r18novel Chapter 55 Zhang Jie and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5
Chapter 55 Zhang Jie and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5
Before dawn, Elm Street was shrouded in a deathly, iron-gray pre-dawn darkness. Inside the temporary base, the Central Continent Team had completed their minimum required rest.
With the assistance of Zhang Jie's peculiar "stability-maintaining" power and his own deep meditation, Wang Lin's mental strength recovered to about 20%. Although far from its peak, it was enough to support the basic operation of the mental matrix, at least ensuring team communication and basic perception.
Zhan Lan and Zheng Zha were in better condition. Zhan Lan's mental strength had recovered to 30-40%, and Zheng Zha's injuries were no longer a problem thanks to his strong physique and the effects of the God's potion. However, his internal energy and vampire energy had been greatly depleted, and he was still slowly recovering.
Zhang Jie, however, showed the most obvious change. He was still sitting cross-legged in the corner, but the heavy, profound "presence" emanating from him was even clearer. The "consolidation" of the night had wiped away the weariness in his eyes, replacing it with a restrained luster, like metal that had been forged a thousand times. Occasionally, he would glance out the window, and in the depths of his eyes, which had regained their human color, it seemed as if a fine stream of data and deep emotional memories silently swept through, weaving together a strange, insightful, and cold gaze.
"It's time to get going." Chu Xuan's voice broke the silence. Several light screens floated in front of him, displaying a scanned map of Elm Street, an analysis of residual energy, and a rudimentary model of the "Kruger Family" old house and the possible "ancient nightmare ritual" structure beneath it, constructed based on fragments of information provided by Zhang Jie last night, scraps from the Guide's knowledge base, and his own deductions.
"The target building, the Kruger family mansion, is located at 1428 Elm Street. According to the intelligence provided by Zhang Jie and the environmental energy scan, there is a 'contamination core' or 'ritual anchor' deep connected to the source of Freddy's nightmares beneath the building."
Its energy characteristics are highly similar to the 'fear resonance' left in the environment, but it is more ancient, condensed, and has obvious...unnatural construction traces." Chu Xuan's fingertips swept across the light screen, enlarging the model. "It is speculated that before Freddy was born, this place had accumulated a huge amount of negative energy and resentment for some reason (possibly historical massacres, evil sacrifices, or natural ley line anomalies).
Freddy's vengeful spirit merged with this energy, transforming himself into a unique being capable of manipulating nightmares and drawing upon fear through some kind of 'ritual'—whether passed down or distorted in his own understanding. Destroying or purifying this 'anchor' is key to completely severing the source of the Elm Street nightmares and completing the optional quest.
"Is there any defense?" Overlord asked in a gruff voice, slamming the last energy magazine into the heavy machine gun with a click.
"Definitely." Zhang Jie stood up, stretched his limbs, his joints cracking slightly. "Although Freddy's main consciousness was scattered by me, he's too deeply bound to that 'anchor point.' That's his 'lair,' the source of his power. Even if he's 'dead,' the remaining defense mechanisms there, the automatically triggered nightmare traps, and the older, more insane resentment bound there will only be more dangerous than usual. And..."
He looked at Wang Lin and Zhan Lan: "The mental erosion and interference in that place are ten times stronger than outside. You two need to toughen up your minds."
"Understood." Wang Lin nodded, and the mental matrix quietly connected everyone, strengthening the priority of mental defense. Zhan Lan also took a deep breath and began to silently prepare a more powerful mental barrier.
"Divide into two groups." Chu Xuan quickly assigned the tasks. "Assault Group: Zheng Zha, Zhang Jie, Ba Wang, and Li Shuaixi, led by Zheng Zha and Zhang Jie, responsible for frontal breakthrough, clearing obstacles, locating and destroying/purifying the 'Anchor Point' core. Support Group: Wang Lin, Zhan Lan, Ling Dian, Ming Yanwei, and Zhao Yingkong, under my command, responsible for long-range fire support, morale support, trap detection and elimination, and responding to sudden threats. O'Connor, Evelyn, and Jonathan will accompany the support group, responsible for carrying some supplies and establishing temporary support points in safe locations. Operational principles: efficiency, caution, and immediate evacuation should the 'Anchor Point' experience uncontrollable mutations or encounter insurmountable dangers, prioritizing the preservation of personnel."
