Gravely Injured

Shi Hongyu swept out with her long leg, kicking several scythe-like limbs clean off as if snapping bamboo poles.

But the sharp scythes could not break through Shi Hongyu's shield.

Several mantises attacked Shi Hongyu at once, yet she smashed two or three of them apart on the spot.

By then, the others had already climbed up. Fu Junlin gritted his teeth and planted a red Battle Banner into the ground before grabbing the rope and climbing onto the boulder as well.

Even atop the boulder, they were not safe.

On the distant boulders, swarms of mutated insects were crawling up from below. There were at least forty or fifty of them!

It was Fu Junlin's first time encountering an Arena Zone without any savage beasts, filled entirely with mutated insect creatures.

But that was hardly a good thing.

Mutated beast-type creatures were known for their ferocity.

But insect types often possessed far stranger abilities.

Take the Giant Dragonfly from before. Getting close to it actually disabled elemental power, which meant Blade-and-Sword Enchanters and mages were basically useless against it.

Only Fistmasters and purely physical Mecha Masters posed a threat to it.

"Move with me!"

Just as the group had climbed up and been left utterly panicked by the swarm before them, Shi Hongyu sprang up by stepping on the mantis corpses, snapping them back to their senses.

They had to keep moving. Staying in one place made it too easy to get surrounded.

The group formed a defensive formation and immediately fell into a bitter battle.

Shi Hongyu, charging at the front, had no trouble opening a path. Aside from the Giant Dragonfly, no other Mutated Elite Monsters had appeared yet; there were only Blue-Blood Monsters.

For Shi Hongyu, they went down one punch at a time.

"Blow up and die!"

Duo Xinyu pulled a long grenade bandolier from his Mecha Belt, slung it over himself, then tore off two grenades and hurled them straight at the four or five Giant Mantises chasing closest behind them.

Boom!

The grenades exploded, sending shards of ice and freezing mist bursting outward. It was an Ice Mine.

Though their killing power was limited, they instantly slowed those mantises by two or three times. One closest to the blast center had two of its legs frozen directly into icy fragments.

The moment it stepped forward, they shattered all over the ground.

Every time Duo Xinyu threw an Ice Mine, his eyelid twitched fiercely.

These were all his prized reserves. They were expensive!

Qiao Zishu also put away her massive sniper rifle and took out an enormous cannon barrel wide enough to fit a basketball inside. The barrel was only around a meter long.

But Qiao Zishu still had to use both hands just to barely hold it up. She aimed at another wave of monsters that was about to rush over and pulled the trigger.

Boom!!

A dull thunderous blast rang out, as if it could shatter people's eardrums. A massive wave of air shot from the barrel, trailing rings of rippling distortion.

Within the huge fan-shaped area in front of the Air Cannon, every monster was blasted backward.

Qiao Zishu nearly lost her footing and was knocked to the ground by the tremendous recoil.

Naturally, both Mecha Masters had life-saving methods to prevent enemies from getting close. Fu Junlin and the others could only barely hold on because the monsters had been temporarily driven back.

Shi Hongyu and Chen Keyu slaughtered their way through the swarm, one at the front and one at the rear.

"No! Find a chance to return to the city! Retreat!!"

Shi Hongyu glanced at the giant insects around them, and a chill rose in her heart.

Not far away, the Giant Dragonfly and a huge Wasp were hovering in midair, quietly watching them as though spectating—or waiting for a chance when they were injured or exhausted.

Those cunning insects gave Shi Hongyu an ominous feeling.

Even if this trip turned out to be for nothing, she could not leave any one of them behind here.

At Shi Hongyu's shout, everyone hurriedly put more force into their attacks.

Fu Junlin and Chen Zhengfeng pulled out Battle Banners with both hands and planted four banners into the ground at once.

Buzz!!

Four halos lit up simultaneously, and everyone's combat strength doubled for a short time.

The flaming greatsword in Chen Keyu's hands spat out flames over half a meter long, instantly forcing back a huge mass of monsters.

But at that moment, the massive sphere that the huge Wasp had been gathering in its mouth suddenly dropped toward them with a soft pop.

The transparent orb looked like a harmless bubble in midair.

But in that instant, every monster retreated frantically.

By the time the group realized something was wrong, the bubble had already descended to their height.

Pop!

The bubble exploded.

A terrifying, unstoppable force erupted, sweeping outward in an instant like a circular ring.

Everything in its path, whether Blue-Blood Monsters or Mecha Beasts, was instantly destroyed like scraps of paper in the wind.

Even the sounds of everyone warning each other seemed to be swallowed by the energy. With his back to the halo, Fu Junlin could only see Shi Hongyu turn around in terror and shout something.

Facing the explosion head-on, Chen Zhengfeng reacted the fastest and pressed the return-to-city button at the instant of the blast.

He vanished from where he stood, not even having time to take away his Battle Banner.

Between a few hundred yuan and his life, which mattered more?

By the time Fu Junlin realized something was wrong, it was already too late. His hand had just reached toward the return-to-city button when a massive force flipped him over and hurled him away.

Boom!!

After the explosion that swept across the entire battlefield, the world seemed to fall silent.

Only from some corner came a sudden, heart-wrenching scream.

"Ah!!"

Chen Keyu trembled violently, letting out an extremely suppressed yet uncontrollable scream.

Inside a giant-stone passage of the maze, Shi Hongyu was dragging him and the injured Qiao Zishu all the way into a small dead end.

Hearing Chen Keyu scream, Shi Hongyu clamped a hand hard over his mouth.

Behind them, a vast smear of blood stretched into a horrifying trail.

Duo Xinyu, his clothes torn to shreds, followed them in while fearfully watching their surroundings and wiping away the bloodstains beneath his feet.

Shi Hongyu covered Chen Keyu's mouth with one hand and lifted the shredded clothing from his injured leg with the other.

Chen Keyu's leg was almost completely severed, held together by only half a layer of flesh. Blood flowed continuously from it, and without clothing covering the wound, it had begun to spray out.

Qiao Zishu's hands hung limply at her sides. One of her arms had been completely blown apart. Her gaze was unfocused, and she looked as though she could no longer hold on.

"Teacher, you're injured too!"

Duo Xinyu was terrified as he reminded her in a trembling voice.

Indeed, Shi Hongyu had two enormous wounds across her back and lower waist, with a piece of steel lodged in one of them.

"It's fine. Take out the Battle Flag Crystal Blocks!"

Shi Hongyu spoke calmly as she took out her own Battle Flag Crystal Block. Duo Xinyu hurriedly pulled out two more and handed them to her.

Several Battle Flag Crystal Blocks lit up together, but Shi Hongyu clenched her fist and asked:

"Where are the War Banner Masters? Did you see them?!"

Battle Flag Crystal Blocks could barely stop the bleeding and ease the pain, but to repair damaged tissue like Chen Keyu's, someone had to reach in and treat it directly.

Duo Xinyu swallowed.

"Zheng Feng... returned to the city."

"Where's Junlin?!"

"Junlin was blown away too, but it looked like he reached for the return-to-city button."