Saruman slowly sat back down beside the stone wall, leaning against the cold stone, looking up at the perpetually dim and oppressive sky. An uncontrollable smile crept onto his lips. Tears finally streamed silently down the face of this old man, who had witnessed a thousand years of vicissitudes and carried heavy memories and obsessions. He knew.
He finally realized it.
History... has truly been changed.
Lina survived and was given a new lease on life.
Karg is still alive.
And the source of all this hope, the mysterious Ian Prince, is waging the final and most dangerous battle to completely end this nightmare.
The future... is finally no longer that despairing darkness. A faint but real ray of dawn seems to have pierced through the ancient gloom of R'lyeh.
It shone into his heart, frozen for a thousand years. They seized the time to recover, awaiting the decisive Destiny in the distance, when finally news of victory would arrive. In the dream world.
Dark Tiga's crimson eyes, like two flames burning in the abyss, coldly stared at the surging, seemingly alive "darkness" before him. It was not merely darkness, but a chaotic outline of Cthulhu's immense will and dream power, highly condensed and manifested here. Just by looking at each other, a pure malice and ancient madness that froze the soul and shattered reason crashed against Ian's consciousness like an invisible tide.
certainly.
Ian Dark Tiga remained unmoved.
The surging dark power within him, originating from Lina's corrupting transformation, already bore a trace of Cthulhu's "mark." Instead of being assimilated, it became even more concentrated and aggressive under Ian's absolute control and the harmonization of the " Raven's " power!
It even subtly gave rise to a greedy instinct to turn the tables and devour the opposing force, which was of the same origin but much larger.
"Roar!!!"
Seemingly enraged by Dark Tiga's calm yet provocative gaze, the chaotic outline let out a silent yet earth-shattering roar that shook the entire dream realm! The blurry, humanoid head covered in countless tentacles suddenly lunged forward! Instantly, countless enormous tentacles, far thicker and more solid than the previous dream avatar, their surfaces flowing with dark purple blasphemous runes and viscous energy, burst forth from the chaotic darkness like demonic dragons breaking free from their restraints!
It lashed out fiercely at the Dark Tiga Ian had transformed into.
Each of these tentacles seemed to possess its own independent will, their attack trajectories cunning and ruthless. Some aimed directly at the head, some coiled around the limbs, and some even pierced the dark red energy core in the chest from tricky angles!
The tentacles are not only imbued with terrifying physical power, but also with intense mental pollution, Spatial Lock, and a bizarre property that seems to corrode energy itself!
"Tsk tsk, what a terrifying attack." Dark Tiga's crimson eyes flashed, and he chose not to confront the first, probing, yet already devastating, attack head-on.
"Drink!"
He let out a low shout, and his massive body displayed astonishing agility that belied its appearance, retreating rapidly like a ghost while his arms swung wildly in front of him.
It left behind trails of deep, inky darkness!
" Dark Eight-Pointed Halo! Just kidding, it's Palm Cutting!"
Crescent-shaped forces began to emerge.
Dark light blades, their edges burning with crimson flames, shot out from the edge of Tiga's palm, precisely slashing at the tips of the lashing tentacles or the nodes where power flowed!
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"
The dark light blade collided with the tentacles, exploding into bursts of energy sparks interwoven with purple-black and dark red! The parts of the tentacles struck by the light blade emitted a teeth-grinding tearing sound!
The slime splattered everywhere, and the runes on the surface flickered, causing the offensive to slow down.
But the tentacles were far more resilient than imagined; the dark blades could often only cut halfway before their energy was depleted and dissipated, unable to completely sever them. "You don't understand who the real Dark Lord is!" However, Ian's goal wasn't to sever them. He wanted to disrupt them, to test them, to find their weaknesses!
Taking advantage of the moment when the tentacle attack faltered, Dark Tiga suddenly stepped forward, clenched his right fist, and dense dark energy gathered at the tip of his fist like a vortex!
" Dark Punch!"
A punch is thrown! There are no fancy techniques, only the purest power and the concentrated darkness!
"Thump!!!"
The fist slammed into the side of the thickest tentacle that was coming straight at it! Terrifying dark energy erupted, forming visible black shockwaves!
The tentacle trembled violently, and even fine cracks appeared on its surface. It was knocked to the side by the punch, which also disrupted the attack rhythm of the tentacles behind it!
