65. Fight to the Death
A cold, deathly silence, like a tangible tide, flooded the entire underground plaza. Jiemie stood there, his smooth white mask, reflected in the dim light of Mu Lin's ice crystals, like the entrance to an abyss, swallowing up all light and hope. His mere presence seemed to drain the air from the surroundings, making every breath incredibly difficult.
Su Lin leaned against Ling Ye, his body trembling uncontrollably. His face, which had just regained some color, instantly turned pale again. His amber eyes reflected the distant figure, like the incarnation of death, filled with uncontrollable fear. Ling Ye could clearly feel his accelerating heartbeat and his body temperature suddenly freezing. He exerted force in his arms, holding Su Lin steady, shielding him even more tightly between himself and the cold wall behind him. His gaze was fixed on Silence, his bayonet gleaming faintly in the dim light, and his muscles were tense like a fully drawn bowstring.
"Stardust!" Lei Qing's low roar broke the suffocating silence. His voice resonated in the empty square, filled with unquestionable determination. "Take Su Lin to cover! Mu Lin, A Yan, form a triangle formation, contain the enemy head-on! Ling Ye, provide support, and look for an opportunity!"
The order was given in an instant. There was no time to hesitate, no second choice.
"Let's go!" Xingchen grabbed the almost frozen Su Lin and dragged him to the edge of the square behind a pile of collapsed metal supports. His mental strength was like a candle in the wind under the overwhelming pressure of Jiemie, but he still gritted his teeth, trying to sense any possible signs of life or flaws.
Mu Lin and A Yan moved almost as soon as Lei Qing finished speaking. Mu Lin thrust his hands forward, sending a piercing chill blasting forward like an explosion. This didn't attack Jiemie himself, but instead instantly formed a vast expanse of thick, sharp, and slippery ice on the ground in front of him, attempting to restrict his movement and create a buffer zone for their own side. A Yan roared in anger, his fists igniting with blazing flames, like two miniature suns. With unwavering momentum, he slammed them into the ground!
"Boom!" The flames collided with the ice spikes, unleashing a massive burst of steam and shockwaves that temporarily obscured vision and disrupted the energy field in the center of the square. This was a crude yet effective disruption.
The moment the steam filled the air, Lei Qing moved! Like a long-lurking cheetah, he crouched low and charged forward in a zigzag pattern. His sniper rifle wasn't aimed at Jiemie's seemingly fragile mask—that was undoubtedly the biggest trap—but at the unstable ground beneath his feet, tangled with ice and fire!
"Bang!" The specially made concussion bomb hit the ice under Jiemie's feet. The violent impact and broken ice crystals tried to destroy his balance.
However, Jiemie moved. He simply raised his right hand seemingly casually and gently flicked it at the steam and shockwaves that filled the air ahead.
There was no sound, no light. But the pervasive steam, the raging shockwave, even the burning flames and sharp ice spikes on the ground, were all wiped away by his flick, as if by an invisible eraser, instantly returning to nothingness! It was as if the interference that Mu Lin and A Yan had just tried so hard to cause had never existed.
His smooth white mask turned towards Lei Qing who was moving at high speed.
Lei Qing's pupils suddenly shrank, and a deadly sense of crisis pierced his mind like an icicle! Without a second thought, relying on the instinct honed from countless life-or-death situations, he suddenly threw himself to the side and back!
"laugh--"
A thick concrete support column behind him seemed to be instantly severed by an invisible force. The upper part slowly slid down and crashed to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust! The cut was as smooth as a mirror!
This is the power of annihilation! Ignoring physical defenses, it directly acts on the annihilation of the material structure itself!
"Captain Lei!" Mu Lin exclaimed, and the cold air in his hands condensed again. Several ice spears whizzed towards Jiemie, trying to attract his attention.
A Yan roared and charged forward again, his entire body wrapped in flames, like a human torch, as he punched Jiemian! His fighting style was direct and violent, attempting to break through that strange defense with absolute force.
Jiemie didn't even look at them. With a casual flick of his left hand, Mu Lin's ice spear disintegrated into icy dust a few meters away. And Ayan's flaming fist, powerful enough to melt through steel, disappeared like a drop in the ocean the moment it struck Jiemie's invisible force field. The flames quickly dimmed and died. The immense recoil made Ayan grunt and stumble back, his fist piercing with bone-crackling pain.
Absolute crushing!
Hiding behind cover, Su Lin watched this despairing scene, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest. He watched Lei Qing in peril, Mu Lin and A Yan's attacks as child's play, and Ling Ye wandering around the edge of the battlefield like a ghost, unable to find any opening to penetrate... A feeling of powerlessness and fear threatened to consume him. He bit his lower lip tightly until he could taste blood, forcing himself to calm down. He couldn't just watch!
