Chapter 6: Three Suns

The people on Moon 412 did realize that reinforcements seemed to be arriving behind them, but they were already in a desperate situation and had no time to pay attention. It wasn’t until Nio and his group rushed up that they realized it was just these few people who had blazed a path of fire.
What to say? Ask for help? Nio didn’t give them that chance.
Ahh… Ever since he became Simon, the Wind Walker, he had become extremely good at howling and roaring, almost addicted to venting all the pent-up frustration from the past 19 years. This time it was a Blood Rage Roar—a skill that didn’t conflict with Level 9 Guardian Eric’s Advanced Survival Roar. Instead, it added extra life points through blood energy. Soon, a faint red glow covered everyone’s bodies. Spellcaster Nim and ArcherHiller even felt the pain from their wounds lessen slightly. It wasn’t true healing, just a dulling of pain. For casting classes that required concentration, this effect was naturally very beneficial.
Immediately afterward, Nio launched a three-phase charge along an inverted triangular route, his limbs flailing as usual. Many trees in the area had already fallen, creating a large open space and battlefield filled with monsters. Yet, thanks to the force of his skills, Nio pushed the monsters back like waves receding. Of course, with Nio’s Swordsmen skills and his Toothed Blade, those monsters had no chance. The red glow, like a flickering blood flag, sliced through everything in its path. With one charge, the spellcasters, archers, and berserkers were temporarily freed from the monster siege.
Under such circumstances, the soldiers brought by Nio naturally stepped in to protect the spellcasters and archers in the middle. Everyone knew that only by freeing them from their own struggles could their terrifying killing power be unleashed.
Ahhhh… Nio roared loudly, with a thin layer of silver light on his body and a blazing red glow. Bang! Bang! Bang! A blood-red aura spread out from him. Monsters affected by this aura, as long as they were made of flesh, turned red. Some, caught off guard, immediately began spewing blood, which turned into blood mist, covering a large area in a faint red haze.
“Boiling Blood Body!? Kales’ Blood Knight?” Spellcaster Nim’s eyes almost popped out.
Ahhhh… Nio kept roaring. The blood mist condensed into three separate magic arrays at his feet, waist, and neck, before merging into one, forming rings of bright red light flowing downward from his feet.
“Blood Siphon Aura!? Blood Berserker?” Nim was even more shocked this time. Kales’ Blood Berserkers used this skill to fight head-on, attacking to restore health—already extremely abnormal. But nothing could be more extreme than what was happening now: high attack, high defense, blood siphoning, and a group skill—truly terrifyingly abnormal.
Just then, a beam of poisonous green light suddenly shot out from the crowd of monsters deep in the jungle, aiming straight at Nio.
“Damn it, after all this show, you finally show up!” Nio, who had been prepared, calmly raised his shield glowing with blood light.

Boom! When the energy of the ray came into contact with blood energy, a fierce clash of energies ensued. Amidst successive explosions, countless poisonous green and blood-red lights surged violently, creating energy waves that swept through the surroundings like hurricanes.
“The Demon Blood Barrier of the Demon Blood Guards?” Nim felt like going crazy! Was this even human? No—should it be said, did this guy even have any weaknesses? He had legendary resistance to physical attacks and all forms of magic! Damn it! To defeat such an opponent, one needed to overwhelm them in level terms—meaning if he was level 5, you had to be level 10 or higher to deal effective damage!
“Flashbangs! Close your eyes!” Having withstood a deadly ray, Neo roared loudly. His shout was as loud as thunder, audible even hundreds of meters away.
Amidst the glow of magic and flames, a metal cylinder spun rapidly as it flew toward the source of the deadly ray.
Pfft! The sound of the light-ray explosion was like a weak fart, yet loud enough for everyone present to hear. Soon after, a mass of darkness contracted in mid-air before collapsing. Then, an extremely bright spot began to expand, growing 50,000 times larger in less than a second. It was as if the brightest sun on a summer noon had suddenly appeared, its brightness a thousand times that of normal.
At that moment, everyone was blind—or at least acted as if they were. In that blinding white light that seemed to engulf everything, other colors were nothing but tiny boats facing a hundred-meter-high tsunami, vanishing in an instant. That light made countless monsters wail in agony. What followed was truly terrifying—the energy wave formed by the orange-hued sunfire spread in the shape of an expanding sphere.
Seeing its devastating power, Neo unleashed all his abilities and roared, “Will Barrier!”
It was as if he were declaring his faith to the heavens and earth. As this protective skill activated, the light around Neo became unprecedentedly intense. He appeared like a mountain, sinking deep into the ground.
Boom… The wave of energy shock spread rapidly, reaching 300 meters from the core in an instant. Neo stood firm like a thick wall of light, his body bent forward and backward as the energy pushed him backward. Yet he kept roaring and holding his ground. Around him formed a conical zone devoid of light, with Nim andHiller inside it. Those in the light zone were simply blown away. The dark monsters were reduced to ashes under that purifying flame, burning away. The sky was filled with glowing white flames and floating embers. Those few seconds of brilliance were like the clearest night, with the starry sky above flickering as if burning.
Even though the light-ray explosions were so powerful, there were still those who couldn’t die. First was the guy Neo had targeted—whether from the Devil clan or the Demon faction—who, despite being turned into a burnt corpse, continued to move around, cursing loudly as he fled. Neo truly admired him from the bottom of his heart. “Damn, that was right at the center of the explosion, and it didn’t kill you! How can I not admire that?”

