Alone and Infinite

The higher you go, the more obvious the strange sense of chaos becomes; if it weren't for the fact that you could still see the ruins on your side out of the corner of your eye.

Li Xia almost felt like he was flying close to the ground!

"Meow!"

Black Charcoal's voice rang out in the team chat, followed by clumsy typing:

"The main reason is that Meow found the board!"

"Board? What board?" Li Xia and Aowu immediately flew towards the location of Black Charcoal.

Surprisingly, it really was a board, made of the same material as the previous notice.

They are all made of gold mixed with other metals, and there isn't much information on them.

Thanks to the translation function she had redeemed earlier, Li Xia was able to easily read the text above:

In the year 1150 of the Eternal Calendar, the Temple of Earth, the Alchemy Guild, the Imperial Construction Department, and the Architectural Association forged the Supreme Ascension Platform here for the supreme emperor.

May the empire prosper, and may the emperor, like the sun, never fade!

"The Ascension Platform??"

Aowu stared in astonishment at the high wall in front of him, and patted it in disbelief, which produced a crisp sound like metal being struck.

"This thing is actually the Supreme Ascension Platform?"

Although it's hard to believe, both the symbol of the Temple of Light and the content stated on this sign are true.

"Let's go up and take a look first."

Holding the black charcoal, Li Xia unleashed his full power of the Flying Dance Technique, soaring into the sky.

Awoo followed closely behind, and in no time the buildings on the ground shrank rapidly in sight, reaching a height of several hundred meters in an instant.

But the enormous black wall in front of them still seemed endless.

The wind whistled in my ears, and my entire field of vision was filled by this black wall.

The entire world seemed to consist of only boundless blackness, as if one were lost in an endless night.

I even lost the sense of up, down, left, and right, but thankfully gravity still faithfully guided my direction.

As the altitude continued to increase, the darkness in the field of vision suddenly began to shrink rapidly from both sides.

Finally, everything became clear before a certain boundary!

Li Xia floated in the air with Aowu Black Charcoal. Only when they reached a sufficient height did the entire ascension platform finally reveal its full appearance.

This is a pyramid-shaped building, but it does not have a spire.

The base is over ten kilometers wide, and the overall height is as high as three thousand meters.

The final top platform is circular, and it's unclear how it was constructed to create such a unique shape.

No, I should say how this kind of building was constructed!

3000 meters high!

It has far surpassed modern standards; is this the power of magic?

They slowly landed on the platform, their feet barely touching the ground.

A notification from the Hall of Light immediately popped up:

[Executioner, you have arrived at the highest ascension platform]

[Proceed to the center of the ascension platform and light the ceremonial flame.]

The floor of the ascension platform is carved with exceptionally complex patterns, and walking on it feels like walking on metal, producing a soft, clattering sound.

Before long, Li Xia walked to the center of the circular platform.

There is a huge object here that resembles a wine glass, and it is several meters tall.

There is nothing else besides this.

Following the instructions from the Hall of Light, Li Xia carried his backpack and poured out all the purified 'pure souls' inside.

Two thousand souls, with a splashing sound, disappeared into the cup.

Suddenly, tiny glimmers of light began to form within the pile of souls, and then these souls began to emit light one after another.

An almost transparent flame rises from the cup, and as the light shimmers, the intricate patterns on the ground are gradually illuminated.

A beam of light shot into the sky and disappeared into the clouds.

A muffled rumble of thunder echoed within the clouds, followed by the thick clouds in the sky beginning to slowly rotate around the pillar of light.

[Executioner, the ceremonial fire has been lit]

Do not leave the highest ascension platform during the ascension ceremony; survive until the ceremony ends.

Depending on the progress, the apostles will receive varying degrees of bonuses.

[The apostle has died, and the final stage of the main quest has failed.]

[Current time required: Unknown]

The moment Li Xia lit the ceremonial flame was like the sounding of a bugle.

To their astonishment, beams of light shot into the sky from different areas of the capital city.

I roughly counted them, and there were no fewer than a hundred.

"Your Highness, this...this is..."

Li Xia looked at the pillars of light and nodded affirmatively: "These should be the rest of the apostles."

"But why did they all appear at the same time? Did we plan this?"

Awoo looked at the pillars of light that disappeared into the sky; on this vast ruin, these pillars of light appeared particularly magnificent.

It actually has a strange sense of epic scale.

"I don't know."

Li Xia, Ao Wu, and Hei Tan stood quietly in place, watching the beams of light disappear into the clouds, stirring up the clouds in the sky.

The thick, persistent clouds over Demon Prison Star finally began to disperse, and in an instant, clear, warm sunlight streamed down.

It covered the entire capital, as if light had once again descended upon the world.

Countless monsters raised their heads to feel the sunlight, and an unprecedented desire arose within their already twisted and deformed bodies.

They stared blankly at the sky, their terrifying eyes remaining motionless even as the sun scorched them.

