This was a problem everyone was beginning to notice, especially those who used Worldly Energy directly like Roma, Hikari, and Rina. Those who relied on mana weren't affected as much as they automatically converted Worldly Energy to mana, at most wondering why their MP regen got forcibly slowed despite all the buffs they had on them.
Eva's lips pursed. This was one of the mechanics most players of Boundless dreaded and felt that the game could happily do without... its crazy fascination with realism!
In this case, the pseudo-finite nature of useable energy!
Yes, Worldly Energy was eternal and would restore itself after time. However, the current rate at which the various beings in the Field Zone were absorbing and converting it into other forms of energy exceeded its recovery rate, making it temporarily finite.
Those who pondered over the rules of Boundless would all eventually contemplate where exactly that so-called Worldly Energy would come from.
It was called Worldly Energy because it was a by-product of the world's consumption/conversion of Origin Energy. Origin Energy produced by Origin Gods was infused into the universe's 'storage tank' and was slowly withdrawn by the various planets and fundamental lifeforms connected to the fabric of the universe.
They would then use that Origin Energy to sustain their operations and existence, releasing the waste of that into Worldly Energy, which was a severely impure version of Origin Energy that the lifeforms inhabiting the world could use.
Of course, only a select few would know this fact, for it was a universal secret. Not even Eva or Draco had known anything about Origin Energy in the previous timeline, theorizing that Divine Energy had to be the most powerful, so how would anyone else know about the cycle of the world?
Not to mention, tied to this universal secret was another even bigger secret!
However, that secret had no bearing on the current battle.
After Loving Aunt had summoned her Serpentine Familiar turned Flood Dragon to bombard the Void Devourers, Hikari and Roma gasped as if they had been suddenly thrust into a vacuum.
This was because the plentiful Worldly Energy they were using to battle or heal had suddenly been cut short to a trickle per person. It was akin to breathing lovely air from a breezy meadow at one moment then finding themselves amidst the thin atmosphere at the top of a mountain the very next.
Both almost faltered, but luckily, Hikari was quick to react. She crushed 5 top-grade Aether Crystals and forcibly converted the energy down, then spread it over the Area Zone.
All those who used Worldly Energy breathed a sigh of pleasure and their faces became ruddy. Using the earlier example, it was like going from a barren desert to a warm oasis with premium food.
The quality and quantity of Worldly Energy were even better than the default by a factor of 5 times at the least, raising the effectiveness of all those that relied on it.
Loving Aunt's Flood Dragon was quickly able to get back in the game. Its body glowed with an azure light that enlivened the world around it, before it shot out a tidal wave of water towards the Void Devourers.
In a display of amazing control and skill, the water split itself up whenever it encountered a player in its path and went around them as if they were the plague, stunning all players who had been mentally prepared to take a sudden bath.
When the skill came to an end, they cheered and continued the bombardment from all sides. Next up was another person who had greatly held back in the earlier battle, Dreary Traveler. The Immortal Adventurer turned Lich finally opened his Netherealm, releasing his 40,000 strong undead army.
They were all elites starting from the Skeleton Champion level for the melee class and Skeleton Archmage for the Magic class. He had Death Knights by the plenty, not to mention Elemental Specters and Earth Ghouls as well.
It took him a great amount of time and effort to build up this army. He had spent a lot of his time scouring ancient locations and raising corpses and using his class skills to either take control of other undead or convert a living person to his vassal.
He had kept them in safety, using cannon fodder undead so far, but now, it was time to show why a single elite Necromancers was akin to an apocalypse.
Dreary Traveler waved his hand and spoke automatically in the language of the Netherealm: "Go out and destroy the enemies before me. Do not let a single one live, and do not allow yourself to expire."
The army roared out silently, practically noiselessly, but their sudden movement changed the battlefield. The Skeleton Champions were just as good as entry-level Rank 2 Elite players1, same with the Archmages.
The Specters and the Ghouls were also around this rank of strength. As for the Death Knights, they were one tier higher, on the level of a basic member of Umbra at Rank 2.
This may sound underwhelming until one realized that with 40,000 of these kinds of troops, he had effectively tripled the raid party's army size. Additionally, he had held on to his Rise-Up skill. It was quite the chilling thought to realize that if he was given enough time - and likely one more Rank Up - he could destroy a whole guild or kingdom on his own.
The moment his warriors collided with the Rank 3 Void Devourers, it became a meat grinder of sorts, only that void monsters did not have flesh in the traditional sense.
Dreary Traveler had no active skills that dealt damage separately, only those that enhanced his necromantic abilities and made them far more versatile than he ever could have hoped for.
Rambunctious Buttlover was currently standing his ground, championing the fight in the best way he possibly could. He teamed up with Loving Aunt's Flood Dragon to focus fire on one particular Rank 3 Void Devourer.
Now, RamButt didn't have too many useful skills remaining, as most of them had been used in the fight earlier to either debuff or trouble his foes. However, he had saved one in particular for a rainy day, and it was crucial now.
Endless Speech1!
"Ok, mom, firstly, you need to understand that this isn't p.o.r.n, alright? It's called 'hentai'. Yes, that's a Japanese phrase, I'm learning Japanese from these videos. Before I get to the part about learning Japanese, though, let me first comment on the cultural implications of hentai."
"After the second world war, which Japan lost after the nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the entire country underwent a period of self-reflection and soul-searching. They wanted to understand how events led to the rest of the world responding with such devastating atomic attacks. This led to a strong antipathy towards war-mongering and international aggression."