The other one is that corpse puppet—half of its body was charred. Just looking at that half made it seem like it had stood in a smelting furnace for 30 seconds. Still, it kept swinging its giant hammer to harass Eric. Unprepared for the power of the light lightning, Eric struggled desperately, only to be taken advantage of by the corpse puppet, putting him in an even worse situation.

“Bloodthirst mode for 5 minutes! Whether we can break through depends on this moment! You can open your eyes now!” With Neo’s another roar, everyone felt as if they’d been injected with a potent potion of fury. At that moment, they had no other thoughts except to boost their combat power. Their eyes turned red, and the blood on their bodies wasn’t just burning but gushing out like flames blown by a powerful fan, forming upward beams of light.

Once Bloodthirst mode activated, all abilities increased by 30%, whether it was attack speed or strength. Instantly, Neo’s side was as if it had three more Level 10 Temple Warriors added to it. The remaining puppet-like monsters, which were less affected by the light lightning, were unlucky—some were reduced to rubble, others chopped into pieces. Even those that broke apart were trampled mercilessly.

After activating Bloodthirst mode, Neo rushed at the corpse puppet, slamming into the ground. His 700-pound body shot upward like a cannonball. His serrated blade sliced through abdomens and chests, cutting throats and faces. A bright red glow emerged from the top of the corpse puppet’s head, swirling in an arc through the air before falling along with its owner. Boom! Neo landed, creating a 2-meter-wide crater in the ground.

Charge! After delivering a fierce blow to the corpse puppet, Neo used his combat skill again—angled charge—to bypass the blocking puppet. With blades flashing and shield shadows like mountains, he carved a path through the chaos, heading straight toward Shadow Killer Vincent and support mage Maximus.

There was nothing left to say. Neo led the way, with Shadow Killer carrying the support mage behind him. As soon as the cooldown for his charge skill ended, he used it immediately. Even with someone on his back, Manson could definitely keep up with Neo.

Relying on Bloodthirst mode, the group also fought fiercely. If one didn’t know the full story, seeing them wreaking havoc among those monsters might make one think victory was already in Neo’s hands.

The corpse puppet survived Neo’s brutal slash, but it clearly suffered greatly. Apparently injured in the brain, it stopped fighting Eric head-on and instead charged wildly, smashing and kicking anything in its path. A foul, dark green, viscous liquid sprayed out from its wounds, emitting a hissing corrosive sound upon contact with the ground. Even Eric’s armor was covered in scorched pits from the splashed corrosive fluid. Interestingly, in this situation, the dead trees in the spider bushes became giant thorns, continuously inflicting damage on the corpse puppet, tearing away patches of flesh. The hissing sound of corrosion, combined with the tearing of flesh and the burning backdrop, made the scene especially brutal and terrifying.

However, Neo and his group didn’t have time to savor this scene. Not only the warriors but also the members of Moon 412 were relying on various buffs to hold their ground. And Maximus, the main source of sustained combat power, had been sabotaged from the start, preventing him from playing any role. It was already quite remarkable that Eric and the others could fight their way through without leadership.

