The rest on the tenth floor lasted for less than a night.
As dawn broke, Linley rose from his seat. He didn't say anything, but simply raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then slowly gripped the hilt of his sword. At this moment, everyone's breathing unconsciously slowed down, because they had been struggling on the brink of life and death for years, and had developed this almost instinctive alertness.
The gap between the eleventh and tenth floors was very narrow. Linley was walking in front, and his whole body froze the moment his foot touched the ground.
Is this the eleventh floor? No, this is the lair of the Blade Demon.
Countless dark humanoid figures blended into the night, densely packed in the dim space. Some stood, some lay prone, their two crescent-shaped blades gleaming coldly in the darkness, the entire space becoming their hunting ground. The largest figure in the innermost part was three to four times the size of an ordinary Blade Demon, its two curved blades as thick as doors, its entire body gleaming with a chilling light—this was the Abyssal Blade Demon Lord.
Without the slightest hesitation, Linley immediately grabbed the people behind him and stopped them. "Back up, back up quickly!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the Blade Demon Lord moved. It seemed to have noticed the intruders long ago, but had not taken any action, simply waiting quietly for the intruders to come to it. Now that Linley and the others had entered, the lord had nothing left to hide. After a low roar, countless Blade Demon surged in from all directions like a tide.
"Go!" Linley cleaved through the two oncoming Blade Demon with his sword, shielding everyone behind him, and said in a hoarse voice, "Retreat back to the tenth floor, quickly!"
Without hesitation, Tulilei, Fain, Olivier, and Desri turned and ran towards the crevice. However, there were many Blade Demon, and the lord had blocked one of their escape routes, so they had no choice but to break out separately.
Linley watched his companions disappear into the crevice one by one, but he remained on edge. The lord's initial target wasn't the fleeing people, but the Dragonblood Warrior wielding his divine weapon, who had cleaved countless Blade Demon in two with a single strike.
The Blade Demon Lord then skipped over many of his own kind and charged directly at Linley. He raised his two curved blades high like a gate, each containing a power capable of tearing through space, and slashed upwards. Linley blocked with his sword, and the sound of his fire-attribute longsword colliding with the two curved blades was so loud it could shake the entire world.
Linley felt a powerful force flow through the sword into his arm, his hand went numb, and he was thrown back by the force, crashing into a rock. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
This guy is much stronger than those grunts. Linley gritted his teeth, stood up with a sword in his hand, and watched the Blade Demon Lord walk towards him step by step. He quickly thought of an escape route. He couldn't retreat. If he did, this lord would enter the tenth level, and none of them would be able to escape. He had to hold this lord back and leave his companions a chance to escape.
The Blade Demon Lord had clearly guessed his intentions, so instead of killing him immediately, it slowly approached him, using an almost playful attitude to force him to retreat with each strike, driving him deeper into the rift. In other words, it wanted to lure him away from the rift and devour him alone.
Linley fought and retreated, his wounds multiplying. Blood seeped from his arms, shoulders, thighs, and other parts of his body. The lord's blade was too sharp; even his dragon-scaled body couldn't completely block it. But he never retreated a single step towards the crack. He knew that as long as he remained there, the lord would not reach the tenth level.
"Boss!" came Bebe's scream from the crack. The little beast had run back. "Come quick!"
"Go!" Linley roared, forcing the lord back with a single sword strike, then said to the others, "Don't worry about me, take the men and leave."
Bebe paused for a moment, but it knew Linley well. Without saying anything more, it gave him a deep look before turning and running towards the crack, its figure quickly disappearing into the narrow crevice.
Linley looked at the spot where Bebe had disappeared, and the last thread in his heart finally snapped. From now on, he would be left alone in this lair of the Blade Demon.
The Blade Demon Lord seemed to sense that Linley had made up his mind, so he stopped probing and raised his two curved blades high above his head, slashing at Linley with an unprecedented killing intent that seemed to tear the heavens and earth apart.
Linley had nowhere to hide. Backed into a corner, he was surrounded by cold rocks behind him and the lord drawing ever closer in front of him. He gritted his teeth, held his Fire Element longsword horizontally in front of his chest, and used the last of his strength to block the two curved blades.
"Boom--"
After a deafening roar, the Fire Element longsword was cleaved away by the two curved blades, rolling more than ten steps before coming to a stop. Linley's knuckles were broken, bleeding profusely, and he was slammed against the rock wall with tremendous force, his vision going black for a moment.
He no longer had a sword.
With his last ounce of strength, he knelt on one knee and watched as the Blade Demon Lord raised his sword to strike him. For the first time, his mind was clear.
He hadn't thought about how to survive. Watching the trajectory of the two curved blades as they fell, watching the wind flowing around the lord, in every faint breath in this dark world, he suddenly understood something.
The Laws of Wind are not just about speed. Wind can tear space apart and sever everything. Ultimate power is not achieved by cutting with a sword, but by gaining an understanding of the essence of wind that transcends mere techniques.
Linley closed his eyes for a moment. Although he had no sword, the wind around him seemed to come alive, condensing into an invisible and intangible wind blade in his palm. The wind blade had no physical form, but it was able to cut through space.
" Blade of Dimension," Linley muttered, then slashed at the Blade Demon Lord with his palm.
The invisible wind blade pierced through the two curved blades and went straight into the heart of the Blade Demon Lord. There was no explosion or loud noise; only a thin crack spread from its chest, growing larger and larger.
The Abyssal Blade Demon Lord's massive body was cleaved in two by the invisible Blade of Dimension, and after crashing to the ground, it remained motionless.
Linley slumped to the ground, panting heavily, staring at the fallen lord, then looking down at his empty hands. The sudden enlightenment he had just experienced seemed to awaken a beast that had never truly awoke, its eyes now fully open within him.
" Laws of Wind... Dimension attack." He murmured softly, a look of clarity appearing in his eyes for the first time. "So this is what wind is like."
From the distant tenth level of the crack came the joyful cries of his companions. Linley used his last strength to stand up and walked step by step toward the light. His body was covered in wounds, and he had lost his sword, but the light in his eyes was brighter than ever before.