The chaotic battles ceased while the giants fought, and Others and humans alike regrouped warily.
There was a tacit understanding that bigger threats were afoot.
The three-tailed beast watched them all warily, its glowing, ruby eyes flicking between Li Luo and the grinning demon.
It could sense the corruptive power from the latter. It was strong. Very strong. Since when had there been one that strong in these parts?
And the cunning human. Could he have lured it here to weaken them both?
The grinning demon bared its teeth in distrust. Was this spirit beast some sort of guardian?
Reinforcements.
Just when it was so close to cleaning out the juicy, fresh meat in the purified spot.
It turned to the new threat and hissed in anger. No one would stop it from getting its rewards today!
The three-tailed beast sensed the growing hostility and turned to the demon. It was the undisputed king of the forbidden zone, and it would rise to the challenge.
It let out a warning roar. The situation here was messy, and it wouldn’t dive right in from the start.
It had no intention of fighting needlessly. As long as it could have the human kid, it would bbe happy enough to leave.
But the warning roar made the grinning demon tense up in suspicion. It sounded like a declaration of war.
Both the beast and the demon had some primal intelligence. It served them especially well in survival, but not in higher forms of communication. Their savage spirits clashed against each other, and their warring natures surged forth.
In response to the three-tailed beast’s roar, the grinning demon started to gather its own corruptive power, sending it in a towering plume up to the sky as intimidation.
Still, it was not yet using its full strength.
On the wall, Jiang Qing’e and the others anxiously watched on.
Like Li Luo had envisioned, the forbidden zone’s spirit beast had been lured here.
But would they fight? What if the spirit beast turned on them?
For sure the three-tailed beast was not any guardian or friend of theirs!
Once it was enraged, it would happily slaughter everyone in the purified spot.
It was clearly pretty smart. So far, it had resisted the urge to attack the grinning demon.
It wouldn’t fight a Heavenly Disaster Class Other for no good reason.
If the two were in a stalemate, the only ones to lose out here would be the students.
Had they simply brought an additional problem upon themselves?
Even Duze Honglian was sweating profusely now. This situation was too hot for her blood.
“Why does it feel like this is adding fuel to the fire when we’re tied to the stake?” she muttered.
Beside her, the others’ legs were turning to jelly.
“Li Luo’s not afraid. What are you all afraid of?” Jiang Qing’e said mildly.
That stiffened their backs somewhat.
They were all cowering here and cringing from the pressure. What about Li Luo, who was out there between a demon and a beast?
It was a miracle that he was even on his feet.
“Still, prepare yourselves. We’re committed already, and in way over our heads. An extra beast doesn’t make much of a difference.”
She didn’t want to get their hopes up. Things still looked bleak, no matter how you cut it.
If the two titans didn’t fight, the purified spot would still be doomed.
It was just that now they would be doubly doomed.
“Leader, we can’t just let them keep up this staring,” Tian Tian whispered urgently.
Jiang Qing’e nodded. She knew that the two monsters were sizing each other up. Neither was willing to make the opening move, but such a stalemate would be disadvantageous to them.
They had to seize the advantage while things were still in flux.
If Jiang Qing’e attacked now, they might anger the beast to turn on them. And then the grinning demon would know they were not allies after all.
They could not make the first move.
Who then?
A silver-haired man between them.
Li Luo was the best choice to act.
Still, he was in a precarious position. If he advanced, the grinning demon would smash him to a pulp. Retreat, and the three-tailed beast would eat him alive.
It seemed like a stalemate.
What could he do?
They averted their eyes from Jiang Qing’e out of consideration.
And yet, it seemed impossible that she would allow Li Luo to sacrifice himself like that…
But something was moving now.
Li Luo slowly raised a palm towards the air.
He grinned at the people on the wall.
He brought his hand down in a forward motion.
“CHARGE!!” he yelled. His shortswords glittered, and he made his lonely charge towards the horde of Others.
The students had tears in their eyes.
Some of the girls were crying freely.
“Leader,” Bai Mengmeng sobbed.
Xin Fu stared silently at his back, committing it to memory.
“That guy…” Yi Lisha sighed. “It’s the first time I’ve had so much respect for a peer.”
Si Qiuying quietly thought to herself that perhaps she had finally found someone equally worthy of respect as her brother.
“I’m sorry… Li Luo,” she thought in her heart.
Duze Honglian showed no emotion, but in the end she turned to Jiang Qing’e.
The latter was staring at Li Luo, paralyzed in shock. Her knuckles were white around the hilt of her sword.
On the battlefield, the lone hero leaped into the sea of enemies.