Annihilation

Lu Heng gripped the Insect Armor Sword, his wrist steady, the blade hanging at his side.

His gaze slowly moved downwards, across the empty, cold hall, and finally settled steadily on the group of people huddled inside the iron cage.

Throughout the entire struggle, the survivors inside the cage have maintained a deathly silence.

No one dared to make a sound, no one dared to interfere with the battle in mid-air. They could only huddle in the blind spot of the iron bars, watching the struggle between Lu Heng, the Bone Demon, and the black mist.

The fear was real, but the sliver of hope in my heart never died out.

They had witnessed firsthand the Silver Zombie grabbing living people to shield them from its blade, and seen that innocent life severed with a single sword stroke. That scene was etched into their very bones, filling them with dread of Lu Heng's ruthlessness.

But they continue to numb themselves.

In the most basic understanding of ordinary people, monsters are enemies, and humans are their fellow humans.

They quietly prepared two escape routes for themselves in this desperate situation.

Alternatively, if Lu Heng eventually kills the black mist monster and the situation stabilizes, they might have a chance to be released.

Either they fight to the death and both sides are severely injured, leaving the cage unattended, they can take advantage of the chaos to pry open the iron bars and escape from this abandoned, unfinished building.

Even if the hope is slim, it is the only obsession that has kept this group of people going until now.

Until this moment.

Lu Heng stopped his attack on the black mist, turned around with his sword in hand.

That calm yet icy gaze fell squarely upon the cage.

A chill ran down the spines of everyone in the cage.

They weren't fools; they understood the situation perfectly in an instant.

This sword is no longer aimed at the malevolent spirits haunting the heavens.

They were aimed at them.

What are you going to do?

The man closest to the railing felt a tightness in his throat, his voice trembling uncontrollably. He instinctively shrank back, his back pressed firmly against the cold, rusty iron bars, with nowhere left to retreat.

Panic, like a silent tide, instantly engulfed the entire cage.

Prolonged imprisonment, hunger, and mental torture had long since emptied these people of their strength to roar. There were no screams of despair, no hysterical questioning; only extreme repression and primal pleas for mercy remained.

"I have children at home... Please, let me go..."

"I can work! I can endure any hardship! Please don't kill me!"

"I didn't do anything... I'm just locked up here... Please..."

Soft, humble cries of pleas rose and fell, crammed into the small iron cage.

When people are dying, they become unreasonable and indifferent to good and evil; they only desperately grasp at the last glimmer of hope and utter the most humble pleas.

Lu Heng's expression remained completely unchanged throughout.

He focused intently on sensing the overall situation.

Above the sky, the Blood Taisui had already exhausted a large amount of its Origin Energy.

Countless fine, invisible mental chains crisscrossed, tightly binding and imprisoning the entire black mist body, pinning the Nightmare Eater to mid-air, leaving it no room to escape or dodge.

He had witnessed the struggle that had lasted for so long with perfect clarity.

The terrifying aspect of the Nightmare Eater is not its instantaneous burst of power.

It's not about its perpetual operation, but its ability to sustain itself.

The fear, despair, and decadence that grow day and night among the people in the cage continuously transform into spiritual nourishment that drifts into the black fog.

Lu Heng repeatedly used his full mental strength to cleanse and completely dismantle and wear down large parts of the Nightmare Eater's body.

However, as long as the emotions below continue, the depleted black mist can be replenished and restored in an instant, remaining in balance forever, and never being completely eradicated.

The Blood Taisui's restraining power is strong enough, but it can't afford to wait.

Continuously overdrawing one's source will only lead to a cascading backlash. Once the chains loosen and break, the Nightmare Eater, now free, will immediately flee to seek out new human settlements to draw emotional nourishment.

By then, there will be no more such a decisive opportunity.

There was no hesitation, no excessive pity, and no pointless explanation.

Lu Heng raised his hand, his fingertips gripping the simple, old-fashioned lock on the iron cage, and gently flicked it.

The dry, harsh sound of metal scraping together was particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall.

He stepped forward and went straight into the cage.

The Insect Armor Sword rose and fell with lightning speed, its movements clean, precise, and devoid of any unnecessary flourishes.

Each strike targets a vital point, ending the fight cleanly.

There was no fierce counterattack, no prolonged screams.

Only short, muffled tearing sounds rang out one after another.

One by one, the faint signs of life were extinguished.

The dark crimson slowly seeped into the cold cement floor, spreading along the fine cracks and covering the entire bottom of the cage.

In just a few dozen seconds, the noise subsided.

The cage fell into utter silence.

Lu Heng sheathed his sword, turned around, and steadily walked out of the iron cage.

The soles of his shoes rolled across the slightly damp ground, his steps steady and unhurried, without ever looking back.

It's broken.

As the last vestige of human life completely dissipated, the negative emotions that had lingered in the hall for so long were instantly wiped out and completely eradicated.

The Nightmare Eater, which had been firmly imprisoned in mid-air, immediately erupted in violent anomalies.

The continuous supply of energy that used to be a safety net has been completely cut off.

All the physical damage caused by Lu Heng's mental assault and the battles that had taken its toll on the body was now fully revealed.

The thick black fog, deprived of nourishment, began to slowly, continuously, and irreversibly loosen, thin, and dissipate.

But it did not crumble, it did not perish.

It remained suspended in mid-air, its body intact, but it had completely lost all abilities to heal, recover, and sustain itself.

The black mist churned and trembled wildly, and the entire spiritual body struggled violently in a state of agitation.

It instinctively sensed the deadly crisis and desperately tried to break free from the Blood Taisui's spiritual chains, attempting to escape and seek a new source of emotion to prolong its life.

The chains formed by the overdrawn essence of the Blood Taisui are indestructible and remain unmoved.

It locked away its spiritual essence, sealing off all avenues for escape and survival.

Lu Heng looked up, his gaze fixed on the black mist in mid-air, which was constantly weakening and struggling wildly.

I know perfectly well in my heart.

The real chance to win has finally materialized.

There is no unlimited battery life.

It did not heal on its own immediately.

There is no safety net.

This is the only, and final, window of opportunity to eliminate them.

Lu Heng no longer suppressed the dormant power within him.

He calmed his mind, cleared his mind of all distractions, and his aura became completely settled.

A special power, hidden deep within the body, slowly awakens.

This is the Greedy Wolf Star Power.

It doesn't rely on bloodline explosion or physical enhancement; it's purely a unique spiritual power dormant within the limbs, bones, and muscles.

Cold, domineering, and possessing a strong tendency to devour and destroy.

The power flowed slowly through the muscles and meridians of the body, spreading throughout the entire body, and finally converging at the core of one's spirit.

The basic spiritual power, originally used for suppression and sealing, underwent a qualitative change under the complete influence of the Greedy Wolf Star Power.

The attributes have been completely reversed.

From binding and sealing, it transforms into devouring, disintegrating, and annihilating the source of falsehood.

The Blood Taisui Mycelium dormant on the body surface trembled slightly, precisely synchronizing with Lu Heng's mental frequency.

The invisible chains tightened once more, completely sealing off the Nightmare Eater's last shred of struggle and eliminating all variables.

Lu Heng gripped the Insect Armor Sword tightly with both hands.

The pure and domineering spiritual power of the Greedy Wolf continuously flowed into the sword through the palm.

The sword, which originally possessed only physical sharpness, was now covered with a destructive property targeting mentally Aberrant.

His feet were firmly planted on the ground, his body taut, his gaze cold as frost, piercing through the churning black mist and locking onto the hidden core of origin at the very center.