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Chapter 181 Forbidden Demon: Nightmare of Return to Nothingness! A bizarre energy attack! (Please subscribe)

"No, the magical energy hasn't dissipated yet!!!"

Upon hearing Commander Man's words, everyone immediately looked at the large screen and saw that the electromagnetic interference and magical fluctuations, which should have gradually returned to reasonable levels, were now showing an upward and active phase.

The group, who had originally intended to celebrate, immediately switched back to work mode.

"Damn it! I still can't get it right!"

"Can our detectors pinpoint the location of the most concentrated energy fluctuations? Launch another attack!" Su Mingjin's voice rang out in the command center.

The observer responsible for monitoring the battlefield stared intently at the waterfall of data scrolling before him, beads of sweat sliding down his face and landing on the control panel.

"Report! All detector readings are skyrocketing! There are no dense points; the energy is... it's spreading uniformly!"

He looked up, his bloodshot eyes filled with indescribable horror.

"The whole forest... damn! The whole forest has come alive!"

On the huge tactical map, the green area that originally represented normal background radiation is being rapidly eroded and covered by countless wriggling red dots.

It wasn't a gathering of energy; it was more like a plague, a plague that was spreading wildly on the magical level, turning an area of ​​over a hundred kilometers into its breeding ground.

"What kind of attack method is this?" Commander Man frowned deeply. "There's no clear target, yet they've activated everything? What are they trying to do? Activate the magic of the entire forest and turn it into weapons?"

"Are we going to revive the entire forest, and then have a forest catastrophe?"

"What about those elf messengers?" Su Mingjin turned to the side. "Did you get anything out of them?"

After the humans confirmed that the elves were continuing to cast spells, the elven messengers who had not yet retreated to a safe distance were brought back under control.

Although this is somewhat inhumane, the elves attacked them first!

Since the enemy struck first, humanity is no longer required to abide by the previous rules.

“We’ve regained control,” the communications officer replied immediately. “We acted as soon as we detected the unusual magical fluctuations, but they’re incredibly stubborn. Our tickling interrogation tactics are useless!”

Su Mingjin's eyes turned cold. "Speed ​​up the interrogation!"

"Oh, by the way, that elf named Celine did say something," the communications officer paused, then repeated, "She said—'The end is nigh, enjoy your last moments of pleasure!'"

The command post was deathly silent.

The arrogance and resentment in those words cast a shadow over the hearts of everyone who had just experienced a great victory.

“Continue the interrogation,” Su Mingjin’s voice remained unchanged. “Pry open their mouths and get the specific information about this strange magic.”

"Yes!"

A few minutes later, the encrypted communication came in.

"Report! Progress! We've uncovered another name; the magical name is—Nightmare of the Ruins!"

Nightmare of Return to the Ruins?

These four words seemed to carry some kind of ominous magic, sending a chill down the spine of everyone present who heard them.

Su Mingjin closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her mind was clear.

She walked to the command platform and calmly gave the order.

"Analysis team, can you find the energy node? Even if the entire forest were a living organism, it should still have a heartbeat and breathe, right? Find it!"

"All units at the front line, consolidate your defensive lines."

"Take off with the drone and turn that forest over inch by inch!"

“Also,” she paused, glancing at the liaison officer, “contact Gong Pengfei immediately. Have him interrogate those elven prisoners of war. Surely some other elves know what this monstrous thing called the Nightmare of the Ruins really is?”

Orders were issued in rapid succession, and the entire command center resumed its efficient operation.
-
Elf Prison.

Only the sound of hurried footsteps remained in the cold, metallic corridor.

Gong Pengfei practically kicked open the door where Annies was being held, and the two guards behind him immediately stood guard at the door with their guns drawn.

"Annis, I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask if you know about the spell 'Nightmare of Return'?"

Without uttering a single wasted word, Gong Pengfei inquired about this term, which had come from the command post, from the elf prisoner who was watching "Boonie Bears."

The moment Annie heard those four words, her whole body stiffened.

She slowly raised her head, and the color drained from her once calm and smiling face at a visible speed.

Her lips trembled, and her teeth chattered softly.

"You...you're sure...it's that magic? The Nightmare of Return to Nothingness?" Her voice was strange, as if she had used up all her strength.

"It's from the front lines, there's no mistake. Your people cast this spell!" Gong Pengfei's gaze was fixed on her like a nail. "Can you tell me what kind of spell it is?"

