Boom!
Outside the purified spot, a violent tornado of energy raged on, ripping up the ground with gouges.
Jiang Qing’e’s slight frame was sent flying, and her sword sailed through the air to plunge blade-first in the ground nearby.
She coughed once, and a mouthful of fresh blood bubbled forth. The light resonant energy around her started to fizzle.
A sign of heavy injuries.
The grinning demon’s claw had connected hard.
Ignoring her own broken body, she desperately looked behind her, wanting to see the damage she had inflicted in return.
That had been her strongest attack ever.
The grinning demon had divided up its own strength to lure her out, and Jiang Qing’e had read it perfectly and responded in turn. It was a game of chess, but her pieces were weaker.
Even so, she had chosen that risk because it was her best chance.
Her best chance to break their slow slip into defeat.
If she could just beat it, then they would not be left praying for reinforcements like damsels in distress.
Otherwise, if they sat there and let the Heavenly Disaster Class Other play out its entire arsenal of tricks, she wasn’t confident that the purified barrier would hold out for many more days.
Sometimes, the best defense was a good offense.
The grinning demon’s face was split by a long scar that still glowed gold at the seams, running down the entire length from brow to chin.
Small, golden flames flickered at the edges of the scar.
The grinning demon reached up to touch its face gingerly. A mere Earth Fiend had caused this much damage? It hadn’t seen this coming.
Light resonant energy was truly a powerful weapon against it.
Many students cheered when they saw the wound.
Had the grinning demon been severely injured as well?
An eye for an eye?
The scar was still expanding, the golden flames eating away at more and more of its face. It seemed like its head would eventually split into two.
But now the grinning demon bellowed, low rumbling roars devoid of the mad glee that was its signature.
A black vortex bloomed out of its body.
A short pause later, Others began to charge towards it, running in without hesitation.
Each disappeared within the grinning demon’s body, and the golden scar started to fade away.
Dismay greeted this sight. The Heavenly Disaster Class’ devouring ability was terrifying.
Roar!
It bellowed in anger again. This wound was serious enough to impede its future growth.
It had set the trap for Jiang Qing’e, but now it had been bitten in turn.
If it had known that this would be the outcome, it would not have made the trade.
Still, regret was useless for it now. It turned its attention back to its ultimate goal of breaking the purified spot. Once down, all that fresh meat within would be more than enough to replenish the energy that it had spent.
With another unearthly scream, it summoned more Others that leaped towards the wounded Jiang Qing’e.
She was the strongest defender here. If she could be killed, they would be severely weakened.
Now that she was injured, it was the best time to finish her off.
Li Luo ran to her as fast as his legs could carry him, praying that he would make it in time.
“Leader!” Bai Mengmeng shouted after him. This was suicide for Li Luo.
He couldn’t care less. He could not afford to sit by and watch Jiang Qing’e be torn apart before his very eyes.
Before he could get there, a figure in red beat him to it. A dark-red whip snaked out to coil itself around Jiang Qing’e’s waist like a lasso, and it pulled her back through the barrier with a tremendous yank.
Duze Honglian caught her up on the high wall.
“Saved you back. Now we’re even.”
Jiang Qing’e didn’t reply, still looking regretfully at the rapidly fading scar she had left behind. It had been a powerful blow, but not enough to finish it off as she had hoped.
The crisis was delayed, but not averted.
Li Luo appeared by her side. “How are you?” he asked worriedly.
She examined her injuries. The grinning demon’s attack had shaken up her resonant palace, and her resonant power flow was completely awry.
Serious injuries.
“Not good.”
She had expected injuries, but she had hoped that she could defeat the demon in exchange. In her current state, she would pose no more threat to it.
The situation was not looking good.
“You did very well,” Li Luo said, holding her hand tenderly.
“Less of the lover cooing, for goodness’ sake. The grinning demon’s on the warpath now,” Duze Honglian snapped at them.
They looked up to see the Other furious at Jiang Qing’e’s escape. It screeched in fury.
Although it had avoided death after devouring many Others, it was still wounded. It knew that those in the purified spot were waiting for reinforcements. When those arrived, its chances would be gone.
It barely hesitated before it leaped into action again, its body swelling as it flexed its power.
The Other began to eat itself. The sharp teeth turned downwards to feast on its corpulent body, freshly gorged from its eating spree through the black vortex.
Soon, all that was left was the grinning face, a disembodied head dozens of meters in size, hovering in the sky.
It cackled again, then it opened its mouth to spray a sticky, black rain of sludge down on the barrier.
The rain droplets were putrid and corrosive, eating away at everything they touched like an acid rain.
Phish!
As each drop landed on the barrier, they evaporated with a hissing sound. However, the purification power of the barrier weakened ever so slightly with each drop it repelled.
There was way too much black rain. Its power would not last.
“Surely that’s its original plan…”
Duze Honglian watched the black rain, aghast. “It probably won’t stop until the barrier breaks.”
The students started to panic again. Clearly, this was an extremely powerful move by the grinning demon.
They could only watch helplessly as the final barrier above them broke.
Bai Mengmeng, Xin Fu, and the other first years came to stand with them, seeking comfort and advice.
Li Luo and Jiang Qing’e stared at the black rain above them, both leaders at a loss for words.
“Umbra Cave, eh. To think that we all might fall here.” Li Luo sighed deeply.
Jiang Qing’e shook him by the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said softly, “I won’t let you die here.”
Li Luo recognized the resolve in her voice all too well. At the last moment, she would probably send him away with all her power.
Perhaps even giving her own life in the process.
He would not have that. He looked up at the barrier again. “How long do you think it’ll last?”
“Probably another three days,” Jiang Qing’e answered doubtfully.
“Three days…”
There was a gleam in Li Luo’s eye. “I might just make it in time.”
Jiang Qing’e’s eyebrows shot up. “What are you thinking?”
Li Luo smiled brightly at her.
“I’m thinking of going to get help.”