Chapter 43: The Kill
"Flee, flee!" Montero had no will to resist. Knowing that Bebe was a God-Eating Rat, he only knew one thing—he had to escape! "If we scatter and flee, making them split up to chase us, I might still have a chance." Just as a glimmer of hope arose in Montero's heart, a violet crystal barrier descended from the sky!
Like a canopy of heaven, it swept down!
"No—" Montero's face instantly turned pale.
The violet crystal barrier surged forward, spanning hundreds of meters, directly enveloping Montero, Uman, and the other two. It even began to form a closed, cocoon-like shape.
"Break, break!" Uman swung his spiked club, smashing it fiercely against the violet crystal barrier. But the barrier rippled like water a few times and remained completely unharmed. This was the innate divine ability of a Violet Crystal Divine Beast—how could it be broken so easily? Uman and Xiasiwei still had some confidence in their hearts. They weren't afraid of this God-Eating technique.
But Montero and the silver-haired old man were terrified. They didn't dare waste a single moment.
"The path ahead is blocked. The only option is to fight our way back—maybe there's still a sliver of hope!" Montero and the silver-haired old man turned around, only to find that the violet crystal barrier had already closed, forming a sealed, cocoon-like enclosure.
Nowhere to escape!
"Hahaha..." Resijing laughed heartily, gazing at Montero from afar.
Meanwhile, Bebe's divine beast form had already manifested a hazy phantom of the God-Eating Rat. The massive God-Eating Rat crouched atop Bebe's beast form, its cold, indifferent eyes fixed on Montero. Bebe's mouth split open in a grin, and with a chuckle, a peculiar energy radiated outward.
Innate divine ability—God-Eating!
"It's over." Montero and the silver-haired old man both felt powerless.
"No!" Montero suddenly let out a low roar. Countless white threads burst forth from his body, like spider silk, instantly wrapping around the silver-haired old man beside him. With a violent yank, he pulled the old man, still cocooned in the threads, in front of himself. At that very moment, the God-Eating energy arrived!
The silver-haired old man, caught off guard, was struck directly.
The countless white threads snapped. The silver-haired old man plummeted from midair, dropping a white badge, a high-level divine artifact, a spatial ring, and other items. A divine spark flew out from his head, heading straight for Bebe.
"This—" Bebe was stunned.
Linley, Resijing, and Leihong, standing nearby, had all assumed Montero was doomed. But the scene before them shocked the three: "Using his own comrade as a shield?" Linley wondered if the silver-haired old man's surviving divine clone in the outside world would resent Montero for this and seek revenge.
What Linley didn't know was...
The silver-haired old man was the lowest-ranking among the five, an old servant of Montero's. Even if he harbored resentment, he wouldn't dare retaliate.
"Boss, I can only use my innate divine ability twice in a row. I'll need a while before I can use it a third time," Bebe transmitted to Linley helplessly. "That Montero sure is lucky." Linley could only smile wryly.
Resijing knew Bebe couldn't use his divine ability for now, but he suddenly laughed, pointing at Montero from afar: "Haha, Montero, you're truly decisive and ruthless, sacrificing your companion. I have to admire you. But unfortunately, you're still going to die today."
Uman and Xiasiwei couldn't help but glance at Montero.
Using someone as a shield was a behavior that disgusted and angered others. But since the silver-haired old man was Montero's servant, Uman and Xiasiwei said nothing.
"Haha! An innate divine ability can only be used twice in a row," Montero laughed loudly. "It seems you can't kill me."
As Montero's words fell, the violet crystal barrier suddenly dissolved, returning to the world. The innate divine ability's duration was extremely short.
"Haha... Uman, let's go." Montero transmitted.
"Trying to escape?" Resijing sneered. "After them!"
The spreading violet crystal space had already expanded to cover a thousand meters in radius, and its powerful gravitational force slowed Montero, Uman, and Xiasiwei considerably. Resijing, Linley, Bebe, and Leihong transformed into black shadows, chasing at top speed. Of course, they also collected the silver-haired old man's white badge.
"After this battle, I've only gotten one golden badge. Last time, Resijing gave me one, so this time it'll go to him first." Linley understood. If only one commander badge was obtained, it belonged to Resijing, and Linley's goal remained unmet.
"I have to kill another one!"
Linley stared intently at Montero. "Given Montero's status, he's definitely a commander."
"Among the three, Uman is the toughest. Leave him to me!" Resijing transmitted to Linley and the others. "Leihong... you take on Xiasiwei. With your strength, you should have no problem. As for Montero, Linley, you said your strength has greatly improved—you should be able to hold him off. Kill him if you can; if not, just stall him. Wait a bit until Bebe can use his innate divine ability a third time, and then we'll finish Montero!"
"Don't worry, leave Montero to me," Linley transmitted back.
After his recent breakthrough, Linley was brimming with confidence.
Just then, the three ahead, slowed by the violet crystal space, sensed trouble: "Uman, Xiasiwei, we can't escape like this. Let's split into three directions. They don't have three violet crystal spaces!"
"Alright!"
"Alright!"
Uman and Xiasiwei agreed. Montero, Uman, and Xiasiwei immediately veered—one to the left, one straight ahead, and one to the right.
"Chase them separately!" Resijing ordered decisively.
Following their prearranged plan, Linley and Bebe went straight after Montero, Resijing pursued Uman, and Leihong chased Xiasiwei.
