Although the Wood Puppet Monster's body has enlarged, it still maintains Steve's appearance.
The screams and howls did not deter Bruce; instead, they increased his intensity in thrusting the torch.
Simultaneously, the other five also approached with torches.
The five did not cut open any more wounds with weapons; instead, they came straight to Bruce and crammed the lit torches into the crack that Bruce had previously cut.
Originally, a single torch already produced considerable black smoke.
When the five torches were inserted, the flame soared up three or four meters, and the black smoke rose like a pillar, madly spreading upward.
The black aura surrounding the Wood Puppet Monster gave off an extremely evil feeling.
The black smoke from the torch carried a stench, like the decay emitted after filth is purified.
"Ah..."
The Wood Puppet Monster's screams became even more hysterical.
Yet, despite this, it still refused to open its eyes.
Inside its body, the voices of malice that could affect the mind did not stop.
"Mimicking monsters capturing spirits and gathering souls, it can ascend if successful; it doesn't want to give up the chance to ascend, brother, we can't let it succeed!"
Except for Lex, the five with Bruce were confused by the concept of capturing spirits and gathering souls, but they understood the latter part.
Their expressions instantly became tense again.
Six torches indeed worked and inflicted massive damage on the Wood Puppet Monster.
But one has to say, compared to just now with the Solidified Fire Oil, it was far less effective.
Whether because the Wood Puppet Monster's size was too large, or its strength much greater than the Giant Wooden Puppet, the fire from six torches did not even cover its legs—it only burned upward for just over five meters and then stopped.
Bruce was obviously the first to notice this, and George was the second.
Noticing the torch couldn't continue burning through the Wood Puppet Monster, George turned to look at Bruce, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"There's none left; if there were, I wouldn't have saved it until now!"
Bruce, knowing what George meant, gently shook his head and responded.
"Move aside, let me do it!"
At this moment, Lex took action.
In fact, only he could harm the Wood Puppet Monster at this moment.
Lex commanded the five to retreat with a word, then stepped onto the lower limb of the Wood Puppet Monster, rushing upwards along its body.
His speed and power were astonishing, leveraging inertia and force, borrowing strength from the joints of the Wood Puppet Monster's body, and in just an instant, he charged all the way to the shoulder of the Wood Puppet Monster.
Seeing the Wood Puppet Monster still kept its eyes closed, a sinister expression appeared on Lex's face.
He raised the silver Longsword high and stabbed fiercely towards its left eye.
The blade whistled, stirring the air along its path, almost forming a gleam, sparkling in the night sky, showcasing the power of Lex's sword.
As the sword neared the eye, from the tightly closed eyes of the Wood Puppet Monster, a large number of transparent White Threads shot out from its five senses, attempting to block.
Unless it opens its eyes and its ascension process is disrupted, it's a dead end.
Lex had only this thought in his mind, directly ignoring the countless White Threads spewed out, decisively thrusting the sword, with no hesitation.
Smack…
The White Threads were no match for the silver Longsword.
Countless White Threads were cut, sparking innumerable glimmers, incredibly brilliant.
The Longsword, like a stream of light, went straight to the pupil of the Wood Puppet Monster's left eye.
A mere inch away, at this moment, the Wood Puppet Monster suddenly opened its eyes wide.
"Roar..."
The Wood Puppet Monster let out an earth-shattering roar.
Whether it was Lex in front of it or Bruce and others on the ground, all could feel the endless anger and madness in the giant roar of the Wood Puppet Monster.
"It must be because the ascension was interrupted, hence such anger!"
This thought flashed through Bruce's mind.
Just as he wanted to look up, a terrifying pressure came from above, making his heart skip a beat, hastily retreating backward.
At this moment, the small three-inch knife in the Wood Puppet Monster's hand had somehow transformed into a massive black blade over ten meters long, its blade encircled with black aura, exuding an immense, terrifying power.
With a body over twenty meters high holding this fearsome large blade, the Wood Puppet Monster seemed like a demon god incarnate, chilling to the bone.
Bang…
With just a light wave of the blade, it sent both Lex and his Longsword flying over a hundred meters, slamming directly against the rocky wall on the left side of the valley.
Judging by the impact, Lex was likely embedded more than five or six meters deep into the mountain.
"Although the ascension failed, its power still became stronger!"
Standing over ten meters back, Bruce's face flashed with a hint of fear, turning to shout at Clark, Tony, and others: "We run!"
George, Matthew, and even Lex, who had just freed himself from the rock wall, were dumbfounded hearing Bruce's words.
In fact, not just them, even Tony, Clark, and the five others didn't react immediately.
The leader, planning to lead them away?
But soon, their unconditional trust in Bruce made Tony and the others discard their confusion, following after him, running toward the cave's exit together.
"This cowardly, useless scum!"
Among them, Matthew, who had the biggest issue with Bruce, was extremely frustrated, feeling like his heart was on fire.
If not for the wrong timing, he might have struck Bruce down directly.
At such a critical moment, Bruce turned to flee for his life.
It's not that Bruce was extremely essential, but with just seven Earthripper Realms in total, losing one meant the remaining six felt even more pressure.
"Little bastard, trying to escape?"
The Wood Puppet Monster, who had not spoken a word until now, unexpectedly let out a mocking voice upon seeing Bruce attempting to flee, seemingly calming down some of its anger over its disrupted ascension.
Of course, despite its taunt, the Wood Puppet Monster's movements were not slow at all.
