Chapter 594: Breaking the Cocoon

Chapter 594: Breaking the Cocoon

Li Wei felt Gusewei's call.

He appeared on the battlefield.

The moment he materialized, he was surrounded and trapped by countless webs forming a cocoon.

Li Wei took out the Dragon God's divine fragment, hoping to use its power to break the cocoon.

Divine energy poured into the fragment, yet he found he could not activate its power.

Looking down, he saw that unknown to him, fine spider silk had already wrapped around the fragment.

All the divine energy Li Wei channeled into the fragment was blocked outside by the silk, unable to enter.

Naturally, this meant he couldn't awaken the fragment's power.

Unable to use the fragment’s strength,

Li Wei felt his body growing heavy, difficult to move.

Countless strands of hair-thin silk emerged all over his body.

The silk coiled tightly around him, exerting a sealing effect.

He became like prey caught in a spider's trap, unable to struggle free.

Across the spatial rift, Rose gazed at Li Wei, now encased within the cocoon.

Invisible, delicate threads extended from her body, crossing through the spatial rift and spreading across the battlefield opposite.

She simply waited for the prey to blunder into her web.

Without doubt, Li Wei was the prey she had been waiting for.

Once ensnared, with no way to escape the web, death would be the only path left for him.

The cocoon woven from law-infused spider silk slowly dragged Li Wei toward the underground world beyond the spatial rift.

Suddenly, the cocoon glowed, transforming into an enormous lightbulb suspended midair.

The cocoon, made of law-bound webs, blocked out the sun's radiance.

Humans on the ground could only see the residual glow born of solar heat, never feeling the true brilliance of sunlight.

Li Wei released his divine energy as pure destructive force, becoming a blazing sun intent on burning everything around him.

Though the sun-form could not consume the law-woven webs,

it did make Rose hesitate to pull him further into the underworld.

At the instant he crossed the spatial rift, there would be a fracture in the laws.

Then, the violent power of the sun would erupt fully.

Even if just for a fleeting moment, it would be enough for Li Wei to seize a chance to escape.

But Rose would give Li Wei not even the smallest opportunity.

Thus, she chose to confine him, watching silently as he fought like a cornered beast.

Rose didn’t believe Li Wei could sustain such astonishing output indefinitely.

When his strength finally drained and he could no longer maintain his sun form—that would be his end.

What Rose hadn’t expected, however, was that Li Wei drew upon a star, possessing nearly inexhaustible divine might.

And so, a massive glowing bulb remained suspended high in the sky.

Even during the night after the sun vanished, Zhui Long Slope remained bright as day.

The dark races of the underworld were weakened under the intense, blinding sunlight.

The Northern Mystery Kingdom barely held their defensive line.

Gusewei looked up at the giant bulb in the sky.

After a moment, she lowered her head, filled with regret—thinking how much better it would have been had she not called Li Wei here.

That way, he wouldn't be in danger.

Although she couldn't understand the battle between Li Wei and Rose, the scene before her clearly showed Rose gaining the upper hand.

Otherwise, Li Wei would have broken free long ago instead of hanging in the air like a giant lamp.

Tap tap tap!

Lena walked beside Gusewei, staring at the dazzling orb overhead for a while before asking softly, "Is that Li Wei?"

Gusewei nodded slightly. "Yes."

"What happened to him?" Lena asked.

"That is his fight," Gusewei replied.

She turned toward the frontlines and said firmly, "Until his battle reaches its conclusion, we must not lose!"

Hearing this, Lena glanced back once at Maple Leaf City and nodded resolutely. "Right. We absolutely cannot lose."

The battle continued.

Above them raged one war in the skies.

Below, another war unfolded between humanity and the dark races.

Trapped inside the cocoon, Li Wei could only resort to near self-destruction using divine energy to delay Rose’s assault.

Burning divine energy transformed from the sun,

he then burned himself again into the sun.

Now, it wasn’t Li Wei fighting Rose—it was the burning star in the Astral Void.

Li Wei was merely the carrier of that stellar flame.

Transforming into the sun served only to stall Rose’s attack; it could not shatter the cocoon.

To break the cocoon, Li Wei needed power truly his own.

Upon assuming the sun form, his consciousness sank deep into the dream realm, ceaselessly comprehending the fundamental Law of Power, day and night.

In the blink of an eye, the war had stretched on for a month.

Everyone had grown accustomed to the colossal bulb hanging above their heads.

