Chapter 019: Contraction

Another more apt comparison is that Du Fan, Naixiu, and the other twelve were like warriors in a war involving tens of millions of people, brimming with murderous intent! Yet these twelve were submerged in a sea of people. Standing among millions, they felt as if they were facing an army of countless foes—a profound sense of powerlessness and despair!

When the Ghost King’s war domain was activated, its coverage area was astonishingly vast! For example, Moses’ gravity space domain could only cover a radius of fifty meters, Naixiu’s domain allowed instant, unobstructed attacks on opponents, while Du Fan’s domain could only provide passive protection. The Ghost King’s domain clearly surpassed those of the others in terms of coverage and functionality!

There were also differences between domains! Once the Ghost King’s war domain took effect, Du Fan and the others could clearly feel their combat strength and willpower decline. Meanwhile, the Ghost King himself was enveloped in blazing flames of battle! A war domain could not only weaken the opponent’s strength but also enhance its own!

Its coverage area was an astonishing 500 meters! Truly worthy of the name “war domain”! Used on the battlefield, such a domain skill could rival an entire army! It was obvious that the Ghost King originated from the terrifying wars that occurred during that divine battle—ghosts born from those who died on the battlefield, mostly passionate soldiers!

These ghosts, in their past lives, were not only numerous in quantity but also of exceptional quality, far surpassing ordinary warriors! For instance, those who split off from the Ghost King just now were all god-tier experts! With such numbers and quality, the Ghost King’s domain was an extremely powerful war domain! In battles between domain masters, the strength of their domains played a decisive role!

The fighting determination of hundreds of millions of ghosts converged into the Ghost King’s war domain! The domain appeared in red and black colors—typical colors of hell. Red represented passion, while black symbolized death!

The domain of the Ghost King had been unleashed, and Du Fan and the others were immediately engulfed in it. However, the Ghost King’s war domain wasn’t that extreme—within this domain, the opponent’s strength was greatly reduced while one’s own strength increased significantly. Unlike some other domains, once inside, there was no other way but to fight back with another domain. Of course, this applied to battles below the divine level; domains had no effect on gods.

“Give me all your arrows,” Du Fan said softly. “I’ll infuse them with light combat energy before shooting at the Ghost King.”

Hearing this, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Purple each took out some arrows from their storage rings and handed them to Du Fan. Seeing the piles of arrows, Du Fan smiled wryly. “I’ll infuse as much as I can. Anything left over will have to be returned to you,” he said.

When those elite elf archers heard that Du Fan intended to infuse the arrows with light combat energy, they brought out large quantities of arrows. Infusing combat energy or magic into weapons was actually a very laborious task. If those weapons were like the Holy Radiance Staff or the Ice Snake’s scales, which could store energy, it would be easier. But these arrows required the light combat energy to be forcibly sealed inside them. In doing so, only a small portion of the energy was infused, while most was used to seal the energy itself.

Holding the Holy Radiance Staff in one hand and continuously infusing the arrows with light combat energy in the other, Du Fan relied on the abundant energy stored in the staff to sustain his efforts. The arrows infused with light combat energy passed from Du Fan to Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Purple.

Fortunately, all of Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Purple’s arrows were elf arrows of the same type; otherwise, Du Fan would have had to identify each person’s arrows separately before infusing them with light combat energy, adding a lot of extra work.

With the arrows infused with light combat energy in hand, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Purple quickly drew their bows and shot! Five arrows glowing with white light shot toward the Ghost King with a sharp whooshing sound!

Soon, the five arrows infused with light combat energy pierced through the Ghost King’s body. The moment the arrows struck him, the Ghost King transformed his body into a ghostly state—a state of illusory energy. As a result, the five arrows passed through. Just as the Ghost King prepared to mock them, excruciating pain suddenly erupted from the spots where the arrows had pierced him! It felt as though someone had placed scorching irons inside his body!

The archery skills of a Saint-class archer were difficult for the Ghost King to dodge. For the Ghost King, transforming his body into a void state was the best solution. However, his already low sensitivity became even worse after transforming into a void-like state, making his movements even less agile.

“It really hurts!” the Ghost King cried out as his body flickered before quickly returning to its normal state. It seemed as if nothing had happened at all. With a mere movement, the Ghost King reverted to his solid form and soared into the air, wielding his Sword of War and charging rapidly toward Du Fan!

