DOTM: Chapter 397/398

Chapter 397: The Limit of Human Beings?

In the middle to late section of the Death Route, a fierce battle was raging.

On one side were the allied adventurers of this sea region, gathered together, representing the most powerful fighting force in this area.

However, facing the endless stream of undead creatures, the adventurers gained no advantage.

It was not that they could not defeat these undead creatures, but rather that these creatures seemed to appear endlessly, as if inexhaustible. What was even more terrifying was that the longer the battle lasted, their own crew members were being converted into undead one by one, turning into enemies.

"If this continues, we will be wiped out! Retreat!"

Brent was not the commander of this battle, but as the fight went on, his prior experience in fighting the enemy allowed him to make consistently correct judgments. Consequently, as the battle continued, most adventurers were willing to follow Brent's command.

It was generally difficult for such a temporary alliance to form a unified command structure, but as the battle unfolded, they had no better options. Perhaps trusting Brent could still save their lives.

Not all adventurers were willing to sacrifice their lives for "justice." Numerous deserters had already appeared during these several days of continuous fighting.

"Send a signal for all warships to provide artillery support and hinder the enemy's pursuit."

"Do not advance too deeply. Always keep the team within the area where naval artillery can provide support. At the same time, advance cautiously, almost meter by meter, ensuring no ambushes are encountered. If the team is together, even if suddenly ambushed, there is a chance to counterattack and kill the enemy."

These were all suggestions made by Brent, and the captains who trusted Brent had successfully preserved their crews, which earned Brent the trust of even more people.

The warships patrolling the coast received the signal. As countless ship cannons flashed with colorful lights, unleashing a covering bombardment on the area in front of Brent, a hazy gray energy slowly rose from the ground. Not only did it block the energy shells in mid-air, but even more terrifyingly, this energy transformed into a giant dome, enclosing everyone within it.

The adventurer at the very back, preparing to return to the coast and board a ship, felt an immediate chill run through his body the moment he touched this layer of gray energy. His consciousness began to waver, and a primal bloodthirsty urge surged from the depths of his heart. After that, he knew nothing more...

In the eyes of others, this person suddenly transformed into a berserk undead, launching a frenzied attack on his surrounding companions. Because it happened so suddenly, many people did not even realize what was happening before they were killed by their former comrades.

"We still fell for it..."

The enemy had such a method, but had not used it until now. Brent had been cautious enough before. He had not even allowed all of his crew to land and had suggested that most adventurer teams land in batches, increasing the "forces" on the island as they advanced.

Clearly, the enemy's intention from the start was to lure them all onto the island and then trap them.

"You are quite good."

The nearly boundless undead army in front of them suddenly ceased its attack and parted, creating a path. A man dressed in opulent clothing walked out from the horde of undead.

"Beckford!"

Brent recognized this person as the target of their mission: Beckford, the madman who sought to turn everyone in this ocean into undead. He had not seen this person before and had worried that Beckford had already left.

Now it seemed Beckford was no longer willing to hide. His plan had been exposed, and there was no longer any need to conceal it.

What he needed to do now was to use his absolute strength to push his plan forward and eliminate everyone who stood in his way.

"Although your previous arrangements allowed the adventurers to preserve nearly a third of their strength, without strong captains like you leading them, do you think they can still stop me?"

Beckford's expression was very calm, not at all like a winner on the verge of a great victory. He was simply stating a fact calmly, his tone cold and devoid of emotion. Everyone who heard him speak felt a chill run through them. Could this guy still be called human?

One of the captains was particularly uncomfortable. To conceal this, he retorted to Beckford across from him, "Why are you doing all of this? What good does it do you to turn everyone into undead and destroy this world?"

Beckford glanced at him, and that emotionless gaze intensified the captain's chill.

"I have said it before, I am doing this to save the world." Although Beckford stood still, his undead subordinates were constantly moving, and undead were continuously emerging from the surrounding ground. Additionally, some crew members were being converted into undead, and the adventurers had become completely surrounded.

Brent had noticed this long ago, but he was helpless. He knew that the chill everyone felt was not just because Beckford was unsettling. Under this gray energy dome, everyone was slowly being invaded and permeated by death energy. Everyone was gradually turning into undead.

