"So... is such a horrific scenario truly possible?" Commander Yarko and Master Gonan sat inside the central command tent, listening intently as Barsha, Aji, and Grandmaster Jinho presented their findings. Commander Yarko sought to verify the troubling conclusion Jinho had reached.

If the analysis held true—that cultivators across all continents had been intentionally lured into the Tulisma Forest under the guise of the Moon Flower—they were nothing more than helpless prey assembled to feed Lord Demon Shura through the Blood Supreme artifact.

"Master Jinho's deduction is entirely logical," Aji added, offering his perspective to reinforce the elder's words. "During our initial scouting sweeps, our teams discovered dozens of fallen disciples from various academies. The lingering aura saturating their corpses was abnormally dense with dark magic."

Commander Yarko and Master Gonan traded somber glances. They held immense respect for Aji's judgment; Yarko had witnessed firsthand the astonishing depth of Aji's swordsmanship as the true heir to the Three Legends. Though initially skeptical of the youth's lineage, witnessing Aji's sword resonance had obliterated any lingering doubts.

Furthermore, during their own march through the forest, regular military units had encountered numerous slaughtered martial arts parties, their remains contaminated by volatile dark magic. It was clear the dark army was harvesting life force, though whether the Blood Supreme was actively filtering that energy remained unconfirmed.

"How do we prevent this slaughter?" Master Gonan asked, turning to Yarko.

"We must issue an immediate, continent-wide evacuation warning," Yarko decided firmly. "Every independent sect must withdraw from the Tulisma Forest at once. The search for the Moon Flower must be left entirely to military defense command and the Sky Squad."

"Agreed, Commander," Barsha replied with a firm nod.

At first light, joint task forces comprising the Sky Squad and regular military units mobilized to sweep assigned sectors. Their directive was clear: locate every independent school inside the forest, inform them of the dark army's trap, and compel them to evacuate before they were slaughtered as sacrifices.

The Sky Squad maintained their original three-team formation, while the regular military split into four massive divisions to cover the cardinal directions, sweeping the woodland with maximum efficiency.

As they advanced, however, they encountered scene after scene of fresh carnage. The dark army was moving with terrifying speed, methodically eliminating isolated sects before warnings could reach them. Realizing time was running out, Grandmaster Jinho resolved to deploy a high-tier signaling artifact.

Channeling a massive surge of elemental aura into the sky, Jinho detonated a concentrated energy flare above the canopy. The resulting shockwave produced a thunderous boom that echoed across the entire expanse of the Tulisma Forest.

Woven into the sonic boom was an amplified spiritual message urging all martial artists to evacuate the forest immediately. The warning reached regular military units, rogue factions, and surviving sect members alike. For the surviving cultivators scattered across the woods, the message sparked intense debate—some prepared to fall back, while others suspected a deceptive ploy designed to scare them away so rival factions could claim the Moon Flower uncontested.

Still, a significant number of cultivators trusted the authority behind Jinho's signal and initiated a retreat.

Yet as they reached the forest perimeter, their escape was abruptly cut off.

A massive, high-tier isolation array had activated around the entire perimeter of the Tulisma Forest, forming an impenetrable barrier that sealed the woodland off from the outside world.

Desperate cultivators unleashed their highest-tier martial techniques against the barrier, attempting to shatter the energy wall. Their attacks bounced off harmlessly, failing to leave even a microscopic scratch on the array's surface.

Inside the cavernous woods, Aji and his team felt the sudden atmospheric shift. Every operative across the forest recognized the dense energy barrier locking them in. Jinho's fears had materialized: the entire Tulisma Forest had been transformed into a sealed slaughterhouse designed to harvest human life force for the Demon Lord.

"Everyone, brace yourselves!" Aji called out, his voice sharp and steady. "The dark army and the Five Gates are upon us!"

Aji sensed multiple powerful energy signatures rapidly closing in on their coordinates. It was a substantial strike force, and an imbalanced confrontation was imminent.

The surviving disciples in their immediate vicinity had already been slaughtered by the approaching vanguard.

"They're here! One of the Five Gates is leading the assault!" Aji warned. The approaching aura was overwhelming—a suffocating density far beyond anything an ordinary dark operative could generate. Beside him, Gayatri drew her weapons as her sharp senses picked up the incoming malice.

Alicia immediately activated her long-range communication artifact, broadcasting a high-priority tactical signal to nearby allies. A confirmation ping resonated back from a military defense unit operating in an adjacent sector.

"Military task forces are converging on our location!" Alicia reported.

The seven Sky Squad operatives drew their steel, dropping into defensive stances. Seconds later, a horde of dark army combatants materialized in the high branches above, filling their field of vision. The dark operatives sneered down at them, their weapons dripping with fresh crimson—proof they had just wiped out another party of martial artists.

Hovering mid-air above the horde, a dark general led the vanguard with a cruel, haughty grin.

"Speak! Which insignificant school do you greenhorns belong to?" the leader mocked, his voice laced with volatile dark magic. "Identify yourselves so I can record your names before I carve you apart!"