"No objections." Zhang Jie said succinctly, walked to the door, and opened the creaking wooden door. Outside, the air of Elm Street was cold and deathly still, as if even the morning breeze carried the smell of decay. In the distance, the silhouette of the dilapidated and crooked old house at No. 1428, appearing even more dilapidated and crooked in the hazy daylight, resembled a giant beast crouching at the street corner, waiting to devour everything.
The group silently blended into the pre-dawn darkness. The pavement was damp and sticky, making an unpleasant squelching sound as they stepped on it. The windows of the houses lining the street, like countless empty, numb eyes, silently watched this uninvited guest. The lingering nightmare energy in the air became noticeably more active and viscous as the group approached the old house, like invisible, cold tentacles attempting to entangle and permeate everyone's minds. However, under the combined effect of Wang Lin's mental matrix, Zhan Lan's barrier, and Zhang Jie's invisible aura, carrying the aftereffects of "order" and "purification," these low-level erosions were firmly kept at bay.
Number 1428. The rusty, twisted cast-iron gate was half-open, revealing a front yard overgrown with weeds, littered with garbage and charred marks. The two-story old house resembled a terminally ill old man; large patches of plaster had peeled off the walls, revealing rotten wood and dark red bricks underneath. Almost all the windows were broken, haphazardly boarded up like ugly scars. An overwhelming stench, a mixture of dust, mold, burnt food, blood, and some other kind of deeper decay, emanated from the depths of the house.
Just standing outside the door makes one feel a wave of palpitations and nausea.
"Energy readings off the charts. Negative mental pollution concentration is more than fifty times that of the outside world. Multiple complex energy traps and signs of spatial distortion have been detected." Chu Xuan's voice coldly broadcast in the mental matrix, "The building structure is severely unstable, and some areas have weak overlap points between the dimensions of reality and nightmares. Warning: a small nightmare domain may have formed inside."
"Stay close to me," Zhang Jie said, stepping first through the rusty gate. The moment his foot landed, the charred marks on the front yard seemed to come alive, twisting and spreading out wisps of dark red, vein-like light patterns. But as soon as they touched Zhang Jie's feet, they were purified and erased by an invisible force.
Zheng Zha followed closely behind, his red and white energy concealed, but his muscles were taut, like a cheetah ready to pounce. Ba Wang and Li Shuaixi flanked him, vigilantly scanning every inch of shadow around them. At Chu Xuan's signal, the support team quickly dispersed, taking up several relatively stable firing and observation points in the front yard. Ling Dian set up his sniper rifle, Ming Yanwei drew her longbow, and Zhao Yingkong's figure silently blended into the shadows of the old house's side wall. Wang Lin and Zhan Lan each found cover, their mental energy fully activated—one maintaining the matrix and perception, the other focusing on building a stronger joint mental shield.
Zhang Jie walked to the heavy oak door of the old house, covered with scratches and dried, dark red stains. The door was unlocked, ajar, and inside lay unfathomable darkness.
He didn't push the door open immediately, but instead placed his palm lightly on the door panel and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened his eyes, a knowing look and a hint of coldness flashing in them.
"Behind the door is the 'front hall,' a space slightly distorted and larger than it appears. Seven low-level nightmare creations roam about, their energy reactions weak, but possessing the characteristic of 'fearful screams,' capable of disturbing the mind. The corridor to the left leads to the kitchen and the basement entrance, where the concentration of negative energy is highest; 'anchor' fluctuations emanate from the basement. The staircase to the right leads to the second floor; its structure is corroded by nightmare power, and some steps are 'traps,' stepping on them will directly plunge you into a brief nightmare fragment." He clearly stated the information he "saw" as if reciting a menu.