Beckford was stalling for time. He did not need to do anything. As long as he waited quietly for everyone here to become undead, he would naturally win.

What should they do?

Brent's first thought was surprisingly to ask Ethan, but Ethan was not here, which was incredibly awkward.

He did not speak, but another captain beside him could not accept Beckford's words and directly rebuked him.

"Save the world? You, a madman, dare to speak of saving the world? Is your method to kill everyone?"

Although the captains were not entirely clear about the situation with the gray dome, their instincts alerted them to danger. Not knowing where the danger lay made everyone impatient, and their tone was very sharp.

Beckford showed no sign of anger and continued to look at the man with his calm gaze.

"This world has limits... The resources of this world have limits... And humans... also have limits!"

It was not the first time Brent had heard Beckford's theory. Sometimes, he even felt that Beckford's claims had a certain logic to them.

Becoming undead would reduce the consumption of various resources to a minimum. The harsh environments of this sea region had less impact on the undead than on humans. At the same time, after becoming undead, both strength and endurance would be enhanced, no longer limited by the constraints of the human body.

Just look at these lowest-level undead around them. Only by relying on the best combat gear in this sea region could they suppress these monsters. Most soldiers without such good equipment could only rely on the cooperation of their comrades and better combat intelligence and experience to contend with the enemy.

Taking a deep breath, Brent felt his emotions were off. How could he agree with the enemy at a time like this?

Moreover, regarding the so-called human limit... he thought of Ethan again. That young man had clearly surpassed the human level, so the so-called limit simply did not exist.

"Having traversed the seas for many years, I did not expect to always rely on hope in a young man. It seems this is the extent of my ability."

Mocking himself inwardly, Brent straightened his body again and raised the greatsword in his hand.

He reaffirmed his resolve, cast aside Beckford's words, and loudly reminded the surrounding captains about the situation with the gray dome.

Everyone's faces turned grim upon hearing that they were slowly being invaded by death energy and that everyone would turn into undead if they could not escape quickly.

Several captains began to observe their crew members, finding that most of their faces had turned pale and dark, and a few people's eyes were already emitting evil and eerie light, just a hair's breadth away from becoming undead, only holding on with extraordinary mental willpower.

These captains' eyes all turned red. Among these crew members were comrades they had spent over a decade with, with deep bonds. Now, they had to watch them turn into monsters and then fight them. The mere thought was unbearable.

"Beckford, you must die!"

Some impulsive individuals had already charged out of the crowd, pouncing towards Beckford. Their actions were like the sounding of a charge, and all the adventurers began to rush towards the boundless undead.

This was the final battle. They would exhaust all their strength while they still retained their sanity and then die here.

Even if they could not escape the fate of becoming undead, they did not want to let Beckford off easily.

Trapped in a desperate situation, the adventurers, without any discussion, made the same decision.

Including Brent, their goal now was to weaken Beckford's "power" as much as possible, preserving hope for the ultimate victory for the surviving adventurers.

Even if that hope was slim.

For some reason, Brent suddenly felt that as long as Ethan was still around, the hope was not as small as they imagined.

Thinking of that young man's strength, he suddenly smiled. The greatsword in his hand seemed to become much lighter, swinging with more power. One sweep of the sword could eliminate a dozen undead around him.

But in Beckford's eyes, Brent was showing a ferocious and crazed smile, his eyes filled with evil energy light. The speed at which he swung his greatsword had long surpassed his previous limit. His body and spirit were being strengthened by the power of death, just one critical point away from becoming a powerful warrior under Beckford.

"You think you can weaken my power? No, you are strengthening my power."

Beckford still stood there, watching the brave captains, and finally, a hint of expression appeared on his face.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 398: Get Up, My Warriors!

Brent's greatsword was already covered in cracks. He had never felt such violent power before. His weapon was on the verge of breaking, yet he seemed to have inexhaustible strength.

Looking at Beckford, who was close at hand, Brent wanted to raise his weapon and cleave him down fiercely.