Affected by its piercing brightness, the combat effectiveness of the dark races from the underworld declined significantly.

The Northern Mystery Kingdom had managed to hold the line for a full month.

A month of relentless warfare had exhausted both sides—the kingdom and the dark legions alike.

Yet still, the war went on.

The intensity of conflict had diminished compared to earlier days.

Yet the cruelty far exceeded that of the first day.

This war had already become a dual torment—both mental and physical.

Even the strongest professionals were beginning to falter.

The only ones still maintaining a sound state of mind were those professional warriors from the city of Velraid.

They had endured things even more brutal than this war.

Not just for a month—but for over ten long years of relentless suffering.

It had all become routine.

This battle reawakened the savagery buried deep in their bones.

The Northern Xuan Kingdom’s frontlines still held—only because of these warriors from Velraid.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

Northern Xuan had lost every defensive line at the Dragonfall Slope and retreated to Mapleleaf City.

They now relied on the city's fortifications to resist the dark legions emerging from the Underworld.

If not for that bright orb still hanging in the sky,

the morale of the Northern Xuan army would have collapsed long ago.

For they had once witnessed Li Wei single-handedly forcing the dark races of the Underworld into full retreat.

Thus, those who remained alive still believed—if Li Wei lived, if he could break free, he could defeat the enemy.

That was the last remaining belief, the final glimmer of hope.

Lena found Gusewei and asked, “Didn’t Li Wei leave you any clues? Is there any way we can help him escape?”

Gusewei looked at Lena, whose armor was covered in scars, and shook her head. “No.”

She said with resignation, “That battle is beyond our ability to intervene.”

Lena’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Gusewei told her about the opponent Li Wei faced.

“Li Wei’s adversary is a god of the Underworld—the Spider Goddess, Lolth.”

Upon hearing this, Lena gazed toward the distant glowing orb in the sky, falling silent for a long time.

She hadn’t expected his opponent to be so powerful.

It far surpassed anything within her capabilities.

If Li Wei’s foe had been merely a demigod,

she might have sought aid from the Ninth Prince.

The Ninth Prince still had experts of demigod-level strength who could come to Li Wei’s aid.

But Li Wei faced a true deity.

That was something she couldn’t interfere with.

Not even she, nor even the Ninth Prince behind her, dared to meddle.

A god—that word alone signified supreme authority.

Lena never imagined that one day she would find herself standing against a god.

Had Gusewei told her on the first day of the war that their enemy would be a divine being,

she likely would have abandoned all hope and fled.

Two months of war had passed.

Now that Gusewei revealed the truth—that their enemy was indeed a god—

though Lena still felt victory was remote, it was no longer entirely hopeless.

At least she had seen someone hold out against a god for two whole months.

And what they faced weren’t even gods themselves,

but merely the races under a god’s command.

What reason was there for despair?

Lena said, “Without reinforcements, Mapleleaf City’s defenses should hold for another month.”

With that, she turned and left.

Gusewei looked up at the glowing orb suspended in the sky, gripping her Frost Staff tightly.

“How much longer, Li Wei…”

She had always believed in him—in his ability to defeat Lolth.

Li Wei had been trapped inside the cocoon for two months.

Within the dream world, he had already spent over ten years.

[Basic Law of Strength (Incomplete)] 9623/10000

“Soon… I’ll be out soon.”

“Vivi, you must all hold on!”

Ten real years, compressed into one endless cycle.

Throughout the decade flowing past in that dreamscape, he did only one thing:

comprehend the Basic Law of Strength.

Now, he was close.

He was on the verge of grasping its complete form.

Li Wei was deeply afraid.

Afraid that when he emerged, he would see nothing but ruins where Mapleleaf City once stood.

Afraid he would never see Gusewei again.

Most of all, afraid he would find the corpse of someone dear to him.

Yet he had no time for fear.

Fear wasted time.

Wasting time meant wasting hope—and life itself.

Never before had Li Wei felt such urgency, such desperation.

Yet he forced himself to remain calm. Only through calmness could he perceive the whispers of the world, grasp the laws of heaven and earth.

All along, he could sense the divine protection surrounding Gusewei had yet to fade.

Only then could he find peace, focus on comprehending the cosmic order.

At least, Gusewei was still alive.

Waiting—for him to bring victory.

Another immeasurable stretch of time drifted away.

Levi remained immersed in the comprehension of the rudimentary law of strength.

At that singular precise instant, sudden enlightenment finally struck him.