"The vision of a guide?" Zheng Zha asked in a low voice.
"I guess so. After 'welding' it together, my 'feeling' for energy and rules became much clearer." Zhang Jie didn't deny it. "Same as always, I'll clear the way. Zheng Zha, you take care of those rushing up from the right. Ba Wang, Li Shuaixi, you're in charge of the left and the back. Support team, follow Chu Xuan's orders, pick off the threats, and clear out the grunts."
After saying that, he didn't hesitate any longer and kicked open the half-closed oak door!
boom!
The wooden door slammed against the interior wall with a loud thud, shattering the old house's facade of deathly silence. Inside, it wasn't absolute darkness, but rather a viscous, dark red glow, like congealed blood, filled an unusually spacious hall piled with broken furniture and cobwebs. Almost the instant the door opened, seven twisted, elongated, and crumpled humanoid shadows, accompanied by sharp, piercing, and insane silent screams filled with despair and madness, pounced from every corner! They had no physical form, but wherever they passed, even the dark red glow was violently stirred and churned, emitting a powerful form of mental pollution.
"You're courting death!" A fierce glint flashed in Zhang Jie's eyes. Instead of advancing, he retreated, his right fist slamming forward without any fancy moves! The wind from the punch wasn't fierce, but the "purification" force field, a condensed blend of gold, white, and seven colors, reappeared on the tip of his fist! The two black figures at the forefront were like those who had struck a red-hot iron. Before they could even scream, they were instantly vaporized and annihilated with a "sizzling" sound! The aftershocks spread, distorting and disintegrating the other two black figures as well.
Zheng Zha's reaction was only half a beat slower. His figure transformed into a red and white afterimage, crashing into the two black shadows rushing from the right. He threw out both fists at the same time, and the vampire energy and internal energy intertwined and exploded, like two small suns exploding. Under the impact of pure violent energy, the two black shadows also screamed and turned into nothingness.
The Overlord's heavy machine gun roared, and a storm of metal tore the last dark figure on the left, along with a patch of decaying furniture behind it, into countless fragments. Li Shuaixi's blade flashed, slicing in two a smaller, more agile, rat-like nightmare creature that was trying to sneak up on Zheng Zha from the shadows.
The first wave of attacks was wiped out in the blink of an eye. But no one felt any relief, because although the silent screams of fear had disappeared, the mental pollution and nauseating stench in the air had become even stronger. Moreover, from deep within the old house, more and more unsettling writhing and whispering sounds could be heard, as if something had been disturbed.
"Let's go! To the basement!" Zhang Jie didn't stop and rushed straight towards the darker corridor to the left, which exuded a strong ominous atmosphere. Zheng Zha and the others immediately followed.
The corridor was narrow and low, the walls covered with wallpaper whose original color was long gone, large patches peeling away to reveal damp, moldy surfaces covered in eerie black mildew. A thick layer of dust and unidentified debris lay beneath their feet, soft and unsettling. The dark red aura in the air thickened, almost solidifying into a mist, obstructing vision and relentlessly eroding everyone's mental shields. Wang Lin and Zhan Lan had to increase their mental energy output just to maintain the stability of their shields.
At the end of the corridor stood a heavy, rusted iron door that slanted downwards. The door was ajar, and a cold, decaying wind, carrying a strong aura of rust and a deeper, more sinister presence, howled from the cracks. Inside, there was boundless darkness, with only a faint, dark red, pulse-like light, seemingly emanating from the depths of hell, faintly visible.
"It's down there." Zhang Jie stopped in front of the iron gate, his expression becoming much more serious. "The 'pollution' concentration down there is a hundred times that up there. Moreover... the spatial structure is even more chaotic, and the boundary between nightmare and reality is almost non-existent. Be careful, stay close, don't fall behind, and don't look around or touch anything."