But at the same time, several other tentacles attacked from the side and rear! One wrapped around Dark Tiga's left calf, the cold, slippery touch and powerful binding force coming through him, while a strong paralyzing and corrosive energy tried to invade his energy body! Another one, like a venomous snake, stabbed towards his back!
"Using underhanded tactics?"
Dark Tiga reacted extremely quickly, his left leg, which had been entangled, suddenly exerted force, unleashing a burst of dark energy that forcibly broke free from the tentacles' grip. However, obvious burn marks and energy disturbances were already visible on his calf.
Regarding the attack from the rear.
He didn't even turn around. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, his left arm swung back in a strange reverse joint, and his elbow, carrying condensed dark energy, slammed hard into the tip of the stabbing tentacle!
"Bang!"
The tip of the tentacle was twisted and burst open, releasing a small clump of purplish-black liquid, and the attack was thwarted. In just a few breaths of exchange, both sides had probed each other's weaknesses.
The power level of Dark Tiga, a product of imagination, is clearly inferior to the chaotic outline of this Cthulhu will, but its exquisite control over dark energy, superb combat skills, and absolute calmness completely unaffected by the will of madness make it exceptionally difficult to deal with. Furthermore, Ian's uncorrupted nature is also troublesome.
Of course, Cthulhu's dream entity is no less formidable. Its tentacle attacks are powerful and heavy, inflicting various negative effects, and seem to be inexhaustible and extremely resilient.
"Roar roar roar!"
The chaotic outline seemed to have lost patience; suddenly, two extremely deep, dark purple lights, seemingly capable of devouring all light and hope, shone brightly at the "eyes" of the blurry head!
Immediately following, two enormous, dark purple beams of Mental Shock, formed purely from madness and blasphemous knowledge, shot out like annihilating death rays.
In an instant, it traversed the portal's distance and blasted towards Dark Tiga! This time, it was no longer a physical attack, but a spiritual annihilation directly targeting the soul and the essence of existence!
"Tsk tsk!"
Facing those two dark purple spiritual beams that were enough to instantly shatter the souls and dissolve the consciousness of ordinary Legend, Dark Tiga showed no fear in his dark red eyes.
Instead, a cold, almost mocking glint flashed in his eyes.
"Should I avoid your sharp edge?"
Is it a contest of Mental Power? A contest of willpower?
This might just be exactly what he wanted to do!
He is Ian Prince! A soul that has been baptized by the information explosion era, bearing the cold order of the " Raven," and who has just completed a subtle "operation" deep within someone else's soul! The strength of his Mental Barrier and the refinement of his will far exceed the conventional understanding of this world!
"Well done!" Dark Tiga thought to himself, neither dodging nor avoiding, and even taking a step forward!
He clasped his hands together sharply in front of his chest, then slowly pulled them apart! With that movement, the dark red energy core on his chest suddenly erupted with an unprecedentedly intense light!!
However, the light did not radiate outwards, but rather contracted and condensed inwards, forming a constantly rotating, deep substance like a cosmic Black Hole between his hands.
It was a Dark Mental Barrier composed entirely of highly condensed dark Mental Power! This barrier had no physical form, yet it seemed capable of devouring all forms of mental and psychic attacks!
"Buzz!!!"
Two dark purple beams of spiritual death slammed violently into the Dark Mental Barrier!
The anticipated violent explosion or energy annihilation did not occur.
Those two beams of deathly light, filled with madness and destruction, vanished the moment they touched the dark barrier, as if they were a mud ox sinking into the sea. Their violent energy and chaotic intent were strangely and rapidly "absorbed," "decomposed," and completely "transformed" by the deep, rotating dark barrier! "I feel stronger! No! This is my power! I am Dark Tiga! I am the King of Darkness!" Dark Tiga's body trembled slightly as Ian hypnotized himself.
The flames burning in his dark red eyes seemed to intensify even further!
He could clearly feel that two enormous and complex Mental Power, filled with negative emotions and blasphemous knowledge, were being forcibly extracted and filtered by his barrier!
The most chaotic and harmful "impurities of will" are neutralized and annihilated by the dark nature of the barrier itself.
The remaining relatively "pure" power, the high concentration of spiritual energy, was transformed and absorbed, flowing into his own dark power!
This is precisely what makes Dark Tiga so terrifying!
