Escape

It's Marcus.

At this moment, Marcus, except for his head, was completely mechanized. Almost all of his Flesh had fallen away, revealing the intricate metal skeleton and Gear beneath.

He carried Lu Yuan on his shoulder.

The mechanical exoskeleton was still burning.

The intense heat penetrated through his clothes and burned directly onto Lu Yuan's stomach.

The skin was burning, Flesh was curling up.

It hurts, it hurts like hell.

But Lu Yuan couldn't even call out; his consciousness was so blurred that he could only let Marcus carry him and run wildly out of the passage.

With each step Marcus took, the mechanical parts made a grinding sound.

But he didn't slow down, continuing to rush out of the passage.

At the same time, the gray-robed man on the altar changed his expression drastically.

"You..."

"How dare you Blasphemy Mother!!"

The gray-robed man's voice was shrill and crazed.

"Unforgivable! Unforgivable!!"

But before they could finish speaking, their bodies began to twist uncontrollably, swell and deform, as if something was being pulled away from them.

An invisible force imprisoned them there, no matter how frantically they struggled.

Alice was now close to the winding, upward-reaching passage.

With the tentacles no longer wriggling, Alice was finally able to free her hands.

She saw Marcus carrying Lu Yuan as they charged out and immediately went to meet them.

"What's wrong with him?!"

Marcus did not answer, but simply handed Lu Yuan to Alice.

Alice took Lu Yuan from him and instantly felt the intense heat under his clothes, as well as the smell of burnt meat.

Her expression changed, but she didn't ask any more questions. She grabbed Lu Yuan and ran wildly towards the mine entrance.

On the other side, the Born also picked up Marcus and, carrying this mechanical monster that was no longer Human Form, quickly retreated.

The Judge lay fallen beneath the altar, almost completely destroyed.

The metal body was riddled with cracks, the steam pipes were broken, and liquid was spraying everywhere.

Ed, Gray, Leonard, and two Deacon rushed forward, grabbed the Judge's limbs, and desperately dragged the heavy iron lump away.

Just as everyone was frantically running upwards.

The Temple trembled.

No.

The entire island was shaking.

The passageway began to collapse.

Ore fell from the ceiling and hit the ground with a loud thud.

But what's even more terrifying is that the Deep Blue Ore began to recrystallize.

They grow from the walls, the ground, from any angle, trying to fill everything in the cave.

The Ore is spreading, and at an increasingly rapid pace.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Alice screamed.

Everyone ran for their lives.

The passage behind them was being filled with Ore inch by inch.

The steps beneath my feet began to collapse.

Philip was at the very front, the light of the Holy Emblem still shining, illuminating the path ahead for everyone.

Alice carried Lu Yuan and followed behind Philip, with the Born carrying Marcus close behind.

Only a few people, dragging the Judge along, remained at the end.

The mine entrance is just ahead.

Light shone in.

That's the sky outside.

Philip was the first to rush out.

Then Alice, carrying Lu Yuan...

Just as they all rushed out of the cave, a huge roar came from behind them.

The Ore was filled with ore, and the entrance to the underground Temple was sealed off once again by the "Deep Blue" light.

Everyone collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

The sunlight was blinding.

When Lu Yuan was dragged out of the mine, his consciousness was already mostly blurred.

Alice laid him flat on the beach, and the moment his back touched the ground, the intense pain made him groan.

With blurred vision and a buzzing in his ears, Lu Yuan could only barely make out the figures moving around him.

The surrounding area was a mess.

Marcus's mechanical body completely shut down. The mechanical eyes that had been flashing red light were now dull and lifeless, the Gear stopped turning, and there wasn't even a wisp of White Mist in the steam pipes.

He was like a discarded iron shell, carried on the shoulders of a Born.

The Judge weren't in much better shape.

The massive body lay limp on the ground, the runes on its back completely extinguished, and several sections of the steam pipes were broken, revealing the charred metal skeleton inside.

Ed and Gray supported his arms on either side, while Leonard and the Deacon pushed from behind. It took the combined efforts of several people to barely drag the steel behemoth.

Philip, exhausted, knelt a short distance away, his hands supporting him on the ground, his whole body trembling.

His Holy Power was exhausted, his face was deathly pale, and he didn't even have the strength to stand up. The only remaining Deacon squatted beside him, equally weak.

Alice is the only one who can still move normally; her Flesh Transcendent have granted her a physical strength far exceeding that of ordinary people.

She stood in the middle of the crowd, her gaze sweeping over each person as she quickly assessed the current situation.

After the heart deep within the cave stopped beating, the entire island became eerily quiet, with only the heavy breathing of the group remaining.

The sand beneath my feet stopped undulating, and the tentacles that had once surged from the ground ceased extending, as if all their strength had been drained.

The blue light at the mine entrance dimmed, and the once dazzling Ore now glowed faintly, as if it might turn into stone at any moment.

Alice raised her head and looked at the distant sky.

Dark clouds are gathering.

They surged in from all directions, as if something was driving them away.

The originally dazzling sunlight was gradually swallowed up, and the sky darkened at a visible speed.

A storm is coming.

Alice looked around and made a decisive decision.

"Get on the boat." Her voice was hoarse. "Leave immediately."

The boarding process was somewhat chaotic. After Alice and Gray lifted Lu Yuan onto the deck, they had to help lift the Judge. The Born remained on the deck did not help, but instead stayed by the firing position.

The waves had begun to surge, and the Abyssal Hunter began to rock with the waves.

The Born placed Marcus and the Judge in the cabin one after the other. Marcus's mechanical body was placed in a corner, motionless, like a pile of scrap metal.

The device that used to emit steam and red light is now completely silent, with only the occasional metallic hissing indicating that it is not completely broken.

The Judge was leaned against the bulkhead, his massive body taking up half the cabin.

The thick armor was covered with dents left by tentacles, and in some places it was even pierced, revealing the intricate network of pipes and Gear inside.

Lu Yuan was handed over to Gray by Alice.

"Take care of his injuries," Alice said, then hurried toward the captain's cabin.

Gray nodded and laid Lu Yuan flat on a bed.

The burns on his abdomen were more severe than he had imagined; his clothes were stuck to his skin, and Gray had to carefully cut the fabric apart with a dagger.

Lu Yuan felt as if he were half asleep and half awake, his body seemed to have disappeared, and he vaguely heard the sounds around him.

"Some of the Flesh is necrotic," Gray said in a low voice. "It needs to be cut off."

Regardless of whether Lu Yuan heard him or not, Gray began to work. Gray's movements were very skillful; he removed the necrotic tissue, applied medicine, and bandaged the wound in one smooth motion.

After treating the wound, Gray looked at Philip in the corner.

"Philip, can you move?"

Philip managed to lift his head, his face still deathly pale, but he managed to stand up.

He and the Deacon walked to Lu Yuan's bedside, placed their hands on his chest, and with slightly moving lips, uttered a short prayer.

A pale golden light seeped from his palm, so faint as to be almost invisible, but when it fell on Lu Yuan, it instantly brought his somewhat detached consciousness back to him, followed by pain, a tearing pain.

"That's all we can do." Philip withdrew his hand, his voice weak. "The Holy Power needs time to recover."

Gray nodded without saying much. He had done all he could now, and Lu Yuan could only rely on himself.