He bent down first and squeezed through the iron gate. Zheng Zha took a deep breath and followed closely behind. Ba Wang and Li Shuaixi exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and went in as well. At Chu Xuan's signal, Wang Lin and Zhan Lan kept a distance of about ten meters from the rest of the support team and entered one by one.
Behind the iron gate was a steep, seemingly endless stone staircase. The steps were slippery and covered in moss, and the walls were rough rock, seeping with cold water droplets. The dark red, pulse-like light emanated from the depths of the staircase, growing brighter and more... eerie as the group descended.
A hazy, agonizing auditory hallucination began to fill the air: the cries of children, the screams of women, the curses of men, the scraping of metal, the burning of flames… countless sounds intertwined, forming a chilling background noise. On the rough rock walls on either side, distorted, seemingly blood-drawn, unintelligible symbols and patterns began to emerge. Illuminated by the dark red light, these patterns seemed to writhe slowly, radiating an evil power that bewitched and instilled fear.
"Don't look at those patterns!" Zhang Jie's low shout rang in everyone's minds, carrying a power of "order" that forcefully suppressed some of the auditory hallucinations. "Concentrate and follow me!"
The staircase seemed endless. Everyone's breathing grew heavy, not only from physical exhaustion but also from the overwhelming pressure of the pervasive and increasingly intense mental pollution and spatial distortion. Wang Lin felt his mental energy rapidly depleting, making it extremely difficult to maintain the matrix and mental shield. Zhan Lan's face grew paler. Even Zheng Zha and Zhang Jie had fine beads of sweat on their foreheads.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the stairs came to an end.
The view suddenly opened up, yet it also made my heart stop for a moment.
This is a huge, naturally formed underground cave, yet clearly altered by human hands. Countless stalactites hang from the cave ceiling, but these stalactites are not grayish-white; instead, they display a sickly mix of dark red and pitch black, with viscous, foul-smelling dark red liquid dripping from their ends. Below, they gather into a small, bubbling pool of blood, boiling and churning like lava!
In the center of the blood pool stood a grotesque altar, about three meters high, constructed entirely of charred bones, rusted metal, twisted wood, and some strange crystal that shimmered with a dark red, malevolent light. At the top of the altar, instead of statues or offerings, floated a fist-sized, constantly pulsating heart, emanating an aura of pure darkness and nightmares that sent shivers down one's spine!
The heart was not flesh and blood, but rather compressed and condensed from the purest darkness, fear, and resentment. With each beat, it caused the dark red light of the entire cave to flicker, the blood pool to churn violently, and the evil symbols on the walls to emit a blinding red light! Countless dark red energy veins, like blood vessels or chains, extended from this "Nightmare Heart," some sinking deep into the blood pool and altar below, while others pierced through the cave's rock walls, as if connecting the entire Elm Street's ley lines with the nightmares of countless residents!
This is Freddy's "anchor point"! The core of the Elm Street nightmare! That pulsating "heart" is the source of all his power, and the ultimate manifestation of his union with this land and the ancient ritual of resentment! Even though his main consciousness was scattered by Zhang Jie, this "heart" still maintains the minimum nightmare domain of Elm Street by inertia and by its deep bond with the land and the ritual, and there are faint signs that it will re-coalesce or give birth to a new nightmare!
"Found you." Zhang Jie stared at the pulsating dark heart, his eyes cold and devoid of any other emotion, only the purest killing intent to completely purify this filth.
However, the moment they stepped into this core cave and their gaze locked onto the "Heart of Nightmare"—
The anomaly erupted suddenly, in a way that far exceeded everyone's expectations!
It did not come from that "heart," nor from the blood pool or the altar.
Instead, it came from... the ground beneath their feet and the rock walls of the caves on all sides!
Those dark red symbols and patterns that had previously only emitted an evil aura and slowly writhed suddenly shone brightly! Like a circuit that had been fully activated, countless dark red beams of light shot out from the symbols, not to attack the people, but to rapidly intertwine and connect in the air, instantly weaving a huge, complex, and blasphemous three-dimensional magic circle throughout the entire cave!