At this moment, Xingchen, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. His voice was filled with extreme pain and a hint of discovery: "His energy core... is not in his head! It's in the center of his chest! But... it's protected by layers of mental barriers, making it almost impossible to break through! Moreover... his power seems to be able to directly interfere with or even disintegrate the structure of superpowers!"
This news was like adding insult to injury. The strongest point was kept in the most secure place.
In the center of the battlefield, Jiemie seemed to be growing slightly tired of this unequal game. He raised his hand again, this time aiming directly at Lei Qing, who had just climbed to his feet and whose breath had yet to recover! An invisible wave of annihilation, like a ripple of death, spread silently and imperceptibly. Wherever it passed, the ground, the gravel, and even the air took on a distorted, grayish color!
It seemed that Lei Qing was about to be swallowed by this power!
"Captain Lei!!" Mu Lin's eyes were bloodshot as he rushed forward recklessly, pressing his hands to the ground and releasing all his cold energy without reservation! "Ice Coffin: Seal!"
A massive, crystal-clear ice wall, several meters thick, instantly rose from the ground, blocking Lei Qing! This was Mu Lin's ultimate defensive move, draining him of nearly all his energy!
“Bang—crack—!”
The annihilation wave collided with the ice wall, but instead of exploding, it emitted a tooth-grinding sound, as if its material structure were being forcibly dismantled! The thick ice wall visibly turned gray and dull, then, from the point of impact, it quickly became covered with spiderweb-like cracks, finally collapsing with a bang, transforming into a pile of lifeless ice powder!
Mu Lin was hit hard and spit out a mouthful of blood. His face turned pale in an instant and his body fell backwards limply.
"Mu Lin!" Lei Qing held him tightly, his eyes full of bloodshot.
However, the attack of Silence did not stop. Although the annihilation wave was weakened by a large part after destroying the ice wall, the remaining power still spread towards Lei Qing and Mu Lin!
At this critical moment!
A dark shadow slashed in like lightning! It was Ling Ye! He didn't try to resist the overwhelming force of annihilation, but instead fiercely kicked a half-buried metal plate beside Lei Qing and Mu Lin!
"Bang!" The huge force caused the metal plate to lift up, just blocking the path of the annihilation wave!
"Swish..." The part of the metal plate that came into contact with the annihilation wave instantly turned into iron filings and dissipated, but it also successfully offset the last aftermath.
Ling Ye landed on the ground, gasping for breath. The move just now seemed simple, but it required extremely precise grasp of timing and angle.
However, before they could even catch their breath, Jiemie's next attack was already brewing. He seemed to have determined that Lei Qing was the core of the command. He turned his sleek mask towards them again and raised his hand.
Despair, like the deepest ice, froze everyone's blood.
"No... I can't do this..." From behind the shelter, Su Lin watched his companions fall, one by one, seriously injured. Looking at that invincible figure, a mixture of extreme fear, unwillingness, and a strong desire to protect him erupted in his chest like a volcano! He couldn't just watch them die here! Absolutely not!
He violently pushed away Stardust's hand that was trying to stop him and struggled to stand up from behind the cover. His body was still weak, his face was as pale as paper, and his lips were bleeding from biting hard, but in his amber eyes, a kind of almost crazy determination was burning.
"Su Lin! What are you doing!" Xingchen shouted anxiously, trying to pull him back.
Su Lin didn't look back. His eyes were fixed on Jiemie. There was only one thought in his mind - stop him! Even if it cost anything!
He no longer attempted to meticulously manipulate the still-depleted and chaotic supernatural core. Instead, he poured all his remaining mental energy, willpower, and even his life force into it like fuel, recklessly igniting it! His target wasn't annihilation itself, but the "gap" between the invisible annihilation attack he was about to unleash and real space!
“Ahhhh——!” Su Lin let out a roar of extreme pain, and grabbed forward with both hands!
He felt as if his sea of consciousness was completely torn apart, and his soul was burning! But he did not stop!
A miracle happened!
In front of the Silence Palm, the invisible annihilation wave that was about to spread out suddenly became extremely unstable at the edge of contact with normal space, like the surface of disturbed water, violently twisting and wrinkling! Although it could not completely offset the terrifying force, this sudden and brutal spatial interference caused the annihilation wave to experience an extremely brief, tiny delay and deviation!
It’s just this tiny moment!