The speaker was a towering man enveloped in pitch-black magic, wielding dual scimitars that crackled with dark lightning. With a subtle hand gesture, he ordered his dark army horde—numbering over a hundred elite combatants—to encircle the seven operatives.

"Who are you to demand our names?" Alicia challenged boldly, leveling her blade directly at the dark general.

"Bwahahaha!" The dark general's thunderous laughter echoed through the trees. "You don't fear us? How delightfully reckless! There are only seven of you—I certainly hope your combat parameters are high enough to entertain me!"

"Denta!" Aji's calm voice cut through the dark general's laughter as he stepped past Alicia to take the lead.

Hearing Aji speak the name, the surrounding operatives gasped. Denta?! Was this towering dark general truly one of the invincible Five Gates? If so, every bit of their two months of hellish conditioning and celestial assimilation would be put to the ultimate test. Surrounding them was a dark horde exceeding a hundred elite warriors.

Above them, Denta's laughter ceased abruptly. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the calm youth before him. How could a mere teenager instantly identify me as Denta—one of the Five Gates?!

"Who are you, boy?!" Denta growled, dark magic surging dangerously around his frame. "How do you recognize me? No living soul outside our high command knows my face—and those who do are already rotting corpses!"

Aji offered a serene, unbothered smile. "Remember my name well. I am Aji—the reaper who has come to claim your life."

Denta's face flushed with violent rage. "Arrogant brat! Tear them to pieces!"

The dark horde surged forward like a hundred lethal arrows, leaping from the branches in a synchronized assault. Unslingsing his wooden staff, Aji dropped into a firm stance as his six teammates readied their weapons behind him. Neither fear nor hesitation touched their hearts; whether advancing or retreating, an apocalyptic clash against the dark army was unavoidable.

Tempered by Jiro's hellish regimen and empowered by the purified essence of the Heart Dragon, their resolve stood unshakeable.

SWOOSH!BOOOOOOM!

A platoon of dark operatives enveloped in volatile dark aura lunged directly at Aji. With a measured sweep of his wooden staff, Aji unleashed a kinetic shockwave that blasted the attackers backward. Several dark operatives slammed into ancient trees with such force that the massive trunks detonated into splinters.

No matter how many dark combatants swarmed his position, Aji's staff moved faster still, rotating in a continuous, impenetrable wheel of kinetic force that repelled every strike. Moving with fluid grace, Aji evaded incoming attacks effortlessly, countering with instant, devastating strikes.

Watching from above, Denta's expression hardened. These seven are no ordinary cultivators! Over the past few days, his forces had slaughtered hundreds of regional martial artists with ease. Yet before his eyes, these seven young warriors were holding off a hundred elite dark operatives without taking a single scratch.

Not only Aji, but the other six operatives demonstrated astonishing combat efficiency. They showed no signs of fatigue, rapidly absorbing atmospheric mana to continuously replenish their internal cores mid-battle.

Who on earth are these kids?!

Even as several dark operatives activated their full Demon Transformations—their bodies mutating into scaly, horned abominations—they failed to breach the Sky Squad's line. Denta's eyes narrowed as a cold thrill of anticipation surged through his veins.

As the mutated dark operatives multiplied their parameters through Demon Transformation, the pressure on the Sky Squad intensified, bringing the clash to a temporary stalemate. Standing behind Denta, his three top lieutenants stepped forward, awaiting their master's command.

"Lord Denta! Is it time for us to step onto the field?" asked Saga, the leader of the lieutenant trio.

"Go," Denta commanded coldly. "Eradicate them."

Saga, Drisin, and Junta were Denta's most trusted enforcers—comrades to the fallen Jasum and Mora, who had previously been eliminated by the Sky Squad. Activating their dark cores, the three lieutenants immediately deployed their full Demon Transformations, sprouting jagged horns and glowing scales as they surged into the fray to crush the seven young warriors below.

BLAAAAARRRRR!

A catastrophic wave of dark energy shook the forest floor as the three transformed lieutenants struck down. The Sky Squad members scattered with lightning reflexes, evading the kinetic blast. They recognized that these three newly arrived entities possessed combat parameters far superior to ordinary dark combatants.

Saga, Drisin, and Junta landed heavily, their glowing scales pulsing with dark magic as they prepared to slaughter the vanguard. But before they could execute a follow-up strike...

SWOOSH!

A blurred figure flashed past the three lieutenants so fast their senses failed to register the movement. In a split second, the youth named Aji materialized directly in front of Denta, standing face-to-face with the dark general mid-air, separated by a mere five meters.

Saga, Drisin, and Junta whirled around in absolute horror. How could a human bypass all three of us without triggering our reactions?!

Aji met the dark general's shocked gaze, his voice ice-cold and unyielding.

"Your destiny is sealed, Gatekeeper. You are about to join your fallen comrade, Gultron!"

Denta's eyes dilated in absolute terror at the mention of that name. Gultron?! The realization struck him like a thunderbolt—this was the monster who had eliminated Gultron!