He keenly sensed that the fear this word instilled in her far exceeded any previous interrogation.

This was a kind of shudder and fear that emanated from Anise's very soul.

“It’s over…” Annie’s eyes glazed over instantly. She hugged her knees and began to tremble uncontrollably. “They’ve gone mad…they’ve really gone mad! By the Mother Goddess, how dare they use that magic! They’ll be cursed forever!”

She suddenly let out a sharp, strange sound that was somewhere between crying and laughing.

"Haha...They all have to die! We all have to die!"

"Answer my questions!" Gong Pengfei stepped forward, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable sense of pressure. "What is the radius of this magic's attack? What is its working principle? Will we die?"

Anise looked up, her face showing fear and unease, and then tears suddenly appeared, leaving two streaks on her face.

“Radius? Principle?” she cried out in a daze, “The Nightmare of Return to Nothingness is a forbidden magic that uses the purest bloodline of the elves and their faith in the Mother Goddess as fuel, and countless lives and blood as sacrifices, to forcibly tear their souls away from the laws of the world!”

"This is pure killing magic!"

"After the magical ritual is completed, all the sacrifices will transform into undead monsters. They roam the void, becoming terrifying vengeful spirits that exist only for revenge and slaughter!"

"A vengeful spirit that lives only for killing?"

"A vengeful spirit? Wandering in the void?" A young guard next to him frowned.

Upon hearing that it was something like an energy body, Gong Pengfei secretly thought to himself that something was wrong.

His expression remained unchanged, and his voice continued to ask in a calm tone: "Annis, thank you for informing me. May I ask how the Nightmare of the Ruins will attack us?"

“They can attack from anywhere!” Annies’s voice was filled with unease. “Once the forbidden magical ritual is complete, it will spread wildly, roaming nature and annihilating all living beings it sees, especially those marked by magic. It will drag the souls of the living into hell, plunging them into eternal torment, cold, and agony!”

"No one can resist! No one can resist!"

She suddenly struggled, and the shackles rattled as she was pulled.

"Run! Get out of here! Run as far as possible! As long as the magic of this forest remains, they won't disappear! If we run far away, they might stop attacking."

Gong Pengfei frowned, realizing from the other person's utterly broken state that this was not a lie.

"Isn't there any way to crack this?"

Annie stopped moving, looked at Gong Pengfei in despair, and slowly shook her head.

“No. This is forbidden magic, a forbidden magic that results in mutual destruction. The only way to end it is to wait for the caster's hatred and magic to completely burn out.” She smiled bitterly, “Or, until there is no more living thing left on this land.”

Gong Pengfei fell silent.

He slowly straightened up, took one last look at the somewhat emotionally distraught elf, and turned to walk away.

He stopped at the doorway and, without turning around, said to the elf behind him, "Thank you for informing me! You are a friend of humanity!"

Gong Pengfei walked out of the interrogation room, the cold metal door closing behind him, isolating the somewhat mentally broken female elf.

Gong Pengfei took a deep breath and connected to the communication center at the highest command.

"Commander, this is Gong Pengfei. Have you all seen the preliminary information about the Nightmare of Return to Nothingness?"

"I saw it, you've worked hard!"

Inside the command center, the atmosphere was so heavy it could be squeezed out of you.

On the large screen, the video of Gong Pengfei interrogating Annies is being played silently on repeat.

Annies's face, contorted with fear, was as pale as a sheet of paper, and looked particularly eerie in the dim blue light.

"A magical ritual transforms the sacrifice into a terrifying vengeful spirit that roams the void?" a young analyst muttered to himself, adjusting his glasses. "A ghost seeking revenge? Can our new equipment defend against that?"

A more senior expert next to him shook his head and pointed to the data model: "Forget about that. The key is the two words Annie mentioned: hatred and magic. Our previous research has shown that strong biological brainwaves can indeed interfere with or even guide magical particles. The so-called hatred is probably a high-intensity, directional emotional brainwave that provides the energy for this magic to locate enemies and continue operating."

"If those spellcasters have already marked us as targets, that would be a real headache!"

If it's really as the elves say, as long as humans are alive, breathing, and their minds are still working, the magic won't stop? Then the attacks from those vengeful spirits won't cease!

"However, Anise said that this is a forbidden magic that would cause mutual destruction. The elves will surely pay a heavy price after casting the spell."

