In the gloomy world wreathed by mist, green flames were now burning all around.
Lei Xiangchen was covered in wounds, one of his horse legs snapped; facing him, Ruan Meng was only slightly winded.
"You really can take a beating, but even so, your defeat is only a matter of time," Ruan Meng said coldly, eyeing Lei Xiangchen.
At first he'd been wary of the surrounding green flames, but once he realized they stayed put and didn't attack him, he ignored them and focused on battering Lei Xiangchen.
Lei Xiangchen stood on three horse legs—an intentional weakness he'd shown to mislead Ruan Meng.
With every strike, part of Ruan Meng's mental power was siphoned off by the world; the remainder only caused pain, nothing more.
"Guess it's time to end this; this ability is all about taking a beating," Lei Xiangchen said with a sudden grin at Ruan Meng.
Sensing something off, Ruan Meng grew alert. "Still trying to act tough? Becoming a Monster really rots the brain."
Ignoring him, Lei Xiangchen raised his longsword and slashed across the air.
"From a distance? How could you possibly hit—" Ruan Meng began to mock.
Bzzt! In the next instant, every green flame in the world rushed onto Lei Xiangchen's blade.
The entire space turned emerald from the converging fire, lighting up Ruan Meng's horrified face.
With one downward cut, the flames erupted straight at Ruan Meng.
"No!" Feeling the immense mental assault, Ruan Meng shrieked and threw both hands forward, trying to block.
Bzzt! The green fire wrapped his spirit form; his body cracked and was devoured by the blaze.
In the real world, Ruan Meng's eyes snapped open and green flames gushed from his facial orifices.
"Aaaargh!!!" Heart-rending screams burst from him as his mind was grievously wounded.
Instinctively he bolted toward the building's interior.
The green flames vanished after only a second, as if they'd been an illusion.
Across from him, Lei Xiangchen also opened his eyes. Watching the fleeing Ruan Meng, he remained calm. "Worthy of a Level Five—so much mental force and he's only gravely hurt, not dead."
Of course, being Level Four himself made the difference, yet he far outstripped an ordinary Level Four.
That was the gap between a regular Level Four and one who'd taken the soul crystal; others would be insta-killed by a Level Five, whereas he could trade blows.
Lei Xiangchen glanced around: a gaping hole in the right-hand wall, Awakened corpses littering the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At the main gate, Tyrant had Martial Bear by the head and was slamming it against the ground again and again.
Crack! Crack! The concrete shattered, splattered with blood.
The remaining Awakened at the gate had fled the instant they saw Martial Bear being handled; only Monsters remained.
Battles still raged on the other two sides, the din of explosions unceasing.
Just then, the star seal on Lei Xiangchen's hand began to flicker. So did every star seal on every Monster and creature present.
Only one line appeared.
'All personnel evacuate HQ City at once—anyone slow is on their own!'
Reading it, Lei Xiangchen froze, unable to grasp why they had to retreat while ahead.
Rumble—! From the left came a terrifying roar, as if the heavens themselves were howling.
Then he saw Wei Gaocheng streak across the sky overhead, roaring down at the Monsters, "Run! The city's finished!!!"
Without another word he spun and shot skyward.
Flying, Wei Gaocheng glanced back: a black tide five hundred metres high surged the length of the city.
Before the tide, every building and tower was ground to dust.
Hearing the earth-shaking roar and the warnings from both star seal and Wei Gaocheng, every Monster paled, abandoned their foes, and sprinted the opposite way—each rivalling a Level Three Awakened in speed.
With four legs Lei Xiangchen ran even faster; a kilometre out he spotted Chen Yeliu waving ahead.
"Give me a lift!" Chen Yeliu called, waving.
Whoosh—Lei Xiangchen swept past, scooped her up and set her on his back.
"Hold tight—I'm speeding up!" he shouted, his horse legs turning into blurs.
Chen Yeliu clutched his waist; she'd only broken through to Level Three recently, and in the fight she'd mostly supported Lei Xiangchen from the perimeter.
Crack!
At the gate, Tyrant twisted Martial Bear's head off. It didn't flee; the distant tide couldn't breach its defense.
With a low roar it stalked toward command, intent on finishing off the wounded Ruan Meng.
The Monsters that had been fighting fiercely moments ago suddenly withdrew, leaving the dazed Awakened behind.
