Chapter 448: Escape, Part 2

But asking them to reveal the illegal channels they controlled, to let everyone escape together…

The people here might be saved, but they, the ones providing the channels, would inevitably lose that route forever. Furthermore, Chen Xiehe’s family would be implicated and held accountable.

The Chen Family was not just a family of a hundred people…

So, left with no other choice, the group apologetically decided to save themselves first.

“Where are we going now?” Ding Yiran couldn’t help but ask, noticing their sprinting direction seemed wrong after they left the town.

He couldn’t use his Heart and Spirit for telepathy, nor did he have the Divine Power for sending messages, so when he spoke aloud, everyone in the team heard him.

“To the Star City exit… Even if Star City has monsters too, it’s absolutely the first place the Divine Army’s reinforcements will reach. No… they’ve probably already started to break out and exterminate the monsters by now…” Li Hongye replied.

His answer was steeped in wishful thinking and rampant speculation.

Ding Yiran was stunned to hear this.

He glanced at Chen Xiehe, who gave a slight shake of his head.

Then he looked at his big sister.

‘Don’t overthink it. I don’t know why you wanted to come to the Divine Domain, but this is our only option now.’ At this moment, Ding Luo felt both helpless and moved as she looked at her younger brother.

‘What good could a mere human like him do by rushing in here?’

‘But I’m so moved… he’s willing to risk his life for me. With such determination and will, all the care I’ve shown him in the past feels worth it.’

“Will we… die?” Ding Yiran asked, taking a deep breath.

“Depends on our luck,” Ding Luo sighed. “If you hadn’t come to the Divine Domain, you might still be living safely in the Human Realm. I’m the one who dragged you all into this.”

“This was everyone’s choice. Don’t say that, Ding Luo, it just pushes us away. The moment we decided to save you, we had already cast aside all thoughts of life and death,” Chen Xiehe said softly.

He gently reached out, wanting to take Ding Luo’s hand, but Mo Sha, who was beside her, slapped it away.

The two of them immediately locked eyes, tension flaring between them.

Ding Yiran, watching from the side, finally understood. No wonder Chen Xiehe had been taking such good care of him; it turned out he was one of his big sister’s suitors.

“But didn’t we say before that we were going to…”

BOOM!!

Just then, a giant hand of white bone descended from the sky, smashing into an open area near the squad.

Although the area struck by the giant hand was still several hundred meters away, the massive shockwave it created sent paving stones and debris flying like cannonballs, crashing into the middle of their group.

It instantly threw their formation into disarray.

Flashes of golden light flickered continuously, blocking the debris as well as the Purgatory monsters.

Seizing the opportunity, Qinqin grabbed Ding Luo and, pretending to dodge the charge of an elephant-like monster, veered off in another direction. Chen Xiehe and the others quickly followed.

They had originally thought that after splitting from the main group, they would face the pressure of being besieged by even stronger monsters.

But unexpectedly, only a small number of Purgatory monsters came to surround them; the vast majority charged toward Li Hongye’s group, which was moving away.

It seemed that because their group was smaller, they weren’t as attractive a target.

What none of them could perceive, however, was that Lin Hui, who had been secretly following them, was quietly releasing an invisible Disaster Energy to drive away some of the surrounding Purgatory monsters.

Traveling all this way, the group felt almost no pressure before arriving at the clearing where Ding Yiran and the others had first entered.

By now, the clearing was also filled with dark red Purgatory monsters. A large swarm of short, one-horned humanoids with fiery red skin and hair of burning flames had gathered here, gnawing on a dozen or so corpses of the Divine Race.

“Get ready to open the gate!”

“The rest of you, clear out the monsters!”

Qinqin took the lead, while Mo Sha led a few others behind her, their bodies igniting with golden light as they cleared out the surrounding monsters.

Soon, the group worked together to drive away the swarm of short monsters. Qinqin took out a silver, box-sized communicator and began tapping rapidly on its screen.