Looking at the enemies again, a single light blast isn’t enough to win the battle. This kind of widespread, indiscriminate energy attack is more effective against minor enemies or those made of dark flesh, but it only damages the surface of puppet-like creatures. After all, they never care whether their appearance is pleasing or not; once their outer shell is stripped away, they just continue as usual—chasing and killing without hesitation.

Moreover, the dead trees in the Spider Jungle helped the monsters a lot by blocking the deadly light waves and quickly neutralizing their spreading power. Although many monsters were swept away like grass under Neo’s high-speed charging skills and his relentless attacks that ignored enemy defenses, they were actually quite agile—far more so than ordinary adults, and even some feline predators like cheetahs might not be better. As soon as the deadly light appeared, they scattered everywhere—behind puppets, behind trees, or by using other sacrificial creatures as shields. As a result, there were no corpses left after those light blasts.

Finally, there were truly many monsters.

Run!

The route was clear: follow the path of flames created by the burning trees. Eric led the way, with Shadow Killer Manson and Fierce Vincent providing support on the flanks. Behind them were warriors protecting the archerHiller and the sorcerer Nim, along with Maxim, who was carried by two soldiers. Neo covered the rear, while four soldiers armed with flamethrowers covered the sides. If monsters approached, they would use fire to deal with them—so long as it wasn’t aimed directly at Neo, even grazing attacks would suffice. With his Magic Blood Barrier, Neo could withstand most energy attacks; a little flame wasn’t a problem.

The evacuation started smoothly. This section of the path was part of the Blood Flame Corridor, where Neo had ordered all burnable trees to be set on fire. There were hardly any monsters along the way, though the ground was difficult to walk on due to the corpses everywhere. But once they passed this section, things took a sharp turn for the worse. Lighting trees at intervals like torches wasn’t enough to stop the monsters from encircling them. Among the pursuers, a new commander appeared, continuously launching magical attacks from within the monster horde, showing complete recklessness. Neo could only take hits and couldn’t retaliate. Filled with anger, he tried several times to rush back and kill that bastard, but he knew it would only play into the enemy’s hands. Once trapped, he wouldn’t be able to escape. Defense required strength, and he had already been fighting for quite some time, suffering heavy losses. Moreover, to deal with those corpse puppets, he had activated his Bloodthirst mode, which left him weak for 15 minutes afterward, with all his abilities reduced by 20%–30%.

As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly. He hadn’t noticed earlier, but the putrid blood of the corpse puppets had burned through Eric’s armor, injuring his right arm. Unlike Neo, who was a fake guardian without such powerful charging skills, Eric used a tower shield and battle axe, which were quite effective. Against ordinary monsters, he could smash them like watermelons—bang! Split open, bang! Crushed. But in terms of offensive capability, he was far inferior to Neo. So even with Vincent and Manson on his side, they couldn’t keep up with the overwhelming numbers, and the team’s speed slowed significantly.

Everyone knew that once they couldn’t move any further, they truly couldn’t move at all. The monsters had a commander, and they were adept at using mass battles, blocking off the “Torch Road” completely, with few monsters in the forests on either side.Hiller even suggested taking a detour through the woods, but after the soldier briefly described what happened when the tree mites were set on fire during the day, they realized that entering the forest would mean certain death.

Buzz! Not entering the forest might not be better either. Seeing that their opponent wasn’t falling for the trick, the monster commander drove the monsters to deliberately destroy the tree mite nests. Immediately, the dead trees began spewing out tree mites like lava geysers, blasting fire and smoke. These pests didn’t discriminate—any moving object became a target once disturbed, turning the situation even more chaotic.

Seeing the critical situation,Neo had no choice but to use the light thunder once again. He greetedNim and asked him to prepare a powerful spell designed to attack along a line. At the same time, he switched positions withEric: the 700-poundEric took on the defensive role whileNeo moved forward to clear the path.

On the second throw of the light thunder,Neo exerted all his strength, but this time from even closer range. The main target was still the monster leader. InNeo’s view, having many monsters wasn’t as scary as having someone at the center to command and coordinate them—that was what was truly terrifying. So,Neo was willing to kill a few hundred fewer monsters to prevent the enemy leader from continuing to direct them.

