Just as in Shattered Lake of Old

The Necro-Ark was easy to identify. Even before Yaxiu could make out its actual structure, he could see the legion of Forgotten Ones in the distance, along with the dazzling glare and sonic shockwaves stirred up by their relentless barrage. Even from several kilometers away, Yaxiu had to expand his Sanctuary to isolate the concussive ripples produced by this divine battle. The air was thick with warped electromagnetic radiation as well as sonic and optical pollution. Spatial rifts sliced through the void from time to time. An ordinary creature would not survive here for even a single second, and even a legendary Sanctuary could barely preserve one's life at the periphery. Worse still, the closer one drew to the Necro-Ark, the more violently the elemental currents churned, resembling a sealed room filled with airborne flour and vaporized gasoline, where a stray spark could trigger an immediate explosion. This was merely the tip of the iceberg in a divine war. To achieve greater spellcasting efficiency, demigods continually altered their environment as they fought; not only did terrain and atmospheric phenomena warp, but the air grew dense with hyper-concentrated elements. For demigods, these served as spellcraft aids and battle ripples, but for mortals, they were a cursed storm far deadlier than toxic radiation. When the distance narrowed to just one kilometer, Yaxiu could clearly see the Necro-Ark. Rather than an ark, it looked more like a floating fortress in the shape of a ship. The Necro-Ark was shrouded beneath a soft, delicate curtain. Even under siege from over a thousand Forgotten Ones, it remained tranquil and serene, like a moonlit graveyard, while the Forgotten Ones swarmed around it like noisy vultures wheeling above withered vines and ancient trees. "What a formidable defensive spectacle." Concealed in the shadows, Yaxiu stared at that impenetrable veil, his thoughts stirring. "If I could obtain this spectacle—" "Impossible. That is the Necro-Ark's sole spectacle, the 'Curtain of Death'," Dead Frenzy said. "You're not the first person to eye it. Before you, every God-Leader who ever visited Hell tried their hand. Even we considered it, but let alone replicating the spectacle, no one has ever managed to haul it away." "Why?" "Because the physical core of the 'Curtain of Death' is the Necro-Ark itself, and the Necro-Ark is inextricably bound to Blackfall Hell. You can think of it as already being a part of Blackfall Hell, while Blackfall Hell is in turn a part of the Sixfold Hell. So..." Dead Frenzy flicked away the ash from her cigarette and said leisurely, "To monopolize the 'Curtain of Death', you would have to stuff the entire Sixfold Hell into your own kingdom. But if you're powerful enough to conquer all Sixfold Hell, would you even need the 'Curtain of Death' to protect yourself?" It possessed a dark humor akin to saying, *the simplest way to earn five hundred dollars is to put a hundred million in a term deposit*... Yaxiu asked, "Then how do we board the Necro-Ark?" "Not 'we'—you," Dead Frenzy said, biting down on her cigarette holder. "If you charge straight in, the Forgotten Ones will immediately switch targets to prioritize eliminating you. At most, you'll survive one round of focused fire. If the Necro-Ark refuses to open its doors for you..." "Then I'll just have to give you a fourth of myself," Yaxiu smiled. Dead Frenzy instantly fell silent, glaring askance at him. Her expression turned cold and gloomy, like an active volcano on the verge of erupting, sending a chill straight down Yaxiu's spine. He quickly added, "I'll find a way to contact the people inside first and see if they're willing to open the door." "What would you tell them?" Dead Frenzy said. "The Blackfall Council keeps a register of every demigod. You can't fake an identity." "I'll say I'm a lone wolf who arrived in Blackfall Hell only recently, having hidden for a long time until I couldn't hide any longer, and ask them to open a crack to let me in to escape the Great Deluge." Yaxiu pulled up his hood and raised his high collar to cover his nose and mouth. "I only need to stay for a few minutes anyway, as long as they don't realize I'm Yaxiu Heath... Are you truly unable to let me leave Hell directly?" "It wasn't us who brought you in," Dead Frenzy said. "You collected the secret poisons of Igola and Harvey, and we merely helped you pinpoint Ouroboros's stomach. The secret poisons then automatically transported you into the Sixfold Hell. "Until those secret poisons run out, it is impossible for you to leave Hell." Lowering her eyelids, she said calmly, "If you hadn't found Igola's secret poison from the start, you wouldn't have entered Hell or met