Just like the sunshine they longed for.

A murky, dark liquid slid down from the corners of the deformed creatures' eyes; these monsters couldn't even comprehend what the liquid flowing from their eyes was.

The beam of light gradually disappeared, and once again, thick dark clouds swept in from afar.

The warm sunlight gradually disappeared, until the last ray of sunlight was completely obscured by the clouds.

These monsters suddenly awoke, letting out an unprecedented roar, and in an instant, the entire capital seemed to come alive once again.

The monsters roared as they charged toward all the ascension platforms where the ritual fires were lit.

Some have more, some have less, just like these monsters can tell which ascension platform has more burning 'souls'.

Looking down from Li Xia's perspective, the black dots on the ground suddenly seemed to boil over.

These black dots came together, forming a chilling black tide that spread rapidly.

They surged toward their location, their numbers far exceeding one hundred thousand.

Not only that, but a dark cloud also rose in the distant sky, which was a deformed variant whose arms had turned into wings!

"Damn it! These monsters are coming for us?"

Even Awoo, upon seeing the terrifying sight on the ground below, couldn't help but be shaken.

It used to be a very high-class place, that's true, but this kind of scene might be over with a sneeze.

But now, neither it nor His Highness has any chance of surviving this terrifying wave!

As for Black Charcoal, Little Meow had already opened its mouth and kept making "hissing" sounds, its fur standing on end, clearly extremely surprised.

"call--"

Li Xia let out a long breath and glanced back at the ritual fire behind her.

In the tall, goblet-shaped brazier, a cluster of golden flames was slowly burning.

White liquid flowed from the base of the goblet and filled a large circular rune.

If I'm not mistaken, once this circular rune is filled, the ascension ritual should be complete.

"This ascension platform is so high, can those mutants climb up?"

Awoo stood to the side, craning his neck to look down.

The 'tide' formed by the aggregation of aberrations had already spread to the area below the ascension platform.

They leaped high up and clung to the wall like geckos, wriggling and climbing upwards.

Every now and then one or two monsters would fall, only to be engulfed by the even more crowded horde of aberrations the moment they hit the ground.

But there were just too many of them, and the entire ascension platform seemed to have grown a wriggling outer layer.

It climbs and attaches itself little by little.

There was no time to take a closer look, because the swarm of winged mutants was already hurtling in from the sky!

"Awoo, Black Charcoal, you two go to the back and use your auras to protect yourselves!"

Night's silence suddenly transformed into a bolt of lightning in his hand, leaving a blinding mark in the gray sky.

Immediately, a monster howled and fell from the sky from the dark, heavy clouds.

The electrified Night Silence has extremely strong penetrating power. It is not enough to kill these monsters instantly, but it is enough to injure them and affect their flight.

The silence of night transformed into lightning that flashed three times in the sky, and the monsters had already arrived above the Ascension Platform.

Amidst the mournful horns that echoed through the sky, they folded their wings, which were stained with a black, asphalt-like liquid, and swooped down rapidly.

A dark, oily sheen emanated from its twisted claws as it viciously grabbed at Li Xia below.

Unexpectedly, the claws easily pierced through the 'head', an afterimage fist!

Immediately following a soft hissing sound, several sharp sword beams whistled through the air.

From the dark clouds where the aberrations gathered, severed limbs and foul-smelling, strange blood rained down.

The raging flames suddenly trembled twice, startling Aowu, who was intently watching the scene before him.

He hurriedly opened the task panel, stared at it carefully for a while, and suddenly shouted:

"Your Highness, the progress seems to be related to the number of people we kill. The more we kill, the faster we progress. This ascension platform can absorb and transform the souls of the mutants!"

Having just dodged the feathers launched by the mutant, Li Xia, who was about to jump backward, suddenly paused.

Without hesitation, he turned his spear around and charged into the monster horde like a streak of light.

The densely packed mutants, like bedbugs that had smelled fish, swarmed around it with strange cries.

Unable to squeeze in, the aberrations on the periphery could only greedily circle around the center, trying to find an opportunity to enter.

In Aowu and Heitan's eyes, it seemed as if a huge monster vortex had appeared in mid-air.

The vortex crackled with electricity and flames soared into the sky, occasionally interspersed with sharp sword flashes.

The mutated corpses kept falling from mid-air, rolling a few times on the ground before being absorbed and transformed by the ascension platform.

"Cry - Annihilation!"

Aowu's expression immediately turned serious. His Highness usually doesn't call out the names of his moves, and even when he does, it sometimes helps him unleash more power.

But once he speaks, it means that Li Xia is really going all out, and he doesn't want to miss out on even this small bonus.

"Zheng!"

A clear, resonant hum suddenly rang out from within the vortex, and beneath the dim sky, a massive circular sword beam appeared.

The circular white sword light spread rapidly, cutting everything in its path in two.

The entire sky seemed to lose its color, with only the circular slash becoming increasingly clear.