NOVEL NEXT Chapter 293: Abyssal Mistress
Near the towering ice walls, several high order members stood in silence, their expressions grim and heavy.
The secret realm they had been operating within had already been completely emptied. Tens of thousands of soldiers now stood in formation, all facing the opposite side of the ice wall, their breaths restrained, their killing intent suppressed yet palpable.
Among them were several senior grey robed second rankers, as well as a single red robed expert of the third rank. The presence of that red robed figure alone was enough to stabilize the morale of the entire army.
Even so, his expression was far from relaxed.
He had personally witnessed Grey Lockhart's strength.
He had seen how Grey effortlessly defeated the City Lord of the Mandate Province, a powerful existence whom they had been targeting for years without success. What had taken them countless schemes and preparations had been resolved by Grey in only a few moves.
In terms of pure combat power, Grey Lockhart was terrifyingly strong.
However, that battle had also revealed something crucial.
Grey's offensive might was overwhelming, but his defensive capabilities were clearly lacking. A single well-placed strike from the City Lord had managed to severely injure him.
That weakness was their only chance.
This was their path to victory.
Grey Lockhart might possess terrifying destructive power, but if they could land a decisive blow and simultaneously sever his recovery methods using an anti-array barrier, then even he would be unable to heal.
An anti-array barrier was a special formation that nullified the hidden workings of heaven and earth. It reduced all arrays within its range to nothing more than meaningless patterns etched into talismans, completely cutting off their connection to natural laws.
And they had already deployed one hours ago.
The battlefield had been fully prepared.
With him officially eliminating one of his infernals, the final showdown had begun.
Grey Lockhart would arrive at any moment.
Their plan was simple.
They would use their army of second rank evolvers to suppress his summons, force him into a fixed position, and then let the third rank expert strike. One critical hit would be enough.
They refused to believe that Grey could have grown stronger within just a few months.
From their observations, it was clear that Grey had entered seclusion merely to patch up his injuries. If he failed to appear today, it would confirm their suspicions.
That would mean he was still wounded.
And if that was the case, they would retreat without hesitation.
Retreating now would give them more time to strengthen themselves, to gather more power, and to prepare for a future where Grey Lockhart would no longer be able to escape.
They were confident in dealing with Grey if he was truly injured.
If that injury still existed, then this operation would be nothing more than a calculated execution.
However, if Grey was not injured, then their confidence would plummet to an alarmingly low level.
What if his seclusion was not meant for recovery, but for comprehension or even a breakthrough in rank?
That possibility alone was enough to make anyone uneasy.
If Grey Lockhart had advanced again, then today's battlefield would turn into a grave.
But even so, they still had a pillar of confidence.
The Abyssal Mistress had taken a decisive step forward and fully fused with the core, successfully advancing to level one.
Her power had undergone a qualitative change.
With her present, his confidence in confronting Grey rose significantly.
He turned his head slightly.
The beautiful Abyssal Mistress stood there quietly, her expression indifferent and aloof, as if the coming battle had nothing to do with her.
Beside her stood a young man, his expression dark and sour.
The red robed expert's gaze lingered on him for a moment.
He knew that young man.
Lin Fang, the champion of the southern region, the one who had seized first place in the championship with overwhelming talent.
To this day, he still could not understand why Lin Fang had chosen to join the High Order.
A genius of that caliber would have had a far brighter future elsewhere.
At first, he suspected Lin Fang was a spy sent by the Federation, or perhaps by Overseer Gu Qianchen.
But after months of observation, nothing unusual surfaced.
No secret transmissions.
No suspicious movements.
No hidden coordination with external forces.
In the end, they had no choice but to believe that Lin Fang had genuinely joined for the sake of the Abyss.
And now, he stood openly beside the Abyssal Mistress herself.
This fellow was truly lucky.
Luck so great that it made others jealous.
When the Abyssal Mistress first awakened, she casually swept her gaze across the secret realm.
Out of countless people, Lin Fang alone managed to draw her attention.
She did have a husband.
But the Abyssal Mistress had long since brought countless men into her chambers without his knowledge, and no one had ever dared to speak of it.
