Chapter 395: The Dark Tide Arrives, the Holy Son's Plan

The battle on the battlefield continued. Due to the disparity in mid-to-high-level combat power between the two sides, the goblin forces fell into a disadvantage not long after the decisive battle began. By now, the number of gnomes killed by the many prodigies and adventurers had reached several hundred.

The loss of gnomes was not the same as the loss of ordinary goblins or advanced goblins. No matter how many of those goblins died, it wouldn't have much impact. After all, with the reproductive rate of the goblin race, they would be reborn in no time.

But gnomes were different. The birth of a gnome was extremely difficult. The Gnome Kingdom had developed for such a long time yet had only gathered about ten thousand gnomes. Every single one of them was crucial to the Gnome Kingdom, and now, hundreds had been lost in a short period.

Added to that, the overall situation of the battle was clearly a one-sided advantage for the allied forces. According to common sense, even if the Gnome Kingdom didn't choose to give up directly, they wouldn't continue sending these gnomes to their deaths. At the very least, they would consider changing their strategy and trying other approaches.

For example, sending out those stronger gnomes for a surprise attack. That way, at least before everyone could react, they could inflict considerable losses on the allied forces. Not like now, advancing step by step and continuously sending gnomes to die in vain.

This kind of tactic was extremely strange, completely defying common sense.

The high-level officials had naturally thought of this as well.

"What exactly is the Gnome Emperor plotting? Sending gnomes to die like this... doesn't he feel any regret?"

"This is different from previous situations. It seems this invasion of the Gnome Kingdom is indeed not so simple."

"Could it be exactly as His Eminence said?"

"Regardless, don't let your guard down. Be cautious in everything..."

"Got it!"

Over on Lin Mo's side, he was also killing the surrounding goblins and gnomes while frowning in thought.

From his perspective, these gnomes and goblins were practically just throwing their lives away.

That's right, throwing their lives away.

They were completely engaged in a meaningless battle. The kill ratio between the two sides was completely unbalanced. So many gnomes and goblins surged forward one after another, yet the casualties they inflicted on the human side were very limited.

What exactly were they after...

Could throwing away their lives itself be a strategy?

Wait!

Lin Mo's expression suddenly froze.

Throwing away their lives might actually be useful.

The essence of the Dark Tide was actually the dark side of the world. That is to say, everything "dark" could fuel the birth and expansion of the Dark Tide, such as negative emotions like pain, sorrow, and resentment, as well as killing and death.

That meant the war currently happening, and the large-scale eradication and killing of goblins over the past ten-plus days, could very well become nourishment for the Dark Tide, helping it grow stronger.

If the Gnome Kingdom was truly being eroded and used by the Dark Tide, becoming its accomplice, then everything they had done over the past ten-plus days, including what they were doing now, might really be intentional.

The goal was simply to provide enough nourishment for the Dark Tide, allowing it to continue growing stronger.

Thinking of this, Lin Mo felt a chill run down his spine.

If things were really as he imagined, then in the past ten-plus days of war, the number of goblins that had died, based on rough estimates, had at least exceeded 800 million, possibly even over a billion!

Add to that the two to three million casualties on the allied side. With such a massive scale of death, plus the countless negative emotions born during the war itself... how fat would the Dark Tide be fed?

But even knowing all this, what could he do?

This war had progressed to this point and was impossible to stop. Or rather, even if Lin Mo had known this before the war started, he still couldn't have changed anything...

When the goblins charged, you had to kill them. If you didn't kill them, they would come to kill you, even cross the defensive lines, invade the territories of the elves and humans, and kill their civilians.

So this was an unsolvable problem, unavoidable no matter what.

All he could do was prepare himself and face the real challenge ahead.

Time was running out...

Lin Mo stopped fighting and retreated to a slightly more distant spot. He needed to rest for a while and adjust his condition to its peak.

Compared to the difficult battles he might face later, the slight increase in proficiency here wasn't worth it.

Even if he continued fighting and could level up a few times, the mana and qi and blood consumed would be hard to replenish.

After all, the intensity of the battles he was facing now was no longer as low as it was at the beginning. The low-level skills had mostly been maxed out by Lin Mo. The remaining skills, if he wanted to raise their proficiency, would inevitably consume a lot of qi and blood and mana.

Lin Mo took out the alchemical reagents stored in his Portable Space and chugged them like drinks.

His overall condition was actually still quite good. His qi and blood and mana consumption were both less than a quarter. In theory, this was already an excellent state, but the heavy feeling of an impending storm still made Lin Mo unable to relax.

Before the real challenge came, he had to keep his condition at 100%!

