--

The Void Prince felt confused and uncomfortable.

All logic points to the certain destruction of this place. Although there was a resistance expected, it is utterly useless in front of his fearless horde and the sovereignty of his mother's powers.

But for some reason, the resistance he thought futile was enduring longer than he initially expected. And being proven wrong wasn't a flattering experience for an existence like him.

The Void Prince huffed, feeling peeved because of this. He let out a sound that roughly translated to an encouragement for his minions to destroy this place faster because his patience was running thin.

And since he has spoken, the horde went into a frenzy. Their attacks came faster and harder, and they became even more fearless in their advances.

This caused the pressure on the guardians to become heavier. The orders of the Void Prince seem to contain a certain magical effect on them that made them even more powerful. The creatures that should've died in one or two swings now go down after four with a small chance of living still. They acted faster, and their instincts were sharper.

With this added difficulty, the guardians would need to exert more effort and resources in killing them. The worst part is that they're not as fearless and energetic as the void creatures.

This invasion has gone on for longer than any of them would like. A lot of them were already exhausted; more importantly, there's only so many of them here, and their casualties were climbing up the longer this goes on. No matter where you looked, the guardians were obviously at a disadvantage.

And to think that the real big bad has yet to make a move on them...

But none of them would just sit there and wait for their deaths. They have to try somehow.

Some people have already caught on, realizing that for some reason, they're persisting despite the horrible odds. By all means, their casualties should be way higher by now, yet somehow, they're holding on. These people knew and realized that something must be up.

There must be something or someone out there that's neutralizing the damage somehow. And since there is an effort, there is a chance. That chance might be small, but it's surely better than nothing.

And so, the war for survival continued...

The guardians fell into a passive position, barely able to resist the aggressive horde coming their way. Yet despite their awful state, their walls, barriers, and weapons were all still working. Meaning that the fight isn't over still.

Yes, most of them are dead tired. Some even already collapsed due to exhaustion while manning the weapons; their comrades had to literally drag them to the medbay to receive treatment. But even with all of this, the fight was still on.

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Soon, it'll be the 6th hour since the invasion occurred. And at this point, the Void Prince was about to lose his composure.

He truly doesn't understand. How were these pests enduring for this long? It doesn't make sense! By all means, this place should've been destroyed by now, withered to nothingness and reclaimed by the void! It should be serving as their new frontline, an outpost for their slow yet unstoppable pilgrimage to swallow the Primordial Chaos to usher the return of the Eternal Silence.

Yet these pests and this place just refuse to go down. They are barely resisting their advances, that's for sure, yet somehow, miraculously even, they're holding on.

How exactly was this happening?

And it's not like the Void Prince wasn't curious at all. He had already surveyed the area with his senses to discover what might be the reason behind this stubborn existence.

He was certain that it's not because of their solidarity and their morals. Because from the memories that his mother fed to him, these creatures are very diverse and perverse at the same time. They're not connected to a hive mind like them; they are self-serving creatures that only look after themselves and don't care about others.

Most of these creatures are selfish and driven by greed. The Void Prince doesn't doubt that if some of them were to be given a chance, they would not hesitate to run as far as they possibly can away from this place. They'd much rather not deal with him and his minions if they could. So it's not their sense of duty or righteousness that's driving them forward.

If anything, it would be their desire to survive this calamity,

But if that's the case, then that's nowhere near enough to stop him and his horde. Merely 'hoping' to survive was meaningless in front of an unstoppable charge of his army.

So it's not this...but what exactly was it?

What's the source behind this persistence? How can it be so hidden that even his superior senses weren't able to detect it?

Boom!

The Void Prince, for the nth time since coming here, indifferently slapped a petulant sword coming his way with his backhand, shattering it upon impact.

Even though there had been multiple attempts to injure him, the Void Prince never took any of it seriously. None of them were even remotely capable of hurting him. If anything, they're just annoying, but that's all.

His attention has never been on these attacks, but rather on the area as a whole. He's still stuck wondering how these pests were managing to hold on for this long. He kept on searching and searching, but not a single clue was revealed to him.

It was vexing. It's like somebody handed him a complex puzzle that no one has ever managed to solve since its creation and expects him to solve it in a snap of a finger.

Paying attention to his horde, he knew that they're still numerous, eager, and strong. But while there might be a lot of them, they are by no means infinite.

Compared to casualties of the living creatures, the death on their side was definitely higher. Though this wasn't as concerning to him as finding the reason behind the living creatures' stubborn resistance, since his mother could breed as many as she liked fairly quickly, it is also possible that he might run out of cannon fodder to use if this continues.

And so, to remedy the situation at least, he thought that finding the source of their trouble was the answer.

If only he could see where it was coming from...

Boom!!

Yet another sword tried to injure him. The Void Prince couldn't even be bothered to do anything about it; he just tilted his head to evade the blow. It was too weak to even be regarded as a threat.

'Seriously? Who's throwing these things? Don't they have better things to do?' The prince scoffed inwardly.

Then he scanned the environment once more, still searching for a clue. He refused to believe that he couldn't spot it. He refused to believe that these pitiful pests were more clever than him, that he couldn't unravel their secrets without using brute force.

Sure, with his strength, he could instantly topple this entire place. Even those big creatures were nothing but slightly larger targets to him. But if he were to do this, then it would mean that he has given up on these mind games. That would mean that he loses this match, and the Void Prince absolutely refuses to believe that he, a unique existence and a born ruler, was less smart than these pests.

So there's no way he'd give up just like that. Even if it means throwing more cannon fodder at the fray.

Amidst his surveillance, he sensed another sword coming at his face. Fighting the urge to facepalm, he just groaned and decided to disregard it completely. It's yet another Hail Mary from the other side, one that he's too lazy to even deal with.

Alas, this seemingly useless and hopeless attack turned out to be so much more than he thought it was.

BOOM!!!

"What!?" The Void Prince exclaimed in shock.

With his complete disregard against the sword, he merely tilted his head to evade its path, thinking and fully confident that, much like the others before it, it would just fly past him and become a useless hunk of metal soon.

But it proved him wrong...

The sword suddenly stopped, floating right in front of his face. It then released a blinding brilliance that completely caught him off guard. When this brilliance spread, it touched the remains of the previous swords that turned into withered husks of metal scattered behind the void prince, returning them into their prime form.

In his shock, the Void Prince turned around and saw that the swords he evaded and destroyed before somehow resurrected, and most importantly, they formed a unique formation that not only wrapped him but also the entire rift he created from ruining the gates a few hours ago.

Feeling something behind him, he looked back only to see a gigantic dark golden sword aimed at him. One that effortlessly pierced through his cannon fodders who threw themselves into its flight path.

The continent-sized sword hit him, containing a force that steadily pushed him back further and further into where he came from. And just before he was thrown out of his home, he heard someone speaking into his mind using their language, saying:

"Good game, kid. Better luck next time."

And then, the rift he had torn open was forcibly mended and shut. And unlike before, he wouldn't be able to brute-force his way in again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com