Turning around this bend, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
It was a massive karst cave cavity, vast enough to hold one or two communities.
Nearly a hundred meters above, accompanied by the trickling sound of falling water, a few beams of sunlight spilled down, bringing a sliver of light into the dark cavern.
On the pitch-black stone bridge rising from the depths, a hideous serpent coiled itself around the top of a pillar of unfathomable height, arching its body and glaring at the platform opposite in a threatening stance.
On that mushroom-shaped platform, seventy or eighty meters away, only seven or eight people remained.
As Yang Zicang looked over, another child was hooked up into the air by several winged insects.
–Child!– A woman beside the child instantly cried out in panic.
–Mom.–
The four members of the Monster Hunter Alliance, who were locked in combat with a few giant lizards, had no time to rescue her.
On the lower side of the platform, another grotesque worm was squirming; its body, thicker than an ox, writhed—it was at least ten meters long!
There were two Nightmare Worms!
–How revolting! Captain Yao, hurry, that monster is about to ambush your comrades!–
Beneath the platform, some seventy or eighty meters away, the monster twisted its body like a serpent, shifting its form subtly as it sought an opportunity to strike down those few with a single, fatal blow.
This was their strategy: one deliberately exposed itself to cut off the escape route, while the other, larger creature lurked below for a surprise attack.
[Four anonymous investors have withdrawn 23N.]
[Luo Xin has invested 50N for me.]
Yao Chiming planted the pitch-black bow of extreme malice upright on the ground: –ZiCang, empower the arrow with Chronos, and I’ll take the shot.–
–Alright.–
Yang Zicang pulled out a single black arrow shaft and gripped it tightly in his hand. The arrow was instantly engulfed in a pale golden phantom flame.
Notching the arrow onto the bowstring, Yao Chiming held his breath, mustering all his strength to draw the wire-like taut string.
The jet-black bow of extreme malice emanated a dense aura of hatred. As the bowstring was drawn back inch by inch, a blood-red eye, the size of a chicken egg, appeared at its center, shimmering like a crimson crystal.
However, the eye was hazy, lifeless in appearance.
The worm on the Black Bridge sensed the pulse of hate transpiring behind it. Turning its head, it sprayed out a pool of green solution with a plop.
Swoosh!
The arrow tore through the darkness, blazing a golden arc, grazing the creature’s hide.
A loud, dull thud echoed as the massive body of the worm slammed onto the stone bridge, shaking dust off the surface into a cloud of smoke, while fragments of rock from beneath the bridge crumbled and tumbled away.
–The captain’s here!–
The people on the opposite side exclaimed in delight; Yao Chiming had arrived far faster than they had anticipated.
–It can break three hundred years of Chronos just by passing through the venom—its skin is even tougher. Again!–
Yang Zicang handed Yao Chiming an arrow nock. Facing the worm hurtling toward him, Yao Chiming stayed calm in the face of danger, widening his eyes and drawing the bow.
The worm-like monster twisted its form, rolled to the other side of the bridge, and weaved forward swiftly, concealing its body.
–I can’t see it.–
–Roar~–
Yang Zicang’s entire body instinctively coiled with tension. The monster looped around from under the bridge, twenty meters away, and reared its head.
A golden arrow streaked through the air, driven by a fierce gust of wind.
[Trajectory control!]
Whoosh! The arrow arched and shot out, and the moment it left the string, it seemed piloted by an invisible force, its speed surging.
Second acceleration!
Its mouth, as wide as a table, opened wide, and a gush of green venom sprayed out like splashing water.
The moment Yao Chiming loosed the arrow, he dropped the Bow of Ultimate Malice. He clapped his hands together, a stellar gleam flashing between his palms, and as they pulled apart, a glass-like Chronos barrier unfurled, spreading like the canopy of an umbrella.
The viscous juices were deflected by the barrier, searing pits into the ground where they fell, even as the golden arrow sank into the creature’s maw.
–Got it!–
That arrow, redirected by Yang Zicang to plunge straight into the monster’s belly, detonated with a rumble like a drumbeat.
BOOM! The monster’s body erupted.
–KRAKOOM!–
The ancient, blackened bridge, already groaning under its own exhaustion, had a section sheared off by the blast. Half of the monster’s carcass plummeted with countless rocks into the bottomless chasm below.
[I have harvested 32.5N.]
Much of the Malign Nightmare’s lifespan was nullified.
–Ah, the bridge is broken!– On the opposite platform, the man’s face turned ashen.
What do we do now? There’s no escape route left.
The toxic fumes from the exploded corpse was utterly overwhelming; every inhalation consumed centuries of Chronos.
–Hold your breath.–
Yao Chiming fished a small, emerald green leather ball from the pouch at his waist and hurled it forward.
