Chapter 567: Boris’ Trick, the Collapse of the Formation!

Even though Sterl knew how powerful the legendary army was when combined with the formation, he still pushed forward with the hundred Celestial Stars for a reason.

The reason lay in Boris, who was a dark piece in this game. As the overseer of this formation, Boris controlled most of the powers within it. With just a subtle manipulation, he could temporarily disable the formation’s effectiveness. If done correctly, it would go completely unnoticed.

Because a formation is still a formation, there’s always room for error. Sometimes, when too much energy pours in, or there’s a slight pause in energy transmission, small faults could appear.

Even so, as long as the formation was maintained, it would automatically generate a defensive barrier. Although it wasn’t as strong as a deliberately built one, it would still be enough to block the attacks of an ordinary god.

Usually, the overseer of such a formation would be a god, so with the god’s quick reaction time, these tiny flaws would almost never be noticed. There was no real danger.

However, when most of the formation’s authority lay with Boris, he could deliberately magnify these tiny flaws. And more importantly... Boris was just one of Sterl’s tools. If this didn’t work, Sterl could activate other dark pieces.

Through Boris’ careful manipulation, the core of the formation was mostly controlled by those gods marked as followers by Sterl. In other words, if Sterl wished, he could destroy this so-called legendary army formation instantly.

With the dual effects of the map module and dark pieces, if the gods from the Upper Realms were unable to intervene, the outcome of this war had already been decided.

Meanwhile, as the Celestial Stars were about to strike, a cold glint flashed in Boris’ eyes. This was his lord’s command, and he had to carry it out, even if it meant risking severe injury. But… as long as he moved quickly enough, he could complete the task without sustaining any significant harm, or at least, with only minor injuries.

A surge of energy gathered within the formation and quickly transformed into a thick defensive barrier. Even a god would feel helpless seeing this protective shell.

From a distance, Eterna watched this unfold but chose not to intervene. He understood that the true strength of a legendary army lay in their formation, and what Hades was doing now was just futile. Once Hades realized that the Legion couldn’t be defeated head-on, they would negotiate and cooperate, slowly dismantling it bit by bit.

However, what Boris didn’t realize was that the overseer of the formation was actually one of Sterl’s own people!

Boom!

The sky grew increasingly crimson, and hundreds of Celestial Stars fell from above, capable of utterly flattening a mountain range, altering the landscape, and even changing the very life characteristics of the land.

But the legendary army, those soldiers protected by the defensive barrier, grew more excited and confident with each passing moment. They had no doubt that these Celestial Stars would be unable to break their defense.

"This isn’t my fault," Boris muttered to himself just as the Celestial Stars were about to strike the defensive barrier.

Then, unexpectedly, the powerful defensive barrier that was supposed to hold up against the celestial onslaught suddenly disappeared!

"Not good! There’s an energy fluctuation, the formation is temporarily offline!"

Boris exclaimed in shock, and then pretended to struggle to maintain control. At this point, the Legendary soldiers and demigods still hadn’t reacted, only to witness the once-imposing defensive barrier vanish entirely.

Hundreds of meteors came crashing down without obstruction. The ordinary barrier couldn’t even hold for a single second before it collapsed instantly!

Then…

Boom!

In an instant, the earth shook violently!

Hundreds of Celestial Stars crashed precisely into the legendary army, unleashing a wave of terrifying force. However, what nobody expected was that, even though the defensive barrier had failed, it suddenly reappeared the moment the Celestial Stars began to fall.

The original barrier, designed to defend against external attacks, now morphed into an inverted giant metal pot. It trapped the explosive force from the falling Celestial Stars, confining it within this newly-formed shield!

Immediately, the terrifying power of the hundred Celestial Stars—already formidable on its own—was amplified drastically. The Legendary soldiers facing the meteors, caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, had already channeled most of their power into the formation. Even though some residual energy remained, they had no time to release it. They could only watch helplessly as the massive meteor crashed down on them, feeling their bodies slowly crushed under its immense weight.

"What is happening!? What the hell is going on!?"

Boris shouted in panic, but by then, he had already unconsciously moved to the edge of the formation to avoid being directly struck by the Celestial Stars. As for the aftershocks, he could still withstand them—after all, he was a true god!