us. Perhaps it would have been much easier to just obediently enjoy your final days with your girls..." "That won't do." A wisp of sword light surfaced on Yaxiu's fingertip. "A sorcerer's greatest virtue is insatiable greed. Would spending just a brief stretch of happy days with them ever be enough? No, far from it! I intend to stay by their side forever!" "It's far more likely you'll fight them to the bitter end," Dead Frenzy said, caught between exasperation and amusement. The sword light flew nearly flush against the golden river, gliding soundlessly beneath the legion of Forgotten Ones. Reaching the perimeter of the Curtain of Death, it rose and skimmed along the veil, narrowly evading the storms of spectacles again and again, until it finally spotted an elven demigod who appeared to be a commander at the ship's prow. The sword light promptly resolved into a line of text, claiming to be a demigod with triple hell wings who had only recently entered Blackfall Hell, requesting the Necro-Ark to open an entryway to receive him. Yaxiu waited for quite a while. Just as he could faintly hear the Great Deluge closing in from behind, the elven demigod at the prow finally nodded. With no time to lose, Yaxiu exhausted all the source power in his triple hell wings, layering a full twenty-four tiers of Refraction Guardian over himself, then crushed six source crystals to replenish his source power. He crept silently through the shadows for three hundred meters. The instant one of the Forgotten Ones abruptly turned its head toward him, Yaxiu unfurled his virtual wings, stepped onto the cloud surges, and crossed the final stretch at supersonic speed! Instead of steering clear of the Forgotten Ones, he charged straight into the spellcasting formations where their numbers were densest! Veteran of countless battles that he was, Yaxiu understood perfectly well that deliberately avoiding enemies only turned him into an easy target, whereas diving straight into their ranks would force them to hold back to avoid collateral damage! Even so, the concentrated barrage from the Forgotten Ones nearly killed Yaxiu on the spot. Spatial distortion, temporal deceleration, slowness, concussions, stuns, bindings... In a matter of seconds, dozens, even hundreds of potent control arts pelted down like a torrential rain, not to mention standard lethal spells of flame, frost, and lightning, alongside the coordinated interception of at least three physical-arts demigods. Yaxiu unleashed Heart Hunt Throne while dodging wildly. The twenty-four layers of Refraction Guardian he had just prepared melted away in an instant, but he immediately replenished twelve more, narrowly breaking through the Forgotten Ones' encirclement to reach the Necro-Ark! According to the plan, the Necro-Ark was supposed to open a gap to admit him the moment he touched the Curtain of Death. Thus, Yaxiu plunged toward the barrier at top speed, ignoring the barrage from the Forgotten Ones behind him, like a fly courageously hurling itself against a glass window. "Up!" Dead Frenzy shouted suddenly. *Thud!* Yaxiu stomped downward with immense force. The air, compressed to its absolute limit, detonated into layers of cloud surges. The powerful recoil instantly shifted his trajectory, sending him rocketing upward along the face of the Curtain of Death! Without needing an explanation from Dead Frenzy, Yaxiu already knew what had just occurred—the Necro-Ark never intended to let him inside! Perhaps they didn't trust a lone wolf, perhaps they feared the Forgotten Ones would breach the barrier behind him, or perhaps they simply wanted to use Yaxiu to draw the Forgotten Ones' fire and relieve pressure on the Curtain of Death... Whatever the reason, the path of survival through entering the Necro-Ark had never existed for him from the start. He had fifteen minutes left before he could leave Hell, but right now, he couldn't even survive for one. Seeing Forgotten Ones swarming in from all directions, Yaxiu exhaled a long breath and opened *Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook*—'Operator Recruitment'. He said calmly, "I'll slaughter these Forgotten Ones first, then see if I can break through the Curtain of Death—" "No!" Dead Frenzy seized his wrist tightly, her crimson eyes staring intently into his. "There's no need to waste a fourth of yourself here... I have a way! Hold out for now and listen to me!" Without hesitation, Yaxiu chose to trust Dead Frenzy. Layering Refraction Guardian over himself, he continuously consumed source crystals to replenish his source power, actively plunging into the turbulent tempest of battle to buy breathing room. Dead Frenzy spoke rapidly: "There are four hidden nodes along the roof of the