Lie Shan knotted his pained face and backed down. It was as if the fire was burning his body instead of Lie Jian.

“Moye, go to hell!” Lie Shan couldn’t hold back his anger any longer, so he charged up his GN force, lit himself aflame, and charged at the dark lord.
Moye didn’t even spare him a glance as he cast a blue fireball at Lie Shan. The attack hit home, and Lie Shan collapsed to the ground.

Lie Shan’s failure amused Moye. Although they claimed to have reached enlightenment during cultivation, they sometimes possessed half the intelligence of a primitive Zerg. That being said, he felt grateful for Lie Jian; otherwise, he would never be able to use the power from a higher dimension.

Lie Shan dragged himself up and tried to put out the blue flame. However, Moye didn’t give him a chance as he shot out two bone spears, one at Lie Shan and the other at Lie Jian.

There was no time for them to evade; but just as the audiences thought the two warriors’ fates were sealed, a dark shadow flickered across the battleground and intercepted the bone spears. Moye narrowed his eyes as he realized that his real opponent had finally shown up.

Wang Tong patted Deep Blue’s shoulder and the beast charged at Lie Jian while snarling with a wide open, bloody mouth. When he was close enough, he started to devour the blue flames as if it were some kind of delicacy.
“That’s enough! Stop nibbling at me! Go and help Lie Shan!” Lie Jian pushed the beast away and sent a burst of soul energy out to put out the remaining fire.

“Wang Tong, you are an a*shole! What took you so long?” Lie Jian shouted, and then collapsed back to the ground out of exhaustion. Lie Jian had reached his limit; he was the only one who could stand up against Moye, and therefore, he needed to drag out the fight as long as possible in order to buy time for Wang Tong to get ready.

Deep Blue had quickly licked away the fire on Lie Shan as well; afterward, he turned to Moye and glared at the dark lord with two wild, glinting eyes that whined like flashlights. Wang Tong gave the beast a light pat and then said, “Leave this eyesore to me, and finish off the rest.”

Deep Blue snarled and then launched himself at Moye’s minions. With a single sweep of his paw, he had smashed half a dozen dark ones’ heads.

Deep Blue’s appearance had excited the other direwolves. Deep Blue was as important to the direwolves as Wang Tong was to Battle Wolf.

“Hehe…Wang Tong, I have been looking for you all over the place. Finally, you have come to me instead.” Moye locked his gaze on Wang Tong and said with excitement and a hint of trepidation. This human boy held the key to the ultimate secret of the universe. He lamented that he should have chosen Wang Tong instead of Patroclus five years ago.

Wang Tong smiled thinly. “Why are you so eager to find me? Looking forward to courting death, I wager?”

“Haha! Well, well, tough guy…Who do you think you are? The entire human race was nothing but lab mice to us dark ones.”

“Is Patroclus also your lab mice? Then why is it that the immortals are so much smarter than dark ones?”

Moye’s lips twitched a little. “All humans will die in the end, including the half breeds.”

“Blah, blah… Tell you the truth, you are not my real opponent. ”

“Nonsense! If it is not me, who is it then?”

“Who do you think it is?” Wang Tong said as if the answer was self-evident.
It was an insult on Moye’s old wounds. Spurred by anger, Moye contorted his face into an angry knot. He was one who had created the immortals, but he had made the mistake of choosing Patroclus as the experimental subject. He had loaded a gun and ended up shooting himself in the foot. After Patroclus gained the invincible body, he swooped down on Moye and robbed him of his authority and power among the Zergs. As Patroclus’ power grew, the dark ones were becoming obsolete in the course of the Zergs’ evolution. Patroclus could have killed Moye and claimed victory, but he didn’t, and Moye loathed him for that. Patroclus let Moye live to see his power being taken over and to live in the shame for his failure.

Wang Tong’s words had cut deep, and Moye could no longer hold his temper. Gleaming with blue lights, the dark lord threw himself at the former.

Wang Tong took a deep breath and then punched while taking a step forward. It was the most standard military training move.

