The black Heavenly Curtain enveloped everything.
No matter the type of insect beast, they all shared the same fate. They were unable to unleash any skills and were mercilessly burned, incinerated, and cursed under various afflictions! The countless swirling currents generated from the deaths of these insect beasts even whipped up gusts of hurricane winds.
Instantly, Sterl's screen was flooded with notifications.
[You have killed the monster: Lava Worm*2, gaining 0.01 Blood Force!]
[You have killed the monster: Burrowing Phantom*6, gaining 0.01 Blood Force!]
[You have killed...]
...
This time, the swarm seemed to have learned from experience, birthing several monsters hidden underground. However, the range of the Silent Domain was vast; those hiding underground were destined to die as well.
Yet...
After a batch of the swarm was eliminated, out of nowhere, a giant beast appeared, and a flower bloomed upon it.
The King Worm descended once more, but this time, it did not dare to enter Sterl's attack range. Consequently, its unknown effects on the insect race could not reach Sterl either.
Standing atop the corpse of the withered giant beast, the King Worm appeared to be delivering a passionate speech.
"Chirp chirp..."
"Ura~~"
In an instant, countless swarms fell into a frenzied state!
Despite having been repelled by Sterl's The End of All Things and suffering heavy casualties earlier, they showed no signs of concern and continued to charge recklessly.
Sterl naturally welcomed this.
His Silent Domain didn't consume resources based on the number of enemies defeated, but merely on the duration of its maintenance.
At this moment, under the swarm's frenzy, the Blood Force rewards surged dramatically.
He was winning big!
However, it wasn't long before Sterl's smile faded.
In just a few seconds, he found that his Energy Surge Capsules and Glory Potions had dwindled to only 1/10 of their capacity.
But...
The number of swarms showed no signs of diminishing.
In fact, their charges became even more ferocious. It seemed as if all the swarms in the underwater world had converged on the battlefield, determined to tear Sterl apart.
And more terrifyingly...
Suddenly, the various shackles and ripples on Sterl began to realize they could no longer affect this player and collectively retaliated.
These energies transformed into tangible, rotting muck, wrapping around the Bionic Tear to restrict its movements, while various larvae revealed themselves, biting furiously.
A chilling, creaking sound echoed through the air.
Sterl's very being felt a wave of claustrophobia wash over him, as the strange larvae crawled all over him, making him shudder in fear. Thankfully, it was not his true body fighting, but the Bionic Tear!
Otherwise, he would have been utterly disgusted!
At this moment, the effect of The End of All Things was also forcibly interrupted!
"Creak!!" The King Worm roared with all its might.
In an instant, countless insect beasts surged forward as if empowered by some bloodthirsty spell, charging wildly! It seemed that the battle was about to reach its climax!
All the distant schools of fish in the deep sea cheered in unison!
Until...
Swish!
Another Sterl appeared beside him.
His true body had entered the fray.
These swarms didn't seem to share a unified purpose with the so-called "Lalaye." They had their own will, and when faced with heavy casualties, they would abandon the attack.
Stay tuned to m,vlemp _yr.
But Lalaye refused to accept this reality and forcibly drove the swarms to attack?!
Based on the information he had gathered earlier, Sterl could only conclude that—
This instance wasn't anything special; players who died would simply die, but after death, they might become puppets of Lalaye.
Sterl couldn't analyze much further at the moment. Just watching the frenzied swarms, he opened his arms wide as if welcoming them!
Then, darkness fell!
The End of All Things descended like a reaper, harvesting life.
Sterl continued to alternate between his true body and the Bionic Tear, enduring the onslaught of the swarm.
The Blood Force value steadily climbed step by step.
Four points.
Five points.
Six points.
...
Ten points!
Eleven points!
It was only when Sterl reached an eleven-point Blood Force that the swarm seemed to shrink in scale.
On Sterl's side, he executed a clever maneuver. He brought the protection of the Illuminated King into reality through the small world, allowing Rosalie to possess a female player (Sterl had opened player accounts for all his followers). This player was tasked with communicating with Teresa, urging her to gather healing potions at any cost.
Then, Sterl had the small world's exit extracted from the Bionic Tear and attached it to the female player, allowing her to transport batches of healing potions into the small world.
These operations seemed complex, but Sterl directly used his mental power to imprint the specific operational plan into the hands of that female player. He also instructed the Bionic Tear to hang on for a few more seconds by consuming the last of its Glory Potions and Energy Surge Capsules.
With this wave of effort, Sterl managed to transport a massive amount of ordinary healing potions.
The reason for contacting Teresa was mainly that the players in Sterl's actual base were still scattered among various human factions on Earth, making it nearly impossible to find Sosia or Sonis from the Hall of Valor.
Moreover, while the potions Teresa could procure might not be of the highest quality, Sterl himself was only third-class. The strategy of alternating between his true body and the Bionic Tear was sufficient to handle the swarm!
"I need to stockpile more potions in the small world next time."
"This extreme operation was truly nerve-wracking," Sterl's true body reflected.
Then...
The Blood Force continued to rise.
Twelve points.
Thirteen points.
...
Twenty-three points!
The gains from this wave had already surpassed what he had achieved with the divine-level formation earlier! Sterl felt like he was on a winning streak!
Meanwhile, the overwhelming power of the deep sea had enveloped everything for an unknown duration. The swarm had shrunk by one-third! Even though their assault remained fervent, the previous tidal wave of intensity had transformed into mere gentle waves.
At that moment...
Suddenly, countless fish and creatures stopped chanting the name "Lalaye," and the swarm's aggressive assault came to an immediate halt.
Then, a beam of golden light descended from the heavens, illuminating the ocean floor as if it were broad daylight, sweeping away all the sinister atmosphere.
Afterward, a prompt appeared before Sterl.
[Congratulations! You have cleared the instance!]
[You can choose one item from the following rewards—]