Above The Sky
Chapter 623 - 623 592 Sweeping Through the Labyrinth 13

623: Chapter 592: Sweeping Through the Labyrinth (1/3) 623: Chapter 592: Sweeping Through the Labyrinth (1/3) After a brief rest, the Huai Guang Rescue Team once again started heading towards the exit under Ian’s guidance.

The choices Ian made weren’t all absolutely safe, but at least they offered a path that led to life amidst the many crossroads of death — however, now, with the power of the Deceased Monarch, all choices that were once pale red or deep crimson had turned into unremarkable white.

Safe.

That was the only possibility.

Regarding this, Ian had only one thought.

——”Foresight View” really does have its limitations.

“Because I’ve grown stronger, I can no longer see many troubles…

Both being stronger and weaker can distort the information from Foresight View.”

“If I were to reach the Fifth Energy Level in the future, then the things in this world that I can predict clearly would probably be limited to those calamities that destroy the world.”

That being said, Foresight View still solved many small issues that might have been missed, but this was only likely to happen when Ian was lax; once he became serious, Foresight View could not predict clearly.

Contemplating in his mind, while in reality, the Ghost Valley Knight swung his black longsword, which was as integral to him as his own armor, charging forward with Redemption Light and Red Blade.

The three of them swept everything before them, cutting through the dense Phantom Army like slicing through vegetables, clearing them away cleanly.

With the Ghost Valley Knight at the lead, the roads along the way turned into a broad layer of ice, where the cold silence of death remained lingering for a long time, while at the edge of the paths lay either the fog from the shattered Phantasms or the frozen corpses of the Magical Beasts from around the world.

The Ice Armor Ghost Beasts from Northern Yanjiang, a major Overlord of the area with extreme cold resistance, stood five meters tall.

Their modified bodies were as strong as steel and iron, and their arms bore ice blades filled with deadly poison, which could wreak havoc in South Ridge if left unchecked.

But Ian forcibly took its life with ice, then pierced through the heart with a thrust, shattering the warmth of the behemoth’s hot blood as it froze in place.

And from the creatures around Far Sword Port, the special Magical Beast, the Venom Vine Monster, was nearly immune to physical attacks.

Its supple yet tough body could hardly be cut by sharp blades, and its sticky, viscous poison almost impossible to freeze, making the usual method of freezing and then smashing inefficient.

But Ian didn’t bother to think of how to deal with its unique features, instead summoning his full strength and ‘stomping’ on the vine creature.

Immediately, a piercing howl erupted from within the vine monster as the fluids in its supple body burst out from its pores like water being wrung from a towel due to the pressure, the over ten-meter-long body crushed into the ground by Ian’s stomp, turning from a twisted aggregation of vines on the ground into a sea anemone.

A shriveled sea anemone at that.

With the power of the Deceased Monarch, Ian didn’t need to reveal his skills, and could simply trample over everything with his strength.

Passing one choice gateway after another, crushing one formidable enemy after another, they forged a path to the end of the Subspace Labyrinth.

Yes, what appeared before Ian and the Huai Guang Rescue Team was nothing more than a group of Phantasms armed with another Deceased Monarch’s power, artificially enhanced with technology that twisted their nature and abilities.

A group of sluggish puppets.

As long as they weren’t completely surrounded by thousands of Phantom Legions, Ian believed that with the core combat power of Glorious Sword Redemption Light and Red Blade, they could completely break through this seemingly tough checkpoint.

Of course, there might be danger, there might be casualties…

but under Yingguang’s unique Sublimation Skills, which could manipulate Vitality and heal wounds, most minor injuries would be quickly healed, and severe ones could be expedited to recovery without affecting movement by paying the price of future lifespan.

Not to mention, with the power of the Deceased Monarch, Ian was now invincible within this Subspace Labyrinth.

The original design of the Entangling Void Armor was quite smooth and rounded, suitable for aerial maneuvers, but now, under the augmentation of the Nether armor from the Deceased Monarch, it started to become angular, spreading bluish light and crimson blood patterns across its surface, even condensing layers of blood ice out of thin air.

Even the Heavy Abyss Iron Sword in his hand was covered with a layer of deathly ice that could take away all life, even the power of the Lost Souls.

Its surface was tangled with blue and white mist, twisting the refracted light.

And it wasn’t just that.

After leaping into yet another gateway, in a place like a miniature jungle, the Ghost Valley Knight faced a gigantic tiger-like Magical Beast more than six meters tall.

It was the second Power Level form of the Sharp Claw Tiger, which had been modified in Fiery Flame Land, with its claws replaced by alloy blades, and muscle blocks well-defined and developed on the surface of its body, looking like armor.

This Alloy Armor Tiger was nearly impervious to sword and spear, with its only weakness being its spinal area on the back.

But its large size and agile movements made it difficult for anyone to get around to its back.