KOM!

The punch landed on its target and Moye’s angry expression froze upon contact. The impact made him lose his balance as he staggered back a few feet.

A pin drop quietness fell onto the battlefield, and on the other side, Harmon couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never underestimated Wang Tong, however, never had he expected the other’s strength to exceed Moye’s. Or, did he overestimate Moye’s power?

The dark lord was shocked by Wang Tong’s power, even more so when he realized that the impact had fractured one of the bones in his right arm.
Moye struggled to his feet as his arm was twisted in the most inconceivable fashion. Anyway, in a matter of minutes, his fractured bone was reconnected and all broken tissues and sinews were healed. However, Moye’s quick recovery couldn’t hide the fact that Wang Tong had overcome him with ease during the last exchange of attacks.

Wang Tong dusted his shirt and said, “I have heard about your shape shifting ability…You better use it now while you still can.”

Lie Jian had been carried to safety. He had woken up to see Wang Tong’s last move, pouting and remarking in a sour tone, “F*ck off, he is cockier than me! That was my line!”

The soldiers on both side slowly stop engaging each other without even realizing. Their attention was gripped by the fight between Wang Tong and the dark lord.

Moye didn’t hold back his power as he did while fighting Lie Jian. One punch was enough to tell him that if he didn’t give all he had in this fight, he would perish very quickly.

The blue flame slowly faded away from Moye’s body and the energy crystal started to glow brighter by the second. In a few seconds, his body had grown to an epic proportion. A few purple guards flew to Moye with a blank face, allowing the Dark Lord to snap their heads off and suck on their brains. After each brain Moye devoured, his power grew by a few times.

“If I were boss, I would charge at him and kill him there and then!” Duo Lun piped up.

On the other side, Wang Tong didn’t watch quietly until Moye had finally finished his transformation. “Hehe…Is this the shape-shifting ability? How pathetic! No wonder Patroclus didn’t even consider you a worthy opponent.”

The giant monster snarled and was about to attack Wang Tong, but he suddenly lost his target as the latter flashed out of view. Wang Tong then reappeared right beside Moye and asked, “Are you looking for me?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Moye attacked Wang Tong with a flat backhand sweep. The attack carried enough power to erase a small mountain from the surface of Mars. However, Wang Tong didn’t evade; instead, he raised his left arm and in an attempt to block.

KOM!

Moye’s strike was sure, and it landed squarely on Wang Tong’s arm. However, the latter was unwavering, and as the energy in the blow shot through his body, it was somehow absorbed into his system.

People finally realized that Wang Tong’s hair had turned blonde, and they were even glowing.

Moye was taken aback by Wang Tong’s power once again. After the transformation, Moye’s power had increased to level thirty, and he didn’t expect anyone to be able to block his attack at full force.

KOM!

Moye attacked again, but the second attack was blocked by Wang Tong as easily as the first one.

“Should it be my turn?” Wang Tong’s lips hardened into a thin line. The power emanated from him caught Moye by surprise; he wasn’t surprised by the amount of power in Wang Tong, but the lack of it.

The soldiers watched the battle in astonishment and admiration. They had always thought that Wang Tong’s strong suit was in mastery; little did they know that he was even better at METAL combat.

“Haha, I think the boss is going to go commando again! I know that look on his face. I have seen it before.” On the spaceship, Karl flailed his arms in the air in elation. “Kiss his A*S!” He shouted.

The audiences were gripped by the sudden turn of the events; no one had expected Wang Tong to be so powerful. His opponent was none other than the Dark Lord, the most fearsome opponent of the human race who had killed a level twenty-eight Einherjar with ease.

Wang Tong’s face remained calm, but deep down, he felt the anger roiling inside him and ready to burst out.

KOM!

In the next moment, Wang Tong attacked. He didn’t use the GN force or soul energy, but when Moye felt the power, a rush of overwhelming foreboding came over him. Moye’s face paled; the power brought out memory that he had tried hard to forget.

