Chapter 87: The Boundary Between Life and Death

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: The Boundary Between Life and Death

The moment the magical beast opened its mouth wide and lunged straight for the back of his neck, Lucius calmly yanked his arm, retracting the chain blade.

Black blood splattered. The Fang of Abyss instantly changed direction, tearing through the wind as it darted backward, piercing the skulls of several lurking magical beasts. The sharp spikes on the chain links ruthlessly sawed through bones, literally tearing their massive bodies to pieces.

The sound of metal scraping against bone shrieked ear-piercingly, terrifying to the extreme.

However, Lucius’s expression remained coldly emotionless from beginning to end. A heavy ’thwack’ rang out; his fingers tightened around the handle of the chain, decisively pulling it out of the slimy mess. The chain, coated in thick fresh blood, drew a crimson arc in mid-air, pushing the battlefield’s murderous intent to its peak.

Compared to the other four, Phoenix’s combat style leaned toward a traditional mage. Phoenix’s ability to deal area-of-effect damage and summon the undead was incredibly outstanding, but in exchange, Phoenix’s physical defense was extremely fragile. Understanding this perfectly, Evelyn didn’t move from her position, steadily standing beside Phoenix to protect Phoenix, while simultaneously using the momentum of drawing arrows to pin down the monsters trying to break through the encirclement.

Along with continuous sounds of tearing wind, the Thanh Linh Bow in Evelyn’s hands glowed brilliantly with a vibrant green light. Pale green magic power enveloped the bow hovering in front of her chest; her left hand only used one finger to lightly hook the bowstring to condense magic arrows, while her right hand swiftly traced the runic scripts of a magic matrix in the void. Her lips silently chanted an enhancement incantation; all movements combined smoothly without a single moment of stagnation.

In the blink of an eye, the space ahead lit up. Following the trajectory of magic power from her fingertips, complex matrix lines intertwined. The undead barrier Phoenix had cast blocked all the demon birds in the air, creating enough of an opening for Evelyn to complete her grand magic.

She did not disappoint their expectations. Distracting herself to manipulate three streams of magic power simultaneously still reached absolute perfection.

The bowstring snapped and twanged; the magic arrow shot out carrying a blinding light. The moment the arrow hit its target, the magic matrix in mid-air exploded, releasing countless thorny magic vines. The vines slithered through the undead barrier, ruthlessly reaching up to entangle and tear apart the pack of demon birds.

A rain of blood poured down. On the barren, desolate wasteland, countless tragic roars rang out incessantly. Severed limbs and slimy intestines splattered everywhere, dyeing the entire gray sky red.

## Two hours later.

Their magic power was depleted to an alarming level. Recovery potions, even if ingested, could not make up for the excessively rapid consumption rate, leaving them completely reliant on muscle endurance and survival instincts to hold on for most of the remaining time.

Time seemed to be stretched out infinitely. The twin blades in Jeremy’s hands had been dyed a thick, dark red-black color. The state of blindness caused his reflexes and judgment to drop severely; his body couldn’t avoid suffering flesh-tearing scratches from the monster pack.

That cursed powder the guy Los sprinkled on them was so wicked that it completely nullified the invisibility effect of their magic cloaks. Even the fragile defensive armor dissipated, reducing the cloak to essentially a rag shielding them from a bit of dirt.

Their clothes were torn to shreds; putrid blood mixed with plaques of internal organs clung tightly to their bodies. Even though Jeremy didn’t have mysophobia, this disgusting smell still made his stomach churn in waves.

"Rustle..."

The sound of a violently shaking tail rattle rang out from beneath the ground’s surface. Unsure if it was a rattlesnake or a demon scorpion, Jeremy instinctively shifted his center of gravity, swinging his blades to sweep close to the ground. But right at that moment, several demon birds in the air seized the opening, launching a barrage of venomous spikes downwards.

Sharp spikes plunged into his shoulder and back. The nerve-tearing pain exploded; Jeremy staggered, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood. The venom spread quickly, numbing his arm; the twin blades almost slipped from his fingers.

Suddenly, a familiar murderous intent flashed behind his back. Lucius’s cold yet steady voice rang out close to his ear: "Are you alright?"

