus refused to accept all of this and turned to rush towards the epicenter of the nuclear explosion.

He must save his city, save his supreme kingship, save his demigod dignity. (End of Chapter)