A few seconds later, a translucent, triangular gate of light appeared, spinning, in front of her.

But just as the gate of light opened, the small box issued a warning.

“Warning, warning. The Teleportation Gate has been scanned by a Divine Army patrol warship. Information coordinates have been recorded. Self-destruct mode will now be initiated.”

“Wait! Why now!?” Qinqin’s expression changed drastically.

‘The arrival of the Divine Army reinforcements was something we’ve been hoping for, but why did it have to be now of all times…’

They had just happened to open the channel gate right within the scanning range of the Divine Army warship.

“Self-destruct mode will activate in ten seconds. Please evacuate.”

“Ten.”

“Nine.”

“Go!! Everyone, now!” Qinqin shouted frantically.

Everyone else heard the countdown and rushed toward the triangular Teleportation Gate.

“You go first!” Ding Luo, confident in her superior strength, stayed behind to cover their retreat.

“No, we came here to save you! You go first!” Chen Xiehe insisted, refusing to move.

The countdown had now reached six.

“Ah Ran! You first!” Ding Luo grabbed Ding Yiran and threw him toward the triangular Teleportation Gate.

Screaming, Ding Yiran tumbled through the air toward the Teleportation Gate.

But at that very moment, from among the Purgatory monsters behind them, a long-tailed humanoid figure covered in scales, with three horns sprouting from its head, suddenly flashed into view.

“It’s a Purgatory… no, wait!! It’s General Li Hongye!!” Mo Sha’s face changed dramatically. He recognized the newcomer’s face.

“Everyone else is dead… only you… are still alive…” Li Hongye’s face was covered in blood, his hands had long since transformed into sharp claws, and his eyes burned with the crimson flames of Purgatory.

He was already a Third Ring, and now after his Purgatory Transformation, his power had advanced even further. He was far beyond what anyone present could resist.

The triangular Teleportation Gate’s countdown had now reached three.

“Go!!” Realizing that if she didn’t leave, no one else would, Ding Luo immediately dove for the Teleportation Gate herself.

But it was too late.

A flash of golden light suddenly streaked across the sky.

A disc-shaped golden warship teleported into the sky above. From beneath the warship, tall figures of the Divine Race’s Divine Army, clad in golden armor, flew out one after another.

The moment the warship appeared, the triangular Teleportation Gate began to shake violently and ripple, on the verge of disappearing.

At the very instant Ding Luo entered, she thought she heard a faint sigh.

HISS!

The next instant, the disc-shaped warship violently exploded, shattering into countless fragments.

All the Divine Army soldiers who had flown out of it froze in an instant, fixed in mid-air, before slowly disintegrating into transparent particles.

On the ground, fear was evident in the eyes of the Purgatory-Transformed Li Hongye as he stumbled back several steps.

But as he retreated, he sensed something was wrong and hurriedly reached up to grab his head.

But his head simply rolled off his neck on its own.

The next moment, his entire body, like a sandcastle, was gently blown by a breeze and dissolved into grains of sand that scattered away.

Lin Hui’s figure flashed past behind him, his face unseen. All that was visible was a strange figure in a pitch-black cloak, his eyes burning with blue flames.

And at that moment, the Teleportation Gate, which had been forced into self-destruct mode by the interference, automatically stabilized.

With the scanning warship gone, the Teleportation Gate disengaged its self-destruct sequence.

The ones left behind—Qinqin, Mo Sha, Chen Xiehe, and Tang Xi—stared at each other, completely numb.

Although they had only felt that presence for an instant, the vast, boundless, and terrifying aura—one that seemed capable of pulverizing and dissipating everything—made every hair on their bodies stand on end.

“Go!” Qinqin was the first to react, her voice sharp.

‘No matter who helped us, this is no place to linger!’

Immediately, the remaining members of the group rushed into the Teleportation Gate and vanished.

Their escape was only the beginning. The arrangements that would follow would be their true test.