Although James had long been worried about being abandoned by his allies, the fear in his heart had now overshadowed the despair of such abandonment.


    A dense fog of dark energy had formed,pletely surrounding the headquarters of the Green Ivy Company. Despite James and his subordinates sessfully erecting a barrier outside the headquarters using props and weapons they had previously found, that barrier was now on the verge of copse.


    Some of the fog, born of dark forces, had already seeped through the cracks in the barrier and into the interior of the headquarters. At this moment, James stood with a few trusted subordinates at the weakest point of the barrier. They all understood very well that if the barrier were to break, they would be the first to face the onught.


    However, they could not abandon their post, as they were the strongest among their group. If those with the greatest strength did not hold the most vulnerable position, the others would undoubtedly lose all hope. In this dire situation, at least James''s less powerful subordinates were still managing to hold their ground and continue fighting. They were searching for Dark Monsters that had breached the headquarters in other areas.


    While James was lost in thought, one of his trusted subordinates suddenly shouted, "Boss! A huge crack has appeared in the barrier! The dark forces are about to shatter itpletely!"


    Upon hearing this, James turned his gaze toward the barrier. Sure enough, just as his subordinate had said, a massive ck crack had opened up in the barrier. Endless dark energy was coalescing into a substantial fog within that crack. At this moment, James''s hand, which held his weapon, began to tremble slightly. He knew all too well that the barrier could not hold for much longer. Once it copsed, a swarm of Dark Monsters would surge into the Green Ivy Company''s headquarters.


    After a moment of hesitation, James spoke directly to his trusted subordinates, "You all need to leave this ce now! The barrier is about to break, and staying here will only put you in grave danger. Quickly retreat to the next line of defense."


    Upon hearing this, fear spread across the faces of his subordinates. One of them asked James anxiously, "What about you? Are you really nning to stay here alone to fend off the onught of countless Dark Monsters?"


    "Don''t worry about me! Just follow my orders and act now! Don''t waste any more time here!" James replied sternly to his subordinate''s inquiry.


    James''s subordinates had no choice but to follow his orders and retreat deeper into the Green Ivy Company headquarters. The innermost area of the headquarters was a remarkably fortified zone, serving as thepany''sst line of defense.


    Once his subordinates had left, James turned back to look at the enormous ck crack in the barrier. The fog within the crack was gradually transforming into one Dark Monster after another, each of them opening their eyes and staring at James. At the same time, the ck crack began to expand rapidly. The entire barrier was on the verge ofplete copse.


    As James observed the numerous fissures appearing on the barrier, his expression grew serious. He pulled out a gem emitting a red glow from his pocket—the very gem that Irving had given him earlier. "After the barrier copses, I can only rely on the Lava Giant puppet to buy me some time," he thought, mentally preparing himself for its deployment.


    Just as James was readying himself, the barrier suddenly emitted a series of metallic grinding sounds. In an instant, the entire structure copsed. A torrent of dark energy, apanied by an endless wave of Dark Monsters, rushed into the Green Ivy Company headquarters through the weakest point of the barrier.


    James was the first to confront these dark forces and Dark Monsters. The moment the barrier shattered, he unleashed the Lava Giant puppet. A blinding red light shed before his eyes, and the Lava Giant positioned itself directly in front of him. James was quick to react, so the dark forces and Dark Monsters couldn''t make direct contact with him.


    However, the Lava Giant''s protection was not longsting. Upon being summoned, it immediately conjured a massive amount of mes around its body. These mes destroyed a portion of the dark energy and incinerated some of the weaker Dark Monsters. Yet, with the barrier down, dark forces and Dark Monsters surged relentlessly into the headquarters.


    The mes generated by the Lava Giant were soon engulfed by the overwhelming dark energy, and within mere seconds, the Lava Giant itself was devoured by the multitude of Dark Monsters. At that moment, all James could see was an endless expanse of darkness. He could no longer perceive any light.


