The Demon Empress looked around at the army surrounding her with a disdainful expression. "You are sending this trash to attack me? Foolish creatures! Let me show you how meaningless it is."
The Demon Empress punched the air toward a place with a dense amount of troops, and an enormous shockwave sped forward, getting exponentially bigger until it covered hundreds of kilometers.
*BOOM!*
A big chunk of the army exploded into white dust, leaving a gaping hole in the army formation. The Demon Empress looked around with a mocking smirk, "Pathetic."
Tatyana looked at the battle situation even if she was absorbing the hurricane-like energy vortex. She frowned after seeing the strength of the Demon Empress punch and thought. 'They are too weak even to buy time… I will also have to buff them.'
Because she was still at the beginning of her energy gathering, she could move around and use some skills. The process, energy patterns through her meridians and dantian were not too complex at the moment, so with her overwhelming mental processing ability, she double casted, channeling another skill without interrupting the first one.
The Demon Empress saw part of Tatyana's energy hurricane separating and rushing to the sky. She really wanted to interrupt it, but after the previous beating she received, she was much more cautious because she knew that being impatient may put her at a disadvantage faster than she could react to.
Tatyana's skill sunk the space in that area as green-black smog leaked from the space cracks, carrying an aura that would make any living being shudder with fear. Then, Tatyana's aura pierced upward, hitting the middle of the spatial depression, blowing a hole in reality. From it, a mountain-sized ominous gate appeared and fell to the earth, causing an enormous earthquake.
The gate had countless grey-colored agonizing faces across the doorframe, and the door itself was made of an obsidian-like material but filled with cracks and dull, making it appear ancient. There were various sculptures of scenes that deciphered the end of life in all kinds of ways.
The Demon Empress observed the gate without knowing what it was, making her uneasy. For someone as old as her, not knowing what something was, was extremely scary. Especially when it was something summoned by her opponent, so her wariness only increased.
Tatyana had used a skill called [Underworld Gate]. The skill summoned a mountain-sized gate behind her that literally led to the underworld, fusing the living and dead world. It was a skill that went against the Heavenly Order and shouldn't even be able to exist. However, Tatyana's comprehension level of the death and fate laws made it possible for her to deceive the Heavens themselves and summon it.
Nonetheless, the previous tribulation clouds gathering on top of Tatyana became even thicker, like a black shadow looming over Tatyana, flickering with multicolored lightning that could easily flatten mountain ranges.
Tatyana continued using a part of her energy vortex and summoned the green-black-colored skeletal hands from her true aura. Then, her voice echoed around with regal authority. "World of the dead, descend to the living. [Underworld Gate]."
Then, she manifested the hands of the aura manifestation and pushed it open.
With a creaking sound that made the earth tremble, the aura of the underworld spread in the living world with exponential speed. All beings in the surroundings that still remained alive and were nearby died with a single touch of the aura seeping through those doors, and their souls got sucked into the abyss, never to come back.
The more the [Underworld gate] opened, the easier it was to hear the countless anguished tones of the souls on the other side, like a macabre melody of death and decadence. Before the Demon Empress realized what was going on, the land in more than 100 000 km around had died and become a place filled with the energies of the underworld. The range was so wide that it consumed nearby towns, cities, and other places filled with life.
Seeing such cruelty coming from her opponent, even the Demon Empress was startled. She looked at Tatyana's glowing red eyes through the energy vortex, and a light shudder went up her spine for a moment. However, she repressed this feeling fast.
While the aura of the Underworld decimated life without caring for gender, age, or race, all the undead inside seemed to take a deep breath with delight filling their souls. This included Ying Yue, Hui Zhong, Lauren, and his dragon. Their aura literally multiplied and exploded with might, becoming much more powerful in a single second.
Ying Yue sighed with satisfaction, "I can feel my strength coming back. Fighting in the world of the living is truly arduous."
Something clicked inside the chaotic mind of the Demon Empress and looked at the gate with shock, 'How is she able to summon the Underworld here!? That should be against the Heavenly Laws! Tatyana should have been struck by heavenly lightning for defying the Heavens!!'
Hui Zhong looked at the Demon Empress's face and said. "Do not try to comprehend our Death Empress, Demon. The amount of talent she has has already gone against the heavens for a long time. Not to mention her actions."
The Demon Empress looked at him with rage, "Just a summon dares to speak to me like that!? I'm done playing! Feel despair! [Demon Empress Presence: Heaven Corroding Armament]!"
When she began chanting, unlike the Demon Empress, Ying Yue and Hui Zhong were already charging forward. However, even with the buffs, they weren't fast enough to stop the following events.
*BOOM!*
An enormous explosion of toxic and corrosive green fumes exploded from the Demon Empress with terrible might. The green explosion slammed against Ying Yue and Hui Zhong, blasting them away from The Demon Empress.
Although the Undead were highly resistant to any kind of toxicity, corrosion was still damaging. Therefore, when this aura slammed against the army, a big part of the growing army began melting. All those undead under the Transcendence realm couldn't last against the aura released from the Demon Empress.
Ying Yue and Hui Zhong reacted fast and ordered all those undead to return to the Underworld at their highest speed. Even if their armies were extremely big and they could sacrifice millions without hurting their foundation, they didn't want to lose subordinates stupidly and without reason.
