This way, the Wood Puppet Monster became more passive.
Though its strength was formidable, it could merely resist in the face of six attacking forces, especially while guarding against Jaden's occasional arrows from the periphery.
An eternal truth that prolonged defense leads to failure.
The Wood Puppet Monster was no exception; under the concerted effort of the seven, Lex finally seized an opportunity, thrusting his silver Longsword under its right armpit.
Seizing the advantageous position, Lex mercilessly continued to drive the sword deeper.
Slice...
As the silver Longsword pierced the Wood Puppet Monster, rather than bleeding, a sound akin to hot water scorching skin erupted, and from the armpit wound, thick black smoke billowed incessantly.
The black smoke was intensely pungent, extremely discomforting, making everyone instinctively want to retreat.
But witnessing the painful expression on the Wood Puppet Monster's face, realizing it was a crucial moment, they all braced themselves and continued their aggressive assault.
Contrasting the pain on the Wood Puppet Monster's face were Lex and Matthew, whose faces lit up in immense delight upon seeing the black smoke, intensifying their engagement.
Bruce, on the right, was engrossed in the Wood Puppet Monster's wound, oblivious to Lex and Matthew's expressions.
But just as he found an opening to slash the wound, Bruce's face abruptly changed, rapidly retreating while shouting to the group:
"Back away, there's something odd inside it."
The six, alarmed, didn't hesitate in such peril, retreating promptly.
Boom...
Just as they hadn't retreated far, the Wood Puppet Monster's armpit wound suddenly exploded, resounding a loud blast, shocking them all.
The explosion of the wound by itself wouldn't have altered their expressions.
The issue was, from the Wood Puppet Monster's wound emanated countless white threads; its internal structure seemed woven of these white threads.
Upon the wound's explosion, these transparent white threads scattered violently, fanning out into myriad filaments like silver needles, propelled by explosive ripples towards the six in mid-air.
The six frantically dodged sideways or dropped to the ground to evade.
After avoiding the threads, they didn't follow up but continued flying beyond their bodies.
The prone Bruce realized something and swiftly looked back, his pupils contracting abruptly.
Astonishingly, the myriad white threads passing their bodies all aimed at those dismembered remains scattered on the valley ground.
At this moment, the valley ground was littered with the fragmented bodies of seven to eight hundred people.
Dense white lines burst forth from the Wood Puppet Monster's body, connecting accurately to all of these scattered corpses without missing a single one.
When they first rushed back, the valley floor was strewn with severed limbs, and everyone thought that when the Wood Puppet Monster went on a killing spree, the camp members scattered and fled, resulting in the horrific scene of corpses everywhere.
Now it seemed that this was done deliberately by the Wood Puppet Monster.
"Don't just stand there, quickly cut off those white lines!"
Lex's voice came from behind.
He swiftly swung his sword to sever the closest white line before turning around with a solemn expression, shouting urgently at everyone.
Everyone snapped back to reality and hurriedly followed him, quickly hacking at those white lines.
Unfortunately, Lex's silver longsword managed to create sparks as it cut through the white lines, which then snapped apart.
But their sabers didn't work.
"Your weapons are useless, go disrupt it!"
Realizing the weapons were ineffective, Lex quickly gave another prompt.
Matthew, who had the most seamless cooperation with Lex, charged at the Wood Puppet Monster even before Lex finished speaking;
Besides him, Bruce had also realized earlier that the saber couldn't cut the white lines and had already charged at the Wood Puppet Monster.
Only after hearing Lex did George and the other four rush over.
Lex's speed was astonishingly fast, cutting hundreds or even thousands of white lines, but compared to the countless white lines bursting from the Wood Puppet Monster, it was just a drop in the bucket.
In an instant, the six of them reached the Wood Puppet Monster, even Jaden, who originally used a bow, had switched to a saber.
The six of them slashed out six gusts of wind, targeting almost all the critical parts of the Wood Puppet Monster's body from the neck to the waist.
But in the end, they were still a step too slow.
Their sabers hadn't yet struck when the Wood Puppet Monster suddenly raised its head.
Its crimson pupils abruptly contracted into pinholes, and its face broke into a sinister smile as it slowly opened its mouth, emitting a bizarre and piercing laughter.
"Heh heh heh heh heh..."
The unwavering momentum of the six slashes came to an abrupt halt.
Not only did the swords stop, but all six had a change of expression.
It wasn't due to the Wood Puppet Monster's laughter, but because they all sensed a fatal crisis from behind.
"Matthew, dodge quickly!"
Lex, who was the furthest away, shouted, and as if by reflex, Matthew immediately abandoned the Wood Puppet Monster, withdrew his saber, and dodged aside awkwardly.
Lex only shouted at Matthew, but naturally the other five also heard it.
