Grievously Wounded

Shi Hongyu swept her long leg, kicking several scythe-like limbs apart head-on as easily as 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, then grabbed the rope and climbed straight onto the boulder as well.

Even atop the boulder, they were not safe.

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

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

But that was hardly a good thing.

Mutated beast-type creatures were known for their ferocity.

Insects, however, often possessed far stranger abilities.

Take the Giant Dragonfly from before. Getting near it could disable elements, meaning 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 they had climbed up and were panicking at the sight of the insect swarm, Shi Hongyu sprang up by stepping on a mantis corpse, snapping them back to their senses.

They had to keep moving. Staying in one place would make it easy for them to be surrounded.

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

Shi Hongyu, charging at the front, had no trouble clearing a path. Other than the Giant Dragonfly, no other Mutated Elite Monsters had appeared so far—only Blue-Blood Monsters.

For Shi Hongyu, they were one punch each.

"Blow yourselves to pieces!"

Duo Xinyu pulled a long grenade belt from his Mecha Belt and slung it over himself. Then he plucked off two grenades and hurled them directly at the four or five Giant Mantises pursuing them most closely.

Boom!

The grenades exploded. Shards of ice and frigid frost mist burst outward—it was an Ice Mine.

Though its destructive power was limited, it 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, those legs shattered across the ground.

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

These were his emergency stash, and 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 about a meter long.

But Qiao Zishu still had to use both hands just to barely hold it steady. She aimed it at another wave of monsters about to charge in and pulled the trigger.

Boom!!

A muffled blast rang out, powerful enough to shatter eardrums. A massive wave of air erupted from the barrel, rippling outward in rings.

Every monster within the huge fan-shaped area in front of the Air Cannon was blasted backward.

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

Both Mecha Masters naturally had lifesaving methods to keep enemies from closing in. Fu Junlin and the others barely managed to hold on thanks to the temporary knockback effects.

Shi Hongyu and Chen Keyu slaughtered monsters at the front and 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 massive Wasp hovered in midair, quietly watching them. They seemed to be observing the battle, or perhaps waiting for the moment they were injured or exhausted.

Those cunning insects filled Shi Hongyu with a bad feeling.

Even if this trip had been for nothing, she could not afford to leave anyone behind here.

Hearing Shi Hongyu's shout, everyone immediately put more force into their attacks.

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

Buzz!!

Four halos lit up simultaneously, doubling everyone's combat strength 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 cluster of monsters.

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

The transparent orb looked like a harmless bubble in midair.

But in that instant, every monster frantically retreated.

By the time everyone realized something was wrong, the bubble had already descended to their level.

Pop!

The bubble exploded.

A terrifying, unstoppable force erupted and swept outward in an instant like an expanding ring.

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

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

Chen Zhengfeng was facing the explosion and reacted fastest. At the instant it detonated, he pressed the return-to-city button.

He vanished from the spot immediately, without even having time to retrieve his Battle Banner.

Between a few hundred dollars 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 tremendous force hurled him into the air.

Boom!!

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

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

"Aah!!"

Chen Keyu's whole body trembled violently as he let out an extremely suppressed yet uncontrollable scream.

Inside the maze-like boulder passageway, Shi Hongyu dragged him and the injured Qiao Zishu all the way into a small dead-end alley.

Hearing Chen Keyu's scream, Shi Hongyu fiercely covered his mouth.

Behind them, a vast trail of blood stretched across the ground in a shocking crimson line.

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

Shi Hongyu covered Chen Keyu's mouth with one hand while using the other to lift the tattered fabric over his injured leg.

Other than a thin layer of flesh still connecting it, Chen Keyu's leg was nearly completely severed. Blood poured out in streams, and without his clothing to contain it, it began spraying outward.

Qiao Zishu's arms also hung limply at her sides. One arm had been completely blown apart. Her eyes were unfocused, and she was clearly about to lose consciousness.

"Teacher, you're injured too!"

Duo Xinyu was terrified. He reminded her in a trembling voice.

Indeed, Shi Hongyu had two huge wounds across her back and waist, with a piece of metal embedded 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 fists and asked,

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

Battle Flag Crystal Blocks could barely stop the bleeding and provide some relief, but to repair damage like Chen Keyu's, someone had to reach in and provide treatment.

Duo Xinyu swallowed.

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

"Where's Junlin?!"

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