"I hope that God-Eating Rat doesn't come after me," Montero prayed inwardly. He sped away frantically, soon flying out of the violet crystal space. "Finally out of that violet crystal space! Now I can flee freely." Just as he rejoiced, a white halo suddenly descended from the sky again.
A powerful gravitational force swept over him, nearly matching the violet crystal space in intensity.
Blackstone Space!
"What's going on?" Montero turned around and saw Linley in his dragon-form and Bebe chasing him. "How could I forget him? That Azure Dragon clan brat also has a violet crystal space." He had heard Uman mention it before. "And that God-Eating Rat—damn!"
Montero's greatest fear was the God-Eating Rat! At his level, killing him was difficult. But the God-Eating Rat's innate divine ability was too terrifying—if it succeeded, the target was doomed.
"Whoosh, whoosh!" The air screamed sharply.
Linley, Bebe, and Montero drew closer and closer.
"This guy is as good as dead," Linley thought confidently.
"Boss, don't worry. As soon as my divine energy recovers enough, I'll kill him easily," Bebe transmitted playfully.
Montero, fleeing ahead, was panicking: "If this continues, they'll catch up, and I won't escape! Even if I stall a bit longer, once that God-Eating Rat recovers, it'll still kill me easily." Montero knew he had no way out.
"Swoosh!"
Montero suddenly stopped.
Linley and Bebe also halted. Linley looked at Montero with interest and said softly, "Oh, not running anymore?"
Montero cursed inwardly: "How could I escape inside that violet crystal space? The longer I delay, the less chance I have to live." Linley and Bebe made no move to attack, happy to waste time. Once Bebe recovered, they could easily kill Montero.
"Why must you kill me?" Montero said hurriedly. "If you two spare me, I'll meet any conditions you name. I'll do my best."
"No need," Linley sneered.
"I have divine power—lots of divine power from the Overgods," Montero added quickly.
Bebe taunted, "We don't lack divine power."
"Oh, and the commander badge—I'll give you mine," Montero said urgently.
"According to the rules of the planar battlefield, when you leave through the planar passage, you have to hand over your commander badge. If someone's alive but doesn't have their badge, it violates the rules, and the Overgods will execute them," Linley scoffed.
The planar battlefield had rules to prevent cheating—like two commanders from different camps swapping badges to claim military merit. So, when leaving, if a person was alive but their badge was missing, they'd be executed by the Overgods. At that point, military merits were tallied, and Overgod artifacts might be awarded. The Overgods would manifest their energy avatars.
Breaking the rules meant death.
"I'm willing to give it to you. Don't worry. Just spare me," Montero pleaded. "I'll give it to you now. As for the commander badge, I'll kill someone from my own camp later to get another."
"Boss, wait a bit longer. My divine energy is almost recovered enough. Just a little more," Bebe transmitted.
"Spare you? It's not impossible," Linley said, his tone shifting.
Montero urged, "Yes or no—decide quickly, both of you." He knew Bebe's divine energy was recovering.
"Well..." Bebe clicked his tongue.
"Die!" Montero suddenly erupted. Shrouded in the white halo, he shot toward Bebe like lightning. "These two are clearly stalling. My only option now is to kill that God-Eating Rat. If I succeed, I might still live!"
Montero saw the situation clearly: if they were willing to let him go, why hesitate? Hesitation meant stalling, and stalling meant they intended to kill him. "Quick reaction," Linley said, moving to intercept.
"Swoosh!" A semi-transparent white arrow shot out from Montero's body, streaking toward Bebe.
It was so fast that Bebe couldn't dodge, and it sank directly into him.
"The God-Eating Rat's physical defense is too strong—I'll have to rely on soul attacks," Montero thought. But before he could see if Bebe was dead, Linley's attack arrived.
"Chi—"
Montero saw 108 black dragon shadows surging toward him. His divine sense immediately detected: "A divine sword? An invisible divine sword?" Still stunned, the 108 black dragon shadows merged into a spherical cage, completely enveloping him. A powerful binding force instantly pressed down on him.
Crushing, restraining!
"Pfft!"
Like lightning, like a streak of light, a sword tore through space and stabbed directly at Montero's head.
But a strange protective layer appeared on his head. "Clang!" The attack bounced off harmlessly.
"A defensive Overgod artifact—impressive," Linley praised inwardly. He knew killing his opponent would be hard, but he could still hold him off. "Still, using divine power to execute 'Inch of Land, Foot of Sky' really packs a punch. Even Montero couldn't block that move in time."
Linley leaped back.
"Not dead?" Montero turned to look at Bebe, then spun to flee. "Haha, don't rush."
Linley surged forward again. The invisible Shadowless Sword struck once more, and the hazy black spherical cage wrapped around Montero. Enraged, Montero shot out countless white threads from his body.
"Chi—"
With a single sword strike, the approaching white threads were all severed.
"Boss, I'm ready," Bebe transmitted.
Linley's sword, tearing through the air, struck Montero's body, sending him stumbling backward. At that moment, Montero saw the phantom of the God-Eating Rat materialize behind Bebe.
"No!!!" Montero's eyes widened.
"No one's left to be your shield this time," Linley said, watching.
The peculiar energy of the innate divine ability instantly reached Montero. Without any resistance, he crashed to the ground, dead.
"Clang!" A golden badge fell from his body.
"The second golden badge." Linley's eyes lit up.