The explosion raged for over an hour before the blinding white light gradually dissipated from the sky. Evernight gently placed her hand on Heinrich's shoulder, and in the blink of an eye, their surroundings blurred. One moment they were in a bustling crossroads; the next, they stood within a highly concealed underground facility.
The facility was a hive of activity. Ding Lang barked orders at his subordinates: "Quick, establish triple-layered isolation observation! Have the explosion results been analyzed yet?"
The triple-layered isolation observation system was developed by Ding Lang after discovering that the enemy possessed a "contamination" property. This contamination could even affect inanimate Magitech machines, causing them to sprout tentacles from thin air, defying the laws of physics.
Ordinary people who witnessed these tentacles would suffer varying degrees of mental contamination. To counter this, Ding Lang had developed a specialized three-layered isolation observation system. In essence, the first layer of observation equipment collected data at the forefront. Before being corrupted and rendered inoperable by the contamination, it transmitted the raw information to the second layer.
After being filtered and refined by the second-layer equipment, the intact information was transmitted to the third-layer equipment, while the second-layer equipment itself retained a small amount of residual contamination and self-destructed.
This process ensured that the information finally reaching Ding Lang and his team was completely harmless.
After detailed calculations, an assistant reported, "The enemy's vital activity has decreased by 87% compared to its original level. Its current activity is only 13%!"
Ding Lang frowned deeply. "These are all the Elemental Rending Bombs we've modified to penetrate the World Barrier in recent times. Even this barrage couldn't finish it off?"
However, Heinrich, who was also present, wore a look of astonishment. "Wait, are they saying they almost blew that eyeball to smithereens?"
Having faced an identical enemy in the Main World, Heinrich was acutely aware of the eyeball's formidable power. Yet here, it had nearly been obliterated in its very first encounter?
The assistant turned to Ding Lang. "Doctor? What are our next steps?"
Ding Lang declared, "Work overtime and produce another batch of Elemental Rending Bombs capable of piercing the World Barrier! If we didn't kill it this time, we'll try again!"
Evernight slightly accelerated the speed of her memory recall once more. Over the next three days, another seventy to eighty Elemental Rending Bombs were launched, but the colossal eyeball remained unyielding. Instead, it gradually retreated from the world, moving beyond the Elemental Rending Bombs' attack range by the fifth day.
Though the eyeball hadn't been destroyed, its recovery would undoubtedly require considerable time. For this world, while they hadn't completely eradicated the enemy, the victory was still significant—they had successfully repelled the initial assault.
The event was quickly proclaimed a major triumph, and the world's morale soared to unprecedented heights. Even random people on the street might shout slogans like "Protect the world! Crush the invaders!" as they walked.
But Evernight knew this was merely the repulse of a first wave. The eyeball was likely just the vanguard of the Mother of Flesh's invasion—an outpost. With their first assault thwarted, the next wave would undoubtedly be far more ferocious.
And indeed, about a month after the eyeball retreated beyond its attack range, the entire world suddenly plunged into darkness without warning. Streetlights flickered on, but their feeble glow barely illuminated a small area.
It was as if some invisible force in the surrounding darkness was suppressing their light.
On the streets, many pedestrians wore puzzled expressions as they looked around at the sudden darkness. But while puzzled, they remained largely unalert. After all, they had to get home eventually—they couldn't just stand there stupidly.
So, one by one, they pulled out their phones, activated the built-in flashlights, and ventured into the darkness, hoping the meager light would guide their way.
Tap... tap...
...
At first, their footsteps echoed faintly. But within mere seconds, all sounds vanished. The glowing phone flashlights flickered and died. Only then did anyone finally realize something was terribly wrong.
"Wait! There might be something lurking in the darkness!"
The remaining survivors quickly gathered beneath the streetlights, their faces tense as they scanned their surroundings. Evernight and Heinrich were also on the street, standing under another streetlight across from the group.
Heinrich looked around and murmured, "I sense the aura of divine power. This is..."
"A Child of Flesh," Evernight replied, "a monster wielding the Authority over shadows."
This trope—safe only in the light, with unknown horrors lurking in the darkness—was one Evernight had encountered countless times in novels and movies in her previous life. To put it bluntly, it wasn't that "the darkness devours people," but rather that the monsters were so dark they blended seamlessly into the shadows, making them invisible.
Once she understood this, the situation became far less terrifying. Evernight crooked her finger, and a white jellyfish materialized beside her. Pointing into the darkness, she instructed, "Go take a look."
The jellyfish drifted lazily forward. As it left the circle of light and entered the darkness completely, Evernight immediately sensed something attacking it.
At that very moment, three more jellyfish materialized beside her. Unlike the previous white one, these new jellyfish were entirely crimson. Their tentacles shot out, probing deep into the darkness.
As the three jellyfish slowly exerted their strength, a tightly bound, pitch-black 'leopard' was gradually dragged out of the shadows.
The moment it emerged into the light, the 'leopard' began thrashing violently. Black smoke slowly billowed from its body, as if it were about to vaporize.
This leopard was unmistakably a miniature, tentacle-less version of the Child of Flesh, likely a manifestation of its abilities.
Evernight controlled the three jellyfish, devouring the leopard's memories before it could completely vaporize. There wasn't much to extract, as the creature had only been born a few minutes prior.
Within the shadows, it could move at incredible speed, its attacks swift and lethal: a throat-locking bite, a claw tearing through flesh. It also seemed capable of silencing its victims; even if someone didn't die instantly and managed a scream, no sound escaped.
Using this method, the creature had slaughtered at least a hundred passersby in mere minutes!