Life on Earth evolved, and the demon beasts of Spirit Star did too. Through generation after generation, the great beasts of the ancient times had multiplied, but their descendants had grown weaker, losing the splendor of their ancestors.
Yet there were always exceptions.
In the ancient age, there had been a race of demon beasts whose form had never changed since their birth: a single eye, an enormous mouth, and a diet of the life force of all things. Wherever they went, grass and trees withered, the land turned barren, and every beast fled.
They were called Desolate Beasts.
The beast before us was about forty meters long, and its appearance was grotesque beyond belief. Its body was dark green, like a many-leaved aloe vera plant stretched out on its side. A huge blood-red eye grew where its head should have been, with a strangely shaped mouth beneath it. Its thick, long limbs resembled a gecko's, and they looked completely out of place, as if they'd been forcibly grafted onto its body. Just looking at it made my skin crawl.
Several hundred years ago, Desolate Beasts had run rampant across the East Emperor Continent. Their influence brought an unprecedented famine that swept across the entire continent, followed by riots and war. Many small nations were wiped out, and even the great powers struggled to contain the chaos. In the end, the strongest nations of the East Emperor Continent joined forces and sent out countless experts. At a terrible cost, they nearly exterminated the Desolate Beasts, an ancient race that had endured for hundreds of millions of years. The few that survived fled underground and went into hibernation to escape annihilation. Since then, there hadn't been a single report of a Desolate Beast sighting.
I never would've guessed that a lone survivor had been hiding beneath Salt Crystal Lake. This abnormal wasteland had formed because of its influence! But what had woken it from its slumber?
"Let's not make any rash moves. We'll see what it does first..." Rui Feng quickly regained his composure.
The Desolate Beast twisted its massive body as if surveying its surroundings. The dark green pupil in its blood-red eye spun wildly, then locked onto us!
"Screee!" The Desolate Beast suddenly let out a roar, its misshapen mouth gaping wide as a powerful suction force erupted from it! The spiritual energy in the air began to churn. Wisps of pale green vapor rose from cracks in the rocks and patches of dead grass, streaming into the beast's mouth!
"Get away! It's sucking out our life force!"
Unlike spiritual energy, life force was what sustained life, produced within living things. Even nature itself, from fertile soil to the ocean, produced life force. If life force ever drifted freely in the air, anything could absorb it—not just humans, but even ordinary trees and grass. But life force usually didn't drift freely, so there was nothing to absorb. The terrifying thing about Desolate Beasts was that they could forcibly draw life force out of living things and use it for themselves!
Only then did I notice that wisps of pale green vapor were being sucked out of our bodies too! I was just about to retreat when—
Thump! A small body slumped helplessly against me. It was Lin Bing! Her face, already pale, had turned waxen. Her eyelids drooped, and her skin had grown dry and cracked!
"Liu Ye, take Lin Bing and get out of here!" Si Nanlong bellowed. Only then did I realize that Lin Bing wasn't the only one affected—all the other team members had the same symptoms! Si Nanlong could still run, but he wasn't much better off than Lin Bing. He looked like he could collapse at any moment. There was no time to lose! I scooped Lin Bing into my arms and ran back the way we'd come. Absorbing life force was not only how Desolate Beasts fed, but also their strongest weapon! In the battles against them long ago, the warriors had carried large quantities of special Spiritual Medicines and supplements to counter this ability. We'd made no such preparations, so a fight now would put us at a serious disadvantage!
A thunderous crash came from behind us. A massive shadow swept over our heads, and the Desolate Beast landed right in front of us with a roar, blocking our way! I hadn't expected it to be so agile. It seemed it had decided we were its prey!
"Damn it, we have no choice but to fight!" Rui Feng activated his armguard, took out a Spirit Stone, and popped it into his mouth. "Shi Tao, Du Lin, your constitutions are stronger than ours. Help me hold it off! Rui Xin, get everyone else out of here!"
"Okay!" Without a moment's hesitation, the two men he'd called out stepped forward and charged fearlessly at the Desolate Beast! Shi Tao stomped on the ground, and a mass of rock surged up, forming a wall that cut the rest of us off from the beast. A thunderous battle cry rang out from the other side.