    James could feel the powerful dark energy surrounding him, and he could hear the sounds of the Dark Monsters tearing at the body of the Lava Giant puppet not far away. Sweat poured down his forehead as he gripped his weapon tightly, prepared to fight to the death.


    "No matter what, I won''t run away! If I''m going to die, I will die fighting to protect the Green Ivy Company!"


    Despite his determination to fight to the bitter end, the trembling of his hands betrayed him. James was indeed filled with fear. He concentrated all his power and swung his weapon forward with all his might. However, his attack had no effect at all. Both his weapon and the strength he wielded were consumed by the endless darkness.


    Left without power or weapon, James could only wait for his inevitable death. He could hear the sounds of the Dark Monsters quickly crawling toward him. Just as he was about to give up all hope, a sudden sh of golden light illuminated his vision.


    James watched in astonishment as the Dark Monsters in front of him were rapidly disintegrated by the golden light. He felt utterly confused by what was happening. He stood there, dumbfounded, until a voice broke through his thoughts.


    "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and cooperate with my actions! Can you really not fight anymore?" Irving''s voice finally snapped James back to reality.


    "You finally made it to save me! I thought you had abandoned me!" James eximed, relief flooding through him. After saying this, he immediately fell back into a fighting stance.


    With Irving''s assistance, James quickly broke free from the pursuit of the dark forces and Dark Monsters. At the same time, Irving sessfully repaired the barrier using his Staff of Cmity. Once the barrier was restored, both Irving and James no longer felt the same urgency as before.


    "There are still some Dark Monsters inside the headquarters; we must clear them all out quickly! Only then can we ensure the safety of the others!" After the initial panic, James hadpletely regained hisposure. As someone with considerable battle experience, he knew exactly what needed to be done.


    James hoped to team up with Irving to eliminate the remaining Dark Monsters within the Green Ivy Company headquarters. Afterward, they could focus on the final showdown with the Night des outside the headquarters.


    "This is indeed very important! But it''s not something we need to handle ourselves! Your subordinates should be able to take care of this!" Irving''s tone was slightly agitated.


    After hearing Irving''s words, James slowly nodded. "You''re right; my subordinates should be able to handle it. So what should we do next?"


    Since Irving had arrived to provide support, James felt that he should follow Irving''s lead for all subsequent actions.


    Irving turned his gaze toward the endless dark forces beyond the barrier. "What we need to do ispletely destroy the source of the dark energy!"


    James took a deep breath upon hearing this. "I''m not sure if we can actually aplish that." After the previous battle, a hint of trepidation lingered within him.


    In James''s eyes, the Night des had employed extremely powerful weapons and tools during this operation. Even though Irving was incredibly strong, he doubted that the two of them could quickly defeat the Night des. Moreover, the dark forces outside the Green Ivy Company headquarters were continuously growing in strength. Once the dark energy reached a certain level, the members of the Night des wouldn''t even need to intervene directly; they could simply use the dark energy to eliminate them all.


    Irving took a deep breath as well. "The dark forces outside are very powerful! If we head out to fight now, we will undoubtedly be affected by that dark energy! Therefore, we must first stop it from increasing further."


    Irving understood that the gradual strengthening of the dark forces was entirely due to the existence of the Dark Portal. His next n was straightforward; he hoped to work with James to find a way to close the Dark Portal.


    During thest battle against Elder Astra and the Dark Portal, Irving had already realized that the Dark Portal was incredibly sturdy. He never intended to destroy it; he simply wanted to find a way to shut it down.


    After hearing Irving''s exnation, James had no further questions. He trusted Irving''s judgmentpletely; if Irving said they needed to stop the dark forces from growing stronger, then he surely had a corresponding action n.


    "Then let''s get moving right away!" James said with a serious tone to Irving.


    Irving nodded. "We need to take some time to reinforce the barrier. Once the reinforcement isplete, we will take action."