"Now! While its focus is split!" Li Zhu's voice wasn't just a shout; he used Sound Magic to amplify it into a thunderous crack that echoed across the mountain pass, rattling the Fox's internal organs.
To his left, Li Han funneled his Plant mana into the blood-soaked earth.
"Plant: Thorny Thrangle!" Three massive, obsidian-hard vines erupted from the ground beneath the Fox. They didn't just strike; they coiled like constrictors, impaling through three of the Fox's ghostly tails and pinning them firmly to the earth. The Fox shrieked—a sound that cracked nearby boulders—as it tried to lunge forward, but the Earth beneath its paws surged upward to lock its legs in place.
"Sky-Lighting: Paralyzing Needle!" Lin Yao roared.
Since he is the one with Lightning and Light, he summoned a thin, needle-like bolt of violet-black electricity from the heavens. It struck the Fox's flank with surgical precision, bypassing its natural magical resistance and sending a paralyzing current through its nervous system. The Fox's elegant movements stuttered, its translucent fur flickering like a dying candle.
Li Zhu stepped forward. He didn't use Light wings this time—instead, he tapped into the terrifying power of his Mind and Curse elements. The High-level Star Constellation he had been weaving hummed with a dark, suffocating resonance.
"Curse: Blade of the Damned!"
The air around Li Zhu didn't glow; it warped. From the depths of the Fox's own shadow, a colossal, forty-foot blade of spectral, purplish energy materialized. This was a Curse weapon that ignored physical armor, designed to sever the target's very life force.
"Sound Wave: Soul Shatter!" Li Zhu added a sonic vibration to the blade, making it hum with a frequency that disintegrated the Fox's silver mist instantly, revealing the monster's true, terrified form.
Li Zhu brought the spectral blade down. The earth didn't just groan; it seemed to wither under the touch of the curse. The Phantom Fox tried to weave a final illusion, but Li Zhu's Mind magic crushed the attempt before it could even manifest.
BOOM!
The strike carved a blackened, decaying trench into the valley floor. The Fox was thrown back, two of its tails severed by the curse and its white fur turning a sickly, necrotic gray. It wasn't dead yet—a Mid-level Monarch's subordinate was too resilient for a single strike—but its aura had plummeted. It was no longer a predator; it was wounded prey.
"Lin Yao, Li Han! Don't let it retreat!" Li Zhu shouted, his breath coming in ragged gasps from the massive mental and mana expenditure. "Finish the tails! If it loses the ninth, the Monarch loses its eyes!"
"Now! Close the net!" Li Zhu commanded, his voice echoing directly in his teammates' minds via Mind Magic.
Li Han slammed his palms into the earth. "Earth Wave: Golem's Grip!" The ground rose like massive stone hands, clamping the Fox's paws, while thorny Plant vines erupted to bind its nine tails in a restrictive emerald web.
Lin Yao moved in a blur. "Sky-Lighting: Quaking Fist!" He punched the air, sending violet electricity through the vines, which acted as conductors to shock the Fox's core. He followed up with "Light Wing: Piercing Rain!" raining down crystalline feathers of light to shred the Fox's defensive silver mist.
Finally, Li Zhu unleashed his primary elements.
"Sound Wave: Shatter Soul!" A high-frequency vibration shattered the Fox's concentration, causing its Phantom Domain to vanish.
"Curse: Shadow of Decay!" Li Zhu pointed a finger, branding the Fox's forehead. Its vibrant white fur began to turn gray and brittle as the curse devoured its vitality.
"It's suppressed!" Li Zhu shouted, the strain visible on his brow. "Focus your fire on the Fox while its defenses are down! Kill it before the Serpent intervenes!"
The wounded Nine-Tailed Phantom Fox let out a final, desperate screech that echoed through the entire valley. In response, the eastern sky didn't just darken—it turned a toxic, swirling jade.
A massive shadow loomed over the ridgeline, its scales shimmering like polished emeralds. The Storm-Crested Jade Serpent descended, each beat of its tattered draconic wings sending hurricane-force winds down into the valley. Its eyes glowed with a vengeful light as it opened its maw to unleash a torrent of jade lightning to save its fallen partner.
"Not on our watch!" Zhao Feng stepped forward, his eyes snapping with silver and violet energy.
Triple-Threat Interception
"Space: Void Barrier!" Zhao Feng clenched his fist. The air in front of the descending Serpent rippled and hardened into an invisible wall. The Serpent's jade lightning slammed into the barrier, dissipating into harmless sparks against the folded dimensions of space.
"Old Man Mu, slow it down!" Xiao Yan roared, already gathering flames in both hands.
Mu Bing (Old Man Mu) stood calmly, his staff hitting the ground.
"Water: Dark Toxin Tide!" A massive wave of black, viscous water erupted from the earth, rising to meet the Serpent. As the water touched the creature's scales, it didn't just soak them; it hissed. The Poison began to seep into the Serpent's joints, while Mu Bing instantly shifted his mana.
"Ice: Glacier Bind!" The toxic water froze instantly upon contact, encasing the Serpent's lower body in jagged, poisonous black ice, dragging its massive frame toward the valley floor.
With the Serpent pinned and poisoned, the two "Fire-and-Lightning" specialists unleashed hell.
"Fire: Heaven's Judgment!"
"Lightning: Wrath of the Thunder God!"
Zhao Feng and Xiao Yan struck in perfect synchronization. Zhao Feng combined his Fire and Space to teleport massive fireballs directly onto the Serpent's soft underbelly, while Xiao Yan wove his Wind and Lightning to create a localized electrical tornado.
The Serpent roared in agony as the combined heat and electricity cooked it from the inside out. The "Storm-Crested" crown on its head began to flicker and crack under the sheer intensity of the assault.
"Hold the line!" Zhao Feng shouted, his silver eyes tracking every micro-movement of the beast. "Don't let it reach the Fox! If they link up, their combined domain will crush the vanguard!"
...
The shockwave from the two clashes nearly knocked the Mid-level mages off their feet. Seeing the two sub-monarch, Phantom Fox pinned by curses and the Jade Serpent intercepted by a literal wall of space and ice sent a surge of adrenaline through the ranks.
"Look at that!" a mage cried out, his hands trembling as he successfully formed a Fiery Fist. "The Monarch's eyes and wings... they're being suppressed!"
Yuzi didn't let them marvel for long. He saw the opening. With the subordinates busy, the pressure from the swarm had momentarily wavered as the demons recoiled in fear of the high-level mana clashing above.
"Don't just watch! Strike now!" Yuzi roared, his voice cutting through the thunder. "Fire Flare: Exploding Burning!"
He sent a volley into the dazed Servant-level demons, snapping his team back to reality. Inspired by the sight of the elites dominating the field, the hundred Mid-level mages unleashed a simultaneous barrage. The valley lit up in a coordinated explosion of elements, turning the "meat grinder" into a one-sided slaughter.
"They're winning..." Yuzi muttered, his eyes fixed on the struggling Serpent. "If we hold this line, the remaining Sub-Monarch and that Mid-level Monarch will be next." I looked into my undead vessel that is collecting every Soul essences and soul fragments.
To Be Continue....
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