Without any hesitation, all five abandoned their strike, swiftly distanced themselves from the Wood Puppet Monster, escaping quickly, their awkward state not much better than Matthew's.
Whoosh… whoosh… whoosh...
After dodging, the six had yet to look up when the whistling sound of wind filled their ears, clearly indicating numerous things were flying at great speed.
Upon looking up, everyone's face turned incomparably shocked.
The Wood Puppet Monster, using the countless white lines from its body, was pulling all the fragmented corpses on the valley ground back inside itself at an astounding speed.
Seven to eight hundred people's scattered remains were an incredibly staggering amount, and as these remnants continuously entered the wound beneath its right armpit, the Wood Puppet Monster's body began to expand and swell rapidly.
Two meters… three meters… five meters… ten meters...
No, it wasn't just the body size.
"Leader, why won't you save me…"
"Father, you shouldn't have killed me, you shouldn't have killed me…"
"Why am I the only one dead, boo-hoo-hoo, all of you must die…"
"I died so miserably, my head is gone, my legs too…"
"My intestines, give me back my intestines…"
---
Suddenly from within the Wood Puppet Monster, countless eerie and mournful voices echoed.
These voices varied, male and female, old and young, but without exception, they were all filled with resentment and malice, targeting the seven people directly.
"My head hurts so much…"
"Ah... it hurts so much, my head hurts."
"Splutter…"
---
As these voices resounded in the valley, the hundred or two people just rescued from the log cabin began to stagger and sway, clutching their heads in pain.
Some, severely affected, spat blood and collapsed, writhing and rolling on the ground.
Even Benhong and other individuals from major camps with Axeheart Realm cultivation began to show expressions of pain.
This, of course, included Tony, Clark, and others from the Harper Camp.
Not to mention others, even Bruce, with those voices incessantly pouring into his ears, began to appear dazed, feeling a piercing pain in his head.
"Soul Capturing, it's evolving. Stop it quickly, once it evolves into an Intermediate Strange Monster, all of us will die here, hurry!"
Soul Capturing?
Despite the piercing pain in his mind, Bruce heard Lex's voice, and his heart sank to the bottom.
Though Bruce didn't understand Soul Capturing or Intermediate Strange Monsters, Lex's tone was laced with evident fear and panic.
Given the other party's background and strength, it wasn't hard to imagine the consequences if the Wood Puppet Monster successfully advanced to Intermediate.
"Tony, throw me all the torches you have, hurry!"
Bruce turned his head, shouting to Tony and the others not far behind.
"Leader, there are six, catch them!"
Tony, Clark, and the others, though with excruciating headaches, quickly tossed a bundle of torches through the air.
Each of them had one, exactly six in total.
After catching them, Bruce swiftly handed one to each of George and the other five.
"These torches can hurt it!"
Upon receiving the torches and hearing Bruce's words, George and the others showed joy, apparently recalling the Solidified Fire Oil used previously in the wooden house.
On the other side, Lex and Matthew, slightly puzzled, instinctively intended not to take the torches, but seeing George and the others' expressions, they hesitantly accepted them.
Such small torches capable of hurting the Wood Puppet Monster?
How was that possible?
Bruce had no time to explain to the two, he forcefully scraped the torch on the ground, igniting it, and rushed straight at the Wood Puppet Monster.
He wasn't seeking death; the crucial point was that the Demon Sound within the Wood Puppet Monster was causing his head to hurt more and more, and if he delayed, there might be no chance to charge.
George, Lucas, and Jaden also realized, igniting their torches, and rushing at the Wood Puppet Monster like Bruce.
Contrarily, Lex and Matthew, who didn't trust the torches, hesitated but eventually decided to trust Bruce and also charged forward.
The Wood Puppet Monster now stood over twenty meters tall, wreathed in black aura, its presence vastly stronger than before.
Yet its eyes remained closed.
Bruce dared to lead the charge because he noticed that the Wood Puppet Monster seemed to be at a critical moment.
No white lines blocked his way, so Bruce, facing no obstacles, was the first to reach beneath the Wood Puppet Monster, gripping the sword in his right hand, gritting his teeth and fiercely slashed at its leg.
Crunch...
Without the white lines in the way, the Wood Puppet Monster's body wasn't invincible.
Yet even with this full-force strike from Bruce, it only opened a half-meter-long wound, and the wound didn't bleed a drop; only broken flesh was visible, with faint glimpses of the faces from the slaughtered at Rogel Camp.
Suppressing his discomfort, Bruce exerted force with his left hand and forcefully shoved the lit torch inside.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle...
"Ah...…"
The torch ignited the flesh within the wound, producing a thick black smoke instantly.
Along with the black smoke came a piercing scream from the Wood Puppet Monster.
"It really works!"
Seeing this, Lex and Matthew were momentarily stunned, but their charge sped up significantly.