The Last King Of Darkness

A flash of Spiritual Light appeared on Egger, Spiritual Energy surged out, transforming into white fog through his Soul Trait, coiling like a snake from his hand.

He grimaced and said, "What a hassle, I'm not even the main firepower support."

Karamon shrugged, "Neither am I, I'm just a rear support."

Seeing his chance, Rod quickly said, "Let me do it."

The two glanced at him, and Karamon slapped his hand on Rod, who felt a cool rush of Spiritual Energy surge within him.

"Give it a try."

Rod joyfully raised his Spirit Gun.

More surging Spiritual Energy than before rushed into the sensor device in the gunstock, the Spirit Ring composed of Sun Stone, Soul Crystal, Green Jade, and Gold rapidly absorbed the Spiritual Energy, pushing this powerful energy towards the Spiritual Storage.

When the Spiritual Pressure reached a certain level, the Spiritual Storage injected the Spiritual Energy in a Static State into the barrel where the True Silver Bullets were, igniting the Spirit Saltpeter at the tail of the bullets.

Bang!

A deafening explosion sounded, a flash burst from the muzzle, the True Silver Bullet shot out, the turbulent Spiritual Energy trailing a brilliant white line in the air, piercing through three black dogs and exploding amidst the horde.

The black bone marrow ash mixed with True Silver Powder released tremendous power, blasting at least twenty black dogs into fragments.

Egger activated his Spiritual Vision, and praised, "Third Level Spiritual Power Wave, not bad for a hit."

Reslin shouted, "Good! Another one! Remember to aim more carefully! Don't hit me!"

Rod joyfully watched dozens of black lines fly out from the corpses into his body, his 'Dust-like Soul' swiped a small wave at the bottom of his eyes, so engrossed that he barely heard them.

The dog pack was disturbed, but Reslin immediately flew back, crashing left and right, sweeping with steel needles, slashing with his knife, quickly drawing the horde's attraction back again.

Rod raised the gun a second time; this time Karamon didn't slap him, so the charging time extended from 4 seconds to 7 seconds, but the power remained unchanged.

With another loud bang, silver light erupted again amongst the dog pack, the immense power even clearing a swath of black dogs completely.

Thirty more black lines flew towards him, the texts at the bottom of his eyes perpetually appearing, Rod was immensely joyful.

This cost-performance ratio was completely acceptable; based on observations during the day, more than ninety 'Dust-like Souls' could raise the Strength of the Star from one to four.

And the Strength of four could approximately last for about three days.

If one bullet could kill twenty, then he could store at least a thousand souls.

However, the higher the Strength of the Star, the slower it rose and the faster it fell.

He could only use them sparingly until he found a way to stabilize the state of the Blue Star into "Eternal Burning."

Rod fired two more shots, gaining over fifty souls, and the dog pack scattered, reduced to only a few.

Reslin rushed up and killed several with a few slashes, while Egger pierced a few more with the white fog; this large group of monsters that had just emerged from the Black Fog were completely cleared away.

Reslin came back, and Karamon lifted his hand, wrapping him in a blue water light, slapped his shoulder, restoring some of his Spiritual Energy, making him close his mouth that was about to open.

"Let's go." Reslin resignedly sighed, "Who asks for my Soul Trait to be the Counterattack Barrier."

Rod curiously asked, "What does the Counterattack Barrier do?"

Before Reslin could answer, Karamon quickly said, "It takes hits."

Reslin was displeased, but also had difficulty refuting it.

Egger explained in a more professional tone:

"His Soul Trait allows him to drastically reduce the damage he receives and store the force of the damage. Once accumulated to a certain extent, it can be unleashed, reflecting back as steel needles, so, he's a born frontline warrior, best suited for charging at the forefront and fighting monsters in close combat."

Reslin's expression improved slightly, and he added:

"However, my Soul Trait is underdeveloped; to this day, I only have three Fireworks, resulting in my back's defensive capabilities far exceeding my front. Thus, in battle, I often use my back to receive threatening attacks, while my front is actually my weakness,"

Rod recalled the words of old blind Mo'er and couldn't help but ask, "And what about after nine Fireworks?"

Egger laughed, "Then he becomes a big iron man, charging and ramming on the battlefield, invincible. All Commanders would fight over him, all teams would welcome his arrival, and all Guardians would invite him to their defensive regions as a guest."

Karamon said leisurely, "Not just that, he would live in a large house in the Upper City, served by a dedicated medical team, handled by a dedicated Spirit Doctor for all his troubles, idolized by many girls as a hero, receiving countless favors, never lacking a partner in his bed."

Reslin laughed, "Stop it, leave dreaming for when you're asleep."

All four of them laughed.

Karamon patted Rod on the shoulder, "Spiritual Fire is better after all, just work towards one direction. We from the Starfire Series have it much harder, having to desperately light new Fire Sparks; you'll know it later, it's truly a nightmare, extremely difficult."

Rod nodded in deep agreement; since he had ignited his second star, it had brought him nothing but endless trouble.

Though he wasn't a Starfire in the conventional sense, his predicament was similar.

Moreover, this was also because there were too many secrets in the Dream Realm that he hadn't unraveled yet; he had not yet found a way to unlock them.

---

The battles they encountered tonight were particularly frequent; almost every street had large groups of dark, shadowy figures, some in the shapes of dogs, others rats, and still others bizarre-shaped insects. The numbers ranged from tens to hundreds, lingering and wandering in the darkness.

Wherever they appeared, the entire street dimmed, with the Spirit Lamps hanging from the residential houses being suppressed, becoming especially dim.

Reslin told him this was because of the "Dark Moon Night."

On such nights, the moonlight dims, the power of darkness rises, the power of light falls, monsters multiply, and fire weakens.

This was an ominous sign, often heralding disaster.

If outside of the Royal City, one had to be especially careful, but within the Royal City, under the protection of Holy Fire, it wasn't too great of a threat.

The biggest hassle was that everyone had to work overtime clearing the fallout ashes born from the black fog.

Two clock hours passed, everyone was exhausted, the continuous battles, although not high in intensity, were very draining spiritually, causing their souls to feel weary, their Spiritual Energy deficient.

Only Rod was sprightly; he had fired thirty heavy guns yet still hadn't felt fatigue, his Spiritual Energy continuous and unending.

Not only that, but he also constantly maintained the state of the Eye of the Soul, keenly observing any potential threats.

All three companions were stunned by him.

Reslin exclaimed, "Brother Rod, your endurance is incredible; no wonder you became a special student as soon as you entered the academy."

The other two were also very envious, "The City Defense Army and the Investigation Legion particularly appreciate endurance; you'll definitely be a frequent visitor in the Upper City, and maybe even get to visit the Royal District."

"It's said that those with lasting Spiritual Energy also last long in... other aspects... Ahhh, it's so unfair! I can't accept this!"

However, Rod had a nagging feeling that it wasn't his amazing talent, but rather the power "Spirit Revival" of the Blue Star called Frost Blue that was at work.

This was the first time he truly felt the power of the star.

So strong.

Rod glanced at over seven hundred souls floating above the Soul Altar, feeling a strong surge of confidence to live on.

I will definitely obtain the "Goldenworth Star" medal, definitely uncover the truth, and gain ample support.

No difficulty can defeat me!

"Ahead!"

Through his enhanced Spiritual Vision, Rod saw that far ahead in a square, a dense black fog seemed to have torn open a hole, rolling downwards, accompanied by countless black shadows.

"A new threat!"