It raised the black blade over ten meters long in its hand, swinging it fiercely toward Bruce and his group.
The black aura on the blade seemed to have its own life, transforming into a black blade-edge.
Even before it hit the ground, just the pressure left a terrifying crack over a meter deep on the ground.
"Dodge to the right!"
Perceiving the edge coming from above, Bruce shouted a warning to Tony and the others beside him.
All five frantically dodged to the right, while Bruce alone went left.
The blade-edge followed him left, its target clearly just him.
Bang…
The massive force of the black blade-edge cleaved into the ground, raising a cloud over a hundred meters high, instantly covering the entire valley, making it impossible for anyone to see what's inside.
After more than ten breaths, the dust slowly settled.
Seeing the scene within, everyone's faces turned aghast, pupils shrinking suddenly.
That cut had carved a trench seven or eight meters deep.
The trench stretched more than twenty or thirty meters long; just the extending blade aura had forcibly cut open the rubble pile at the valley's entrance.
"Leader!"
"Leader…"
On the right, Tony, Clark, and the five others weren't concerned about the trench; all five anxiously shouted, hoping to get a response from Bruce.
Unfortunately, despite calling out over ten times, no one responded.
"Sigh…"
From the distance, George sighed softly, his face tinged with regret.
Honestly, from meeting Bruce at Redwood Ridge until now, which wasn't even a few hours, this young man's wit and decisiveness already left a deep impression on him.
Among the camps surrounding Redwood Ridge, George was sure that someone as outstanding as Bruce was hard to find.
Who would have thought that such a talent could not withstand the fear of death.
At the moment Bruce fled, George wasn't angry, just a bit disappointed.
Whether facing Cold Beast or Mimicking Monster, once fear arises, it often means death, a common understanding among leaders like them.
Meanwhile, Matthew's face showed a gratifying smile.
Lex didn't speak, just shook his head, showing a slight disdain in his eyes.
"Hehehahahaha…"
The happiest on the scene was the Wood Puppet Monster.
Apparently believing Bruce was dead, it let out a sinister laugh.
Laughing while retracting its black blade from the ground, placing it on its shoulder, it lowered its head to inspect the trench, eager to see Bruce's corpse.
"Hehehehehe….."
The Wood Puppet Monster peered into the ravine, noticing Bruce's Beast Skin Clothing lying quietly at the bottom, surrounded by bloodstains.
Its laughter turned increasingly sinister and rampant, even carrying a hint of glee.
Whoosh...
It leaned forward with interest, blowing a breath into the ravine.
The airflow turned into a gentle breeze, blowing the Beast Skin Clothing aside, evidently wanting to take a closer look at Bruce's body.
But with that blow, its expression changed drastically.
Underneath the Beast Skin Clothing, it was empty, with only a smear of blood left.
Where was Bruce's body?
The Wood Puppet Monster's face showed shock, and it suddenly turned its head to look at the large sword on its right shoulder.
Its scarlet pupils contracted sharply.
The previous slash was too heavy, lifting a lot of dirt from the ground.
The Wood Puppet Monster didn't notice anything unusual, never expecting that Bruce had evaded the slash and hidden in the soil, hanging onto the sword, and was lifted along with it.
Boom...
Bruce, who had been clinging to the blade, suddenly burst out from a mound of soil like a cannonball, diving forward along the sword.
The large sword had already been carried backward over the Wood Puppet Monster's shoulder, and in an instant, Bruce charged to its right shoulder, raised the sword, and aimed at the Wood Puppet Monster's head.
This sudden, shocking turn of events not only stunned the Wood Puppet Monster but also left everyone else present in awe.
Bruce had somehow evaded that slash.
But since he'd evaded it, why pretend to be dead?
Moreover, why cling onto the sword to get closer to the Wood Puppet Monster's head?
The Wood Puppet Monster seemed to realize something, and amidst the contraction of its scarlet pupils, a look of terror emerged.
It frantically tried to turn its head and swing its large sword to dislodge Bruce from its shoulder.
But the distance between them was just too close, too close!
As Bruce raised the sword for the strike, he hurled a fist-sized black ink block forward, his face suddenly becoming ferocious, and then struck with the sword.
Slash...
Bruce's strike, gathering almost all his strength, hacked into the Wood Puppet Monster's temple along with the ink block, embedding almost the entire blade inside, leaving only the hilt outside.
Upon seeing the black ink block, the horror in the Wood Puppet Monster's pupils turned into sheer fear.
And when Bruce embedded the sword along with the ink block into the right temple, the ink block transformed into countless streams of black fire oil, flooding into the head.
The white threads inside the wound caught fire the moment they touched the fire oil.
That entire mass of ink block released so much fire oil, and with Bruce's strike, the fire oil exploded everywhere, almost soaking the entire head.
Hiss...
Even the parts of the face that barely touched the fire oil emitted thick black smoke; the interior, filled with the majority of the fire oil, burst into flames, instantly spreading.
The entire head of the Wood Puppet Monster was engulfed in roaring flames, from the inside out.
"Ah… ah... ah..."
The agonizing pain from the inside caused it to let out piercing screams.
"You little bastard, you tricked me…you tricked me…ah…ah..."
The Wood Puppet Monster's legs had just been injured by the torch, rendering them immobile, but the pain from the head made it struggle and roar continuously, the large sword wildly striking the ground, naturally aiming for Bruce who it had already flung away.