The anomaly drew everyone's attention.
The black gate, standing in the universe, exuded an inauspicious aura at first glance.
The two colossal, gray-white skulls entwined with the desiccated corpses of horned serpents on the gate made one's eye twitch.
Dark and malevolent energy was always an unpleasant presence!
"Whoa, that's quite flashy…" Lin Feng gazed at the gate, exclaiming.
It undeniably had the flavor of an evil god.
"Open!"
As Ai Wen commanded again, two red lights suddenly ignited in the hollow eye sockets of the skulls on either side of the gate.
A grating sound of rotation followed.
The gate, gradually opened.
Beyond it lay a suffocating darkness, different from the darkness of the universe; it was an abyss laced with a malevolent aura.
Black mist rapidly spread outwards from behind the gate!
Crimson light intertwined within the mist.
ROAR!
A roar echoed from behind the gate, making everyone's eyelids jump.
More terrifyingly, it wasn't a single roar.
It was as if countless fallen creatures from the abyss were hidden behind the gate.
As the roar sounded, a massive black-purple tentacle shot out from the gate!
Enormous suction cups formed by countless barbs writhed incessantly.
An octopus leg?!
Lin Feng's eyes widened as he observed closely.
It somewhat resembled the dark creatures that the Dark Doctor Strange had summoned?
There was no time for Lin Feng to ponder; the tentacle's emergence seemed to be a signal.
In the next second, countless dark creatures began to fly out from behind the gate, their numbers making everyone's scalp tingle.
Giant beetles with human-like faces, colossal octopuses with half their bodies engulfed in toxic flames, and large-eyed lanternfish spewing poisonous gas.
Then there were fleshy masses covered in human hands, and triangular heads dripping blood, provoking instinctive disgust and fear of such deformed existences!
Following the large dark creatures, various smaller monsters continuously flew out from behind the gate, chirping and swarming throughout the universe!
Ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand!
"Holy crap… it's a menagerie of strange creatures…" Lin Feng's eye twitched.
"And at this quantity…" Lin Feng's expression gradually turned grim.
Not out of fear, but the sheer density made his scalp crawl with trypophobia!
There were truly too many, and they were still pouring out!
"Shan Hai, behold the grand gift I have prepared for you!" Ai Wen roared with laughter, standing beneath the gate, his face contorted into a villainous mask.
Watching the unending stream of monsters, excitement gleamed in Ai Wen's eyes.
"Tarokorina's Dark Abyss!"
"Nearly every one of them exceeding twenty meters in length possesses multiverse-level strength!"
"Let's see how you win this time!"
As his words fell, the dark creatures continued to surge from behind the gate.
Those exceeding twenty meters in length, as mentioned by Ai Wen, constituted about one-tenth of all the monsters.
There were even two dark creatures exceeding a hundred meters in length, whose aura alone made one feel uncomfortable from afar!
"Remember the sacrifice!"
While Ai Wen was still posturing, a voice echoed from behind the gate.
Gak!
Ai Wen's laughter abruptly stopped, and he then bowed and scraped towards the gate, his attitude exceptionally respectful.
That voice belonged to the master of the abyss, Tarokorina.
She had not shown herself; this was a carnival for her subjects!
And the artifact that opened the gate of the abyss and summoned Tarokorina was called the Abyss Key.
This item was the quest item that the Joseph brothers had snatched from Diona's parents.
It was due to this item that Diona's parents met their demise.
The Abyss Key could be used three times to summon countless demonic creatures from the abyss to aid in battle.
The monsters would continuously emerge until the enemy was annihilated!
However, in return, a certain sacrifice would have to be offered afterward, based on the number of monsters deployed and the losses incurred!
This item was extremely rare, as Tarokorina and her kin were from entirely different dimensions.
Not to say Tarokorina existed in a higher dimension, but the dark creatures she commanded lived in the rifts between countless dimensions.
That was where one of the darkest, most evil existences in the universe resided…
This was the second use of the Abyss Key, and Ai Wen had witnessed its terrifying power before.
When it said continuously emerging, it truly meant an endless stream!
Although the thought of the subsequent sacrifice made his heart ache, taking down Shan Hai was paramount right now!
"Everyone be careful, don't let those dark creatures touch you! Try to use ranged attacks!" Lin Feng's expression had become even more grim.
There was no other reason than that the surging creatures were too numerous, batch after batch, and some smaller ones had already begun to attack Li Xie Qian and the others.
Lin Feng keenly sensed the corrosive energy and aura carried by these dark creatures and immediately issued a warning!
With countless creatures pouring out, Deverent had already abandoned his offensive and retreated to Ai Wen's side, clearly fearing accidental injury during combat.
Lin Feng, however, had no time to concern himself with Deverent, as those dark creatures had already launched their attack on him!
A bizarre lanternfish shot straight towards Lin Feng, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth and spewing a stream of purple mist.
"Holy crap, it's got bad breath!" Lin Feng dodged swiftly.
The power wasn't great, but it was too disgusting, and he didn't want to take it head-on.
"Damn it…"
The lanternfish pursued Lin Feng relentlessly, and the main force swiftly joined the chase, targeting Lin Feng.
Among Ai Wen's attacks, Lin Feng was the primary target, with only about ten percent of all the dark creatures harassing Li Xie Qian and the others.
And fortunately, those exceeding twenty meters in length were almost all engaged with Lin Feng, and none attacked Li Xie Qian and the others.
Lin Feng swung his longsword, and with a single strike, the lanternfish was obliterated, its entire body sliced in two.
Huh? Such low defense? Lin Feng was somewhat surprised.
Was Ai Wen spouting nonsense? Where did this creature get its multiverse-level strength?
"Heh!"
Lin Feng continued to wield his longsword, the green glow of the Avada curse heralding the call of death. Wave after wave of dark creatures swarmed Lin Feng but could barely get close.
His greatsword swung with a whirring sound, creating a vacuum zone within a ten-meter radius around Lin Feng.
Lin Feng wasn't incapable of clearing the field, but he had to put on a show, didn't he!
Since the greatsword could handle them, Lin Feng saw no need to expend extra energy on other attacks!
On Li Xie Qian's side, it was not as leisurely as Lin Feng's.
The previously one-sided situation, with the addition of the dark creatures, instantly plunged Li Xie Qian and the others into a desperate struggle.
They dared not disobey Lin Feng's words, and they definitely would not dare to touch the creatures, so everyone could only retreat and use ranged attacks.
However, Diona's strength was lacking, and she retreated a step too late, nearly having her face grabbed by a large bug over two meters long.
Fortunately, Rhoda was always by her side, blocking the large bug's bite for her, and then quickly pulling Diona back.