Her husband had returned to the Abyss for countless years without news.
In her eyes, that alone justified everything she did.
This time was no different.
She took a liking to Lin Fang at first glance and brought him to her side without the slightest hesitation.
Lin Fang was handsome, young, and carried a refined aura.
He was the kind of man many would fall for with a single glance.
The Abyssal Mistress liked young men.
And because of that single preference, Lin Fang's status within the High Order rose sharply overnight.
Lin Fang himself, however, was trembling.
'Fk! Fk! F**k!'
He cursed madly in his mind, his thoughts almost collapsing into chaos.
'Why me, God?!'
Why did he, Lin Fang, have to suffer something like this?
His original plan had been simple. He would quietly remain within the High Order, keep a low profile, and wait for the moment Grey Lockhart descended upon them and wiped everything clean. When that happened, he would slip away unnoticed along with Grey Lockhart by revealing his identity, nobody will ever know he was a High order member before.
But reality had other plans.
A completely new existence had appeared, utterly disrupting everything. Worse still, that existence had taken a liking to him.
The Abyssal Mistress did not look bad.
In fact, she was stunning.
She appeared no different from a normal human woman, elegant and mature, carrying an alluring charm that naturally drew gazes. The only deviations were the two tiny pitch black horns protruding from her head and her demonic eyes that glimmered faintly with an abyssal light.
Other than that, she looked like a graceful, captivating lady that many would fall for at first sight.
But…
She was expired.
Used.
She even had a damned son.
Lin Fang did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Honestly speaking, he would not have minded if she were single.
But she was not.
Not only was she married, she even had a son who was already dead.
And her husband?
That was the most terrifying part.
He was a being far stronger than anyone present here. Stronger by an unimaginable margin.
Just thinking about it made Lin Fang's scalp go numb.
For some reason, a chilling intuition surfaced in his heart.
His fate might already be sealed.
And he might not make it out of this alive.
Just then, the Abyssal Mistress turned toward him.
Her lips curved slowly, deliberately, into a smile far too intimate for a battlefield.
It was the kind of smile that made one's spine crawl.
"Hey, darling," she said softly, her voice smooth and sticky, as if it clung to his ears. "Once all of this is over…"
She took a step closer.
"…we will take our time to discuss things in my room."
Her gaze burned as it swept over Lin Fang, unrestrained and possessive, as though she were already deciding how to use him. There was no attempt to hide the heat in her eyes, no trace of shame or restraint.
Lin Fang felt his scalp go numb.
"We will eliminate that damned bastard called Grey Lockhart," she continued, her tone suddenly cold yet filled with excitement, as if the slaughter itself was part of her pleasure. "And then we will take the southern region for ourselves."
Her smile deepened.
"By then," she said slowly, "this land will belong to us."
Her gaze lingered on him for a heartbeat longer than necessary.
"And so will you."
And just as her final words fell, the Abyssal Mistress's expression stiffened.
The smile on her lips froze.
In the next instant, her face turned cold.
Whrmmmm!
A low, heavy vibration spread through the world.
The red robed third rank expert's pupils constricted as the sky suddenly darkened, as if heaven itself had been covered by a veil. Space rippled violently, and then a silver purple brilliance burst forth from the distance.
It crossed the sky in an instant.
Behind it followed several thousand fiery red brilliances, dense and overwhelming, their combined presence resembling a blazing tide rolling across the heavens.
Before the figure even appeared, pressure descended.
Soldiers felt their chests tighten. Some subconsciously took half a step back, while others clenched their teeth, forcing themselves to remain standing.
The red robed expert's expression grew solemn.
"He's here."
His voice was low, but it fell clearly across the battlefield.
The moment those words were spoken, all sound vanished.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
The silver purple light slowed above the battlefield, its glow spreading outward. A vast purple radiance poured down from the sky, enveloping the ice walls, the armies, and the frozen land beneath.
The ice walls let out faint cracking sounds.
The anti-array barrier trembled as its patterns flickered, resisting with visible difficulty.
Grey Lockhart has appeared!