During the lull in the Demon King’s Army’s assault, when the monster wave had temporarily stalled, the Brave of Lin Qi and the two braves from Mian Yang sat resting in the military camp, taking the chance to chat with each other.
Yao Xing wiped her sweat and looked at the still very unfamiliar Brave Xin Ge’er, with whom she had just fought side by side.
In her past life’s memories, news of her death would arrive early the next morning.
‘So… could the danger be tonight!’
It was logical.
There was no possibility of any other mistake—something unforeseen would happen tonight.
But due to system restrictions, she couldn’t reveal her excessive certainty.
‘What to do…’
She listened indifferently to the bickering between Xin Ge’er and Jia Sha.
After a while, when the monster tide surged again, Yao Xing could no longer afford to worry about anything else and had to focus on fighting.
…..
At night, this should be the time when monsters were most active, yet there was no sign of the monster wave returning.
Finally—because of this, the soldiers also took off their armor and welcomed a rare rest.
Jia Sha and Xin Ge’er did the same.
The two of them had been sitting in the camp since early morning, convinced there was no threat around.
‘No—’
Seeing this, Yao Xing became even more vigilant, observing her surroundings.
Anuo asked in confusion, “Brave, won’t you rest a bit?”
At this, everyone’s gazes quietly gathered on Yao Xing.
“You go rest. I want to take a walk nearby.”
Hearing this answer, Anuo understood tactfully.
Yao Xing thus had an excuse to leave.
….
After leaving, Yao Xing walked countless times around the camp, but couldn’t even see a single Monster Rabbit.
The sudden disappearance of the monster wave was a strange omen in itself.
‘Right, if I tell them this suspicion, it wouldn’t count as revealing the reload thing.’
Thinking this, Yao Xing turned back toward the camp.
But halfway there, Yao Xing saw someone walking toward her…
‘Xin Ge’er?’
“What? Not happy to see me?”
“No, no.”
Hearing Yao Xing’s answer, Xin Ge’er said nothing, just grinned mischievously.
Then, Xin Ge’er put her hands behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and asked: “Are you hiding something?”
‘I’m being suspected!’
“Absolutely not. You’re mistaken, Brave Xin.”
Xin Ge’er blinked and pressed further, “Then from the moment we met, even during battle, you’ve had a thoughtful expression every second… Are you plotting something?”
‘This is bad. I really am being suspected.’
At this point, the lifeline she had thought of earlier could be used immediately.
“Brave Xin, I’ve actually been thinking about why the monster wave suddenly disappeared.”
“Look, there’s not even a single Monster Rabbit on the ground, right?”
Hearing this, Xin Ge’er put on a thoughtful expression: “So, you’re suspicious?”
“Yes, I suspect a Demon General might appear. Otherwise, the monster wave shouldn’t have vanished completely!”
‘Finally said it!’
The news that a Demon General would appear had now been perfectly conveyed to Xin Ge’er without violating the system’s sanctions.
“…”
Seeing Yao Xing sigh in relief, Xin Ge’er noticed and couldn’t help but smile: “You don’t mean to say you’ve been holding that in for so long just because of those few words?”
‘…’
Yao Xing stomped her foot in annoyance: “Anyway, hurry up and tell Jia Sha. If a Demon General really comes, it’ll be a disaster!”
Xin Ge’er still didn’t move.
Yao Xing looked at her helplessly.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“I’m thinking, could your system be something like ‘Future Knowledge System’?”
“How could there be such a powerful system?”
Xin Ge’er instead took a step closer: “What if? If you really have that ability…”
BOOM—!
Before they could continue talking, a tall demon suddenly dropped from the sky!
Xin Ge’er immediately drew her spear: “Prepare for battle!”
Yao Xing drew her longsword, but her eyes remained fixed on the demon.
ROAR—!
Before the two could think, the demon slammed its fist heavily into the ground.
Dust mixed with piercing demonic energy surged toward them.
Yao Xing instinctively raised her arm to cover her eyes.
Her vision became murky in an instant.
Her ears could only hear the harsh scraping sound of a heavy greatsword dragging across the ground—a teeth-grinding, metal-on-rock screech.