"What price could there be? Kill a thousand enemies, lose eight hundred of your own? The sacrifices our drones detected for the elves were just large numbers of magical creatures and humans. They sacrificed almost none of their own kind!"

As Su Mingjin listened to the discussion, her fingers unconsciously tapped on the cold metal tabletop.

Her gaze fell on the tactical map, on the area now shrouded in the magic renamed "Nightmare of the Ruins," where the magical energy readings were pounding wildly, as if she were having a heart attack.

If it's a physical attack, human troops really aren't afraid.

But according to the elf's account, it was some kind of energy attack, an incredibly strange attack.

Energy attacks: Although humanity has mastered directed energy weapons, humanity's utilization of energy is far too limited.

That's a technology that humanity hasn't mastered yet!
"Let's prepare for the worst first," Su Mingjin's voice broke the discussion. "Order Wu Mudi to retreat across the board and build concentrated defensive positions by battalion. Distribute all the evil-repelling talismans and mind-clearing talismans in stock, as many as you can! Since the enemy doesn't have any physical troops charging, let's play it safe for now."

"Yes!"

The communications officer immediately relayed the order.

Su Mingjin turned her head and looked at Commander Man, who had been silent all along.

"Commander Man, what do you think?"

Commander Man picked up the enamel mug, blew away the floating tea leaves, and took a big gulp of hot tea, letting out a "ha" sound.

"President Su, I think these advisors are overcomplicating things." He slammed the jar down on the table with a thud. "Forget about vengeful spirits and logic. Let's get straight to the truth! The last time the magma dragon gathered, it was at that volcano. The volcano was destroyed, and the dragon was gone."

"Yes, Commander Man is right. Let's go straight for the points with the strongest energy reactions and launch a central attack! I refuse to believe that it can't survive against the absolute laws of physics!"

These blunt and direct remarks instantly silenced the meeting room.

Su Mingjin looked at the forest on the map, where strong electromagnetic interference had begun to appear, and some detection equipment in that area had started to malfunction.

She sighed, "We're here to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land, not to carry out extermination. If we blow the entire surface into shards of glass, Li Donglai, who's in charge of agriculture, will come after me and fight me to the death!"

She abruptly changed the subject, a resolute glint in her eyes.

"However, Commander Man is right. When facing the unknown, let's greet it in the way we are most familiar with first."

She looked at the Rocket Force personnel: "Let the Rocket Force use... neutron weapons! Three 50-kiloton bombs, neutron-enhanced configuration, detonated at high altitude."

Neutron weapons are a new generation of tactical weapons developed by Tokyo University based on the hydrogen bomb. They aim to maximize the lethality of neutron radiation while minimizing radioactive contamination and high-temperature impact effects.

More lethal than traditional nuclear weapons for creatures hiding in bunkers.

Most importantly, the radiation level of neutron weapons can drop to a safe level in a day at most, and the radiation index can return to normal in a month at most.

"Okay, please grant authorization!"

Once the authorization code is obtained, the command is issued, and the entire command system then operates efficiently.

All eyes were focused on the main screen.

On the screen, three dazzling trails streaked across the sky, precisely striking the target area.

A few seconds later, three small suns silently bloomed in the sky above the forest.

The blinding white light instantly engulfed everything, turning all the surveillance footage into a pure white expanse.

Inside the command post, you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stared intently at the rapidly updating data stream.

"Report! The magical radiation in the target area is rapidly decreasing!" An operator's voice trembled with excitement. "The energy coverage area is... not shrinking, but the energy intensity is decreasing significantly! Effective! Our weapons are effective!"

A suppressed cheer and a sigh of relief rang out in the command center.

Commander Man grinned, about to say, "I knew it," when the operator's next words made everyone's hearts jump into their throats again.

"Wait!" His voice suddenly rose. "Report! The energy readings have stopped dropping! They're... they're slowly rising! They're regrouping!"

On the screen, the curve representing the fluctuation of magical energy, after falling back to normal, stubbornly turned around and began to climb upwards in a slow but incredibly determined manner.

"Damn it!" Commander Man slammed his fist on the table. "How come this thing also has self-healing capabilities?"

The same was true for the previous magma dragon, and the same is true for the new magic now.

Once the magical particles gather to a certain energy level again, it will probably be time to unleash those forbidden spells.

"Didn't we destroy the core area of ​​magic?"

"I think so! The core area isn't the region we're attacking!"

"Should we use a hydrogen bomb? If we completely destroy it, the magic will probably be gone too!"