Luo Yulong clutched his neck, blood still seeping; in his clash with Li Yong he'd nearly been beheaded.
Around him, only a dozen or so Awakened Ones stood scattered. The red-eyed youth's face was grim as he held a severed hand. Of the Level Fours, only the two of them were left; if this dragged on, they would be next.
"What's happening over there? Why did they all run?" Luo Yulong looked toward the source of the noise.
The deafening roar drew nearer, and his heart pounded faster and faster.
Boom! Right then, a bluish-white bolt of lightning slashed across the sky and landed atop the Command Building.
Qin Musheng surveyed the corpses littered below, his face dark. "Everyone—evacuate HQ City at maximum speed!" he bellowed.
Crackle! The moment he finished, he dissolved into lightning and vanished.
The remaining Awakened Ones, hearing Qin Musheng's order, glanced left—and now could already glimpse the first signs.
It was a black tsunami swallowing the entire city.
"Run!" someone roared. Every Awakened spun and fled.
Before that terrifying black tide, their proud abilities seemed useless.
They were as helpless as ordinary people, sprinting with all they had.
Not far away, the city's tallest skyscraper collapsed at its midpoint; flames and black smoke rose everywhere.
A light rain fell from the sky; the streets were lined with exploding cars and shattered pavement—an apocalyptic scene.
At a nearby intersection, the King of the Deep Sea bore a deep, bone-exposing gash on his arm; the star seal on his palm pulsed nonstop as he entered a six-metre full-combat form.
Facing him stood the Bright-King quartet. Xiang Jing, bare-chested, had swelled to over two metres; three long, bloody claw marks on his chest split the flesh open.
Beside him, Bright-King wore silver-white armour, golden hair loose, the silver sword in his hand still dripping blue blood. Gone was his usual gentleness—his aura was razor-sharp.
Behind the pair, Salo and Lin Le watched the King of the Deep Sea warily, though Salo's gaze kept drifting to Bright-King's back.
In his senses, Motley's life-aura had vanished; but with a powerful enemy before them he said nothing, lest it disturb the fight.
In the clash just past, the four of them together had barely suppressed this terrifying Monster, and as it kept growing stronger that suppression was slipping.
"Bright-King, isn't it? Truly strong—pity I can't devour you right now." A trace of disappointment crossed the King of the Deep Sea's face.
The four opposite were no weaklings; they couldn't be beaten quickly, and with the rumbling in the distance drawing closer, he had to leave for now.
Bright-King's expression was cold. "Anytime you want to try devouring me, you're welcome."
Heh-heh-heh!" The King of the Deep Sea let out a mad laugh and sped away in another direction.
Seeing him leave, Salo's face darkened. "Let's pull out—now."
They only had to turn their heads to see a black tsunami hundreds of metres high surging in the distance.
Upon it stood countless identical Monsters, a sight that made their scalps tingle.
"Withdraw!" A brown book materialised before Bright-King; his armour and longsword turned into white light and streamed into one of its pages.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The book flipped by itself, stopping at a page showing a red carpet.
Buzz! Light burst forth and the carpet manifested before them, floating half a metre above the ground.
Bright-King led the other three onto the red rug and soared into the sky.
Thousands of metres up, Lin Le stared at the vast black tide obliterating the city, shock on her small face. "A power like this—maybe not Level Six, but not far below it."
"I never imagined the Monster Association still had a creature at this level. After Dragon-God was killed I thought they had no more Level Sixes," Xiang Jing said grimly.
Bright-King watched without comment, then turned slightly to Salo and asked evenly, "During the fight you glanced at me thirty-seven times—did something happen to Motley?"
Salo didn't hide it. "Just before the battle began, Motley's life-aura vanished from my senses."
Hearing this, Bright-King's eyes flickered, though his face betrayed nothing.
Lin Le and Xiang Jing both turned to look at him.
"Bright-King, maybe Motley just learned a way to erase Salo's mark—he could be fine," Lin Le offered in comfort.
"Right, right," Xiang Jing chimed in. "With Salo's lousy ability it probably just failed; Motley should be okay."
Salo made no retort to Xiang Jing's jab, only kept his gaze on Bright-King.
Bright-King looked at the three of them and shook his head with a soft sigh. "No need. I'm not that fragile. Since he chose that path, I always knew this might happen—I just didn't expect it to be so soon, so soon we didn't even get to say goodbye."
None of them knew what to say; they could only fall silent.