The Journey Begins Again

"Oooooooooh!!!"

The Child of Chaos roared furiously as it was struck by the white radiance. At the same time, Fang Zheng saw several cracks appear in the "space" around it, like glass struck by a stone. Accompanied by sharp cracking sounds, the fissures grew larger and larger. Then, with a loud crash, the fragments of space around the Child of Chaos suddenly shattered before Fang Zheng's eyes. A massive opening emerged from within, sucking in everything around it like a black hole.

What the hell!

Fang Zheng hurriedly drove his sword into the ground and gripped the Skycleaver Sword tightly with both hands. He had never expected this so-called "banishment" to be an indiscriminate, battlefield-wide ultimate move. Weren't demon-banishment spells in novels usually targeted single-target skills?

The others were no better off. Stone and Malte used all their strength just to prop the Coffin Lid upright. Dazzling white beams shot out from it, sustaining the Space Rift. Several Holy Knights lay flat on the ground, too afraid to get up, desperately clutching anything they could grab. Fang Zheng himself was not doing much better. His entire body had already been lifted into the air. If the Skycleaver Sword had not remained firmly embedded in the ground, he would probably have been sucked into that enormous "vacuum cleaner" as well.

But that was not the main issue. The biggest problem was that damned Child of Chaos. Half its body had already fallen into the Space Rift, yet its hands and feet still clung tightly to the edge as it tried to crawl back out.

"Grab my hand, kid!"

Stone held the slab with one hand while reaching the other toward Fang Zheng. But Fang Zheng did not respond. He frowned, glanced at the Child of Chaos behind him, then looked again at the Coffin Lid before him. The Sacred Power upon it had begun to weaken, while Stone and Malte both looked exhausted. Clearly, they could not hold on much longer. Yet judging from the Child of Chaos's condition, it still seemed capable of enduring.

If this continued, there was only one outcome: death.

Without needing much thought, Fang Zheng immediately made his decision. The Child of Chaos seemed to have withstood the pull of the Space Rift and was even slowly crawling its way out. The Space Rift itself was growing increasingly unstable. He did not know how much longer Stone and Malte could last, but judging from their condition, they were clearly suffering.

There was only one option left.

With that thought, Fang Zheng considered it for a moment. He had already learned in the world of Dark Souls how to find life amid death. To him, such a small risk was nothing. Besides... Fang Zheng still had his trump card.

Thinking that, Fang Zheng raised his head and glanced at the system before him. The cooldown on the teleport option had already begun its countdown.

Ten seconds.

"Fang Zheng, what the hell are you standing around for?!"

Seeing that Fang Zheng still did not answer, Stone shouted again. Fang Zheng looked at him and smiled faintly. Then he suddenly pulled the Skycleaver Sword from the ground, flipped through the air, and flew toward the Space Rift.

"Kid, what are you doing?!"

Stone was instantly shocked at the sight. He tried to rise and stop him, but the immense wind pressure forced Stone back down. He could only watch as Fang Zheng streaked through the air like a bird, man and sword becoming a beam of white light that shot straight toward the Child of Chaos.

"—!!"

Sensing the approaching danger, the Child of Chaos opened its mouth and roared. Although all four of its limbs were occupied with holding its body in place, that did not mean it had no other means of attack. The armor on its chest suddenly split open, and two long arms stretched out from within, grabbing at Fang Zheng.

Facing the claws sweeping toward him, Fang Zheng raised the Skycleaver Sword high and chopped down with all his strength. The blade collided with claws as hard as refined iron, producing a deep crash. At the same time, the Sacred Power on the Coffin Lid finally seemed to have been exhausted. The white beam sustaining the Space Rift quietly vanished. Without the Sacred Power to maintain it, the Space Rift gradually began to shrink. The Child of Chaos roared, thrusting all four limbs forward. Half its body immediately crawled out of the Space Rift. With one final push, it would be able to escape...

But in the next instant, a blinding white radiance rushed toward it, forcing it to close its eyes.

"That is..."

At that moment, the Holy Knights behind them were all stunned. When they saw the Child of Chaos break free from the Space Rift's restraints, they thought they had failed. But then Fang Zheng made a move that shocked everyone. He gripped the longsword in his hand and pressed forward. In an instant, the silver-white blade erupted with a brilliance too dazzling to look at directly. Pure Holy Light burst forth, transforming into a winged figure flowing with silver radiance. It bypassed the Child of Chaos's defenses and charged toward its exposed body.

"Angel—!!"

Malte screamed. By then, the Child of Chaos no longer had time to defend itself. It could only watch helplessly as the figure formed of light, sword and all, charged into its chest. The Sword of Light pierced through its chest without pause, slamming into the Child of Chaos with tremendous force. At last, the Child of Chaos could no longer endure. Its body, which had nearly escaped, was knocked backward once more. This time, it could no longer maintain its balance. With a shriek, it released its hands and feet and was sucked spinning into the Space Rift. Yet the Child of Chaos was clearly unwilling to die so easily. The two claws on its chest shot toward Fang Zheng, attempting one final desperate strike.

"Clang!"

Fang Zheng swung his sword around and blocked the Child of Chaos's final struggle. Angel transformed into a streak of light and returned to the blade of the Skycleaver Sword. At the same time, the Child of Chaos vanished into the depths of the void with a scream.

But Fang Zheng's crisis was far from over.

The Space Rift continued sucking in everything around it like a black hole, and Fang Zheng was now flying toward it like a fish caught in a whirlpool.

Three seconds left.

The Space Rift was now only half a person wide, but Fang Zheng was already less than a meter away from it. In the blink of an eye, he would either be completely sucked inside or, worse yet, sliced in two by the closing Space Rift.

Time was up.

But Fang Zheng paid it no mind. He stared fixedly at the system message before him. The instant the teleport option changed color, he swiftly reached out and pressed it. A dazzling white ring immediately appeared before Fang Zheng and swallowed him whole.

Only then did the Space Rift rapidly close and vanish into the air.

"..."

For a time, the entire Great Cavern fell into dead silence. The Holy Knights stared at everything before them, completely unsure what to say. To them, it all felt like a dream, yet everyone knew it was not.

"Damn it!"

Stone slammed his fist heavily into the ground, his face filled with regret. He had not seen clearly what Fang Zheng had done at the end, but the fact that the young man was no longer here already explained everything.

"Stone, tell me. Who exactly is Fang Zheng?"

Malte also realized that something was wrong. Before, he had assumed Fang Zheng was merely a promising young man. But after Angel appeared, Malte finally realized that things were far more complicated than he had thought.

"Don't ask. I'm not going to tell you anyway. Sigh..."

Stone did not answer Malte's question. He let out a long sigh, his expression complicated as he stared at the empty ground.

"This kid... honestly..."

"All right, Stone. Relax. I don't think anything will happen to him."

Seeing Stone's expression, Malte reached out and patted his shoulder.

"He can summon Angel, so he must be blessed by the Goddess. The Goddess will not let him come to harm."

"I hope so. He's still so young... Sigh, if I'd known, I should have..."

"Rumble..."

Stone did not finish speaking, because the Great Cavern began to shake. Obvious cracks appeared all around them, and chunks of stone mixed with dust occasionally fell from above. Perhaps the sealing power had vanished, or perhaps the earlier battle had caused too much damage. In any case, the Great Cavern clearly could no longer hold together. Everyone's hearts sank at the sight.

"Damn it, we need to get out of here now!"

Led by Stone and Malte, the remaining Holy Knights swiftly evacuated the Great Cavern. Behind them, broken stones and dust surged down like a tidal wave, completely burying the entire space.