A blinding white light shone once more in the night. Not only the monsters suffered, but also the tree mites that flew up in large numbers—unable to withstand the power of the sun’s fire, they were blown apart into sparks upon contact with the light waves. Almost immediately after the aftereffects of the light thunder,Nim launched the Blood Curse Roar Bomb! It was a linear attack spell that would explode whenever it encountered resistance, with a new burst of light emerging from the explosion to continue moving forward. Its range depended mainly on the strength of the target.

UsingNim’s spell,Neo launched three-phase charges. The roar bombs helped clear enemies from his path to the greatest extent, allowing him to increase his speed and cover more distance in less time during the first charge. This time,Neo didn’t hold his shield in front but slung it over his back, wielding knives in both hands and slashing left and right as he charged. His blades created a serpentine wave of blood as he pushed forward. By the end of the three-phase charge, he had advanced over 50 meters.

Vincent and Manson also made good use of this opportunity, expanding the damage along the path opened byNeo. The trio’s charge was like pushing forward with both palms together before spreading them apart—truly a tactic to tear open a gap. In contrast, their previous coordination withEric had involved a frontal sweeping attack, killing enemies layer by layer, which naturally slowed down their progress.

As the trio ofNeo created a gap, the main force behind them quickly filled it in.Neo’s warriors also used swift slashing attacks. At that moment, the monsters were first blinded by the light and then slaughtered in a series of attacks byNeo’s trio. Caught off guard, they were killed effortlessly.

Shooter Hill had already run out of arrows, but he wasn’t willing to do nothing either. After much effort, he could craft an energy arrow that, combined with targeted attacks and precise shots, was used to eliminate the more threatening monsters. Often, a single arrow would destroy their core devices, paralyzing them and greatly reducing the pressure on Eric’s rear guard.

At this point, the flamethrowers had run out of fuel, so they had to followNeo’s earlier instructions. The four soldiers immediately discarded their backpacks, drew their long knives, and took the place of the warriors on the flanks. These soldiers consumed less energy, allowing them to compensate for the lost combat strength. Those who were replaced used magic-powered pistols for firing. Though their power was limited, it still helped ease Eric’s burden.

On the front line,Neo abandoned his shield to ensure the effectiveness of his charges, relying solely on his heavy armor to withstand the monsters’ attacks. His armpits and groin were weak points, butNeo’s skills were extraordinary. With his mind operating at peak efficiency, he could exert immense strength and coordinate his movements with precision. Often, with just a slight movement, he could avoid the monsters’ attacks on his weak points and block them with his sturdy armor. Such delicate dodging skills were nothing short of miraculous for Eric and most of the defenders.

Holding a knife in each hand reduced his defensive capabilities but greatly increased his offensive power.Neo was a master of both hands—his right-hand knife could suddenly become his left-hand knife, which in turn could become a two-handed weapon. Coupled with his strength and the weight of his knives, though not as fierce as Violent Vincent’s brutal attacks, his style was more consistent and steady. His blood-red slashes were as relentless as ever, and occasionally he would deliver several rapid arc slashes, turning the monsters into rivers of blood—comparable to Vincent’s style of fighting fiercely for a while before resting. As for Manson, the Shadow Killer was an absolute expert in efficiency, cold and ruthless. Direct combat wasn’t his forte, nor did he care about picking easy targets; he relied on a single fatal strike. Whenever he struck, his opponent was utterly destroyed. As a result, Manson, with his agile movements, ended up killing the most monsters among the three.

After advancing a few hundred meters, their speed slowed down significantly again. After killing two monsters in succession, a third commander appeared among them. This guy had extraordinary control skills. Under his urging, the monsters became even more frenzied, charging forward recklessly, determined to win at any cost by using corpses as obstacles.

“Flashbangs! Close your eyes!”Neo shouted. A bundle of items flew toward the back of the group and exploded mid-air. At first, it was just a small white light, which then spread out. However, it wasn’t even a real flashbang—merely blinding. The 5-6 meter diameter light sphere was insignificant compared to a light thunderbolt.

