Irresistible Power

Bai Xuan instantly held his breath, a thunderous shock exploding in his heart.

This was not a stone wall at all, but the body of a massive beast dormant here!

The giant beast's massive eye stared intently at the Evil God Inverse Scale, its pupil slowly dilating as if identifying and confirming some familiar aura.

Then, its gaze shifted upward, sweeping over the Holy Light staff in Bai Xuan's hand, his plain white robe, and the faint lingering trace of Holy Light surrounding him.

Its pupil suddenly contracted, and a deep, distant roar rumbled out from deep underground.

The roar held no violent killing intent; instead, it was filled with intense loneliness and desolation. It was like a solitary beast sealed for thousands of years, finally sensing a long-awaited aura, only to realize the newcomer was not the one it had been waiting for.

Bai Xuan could not understand the complex emotions within the roar, but he could clearly feel this melancholy that spanned a thousand years.

At the same time, a notification popped up on his status panel:

【???】

This was a situation he had never encountered before. Even with the Hero Rank Undead Grand Duke, the system had been able to clearly determine its level information.

Yet the existence of this giant beast had already exceeded the scope of identification.

The giant beast began to struggle frantically.

Its body had long since fused with the underground rock layers, imprisoned here for thousands of years by an ancient, powerful seal.

But at this moment, its entire body convulsed violently, using all the power accumulated over a thousand years of dormancy to crash against the seal.

With each exertion, the earth trembled heavily. Debris constantly rained down from above, kicking up clouds of dust.

The sturdy barrier of the seal cracked repeatedly, with fine web-like patterns spreading across the entire rock stratum.

The surrounding space distorted violently, and his vision blurred and shook as the entire valley floor teetered on the verge of collapse.

The ground swelled, and an incredibly massive claw erupted from a fissure in the earth.

Each of its five talons was several stories high, covered in thick, dark-gray scales, with pitch-black, razor-sharp tips.

The hard rock layers were as fragile as paper before the giant claw, easily torn apart, crushed, and reduced to powder.

The entire valley floor continued to cave in and sink, and the ground began to collapse.

Debris of various sizes fell from above, some as small as fists, others as large as carriages, crashing onto the ground and sending up billowing plumes of dust.

The stone slab beneath Bai Xuan's feet suddenly cracked. He immediately leaped into the air, landing on a tilted boulder, and rolled continuously to dodge.

A boulder the size of a house crashed down, brushing past his back. The resulting gust of wind almost blew him away.

Phoebe followed closely behind, her battleaxe fiercely cleaving the falling rocks heading her way, her silver-white hair flying wildly in the dusty air.

The giant beast's claw swiped straight at Bai Xuan, its target being the Evil God Inverse Scale in his hand.

Before the giant claw even landed, a terrifying wind pressure bore down first, pinning Bai Xuan firmly to the ground as his bones creaked under the unbearable weight.

He dodged to the side with all his might. A claw tip grazed his right arm, instantly tearing his white robe and slicing open his flesh.

The wind from the claw carried a bizarre corrosive power. The skin around the wound rapidly blackened and festered, and a searing pain instantly spread throughout his entire body.

Bai Xuan grit his teeth and channeled the Holy Light from his staff to barely suppress the festering wound. The curse's power made his vision darken, and blood dripped continuously from his fingertips.

Seeing this, Phoebe immediately took a step forward, wanting to support him.

But the giant beast's second claw had already swept in from the side. This time, its target was no longer the Evil God Inverse Scale, but the defenseless Phoebe.

Bai Xuan instantly saw through the giant beast's intention. The scale was merely the bait that attracted it; Phoebe, who possessed the bloodline of the Glay Royalty, was also a prey it wanted to capture.

Phoebe was completely unaware of the mortal danger, her mind focused solely on rushing to Bai Xuan's side.

In that split second of life and death, only one thought remained in Bai Xuan's mind: I can't let her die!

Using every ounce of strength in his body, he lunged forward, grabbed Phoebe's arm, and violently pulled her away, throwing her into the distance.

The sharp claw tip grazed Phoebe's back, barely missing her vital spots, but Bai Xuan's entire body was left completely exposed in the path of the giant claw's strike.

The side of the giant claw slammed violently into the left half of his body.

There was no expected sharp pain, only the distinct, bone-chilling sound of bones shattering.

It was not just broken bones—his left arm was violently torn off from the shoulder joint.

His left leg below the knee was completely ripped away and gone. The ribs on his left side shattered layer by layer, with several bone splinters piercing his chest cavity and lungs, and a few more puncturing through the flesh of his back.

Blood gushed out like a bursting dam.

The severed arm flew and landed in a pile of rubble dozens of feet away, its fingertips still twitching faintly.

At his empty knee, white bone was exposed at the severed joint, muscle torn apart, as blood poured down like a waterfall.

He crashed heavily onto the ground. His body, lacking support for half of its frame, smashed into the rubble like a stone. After a slight bounce, he rolled completely into a pool of blood.

Crimson blood welled from his mouth, nose, and ears simultaneously. The left half of his body was in ruins, with exposed white bone and mangled flesh intertwined.

Phoebe rushed to his side immediately, struggling to lift the collapsed Bai Xuan and resting him against her chest.

Most of her long, silver-white hair was soaked in hot blood, making it impossible to tell whose blood it was.

She looked down at Bai Xuan's empty left shoulder, and at the weak but still stubbornly beating heart beneath his broken ribs. Her golden pupils shattered completely.

“Bai... Xuan...”

Phoebe's body trembled uncontrollably, from her fingertips and shoulders to her lips.

Her usual calm, steady, and fearless expression had completely vanished, replaced only by extreme panic and bewilderment.

Hot tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over, splashing drop by drop onto Bai Xuan's pale cheeks.

Bai Xuan had never seen Phoebe cry, nor had he ever imagined that this resilient, taciturn girl would show such a fragile, broken side.

Phoebe suddenly let go of him, stumbled toward the severed arm, picked it up with extreme care, and ran back to Bai Xuan. With trembling hands, she tried to reattach the severed arm to his shoulder.

But the mangled flesh and bones were already misaligned, and her fingertips could not hold the scattered flesh and bone fragments. She tried again and again, only to fail every time.

She tried in vain to piece it back together, but it was ultimately a futile effort.

In the end, she knelt in the cold pool of blood, tightly holding Bai Xuan's ruined body. Broken, muffled whimpers escaped her throat as absolute despair swept over her entire being.

Bai Xuan forced his heavy eyes open. His consciousness was already blurred and fading, yet he could clearly see Phoebe's broken, helpless state as she vainly tried to fix things while holding his severed limb.

He used the last of his strength to raise his only intact right hand, pressing it against the wound on his left shoulder.

A faint golden light lit up, flickering like a candle in the wind.

But his body was already on the verge of complete collapse, and he could not focus his mental energy at all.

He violently coughed up a mouthful of dark-red blood mixed with internal organ fragments, splattering it all over Phoebe's clothes.

The faint light instantly died out, and the healing magic that was about to form completely dissipated.

“Run...” His breath was so weak it was almost inaudible. Blood continuously spilled from the corners of his mouth as he murmured repeatedly, “Quick... run...”

Phoebe held him tightly, refusing to move even half a step.

The giant beast's claw slowly rose, its dark-scaled tips glinting with a cold, murderous intent in the darkness.