Whoosh—
The wind howled, sand and stones flew, and the ground beneath their feet kept cracking.
The Burial God Graveyard was already dim. Now it looked like the end of the world.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Faster. Run faster!
Batu ran with everything he had, but the world before his eyes had begun to sway.
It wasn't the ground splitting beneath him. He had lost too much blood. Even his vision was turning red.
The wound in his abdomen burned with pain, and his life was draining away.
Batu could almost feel his soul trying to leave his body, abandoning its heavy burden.
And when it did, he would die.
"Commander, put me down. Put me—"
"Don't—talk! We... we're both going to live."
Batu spoke through a haze, but he still refused to put down the brother on his back.
Even if he died, he would die before his brother. He would never leave him behind and escape alone.
"Cackle, cackle! Live? Hahaha! Taishan, did you hear that? They're in this state, and they still think they can live? Hahaha! Cackle, cackle..."
Charles's crazed laughter rang out behind them.
"Taishan, give them something else to worry about!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Taishan answered in his booming voice. Behind him, the Titan Giant Ape Dharma Body raised both arms and slammed them into the ground.
Boom—
The earth split open.
At the same time, a vast swath of huge, razor-sharp spikes shot up from below.
They were about to skewer Batu like a candied fruit on a stick.
Batu drew a deep breath and squeezed the last scraps of strength and Star Power from his body. An icy-blue light flashed beneath his feet, forming a layer of solid ice.
The spikes struck the ice but failed to pierce it, lifting Batu into the