A staff officer from the logistics department muttered under his breath, "We can't keep bombing like this, can we? Forget about farming, the science department will definitely object later..."

The inability to farm is a very serious problem for humankind!
Su Mingjin's face was as cold as ice: "What are Professor Deng Dakang and those experts busy with?"

"Report: We are currently researching some special equipment in the Otherworld Energy Research Lab."

"Contact Professor Deng Dakang. I need a solution to eradicate that magic, not frequent gua sha!"

Su Mingjin recalled Deng Dakang's report, in which he described how, when he was hallucinating, he seemed to see attacks from spirits or similar entities.

Perhaps Deng Dakang can offer some help.

The order was quickly relayed...

Su Mingjin turned her gaze to the liaison officer again, her eyes filled with a chill.

"Let Gong Pengfei go to the Elf Prison again! We must find out what that damned Nightmare of Return to Nothingness is all about, and how to completely destroy it!"

"Yes!"
-
Unlike the tense and chaotic atmosphere at the front-line command post, the paranormal research room at the rear was quiet.

There were no deafening alarms here, only Deng Dakang and others gathered around a technological creation, their expressions solemn.

At the heart of the ceremony was not some strange object, but a huge emblem.

Almost everyone has seen this chapter and is very familiar with it!
"Can this thing really connect with human mental power? Hmm, it's about the amount of brainwaves... In this world, it can interfere with magical particles! And thus interfere with reality."

"The previous guest account talisman has already proven my conjecture."

"Since individual will can interfere with reality, then logically speaking, the will formed by the aggregation of countless individuals can also do so!"

He paused, then pointed to the badge: "This badge is a totem, an extension of our will, an extension of our heritage. What we need to do now is to awaken it."

As Deng Dakang finished speaking, Ge Dazhuang and the others, who were at the head of the group, opened their eyes and shouted in a deep voice, "The time has come, open!"

Several people simultaneously began reciting some ancient folk songs.

Then, the soldiers who had been called over, along with many staff members, sang in unison a song that could get the blood pumping for every student at Dongda University...

"It's done!"

Professor Deng pressed the power button, and then the badge began to change slightly.

A faint humming sound filled the room.

Everyone present, whether special advisors or researchers, was enveloped in a barely perceptible aura.

These halos rose slowly, like rivers flowing into the sea, and eventually merged into the huge emblem.

The deep red on the badge seemed to come alive, beginning to flow slowly, like a beating heart.

A grand, solemn, and inviolable aura emanated from above.

"It really worked?"

"It's orange!"

"Haha, as expected, wherever it is, it is our territory! Let's see who dares to lose it from now on."

"It's a success!" Deng Dakang clenched his fist excitedly. "The instrument is responding! It should really have some properties now."

This large badge was no longer an inanimate object.

It will be the coordinate of faith and the beacon of will.

Everyone was excited.

Looking at the badge, Deng Dakang squinted, wondering where to place it, when Wang Hu's voice rang out from outside.

"Professor Deng! Professor Deng, are you all better now?"

The door to the research room was suddenly pushed open, and Wang Hu rushed in, panting heavily, his face a little pale.

"President Su is looking for you! There's been an accident at the front! Here's what happened..." Wang Hu quickly recounted what had happened at the front.

Upon hearing this, the smiles on the faces of many special advisors, as well as Deng Dakang, froze instantly.

"Nightmare of Return to Nothingness! Forbidden magic? Its attack method is a vengeful spirit energy body?"

Deng Dakang pronounced the name slowly and deliberately, the ease in his eyes vanishing, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity and a deep-seated apprehension.

He remembered seeing glimpses of ghosts attacking humans before he was pulled into those guys' hallucinations!
I thought it was just my imagination, but I never expected to hear those things from the elf captives again.

I carefully recalled the horror of those things in my mind.

If it really is those things, then the magic of the Nightmare of Return is definitely more troublesome than President Su and the others thought.

Deng Dakang bid farewell to his special advisors and dialed Su Mingjin's number directly.

"President Su, it's me, Deng Dakang."

As soon as the call connected, he skipped all formalities and strode out, reporting in a deep voice, "Wang Hu told me about the situation at the front. If that 'Nightmare of Return' really does release energy attacks like vengeful spirits, as the elves said, I think things will be more troublesome than we imagined!"

“President Su, I have seen those things in my hallucinations.”