That seemingly inexhaustible power suddenly became uncontrollable, and his legs instantly lost strength. If not for the greatsword in his hand supporting him, he would have almost knelt before Beckford.

"Don't resist. Haven't you already felt it? That power that surpasses human limits! Don't you want to truly possess it?"

Beckford stood before Brent, his head held high, looking down at him with a condescending gaze.

"Kneel, and surrender to me. You will possess near-endless life and power far beyond what you felt before."

Brent certainly did not want to surrender to Beckford, but his consciousness grew increasingly hazy. His entire mind felt heavy, and his once strong and powerful legs seemed not to belong to him. Only by leaning on the greatsword did he avoid truly falling.

He could not hold on much longer. The ground in his line of sight was getting closer and closer, and the cracks on the greatsword in his hand were multiplying, ready to shatter into pieces at any moment...

At this moment, the weapon that had accompanied him for many years finally shattered completely. Brent, who had lost his support, finally fell. In the final moment, he used his hand to brace himself, preventing him from falling directly onto the ground.

But this way, it looked as if he had truly knelt before Beckford.

A chilling energy filled his entire body. Brent felt his consciousness becoming increasingly blurry, and an urge to destroy all living beings grew stronger and stronger.

If before he was desperately trying to stand and not fall, now he was desperately resisting the urge to stand up again.

Once he stood up again, he would completely lose control of his body. Even if a trace of consciousness remained deep within his heart, he would turn into an undead creature that would engage in a frenzied slaughter of his companions.

"I... will not... surrender... to you..."

Brent used his last ounce of strength, plunging the remaining broken sword in his hand toward his own head.

If his head was turned into mush, perhaps he would not be converted into an undead. Although he knew this idea might not be correct, he could not think of any other way.

He absolutely could not accept becoming a killing tool to slaughter adventurers.

"In the end... it has come to this..."

He knew he had still fallen into Beckford's trap, but he had no way out. Now, he could only place his hope in the surviving adventurers.

"It's up to you... Ethan..."

Crack!

The broken sword, reduced to only a hilt, plunged fiercely into Brent's forehead. The remaining energy from the magic stone on it erupted, and fierce flames almost engulfed Brent's upper body. But when the flames dissipated, Brent's head was unharmed, and the remaining broken sword in his hand was only a scarred hilt.

"Have you felt the power that surpasses human limits? Rise, my warrior, and use that great power to clear away all obstacles before me."

Brent looked at the greatsword in his hand, which was now only a hilt. He had no options left, but accepting orders from Beckford was absolutely unacceptable.

"I... absolutely... will not..."

Brent could no longer speak a complete sentence, but his mental will was so resilient that even Beckford was startled. Since he had mastered death energy, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. He did not know whether he should just kill Brent directly. The death energy absorbed by Brent was far more than any captain here, and if he could be successfully converted, he would definitely become a very powerful undead warrior.

"What a pity..."

Beckford quickly made a decision. Although it was a bit regrettable, there was no need to keep a warrior who would not obey and could even cause trouble at any time, no matter how powerful he was.

Just as Beckford was about to personally end Brent's life, the originally gloomy sky suddenly brightened. A thick golden-yellow beam of light shot straight down from the sky, piercing the gray energy shield and striking Brent, who was kneeling on the ground.

Almost simultaneously, a voice with a hint of mockery came from above Beckford.

"Rise... my champion!"

Although the light beam disappeared, Brent, who had been struck by it, turned into a giant ball of light. The powerful energy fluctuations caused Beckford to involuntarily retreat several steps.

The aura emanating from this golden-yellow energy made him feel very uneasy. He sensed that the death energy within Brent was dissolving at a terrifying speed, and his unease grew even stronger.

The golden ball of light slowly became less dazzling, and at the same time, the light ball was slowly converging and shrinking.

Not long after, everyone finally saw the situation clearly. Brent, who had been kneeling on the ground, was now in a posture of kneeling on one knee with his head slightly bowed, his hands resting on a longsword plunged into the ground.

His combat suit had also undergone tremendous changes, transforming into a full set of silver-white armor with golden patterns.

As the light completely converged, and only the armor on Brent still carried a faint glow, Brent reopened his eyes and stood up.

