Four silver figures suddenly emerged from the shadows of the floating wreckage—the same Order Sentinels that had chased Lind earlier!
Their shells are covered with scars from impacts and energy erosion, and one of them even has a clearly missing edge, indicating that it has been patrolling this place for a long time and has been tempered by countless harsh environments.
But their movements remained precise, efficient, and without hesitation; their cold compound eyes instantly locked onto Linde, the unauthorized "variable."
"[High-energy unauthorized individual detected. Decision: Clean up target.]" The emotionless stream of information simultaneously emanated from the four Sentinels.
Without warning or negotiation, they instantly went into attack mode.
Four condensed silver beams, like the gaze of death, shot towards Lind from different angles, sealing off all his space to dodge. Wherever the beams passed, even the chaotic nebula matter was instantly "ordered" and calmed, turning into the most basic attributeless particles.
"It's like a persistent ghost." Lin De's eyes turned cold.
He did not choose to confront the attack head-on. In the split second, his figure blurred, like a shadow blending into the background, narrowly avoiding the crossfire of the beams. At the same time, he made a grasping motion with his right hand, condensing the power of the light veins into a blazing spear, while his left hand drew upon the Shadow Abyss, transforming it into countless silent, dark blades.
The battle erupted instantly in the deathly silent graveyard!
Lind's figure moved like a ghost, flashing and darting among the massive wreckage. Each thrust of the spear of light precisely struck the weakest point in the Sentinel's energy core, causing a small-scale collapse of order and energy dissipation; while the shadow blades, like a malignant tumor, specifically eroded the Sentinel's joints and energy transmission channels.
These sentinels, though powerful, were not in perfect condition, and their attack patterns seemed better suited to dealing with large, chaotic targets (such as the minions of evil gods). They appeared somewhat rigid when facing Lind, who possessed extremely strong individual combat power, flexible tactics, and was equally proficient in the power of rules.
"boom!"
Linde seized the opportunity and blasted a Sentinel into its core with a ball of light and dark energy condensed to the extreme. The Sentinel was instantly overloaded and turned into a dazzling but silent silver firework. Its internal structure collapsed and fragments scattered everywhere.
The other three Sentinels immediately adjusted their tactics, no longer attacking separately, but quickly closing in, attempting to create a combined force field to imprison and purify Lind.
However, just as Linde was preparing to dismantle the remaining three units into parts in one go—
Mutation and regeneration!
Perhaps it was the violent energy disturbance caused by the self-destruction of the Sentinel, or perhaps it was the force dissipated from the battle between Linde and the Sentinel that tore apart the already unstable space. Near their battle area, a previously subtle and imperceptible spatial rift suddenly expanded!
"Sizzle—!"
It was like the sound of cloth being torn, echoing on the level of the soul.
From that suddenly widening, pitch-black rift, an intensely dense chaos and malice surged forth like a flood bursting its banks! Immediately afterward, several twisted figures rushed out from within!
They come in all shapes and sizes; some resemble rolling, eye-filled chunks of flesh; others look like centipede-like monsters haphazardly pieced together from countless insect segments; and still others are simply a shadow that constantly changes shape and exudes mental pollution...
It was none other than Lind's familiar "old adversary"—the followers of the evil god! Moreover, judging from the intensity and distortion of their energy, they were far more powerful and ancient than those he had encountered on the continent of Til and the planet of Qitar!
The moment these evil god's minions appeared, their chaotic and frenzied will instantly filled the area, creating a sharp contrast with the cold, orderly force field of the Order Sentinels.
They seemed momentarily bewildered by the situation before them, but the next second, their instinctive and extreme hatred of "order" made them immediately lock their attack targets onto the three gleaming silver sentinels!
"Awooo—!"
An indescribable roar reverberated through the vacuum, and several evil god minions, like moths drawn to a flame, launched a frenzied attack on the Order Sentinels who were constructing the force field! Chaotic tentacles, corrosive acid, and psychic shrieks... all crashed into the silver force field.
The three Order Sentinels almost instinctively executed the highest priority command—to purify all “disorder”! Their combined force field instantly shifted, and powerful beams of Order swept towards the evil god’s minions like brooms.
Suddenly, an unexpected battle between order and chaos unfolded in a corner of this nebula graveyard!
Silver and purplish-black energies collided and annihilated each other wildly, with order and chaos eroding each other, engulfing the surrounding debris and turning the world upside down.
Linde hovered outside the battle circle, coldly watching this sudden scene unfold.
He concealed most of his aura, like an observer standing aside.
(A spatial rift... The evil god's minions are actively traversing this place? Can they locate this graveyard? Or is this graveyard itself a "beacon" attracting them?)
(The Sentinels of Order and the Familiars of the Evil God are mortal enemies, and they will fight to the death whenever they meet... This might be... an opportunity.)
