As long as you have the courage, fierce ghosts go on maternity leave.

Chapter 285: Thinking of running now? Too late!

"Forbidden Power!"

Horror painted every line of Ignatius’s face, his eyes widening in a mix of shock and awe.

"Forbidden! You’ve actually mastered forbidden power!" He trembled, his body quaking as if shaken to its very core.

"No more games—die!"

Ignatius knew he could no longer afford to capture Alexander alive. Summoning the last vestiges of Ghost Energy within him, he threw a desperate punch toward Alexander.

But Ignatius had clearly forgotten: Alexander, too, was a master of spatial talents.

In the beginning, Ignatius’s speed might have been too much for Alexander, rendering him unable to react.

But now, impaired by the corrupting influence of forbidden power, Ignatius’s Ghost Energy had spiraled out of control, slashing his speed by 80%.

Under such conditions, hitting Alexander was an exercise in futility. With a flicker of light, Alexander vanished from his original spot.

Behind him, the air bristled with menace. Ignatius tried to turn, but it was too late.

In Alexander’s grasp, a spear of molten lava materialized. Its shaft was shrouded by white mist that twisted into ethereal dragons, their roars echoing in subdued whispers.

With a soft, final sound—thump—the spear’s tip pierced through Ignatius’s chest. The lethal amalgamation of molten lava and forbidden power detonated within him, a pyroclasm of irreversibility.

The spear dissolved into flowing lava, puddling beneath Ignatius’s lifeless body as it slumped to the ground.

Not far away, a cadre of Ghost Imperials from the Endless Abyss watched the scene unfold, their faces contorted with shock.

Their last sliver of hope had been definitively shattered. Forbidden power had upended everyone’s illusions.

Of the two splits who had been grappling with Emperor Kui, nothing remained but severed limbs and wreckage, swallowed by a sea of Devil Babies.

Meanwhile, the remaining Ghost Imperials exchanged frantic glances, no longer concerned with their dread, and rushed headlong toward the exit.

Blizzard, calm and composed, elegantly snapped his fingers. Instantly, the straw-like portions of the fleeing Ghost Imperials’ bodies seemed to relinquish control, churning with a gray mist that began to creep outward.

Under the irresistible force, the straw-affected parts shockingly started to gravitate at a breakneck speed toward Blizzard.

One of the Ghost Imperials gritted his teeth, flipping his long knife. With a swift, resolute cut, he severed not just his straw-converted forearm but the entire arm, launching his body into the air.

Another Ghost Imperial followed suit, aiming his blade at his own arm. However, he clearly lacked the grim resolve of his comrade.

His blade descended only on the straw-like portions, lacking the ruthlessness to cut through and through.

For a Ghost Imperial, losing an arm was not irreversible, but regrowing it would require a colossal expenditure of Ghost Energy.

And so, his hesitation in that fleeting moment, his reluctance to sacrifice that astronomical amount of Ghost Energy, cost him his life.

The gray mist did not dissipate when the arm was severed; the bones at the point of disconnection had already transmuted into straw.

The Ghost Imperial tried to swing his blade again, but it was already too late; the gray mist had begun to rapidly envelop his entire body.

The other Ghost Imperials fared even worse. The straw had affected so many parts of their bodies that they didn’t even have the opportunity to violently remove the afflicted portions.

Roderick, who had originally planned to assassinate Alexander, was aghast at the horror unfolding before him and broke into a desperate sprint.

"Thinking of running now? Too late," Alexander murmured, sizing up the distance. He tossed out a mini challenge arena from Mist Instance.

The mini challenge arena bolted toward Roderick like a lightning bolt, enlarging as it whizzed through the air.

Hearing the howl of the rapidly approaching object, Roderick, caught in the urgency of flight, thrust out a stream of Ghost Energy and instinctively glanced back.

The sight that met his eyes left Roderick utterly horrified.

The arena, which had now grown to a diameter of several dozen meters, was not the cause of his dread—it was the surrounding white mist, swirling like a grim reaper on a hunt.

"No!" Roderick let out a scream of abject terror, immediately followed by a devastating impact from the arena. He, along with dozens of Endless Abyss soldiers nearby, were crushed into pulp.

"Who knew it could be used like that?" A glint of revelation flashed in Alexander’s eyes.

The mini challenge arena, which he had acquired from hell warriors, consumed relatively little Ghost Energy to activate.

Until now, Alexander had merely considered it as a container for his forbidden powers; it had never occurred to him that it could serve as an effective weapon.

If Roderick had been attentive, evading the arena by a few seconds would have been no big deal.

However, they were in the heat of battle. Using this against Ghost Imperials might be a stretch, but as for regular Endless Abyss soldiers, it was an absolutely devastating tactic.

His eyes then moved to the area where both factions were engaged in combat. Brilliant and another Ghost Imperial from the Endless Abyss were cutting a swath through the ranks as if they were strolling in an uninhabited land.

Though the gap they created was small, it was like a fissure in a dam, rapidly widening as the surging Endless Abyss army poured through.

At that moment, Emperor Kui, who had just vanquished the last of his two splits, was leading hundreds of Devil Babies to seal off the gap.

"Blizzard, Emperor Kui, go take care of those two Endless Abyss Ghost Imperials!" Alexander shouted.

Hearing Alexander’s command, Emperor Kui quickly shook his head, "Blizzard alone can handle those two. What about this gap if I leave?"

"Leave the gap to me," Alexander declared.

A sinister grin unfurled at the corners of Alexander’s mouth. The Mini Challenge Arena expanded rapidly.

A plume of mist functioned like chains, tethering the arena on one end and held in Alexander’s hand on the other, forming a gigantic meteor hammer.

"Holy crap! You can do that?"

Emperor Kui quickly grasped Alexander’s intent, swearing aloud. No longer hesitating, he darted off to deal with the two Ghost Imperials.

"Members of the Fierce Ghost Association, fall back! Leave the gap to me!" Alexander bellowed, brandishing his oversized meteor hammer with a flourish.

At the opening in their formation, members of the Fierce Ghost Association hastily retreated.

On the Endless Abyss side, the sight of Alexander wielding a hundred-meter meteor hammer instinctively made them pause.

However, this was a battlefield with tens of millions of combatants—individual desires mattered little. Even if those at the front hesitated or stopped, the surging tide of soldiers behind them would propel them forward, like debris in a flood.

"He’s the one Lord K wants! Killing him or capturing him alive—either would be a great achievement!" A shout erupted from somewhere within the crowd.

Under these circumstances, fear left no room for retreat. Grinding their teeth, the Endless Abyss ghost army decided to face it head-on and charged.