The golden light of the Holy Light Catalyst slowly fell upon Carson.
The wounds on his body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Carson clenched his teeth tightly, not making a single sound.
Bai Xuan softly advised, “Bear with it, it will be over soon.”
Carson nodded silently, his eyes filled with gratitude and determination.
“Take them and go. Run out of the dungeon. No matter what you hear, don't look back. Leave this to me.”
Bai Xuan's tone was brief and firm, carrying a reassuring strength.
Carson opened his mouth, wanting to say he could stay behind to fight.
But upon meeting Bai Xuan's gaze, he ultimately swallowed the words that had reached his lips.
He bent down to pick up a comatose little girl, turning to shout to the other children who were still capable of moving,
“Everyone who can walk, follow me!”
Though his voice was hoarse, it was full of strength.
Several children stumbled along behind him. Someone accidentally tripped and fell, but was immediately helped up by those beside them.
Some couldn't help but look back at Bai Xuan and the transforming Ronid, only to be harshly stopped by Carson.
“Don't look back! Run!”
The sounds of footsteps, the scraping of dragging iron chains, and the weeping of children mingled together.
Then, they surged along the dungeon corridor toward the light at the entrance, gradually fading into the darkness.
Just then, Ronid's body began to swell frantically.
The clothes on his body were instantly ripped apart, and black, scale-like patterns emerged on his grayish-white skin.
His fingers grew continuously longer, his nails transforming into sharp black claws, and the corners of his mouth slowly split open to reveal forest-white fangs.
He abruptly threw his head back and let out a non-human roar.
His body suddenly expanded violently, then abruptly contracted, and the dark red barrier on his surface instantly shattered into a sky of black mist, dispersing into the air.
By now, he was completely unrecognizable.
His grayish-white skin was taut and shiny, the black patterns wrapping around his entire body like venomous snakes, and his sharp claws and fangs glinted with a cold light.
One of his eyes was gold, the other red, and a twisted smile hung on the corner of his lips.
Bai Xuan's gaze focused. Staring at Ronid in front of him, the other party's status panel information instantly surfaced before his eyes.
【Ronid Finley】
【Status: Demonized, Desire】
【Class: Shadow Demon Warlock Lv.7 (Practitioner)】
【Health: 1100/1100】
【Mana: 610/660】
【Potential: 3-Star (Monarch)】
A Level 7 Shadow Demon Warlock. His Potential had actually leaped directly from Squire to Monarch, and even his Class had undergone a complete transformation.
This panel looks intimidating, Bai Xuan thought to himself.
But he could clearly sense that the power within Ronid was extremely unstable.
It was like an overinflated balloon—seemingly full, but actually fragile and easily popped.
He had originally thought the demonic aura emanating from Ronid would disgust him.
Yet, when that aura flooded his senses, he inexplicably felt a familiar sense of intimacy, like a starving person smelling the aroma of food.
He suddenly recalled the ogre he had encountered before, and the bones in the mine.
Back then, he didn't seem to have felt any obvious disgust either.
Bai Xuan was slightly startled. He quickly shook his head, throwing this bizarre thought to the back of his mind.
Now was not the time to dwell on such things; the battle before him was what mattered.
Ronid raised his hand, which had become a jagged claw, and examined it closely. His voice was hoarse but could not hide his excitement.
“So this is... the power of a demon? I was so foolish to keep resisting it before.”
“Looking back now, it's truly ridiculous. If I had accepted it sooner, I would have possessed this kind of power long ago!”
He took a step forward, his heavy foot stepping on the ground and instantly cracking the stone floor.
He looked down at Bai Xuan, his tone condescending, as if granting a favor.
“I will give you a chance to live. Submit to me, hand over that girl, and lead me to her. I can spare your life.”
“She has no interest in you, and I have even less interest in you,” Bai Xuan said flatly.
The smile on Ronid's face instantly froze, then slowly contorted, his gaze turning sinister.
“Ungrateful fool! Do you really think you can still be a match for me now?”
His voice was low and raspy, squeezed from the depths of his throat, carrying an intense killing intent.
Bai Xuan held his staff horizontally in front of him, his tone still flat but filled with complete confidence.
“That turtle shell from earlier was too hard. Now that your shell is gone, why don't we give it a try?”
Just then, the red light in Ronid's eyes flared.
As if controlled, his gaze gradually grew vacant, and he murmured to himself.
“That girl... I must have her... Her scent... I can smell it...”
His voice grew lower and lower, his tone filled with obsession and madness.
“What you smell is probably your own brain matter.”
The moment Bai Xuan's words fell, a dazzling golden light began to gather at the tip of his staff.
Ronid instantly snapped back to his senses and roared.
“You're looking for death!”
He then lunged at Bai Xuan, his sharp claws bringing a biting, cold wind straight toward Bai Xuan's face.
Bai Xuan nimbly dodged to the side, simultaneously swinging his staff to land a precise Redemption Strike right on Ronid's waist.
This time, the golden light was not blocked by any force.
Ronid cried out in pain, sent flying several meters backward by the force of the blow.
He finally landed, stumbling two steps to the side, an expression of disbelief on his face.
Bai Xuan felt reassured; it was exactly as he had sensed.
Without the protection of the barrier, Ronid was completely fragile.
He recalled the ogre he had met along the way and the bones in the mine.
He recalled every detail of how he had fought his way through blood, and his confidence swelled.
So what if he was Level 7? It was precisely a Level 7 he was going to beat!
Ronid stabilized his posture and slowly turned around, the red light in his eyes growing even more intense, thick with killing intent.
Snoring coldly, his figure suddenly flashed, instantly merging into the surrounding shadows and vanishing without a trace.
In the next second, a dark shadow lunged out from the shadow behind Bai Xuan, sharp claws carrying a bone-chilling cold as they aimed straight for his heart from behind.
Bai Xuan's reaction was incredibly swift; he leaned to the side.
The tips of the claws barely grazed his clothes, tearing only a few loose threads as he narrowly avoided the fatal blow.
Seeing this, Ronid backhanded another claw strike, thrusting rapidly toward him.
While taking half a step back, Bai Xuan swept the tail of his staff upward, accurately striking Ronid's wrist.
The force wasn't great, but it was just enough to deflect his attack, forcefully knocking the claw off course.
Ronid furrowed his brows, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.
He stopped testing and unleashed a continuous flurry of over a dozen claw strikes, each enveloped in dense shadow mana.
They were so fast that they left behind black afterimages in the air, sweeping toward Bai Xuan in an airtight onslaught.
Yet Bai Xuan's movements were light as he dodged left and right. Every single time, he was only a hair's breadth away from being hit,
but he always managed to escape without a scratch, constantly causing Ronid's sharp claws to strike empty air.
Ronid's heart gradually began to feel uneasy, and a trace of panic quietly crept in.
His body had clearly been enhanced to the peak of the Practitioner Rank, and his speed was by no means slow.
But why was it that no matter how he attacked, he couldn't touch the other party even a single bit?
“Can you only dodge?”
He gritted his teeth, deliberately slowing down his attack movements, his tone filled with mockery.
“Let's see how much longer you can keep dodging!”
Rate on N.U.