The difficulty level of dealing with it surpassed any second Power Level Phantasm or Exobeast Ian had encountered in the entire Subspace Labyrinth, and it could bring considerable trouble to the entire team, with casualties not out of the question.

Even the past Ian could only rely on the defense of the Rock Cast Knight to withstand its attacks before counterattacking to create an opening for a decisive strike.

But with the Force of the Departed Sovereign, Ian just needed to perform a single quick movement.

His body, along with the armor on his surface, turned to a dark grey in the blink of an eye, and a fabric-like fine pattern emerged on his surface, spreading over his entire body.

Then, he seemingly disappeared slowly, but actually at a rapid pace, becoming a blurry shadow.

Ian, having slipped into his phantom form, easily evaded the tiger’s powerful strike that crushed the ground and snapped the surrounding trees, arriving at its back.

Finally, he returned to his original form, re-entering the physical world.

With one slash, the once sturdy flesh and armored clothing that had shriveled and withered, the tiger’s head fell to the ground.

One of the abilities of the Deceased Monarch’s ‘Phantom’…

allowed Ian to pass through most barriers of force, even the flesh and blood of humans.

Each time he passed through a flesh body, he could also steal some of the target’s vitality, slowing down their reaction speed and dulling their thoughts.

However, there were limitations.

If the target possessed a fire attribute or their Origin Quality was extremely high, passing through them wouldn’t allow for the stealing of vitality.

At most, the Origin Qualities would cancel each other out, leading to a drain on both sides.

Through battles along the way, Ian became familiar with the abilities of the Dead Monarch, and now he had identified a total of four.

The ‘Youming Armor’ that could block a part of the energy from all attacks.

The ‘Phantom’ that allowed one to transform into a nihility form and move quickly, plundering the vitality of the weaker ones.

The ‘Silent Cold Curse’ that could inflict a corrosive curse through touch, rapidly destroying the material form of the enemy and decaying their life for one’s own use.

And finally, the strongest ability—’Bygone Dead Monarch’—which allowed for an unlimited increase in Origin Quality Spiritual Energy and all basic attributes proportional to the number of lost souls within the body.

[Bygone Dead Monarch]

[Your body has merged with some special kind of Spirit Quality Aggregate.

It will continuously convert the power from the Domain of Void and Subspace into pure essence of Origin Quality and Spiritual Energy, strengthening the very nature of your life.]

[You will gain ‘Great Swarm Body’ and ‘Youming Essence’.

The more Spirit Quality Aggregates that reside within you, the stronger your power will be.

Furthermore, you will automatically become the host for all souls nearby, and your body will be considered the best nurturing ground for them.]

Even the Silver Chip gave this ability a high rating—normally it would not display any abilities, let alone provide a detailed description.

There was an interesting point.

Compared to other heritages and Spirit Energy that utilized the lives of others to enhance oneself, the unique aspect of this Deceased Monarch’s inheritance was that it had no skills that exploited the resident lost souls within the body.

On the contrary.

The essence of the Deceased Monarch was fundamentally a ‘carapace’ to protect these lost souls.

Moreover, those immensely powerful forces of the Monarch were essentially lent by the lost souls to the Monarch; if the lost souls were unwilling to serve the Monarch, then the Monarch would be devoid of any power.

Even the ability to summon phantasms of the lost souls using the Domain of Void and Subspace would be impossible.

It was hard to imagine that this inheritance, which at first glance seemed brutally ruthless and even anti-human…

was actually created just to protect the lost souls.

“Could it really be…

Could this be the true purpose of the Duke of Solin?”

Upon realizing this, Ian’s brows were slightly furrowed; he recalled various research carried out by the Duke of Solin’s side.

Artificial Souls…

the Deceased Monarch’s Inheritance…

the technology by collaborating with the Spirit Wisdom Institute and Fiery Flame Land, ‘River of Death’, and ‘Savior’…

Could it be…

that this was the Duke of Solin’s true intention?

“They are contemplating a brand new social structure?

One person as a nation, their own body as the people…”

Ian wasn’t entirely sure about this.

But to be honest, if it were true, it would mean that both the Duke of Solin and Inega II had quite a bizarre and almost unimaginable train of thought.

However, now was not the time to consider this.

Because, while on his way here wreaking havoc, Ian had already led the Huai Guang Rescue Team to the exit.

It was a vast and empty hall with The Gate that had not been completely sealed.

The hall was very narrow, with hardly any space for dodging or maneuvering.

Upon arrival, the more sensitive Knights instantly became tense, aware that if a few strong Phantasms began a surprise attack as soon as they reached the diorama, even they, as well-trained as they were, would pay a very heavy price.

The preparations they had made earlier were of limited use.

Oddly enough, there were no Phantasms or guards here—the door to the Subspace Labyrinth was wide open, and the Deceased Monarch had left no forces behind.

Thus, upon arrival, Ian knew one thing.

It was time to part ways.