Because he had deeply understood this point, Null always held firm in his heart and was never swallowed by darkness.
At this very moment, he had not completely turned his back on "darkness," but instead cleverly tamed it, flexibly and freely controlling this power, making it into a tool at his command and an indestructible weapon.
The so-called "Lord of Darkness" was not simply about merging completely with "darkness."
What was more important was the ability to master "darkness," to drive "darkness."
To walk side by side with "darkness," only then could the true meaning of this title be displayed.
At this moment, Null himself was already clear enough, able to handle with ease the aggressive Sword of Anhilation.
Thinking of this, Null walked up to Steve, who had already transformed into Xu Yuan's appearance, and then placed his hand on Steve's shoulder.
After touching Steve, Null tightly closed his eyes, releasing without reservation all the power of fear he had gathered, pouring it into the hand resting on Steve's shoulder.
Seeing Null's sudden strange action, the Sword of Anhilation couldn't help but feel shocked. However, when it sensed that incomparably powerful force being transmitted from Null's hand, almost out of instinct, the Sword of Anhilation did not hesitate and fully accepted this power.
"Looks like you know clearly that you don't deserve this title at all!"
"Yes! Yes!"
"Exactly so!"
"Hand over all your power to me!! Let me replace you!!"
The Sword of Anhilation was completely intoxicated in the power that Null transmitted to it, sinking into it, unable to extricate itself.
As Null continued to pour in more power, suddenly all kinds of twisted and distorted screams began to surface in the Sword of Anhilation's mind.
"No! No!! I beg you, let me go!"
"Kill him!! Kill him!!"
"Everyone must die! All deserve to die!"
"More!! I want more!! More power!!"
Countless terrifying, despair-filled yet twisted voices surged into the Sword of Anhilation's mind like a tide. These voices seemed to come from the abyss of hell itself, throwing its spiritual world instantly into chaos and trance.
It shook its head hard, trying to drive these strange voices out of its mind, to keep a clear head.
However, as Null continued pouring in more and more power, those voices not only did not disappear, but instead grew stronger and noisier.
They were like wandering ghosts that seeped in everywhere, flooding the entire brain of the Sword of Anhilation, gradually corroding and taking over its field of thought.
Every voice carried deep fear and despair, twining around the consciousness of the Sword of Anhilation like poisonous vines, making its own awareness weaker and weaker.
At this time, the Steve standing in front of Null no longer had the same appearance as before.
The originally clear image of Xu Yuan began to blur, sometimes changing into Xu Yuan's form, sometimes into Steve's form, and occasionally even showing some unfamiliar faces that Null had never seen before.
This strange transformation undoubtedly made the Sword of Anhilation uneasy and confused, as if some mysterious force was manipulating all of this.
The Sword of Anhilation's consciousness grew more and more blurry, as if about to be completely swallowed by those twisted voices.
However, just at this moment, it saw the Null in front of it showing it a meaningful smile.
"Hm? Do you smell the power of 'darkness' now?"
Null's mocking voice entered the Sword of Anhilation's ears, startling it greatly.
"You…" The Sword of Anhilation tried to say something, but at this point the last thread of its consciousness could no longer support it to speak.
It longed for "darkness," it was born from "darkness," but it did not understand "darkness" enough.
This was the first time it so truly felt the fear of "darkness."
It finally understood, "darkness" could devour everything, it could even devour itself.
As time passed, the Sword of Anhilation's consciousness gradually dissipated.
Just as it was about to lose itself completely, suddenly, it felt that the power injected into its body just now was being quickly drawn out.
Clearly it so hated the loss of power, but this feeling of power being withdrawn, unexpectedly, brought the Sword of Anhilation an indescribable lightness and relief.
As Null drew out all the power that had just been poured into the Sword of Anhilation, the Sword of Anhilation finally regained consciousness again.
Seeing the Sword of Anhilation's transformed appearance stabilize, Null carefully looked it up and down in Xu Yuan's form.
Then he smiled and said.
"The power I just injected into you was only one-tenth of mine."
"With just that little bit of power you couldn't even control it, and you still want to replace my king?"
Hearing Null's words, the Sword of Anhilation wanted to refute, but helplessly could not find a reason to refute.
It truly had not controlled the power that Null had injected into it, and had even been corroded by it, almost losing itself.
It didn't know whether what Null said, that this was only one-tenth of his power, was true or not.
But the fact that Null could control this power proved that Null had not abandoned "darkness."
On the contrary, he had already mastered "darkness" skillfully.
Thinking of this, the Sword of Anhilation completely gave up the thought of replacing Null or even Xu Yuan.
The Sword of Anhilation finally released its transformation and flew into Null's hand.
———
[Trial Grounds, Outer Edge of the Forest Area]
A villager was standing at the outer edge of the forest, leading a group of iron golems.
The villager was dressed in a black robe, his face stern, his eyes deep and sharp, as if able to see through everything.
Surrounding him were a group of tall, imposing iron golems, their bodies hard as steel, exuding a chilling aura.
"Although it's already clear the Pillagers are camped here, this terrain…"
A front-row iron golem spoke. Its voice was low and powerful, carrying a trace of worry.