The light from the magic circle bathed the entire cave in a blood-red glow, enveloping everyone in the Central Continent Team! An irresistible, overwhelmingly powerful force, a terrifying combination of spatial teleportation, rule-binding, and the force of being forcibly pulled into a deep nightmare, crashed down!
"A trap! It's a pre-set ultimate defense ritual!" Chu Xuan's shocked shout rang out in the mental matrix, but his voice had already begun to distort and become unrecognizable. "The target isn't to kill, it's... exile! Forcing all of us... into the deepest, irreversible, collective eternal nightmare directly supported by this 'Heart of Nightmare'!"
"Damn it!" Zheng Zha roared, his red and white energy erupting recklessly in an attempt to break free from the shackles of that invisible force. But that force seemed to act directly on the level of rules, and his energy impact was like a mud ox entering the sea. Instead, it caused the magic circle to shine even brighter and the binding force to become stronger!
The Overlord's heavy machine gun futilely swept across the symbols on the rock wall; bullets struck those symbols protected by the dark red light, only scattering a few insignificant sparks. Li Shuaixi's blade flashed against the invisible binding force field, as if striking the toughest rubber. The mental shields that Wang Lin and Zhan Lan had painstakingly erected cracked rapidly like eggshells before this rule-based force of exile.
Zhang Jie reacted the fastest. The instant the magic circle activated, his eyes flashed with golden-white light, and he slammed his hands into the ground, attempting to forcefully interfere with or even reverse the magic circle's operation using his own power of "order" and "purification." Within him, the power of the fragment of the "Sun Sutra" was frantically activated, mixed with his own will of "existence," transforming into a condensed golden-white pillar of light that fiercely impacted the core energy node of the magic circle.
Boom—!
Two completely opposite forces, both touching upon the level of rules, collided fiercely in the center of the cave, erupting with a silent yet violently shaking roar that shook the entire space! The light of the magic circle became momentarily disordered and dimmed, and the force of forced exile also paused for a moment.
"It's effective! But it can't hold!" Veins bulged on Zhang Jie's forehead, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He felt that his recently "welded" state was beginning to show signs of instability again under the impact of this intensity of rule clashes, and tearing pain came from those "welded joints." Moreover, the energy level of this magic circle far exceeded expectations. It was powered by the entire "Heart of Nightmare" and the underground ritual, making it almost impossible to destroy by brute force.
"Chu Xuan! Break it! Quickly!" Wang Lin roared hoarsely. He felt his consciousness beginning to blur, as if countless cold hands were dragging him into a bottomless abyss of darkness.
On Chu Xuan's glasses, the data stream had become a blurry band of light. He was frantically analyzing the structure, energy circuits, and core runes of this three-dimensional magic array at a speed exceeding his own limits. But it was too complex, too ancient, too evil! This was not a simple technological or magical creation, but a chaotic product that combined ancient resentment, nightmare rules, evil rituals, and the power of the earth's veins!
"Core... runes... reverse..." Chu Xuan's voice was broken and strained, carrying an unprecedented sense of difficulty, "It requires... simultaneous impact... at least... three... key energy reversal nodes... simultaneously... using... high-energy rule power of opposite nature... to... briefly... open... a gap..."
A high-level rule force of opposite nature? And it needs to impact three nodes simultaneously?
A chill ran through everyone. Among them, only Zhang Jie possessed clearly defined "rule-level" power! And he was clearly struggling to hold on alone! Wang Lin's spiritual light might be tangential, but its level and intensity were far from sufficient! The others primarily relied on physical and energy attacks!
Despair, like a cold, venomous snake, coiled around everyone's heart. Had they just found Zhang Jie, just glimpsed hope of resolving the nightmare of Elm Street, only to be collectively banished to an eternal nightmare, doomed to eternal damnation, in this final trap?
Just then—
"Damn it..." Zhang Jie suddenly raised his head, the golden light in his eyes clashing violently with the scarlet data stream. A near-mad grin appeared on his face as he stared intently at the "Nightmare Heart" that was still beating steadily, as if mocking them.
