The moment Kael spoke, Arjun let out a long breath of relief. Though he was strong, facing three Puppet Knights alone had pushed him to his limits. Another moment's delay, and he would've been finished.
"Thank the gods! Let's get the hell out of here—I can't hold on any longer!" Arjun muttered inwardly, regretting his earlier heroics.
"Escape? Not a chance!" Seraphina shrieked, her voice bordering on madness.
With a sharp command, she converged all six Puppet Knights, surrounding Kael and Arjun in a deadly encirclement as they charged with relentless fury.
"Damn this lunatic woman!" Both Kael and Arjun grimaced. Seraphina's power was monstrous—this was the equivalent of being hunted by six peak-Level Eight expertsat once.
"Skywalk Technique—you actually know the Skywalk Technique?!" Seraphina hissed, her eyes narrowing with alarm.
How does this brat know a lost art?!
Across the Three Continents, it was an ironclad rule: no mage or warrior below Tier Ten could fly. The only exception was the long-lost Skywalk Technique—and now, this kid had just defied the laws of magic right before her eyes.
At this point, Kael saw no reason to hold back. His identity was already concealed behind a disguise mask, so he might as well go all out.
He shot into the air without hesitation, grabbing Arjun mid-flight as he attempted to break through the siege.
But Seraphina was no fool. The moment Kael had snatched the spatial ring using Skywalk Technique, her guard had been raised to its peak. Now, the instant he moved, she manipulated the knights to tighten their formation, cutting off his escape route.
The six Puppet Knights charged forward, their massive greatswords whirling through the air with such force that hurricane-like winds erupted within a ten-meter radius. The space itself was filled with violent energy currents.
These currents wove together like a net, tightening around Kael and Arjun, making escape nearly impossible.
"Damn it! We'll have to blast our way out with lightning magic!" Kael's mind raced as he raised his staff. In an instant, crackling arcs of electricity surged forth, mingling with his Frostflames.
"Thunderfrost Domain!" Kael unleashed a fusion spell of lightning and ice-fire, turning the surroundings into a hellscape. The terrifying lightning reduced the ground and two of the Puppet Knights to charred husks in seconds!
"My Puppet Knights!" Seraphina's face twisted with fury and disbelief. Arjun, meanwhile, stood frozen—What the hell was that?! Lightning?!
"Aaargh—!" Seraphina let out a guttural scream, her rage boiling over. These knights had been painstakingly acquired—only six in total—and were the foundation of her dominance. Now, two had been annihilated in an instant, a loss that cut deep.
"I'll tear you apart!" she howled, driving the remaining knights into a frenzy.
Kael, however, remained unshaken. Though the Puppet Knights were formidable, Seraphina herself was the weak link. If he could take her down, the battle would end.
Just as he prepared to strike—
BOOM!
The ground beneath them quaked violently, and an overwhelming presence erupted from below.
"What now?!" Kael's instincts screamed danger.
Seraphina, too, stiffened, her eyes widening as she sensed the same abnormal energy.
"That's—a Magical Beast's aura!" Arjun's voice was strangled, his pupils dilating in terror. This wasn't just any beast—it radiated power far beyond his own level, something monstrous.
Then—the earth exploded.
Dirt and rock blasted outward as a colossal, nightmarish creature burst forth from the ground.
It was a gargantuan lizard!
Stretching over ten meters long, its body was encased in jet-black scales, each the size of a football. As it shook off the dirt, the scales clattered together with a metallic, bone-chilling rasp.
This creature radiated pure aggression.
The monstrous lizard flicked its forked tongue like a venomous serpent, its maw gaping to reveal rows of needle-like fangs. Thick, corrosive drool dripped from its teeth, sizzling as it hit the ground with an acidic hiss.
But most terrifying were its eyes—glowing pits of primal malice that sent shivers down the spine, urging even the bravest to flee.
"A Venomscale Earthcrawler!"
This was no ordinary Magical Beast. This was a Tier-Nine Venomscale Earthcrawler—a deadlier cousin of the Earth Drake, infamous for its lethal venom. Even among Tier-Nine beasts, it was a nightmare made flesh.
"Goddammit—a Venomscale?!" Arjun's face drained of color. His grip on his staff turned white-knuckled, sweat drenching his back. This fear dwarfed even what he'd felt facing six Puppet Knights.
Kael's scalp prickled. He should've guessed—where there's a master-tier spirit herb, there's often a guardian beast. But a Venomscale Earthcrawler? That was beyond brutal.
Even a single drop of its venom could spell doom. Though Kael's alchemy expertisemade antidotes possible, surviving long enough to brew one was another matter.
"Move! NOW!"
No hesitation. Kael and Arjun bolted.
A Tier-Nine beast was no joke—the gap between Tier Eight and Nine was insurmountable. Even combined, they stood zero chance.
With a whip-like crack, the Earthcrawler's tail cleared the earth like a plow, then it hissed and unleashed a jet of inky-black venom.
"Damn it—don't let that venom touch you!" Kael's instincts screamed as he dodged violently, barely avoiding the jet of corrosive poison. The liquid splattered across the ground, erupting into sizzling craters—proof of its horrifying potency.
Seraphina, who'd been poised to strike at Kael, paled the moment the Venomscale Earthcrawler emerged. Without hesitation, she turned and fled.
The beast charged blindly, its attacks indiscriminate and apocalyptic. One stomp of its titanic foot pulverized the already fallen Bill into paste, while the sheer force of its movements caved in the surrounding terrain. This was the raw, primal power of a Tier-Nine Magical Beast—every motion wrought devastation.
"You wretched brat!" Seraphina's eyes flashed with murderous intent, but survival took precedence. The killing glare vanished as quickly as it came.
Meanwhile, Kael and Arjun were already bolting for their lives. With a surge of Skywalk Technique, Kael grabbed Arjun's shoulder and launched them both skyward, putting rapid distance between them and the chaos below.
Though burdened by Arjun's weight, Kael's flight was smooth and swift—a testament to his mastery.
Seraphina, however, wasn't so lucky. The moment Kael and Arjun vanished from sight, the Earthcrawler fixed its wrath on her.
"I'll flay you both alive!" she shrieked between ragged breaths, but the beast clung to her like a shadow of doom, its pursuit relentless.
"Worry about your own skin first!" Arjun crowed from above, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. **"Honestly, with a face like that, you'd scare off even a blind troll!"**
Kael, ever the provocateur, added coolly, **"Confidence is admirable. Delusion, less so."**
The jab struck deep. Seraphina—neither beautiful nor outright hideous—seethed at the insult, her face flushing crimson.
"Hah! Farewell, hag!" Arjun laughed as they soared away, the terror of the Earthcrawler replaced by sheer, giddy relief.