Su Li felt the shaking grow more intense.
The massive monster was approaching them step by step.
In the distance, trees fell one after another, like trampled wheat.
Su Li realized that the huge monster drawing closer might be more powerful than any Demon Beast he had ever seen.
Right now, they were hiding under a massive rock, holding their breath.
They hadn’t chosen to run, because aside from the cover of this rock, the area was wide open.
Blindly fleeing would only expose them and turn them into easy targets.
The only thing they could do now was wait for rescue from the base.
The shaking grew fiercer.
Closer.
Even closer.
Su Li cautiously peeked one eye out from the edge of the rock.
With the approach of the shaking, clouds of dust rose and swirled.
Through the haze of yellow dust, Su Li saw the outline of the giant creature, and his pupils contracted.
It was a snake.
An eight-headed giant snake.
Eight necks extended from the same torso, like a withered tree that had lost all its leaves.
Its scales shimmered with a metallic luster, and its amber vertical pupils glowed with a cold light.
Behind the snake’s massive body, several tails lashed wildly, kicking up large amounts of dust.
Just a brief glance was enough for fear to ferment in his heart.
But Su Li’s expression remained calm.
‘I have to stay calm. This is exactly the kind of situation where I can’t afford to panic.’
“Is… is it coming this way?”
Cheng Yehai’s voice trembled uncontrollably.
Su Li nodded, then immediately put a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
His meaning was clear.
Cheng Yehai’s face turned pale.
He covered his mouth and tried his hardest not to make a sound.
They had done everything they could to stay quiet, but the shaking of the earth did not stop or move away.
It kept coming closer.
This monster might pass right over their heads.
Su Li could only hope for the best.
Some time had passed since they pressed the locator, but no one had come to support them.
At first, they thought Cheng Yehai’s device was broken.
Su Li and Alice both pressed the buttons on their own devices.
The indicator lights turned on normally, but there was still no response.
The area in front of them darkened, not because of the sky, but because the snake’s shadow fell over the rock and enveloped them.
The snake stopped moving, right above Su Li.
They didn’t dare move, not even breathe loudly.
After what felt like an eternity, the snake moved.
It was going to leave.
Su Li’s heart relaxed for a brief moment.
But the enormous shadow didn’t start moving away.
Instead, a slender, elongated shadow slowly swayed.
The next moment, Su Li held his breath.
He saw the amber vertical pupil, and in that pupil, he could even see his own pale face reflected.
It was looking at them.
It knew they were here.
Su Li’s mind went blank for an instant—just an instant—and then he reacted immediately.
He had to act.
In the next moment, a dazzling beam of light gathered in his hand, brighter than any he had ever produced, and shot straight toward the eye staring at him.
Stimulated by the intense light, the pupil contracted sharply.
The snake let out a low hiss and retracted its head toward its body.
“Now! Run!”
Su Li shouted to warn the other two, then broke into a sprint.
“Shadow of the Wind King!”
Alice reacted quickly, slashing out several Wind Blades.
They weren’t meant to attack, but to cut into the dust, stirring up a cloud that blocked their fleeing figures.
Cheng Yehai stumbled a few steps, almost crawling as he rushed forward.
But things didn’t go as planned.
Though one of the snake’s heads was affected, it still had seven more.
The snake’s tail lashed like a whip at the rock Su Li had been hiding behind.
The rock exploded instantly, sending debris flying with immense force toward the fleeing trio.
One of the larger chunks of rock hurtled toward Alice with a whistling wind.
She had just used her ability, and her Magic Power hadn’t fully recovered.
She couldn’t shatter the rock.
The rock closed in on Alice inch by inch, just as it was about to hit her.
The amulet at her waist suddenly lit up.
A pale white light surged from the amulet and formed a translucent shield in front of her, blocking the rock.
This Guardian Seal Amulet had saved her life, but it had also exhausted its energy.
The three of them didn’t dare stop.
They gritted their teeth and kept running forward.
Su Li glanced back and saw the snake moving, twisting its massive body to chase after them.
Several of its heads opened their massive jaws, necks pulling back as if charging up.
“It’s going to spit something! Dodge!”
Sensing the danger, Su Li immediately shouted a warning.
But it was too late.
The attack was aimed directly at Alice, who was at the back of the group.
Alice’s face went pale.
She tried to use her ability to block the incoming venom, but it had little effect.
Just as the venom was about to touch Alice—
“Rewind!”
Cheng Yehai touched Alice’s shoulder, fulfilling the condition to activate his Rewind ability.
The venom that had already touched her back peeled away, reversing along its trajectory like a rewinding image.
But in saving Alice, Cheng Yehai had entered the venom’s attack range.
This time, his amulet was triggered, forming a thin shield that blocked the venom, which sizzled as it corroded the ground.
But using Rewind was already exhausting.
Cheng Yehai’s stamina was completely drained.
His steps became unsteady, his breathing erratic.
He no longer had the strength to keep up the pace.
The only one with any stamina left was Su Li.
“Split up.”
In the blink of an eye, Su Li made a decision.
His voice was unusually clear amidst the chaos.
“Alice, take Cheng Yehai and get help. I’ll lead it away!”
Alice whipped her head around, her emerald eyes full of disbelief.
“Are you crazy? By yourself…”
“There’s no time to argue.”
Su Li cut her off.
It had been a long time since he’d spoken with such cold, decisive resolve.
“If we don’t do this, we’ll all die together.”
Alice bit her lip.
She knew Su Li was right.
She saw that Cheng Yehai couldn’t speak anymore, his face ashen.
She grabbed Cheng Yehai.
“Can you promise me? You have to come back alive.”
