Chapter 399: Pride, You've Crossed the Line

Two large bulges swelled on the Dragon King's back. The next moment, a pair of wings covered in Gold dragon scales sprouted forth, and he flapped them, launching himself high into the sky.

Then, where the sea met the sky, he saw a silhouette as massive as a mountain.

It was a Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent. Its body coiled and writhed, every scale glinting with a cold, eerie light as if forged from the hardest black iron. Nine heads reared high, and embedded on each one was a massive, ghastly white human mask.

The contours of those faces were twisted and exaggerated. A bizarre crimson light burned within their sunken eye sockets, radiating endless greed and brutality.

Serpent tongues flicked occasionally from gaping maws, their forked tips gleaming with a dark aura. Each hiss unleashed a putrid, bloody gale that felt capable of corroding the very air.

"Damn it! It's a monster just like the Faceless Angel!" The heroic drive the Dragon King had just summoned to end the Nightmare Era was snuffed out in an instant.

At that moment, several figures flew in from different directions. It was the other six Kings, all drawn by the roar of the Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent.

Comrades who had once fought side by side were gathered together once more, but not a trace of joy touched their faces—only endless, heavy solemnity.

"How could a monster of this caliber suddenly appear?" the Nether King asked, his voice laced with dread.

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" the Dragon King snapped, true to his usual style of never giving anyone a pleasant look.

"During the previous Nightmare Invasion, this Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent was definitely not here. There is no way we would have missed such immense power. Could it be..." The Heavenly King seemed to realize something, his expression turning exceedingly ugly.

"Pride must have appeared," King Chi said in a heavy voice.

The name 'Pride' cast a shadow over everyone's hearts. They had the confidence to deal with a Nightmare Invasion, but when it came to the elusive Pride, they felt completely unsure. The only thing they could take comfort in was that Pride could not descend in his true body.

"Damn it! During the time he disappeared, he must have gone to collect Nightmare Creatures!" the Dragon King cursed.

"Speaking ill of others behind their backs... It seems you still haven't learned your manners," an indifferent voice echoed beside their ears.

The Seven Kings instantly paled in shock and shot violently backward, their eyes locking onto the figure that had appeared out of thin air.

The cold Silver-White Mask announced the newcomer's identity—Pride!

"Congratulations on surviving the first Nightmare Invasion. But this time, you won't be so lucky." Su Mu cast an indifferent glance over the tense Seven Kings.

"Bastard! What are you trying to do now!?" the Dragon King glared.

"Do what? Bring destruction, naturally."

Su Mu's figure abruptly vanished.

The next moment, his indifferent voice rang out across the sky.

"Nightmare, descend!"

Rumble!

A hideous rift suddenly tore open across the firmament. It expanded at a visible rate until it overlapped with the sun. The light was swallowed by the rift, plunging the world into eternal night!

Roar!!

The roars of countless Nightmare Creatures echoed from the rift to the Abyss, and a terrifying, ominous aura began to spread.

This exact scene had appeared countless times in the nightmares of the Seven Kings, and even the rest of the world. Now, Su Mu had turned it into reality once more.

A torrent of Nightmare Creatures cascaded down from the rift to the Abyss. Despair shrouded everyone's hearts, clinging closely like a shadow following its form.

The Dragon King's expression suddenly turned savage. "Pride! You won't succeed! I will stop you again this time! Since I could slaughter your pet once, I can slaughter it a second time!"

"Oh? Is that so?" A chilling sneer curled the corners of Su Mu's lips. "Then how about one more?"

"What!?"

The Seven Kings instantly paled in horror. One more!?

Last time, they had exhausted all their strength and suffered heavy injuries just to deal with one. If two came at the same time, then...

They didn't dare think about it. But reality was always so ice-cold; it would not be denied just because people resisted it. Instead, it arrived even faster.

Swish!

A blinding pillar of crimson light violently erupted from the rift to the Abyss without any warning. The entire ocean was dyed red by this scarlet glow, as if coated in a layer of fresh blood.

Immediately after, a muffled rumble sounded, as if capable of shattering the very soul. Heaven and earth trembled violently. Wisps of deep red mist began to appear at the edges of the crimson pillar, spreading rapidly in all directions like countless writhing little snakes.

The faces of the Seven Kings changed drastically. An emotion known as terror quietly crept up within them. They could sense that some horrific existence was about to descend.

It was an existence even more terrifying than the Faceless Angel and the Nine-Headed Human-Faced Serpent!

The mere hint of aura it leaked was enough to make the seven Gold Kings faintly tremble.

Under their horrified gazes, the figure of an Evil Buddha slowly surfaced within the rift. The moment even a corner of it emerged, an ultimate aura of evil swept across the world. The twisted, agonizing shrieks of billions of phantoms rang in everyone's ears, making them feel as if they were plunging into the Endless Hell.

It was over!

A look of despair overtook the Dragon King's face. He only needed one glance at the Evil Buddha to know that this was an invincible existence. The gap between them was simply too immense.

"Is this really the end?"

"The world... is going to be destroyed."

The Seven Kings murmured in despair, a profound sense of powerlessness welling up in their hearts.

The soldiers below fared even worse. The Evil Buddha's figure seemed to carry a sort of mental pollution. Just a single glance plunged several soldiers into utter hopelessness. The weapons in their hands slipped away powerlessly, and they dropped to their knees uncontrollably.

"Lowly mortals, savor this blessing from a God!"

High above the firmament, Su Mu raised his arms wide, as if proclaiming the arrival of a God to the world. Behind him, the colossal figure of the Evil Buddha slowly ascended.

"What a God brings to the world should not merely be destruction. Pride, you've crossed the line."

A calm voice suddenly echoed across the heavens. It sounded like shattered ice colliding in the cold night—clear and cold, yet laced with a trace of quiet nobility.

The Seven Kings were stunned. They had never imagined anyone would dare confront Pride directly at a time like this.

When they looked up, they saw a Black Feather Cloak flowing down like ink. Its wide hem fluttered gently, and every feather glinted with a biting luster, as if tailored from the profound depths of the night sky itself.

He was tall and straight, his physique appearing even more slender wrapped within the Black Feather Cloak. Broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, his every movement made the cloak sway subtly. He looked just like a Night Raven in the darkness spreading its wings to take flight, carrying an innate air of mystery and nobility.

Upon his face rested a pitch-black raven mask. It was a half-mask, and a few loose strands of black hair fell against the sharp, cold jawline visible beneath it. His pale skin looked as if it had been tempered by the frost and snow of a bitter winter night.

"That attire... It's someone from the Sanctuary. Could it be..." the Dragon King said, his face filled with shock.

Just then, the mysterious man moved. He extended a pale, slender finger and lightly tapped toward the rift to the Abyss.

Hum!

A vast fluctuation suddenly surged forth.

Immediately after, a staggering scene unfolded. That terrifying Evil Buddha, which had been on the verge of entering the world, was utterly annihilated in an instant. It crumbled inch by inch, popping like a bubble.

"Heh." A light chuckle drifted from beneath Pride's Silver-White Mask. His indifferent eyes shifted toward that flowing Black Feather Cloak.

"And here I was wondering who it could be. The only one with the free time to come save these ants would probably be you... Night Raven."