Soon, Lily also appeared beside him. If they really had to face the Dark Tide next, among those present, besides Lin Mo, only Lily could truly help him.

As for the other powerful experts, handling these goblins or gnomes was naturally no problem, but when facing the Dark Tide, they were ultimately powerless.

After all, even beings like the Ice Dragon King couldn't escape long-term erosion and torment in the face of the Dark Tide.

Having absorbed so much nourishment, the Dark Tide that would appear before them next would undoubtedly be very powerful. Even Heroic Realm experts among humans might find it difficult to resist.

Lily was still wearing that dazzling golden armor, making her expression unreadable, but from her subtle movements and breathing, it was clear that her mood was equally unsettled.

"Your Eminence..."

Seeing Lily hesitating to speak, Lin Mo knew she had also realized the same problem he had just thought of.

"Don't be nervous."

Lin Mo patted her shoulder. "I'm here."

Through the armor, feeling the hand on her shoulder, Lily's body stiffened for a moment before gradually relaxing. She replied softly, "Mm!"

She believed in the goddess's choice, believed that this Divine Child would ultimately cleanse the Dark Tide.

All she had to do was follow behind him, help him at any cost, and do everything she could for him.

The change came very suddenly.

Even though the powerful experts had already sensed it, when everything came, it was still too abrupt.

On the normal battlefield, suddenly, everything seemed to fall silent for an instant. In that moment, the entire world plunged into utter stillness. All things came to a standstill, and time and space were frozen... Then, an instant later, a blackness deeper than the night suddenly shrouded the sky.

No, perhaps it wasn't black... but destruction, the opposite of existence itself.

It was like the difference between being blindfolded and completely losing one's sight—not at all the same concept.

A "black" tide poured down from the sky, crashing onto the vast battlefield.

A silent roar echoed in people's hearts. Everyone unfortunate enough to be touched by that "black" tide fell into madness without any resistance.

Their skin was corroded by the tide. Their entire forms changed, their eyes hollow, as if they had become empty shells.

But their movements were incredibly insane. These controlled people swung their weapons, hacking at the companions beside them.

Caught off guard, many soldiers and adventurers were injured by these "comrades."

Ahead, the "black" Dark Tide had already merged into the ground, continuing to spread rapidly in their direction.

"Your Eminence Lin Mo!"

Lily's voice sounded in his ear. The next moment, a golden Holy Light blazed, expanding rapidly, enveloping a large area nearby and blocking the Dark Tide's advance.

But the Holy Light within Lily was ultimately very limited. All she could protect was just a small area nearby.

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"

The moment the "Dark Tide" descended, the high-level allied command reacted with lightning speed, immediately issuing orders for everyone to retreat.

"Stop maintaining the defensive lines! Retreat while contracting the lines. Form up from both wings toward the center. Don't cause a stampede..."

The existence of the Dark Tide was not known to the vast majority of people on the continent. It was a rather obscure topic.

But this thing was obviously not so obscure that the top-level experts present were completely unaware of it.

They might not know much about the specifics of the Dark Tide, but they at least knew of its existence.

Especially those few peak Heroic Realm experts. They had all been invited by the Pope to the Holy Light Church, where they had heard some things about the Dark Tide.

In fact, not just Lin Mo. After learning that the gnomes seemed to have mastered some strange power recently, some among them had also guessed whether this was related to the Dark Tide. And this guess had been confirmed just a few days after the war began.

Because that Holy Son of the Holy Light Church—His Eminence Lyons—had also rushed over urgently, arriving at the battlefield.

"Your Eminence, Holy Son!"

The white-haired old man, followed by a group of top-tier power leaders, walked with a grave expression to the front of that golden-haired youth.

At first, this was just a large-scale defensive war against the Gnome Kingdom's invasion. Although equally important, it was still somewhat ordinary, something that had happened often before.

But everything had completely changed since the arrival of the Holy Son Lyons from the Church.

After completing his negotiations with the high-level officials of the Roxez Empire at the Imperial Capital's Imperial Palace, His Eminence the Holy Son had rushed here immediately and told them the reason for his special visit.

—The Pope, through divination, had sensed possible traces of the Dark Tide in this area.

From the moment the words "Dark Tide" came out of his mouth, the situation was already on an entirely different level.

No matter how much the Gnome Kingdom developed, it could never stir up too much trouble.

It was still a controllable event for the Roxez Empire, let alone the entire continent.

But when it came to the Dark Tide, it was completely different.

If handled poorly, it could very likely evolve into a terrifying disaster like the Undead Cataclysm!