cavern. You must destroy them all in one go. That's the secret pass for the Necro-Ark; once you have it, you can move freely through the Curtain of Death." Dead Frenzy flew closely beside him. Like petrels in a tempest, the two darted and weaved through the cataclysmic storm of arts unleashed by the Forgotten Ones. "However, even if you get inside, the Blackfall demigods will attack you. So the moment you enter, immediately declare that you are Yaxiu Heath. Let everyone know you're the man Stars wants! That way, blinded by greed, they will lose their judgment and keep you alive for fifteen minutes!" "Why didn't you say so earlier? Thanks!" Overjoyed, Yaxiu looked toward the four hidden nodes on the cavern's ceiling following Dead Frenzy's guidance. Four beams of sword light shot out simultaneously, blowing all the nodes to pieces in an instant! The moment he finished, he dove vertically toward the Curtain of Death, prepared to expose his identity and barter himself to survive— "The energy nodes have been destroyed!" "The curtain is about to collapse, everyone take positions!" "How is that possible—" Amidst the furious shock of the Blackfall demigods, the Curtain of Death enveloping the Necro-Ark finally reached its limit. Like a popped soap bubble, it burst into nothingness, leaving the Necro-Ark exposed to the Forgotten Ones like a naked Lalafell. The Forgotten Ones who had been cornering Yaxiu instantly redirected all their firepower, blanketing the demigod sorcerers aboard the Necro-Ark indiscriminately! Lightning surged wild, flames exploded, steam boiled, and space-time warped. The battle reached its climax in an instant. The violent elemental turbulence inundated everyone even before the Great Deluge could arrive. The Necro-Ark creaked under unbearable strain, and countless demigods wailed in agony one after another! At the cost of twenty source crystals, Yaxiu barely managed to emerge unscathed from the barrage. Looking at the thoroughly routed Blackfall demigods, he instantly realized what had happened—those four nodes were never any sort of pass; they were the energy nodes sustaining the Curtain of Death! For the Curtain of Death to withstand the Forgotten Ones' relentless onslaught for so long, it couldn't possibly rely on source crystals or sorcerers for power; it had to harness the natural environment of Blackfall Hell, much like the Guiming Current of Guiming Palace drew upon the waters of Deep Blue Hell. Yaxiu didn't believe the four nodes he destroyed were the only ones, but they were certainly the final straw that broke the Curtain of Death. After being bombarded by over a thousand Forgotten Ones for days or even weeks, the Curtain of Death had probably never faced such an extreme ordeal since its inception. Now, Yaxiu could indeed board the Necro-Ark, but the cost was that the Blackfall demigods had lost the protection of the Curtain of Death. In an instant, ten demigods had already perished under the Forgotten One legion's tempestuous assault. At the very least, he was no longer the sole target of their concentrated fire, and the Blackfall demigods who had sought to exploit him had paid a horrific price. "Don't mention it." Dead Frenzy's delayed reply was graceful, courteous, and composed. Yaxiu glanced at her, parting his lips, but in the end said nothing, letting out a helpless sigh. At the same time, the battlefield reached a critical turning point. More than thirteen Blackfall demigods simultaneously triggered their Tribulations, tearing open teleportation gates leading to the Fourth Hell! "Move! You have ten seconds!" The lead elven demigod spoke only a single sentence before immediately stepping into his gate and departing. His teleportation gate did not vanish afterward; instead, it blinked to another spot on the Necro-Ark, seemingly still usable! "You have ten seconds!" Dead Frenzy said quickly. "These gates will keep teleporting around, and anyone can use them within ten seconds—don't go in yet! Go snatch that spectacle on the ark first!" Yaxiu dove vertically. In the chaotic battlefield, no one had the leisure to pay attention to him, the culprit behind it all. Just as he stored the spinning spherical spectacle into his Soul Kingdom of Heaven, two demigods rushed past him, knocking hard against his shoulder and flinging back his hood. Yaxiu instinctively turned to look, and the other person glanced back at him as well, golden hair flying. "Igola, why did you stop...?" A dark-skinned man with curly hair noticed his companion pausing and turned back as well, immediately freezing in his tracks. The necromancer, the deceiver, and the cult leader met once more in a desperate plight where their fates hung by a thread. Just as in Shattered Lake of old.