Sea God Island was completely shrouded in darkness. Only the Golden Ancient Tree still gave off a faint glimmer.
"A Golden Soul Ring?! Damn it, who exactly is this person?! And what's going on with these people?"
Countless questions swirled through the inner court members' minds, but before they could think further, the Shadow Garden charged straight at them.
The Shadow Garden's hundred and fifty-four members held swords, rapidly gathering Soul Power along their blades. Without even releasing their Martial Souls, they charged straight toward the forty or fifty inner court members opposite them.
"We swear to defend Shrek Academy to the death!"
"We swear to defend Shrek Academy to the death!..."
Someone shouted, and the inner court students roared in unison as countless Soul Rings lit up.
Dai Yueheng even took the lead. "White Tiger Meteor Shower!" He punched straight ahead. Ripples spread behind him, and countless small meteors formed from Soul Power shot toward the Garden's members.
One Garden member leaped out of the formation. The longsword in their hand shone azure blue as they swung it down toward their feet.
Snowflakes inexplicably began drifting through the sky. A thick wall of ice abruptly appeared, blocking the barrage of meteors.
The instant the meteor barrage ended, the ice wall shattered.
The Shadow Garden's members charged out through the icy mist, rapidly closing in on the inner court students.
At that very moment, Soul Rings appeared around the Garden's members, rising one after another.
One member turned into a streak of lightning, plunging among the inner court students in the blink of an eye. Bypassing layer after layer of defenses, they appeared directly behind the Auxiliary System Soul Masters. Two flashes of sword light swept past, and blood spilled!
Before the surrounding students guarding the Auxiliary System could react, the two wounded students had already fallen unconscious.
"An agility-attack-type Soul King!"
"Everyone, protect the Auxiliary System! Watch out for enemy attacks!"
Only then did Dai Yueheng clearly see that every one of the twenty-five people at the front was at least a Five-Ring Soul King. There were even several Soul Emperors mixed among them.
Behind those twenty-five, the rest had either three rings or four.
Although there was a clear gap between the enemies' levels of strength, so many people swarming them and unleashing their Soul Skills together would still give them more than enough to choke on!
Moreover, the agility-attack-type Soul King's sudden appearance had interrupted many of their Soul Skill attacks. Now, they could only fend off the assault in a flurry.
"Steady, everyone! Their overall strength is lower than ours. Hold formation, don't panic!" an inner court member reminded them.
After all, as members of the Shrek Inspection Corps, they had undergone countless trials of life and death. They quickly adjusted, their eyes constantly moving as they surveyed the battlefield.
"First Soul Skill, Soul Restoration!"
Streaks of green light leaped from a female student's fingers, landing on the students one after another.
A trace of green light flashed across each student's body, and their Soul Power instantly increased by twenty percent!
They moved, their Soul Rings lighting up rapidly as countless Soul Skills smashed toward the Garden's members.
With Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, the Garden's members could clearly see where every Soul Skill would land. Their feet rapidly struck the ground, their figures flickering as they moved straight out of the Soul Skills' range.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every Soul Skill missed!
Dust filled the air. With no time to be shocked, the inner court students hurriedly gathered together to guard against a surprise attack.
"Dai Yueheng, don't you think some of their Soul Skills look familiar?..."
Chen Zifeng and Dai Yueheng stood tightly back-to-back, each keeping watch.
"They do seem a little familiar, but I can't remember right now. This isn't the time to think about that. Zifeng, be careful."
Chen Zifeng nodded, gripping his Soul Chasing Sword tightly, ready to swing at any moment.
As those words fell, countless dark figures burst out of the dust, their longswords stabbing toward the inner court students at bizarre angles.
On closer inspection, the angles from which the swords appeared were precisely the blind spots between the students!
The inner court students could not track the enemies' figures at all. Their lack of visibility left them badly on the defensive.
Streaks of sword light flashed past, leaving wounds of all sizes on every student.
With Spiritual Detection Sharing, the dust did nothing to hinder the Garden's members. All they saw before them were the inner court students' openings.
Although some members were only at rank thirty, their sudden bursts of Soul Power still caught the inner court students off guard!
"Roar!"
The inner court students rapidly unleashed Soul Skills. A roar carried powerful sound waves that dispersed the dust outright.
The Shadow Garden's members appeared in their sight once more.
"Finish this battle quickly!"
High in the sky, Nu stepped forward, the ruby in her hand flashing incessantly. Her shapely, slender legs made it hard to look away.
"Ice Prison!"
The ice-attribute Soul King swung their longsword again, and countless cages formed from solid ice imprisoned every inner court student.
Searing flames gathered over Nu's fists. Beneath her hood, her pale pink eyes rapidly turned red.
"Screee!..."
A phoenix's cry resounded through the sky. Nu abruptly rose, turning into a sun in midair and hurtling toward the students with terrifying might!
Even from a hundred meters away, the students could still feel the terror of the blazing flames enveloping her. A burning pain stung every face.
The solid ice binding them melted outright. The inner court members' pupils contracted, and they instinctively tried to flee, but it was already too late.
Boom!
The blazing sphere smashed down, transforming into a towering pillar of fire that engulfed every inner court member. Exquisite control of the Soul Skill ensured that not even the corners of the Garden members' clothes were singed.
The pillar of fire erupted for five full seconds before slowly dissipating. Scattered flames ignited the weeds nearby, instantly turning the ground beneath the Golden Ancient Tree into a sea of fire.
Nu swept her hand, and all the flames rose as though answering a command, streaming into her body.
Every inner court member collapsed to the ground! Unconscious!
Only the blackened ground remained to attest to the devastation of those five seconds.
The Garden's members immediately dragged these people away, tossing them to the side one by one.
The battle ended in an instant.
Huo Yuhao watched everything calmly. By not letting Nu kill these people, he had already shown them every possible mercy.
"Ultimate Fire?"
Dozens of aged figures flew out of the Golden Ancient Tree, stopping together a hundred meters opposite Huo Yuhao.
These Sea God Pavilion Elders had not wanted to show themselves. They had never expected this mysterious organization to be so strong that it defeated every inner court member in less than two and a half minutes.
These were all Shrek Academy's elites!
Yet, to their surprise, they had proved so utterly unable to withstand a single blow from the enemy.
Huo Yuhao swept his gaze over them. Every elder's eyes were numb, and every forehead bore a Deity Slave Seal. Their Soul Power flowed along prescribed paths, like puppets.
Elder Lin stared at Nu below, deeply puzzled as to where these people had come from.
Nu stared at the dozens of figures in the sky, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit!
She had intended to charge straight up and fight, but Huo Yuhao beckoned to her. Only then did she return to stand behind him.
Elder Zhuang's voice sounded like rotten wood snapping. With lightless eyes, he asked mechanically, "Who exactly are you...?"
Huo Yuhao wasted no words. He stepped forward, and a purple ripple spread outward from him. Each step he took produced another ripple.
They overlapped in endless succession!
Holding his sword in his right hand, he poured vast Soul Power into the blade, which let out a piercing sword cry!
Huo Yuhao pointed his sword straight at the dozens of figures ahead. Soul Power swept out around him, and his cloak snapped in the wind!
"I am Shadow, one who lurks within the shadows and hunts the shadows."
"Today, elders, I invite you all to your deaths!"