"You want to drag me down to hell with you? Fine!"
He no longer attempted to maintain all-around interference with the magic circle. Instead, he frantically gathered and compressed all his power, all his will, and all his sense of existence, then, through the mental matrix, transformed it into an absolutely resolute and clear command, slamming it into the depths of Wang Lin's consciousness, while also transmitting it to Chu Xuan and Zheng Zha:
"Wang Lin! Use the light of your soul to connect with me, connect with that heart! Chu Xuan! Give me the precise coordinates of the three nodes! Zheng Zha! Pour all your blood energy and internal energy into me in an 'explosive' manner! Don't ask why! Hurry!"
"Zhang Jie! What are you doing?!" Zheng Zha exclaimed in shock and anger.
"Let's take a gamble!" Zhang Jie's voice was hoarse, yet it carried a resolute determination to cut off all escape routes. "Using the unstable state of my 'weld joint,' using your energy as fuel, and the power of that damned heart as the 'fuse'—I'm going to resonate in the opposite direction, using the power of all of us, plus the nightmarish power of this heart itself, to play a big game!"
He looked at Wang Lin, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions: guilt, entrustment, and a burning, desperate resolve. "Wang Lin! Your 'Light of the Soul' is about 'connection' and 'definition'! Now, I'm opening myself up to you—including that damned 'Guide Protocol,' the 'Sun Fragment,' and everything about 'Zhang Jie'! You define it! With your will, with the will of all of us, forcibly define it once—define a 'brief, extreme, pure aggressive rule resonance'! The target is those three nodes Chu Xuan gave us!"
"I will use Zheng Zha's energy to detonate my own unstable state, generating an extremely high-intensity, chaotic, yet rule-breaking energy burst. You will use your 'connection' to forcibly 'resonate' this burst of energy with the beating frequency of the 'Nightmare Heart' and the operating frequency of the magic circle at the three nodes designated by Chu Xuan!"
"The result of the resonance will either be that we, the magic circle, and the heart perish together, or..." Zhang Jie grinned, revealing bloodstained teeth, "it will create a purely 'destructive' oscillation of rules far exceeding the capacity of this heart and magic circle, instantly overloading and destroying those three nodes, tearing a gash in them!"
"This is our only chance! It's either we die together, or we fight for our lives! Are you in or not?!"
Time seemed to stand still. Inside the cave, the light from the magic circle grew brighter and brighter, the power of banishment blurring everyone's vision, and filling their ears with frantic babbling.
Wang Lin looked into Zhang Jie's eyes, burning with madness and determination, and felt the unreserved, completely open soul fluctuations transmitted through the mental matrix—fluid, contradictory, painful, resilient, and utterly trusting. He saw the bloodshot veins instantly appear in Zheng Zha's eyes and his unwavering nod. He heard Chu Xuan struggling yet clearly reciting the three spatial coordinates amidst the data storm.
"Dry!"
Wang Lin roared, no longer hesitating, and the nascent light of his soul burned and erupted recklessly! He poured his last bit of spiritual power, the will of everyone (converged through the matrix), the desire for "life," the obsession with "victory," and the absolute belief in "destroying" the filth before him, into that faint light of his soul, which represented "connection" and "definition"!
Then, following Zhang Jie's fully open mental connection, he crashed into it, fiercely imprinting this incredibly strong "definition"—"a brief, extreme, and pure resonant offensive rule!"—on Zhang Jie's turbulent, chaotic, yet explosively powerful soul core, as well as the fragment of the "Sun Sutra" that was half-fused with his soul!