But for the Legendary soldiers and demigods, things were far worse. The sudden turn of events, with the meteors crashing down, instantly claimed the lives of thousands of warriors. Then, under the effects of Starlight Spray and Cursed Vision, massive amounts of excessive damage spread wildly, eroding and incinerating the surrounding soldiers.

"No! How is this possible? How can we lose!?"

"Damn it, I’m an Ascendant! I’m one step away from becoming a demigod! I won’t die here!"

"Someone stop them!"

Unlike the panic and despair of the ordinary cannon fodder, the Ascendants who had realized the defense barrier had failed still desperately gathered their power to resist.

One Legendary ability after another, even the demigods’ Law Powers, were activated recklessly. The battlefield became a chaotic, dazzling scene, as various forces flooded the area, creating an overwhelming explosion of power.

The gods who had been marked as followers but had not yet activated their powers also joined the fray. Seeing this, Boris, in order to avoid suspicion, pretended to struggle while tightly controlling the formation with gritted teeth.

Soon, with ten gods and many demigods and Legendaries fighting with all their might, they finally managed to barely suppress the immense force unleashed by the Celestial Stars. However, the power of the Celestial Stars had not yet been fully released, and the scene descended into a prolonged period of draining combat.

The overflow of Celestial Stars damage continued to dissipate, but at the same time, every second more Legendaries were being swallowed by the destructive force, falling on the spot.

"It seems that, even without the formation, the legendary army can still unleash tremendous combat power."

Sterl remarked, slightly reflecting on the situation. Indeed, if a hundred thousand Legendaries were to unleash their abilities at the same time, the sheer force would be terrifying. Even if gods could immune 90% of the damage, the overwhelming number would result in thousands or tens of thousands of times the damage being absorbed.

However, no matter how powerful the army, under Sterl’s arrangements, although the entire legion wasn’t wiped out, nearly twenty thousand Legendaries had fallen, including several demigods.

Without hesitation, Sterl quickly focused his mental energy, reinforcing his soul to maintain the most stable condition to absorb and refine the shockwaves brought by the souls being consumed.

From his perspective, countless souls screamed as they rose, seemingly still trapped in their pain, continuing to wail and struggle.

Immediately, the Soul Devourer Sphere erupted with tremendous suction, pulling the souls of these Legendaries and demigods into it. In an instant, a powerful shockwave and backlash descended upon Sterl’s soul.

The intensity of this backlash was far greater than the one caused by the five gods’ souls. The force was so overwhelming that even Sterl had not anticipated it. If the previous backlash from the cannon fodder could be compared to a hurricane storm, insignificant in comparison, and the backlash from the five gods’ souls was like countless hailstones, then the backlash from the tens of thousands of Legendaries and demigods was like an earthquake!

The mountain representing Sterl’s soul trembled under the shock of the quake, with large amounts of rocks and soil falling away. Cracks even began to appear within the mountain itself.

Even though Sterl had prepared for this, he couldn’t help but let out a grunt of pain as his soul was violently shaken. The damage and impact on his soul caused his overall state to drop significantly.

"I nearly messed up, how careless..."

Fortunately, his soul was still strong enough that even with such a powerful backlash, it couldn’t shake the foundation of his soul.

"I was right. Souls of beings from different tiers are fundamentally different. Ordinary first and second-tier souls belong to one level, Legendaries and demigods belong to another, and the souls of gods are even more powerful. Even though the soul level is still considered level one, their essence is completely different."

Sterl pondered, realizing that if his own soul hadn’t undergone a transformation along with his power, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand the overwhelming force. The soul and body are fundamentally linked, like the duality of yin and yang.

If one side becomes too strong, the other will weaken. Thus, balance must be maintained. Even if these souls hadn’t been consciously enhanced, they still subtly changed as the individual’s strength grew, preventing total collapse of the soul.

"If that’s the case, then perhaps the souls of ordinary mortals hold no value to me."

The souls of first and second-tier beings were the easiest to resist. To even reach these tiers, the key first step was the awakening of talents.

With this thought, Sterl’s mind became clearer.