"You may have heard about how the Japanese constitution doesn't allow the country to have an active military. Same idea. A lot of post-war Japanese culture is a reflection of such attitudes. For example, the Godzilla movies are not just about giant monsters fighting each other. They're about the horrors of unbridled atomic technology - Godzilla's always depicted as being powered by or healed by nuclear power - and how such a terrifying force can never be allowed to be unleashed on humanity again."
"On a similar note, Japanese animation enjoyed a resurgence of popularity after the war, due to the populace choosing to turn towards the comforting images of their youth. Japanese kids, much like kids in our country, liked to watch cartoons. As a result, psychologically speaking, cartoons represented a reminder of a simpler and more innocent age. This upsurge in popularity resulted in animated images pervading almost all of Japanese culture: from movies, to television, to advertising, to music videos, and so on and so forth."
"And because animated images were so widely accepted throughout Japan, they were used for almost every type of source material, or to tell any type of story. Animation was no longer the sole domain of children. You got animated movies that told very mature stories, like Ghost in the Machine or Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Sometimes you got stories that involve very mature topics, like war, or murder, or r.a.p.e, or torture."
"The Japanese have generally become quite accustomed seeing depictions of such things in their animations. So yeah, that's why I was watching this movie. It's an epic tale about a space crew exploring a distant planet (the crew's all-female because Japan's very into gender equality), and they run into a hostile alien, with a bunch of tentacles... and... well... I don't want to spoil the story for you, but let's just say the crew eventually figure out how to get along with the alien."
"It's a story about bridging cultural gaps and finding common ground. Seriously, it's worth watching. Ok, next, you remember how I talked about knowing Japanese words and phrases now? It's because these movies are subtitled in English, so I can learn Japanese while watching them."
"I mean, I know words like yamete, and iie, and iigu, and lots of others. Much better than just knowing konichiwa, isn't it?"
"I mean, I'm developing such an interest in hentai that I might just major in Japanese when I'm in college. Who knows, I might be the one writing the subtitles in the future."
"Oh, and one last thing, you should know that hentais are considered pretty mainstream in Japan nowadays, and it's also quite common in the western world too. Everyone's watching it. I mean, if I don't watch it, I'll be seen as some sort of freak at school. You don't want your son to be some kind of pariah because he doesn't watch hentai, do you?"
As the skill described, the endless nonsense flowing from Rambunctious mouth was dealing constant and unholy damage to the Void Devourers. They were screaming and thrashing, something that they had never done no matter who hit them before, showing that these words put them in a new level of pain.
Luckily, Rambunctious' speech was censored for other players, otherwise, they might become mad and lose their ability to fight.
However, from Loving Aunt to RamButt, to the Fire and Ice Twins, and even Silent Walker, there were four people who were arguably the most effective on this battlefield currently.
The first was Kiran. He too had saved some skills for this final fight, and now was the time to unleash them!
Eight Inner Gates - Gate of Opening1!
Eight Inner Gates - Gate of Healing1!
Qi Wave1!
Kiran's power level grew exponentially in the span of seconds. He already had a healthy amount of Internal Force and Noble Energy thanks to his hard work over the past 6 months, but when he opened these two gates, it was as if he had transformed from human to superhuman 3, only without the long hairdo.
He unleashed his only offensive class active skill after opening both gates for obvious reasons, and the results were devastating. It swept over the enemy Void Devourers like they were children carried away by a tsunami, dealing great amounts of damage.
Kiran leapt into the air and focused his Internal Force as well as his Noble Energy into one point, his right fist. Both of his reserves were drawn out to the last drop, and the handsome monk pointed a finger.
"Buddha Arts: Cleansing Finger!"
Like a beam strike from a shounen anime, the mix of light-brown and light-green lights from his Inheritances shot out and pierced through the body of a weakened Rank 3 Void Devourer.
Kiran specifically chose this target because of its remaining HP, and his finger skill dealt a hefty amount of damage, enough to give his other fellow comrades a chance to strike in concert.
Uno, seeing that Kiran had opened the playing field with the most spectacular intro possible, instantly followed up by rushing over. His body was tucked behind his tower shield and his pace increased greatly all of a sudden, a speed someone of his size should not be able to manage entirely.
Charge!
Like a human cannonball, Uno smashed into the Void Devourer in question, extending its stun and completely leaving it open for his next attack.
Hammer of Justice! ｢Eight Inner Gates - Gate of Opening – Active skill
Effect: Unlock the first Inner Gate. This increases Strength by 100% at the cost of 10% of your maximum HP.
Duration: 1 hour
Cooldown: 1 day.｣
｢Qi Wave – Active skill
Effect: Send out a wave of condensed Qi made through cultivation to damage all enemies within 1 mile. This deals 500% special damage.
Cooldown: 1 day.｣
"For the purpose of comparison, let us call average players privates, above-average players as specialists, semi-pros as sergeants, pros as lieutenants, elites as captains, experts as majors, legends as colonels and God-tier players as generals."
｢Eight Inner Gates - Gate of Healing – Active skill
Effect: Unlock the second Inner Gate. This increases Strength by 10% and refills all stamina and mana continuously for the duration at the cost of 10% of your maximum HP. Can only be activated after the first inner gate.
Duration: 1 hour
Cooldown: 1 day.｣
｢Endless Speech – Active skill
Effect: Speak an unending stream of nonsense so stupid that all enemies within hearing distance lose 1.5% of their HP per second.
Duration: 1.5 minutes
Cooldown: 22 hours.｣