At this moment, Brent showed no signs of abnormality, and the determined will revealed in his eyes was even stronger than before.

Beckford looked at this Brent, feeling a sense of unease in his heart. What concerned him even more was that he could no longer sense even a trace of death energy in Brent's body. Instead, his entire body was emitting an energy fluctuation that made him feel uncomfortable.

This was not all. Beckford looked up slightly and saw a familiar person slowly descending from the sky.

The gray shield, which had been pierced by the golden-yellow light beam, was slowly repairing itself. However, the golden rain of light falling from the spherical object emitting dazzling light in the sky caused the gray energy shield to slowly collapse and even dissolve.

Falling with these raindrops was none other than Ethan, whom they had seen before and even exchanged blows with from a distance.

After landing on the ground, Ethan did not pay attention to Beckford. Instead, he looked at Brent beside him with a surprised expression. To be honest, he had not expected using the Holy Light Infusion on Brent to have such a good effect. This guy's compatibility with the Holy Light was quite high. Of course, such powerful Holy Light energy was not the kind Ethan had conjured himself. He had deliberately opened a spatial rift, drawn out the Holy Light energy, pierced the energy shield formed by death energy, and simultaneously guided the energy into Brent's body.

What he initially wanted to do was simply help Brent clear the death energy from his body. If he could gain the Holy Light's recognition as a result, that would also be a good thing.

Unexpectedly, not only did Brent receive the Holy Light's recognition, but most of the Holy Light remained within Brent's body. A small portion also affected Brent's armor and originally damaged weapon, not only completely repairing the armor and weapon but also fundamentally changing the nature of these two pieces of equipment.

"The Holy Light has this effect too?"

He quickly realized that the Holy Light did not have this effect. Brent's magic stone equipment itself possessed some special properties, with extremely high energy receptivity, which was why these changes occurred under the extreme energy of the Holy Light.

"How do you feel?"

Brent had received some information about the Holy Light in his mind, so he roughly knew what had happened to him and what the Holy Light was.

"To be honest, I've never felt this good in years."

He felt his body had become stronger than ever before, and the surging Holy Light energy allowed him to exert even more powerful combat strength during battle.

After confirming that Brent was fine, Ethan looked around again. Countless adventurers who had been invaded by death energy gradually returned to normal under the shower of golden light rain.

They were not as lucky as Brent. Apart from the fact that this level of Holy Light shower was not enough to cause earth-shattering changes for them, it was also related to the fact that most of them did not have such high compatibility with the Holy Light.

Regardless, the adventurers' crisis had been resolved by Ethan. Furthermore, the swarms of undead were also affected by the light rain. Undead creatures touched by the Holy Light raindrops would be purified little by little. That feeling was definitely not comfortable. For the undead, it was painful torment on a soul level, even if their bodies were gradually returning to their original normal appearance during the shower.

Of course, Beckford would not just watch this happen. The moment he realized something was wrong, he began mobilizing his own death energy and the surrounding death energy. As a gray energy mass gathered in his hand, Beckford wanted to destroy the giant glowing object in the sky.

Looking at Beckford's actions, Ethan merely curled his lip in disdain and finally spoke the first words between him and Beckford today.

"Power that surpasses human limits, is it?"

Beckford still had powerful death energy gathered in his hand and had not had time to do anything when he suddenly felt an even stronger energy fluctuation from Ethan.

He withdrew his upward gaze and looked down. Ethan had somehow taken out a long staff in his hand. Besides the powerful fluctuations emanating from Ethan himself, this seemingly ordinary long staff gave him a very dangerous feeling.

The Arcane Spring, rarely used since it was made, finally had a chance to appear again today, and Ethan was ready to completely drain all the energy from the staff in his hand.

As his own magic power and the staff's magic power surged, the sky above the island seemed to lower significantly. Within the darker, constantly swirling black clouds, the terrifying pressure emanating from the surging lightning made all creatures on the island tremble with fear.

Everyone looked up at the clouds above, constantly flashing with lightning. Almost everyone remembered the terrifying lightning storms in the Sea of Storms.

(To be continued.)