Ling Ye, who had been waiting for his chance, suddenly saw his pupils shrink! He saw it! At the moment when Su Lin forcibly disrupted his annihilation attack, causing the energy to become extremely slightly disrupted, the mental barriers protecting his chest core also experienced an almost negligible, fleeting fluctuation!
This is the only chance! Maybe the last chance!
Without thought, without hesitation! Ling Ye poured all his strength, speed, and willpower into this single strike! His figure transformed into a streak of black lightning, transcending the limits of visual perception. He no longer wandered, but charged straight ahead, relentlessly, towards Jiemie! The bayonet in his hand no longer stabbed, but with a mysterious trajectory, like a drill, carrying a will to tear through everything, fiercely piercing the point where the mental barrier was fluctuating most violently—Jiemie's chest!
This time, Wu Chen's bayonet was no longer blocked by the invisible force field!
“Puff!”
A slight but incomparably clear sound, as if a sharp weapon were piercing something that was not flesh and blood, was particularly harsh in the deadly silent square!
The bayonet pierced deeply into the core of Jiemie's chest with incredible precision!
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
Jiemie's previously calm movements suddenly froze. He slowly and rigidly lowered his head, his smooth white mask "looking" at his pierced chest for the first time. Then he slowly lifted it again, resting on Ling Ye, who was half-kneeling on the ground due to exhaustion, panting heavily, and barely maintaining consciousness.
From beneath the mask, there seemed to be an extremely faint sigh, as if coming from a distant void, with a hint of confusion and ultimate relief.
Then, as everyone stared in disbelief, Jiemie's massive form quickly became covered in cracks, starting from the core where it had been stabbed. A pale, deathly light shone through these cracks... Finally, with a "bang," it transformed into countless shimmering fragments, like weathered sand sculptures, dissipating into the air, leaving no trace behind. Only the extremely dense aura of death lingered briefly before slowly dissipating.
The enormous mental pressure disappeared like the receding tide.
The square fell into an eerie silence.
it's over?
Ling Ye propped himself up with his bayonet, kneeling on one knee, breathing heavily, sweat mixed with blood dripping from his jaw. The previous blow had nearly drained all his strength and energy.
Lei Qing supported the unconscious Mu Lin and looked at the place where Jiemie disappeared. His strong face was full of shock and disbelief.
A Yan struggled to stand up, looked at Ling Ye, then looked at the disappearing Jiemie, his golden pupils filled with complex emotions.
Xingchen rushed out from behind the shelter and immediately rushed to Su Lin, who was lying on the ground with a blurred consciousness. "Su Lin! Su Lin! How are you?!" He called out anxiously, checking on his condition.
Su Lin lay on the cold ground, his face paler than ever, his breathing so weak it was almost imperceptible, as if the reckless outburst had drained all his life force. He opened his eyes slightly, his vision blurring as he looked towards Xingchen, then towards Ling Ye, who half-knelt in the distance. With difficulty, he managed a barely perceptible smile, then his head tilted, and he lost consciousness completely.
"Su Lin!" Ling Ye's heart suddenly tightened when he saw this scene. He tried hard to stand up, but felt dizzy due to exhaustion.
"His vitality is severely overdrawn! He must be treated immediately!" Stardust cried out in a crying voice after a quick check.
Lei Qing reacted immediately. He carefully placed Mu Lin on the ground and quickly walked over to Su Lin. He checked on him, his expression grave. "Ayan, can you still move? Carry Mu Lin on your back! Xingchen, hold Su Lin! Lingye, follow! We have to get out of here immediately!"
Although Jiemie was destroyed, the commotion here was too great, and no one knew whether there were other forces from the Guichen Sect on their way.
A Yan nodded silently, swallowing the pain as he carried the unconscious Mu Lin on his back. Xing Chen carefully lifted Su Lin to his feet, letting him lean against him. Ling Ye took a few deep breaths, forcing down the feeling of exhaustion, gripped his bayonet, and stumbled to catch up with the group.
Lei Qing took the lead, holding a gun, and vigilantly scanned the passage leading to the exit.
A group of people, with their seriously injured companions, dragged their exhausted and scarred bodies, stepped on the mess and ice chips on the ground, and walked step by step, with difficulty, towards the exit that symbolized freedom and the unknown.
Behind him was the extremely brutal and fatal battle that had just ended.
Ahead is an uncertain road still shrouded in fog.
But at least they were still alive. Once again, they had fought their way out of a desperate situation.
The faint light of dawn finally seeped in from the cracks in the exit, illuminating their faces covered in blood and dust, and also illuminating the last staircase leading to the ground.
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