After sending those under the Transcendence realm back, what was left of their army were an astounding 1000 summons. This meant that just the summons beside them were almost as much as the group fighting on the other side, showing extraordinary military strength. Better yet, this was just a small portion of their army that has been growing and strengthening itself for hundreds of thousands of years.
Ying Yue used the small timeframe where the energies around the Demon Empress were chaotic to check the Undead integrity of those left behind. 'They are resisting the aura nicely thanks to the [Underworld Gate]… Even so, we shouldn't summon anymore. I don't want to lose too many Transcendent Realm Undead. It is annoying to empower them to that level.'
When the Demon Empress finished transforming, her height had increased to 100 meters. Definitely not as big as Tiang Long or the Demon Emperor, but her aura was extremely thick and powerful, not losing to those two in the slightest.
Her previous black armor had transformed into a body-hugging green plate armor that dripped With corrosive substances. Each drop that reached the earth drilled into it so far that it was impossible to measure the depth at sight. Her sword followed the trend, being 50 meters long and surrounded by those corrosive fumes.
After transforming, her wings had regenerated completely, surrounded with those fumes like the rest of her body. Her black demon horns had also grown, becoming like a crown around her head. Just being near her would be a worrisome matter for her opponents.
The Demon Empress took a step in the air and shot extremely fast toward Ying Yue. Even after her buffs, Ying Yue could barely block the enormous sword with hers.
*Bang!*
Ying Yue felt her arms fracturing and the skin melting as she shot backward, hurt by the sword strike. Ying Yue couldn't help but be surprised; even after all these buffs, the Demon Empress was still a fearsome foe.
The Demon Empress looked at Tatyana and ignored everything else, shooting directly toward her. Like an enormous green blur, she approached Tatyana extremely fast. Hui Zhong and Lauren, together with the 1 000 Transcendence realm summons, blocked her way with different skills.
The Demon Empress didn't even care as she rammed toward the skills, using two of her four wings as a shield. Like an unstoppable juggernaut, she destroyed, melted, or slashed the skills in her way at an extremely fast pace. At this speed, she would manage to attack Tatyana in less than a minute!
Tatyana looked at this and frowned. 'Ying Yue is the strongest, and she was sent flying so easily… I may have to use another strengthening skill. The summoning will slow down my skill, so I hope they can last until then. Sigh, I don't think she will let me do the same as I did with the [Underworld Gate].'
The Demon Empress continued blasting the things in her way as if they were rotten wood walls against a rampaging beast. However, even when she was at a disadvantage, Ying Yue attacked with Hui Zhong and Lauren at the same time with combination attacks, slowing down the Demon Empress much more.'
The Demon Empress realized that the core of this whole defensive thing was Ying Yue, so instead of aiming for Tatyana, she began focusing on Ying Yue. 'If I eliminate this vermin, everything will go my way afterward!'
The Demon Empress abruptly changed direction, shooting like a green comet toward Ying Yue. The other summons shot myriad skills at her, but the green aura around her weakened all the attacks enough that her armor could block them without major problems.
Of course, this protective aura consumed her energy. Still, taking into account her massive energy reserves, it wasn't something that would affect her unless she fought continuously for a day or two. However, even with this passive protection, she still had to dodge Hui Zhong's, Lauren's, and the armored dragon's attack as she harassed Ying Yue into an honestly miserable state.
For the next minute, Ying Yue was beaten harshly. So harshly that she lost an arm, part of her head, and a leg, and she had her skin melting like it was candle wax. The Demon Empress sadistically smiled as she beat Ying Yue more and more. Ying Yue wouldn't last for much longer!
However, at this moment, Tatyana's strengthening technique enveloped her. Time slowed down as Tatyana's voice seemed to envelop Ying Yue. "[Semi-Divine Undead]."
*BOOM!*
Ying Yue's aura burst out like a tide, making the Demon Empress come to a stop for a moment. In that small time frame, her body was enveloped by a golden light and regenerated instantly! Her white hair blew around, and her ghostly green eyes and pale skin radiated a golden light. The Demon Empress was only stunned for a moment, so she was already swinging her sword toward Ying Yue.
When the Demon Empress's sword came down to hit her again, Ying Yue slashed toward the 50m sword without fear.
*CLANG!*
A powerful shockwave spread around after the clash of weapons! The result? Ying Yue just slid backward in the air, fully controlled. The Demon Empress's black eyes almost popped out of her skull. 'How is this possible!?'
Tatyana nodded, satisfied. 'With this, they should be able to buy me enough time. However, I better be safe than sorry….'
With Ying Yue's new strength, buying another minute was no problem for the summons. After another minute, she cast a strengthening spell on Lauren. "[Semi-Abyssal Undead]."
This time, a red aura wrapped around him as his eyes under the helmet shone with a bloody red light, spilling that light through the helmet openings. That aura enveloped even the giant phantom of himself and his dragon. Their aura also grew madly as the dragon and dragon rider roared wildly together toward the heavens.
*RAAAH!!!!*
*ROOAAAR!!!!*
The Demon Empress's face became gloomy as another annoying foe appeared. Tatyana looked at the strengthening with a rueful smile, 'A shame I can't use these two skills in the same undead… It would create a real monster if I could….'
Then, Tatyana ignored the fight and put most of her focus on the summoning as she let her undead stagger the Demon Empress.