"Define—Accept!" Zhang Jie's body suddenly stiffened, letting out a long, inhuman howl, a mixture of pain and ecstasy! He completely abandoned the resistance against the magic circle's constraints, instead absorbing and compressing all the blood energy that Zheng Zha had frantically channeled through the connection—combined with his own massive power, which was now violently rampaging due to the instability of the "welding joint," a mixture of the guide's data stream, the purifying power of the "Sun Fragment," and the will of "Zhang Jie's" personality—and then—within his body, using his own soul as a furnace, the "Sun Fragment" as a stable core (temporarily), and Wang Lin's "definition" as a framework, he underwent an unprecedented, unparalleled, and extremely insane—"Self-Destructive Rule Resonance Activation"**!
"Now! Node coordinates—resonance!!"
Zhang Jie's roar, Wang Lin's "definition command" issued through the light of the soul, which embodied the will of everyone, Zheng Zha's last surge of energy, and Chu Xuan's last coordinates were all perfectly synchronized within a fraction of a second!
boom!!!!!!!!!
The indescribable roar was not a sound, but a silent collapse and annihilation that violently shook the entire cave, the entire underground of Elm Street, and even the broader realm of rules!
Centered on Zhang Jie's body, a terrifying energy wave, indescribable in color, containing an aura of pure "destruction" and "chaos," yet forcibly constrained by a framework of "order" and directed towards three specific nodes, suddenly erupted and spread!
This energy wave did not directly attack the magic circle, but in a strange and illogical way, it instantly resonated with the energy circuit of the magic circle, the pulsating frequency of the "Nightmare Heart", and the power fluctuations of the entire underground ritual field in a 100% forced and extremely high-intensity manner!
It's like forcefully striking a giant bell that's already on the verge of breaking, and the frequency, force, and angle of the strike perfectly match the bell's most vulnerable and unstable resonance point!
In an instant—
The three core energy nodes that Chu Xuan had locked onto, supporting the entire banishment magic circle, were subjected to a destructive resonance impact—a sudden, powerful force originating from within their own power systems, forcibly guided, amplified, and distorted billions of times—
Like a bomb detonated from within, silent, yet utterly devastating—
Shattered! Annihilated! Reduced to the most basic energy turbulence!
Click! Click! Click!
On the three-dimensional magic circle, at the positions corresponding to the three nodes, the dark red light suddenly went out, and the complex rune structure shattered inch by inch, like broken glass! The entire massive, evil, and despair-inducing magic circle came to an abrupt halt, and its light dimmed by more than 90% in an instant! The terrifying power of forced banishment, like a vicious beast with its spine removed, howled and twisted, and quickly dissipated!
The invisible force field that bound everyone instantly collapsed!
"Success! The breach has been opened!" For the first time, Chu Xuan's icy voice carried a hint of relief.
However, the price...
"Zhang Jie!!!"
Zheng Zha and Wang Lin roared simultaneously.
At the epicenter of the energy eruption, Zhang Jie's figure was thrown backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against the cave wall before slid softly to the ground. His white guide uniform was tattered, revealing skin covered in cracks like shattered porcelain. Beneath these cracks, instead of flesh and blood, lay a constantly flickering, chaotic stream of data and a dark red, polluted light, along with a precarious, warm aura forcibly maintained by the fragment of the "Sun Sutra." His eyes were tightly closed, his face ashen, and his breath was extremely weak, like a candle flickering in the wind.
The state of his body that had just been "welded shut" was on the verge of complete collapse during that extremely frenzied "rule resonance activation" that used himself as the medium and fuel.
The "Heart of Nightmare," having lost some support from the magic circle and severely impacted by the terrifying internal resonance, began to beat at an extremely chaotic and weak frequency, its dark, nightmarish aura greatly diminished. Yet, it still hovered there, radiating a resentful, dying, malevolent light.
"Now's the time! Destroy it!" Chu Xuan shouted.
Without him saying a word, Zheng Zha, having broken free of his restraints, flashed a fierce light in his eyes. He transformed all his worries about Zhang Jie's injuries, his fear of the desperate situation just now, and his rage at the filthy heart before him into the purest power. Roaring wildly, he transformed into a red and white meteor that tore through the air and crashed fiercely into the chaotic dark heart at the top of the altar!
"Smash it, you son of a bitch!!!"