After exiting the building, Wang Hu opened the car door, and Deng Dakang ducked in and shouted to Wang Hu, "To the command center, as fast as you can!"

Wang Hu nodded.

The engine roared, and the car shot forward.

Su Mingjin's voice on the other end of the phone was completely calm, yet carried an undeniable sense of urgency: "Tell me in detail."

"Those things can't be called undead; they're more like a pure energy attack targeting living beings."

Deng Dakang gripped the handrail on the roof tightly, trying his best to keep his voice steady amidst the bumps and jolts.

"I've seen their attacks in my imagination. They have no physical defenses; once a person comes into direct contact with the energy, they die instantly! I remember that the bodies of humans attacked would freeze rapidly. It wasn't a traditional physical attack, but some kind of energy attack that I had never understood!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Su Mingjin's voice turned colder: "What about defensive measures? Can the masters' equipment defend against it?"

“It’s useful, but paper talismans are consumables; they can only defend, not attack!” Deng Dakang answered quickly. “The amulets and talismans drawn by Special Advisor Ge and the others can block some damage, but if those things really keep attacking us as the elves say, the frequency of impact is too high. It’s like trying to blast a piece of paper with a hose; it’s bound to get soaked sooner or later! Since we can’t damage those energy entities, how long can we withstand being passively attacked?”

"Even the most powerful protective jade amulets we make can't withstand the drain!"

“However, that elven prisoner did tell a truth.” Deng Dakang changed the subject, “Forbidden magic is a two-way street. Either the caster runs out of magic or collapses, or we all die on our side, otherwise it won’t stop. So I think there are two ways to break this deadlock.”

"explain."

"The first thing is to find the magic's weakness and destroy it. Otherwise, we can only rely on brute force to wear it down." Deng Dakang's tone was tinged with frustration. "Use the new equipment to fill in, and the rest of you go back and exhaust the enemy's magic energy. Except for essential personnel, everyone else should evacuate as soon as possible, because if we don't, I estimate that by the time the magic stops, there won't be many of our frontline soldiers left."

Upon hearing this, Wang Hu, who was driving, tensed up, gritted his teeth, and pressed the accelerator even harder.

Su Mingjin's voice came through the receiver: "What's the second method?"

"Same as before, find the magic array's core!" Deng Dakang's eyes flashed with a sharp light. "Every large-scale spell must have a core. As long as we can find and destroy this core, the entire 'Nightmare of Return' should disintegrate like a kite with a broken string!"

"Where is the key point of the formation?"

“That’s the most troublesome part.” Deng Dakang rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. “President Su, why do you think the elves spread their forces so far apart? And why do they disperse their slaughter of the sacrifices?”

"Disrupt us?"

"Yes, I think they're acting! They're deliberately stalling for time! Drawing all our attention to those irrelevant points."

"Therefore, I deduce that all the suspicious locations we discovered earlier were just smokescreens they put out to protect the real magic array eye."

Where is the real thing?

“Two possibilities.” Deng Dakang held up two fingers, his thoughts becoming incredibly clear through rapid analysis. “First, the core of the formation isn’t on the front lines at all, but deep behind the Elven territory, heavily guarded. They can cast spells from a distance, and we know too little about this world; trying to get there would be as difficult as climbing to the heavens.”

“The second possibility…is even more insidious.” He paused, as if organizing his thoughts.

"Don't show off!"

"The core of the magic array is right on the battlefield, possibly right under our noses!" Deng Dakang said, emphasizing each word. "After that spell was cast, magical energy was rapidly gathering in the forest for hundreds of kilometers, which in itself was the best cover. I speculate that the real core of the magic array is very close to the caster's center, but it has been hidden in some more ingenious way."

"It could be a tree, a stone, or even... the land beneath our feet."

Wang Hu slammed on the brakes, the tires screeching against the ground, and the car came to a steady stop in front of the command center.

Deng Dakang pushed open the car door and got out, saying without turning his head, "The car's here, I'll go in first!"

He hurried towards the gate of the command center.

Wang Hu quickly parked the car and jogged after him. Seeing that Professor Deng Dakang's expression was relatively calm, he felt a little relieved.

"Xiao Wang," Deng Dakang said without looking at him, but his mouth didn't stop, "If your running posture were in the department, you'd be the first to have your bonus docked. An unsteady runner like that will make patients anxious!"

Wang Hu was taken aback by what he was said, and then awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

Before the words were even finished, the door to the command center opened from the inside.

