Apocalypse: Infinite Breaker Online-Chapter 37: Grind, Netherworld Canopy

As Axir arrived, Sakamoto sneakily blasted it with Roaring Impact Bat, tumbling it down into the hole.

Axir attacked the other Brute to attract its attention, allowing Sakamoto to blast it and tumble it into the hole as well.

Robin began both Skeleton Brutes with Slingshots to stun them.

Maria inflicted one with Doom Blaze Mark by shooting a bullet and began charging another bullet.

James struck both with the Gravemarch Mace so that they could be revived as Flame Undead for five minutes.

Ling blinded both of them and began attacking the Skeleton Brute with Doom Blaze Mark.

Siddha and Aunt Kira also attacked the same Brute. Siddha inflicted 5 stacks on it swiftly, and continued attacking, so that by the time Maria charged her second bullet and hit it, it would die.

On the other hand, Axir was attacking a single brute with insane attack speed as he had consumed 1000 Sunlit fuel to boost his action speed by 500%, and action speed included attack speed as well!

In just the first three seconds, he slashed a total of 123 times, inflicting 615 stacks of Ashen Spark!

And now that his Arcane stat was 200, he dealt 20 damage per second per stack!

615 x 20 = 12,300 damage per second!

But Axir didn’t even wait and triggered the second effect of Ashveil Edge! All the stacks triggered, dealing 10% damage per stack + 500% Arcane damage.

It was dead in 2.5 seconds.

And half a second later, Maria’s second bullet also killed the other Skeleton Brute.

[ You have leveled up. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

...

Tons of level-up notifications popped up as everyone leveled up multiple times again.

"This went well." James grinned as two giant Fire Undead manifested next to him. Reading their status, his eyes shone. "These Undeads are quite powerful. They are as strong as Skeleton Brutes, and they have different skills."

"The deck is insane to have cards that created these weapons." Robin wryly smiled.

Everyone couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Axir chuckled. "You all will get powerful decks soon."

"Alright, I am bringing more monsters. Get ready." He flew up and left.

This time, Siddha had also created a barrier around their battlefield so that it wouldn’t attract other monsters. Only he and Axir were capable of doing that, but Axir needed to use Mana more, and Siddha didn’t, so he held the barrier.

Soon, Axir arrived and brought four monsters this time.

Two of them were entangled by the Flame Undead.

Sakamoto smashed the other two into the holes, and then proceeded to smash the third one into the third hole that began receiving a one-sided beating from one Flame Undead, who was hurling powerful flame-based Axe projectiles with explosion effects.

The others did their jobs, and Axir swiftly inflicted over 200 hits every three seconds.

And in ten seconds, all four level 200 monsters were dead.

Death Aura accumulated steadily, but they had to acquire 1000, and that was going to take one hour of staying in the ruins.

Easy.

The group steadily leveled up, increasing their stats and having an easier time hunting.

After one hour, Axir reached level 142, and the rest of the group reached level 127 as they crossed the Kagara ruins.

The moment they stepped beyond the visible boundary of the Kagara ruins to the next area, everything changed.

The Nether Canopy unfolded before them like a living ceiling of darkness.

Colossal trees rose from the ground, their trunks twisted and blackened, so massive that several of them could not be wrapped even by a dozen people standing hand in hand.

Their bark looked petrified, etched with vein-like patterns glowing faintly in deep violet and sickly green hues.

From high above, their branches interlocked so densely that the sky was completely erased, replaced by an endless canopy of tangled limbs and hanging growths.

The light here did not come from the sky.

It oozed.

Bioluminescent fungi clung to tree trunks and roots, pulsing slowly like beating hearts. Long strands of ghostly moss hung from branches, swaying even without wind, releasing tiny motes of pale light that drifted downward before fading into nothingness.

The ground was soft and uneven, layered with thick, black soil mixed with decomposed roots and bones. Every step released a faint whisper, as if the forest itself was exhaling.

"This place is alive," Ling whispered, eyes darting around. "But not in a normal way."

Siddha frowned, sensing outward. "Death Aura density is extreme here, but it’s refined. Controlled. Like it’s being filtered."

His eyes were glimmering with curiosity and thirst.

[You have entered the Nether Canopy]

[ Nether Canopy is watching you. ]

Grr....

[Axir: Careful. Let’s talk in Chat. It’s faster to communicate that way since we only need to think, and we can message what we want to say. This is a level 250 area and seems to be a dimensional area. It means if one of us dies, they can’t use friend teleport to teleport directly here. They would likely lose accumulated Death Aura, so let’s proceed without dying.]

[Siddha: I sense the presence of two monsters. They are blending in the darkness and watching us. Ling, on your count, we’ll close our eyes and move behind you. You use the Novasun Halberd. Put some extra mana for more brightness.]

[Ling: Three.]

[Ling: Two.]

Everyone closed their eyes and moved behind Ling.

Ling slammed the Novasun Halberd using 50% of her total Mana at once.

A loud bang and a brightness akin to a sun burst out.

Axir’s eyes faintly opened, and he used a Mana Technique. Mana Field. An advanced technique where one has to spread Mana like water all around them, but as thin as wind, and perceive changes. Mana belonging to another being would be extremely striking in this Field, so even with eyes closed, the user of the Mana Field would be able to sense the target and immediately react.

He vanished from his position and arrived next to a monster. It was half mingled in the darkness and half outside, showing a large and intricate horn and purple eyes with a beastly mouth bearing sharp teeth.

[ Nethercoil Antler ]

Level: 250

It had 28,000 Vitality and 29,000 Mana, so it was extremely powerful in Arcane stat, meaning it would one-shot anyone if struck by its attack. Unless some effect of cards or equipment did something to prevent it, but chances were low if the attack was strong and fast enough for effects not get time to activate.

However, Axir arrived behind it and attacked, attracting its aggro and the aggro of its partner as well.

And it was over. That was all everyone needed to make perfect shots in the darkness.

Blazing flame flickered as tens of slashes were inflicted in one second. The Antler reacted and arrived next to Axir like a gust of darkness, its mouth opened, and it released a purple-dark spiral spike.

But Axir was already gone from there and appeared next to it, inflicting tens of slashes again.

Siddha inflicted the other Nethercoil Antler with five stacks from the Pyrovamp Chain Scythe.

Sakamoto, Robin, and Maria attacked that same Nethercoil Antler, staggering, stunning, and inflicting it with Doom Blaze Mark.

James hit it first and then went towards Axir quickly, who was dodging Antler in close range without Liberated Drift, and inflicting slashes. Taking a chance, James inflicted a hit on the Antler and swiftly moved away.

And so, in a total of five seconds, both Nethercoil Antlers were dead.

Right then, something happened.

Death Aura, clinging to Axir and the others, began to react.

Thin streams of black mist seeped from their bodies, drifting toward the forest floor. The glowing veins on the tree trunks brightened in response, pulsing faster, brighter.

Then the forest responded.

Roots began to shift.

Massive, gnarled roots slowly rose from the ground, moving with deliberate precision. They twisted together ahead of the group, weaving into an arch-like formation. As the last root locked into place, a hollow space formed beneath it.

Darkness pooled there, thicker than shadow, swallowing the faint glow of the surrounding fungi.

[ Nether Canopy has acknowledged your presence. ]

[ Path to the Underworld is opening. ]