Wang Tong moved at lightning speed, and before Moye gathered himself, the former’s fists had already started to rain on the Dark Lord like a sudden downpour. Moye managed to block the first three punches, and then he lost control of his body completely.

Harmon could only stare ahead. Stunned by what he saw, he started to wonder if Wang Tong was really punching Moye, or was that just one of the dark lord’s doubles?

Moye swallowed the pain and gathered his last strength as he attacked the other with his tail. Wang Tong saw the attack coming, but he didn’t dodge.

KOM!

Wang Tong snatched Moye’s tail and flew up to the sky with Moye dangling on his tail. Next, he dove down to the ground as fast as he had flown up. Grabbing the dark one’s tail, he slammed Moye hard onto the ground.

KOM!

The ground cracked open at the impact. Wang Tong didn’t let go of the tail as he continued to slam Moye left and right as if the dark lord was a ragdoll.

The human audiences boiled over at this dramatic development. They cheered at the top of their lungs, shouting Wang Tong’s name in a frenzy. The thuds and thumps of Moye’s body on the ground sounded like a symphony of rejoice and sweet revenge. At the behest of the music, old memories flowed back into Martians’ minds, of their loved ones and their home. As they welcomed those memories with tears, remorse and anger robbed their voices from the throats.

They were born and grew up under the daylight but were forced to live under the shadows for the last five years. At last, they had finally found their savior. Wang Tong would make Moye pay the ultimate price for the crimes he had committed. But before that, a public humiliation was in store for the dark lord.

Moye eventually gathered himself from the humiliating display; he seized an opportunity and freed his tail out of Wang Tong’s hold with a sudden spin.

As soon as Moye was free, he turned around and opened his wide mouth to bite onto Wang Tong. However, the other didn’t give him a chance even to get close to him as he punched at Moye’s ugly face and pushed him away.

KOM!

Moye let out a painful howl as his tusks were shattered by the punch. Wang Tong then spun around and jumped onto the back of the hulking frame while punching. Moye suddenly collapsed to the ground, spreading on all fours. Yet, Wang Tong didn’t stop as he kept on raining his punishment onto the dark lord while pressing the latter’s head into the ground. Everyone was shocked by the lack of technical finesse, as they had been expecting the two combatants to use high skill level abilities.

Lie Jian spat and cursed, “Freak!”

Knowing Lie Jian was referring to Wang Tong, Michaux shook his head and smiled wryly. He knew that every dark one in the dark palace was under Wang Tong’s wicked spell. Without freeing himself from the effect of Wang Tong’s spell, Moye would never be able to win the fight.

By then, Moye’s hulking body was battered by Wang Tong’s unforgiving punishment. He looked nothing like an almighty Zerg Lord, but a large glob of Zerg meat slumped half in death.

Suddenly, Wang Tong jumped up, away from Moye. Although the latter had sustained severe injuries, he registered that his power didn’t recede, and the dark lord was gathering strength as if he were going to retaliate at any moment.

At the slightest whiff of danger, Wang Tong pulled back immediately. In less than half a heartbeat, Moye shot out a thousand bloodstained pins from his skin. Something writhed under Moye skin as if underneath it were crawling worms. The skin around the open wounds twitched and turned inside out. The sight was gut-churning even for the most battle-hardened warriors.

A thousand pins flew back and wrapped around the dark lord’s body until Moye was cocooned in an egg-shaped meat sack. The cocoon started to spin and was gaining speed by the second.

Wang Tong hovered above the cocoon and watched it spinning. The cocoon had formed a force field around it so that not even he could get near.

Wang Tong probed the egg-shaped sack with an energy ball, but the energy was quickly swallowed by the force field. These egg shape sack reminded Wang Tong of the egg that Deep Blue was hatched from. Whatever strike landed on the egg’s surface, its energy would be absorbed completely.

The remaining purple guards threw themselves at the cocoon as the latter sucked their life force dry, reducing them to mere husks; it was a frightening scene.

It wasn’t long before the human warriors started to feel the pull as the force field and the egg grew in size.