"So this is the rudimentary law of strength!"

[Rudimentary Law of Strength] 0/10000

The law of strength stood as the symbolic embodiment of all power in existence.

It did not merely reference brute physical might.

The shockwave birthed by an explosion was a form of strength.

Even the very act of detonation itself constituted strength.

By intertwining the rudimentary law of strength with his inherent abilities, Levi grasped a power completely unique to him.

He claimed a portion of authority over the law of strength that belonged to him alone.

This was but a minute fragment of the authority contained within the complete law of strength.

Yet, for the current Levi, it was already more than enough.

The massive, enduringly luminous bulb grew dim all at once.

Drawn by the sudden transformation before them, everyone raised their heads to stare into the sky.

The colossal light source suspended in the heavens was extinguished.

Nightfall once again shrouded the earth.

The dark races erupted into earth-shaking cheers; the Great Light had finally vanished, and the force suppressing them was at last gone.

They could not wait to unleash the strength that was flooding back into their bodies.

Without waiting for orders from their commanders.

Every single soldier of the dark races launched a frantic charge toward Maple Leaf City.

This was the final assault!

The defenders upon the city walls were all struck with sheer bewilderment.

Hearing the thunderous cheers echoing from below, a collective despair washed over everyone.

Had they lost after holding out for so very long?

Guthrie pressed a hand to her chest, gazing up at the pitch-black sky as she murmured, "Levi..."

Rayna approached with hurried, urgent steps.

She spoke rapidly, "Guthrie, cast a forbidden spell to cover our retreat. There is no hope left. We must buy time to evacuate Maple Leaf City."

Seeing Levi's apparent defeat filled Rayna with deep sorrow.

However, time left no room for grief.

She had to make a decision.

The fading of the light meant that Levi had fallen.

This realization sent the morale of the defenders of Maple Leaf City plummeting to rock bottom.

Rayna knew that even if the forces of Maple Leaf City could hold the dark races off for a little while longer.

Defeat and annihilation were inevitable now that morale had broken.

She had to seize this remaining chance to withdraw their surviving forces.

Guthrie gripped her Frost Staff tightly, and just as she was about to speak, she realized the protective power enveloping her had not faded.

Her eyes trembled as a sudden spark of light returned to them.

Guthrie spoke firmly to Rayna, "Levi has not lost yet!"

Rayna countered, "But the light has gone out. Even if he hasn't lost, the extinguishing of the light means he has reached his absolute limit."

"It is simply impossible for humans to contend with gods. He held on for over two months, already breaking the world record!"

"We must face reality..."

The words had barely left her lips.

A sudden flare of fire erupted across the sky.

Guthrie and Rayna instinctively looked upward.

They witnessed the massive cocoon trapping Levi bursting into flames.

Consumed by fire.

They were not the only ones; everyone bore witness to it.

This was a burning.

And it would be the final one.

The cocoon woven from Rose's web of laws was ignited by the flames.

Before this moment, Guthrie and Rayna had exhausted every option, yet failed to leave a single scratch upon the cocoon.

An expression of hope washed over Guthrie as she cried out in excitement, "He's back! He's back!"

Rayna looked on in utter disbelief, completely stunned, "Could he have actually won?"

Though the guards upon the city wall did not fully comprehend what was unfolding.

The transformation of the cocoon made them realize that things might not be so bleak after all.

"Oh wow!"

"Drive these creatures out!"

"Kill them!"

"Don't give up, the war isn't over yet!"

The guards on the wall snapped out of their daze one by one, those awakening first shouting to their comrades to rally their collective morale.

Seeing this, Rayna also rushed back to her command post, unfurling her War Knight aura to bolster the defenders.

Directing the guards to repel the onslaught of the dark races.

Crack! Snap!

The fire consumed the web woven from the laws.

Levi caught sight of Rose opposite him, her face painted with absolute bewilderment.

Rose had never anticipated that Levi would suddenly comprehend the law.

To Rose, Levi's enlightenment did indeed seem sudden.

A span of two months was simply too brief.

Yet for Levi, this was not merely two months; it was a journey spanning over a decade.

This was a power law belonging exclusively to him.

The power of flame!

When Levi mastered the elementary power law,

the battle between him and Rose had already been decided.

When both sides wielded laws, what they competed in was their degree of mastery over those laws and the strength of their divine power.

Levi had completely grasped the elementary power law.

His divine power was nearly endless, infinite and inexhaustible.

(End of chapter)