“Fall back!”
Xin Ge’er’s sharp shout came from the side.
Even under the surprise attack, this Mian Yang Brave’s combat instincts were terrifyingly strong.
The spear traced a silver arc in the air, precisely parrying a heavy slash aimed at Yao Xing’s head.
CLANG—!!
The intense shockwave instantly cracked the ground around them.
As the dust cleared, the massive creature finally revealed its true form.
It was a giant demon over two meters tall, its body covered in an obsidian-hard carapace.
Its arms were unnaturally thick, and the door-plate-sized greatsword in its hands was wrapped with dark red vengeful spirits.
It had no eyes, only a crazily pulsating blood-red crystal embedded in its forehead.
‘Not a Demon General… seems like just a demon…’
Yao Xing’s heart raced.
Though it wasn’t the world-shaking Demon General she had anticipated, the monster appearing on this night of certain death wasn’t there to be a pushover.
“So this is what your vigilance led to?”
Xin Ge’er glanced sideways at Yao Xing, a hint of excitement curling at the corner of her mouth: “But it does seem a lot more challenging than those charging grunts!”
Yao Xing held her sword in front, her palm slightly hot.
“Don’t let your guard down! Its goal might be to buy time!”
ROAR—!
The demon let out a low roar.
Its greatsword swept out horizontally, kicking up a black storm.
It was pure power suppression—each blow weighed a thousand jun.
Using her Brave’s superhuman agility, Yao Xing weaved through the gaps of the heavy sword like a cat, but the pressure still made it hard to breathe.
Xin Ge’er used her agile spear technique to leave several bloody gashes on the demon, but it seemed to have no effect.
CRUNCH—
The demon casually delivered a heavy chop, cutting a gash into Xin Ge’er’s leg.
In desperation, Xin Ge’er shouted, “Hey, since you have such sharp instincts, why not take command?”
‘Calm down… Its weak point is obviously right there…’
“It’s charging up! Aim for the crystal on its forehead!”
Yao Xing yelled, noticing that the ground beneath the demon’s feet was being sucked into its body like a vortex: “That’s its energy source. If it completes the charge, the whole camp might collapse!”
“Got it!”
Xin Ge’er moved like lightning.
Her spear turned into a point of cold light, thrusting straight at the demon’s face.
But the demon’s massive left hand shot up, ignoring the spear’s penetration, and grabbed the shaft tightly!
“Tch!”
Xin Ge’er tried to pull the spear free but found the opponent’s strength astonishing.
At that moment, the crystal on the demon’s forehead blazed with blinding red light.
Suddenly, Xin Ge’er was in a crisis.
No matter how she struggled to escape, she couldn’t get away in time: “Damn…”
‘No!’
Yao Xing gritted her teeth.
She couldn’t back down now.
If this was the starting point of Xin Ge’er’s death, then killing this monster here would rewrite fate!
Instead of retreating, she charged forward, pouring all her spiritual power into her longsword and leaping into the air.
“Be careful.”
BOOM—!
A black afterimage cut in from the flank.
Xu had arrived at some point, and his dragon-scale-covered fist slammed heavily into the demon’s ribs.
That blow didn’t seriously wound the demon, but it successfully stalled its charge for one second.
That one second was enough!
“Let her go!”
Yao Xing adjusted her posture mid-air and thrust her sword precisely at the blood-red crystal.
The demon thrashed violently, flinging Xin Ge’er away hard, and clutched its shattered crystal in pain.
SWOOSH—
With a purple slash, the demon’s head fell to the ground.
It had no strength left to struggle.
Jia Sha sheathed his dagger and looked at the battered Xin Ge’er with concern.
Yao Xing, supported by Xu, stood up.
‘Scraped my knee…’
Looking at everyone before her, Yao Xing realized that this demon couldn’t possibly be the one capable of killing Xin Ge’er.
“Jia Sha, hurry back to the camp. More demons will show up soon!”
“Jia Sha…”
“Jia Sha?”
Squelch!
Xin Ge’er was stunned.
“…Why?”
Jia Sha didn’t answer.
He just looked at her.
Like he was looking at a stranger.