“Basha, let’s go fight the Ghost King!” Moses shouted.

Du Fan was channeling divine light energy. The other archers and mages like Naixiu were not good at close combat. Only Moses and Basha were there to stop the Ghost King.

“Wait a moment,” Du Fan said quickly, reciting a few spells swiftly. He cast several spells on Moses and Basha—wind-based spells like Lightness and Flight, as well as spells of protection and prayer under the light.

Moses and Basha, now blessed with these spells, suddenly felt their bodies become lighter. Their strength, suppressed by the War Domain, seemed to recover somewhat.

Both of them roared and rushed in the direction the Ghost King was coming from. As they got closer, they both took to the air simultaneously, swinging their sword and axe at the Ghost King.

Those at the Saint class and above could already fly using their divine powers. With Du Fan’s wind spells added, Moses and Basha felt their bodies even lighter.

Moses’s greatsword had been destroyed, so he was still using Du Fan’s Frostfall Snow. Frostfall Snow was also a divine weapon and was no match for the Sword of War.

Basha’s axe, on the other hand, was a masterpiece created by a dwarf master—a true divine weapon. It had even managed to pierce the golden dragon Daruxi’s scales, proving its exceptional quality.

Seeing Moses and Basha attacking from above, the Ghost King grinned. He raised his Sword of War to his chest and swung twice quickly—one strike at Frostfall Snow and another at Basha’s axe.

A tremendous pressure washed over Moses and Basha, as if a massive mountain had crashed onto their weapons. Along with that force was a fierce killing intent.

That murderous aura directly pierced through Moses and Basa’s defenses, reaching straight to the core of their hearts! A wave of tremors suddenly arose in their hearts! It was as if thousands of armies were shouting battle cries as they charged at them, with banners covering the sky fluttering in the air! Bloodied soldiers and generals on horseback, all brimming with murderous intent, rushing toward them! That chaotic murderous aura condensed into a tangible force that penetrated deep into their hearts! The Ghost King’s two slashes sent Moses and Basa crashing to the ground! Despite their strong constitutions, they weren’t badly hurt by the fall and quickly got back up, charging at the Ghost King once again! Just as Moses and Basa fell, Naixiu joined in shooting at the Ghost King! “Keep shooting as long as I can keep up,” Du Fan said. “But it seems that arrows infused with Light Dou Qi don’t have much effect on the Ghost King,” Naixiu remarked. “Have you forgotten how you defeated Moses back then?” Du Fan suddenly showed a long-absent holy-grade smile. Quantitative changes can lead to qualitative changes. Although a few arrows infused with Light Dou Qi posed little harm to the current Ghost King, as more and more arrows struck him, the Light Dou Qi accumulated in large quantities, allowing its full effect to manifest! Hearing Du Fan’s words, Naixiu fell silent and focused intently on the Ghost King. As soon as Du Fan infused the arrows with Light Dou Qi, she would shoot them swiftly. Arrow after arrow flew at the Ghost King, but he no longer took on a phantom form. Instead, he used his war sword to deflect the arrows or dodged when possible. Yet, the arrows fired by a holy-grade archer were not easy to dodge—almost one in three arrows struck the Ghost King! Just as Moses and Basa got back up to attack again, an arrow infused with Light Dou Qi pierced into the Ghost King’s body. The Ghost King roared loudly; whenever hit by an arrow, thick black smoke would emerge from his body. His form then became unstable, and the arrow would fall to the ground weakly, though all the Light Dou Qi from the arrow had been depleted.

As the arrows fell, the Ghost King suddenly roared loudly! The war domain covering 500 meters began to shrink rapidly! In just a moment, its range had been reduced to 100 meters! As the war domain shrank, Moses and Bashah, who were still rushing toward the Ghost King, were shocked to find that their strength was now only one-fourth of normal! Earlier, although their strength had been suppressed, they still retained over 70% of their usual power; now, however, they could only exert less than 30% of it! On the contrary, driven by the war domain, the Ghost King’s aura grew even more intense! Under the red and black hues, the Ghost King appeared like a living war god, exuding supreme authority! Holding the Sword of War high in the air, within that 100-meter range, the Ghost King seemed to be the ruler of this war, with the entire course of the battle dictated by his will!