He can not only use dark power for physical combat, but also utilize its "devouring" and "transformation" properties to deal with mental attacks! Especially when the opponent's power is of the same origin as the "darkness" he has absorbed.
This transformation and absorption is more efficient!
"It tastes good, but there are too many impurities." Ian even commented in his mind, raising his hand and beckoning to the chaotic substance in front of him.
It's highly provocative.
"ⅠⅠ"
The chaotic outline clearly hadn't expected its Mental Attack to be so easily "eaten up," and the swirling star-shaped vortex in its eyes rippled violently.
Then, it unleashed an even more furious intent!
It seemed to realize that the dark Giant before it was not only a powerful intruder, but also an extremely dangerous predator capable of "stealing" its power!
We can't keep testing them!
The massive body of the chaotic outline began to writhe and expand even more violently!
The entire space within the dreamlike mezzanine groaned under its strain as it moved, beginning to crumble and evaporate on a large scale, revealing the even more primal and chaotic "information abyss" below!
More and thicker tentacles surged from the chaotic darkness, sprouting bony barbs that shimmered with an eerie light and sucker-like mouthparts that opened and closed continuously! At the same time, a dark red energy sphere, extremely unstable and radiating an aura of annihilation that distorted even space itself, began to condense at the "mouth" of the head's outline!
At the core of this energy sphere, there is an extremely subtle element, almost imperceptible unless you look closely, that seems capable of tearing apart the boundaries between reality and dreams... " The Fire of the Old Ones!"
This is the will of Cthulhu using a power closer to its origin, a power imbued with the characteristics of its " Great Old Ones "!
Even though it was just a tiny, insignificant projection!
However, its high status and destructive power have undergone a qualitative change!
"Hmm? Starting to unleash his trump card, going all out?" Dark Tiga also felt unprecedented pressure. The "ancient" aura contained within that dark red energy sphere caused an instinctive tremor and... a hint of greed? within the dark power within him. But at the same time, it also brought a deadly sense of threat. He knew he could no longer passively defend and absorb and transform. He had to take the initiative, interrupt the opponent's charge, and even... find a way to "seize" that sliver of high-level power!
" Dark Zeperion Ray, prepare!"
Ian made up his mind and immediately began to mobilize all the dark energy in his body!
However, just as he was about to unleash his strongest dark beam technique to clash head-on with his opponent...
Deep within his soul, the " Raven " imprint, one of the foundations of his power, which had remained dormant for so long, suddenly trembled slightly, on its own! A cold, obscure fragment of information, seemingly traversing endless time, accompanied by the Raven's cry, quietly flowed into his consciousness. " Vanguard of the Old Ones?"
What does this mean?
Ian didn't have time to think.
With an even more ferocious and ancient silent roar, the ball of destructive energy, over twenty meters in diameter and burning with dark red " Fire of the Old Ones," tore through space like a world-destroying breath spewed from the mouth of a slumbering ancient god, and hurtled toward Dark Tiga with unstoppable force! Wherever it passed, even the most basic "information structure" of the dream's layers was evaporated and annihilated, leaving behind a shocking, long-unhealed "path of nothingness"!
Faced with this devastating blow.
Ian had to pause his thoughts.
The Dark Tiga he transformed into did not retreat, nor did he use a barrier to block. Instead, he suddenly changed his posture from holding his hands in a half-hug gesture, and his arms stretched outward as if embracing the void!
"Dark Wings - Time-Space Deflection - Activated!"
The dark silver Power of the Raven mixed with dark energy, instantly unfolding in front of him into a constantly rotating Skills with an extremely complex internal structure. It was a silver-black force field vortex that seemed to be composed of countless miniature clocks and Raven wings!
"Boom! Boom!"
The ancient energy sphere crashed violently into the silver-black force field vortex!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Time seemed to stretch out and become distorted at that moment.
The immense ancient energy was like a flood encountering the most ingenious floodgates and diversion dams. The vast majority of the destructive energy impacts were forcibly "guided" and "deflected" by the constantly rotating, intricately structured force field vortex, like a stream stirred by an invisible hand, rushing past the sides of Dark Tiga's body.
Ultimately, the bombardment struck the already empty dream ruins behind, triggering an even more terrifying chain of annihilation!
However, at the core of that energy sphere, that tiny yet extremely potent dark red " Fire of the Old Ones " underwent an extremely strange change when it came into contact with the center of the force field vortex!
it.
robbed by Ian!