The moment the crimson light filled the corridors of the Silent Bastion and the barriers of void energy slammed shut, a wave of pure, unadulterated panic washed over the elite strike team. The communication arrays went dead, severing their connection to the fleet outside. The very air grew thick with the hum of a power so immense and destructive it made their souls tremble. They were not just trapped; they were standing on the anvil of a god, and the hammer was about to fall.
"A Void Shattering Array!" the Demonic Emperor roared, his voice a mixture of fury and a sliver of genuine fear. He slammed his fist against the shimmering void barrier, a blow that could shatter a small moon, but the barrier merely rippled, absorbing the force without a tremor. "We've been played! That masked whore from the Immortal Alliance sent us to our deaths!"
"Panic is a luxury we cannot afford," Jian Wushuang countered, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword, his knuckles white. His face was a mask of cold fury, but his mind was racing, trying to find a way out of a seemingly perfect trap. "The array is drawing power from the central core. If we can destroy the core, we may be able to break the seal."
"And how do you propose we do that, swordsman?" the Matriarch of the Nine Poisons School hissed, her usual seductive calm replaced by a sharp, venomous anxiety. "The core is on the other side of this fortress, and I suspect the path is no longer clear."
As if to punctuate her words, the "empty" corridors around them began to shift. Hidden panels slid open, and thousands of elite Immortal Alliance soldiers, clad in gray, featureless armor, poured out, their killing intent a tangible, suffocating wave. They were not the mindless puppets of the outer garrison; these were the true guardians of the Bastion, a force of Soul Formation and Void Amalgamation experts.
But they were not the most immediate threat.
"For the true dawn! For the Immortal Alliance!" a voice, filled with a terrifying, fanatical glee, roared from within the strike team's own ranks.
It was Elder Bai, the respected righteous elder who had argued against the infiltration. His kindly, cautious demeanor had vanished, replaced by a mask of pure, zealous devotion. He and a half-dozen other "righteous" cultivators, their eyes glowing with the same fanatical light, suddenly turned on their own allies. Elder Bai's primary target was not Jian Wushuang, but the young strategist, Jian Yi.
"The prophet dies first!" he shrieked, his hand transforming into a claw of black, corrosive energy as he lunged at the unsuspecting disciple.
Jian Wushuang, who had been focused on the approaching army, spun, his eyes wide with disbelief and betrayal. "Bai! You traitor!" He was too far away to intercept the attack.
But someone else was closer. A massive, brutish figure moved with an impossible speed. The Demonic Emperor, who had been standing near Jian Yi, let out a guttural snarl. He did not do it to save the boy, but out of pure, instinctual rage at the betrayal. He backhanded Elder Bai with a gauntlet of demonic iron, a casual blow that nonetheless carried the force of a collapsing star.
Elder Bai, a peak Void Amalgamation expert, was sent tumbling through the air like a broken doll, his body a mangled wreck, but the fanatical light in his eyes did not dim. "You cannot stop the dawn!" he gurgled, blood pouring from his mouth.
The betrayal, however, had served its purpose. It had created a moment of chaos, a moment the Immortal Alliance soldiers used to launch their first, devastating assault. A volley of soul-piercing arrows, designed to bypass spiritual defenses, rained down on the disorganized strike team.
On the deck of the Eternal Horizon, the atmosphere was serene. Ao Xian watched the chaos unfold on the celestial mirror, a faint, analytical smile on his face.
"The traitors have revealed themselves," General Ying noted, his voice a low, professional rumble. "Predictable, but effective. The Alliance is now trapped between a hammer and an anvil, with vipers in their own midst."
"And look," Lian Xin purred, pointing a slender finger at the screen. "The little hero, Jian Yi. He is not panicking. He is... calculating."
It was true. While the great leaders of the Alliance were now locked in a desperate, chaotic battle against a numerically superior force and the traitors in their own ranks, Jian Yi had found cover behind a fallen pillar. His eyes were closed, his mind a whirlwind of information. The perfect map provided by Ao Xian, the layout of the corridors, the energy signatures of the arrays—it was all there. He was not looking for a way out. He was looking for a flaw in the trap itself.
"The Void Shattering Array," he whispered to himself, his mind racing. "It requires ten thousand souls to power. A sacrifice. But a sacrifice of that magnitude, channeled into a single point... the energy flow would be inherently unstable. There must be a regulator, a weak point designed to prevent the core from detonating prematurely."
His eyes snapped open. He saw it. Not a physical path, but a path of energy. The array was not just a cage; it was a circuit. And every circuit has a fuse.
He opened his eyes and saw the grim reality of the battle. The Demonic Emperor was a whirlwind of destructive fury, his every blow turning an Immortal Alliance soldier to ash, but he was being slowly overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Jian Wushuang was a blur of silver light, his sword art a perfect, deadly dance, but he was being hounded by the traitorous elders, who knew his techniques and his weaknesses. The Alliance was losing.
Jian Yi knew he had only one chance. He activated his communication device, hoping its short-range function still worked within the fortress. "Master! Your Excellency!" his voice cut through the din of battle. "The array is a trap, but it is also our only weapon! It is designed to overload the power core. We cannot stop it, but we can... direct it."
"What are you talking about, boy?!" the Demonic Emperor roared, crushing the skull of an enemy soldier.
"The energy regulators!" Jian Yi explained, his voice clear and steady amidst the chaos. "There are three primary regulators that control the flow of sacrificial energy to the core. They are located in the northern, southern, and eastern sectors of this level. If we can destroy all three, simultaneously, the flow of energy will become uncontrolled. The core will not just explode; it will detonate inward, creating a localized black hole that will consume this fortress and everything in it, but the backlash will shatter the outer seal!"
A stunned silence fell over the leaders as they processed the insane, suicidal plan.
"That is a madman's gambit!" the Matriarch of the Nine Poisons School shrieked after incinerating a traitor with a stream of venom. "We would be caught in the collapse!"
"We have approximately five minutes until the array reaches full power and the strategists detonate it on their own terms," Jian Yi stated, his voice cold and logical. "My plan gives us a chance. Your way gives us certain death. The choice is yours."
Jian Wushuang looked at his disciple, then at the overwhelming tide of enemy soldiers, and then at the sneering face of the Demonic Emperor. He knew the boy was right. This was their only path. "The righteous faction will take the eastern regulator," he declared.
The Demonic Emperor let out a guttural laugh, a sound of pure, manic glee. "A plan that involves blowing everything to hell? Now you're speaking my language! The demonic faction will take the southern regulator!"
All eyes turned to the Void Sovereign. He looked at the overwhelming odds, at the fanatical soldiers of his rival faction, and made a cold, pragmatic calculation. "The northern regulator is ours," he hissed.