"Screee!"
With a piercing, resounding eagle cry, the Fog Capital Divine Eagle plunged like a falling star, its overwhelming presence pressing down so hard that Jiang Hao and the others could barely lift their heads.
The ridge beneath their feet was less than two meters wide. The slightest disturbance could send them tumbling down the mountain, and one careless slip on those sheer rock faces would smash them to pieces.
To escape the Fog Capital Divine Eagle's pursuit, the six-person squad had no choice but to hide in a slanting crevice in the mountainside.
The six had only just scrambled down from the summit when Chubby suddenly lost his footing. Loose stones tumbled down, and he screamed in fright. Just as he was about to roll down the mountain, Brown Bear beside him let out a warning roar.
Chubby chose to merge the next instant. The moment they merged, he thrust out his sharp claws and dug them firmly into the soil on the mountainside. He slid more than ten meters before finally stopping, both hands clinging desperately to the edge of the crevice, with nothing beneath his feet but a sheer drop.
Alarmed, Jiang Hao called, "Chubby, are you all right?"
Chubby looked up at Jiang Hao. "I'm fine, Hao-" Before he could finish, a huge shadow swept overhead.
The Fog Capital Divine Eagle hooked its sharp talons into his shoulders, trying to lift him away.
Feeling death looming over him, Chubby ignored the pain of its talons piercing his flesh. He released one hand, bared his own equally sharp claws, and swiped at one of the Divine Eagle's feet.
"Bang!"
In a flash, the Divine Eagle recoiled in pain, released Chubby, and spread its wings to soar away.
"You damned bastard! Why the hell are you grabbing me?"
"Maybe it's taken a liking to all your fat!"
"Picking a bean sprout out of a pile of toothpicks-you're the finest-looking one here. Who else would it grab?"
Jiang Hao shouted, "It's coming again! Watch out!"
Having missed its first strike, the Fog Capital Divine Eagle wheeled around for another pass, still targeting Chubby.
At that moment, this was what Chubby felt inside.
·( )·
Why me again? Is having more meat on my bones a crime?
The Fog Capital Divine Eagle struck again, this time gripping Chubby firmly by the back. Now, no matter how hard he struggled, he could no longer reach it.
"Aah!"
Caught by the back, Chubby suddenly let out a miserable scream!
"Hao, save me!"
The Fog Capital Divine Eagle was incredibly strong. After merging, Chubby weighed at least two hundred kilograms, yet it lifted him without the slightest difficulty.
If the Divine Eagle really carried him off, his fate was easy to imagine.
Eagle Strikes the Sky!
Big Hen spread her wings and soared upward, appearing above the Divine Eagle within seconds. When the eagle saw her, contempt flashed through its eyes. This worthless chicken wasn't even fit to fill its belly.
What followed was a sight it would never forget, delivered by the very food it had scorned. The first priority was to cast Lure and draw it away from Chubby.
Lure!
Fireball and Wind Orb followed in quick succession.
Whether they could hurt it was another matter. Just hit it first.
Under the effects of Lure, the Fog Capital Divine Eagle finally released Chubby, though it tore a large chunk of flesh from him before leaving.
Just then, Big Hen's attacks arrived.
Six consecutive max-level Fireballs, followed by a max-level Wind Orb, inflicted a string of damage.
- 1400- 1450- 1500- 1550- 1600- 1650
The damage from the Six-Shot Fireball stacked, including the burn effect, so it was perfectly normal for each damage value rising from the Divine Eagle to be higher than the last.
- 1350
That last damage value came from Wind Orb. After all, it was an area-of-effect skill whose maximum level was only three, so it was perfectly normal for its damage to fall short of a level-six Fireball.
Even so, damage that high was enough to give the Fog Capital Divine Eagle a bitter cup to swallow.
"Screee!" With a cry of agony, the Fog Capital Divine Eagle's massive body plummeted. It had never imagined that an oddity lurked among the creatures it considered food. That was over ten thousand damage!
It wasn't some thick-skinned, tough-fleshed demonic beast. Taking two skills unawares would leave it crippled, if not dead.
Song Jie's expression changed drastically. That was a Mountain Moving Realm Fog Capital Divine Eagle! Only a few days had passed, and Jiang Hao's Beast Pet had already grown this powerful?
Never mind Song Jie-even Jiang Hao himself was startled. Max-level skills really were terrifying!
After pulling Chubby up from the cliff's edge onto the summit, he saw that the wounds on his back went deep enough to expose bone. "Ruxue, heal him, quick."
Wait.
While Wen Ruxue was casting Healing Art, Jiang Hao felt a faint unease, as though he had overlooked something.
He hurriedly opened the Survival Simulator. Sure enough, there were no notifications. In other words, the Divine Eagle wasn't dead yet!
Whoosh!
A gale swept toward them.
Except for Jiang Hao, everyone was swept into the air before they could even work out what was happening.
Then the half-crippled Divine Eagle surged up from below the cliff, flapping wings riddled with holes burned through by the flames.
Was it targeting them? No. The creature the Divine Eagle hated most right now was naturally Big Hen, flying in midair.
Only tearing her to pieces could quench its hatred. A lofty eagle had actually been ambushed by a chicken! If word got out, how would it ever hold its head up before the other demonic beasts?
