Those living beings that resembled stone golems each possessed angular, chiseled features, looking harmless and somewhat dopey, as if they couldn't hurt a fly. But the instant they appeared, every Ink Race powerhouse within Returnless Pass who witnessed the sight felt their scalps go numb.
Having fought the Human Race for so many years, how could the Ink Race fail to recognize these peculiar creatures? On numerous battlefields, the Human Race had employed these strange beings against the Ink Race, and they had consistently achieved impressive results.
So when these peculiar creatures materialized, a Pseudo Lord-Rank of the Ink Race immediately bellowed, "Stone Clan!"
His voice trembled, because in all these years, they had never seen so many Stone Clan at once.
The sheer volume of the Space-Time River was enormous. Concealed behind the river's shroud, Yang Kai had summoned a full two million Stone Clan this time.
He had deployed even greater numbers in the past, but the overall quality of the Stone Clan he had unleashed previously was incomparable to what stood before them now.
During this trip to the Chaotic Death Domain, he had hand-picked every single one. The weakest among the Stone Clan he had collected were at least equivalent to the Human Race's lower three ranks.
When two million Stone Clan—each no weaker than the Human Race's lower three ranks—suddenly materialized, the combined aura they projected was enough to send shockwaves through even Diaro, an Ink Race Lord.
The moment he saw the two glowing marks illuminate the back of Yang Kai's hand, Diaro immediately understood what technique Yang Kai was about to unleash. His pupils contracted sharply as he roared, "Retreat! Now!"
Even as the words left his mouth, he was already the first to attempt breaking through the encirclement and fleeing the area.
But how could they possibly escape?
Two million Stone Clan had enveloped this stretch of void in an airtight ring, following the path the Space-Time River had previously traced. To make matters worse, Yang Kai channeled the force of his Space Laws, solidifying the void itself.
In an instant, every Ink Race powerhouse felt an enormous resistance pressing in from the surrounding space, hampering their movements. This resistance alone wasn't sufficient to immobilize them entirely—given three breaths, they could extract themselves from the Stone Clan's encirclement.
Sometimes three breaths passed in the blink of an eye. But at other times, three breaths was the distance between life and death—an impassable gulf.
"Light will eventually dispel the darkness!" Yang Kai's voice rang out, low and resonant. His hands clenched into fists, and in concert with his movements, a torrent of yellow and blue light erupted from within the bodies of all two million Stone Clan, flooding the entire region in an instant.
Yellow and blue intertwined, flowed together, and fused. A dazzling, pure white radiance began to bloom—unremarkable at first, but in a single heartbeat it expanded silently outward like a sun detonating.
Time within Returnless Pass seemed to freeze. Only moments later did a cascade of agonized screams shatter the devastating silence.
Within the shroud of white light, Diaro, the ten-odd Pseudo Lord-Ranks, and even Ink Race soldiers caught in the periphery beyond the main battlefield—all of them writhed and howled in torment.
Purifying Light had always been the Ink Force's greatest bane. The foundation of the Ink Race's power was the Ink Force itself. When they were engulfed by Purifying Light, the pain they endured was no less than an ordinary human being plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil—a form of suffering that was simply unbearable.
While the white light blazed, Yang Kai was far from idle. His spectral figure flickered through the battlefield like a phantom, moving with casual ease as powerful life forces winked out one after another.
Ten breaths later, the pure white light finally dissipated.
The battlefield, once shrouded in chaos, had turned strikingly clear. In the void, Yang Kai stood alone, holding by the hair a severed head whose features were twisted in a hideous grimace. The jagged, uneven wound at the neck suggested it hadn't been cut by any blade but torn off by bare hands. Ink Blood still pulsed from the gory stump.
The head clearly still possessed a trace of life. Its face retained an expression of agony, and a hint of bewilderment lingered in its eyes, as if it had yet to grasp its own predicament. But that remaining vitality was destined to fade before long.
Across the battlefield, several ruined corpses drifted aimlessly. Every single one belonged to a formidable Pseudo Lord-Rank.
The Pseudo Lord-Ranks who had survived by sheer luck wore expressions of raw terror, their eyes brimming with horror. They had lived not because they were stronger than their fallen comrades—merely because fortune had favored them and Yang Kai hadn't had the time to deal with them as well.
Returnless Pass had always been saturated with dense Ink Force, the entire fortress shrouded as though beneath a canopy of ink-dark clouds.
But now, in this environment where Ink Force permeated every inch, there existed a circular region where the Ink Force had been purified completely clean.
And within that circle, though Yang Kai stood alone, his presence was no less formidable than an army of thousands. He exerted staggering pressure on every Ink Race member present.
Opposite him, Diaro's face was still drained of color. Mo Na Ye—who should have been coordinating the Ink Race army from elsewhere—had appeared at his side at some point, his expression grave as he stared ahead at Yang Kai.
"Are you all right?" Mo Na Ye asked, his gaze never once straying from the figure before them.
He had realized what was about to happen the moment Yang Kai activated the Sun and Moon Marks on the back of his hand. He had come immediately without hesitation, and fortunately he had acted quickly—otherwise Diaro might very well have met his end here.
Because after the Purifying Light had erupted, Yang Kai had casually claimed several Pseudo Lord-Ranks' lives before turning his attention directly to Diaro.
His original intention had been to seize this opportunity to eliminate one of the Ink Race's Lords. Shrouded by the Purifying Light, he was confident he could accomplish it without anyone being the wiser. Yet at the critical moment, Mo Na Ye had charged in.
Forcing Yang Kai to hold back for the time being.