A tense atmosphere, a mixture of gunpowder smoke, warm air, sweat, and heat dissipation from electronic devices, rushed towards us.

Su Mingjin, Brigade Commander Man, and dozens of senior officers and intelligence analysts all focused their attention on Deng Dakang instantly.

"President Su, I thought of another problem on the way here." Deng Dakang got straight to the point without any preamble.

"Please say!"

"After our Weapon of Truth cleansed the area, how different is the decay curve of magical energy compared to the data from the last Lava Dragon incident?"

Su Mingjin immediately gestured: "Pull it out!"

The staff officer typed rapidly on the keyboard, and two windows immediately appeared on the huge electronic screen, with two curves representing energy fluctuations appearing side by side.

One is historical data, which shows a sharp drop followed by a gradual leveling off; the other is current real-time data, which is also decreasing, but at a significantly slower pace.

Moreover, it is stubbornly struggling at a relatively high level, attempting to recover.

"Just like before, it's self-repairing, or rather, drawing energy from some source we don't know." Deng Dakang stared at the screen, his eyes sharp, and asked, "Were we using a neutron weapon just now?"

"Correct!"

He walked to the screen and pointed to the scorched earth center of the map formed by the explosion of three nuclear bombs: "General Su, Brigade Commander Man, you may both be blinded by your own involvement."

Everyone’s heart is raised.

"How about one more?" Deng Dakang's tone was calm, but his words seemed to lower the temperature in the command room. "A 50-kiloton yield is enough. Perform a physical disinfection on this center point. Deploy the hydrogen bomb directly!!"

"No way!" An officer in charge of logistics planning immediately stepped forward. "Professor Deng, this land is top-quality fertile soil! If another round is fired, the continuous pollution from elements such as cesium-137 will take at least several decades to dissipate. We can forget about farming in the short term!"

Deng Dakang asked, "Should we send someone over? It's over a hundred kilometers away, which is extremely dangerous."

"No way!" Brigade Commander Man slammed his hand on the table, making the cups vibrate. He glared at them and said in a loud voice, "We can't let so many soldiers take such a risk."

He turned to Su Mingjin, his attitude resolute: "President Su, I agree with Professor Deng's plan to set off fireworks! No hesitation, go for it! Damn it, it's just a broken forest, right? Let's just plow it up for hundreds of miles around! At worst, we won't grow crops on this land anymore, we'll grow mushrooms instead! Nuclear-radiated mushrooms, maybe they're even a specialty of another world, they'll be more profitable!"

"Yes, President Su, let's bomb it! If we lose the land but lose the people, we lose both!"

"Go ahead and blast it, President Su!"

Inside the command center, a group of officers made their statements, their expressions menacing.

Su Mingjin looked at that area on the map and gently stroked it with her fingers.

Before she could speak, she suddenly heard an observer with a drone exclaim in surprise.

"Report! Ground anomaly detected in the reconnaissance area of ​​Drone No. 3! The Elf... the Elf is under attack!"

The observer's exclamation was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the tension that had just begun to build in the command center.

"Switch the camera here!" Su Mingjin's voice was uttered without the slightest hesitation.

On the main screen, the heated debate has been replaced by a lush, primeval forest. A drone is viewing the scene from above, its camera steady and clear.

In the scene, a dozen agile elves dart through the forest, their faces displaying an expression rarely seen in humans—fear.

Behind them, several translucent gray-blue figures floated like ghosts, weaving through the giant trees and ignoring any physical obstacles.

"What is this thing? An energy-based undead?"

"A staff officer asked instinctively."

Before the words were even finished, a figure suddenly accelerated and effortlessly caught up with a female elf who was lagging behind.

The female elf drew her bow, the arrowhead flashing with light, and then struck the strange energy undead.

The arrow struck the energy-based undead and passed right through its body.

Surprisingly, the energy undead did not die.

The strange, undead energy body, with its large hole, merged into the elf's body as if by a gust of wind.

The creature that had been trying to escape came to an abrupt halt, its body stiffening and twitching for a moment before collapsing straight forward, crashing onto the thick layer of fallen leaves, and falling silent once more.

The whole process was so fast it was breathtaking.

"Hey, switch to thermal imaging!" Deng Dakang shouted.

The operator's fingers flew across the screen, switching between different screens in an instant.

The bright red humanoid dot of light, which originally represented life, rapidly dimmed in color after the gray-blue figure passed through, changing from red to yellow, then to blue, and finally turning into complete blackness indistinguishable from the surrounding environment.

