A strong wind swooped in, rustling the leaves vigorously.


    And the summer night, which was supposed to be warm and just right, was now extraordinarily icy and cold.


    ~Wooo-Wooo-Wooo~


    It was so cold that just breathing out seemed to leave a thin whiff of cold airy smoke from one''s nostrils.


    Cold. Cold... The night was chillingly cold.


    And the creature that was merging and growing bigger, slowly took a monstrous form while screaming murderously.


    "Hahahhahahhahahaa!... Humans, you will pay!~"


    Its eerie voice tingled the spines of those that heard it.


    And when many lifted their shivering heads, what they saw quickly made some t-out faint.


    ~Plop.


    They were out cold.


    Hideous! Hideous! Too eye-boggling!


    They wished they could pluck out their eyeballs and smash them with a stone.


    Ugh~~


    .


    Dorian, who had long dealt with the insects guarding the cage, frowned for a bit before looking back and seeing the monstrous thing that kept merging and growing on its own.


    Hm?


    Very calmly, he shrugged, turned back to smile at the mysterious thing before while connecting his mind to all warriors out there: [4 minutes.]


    Eh?


    Old Gia and the rest looked around in shock, as if trying to confirm if they were the only ones who heard a voice ring in their heads.


    (°0°)


    Raulin pushed his sses inwards: "The grandmaster means we should hold it up for 4 minutes."


    "_"


    I''ll go! The Grandmaster can alsomunicate with us through the mind?


    Blink. Blink.


    Everyone was utterly baffled and awed by the Grandmaster''s greatness.


    But before they could think about it longer, Raulin quickly woke them up from their stupor.


    "It''s merging and growing stronger! We have to attack and stop it fast!"


    "Hmhm," Butler Sheng responded: "You 3, continue guarding the others... As for the rest, let''s go!"


    "Right!" They replied in unison before taking their battle stance and rushing towards the merging beast like crazy!


    Yes! They couldn''t jump or fly as high as Dorian, so their attacks could only reach the creature''s knee area, even after jumping high.


    Nheless, they dared not give up.


    .


    ~Swish!


    Like ninjas out for blood, the gang moved speedily... Before nodding at one another and spreading out to surround the giant creature that was still in merging mode.


    ~Thup. Thup. Thup. Thup. Thup~


    Butler Feng squinted his eyes, took out several talisman papers and locked his gaze on the creature''s left knee.


    He speeded up a bit more, steadied himself and got ready to make his jump.


    Of course, he did so while keeping his gaze upwards from time to time, making sure that the creature hadn''t noticed him yet ever since it began its merging mode.


    Bubuum. Bubuum.


    Heart racing, blood pumping, adrenaline rushing, and the feeling of being a superhero gushing into his mind in just this split second.


    Could he do it?


    Panic and self-doubt switched off his brain for a bit, weaving it into a basket of countless troubles.


    But in just another breath, his determination piqued up again.


    He was only human. And it was normal for him to have moments of doubt and defeat.


    But rising up to any challenge was what truly separated the strong from the weak!


    As if fueling his body, Feng''s determination grew off the charts!


    And with full momentum, he jumped up in the air with inches to spare, nning to give it his all!


    Time seemed frozen in ce as he stretched the talisman paper towards the creature''s rotten knees in slow motion.


    This was it! This was it!


    He was trained for battles! He was prepared for this!


    He can do this! He could take down this creature!


    With that, Feng''s eyes glimmered with a deep light that seemed to have awesome his fighting spirit.


    ~Bam!


    A loud sound echoed out, followed by a frail cry of pain


    -Silence-


    A brief silence followed amidst the chaos, with countless people stretching their necks like peacocks.


    And when the dust got settled, they just had one word to describe their overall feelings.


    ... Sh**!


    .


    ~Pfff-


    Feng coughed a mouth full of blood after almost breaking down an entire tree with his body alone.


    How... How... How did it happen?


    This question not only left him baffled... But also left the audience and the others pushed back confused too.


    All they saw were after images of it all, making them realize just how hard it was to be human.


    Augh~


    His entire back felt heavy with pain.


    When was thest time he got so beaten up?


    Feng gritted his teeth unwillingly.


    Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!


    Sweat soon oozed out of his body, mixing with the chilly air, only making him feel worse.


    And looking around, he also noticed that he was one of the fortunate ones that got flown away.


    Why? Because the rest now have several cuts on their bodies too.


    This alone showed that they had been thrown away by the creature''s tail.


    That''s right. Even though it was rotting, it still maintained its scales in some regions of its tail.


    And this was what probably sliced the others.


    ~Wooo-Wooo-Wooo-


    Wei Gia''s breathing also became hard after getting brutality hit as well.


    He had ded marks around his thighs, as well as his internal injury from hitting a tree too.


    Yes. It was painful as hell.


    But ask him to give up? No way!


    Wei Gia dragged his wounded body to stand and quickly made his way back into the battlefield once more.


    And Butler Feng, as well as Renjin, were the fastest to stand up after him as well.


    .


    "Master... Please stay back. Your wound is bleeding."


    Wei Gia looked at the duo murderously: "Feng! Renjin! STAND DOWN!"


    The duo turned silent for a bit before stepping to the side and helping Wei Gia support himself.


    "Master, if you''re going in, then permit us to be your shields."


    "YOU!...." Wei Gia looked at them with a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "Fine! But don''t you dare slow me down!"... Says the man with the injury.


    With that, they left the trees and stepped onto the open space withplicated looks in their eyes.


    ~Pah. Boom. Bam!~


    Butler Sheng, Raulin and Zhulyn hadn''t been flung away since then, and looked wickedly fastpared to them.


    Feng thinned his lips hard: "Master... Was this the difference between an exorcist and us?"


    Wei Gia clenched his fists and looked at the scene in silence.


    They were different.


    Tick-Tock.


    3 minutes more.