Amid the rubble and smoke, a deathly silence fell.
Everyone froze, as if someone had pressed pause. The nearly hundred figures suspended in midair had even forgotten to breathe.
They stared fixedly at the ruins, watching the shell-like barrier around Russell shatter completely, scattering into countless points of light that vanished into the dim amber-colored tree sap.
His trump card for staying alive... was gone just like that?
With a single strike.
Beside Jiang Wanjun, Peder's Adam's apple bobbed violently, but not a sound came out.
Gong Ci, standing next to him, had gone deathly pale. His clenched fist had somehow loosened, and his palm was slick with cold sweat.
In the frozen air, Russell slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He lowered his eyes to the crimson on his fingertips, then looked up. For the first time, his harmless smile was gone.
In its place was a feverish intensity, almost twisted in its fervor.
"This feeling..." He licked his lips. His voice was hoarse, trembling with delight. "It's... exquisite!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, an angry roar broke the eerie silence.
"You bastard!"
A tall, alien young man with a vertical eye on his forehead charged out from the crowd. He had been standing not far from Russell, and the aftershock of Chen Yan's attack had nearly swept right across him, leaving him drenched in cold sweat.
Now his face was twisted with anger. The vertical eye between his brows snapped open, shooting out a beam of dark, profound light!
"It's Arian of the Three-Eyed Clan!"
"He's attacking! That's their clan's signature Soul-Seizing Profound Light!"
Someone cried out.
The beam was astonishingly fast. Almost as soon as it appeared, it struck Chen Yan squarely.
And yet...
Nothing happened.
Chen Yan stood where