The monsters were fine, but their commander was unaware of what was going on. With Neo’s shout, the monsters’ frenzied state clearly ended. The monsters, freed from forced control, reacted in reverse—no longer fighting together with all their might. Neo and his group had already taken advantage of the situation to charge forward aggressively. By the time the monsters’ commander realized they had been tricked and tried to regain control, Neo and his team had covered a significant distance. Moreover, due to the interruption, it became even harder to control them, and it would take time to restore their previous level of frenzy. The losses incurred in this process were enormous.

Neo and his group finally broke through the Spider Jungle. As the distance to the camp shortened, Carnito, who had been watching the battle from afar, activated the defensive mechanisms of the Siege Spiders. The thin red wires between their steel legs instantly turned into thick fiber optics, and an energy layer covered the Siege Spiders’ exteriors. A few frenzied monsters tried to rush into the camp but were cut, burned, and torn to pieces as they tried to pass through the fiber-optic barriers. After that, few monsters dared to be foolish again.

The 15 warriors left behind also came out of the camp to join the fight. Encouraged by Neo’s “Furious Roar,” these warriors charged at the monsters with desperate determination. After the effect of their battle cries wore off, they felt a bit scared of their own frenzied behavior earlier. But seeing bloodshed, they became less fearful. Seeing how hard Neo and his group were fighting, they mustered the courage to join in. Naturally, Neo wouldn’t let them get easily hurt. With the Tower Shield back in his hands, whenever danger arose, he would either charge in personally or throw the shield to neutralize it, then continue fighting and retrieve his weapon. After fighting like this for over ten minutes, they finally managed to retreat safely to the camp.

The monsters still refused to give up. Under the command of their leader, they launched a fierce assault on the camp. It seemed the enemy leader was well aware that the energy protection of the Siege Spiders had a killing limit and energy replenishment issue. Those puppet-like monsters were nothing but short-circuit generators. If this continued, the camp’s defenses wouldn’t last even three minutes.

With no other choice, Neo climbed onto the Siege Spider’s frame and threw its last light bolt. The enemy’s third commander was very cunning and never revealed his whereabouts. Neo could only throw the bolt wherever there were the most monsters, aiming to maximize the damage.

This open area was no match for the dense forest, and the full power of the light lightning could now be unleashed. After blazing fireballs, waves of light flames devoured numerous monsters, once again disrupting the Third Commander’s control. This time, the monsters fought back even more fiercely, scattering in chaos. By the time the Third Commander tried to reorganize them, Neo led Manson, Vincent,Hiller with replenished arrows, and another group of warriors out of the camp in a fierce charge, clearly intent on eliminating him as their leader. Frightened, he couldn’t focus on command anymore and fled into the woods. Thus, the gathered monsters dispersed, at least for now unable to amass enough numbers to threaten the camp. Even the monster leaders realized that if Neo’s side could catch their breath, just the members of Moon 412 alone could knock out several of their teeth in retaliation. This battle was essentially over.

No one needed Neo to give orders—the medical team was already working at full speed to treat the wounded soldiers. It was a miracle that no one died this time. Almost everyone, except Neo, was injured. Worse still, their stamina was severely depleted; several warriors were suffering from organ failure and were on the verge of death. Thanks to Neo’s preparations, their lives were saved, but it would take at least ten to fifteen days for them to recover. Basically, the warriors of One Group were temporarily disabled. Moon 412 also had everyone injured, with the most troublesome cases being Maxim’s cursed poison and Eric’s Corpse Puppet Putrefying Poison. During the battles, the putrefying poison had spread through their blood. It was only because Eric was as strong as an ox and had high resistance that he was still alive; anyone else would likely have already died.

Neo did possess techniques like purification and detoxification for self-preservation, which could alleviate symptoms even if they couldn’t completely remove the toxins. But he had already done enough amazing things that night, especially his Bloodthirst skill—a very ancient form of blood energy manipulation. Even in modern times, aside from Kyles, few people knew how to use it, and most had never even heard of such a bizarre technique. Neo really shouldn’t show off any more abilities, otherwise, even if he wasn’t locked up for research, he’d have to say goodbye to Star 745. So he coldly pretended to be powerless.

As a result, Shadow Killer Manson had to take precious stamina potions and rush to the Valley of Refuge overnight to seek help from the Temple.

This incident made Neo realize the shortcomings of the Temple’s tactical team. “It seems we lack a seventh member with healing abilities…”