"...I’m fine." A trace of ruthlessness flashed in the depths of Jeremy’s eyes. He bit down on his tongue to stay awake; the twin blades instantly merged, transforming into a massive scythe. His arm tensed, muscles bulging as he swung a sharp, crescent-shaped magic blade arc, crushing those damn demon birds into a blood mist: "This area is probably the core zone where magical beasts gather. We must break the encirclement immediately."

Lucius didn’t utter superfluous words; his sharp sense of smell analyzed the direction: "There are fewer on the right side. The breakthrough probability is highest in that direction."

Jeremy always trusted his teammate’s survival judgment: "Alright, then push with all our might in that direction."

Leon raised his hand to wipe away the blood trailing from the corner of his lips, following the sound of weapons to retreat in front of Jeremy: "I’ll go open a path, stay close." With that, he squeezed out his last bit of magic power to form a faint protective wire ring surrounding all four of them, ensuring no one fell behind.

In a life-or-death situation hanging by a thread, no one wasted words. Everyone nodded, quickly changing their formation. Leon held the line at the vanguard position. Phoenix and Evelyn, with weaker endurance, were sandwiched in the middle. Meanwhile, Lucius and Jeremy played the role of the rearguard, frantically pushing back the wave of monsters surging towards them from all directions.

## The five youths had completely lost their concept of time in the quagmire of this slaughter matrix.

Had it been a few hours, or did it have to be counted in days? No one knew.

The magic cloaks on their bodies were so torn they no longer resembled their original shapes; patches of blood had dried and hardened into pitch-black, stiff clumps. Even their combat uniforms underneath had been torn open by monster claws. The exposed skin was all swollen and ulcerated due to corrosive toxicity; mangled flesh and blood stuck tightly to their clothes.

Fresh blood flowed down their fingers, dripping onto the yellow sand, but right now, exhaustion had stripped away even the strength to groan. The motion of swinging their weapons had become a soulless, rote reflex. Their faces had gone from initially calm and indifferent to numb, mixed with a smoldering flame of irritation in their chests.

"Damn it, this is way too crowded..." Leon let out a heavy breath thick with the smell of blood; irritation clawed at his mind.

No one replied. A tense silence enveloped them; only the hoarse sounds of chanting incantations and weapons tearing flesh remained. No one dared to be careless even for the blink of an eye.

Just as their endurance limits were about to snap, the space around the rift shifted once again.

Freezing seawater crashed in, burying the entire desert. The ferocious magical beasts, as if choked by an invisible hand, had their deformed bodies shrink back into the shapes of gentle, harmless marine creatures.

The hands of all five gripping their Sacred Weapons trembled violently. The colossal pressure weighing down on their shoulders unexpectedly vanished. The reality that the disaster had temporarily retreated caused the string of reason they had kept taut all this time to snap. All five exhausted bodies just went limp, letting gravity drag them down to the deep seabed.

Before the saltwater could flood his lungs, Jeremy gritted his teeth, draining the last trace of primal magic power hidden in his dantian, condensing it into a fragile water-repelling bubble wrapping around himself and his four teammates.

As soon as the magic light flared up, Jeremy’s consciousness completely sank into darkness. He passed out.

Right as Jeremy’s body lost control and was about to crash into the stone coral reef, Evelyn, who was right next to him, heard the commotion. She bit her lip and swallowed the fishy blood welling up in her throat, following the sound of parting water to dart over, reaching out to support him.

But, someone was a step faster than her.

The moment Evelyn’s fingertips just touched the fabric of his clothes, less than two seconds later, Jeremy’s exhausted body was fully enveloped in a steady embrace carrying a familiar cold aura. Lucius, standing behind, had tightly embraced Jeremy, locking him into his chest.

It seemed exhaustion had caused Lucius to tear off his usual playful disguise. His voice no longer carried a languid, smiling tone, but was deep and cold to the point of being oppressive.

Lucius’s timbre echoed within the water-repelling bubble, cold and distant: "Sister Evelyn, you go rest first, just leave the captain to me to take care of."

"..."

Evelyn’s fingertips halted in mid-air. She frowned, fell silent for a moment, then slowly retracted her hand, replying with a bland "alright", and then moved aside, without saying another word.

Author’s Note:

I came down with the flu today, so I am only uploading two Chapters for now. I hope for everyone’s understanding.