As countless corpses fell soundlessly like straw, viscous shadows rose into the sky amid the light, splendid melody.
From afar, it looked as though strange, dark tentacles were growing from the earth.
Like seaweed in an ocean current, they swayed gently in the melody and the wind, stretching toward the black heavens.
At that moment, iron-curtain clouds blotted out the last glimmer of light. The vast world was swallowed by the gloom of dark clouds, and whenever bolts of lightning streaked through them, they struck soul-shaking thunder in time with the music.
Each flash of electricity briefly illuminated the outlines deep within the clouds.
The projection of an enormous, grotesque heart.
The Heart of Shadow was beating.
Drawing upon the lives of countless hordes, its steel-and-flesh structure continually expanded and contracted, pulsing as it squeezed out viscous shadow Source Matter.
Like a real heart, it sent Source Matter through every corner of the clouds along the Return to Ruin cycle that resembled blood vessels.
A bleak gale blew in from the end of the earth.
Specks of airborne moisture and frost emerged within the nearly congealed air.
Was it the approach of a torrential storm, or a cruel winter?
The medley of classic jazz and improvised blues that had just begun over the broadcast brought no comfort at all. Instead, an indescribable suffocating pressure filled heaven and earth.
As the Ascenders on the battlefield looked around in astonishment, they suddenly discovered that the battle plans in their arms had trembled and begun to heat up.
"What the hell is this?"
In the midst of the charge, Yuan Zhao lowered his head in confusion and pulled out the booklet in his arms, which was so hot it was nearly turning into an iron plate. Before he could steady it, a deafening