Alice’s voice was very low, as if she was holding something back.
Su Li didn’t speak.
He just nodded in response.
Alice ran off in another direction with Cheng Yehai.
Meanwhile, Su Li was already gathering light in his hands, pouring all the Magic Power in his body into it.
This was definitely the most intense light he could produce.
A scorching white orb formed in his palm.
Su Li took a deep breath and aimed the orb at the snake’s central head.
He didn’t watch what happened next, because he knew this monster wouldn’t be taken down so easily.
The light exploded behind him.
Even though he had turned his back, Su Li’s vision was instantly filled with pure white.
The ground shook wildly.
The snake’s hiss was deafening.
That monster had definitely been affected.
His stamina was draining away.
His heart felt like it would burst out of his chest.
His calves grew heavier and heavier.
Another accident.
Over and over again.
This world was never short of accidents, but why did they always fall on him?
Su Li thought this world was utterly terrible.
A fragment from a tree the snake had wildly smashed pierced through Su Li’s calf.
The sudden pain made him fall to the ground.
His vision blurred for a moment.
Su Li gritted his teeth, enduring the agony of the torn wound, and scrambled back to his feet.
He looked up.
The colossal beast was already right in front of him, its towering body like a mountain about to crush him.
He didn’t want to run anymore.
He couldn’t escape anyway.
A thick wave of despair enveloped Su Li’s heart, but he still didn’t want to give up.
‘I can’t die here.’
He told himself.
‘I can’t die so meaninglessly.’
‘There are still so many things I want to do. I want to become stronger. I want to shine. I want to live better. I want…’
‘I want to ask her.’
‘Why?’
‘Since the world has given me so many surprises, can’t it grant me just a little mercy at this moment?’
The snake’s head approached him.
Its cold vertical pupils glowed with a frigid light, almost as if there was a hint of mockery.
This wasn’t the emotion of a mindless beast.
Su Li was covered in dust.
Blood kept seeping from the wound on his calf, warm blood trickling down his ankle.
His legs trembled, barely able to support him.
His heart was afraid, his mind was panicked, but his expression was so calm.
His body and soul seemed to have split into two parts.
He was praying.
Praying for power.
To whatever gods might exist, to the fickle fate, to others.
But in the end, he could only pray to himself.
All he could do was fight back with his last ounce of strength.
And then, something actually responded to his call.
Intangible, vague, yet so real.
Su Li’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Subconsciously, he opened his palm.
Light came.
A more blazing, more dazzling radiance emanated from his palm, coalescing, and finally, a long sword forged from brilliant light took shape in his hand.
The blade flowed with scorching white flames, as if he were holding a star in his grip.
Su Li had no time to wonder about the source of this power.
The snake’s head was already right there, its massive mouth wide open, a foul wind rushing toward him.
He kicked off the ground and rolled to the side.
The snake’s head grazed his body and crashed into the ground.
The pain in his calf intensified.
Su Li staggered to his feet, then, before the snake could retract its head, he swung downward.
A trail of scorching white light cut through the air.
The blade sliced through the metallic scales, and black blood gushed out.
He had actually cut off the beast’s head with this sword.
But in the midst of danger, he had no time to be excited.
The snake hissed.
Its remaining heads thrashed wildly, and one of them slammed into Su Li.
Su Li had no strength to dodge.
He was sent flying.
His body tumbled through the air, crashing heavily onto the ground, skidding across the dirt.
Mud, stones, grass, and the taste of blood filled his mouth.
His vision became blurry.
Even the giant beast turned into a fuzzy mass of color, floating and sinking in his sight.
The neck that had lost its head was still thrashing wildly.
The flesh at the severed wound writhed and proliferated visibly.
New bones and scales surged out from the torn wound.
In just a moment, a newborn head emerged.
“That’s… cheating.”
Su Li had completely given up.
A helpless, bitter smile rose in his heart.
He couldn’t move.
He could only wait for death to come.
The snake drew closer.
Perhaps thinking its prey had no strength left to resist, it moved slowly.
Su Li thought of the village that had gone up in flames that day.
He remembered running with You Xue, not even having the courage to look back.
Just like now, powerless, unable to do anything.
But back then, he hadn’t been as lost as he was now.
He had someone he wanted to protect.
He knew his goal.
He knew he had to desperately advance in one direction.
But now, he had started to feel lost.
‘Maybe I should have died the moment the village was destroyed. Then I wouldn’t have had to face so many more…’
‘…disappointing things.’
The eight-headed giant snake writhed its heads wildly, opening its massive jaws as it approached Su Li.
He slowly closed his eyes.
He was waiting for the end of everything.
But death did not come.
Instead, he heard a sound.
The sound of something large cutting through the air, a dull thud, and the snake’s pained roar.
He also felt a sudden chill.
Slowly opening his eyes, the scene in front of him was blurry at first, then gradually came into focus.
He saw…
A huge hole had been punched through the snake’s torso.
Its damaged body was still regenerating, but not as quickly as before.
And at a not-too-far distance, a girl with gray-white hair stood silently.
She was so small and delicate, yet she radiated an incomparable pressure.
Su Li wanted to call her name, wanted to tell her to run.
He didn’t understand why she had come here, or why she had appeared in front of him at this moment.
Regardless, he wanted her to survive.
But in the split second before he could speak.
He saw a gentle breeze sweep by, her snow-like hair rippling like a tidal wave.
The white eye patch had been removed, revealing the eye that had been hidden for so long.
It was a golden vertical pupil.
So brilliant.
So majestic.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Su Li could no longer tell if this was an illusion before death or reality.
But no matter what, he knew—she was his childhood sweetheart.
That was You Xue.