“Everybody! Pull back!” Wang Tong shouted at his team as the human soldiers pulled back to safety.

“Am I really seeing this? Moye is going to evolve! ” Tan Bu cursed.

“Don’t worry! Boss will handle it. ” Duo Lun said confidently.

Harmon watched the development on the screen with a newfound interest. He had made himself a cup of coffee and typed a few words to the computer. “Note to self: the Zerg’s ability is amazing. Divine Lord used to say that Moye is in his second form, and no one had ever seen his third and the ultimate form yet. I wager I will be the first immortal to witness this.”
Harmon picked up the steaming cup of coffee and sniffed it, then took a sip and smiled satisfiedly. Watching this battle had brought him much more joy than he had expected.

Harmon was an immortal, and therefore, he could practically live forever. Having tasted immortality, any material enjoyment seemed bland. The real thrill of life then came only physiologically. The thought of obtaining new knowledge as well as the thought that there was still so much to learn both brought Harmon enjoyment.

The Zergs had remained an enigma to Harmon. They had subjugated countless civilizations, and therefore, they had many opportunities to become the perfect beings in the universe. Yet, the Zergs seemed to have completely ignored that and were content with their hideous and primitive forms. Perhaps their impeccable ability to conquer new worlds as a group had made them forget about the power of an individual? This mindset didn’t change until they had met the humans.

But, despite the setback in the Zergs’ plan of conquering the universe, they really should be feeling grateful for encountering the Blade Warrior. Without him, neither the immortals nor the dark ones would have been born.

Harmon had always been fascinated by the Blade Warrior, which didn’t fade even after he became an immortal. However, as he took on the problem from a new perspective, he had started to realize just how powerful the Blade Warrior really was.

There could only be one conclusion: the Blade Warrior was not an ordinary man in mortal coil.

Harmon didn’t fully understand the results, and neither did he find it convincing despite the finality of it. To finally put the query to rest, Harmon needed to search inside Wang Tong.

By then, the spinning cocoon had lost all of its colors, and the earth underneath was also robbed of life and nutrients as it cracked like a turtle’s shell.

The cocoon finally slowed down, and the shell shattered into pieces. From within, a brand new Dark Lord emerged, and he looked like a…human; a very handsome one at that. His tenacious body was fully naked, and his hard face had a pained smile that looked like it was chiseled into the smoothest stones.

Moye stretched his arm and yawned. His purple hair tumbled down all the way to his heels. He had held back the final transformation for a long while, bidding his time to capture Wang Tong so he could tap into the latter’s power.

Rays of purple lights shot out of the Dark Lord’s body as an armor appeared on his body piece by piece. The METAL suit was exquisitely designed and with elegant decorations. The helmet and the chest piece each had an energy crystal set in it. Moye stretched again, and this time, he spread out his wings. And what a magnificent pair of wings those were! They were no longer the batwings, but a pair of half translucent purple flower petals. The title of Dark Lord was no longer a befitting name; instead, he should be called the purple fairy instead.

Despite the change in the appearances, Moye didn’t change a wee bit inside.

He raised his body into the air without using his wings. He looked no different from a human, except for the wings.

“My final stage combined strength and beauty, making me the perfect being in the universe. Patroclus is only the perfect human, and all humans have flaws. But, I am not a human…I am the real paragon of perfection.”
Moye said in an airy tone, his voice no longer hoarse.

Wang Tong was unfazed by Moye’s impressive display as he shrugged. “You look like a girl. Come on, don’t act like one too! Hurry up and let’s get it over with!”

“You are courting death!” Moye shouted as a purple blade appeared in his hand. With a swift flapping of his wings, Moye flew to Wang Tong at lightning speed, tracing a smear of purple across the battlefield.

After the final transformation, Moye’s soul energy remained unchanged; however, his skills had improved by leaps and bounds.

The dark lord attacked and a purple blade aura lanced into the sky, threatening to pierce the clouds. Three of his blows landed on the ground near the human warriors. Tan Bu jumped out of harm’s way as the strike left three huge craters on the ground.