After sending those closed-eyed two-legged beasts skyward, the Fog Capital Divine Eagle turned and charged at Big Hen. Although the feathers on its wings had been damaged, its flight speed was unaffected.
In the blink of an eye, the Divine Eagle reached Big Hen. Without giving her any chance at all, it lashed out with its talons in hatred and instantly tore her in half.
Huh?
Before it could celebrate, Big Hen, who had just been torn in two, came back to life right before its eyes.
Shadowless Clone!
Having narrowly escaped death, Big Hen no longer dared show off her flight speed before it.
"Cluck, cluck! Cluck, cluck!"
Like a bullied child frantically searching for an adult, she flapped her wings and plunged into Jiang Hao's arms.
Because Jiang Hao had prepared in advance, the gale had not swept him away. Seeing the Divine Eagle pursuing her again, he hurriedly directed Big Hen to counterattack.
Six-Shot Fireball!
If you can withstand this strike too, I'll take your surname-Fog Capital!
Meanwhile.
Gongsun Qianxun finally broke free of the swirling gale. Just as she was about to slam into the sheer cliff face, she abruptly straightened and snapped into a kip-up, using her exceptionally supple waist to land firmly on her feet.
After landing, she did not rush to rescue the others. Instead, she leaped into the gale engulfing Chen Xiaolin and pulled him out.
Once Chen Xiaolin landed, he saw the other four falling over the cliff. Without waiting for Gongsun Qianxun's instructions, he waved his hands, shooting out strands of spider silk tipped with webs. At the critical instant, four webs caught Song Jie and the others firmly, snatching their lives back from the hands of death.
"Help, quick! I can't hold all four of them!"
The four weighed far too much. How could Chen Xiaolin's frail body possibly hold them?
Gongsun Qianxun grabbed the strand of spider silk holding Song Jie and hauled him up from where he dangled over the cliff in a few quick pulls.
Once Song Jie was up, he wound the remaining two strands around his two great blades and drove his four long legs firmly into the soil on the mountainside. Only then did Chubby and Wen Ruxue stop sliding farther down.
When everyone had been rescued, the five survivors exchanged smiles. Those smiles held so much: first, Gongsun Qianxun's decisive actions in saving herself and then rescuing Chen Xiaolin.
Had she chosen to rescue someone else instead of Chen Xiaolin, she could have saved only one person at most.
Then there was Chen Xiaolin. He understood his role perfectly and knew that Gongsun Qianxun had saved him so he could save more people, so he acted decisively without needing a reminder.
They had rescued Song Jie rather than Chubby because Chubby was injured, and Gongsun Qianxun might not have been able to haul him up. After all, Chubby was simply too heavy after merging. Only the uninjured Song Jie had the strength to pull the others up.
This tested not only the teammates' coordination and unspoken understanding, but also their trust in one another.
After their smiles faded.
All five turned toward Jiang Hao.
"Damn it!"
Jiang Hao rarely swore, but two Six-Shot Fireballs still hadn't killed this Fog Capital Divine Eagle. Just how fucking high were its health and defense?
The Divine Eagle, clinging to its last sliver of health, seemed to have identified the key. In its eyes, Jiang Hao, this two-legged beast, was what mattered most. If it couldn't kill him, it would be the one to die.
So it abandoned its attack-no, that wasn't quite right. After all, Big Hen was still in Jiang Hao's arms. It would kill two birds with one stone.
Fortunately, Jiang Hao reacted swiftly and flung Big Hen away before the Divine Eagle's foot came down.
If Big Hen died again this time, everything would be over.
That stomp nearly forced last night's dinner out of Jiang Hao. His ribs were broken, though he didn't know how many. Worse still were the talons hooked into his body. They kept tightening, and he could hear his own flesh being torn apart.
Then a metallic sweetness rose in his throat, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Jiang Hao opened his mouth wide, desperate for a breath of fresh air, but the Divine Eagle's enormous body pressed down like a mountain, leaving him able only to breathe out.
Help!
The threat of death enveloped Jiang Hao. Before long, he would suffocate.
At that critical moment, Song Jie, Gongsun Qianxun, and the others rushed over. Song Jie immediately raised his two great blade-arms and slashed at the Divine Eagle's feet, trying to free Jiang Hao as quickly as possible.
Gongsun Qianxun was much more cautious. She first entered Stealth, then looked for an opening.
Wen Ruxue and Chen Xiaolin also moved to help. Wen Ruxue cast Healing Art on Jiang Hao while activating Magnetic Field Rally.
Under the effects of Magnetic Field Rally, a cold gleam flashed across Song Jie's blades. Finally, he chopped hard into one of the Divine Eagle's legs. Blood instantly spurted along the blade, spraying Jiang Hao's entire body and seeping into him through his wounds.
So hot!
At that moment, Jiang Hao felt as though he had been thrown into a basin of boiling water.
"Ding. Blood Sacrifice Mode activated. Fuse with the Divine Eagle Bloodline?"
Whenever the Survival Simulator activated on its own, it usually meant something good was happening, just like the first time it launched the Simulation Game and the first time it launched the real-world survival Simulation Game.
Before you continue