Linde didn't intervene in the melee. He was happy to sit back and watch the two sides fight; whether the Sentinels were destroyed or the evil god's minions were purified, it would be advantageous to him. He could use this opportunity to observe the power characteristics and fighting styles of both sides more closely and collect valuable data.
He carefully maintained his stealth, meticulously recording every detail of every energy collision and every technique of rule application using the [Deconstruct Aura].
The battle was exceptionally fierce. The Order Sentinels' purification beams were extremely effective against the evil god's minions; often, a single beam could cause a minion to wail and be mostly dissolved. However, the evil god's minions were far more numerous, and their power attributes were extremely stubborn, making them difficult to eradicate completely. They could often be scattered and then quickly reform, even absorbing the chaotic energy of the surrounding graveyards to restore themselves.
After purifying two large familiars in succession, an Order Sentinel was approached by a third familiar that resembled a shadow. The shadow directly penetrated its external force field and began to erode its internal information core, causing the Sentinel to freeze instantly. It was then swarmed by the other familiars and torn to pieces.
The remaining two Sentinels continued to fight to the death, their coordination becoming even tighter, their force fields overlapping, like silver reefs standing firm amidst chaotic waves.
Linde could see clearly that the individual strength of these sentinels was roughly equivalent to the peak of demigods on the continent of Til, but with their unique rules of order and powerful teamwork, they could unleash combat power close to that of weak gods.
On the other hand, the strength of the evil god's followers varied greatly. The strongest few had only touched the edge of weak divine power, and they relied more on numbers and their fearless madness.
“It seems that this ‘graveyard’ is an important strategic point for both sides…” Linde speculated in his mind, “The Arbiters of Order have deployed sentries to patrol here to prevent the ‘contamination’ from spreading in the graveyard, or to prevent something from being awakened? And the evil god’s minions have come here to reclaim the ‘legacy’ of these ancient kin? Or… is there something here that attracts them?”
His gaze returned to the slowly pulsating, dark red piece of flesh that had initially emitted the life signal.
Amidst the intense fighting, the piece of flesh seemed to be stimulated, its throbbing speed increasing, its eyes darting wildly, and the mental fluctuations it emitted becoming clearer and... more urgent?
"[Conflict...opportunity...key...in...the core...]"
Intermittent information entered Linde's perception.
The core? Lind looked into the deepest part of the nebula. That was where the energy turbulence was most violent, beyond even his perception.
Just as he was pondering this, the battle over there came to an end.
Although the last two Order Sentinels were powerful, they were eventually exhausted by the continuous onslaught of the evil god's minions pouring out from the rifts, and were completely overwhelmed and disintegrated by the chaotic energy.
The evil god's minions also paid a heavy price. Of the dozen or so minions that had come to traverse the area, only three severely injured individuals remained, along with some smaller, parasitic appendages.
They also seemed to have expended a great deal of energy, and instead of immediately continuing their actions, they began to greedily absorb the dissipated energy of order and the remains of their kind in an attempt to recover.
The spatial rift that had been accidentally torn open also began to slowly shrink, seemingly extremely unstable.
Linde knew he couldn't wait any longer.
Whether it's to gather information or to eliminate a threat, now is the best time to act.
He no longer concealed himself, and his seven-colored magic shone brightly once more, as if a brand new star had been ignited on this dark red and silver-gray battlefield!
The three remaining evil god's minions immediately became alert and let out threatening roars.
Lind didn't waste any words and made his move immediately!
This time, he held nothing back. The power of light and darkness intertwined, forming destructive torrents that crashed down on the three-headed servants like divine punishment.
Having just endured a fierce battle, the family members were already exhausted and had almost no chance to fight back against Linde's full-strength offensive.
In just a few breaths, the last centipede-like minion that tried to burrow back into the spatial rift was crushed by the giant claw that Linde had condensed with the power of Shadow Abyss, and its chaotic core was directly annihilated.
The battle is over.
Lind stood alone atop the floating wreckage, beneath which lay a slowly closing spatial rift, silver fragments scattered across the battlefield, and the dissipating remains of an evil god.
He quickly collected several relatively complete fragments of the Order Sentinel core and a few powerful wisps of the evil god's primordial aura as research samples.
Then, his gaze returned to the core of the nebula and the still-pulsating dark red mass of flesh.
The secrets of the graveyard, the ongoing struggle between order and chaos, and the so-called "key" and "core"... all the clues seem to point to the deepest part of this nebula.
Linde took a deep breath, adjusted his state, and with a magical shield swirling around him, he resolutely flew towards the raging core of the nebula, a place that could devour even light.
This unexpected encounter not only gave him a more direct understanding of the "Arbitrator of Order" and the powerful evil god's followers, but also seemed to uncover a greater secret buried deep in this ancient graveyard.
His interstellar exploration journey takes another turn.
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