"Let's go! We'll only get in their way if we stay!" Rui Xin grabbed my wrist. Tears streaked her face. Her own brother was fighting on the other side of that stone wall! Yet with sheer force of will, she made herself carry out her duty as a team member.
Watching her like that, I was stunned.
She was so strong.
Was this what family meant?
Having family in this world really was a blessing.
Before, I'd never truly understood what family was supposed to mean to me.
It wasn't until I came to this new world, with everything from my past far away, that I realized how precious the things I'd once taken for granted were.
Being all alone in a strange world was absolutely miserable.
So...
I didn't want to see this kind girl suffer the agony of losing someone she loved!
"What's wrong? Hurry up!" When I didn't respond, Rui Xin tried to drag me away, but she didn't have the strength anymore.
"Take Lin Bing..." I pushed Lin Bing into her arms, then turned and walked away.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
"Killing that beast."
Boom!
The armguard, blazing with dazzling spiritual light, collided violently with the Desolate Beast's forelimb. Rui Feng was sent flying, landing hard on the ground before barely managing to steady himself. The Desolate Beast roared in fury and swung its massive claw at him. Just as Rui Feng seemed unable to dodge, a human figure wreathed in flames slammed into the beast, scorching a patch of its dark green skin black!
"Du Lin!"
"I don't think we can hold out much longer..." Du Lin glanced at the flames on his body, which were growing dimmer, and shook his head helplessly. His attack hadn't done much real damage. If anything, it had only made the beast more ferocious.
"If we'd brought Spiritual Medicines to sustain our life force, we might've stood a chance against it. But now..."
Du Lin and Rui Feng were both at the end of their strength. Shi Tao, who had raised the stone wall at the start, was already down on one knee, panting like an ox. The Desolate Beast, by contrast, only grew more ferocious as the fight went on. It raised its head high, its blood-red eye opened to its limit, and an eerie red glow gathered inside.
"Damn it! That move again!" Du Lin summoned the last of his strength and threw himself toward Shi Tao, who could no longer move. At the same time, a blood-red beam a full meter across shot from the Desolate Beast's eye. Like a thick, heavy sword, it swept toward the three of them, trailing a stench of blood that blotted out the sky!
"I'll fight you to the death!" Rui Feng roared. His muscles swelled to their limit, and his clothes burst apart with a series of sharp cracks. The armguard on his arm erupted with a light brighter than ever before. Like a maddened lion, he charged at the Desolate Beast and met the beam head-on!
"Ha! Haaaaaah!" The armguard and the beam clashed fiercely, dazzling sparks flying in every direction. Despite his life force nearly spent, Rui Feng had actually managed to block the Desolate Beast's powerful strike!
But that was as far as he could go. Rui Feng was forced back inch by inch, his feet carving deep furrows into the earth. At the last moment, his armguard rumbled and unleashed a powerful shock wave. The enormous blood-red beam scattered on impact! But the recoil sent Rui Feng flying backward. He slammed into the stone wall, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and couldn't move again.
Was this the end...? The Desolate Beast's huge claw appeared in Rui Feng's blurred vision. By then, he no longer felt the slightest fear. Everyone he'd ever known flashed through his mind like scenes from a film—his parents, his younger sister, Captain Si Nan Yuan, the Second Young Lady, his comrades who'd stayed by his side to the very end, and that mysterious girl, Liu Ye...
"...Feng... Rui Feng..."
...Strange. Why was Liu Ye's image so much clearer than everyone else's? And why did it seem like she was speaking to him?
"Pull yourself together, Rui Feng!"
Rui Feng jolted violently, and his vision quickly cleared. He felt the earth beneath him and pain in every inch of his body. He was alive! There was no doubt about it—he was still alive! The realization filled him with new strength. He struggled to push himself up—and then saw a sight he would never forget.
A hand, a massive hand made of blood, held back the Desolate Beast's claw, keeping it completely still. Beneath the Blood Hand stood the familiar figure in a dark red trench coat. The hood that had always concealed their head had been blown away by the beast's claw, revealing a head of gorgeous black hair and a beauty so peerless she could captivate all living beings.
The three men gaped in utter shock. This was the first time they'd seen the mysterious figure's true face.
I glanced at their stunned expressions, smiled faintly, and said the line I'd always wanted to say:
"Stand back. I'll handle this guy."