It lifted its head, gazing at the lush forest ahead.
Thick leaves blocked the sunlight, making the inside of the forest look dark and mysterious.
After a moment of silence, it turned to look at the villager in front of it and continued speaking.
"It's airtight here, and the terrain inside the forest is very complex. If we rush in recklessly, we'll definitely suffer an ambush."
"Not to mention whether we can even capture any alive, I fear it'll be hard to even catch them at all…"
The black-robed villager the iron golems were speaking to was none other than Annoying Villager HIM.
At this moment, he had already brought all the iron golems sent by the Void under his command, for his own use.
Annoying Villager HIM did not know the true identities or purposes of these iron golems, but he didn't care. With his own exceptional strength, he easily controlled them, making them follow his commands.
To him, these iron golems were nothing more than tools to be used.
Back when Annoying Villager HIM first appeared in the Trial Grounds in the identity of a villager, he had already begun thinking about the source of emeralds.
At first, he thought he could obtain emeralds through mining ores. But after long exploration, he deeply realized the reality that mineral resources in the Trial Grounds were extremely scarce.
Therefore, he had no choice but to focus on the other way of obtaining emeralds, Pillagers.
Although Annoying Villager HIM had already successfully recruited a group of fairly strong iron golems, their numbers were very limited.
After all, he longed to win this trial, and with his current military strength alone, it was obviously difficult to make it to the end.
However, he did not consider integrating the forces of other factions again.
He wasn't stupid. Having stayed in the Trial Grounds for so long, he had sharply sensed the hostility of other factions toward the iron golems.
In other words, as long as iron golems existed, it was nearly impossible for Annoying Villager HIM to recruit members from other factions.
Annoying Villager HIM had once considered a choice, whether to continue being bound with the iron golems, or to attempt uniting the strength of other factions.
After thorough and deep analysis, Annoying Villager HIM finally decided to choose the iron golems as his trusted helpers.
In this Trial Grounds where everyone had lost their special abilities, the iron golem race, relying on their solid bodies and outstanding attack strength, already held the advantage.
Especially those iron golems possessed by Void consciousnesses, their strength was even unmatched.
Even though they had lost their original abilities, compared to members of other factions, these iron golems still had more competitiveness.
Furthermore, if he wanted to recruit members of other factions, the factors to consider would become much more complicated.
The first thing would be whether the members from all sides were of one mind.
Players were the hardest group to figure out. What they valued most was always their own benefit. Conflicts inside would definitely arise endlessly.
The monster faction could be completely ignored, since Annoying Villager HIM's identity was that of a villager.
Naturally, he knew of the hatred between villagers and monsters.
Then there was the animal faction. The animal faction couldn't even use equipment, so Annoying Villager HIM didn't even consider them.
Not to mention the flaws of these other factions, Annoying Villager HIM could handle them anyway.
To ensure sufficient military strength, Annoying Villager HIM certainly needed to be equipped with corresponding equipment, supplies, and even food.
In this situation, for Annoying Villager HIM, the extra resources consumed and the military strength gained would not match.
However, for the iron golems, things were much simpler, because they didn't need to worry about equipment at all.
Enhancing their strength wasn't difficult. It only required providing enough iron ingots.
As long as there were enough iron ingots to repair the iron golems, they would be like unstoppable, super-powered perpetual motion war machines, able to steadily and continuously output powerful combat strength.
After figuring out this calculation, Annoying Villager HIM naturally knew what choice to make.
Once he made clear the road he would take next, the problem he needed to think about was how to strengthen his army.
Thus, Annoying Villager HIM began preparing to form his own iron golem army.
This army not only needed Void iron golems as the main force, but also some iron golems created with iron blocks to join them.
These created iron golems, though without independent consciousness, could serve as important shields.
Once someone attacked, they would immediately counterattack, their main strategy being defense as offense.
As for those Void iron golems, they would take on the task of active offense.
In this way, a complete combat system was formed.
As long as there were enough iron ingots as support, this iron golem army would be unstoppable and invincible.
And to have enough iron ingots, it was necessary to have enough emeralds.
This was the reason Annoying Villager HIM had come to the forest area.
While waiting for the iron golems to gather, Annoying Villager HIM kept inquiring for information.
He thus learned the news that the Pillagers were hiding in the forest.
He didn't plan to trade with the Pillagers, but instead intended to capture them alive, turning them into his "private bank."
The lush black forest in front of him was indeed a natural shield for the Pillagers.
Just as the iron golem captain had said, the forest's layout must be intricate and complicated.
Anyone entering from the outside would definitely alert the Pillagers.
Since they were camped here, they must have already set countless traps.
Even if the iron golems were powerful, charging recklessly into the enemy's territory was undoubtedly an act of suicide.
What's more, Annoying Villager HIM didn't want to start a war, but wanted to capture the Pillagers alive.
But the current situation did not trouble the battle-hardened Annoying Villager HIM.
He lifted his head, looking at the thick leaves, then pulled a sheet of white paper from his backpack.
Spreading the paper on the ground, he picked up a branch, dipped it in mud, and began drawing on the paper while arranging his plan.
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