Chapter 77: A Thin Line Between Life and Death

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: A Thin Line Between Life and Death

Time did not permit Jeremy to analyze his teammates’ mental states. Having lost its target in Los, the Nightmare Demon had completely locked its covetous gaze onto the five of them.

Jeremy’s expression darkened, and his calm, unwavering voice rang out, carrying an undeniable command: "Transfer all your magic power to me, now!"

Although they had spoken of mutual destruction, the moment Jeremy issued the order, Leon and Evelyn cooperated instantly without the slightest delay.

Lucius and Phoenix didn’t even need to be told. The moment Jeremy’s words fell, they implicitly understood his intent. Pure streams of magic power from the four of them poured continuously into Jeremy’s body, replenishing his nearly depleted magic reserves.

Feeling the surging power, Jeremy acted with absolute decisiveness. He slid his finger along the sharp edge of his blade.

Fresh blood immediately welled up, glaringly bright red.

Using the ground as paper and fresh blood as ink, Jeremy spun around, his fingertips swiftly sketching the Twin-Star teleportation matrix. Relying on the positioning mark he had secretly left outside the cave entrance earlier as a conduit, he executed the complex, cumbersome lines of the matrix with absolute and flawless precision.

Extreme speed. It was so fast that by the time Los sensed the anomaly and rushed over to destroy it, the blood-red runic lines intertwining with blinding golden light had successfully activated.

A pillar of magical light erupted, tightly enveloping the tall figure of Jeremy and his four teammates. Right before the moment space was torn apart for teleportation, Jeremy swung his arm. The last two large-scale explosive magic tool orbs shot out, propelled by magic power, flying straight toward Los and the Nightmare Demon.

Through the veil of teleportation light, the smile on Jeremy’s lips blossomed, carrying a hint of wicked arrogance and disdain. He lightly rubbed his fingertips together. As if receiving a command, the two orbs smashed into each other.

A deafening explosion echoed, and an intense white light swallowed everything.

Amidst that moment of chaotic destruction, the young man’s lazy, nonchalant voice gently dropped: "Sending you off to see the gods, no need to thank me."

Faced with that arrogant provocation, Los’s face twisted in fury. He lunged forward frantically, his bone fan launching a barrage of deadly poison spikes. But they all missed.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the spot where the five had stood was reduced to empty space and a chaotic pile of rubble.

The Nightmare Demon roared as it charged from behind. Exactly at that moment, the devastating power of the two large-scale explosive magic tools fully erupted.

Los had never imagined he would be driven to a dead end by these low-tier humans, so from the very beginning, he had underestimated them and hadn’t bothered to use his full strength.

A tentacle of the Nightmare Demon pierced straight through his chest, carrying a freezing sharpness. Before he could even struggle, the explosive shockwave from the magic tools struck, crushing all his defenses.

Los’s body was torn apart into pieces of mangled flesh and blood.

"Ah ah ah... ah ah ah!"

As the pain that tore apart his flesh and corroded his very soul hit him, only ultimate regret remained in Los’s mind.

He shouldn’t have been arrogant. If he had joined forces with his accomplices from the start to decisively eliminate these humans, everything would have been different. But cruel reality never entertained "what ifs."

Los’s pupils rapidly dilated and turned glassy; the light of life extinguished within a few short seconds. His mangled body collapsed, fresh blood mingling with the dirt, dyeing the dark ruins red.

As for the Nightmare Demon, its fate was equally tragic. The evolutionary process forced by the Curse Resentment Orb was inherently very fragile. Under the devastating destructive force of the explosion, before its protective armor could form, its massive body was torn into shreds.

In that instant, the entire underground area transformed into a massive mass grave...

---

Above ground.

As the teleportation light faded, Jeremy set foot on the ground where the mark had been left in the forest. He staggered forward a half-step, his chest clenching, and a mouthful of thick black blood spilled from his lips, splattering onto the ground.

His vision went dark, and his head buzzed. Jeremy reached out to lean against the cliff wall to steady himself, but Evelyn, who was nearby, swiftly stepped up to support his shoulder.

In a blind spot, Lucius had reached out his hand halfway, pausing in mid-air. His gaze swept over Evelyn’s hand supporting Jeremy; his expression darkened, and then he quietly withdrew his hand, concealing the elusive gloom in the depths of his eyes.

Jeremy gritted his teeth, suppressing the pain tearing at his meridians, frowning as he cast his eyes around to observe.

They hadn’t been gone long; the pursuing monsters from earlier had mostly scattered, but about a dozen still lingered around the area.

He had just rolled his wrist, intending to condense magic power to deal with the remnants, when Evelyn instantly recognized his intent and firmly grasped his hand: "Sit down and rest, leave these filthy things to us."

The other three seemed to share the sentiment. Without anyone giving an order, they charged straight into the pack of monsters, the flash of swords and blades swinging rhythmically.

Evelyn gave Jeremy no chance to refuse. She cast a spell, and thick, sturdy vines intertwined to form a solid armchair, forcing him to sit down, before she also turned around to join the fray.

Jeremy chuckled weakly. His teammates’ good intentions were clear, and he didn’t want to force himself either.

Although using blood to draw a matrix shortened the time and enhanced the power, the price for forcibly exhausting his magic power was incredibly brutal. His current bodily injuries were the backlash from draining his strength.

Jeremy silently felt fortunate. During the two days of leave before entering this wasteland, aside from sparring with Lomita, he had spent nearly all his time familiarizing himself with the teleportation matrix. Otherwise, in today’s life-and-death gamble with Los, he feared the entire team would have left their corpses down there.

The stench of blood lingering at the tip of his nose irritated him. Feeling dizzy, Jeremy chewed and swallowed a recovery pill, closing his eyes to rest for a few minutes before casting a purification magic ring over himself to clean off the grime.

He lowered his eyes to look down the deep, dark staircase leading underground, his temples twitching slightly.

He only intended to find an exit, who would have thought he’d get dragged into this mess. If he had known beforehand that he’d have to gamble his life, he might as well have stayed up here to hack and slash at monsters.

The high-tier magic tools were depleted, and too much time had been wasted. With the team’s current injured state, if they had to face the berserk monster wave at midnight, he feared the outcome would be very ugly.

"Are you alright?" Leon’s deep voice rang out, interrupting his train of thought.

Jeremy looked up at the young man approaching. The few monsters over there had been neatly cleared away. He let out a breath and answered frankly: "Not great, but I’m not dead yet."

Leon stopped, lowering his eyes to look at Jeremy’s complexion, which, although pale, still exuded an air of calm composure. He paused for a beat, then threw out the suspicion he had been harboring: "...Captain, it seems you anticipated from the very beginning that this trip wouldn’t go smoothly?"

Secretly leaving a teleportation mark, acutely discovering the truth about the Beastmen, down to the flawless chain of counter-attacks... It all proved a control over the situation so sharp it was hard to believe.

"Could it be you’ve studied prophetic witchcraft or something similar?"

If not due to the ability to foresee the future, then this person’s tactical vision had truly reached a terrifying level.