"The vital signs signal was instantly wiped out." The technician's voice trembled slightly. "Body temperature dropped below zero in 0.3 seconds. What the hell kind of attack is this?"

The command center was deathly silent, with only the hum of the equipment running.

Everyone felt that this thing was eerie!

"Tracking those things! Watching their attack patterns."

The drone footage faithfully captured the silent massacre below.

Whether it's an elf or an alien antelope on the road, as long as it's touched by that gray-blue figure, its thermal imaging signal will instantly go out, turning it into a cold corpse.

At the same time, those strange energy entities often generate unimaginably low temperatures after attacking people.

The camera captures dynamics in extremely low temperature environments.

"Zoom in! Let me see that thing's face clearly!" Commander Man roared, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

The drone's camera quickly zoomed down, focusing on a translucent monster that was temporarily resting on a thick tree branch.

When the image was zoomed in to the extreme, everyone could see what it looked like.

It was a tall, thin face, but twisted and ferocious. The features of the face vaguely showed the beauty of an elf, and the long, pointed ears were further proof of its race.

If they had seen Priestess Tiaret, they would know that it was the elven priestess Tiaret.

He died because his magical consciousness was incomplete, turning him into a monster that only knew how to kill!

"Was it an elf..." Deng Dakang murmured to himself, a flash of realization crossing his eyes. "No, it should be said that thing was an elf in its previous life! The price of forbidden magic? She turned herself into a vengeful spirit that harbors extreme hatred for all living beings?"

"Bullshit vengeful spirit!" an advisor couldn't help but interject. "This thing should be some kind of energy entity, I feel it's an energy weapon, we humans just don't know it! Look at the tree branch it's standing on!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze turned to the details of the scene. They saw that the tree branch that the vengeful spirit had used to leap was actually trembling slightly because of the spirit's movements.

"Does it have weight? Why does the tree tremble when it jumps?"

"It stopped. Damn, it can actually bend tree branches. How can an energy body bend tree branches? Does it really have weight?"

Commander Man's eyes widened: "What the hell is this ghost? Can a ghost break tree branches?"

As if sensing the gaze peering from high above, the vengeful spirit that resembled the priestess Tiara suddenly raised its head, its empty and venomous gaze precisely locking onto the drone.

"Oh no! It's spotted us! It's..."

Before the observer could finish his warning, the vengeful spirit suddenly kicked off the tree branch with both legs, and its entire body transformed into a gray-blue afterimage, shooting straight into the sky in a posture that completely defied aerodynamics!
In the drone's viewfinder, that ferocious face was instantly zoomed in to its maximum size, filling the entire screen.

"boom!"

A dull thud was transmitted back via audio, followed by a rapid flipping of the screen and a violent distortion and flickering of the signal, which eventually turned into a blinding snowflake.

"Unit 3 has lost contact! It was... it was physically destroyed!"

"Strange, the impact generated strong electromagnetic interference!"

"Damn it, how can it jump that high from 1,500 meters? That's so damn unscientific!"

The entire command center was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.

"Play back!" Su Mingjin's voice broke the deathly silence, chillingly calm. "Play the last three seconds of footage, frame by frame!"

The image is reversed and slowed down.

Everyone could clearly see that, just before the vengeful spirit collided with the drone, the energy muscle lines on its translucent arm bulged out strangely.

"It's not just a simple energy entity." Deng Dakang stared at the frozen image and said, enunciating each word clearly, "It can actually interfere physically? Its power is immense! It switches back and forth between energy and physical attacks?"

He turned his head to look at Su Mingjin and the ashen-faced Brigade Commander Man, and slowly uttered a sentence.

"Now, we may need to reconsider how many hydrogen bombs to use for groundbreaking."

"Just use hydrogen bombs to wipe out the enemy! Our equipment can defend against low-level magic attacks, but those things can also launch physical attacks, and our soldiers can't withstand that."

Given the opponent's bizarre, physics-defying power to leap thousands of meters high, the human body simply couldn't withstand the impact.

Just as everyone was discussing how to use a hydrogen bomb to wipe out the ground, a hesitant voice suddenly rang out.

“Report…Report!”

Everyone looked over and saw that it was Wang Hu, who was following Deng Dakang.

"Comrade Wang Hu, what's the matter?"

"Um, report, I think I know what this thing is!"

(End of this chapter)