"Elena!" Neo called out to the cyborg maid.

​"Yes, Neo!" From the shadows, she stepped through immediately.

​"Send a priority transmission to Vaelar, Aeliana, and Nyxaris. Tell them to accelerate the hunting pace. The regional barriers will fall in exactly seven days. I want every single elf in our army past Type 7 before the real war begins."

​"Absolutely!"

​The command was immediately transmitted to the three Elven Generals while they were eating their meals in the middle of a grand canyon. The dishes were naturally made of direwolves. In the past, they were vegetarians, living peaceful lives under the Mother Tree’s protection. But now with the protection gone, they chose to adapt. Since nature had been harsh to their kind, they would not be kind either.

​"The Ruler said we need to clear the Direwolves Valley and move to a better location as the regional barriers will collapse and other factions will descend upon us with ruthless ferocity," Vaelar said, looking at Aeliana and Nyxaris.

​The two battle maidens’ expressions turned serious. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

​"Whatever happens, we cannot give up now. We need to stand up to the Ruler’s expectations. So maybe one day we can exact revenge on that demon for uprooting our precious kingdom and people," Aeliana said coldly.

​Nyxaris laughed darkly, holding her staff. "What are you so worried about? We will be the ones winning, I promise you."

Seeing her confidence, other two laughed a little.

The meal ended quickly.

Then under Vaelar’s strict command, the massive elven legion packed their basic supplies and fell into perfect formation. Their target was the northern peak, the final stronghold of the direwolf packs, and beyond that lay the ominous border of the Dark Forest.

​The march was brutal but highly efficient. The elven warriors formed a solid wall of iron and muscle, while the archers and mages rained absolute destruction from behind. Any direwolf foolish enough to charge at them was instantly turned into a bloody sieve.

​By nightfall of the fifth day, the howling in the valley ceased completely.

​[ Ding! Regional Objective Complete! ]

[ Direwolves Valley has been completely pacified. ]

[ Calculating Merit Points... ]

[ Faction Ranking Updated. Zenith Empire has secured Rank 25. ]

Resting the heavey broadsword on his shoulder, Vaelar addressed his subordinates,

​"My brave warriors, we can not stop yet. The Ruler wants us at Type 7. The wolves did not provide enough challenge anymore. We need to cross into the forest to get stronher."

​The Dark Forest lived up to its name. The trees were twisted and entirely black, blocking out the artificial moonlight of the Heavenly Gourd.

The air was also bone chillingly vold.

​"Hold your ground. We are hetting surrounded " Aeliana warned.

​But before the vanguard could raise their shields, the temperature dropped drastically.

From the dark tree trunks, screeching ethereal figures phased out. They had no legs, only tattered cloaks of shadow and glowing white eyes.

Wraiths!

​"Warriors, defensive formation!" Vaelar roared.

​One vanguard knight swung his blade at the nearest wraith, but the solid iron passed completely through the ghostly figure.

Huala!

The wraith hissed, sinking its shadowy claws into the knight’s chest.

"Ahhhh!" The elf screamed as his absolute vitality was rapidly drained away.

​"Vaelar, looks like ohysical attacks are useless against them!" Aeliana shouted, firing an emerald wind arrow.

The arrow pierced the wraith, momentarily disrupting its form, but it quickly reformed and continued its advance.

"Yes!They are spectral entities!"

​As thousands of wraiths swarmed the vanguard, the frontline panicked.

"Oh no! We don’t have magic. How will we fight?"

"We’re dead! Dead!"

"No. I don’t want to die!"

​"Step aside, you fools," Nyxaris laughed amd walked toward the front line.

Her dark eyes burned with corrupted energy.

"Spectral beings feed on standard mana. Let us see how they handle the true darkness."

​"Bang!" Nyxaris slammed her wooden staff into the frozen earth.

​[ Spell Activated: Stellar Hellfire ]

​The spell created a massive wave of dark, purple flames that erupted straight from her body, washing over the advancing wraith horde.

"Ssssssss!"

The moment the stellar fire touched the ghosts, they unleashed deafening shrieks of pure agony.

The corrupted fire did not burn their bodies. It burned their very souls.

Nyxaris smirked. Turning to the elves she said,

​"Archers! Coat your arrowheads in my stellar flames. Warriors, channel pure elemental aura into your blades. Do not use standard strikes!"

​Aeliana immediately understood. She dipped the tip of her glowing bow into the lingering purple flames, enchanting her wind arrows with the destructive stellar energy.

​"Fire!" Aeliana commanded.

"Swoosh, swooosh, swooshh."

"Buzzz, buzzz, buzzz."

The Dark Forest was instantly illuminated by a brilliant rain of dark purple and emerald light.

The enchanted arrows tore through the spectral horde, instantly incinerating thousands of wraiths upon impact.

Vaelar and his warriors followed suit, igniting their heavy swords with thick elemental aura to perfectly cleave the ghosts in half.

​The slaughter was incredibly fast.

And the purified wraith souls flooded into the elven army, triggering a massive cascade of magical upgrade.

​They all received tremendous upgrade to their body and soul.

​[ Ding! Faction Member has ranked up. ]

[ Ding! Type 8 (Peak) barrier broken. ]

[ Ding! Type 7 reached. 1000x ]

​For two solid days, they pushed deeper and deeper into the forest, leaving absolutely nothing but purified ashes in their wake.

Their synergy was completely flawless.

By the time the 7th day arrived, the entire army stood in the center of the Dark Forest, their bodies radiating an immense pressure.

​"Check your powers," Vaelar said, breathing heavily but smiling.

​Aeliana examined her body, eyes widening in pure satisfaction.

Nyxaris clenched her fist and darkness oozed out from the tiniest hairlines.

​"We did it. Every single soldier has crossed the threshold I believe."

​High above the trial world, in the cold void of space, Neo sat on his throne.

The Faction Ranking board flashed brightly in front of him.

Zenith Empire was no longer a joke.

Through relentless slaughter, they had climbed to a position that made the other warlords sweat.

​[ Faction Ranking: Zenith Empire ]

[ Current Position: 15 ]

​Neo smiled and pressed the communication button.

"Excellent work, Generals. I am sending your rewards as promised. You three will get the Awakening Serums first. Welcome to the world of Beyonders."