Rokuro suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, its shrill pitch almost piercing their eardrums.
Rokuya's heart lurched, and he almost instinctively glanced back out of the corner of his eye.
At that very moment, Rokuro abandoned all his defenses and poured every last bit of demon blood and energy remaining within him into one frenzied Blood Demon Art.
"Blood Demon Art: Hell Strangulation Array!"
Dozens of meters behind the battlefield, Kanae Kocho had been leaning weakly against a pile of rubble, catching her breath. Without warning, the ground beneath her feet collapsed. Eight thick, spike-covered stone pillars burst out of the earth like a rapidly closing cage of death, instantly enclosing her!
That was not all. With a series of cracking sounds, a three-meter-long, razor-sharp earthen spike rapidly formed on the cavern's previously solid ceiling. A chilling black gleam flickered at its tip as it plunged straight toward the top of the earthen cage, falling at a terrifying speed driven by both gravity and the Blood Demon Art-its target was Kanae, trapped motionless inside!
"No!"
Rokuya's pupils instantly contracted to pinpoints, and his heart felt as though an invisible hand had clenched it tight. He was too far from Kanae. Even if he charged immediately, he would need at least two seconds to reach her, while that lethal spike would pierce her body in half a second at most!
Just as Rokuya's eyes nearly split with anguish and he prepared to forcibly break his current stance and rush back to help, even at the cost of serious injury, a familiar figure entered his field of vision.
It was Guan Tinglingzi!
The woman who had just been standing atop a stone pillar, laughing wildly at him, cruelly condemning him over Tanaka's death, her face filled with deep-seated hatred.
Now, Reiko gripped the