BOOM! A fierce whirlwind swept across the ground, scouring away the foul stench and poisonous gas.
Yang Zicang and the other man pinched their noses, waiting several heartbeats before daring to inhale.
–This thing’s good—is it magical?–
–You could say that.–
After Yao Chiming spoke, a look of fury flashed across his face: –Damn it, this beast, the bridge is broken.–
Several gecko-like monsters charged, and the man drew his steel longsword, swinging it into action. With a few crisp thuds, he cleaved them into pieces. From his movements alone, it was clear he was a trained fighter.
｛I’ve been watching—it seems your bow might be just short of hitting that other monster. Looks like your teammate is out of luck; today might be their limit.｝
An Jixiu’s telepathic voice came through.
Did you think I needed you to say that? Yao Chiming, seeing through Yang Zicang’s eyes, felt a surge of irritation.
The bridge was broken, and a monster still lurked beneath the platform on the other side.
–Captain Yao, no matter what, we have to give it another shot. Let’s take out that monster first, then figure out how to cross.–
–Fine, one more try!– Yao Chiming raised his longbow and sprinted toward the towering, narrow dark stone bridge. From here, the break was about twenty meters away.
Yang Zicang followed behind him. The bridge, barely over a meter wide, gave him the unsettling illusion that he might fall off at any moment—but at least he had the –Deployment– ability to rely on.
–Can’t go any further; the brick-and-stone bridge here is already starting to loosen.–
On the opposite platform, another worm monster had been stretching its head to watch this side for a while.
It no longer cared about the prey above its head; all it wanted now was to eliminate these humans who had slain its kind.
Bracing the bow and drawing the string, a golden arrow pierced the dim space, yet its golden light faded just meters short of the platform.
The black arrowhead struck the worm, falling directly into the darkness like a little wooden stick tapping softly.
No good, not enough reach—escape from that side!
We tried, but there’s another monster heading toward the city’s other end—we’re already surrounded.
On the opposite platform, the four, who had exhausted every effort to reduce the flying insects to only a scant few, gasped and shouted hoarsely.
These monsters needed the scent of living humans to spawn wicked nightmare eggs—otherwise, they would have killed all of you long ago.
But now, the worm nightmare that had just witnessed its kin being killed was flooded with manic rage.
Their rational minds were already scant; provoked like this, it no longer cared for these people’s lives at all.
Rumble.
The platform shuddered as a steel claw-like, four-bladed pincer on the monster’s tail swung, cleaving a boulder the size of a coffee table from a pillar.
Its body shot upward, breaking past the edge of the crown-shaped platform, landing on it like a scorpion.
The tail swung like a catapult, its immense force hurling the stone with a roaring gale!
It wants to destroy the bridge!
–Ah, watch out!–
Yao Chiming assumed a lunge stance, raising his steel sword, a faint golden flame appearing on the blade.
–Wait!– Yang Zicang was already too late to stop Yao Chiming.
The captain hurled the sword, its golden light rapidly fading.
Bang!
A flash of light, and the giant rock shattered into pieces, the steel sword colliding with it instantly snapping into three sections.
Dense fragments of rock and steel sword shards came howling like a shotgun blast.
–It’s over.– Yao Chiming had no time to activate his force field.
[Dispatching!]
[Maximum count: singular digits; nine targets have been marked.]
[The volume is too great—I need the Chronos principal to boost computing speed and marking capacity.]
At the critical moment, Yang Zicang’s brain raced, throbbing with a convulsive pain.
[Chronos principal 99N has been invested.]
[The ‘Dispatch’ ability’s slot count has been permanently expanded to ten.]
–Not enough, it’s not nearly enough—–
The impact of these stones would collapse the Black Bridge, and he himself would fall into the dark depths of the monster’s lair.
–Am I about to die again!–
Time seemed to slow down. Yang Zicang, burning with intense defiance, looked up at the space overhead now filled with explosive debris.
[The 41st Council Member sensed my fervent desire.]
A gaze descended from an infinitely distant height.
[The 41st Council Member performed an Invest for me, Void Zero Chronos99999.]
[The rank of the ‘Dispatch’ ability has been temporarily expanded to the ten-thousand-digit level. Remaining: 5 seconds, 4 seconds…]
–Ah——!–
His mind went blank in an instant, as if some energy had been unleashed.
The veins and nerves around Yang Zicang’s eyes bulged like a spiderweb; the world in his view seemed to shatter, revealing countless dense lines of light.
The fragments hurtling towards him instantly traced countless trajectories in his eyes—every tiny shard, every slight shift, yielded endless possibilities of movement.
[Chronos reduced by 1R.]
[Chronos reduced by 3.27Y.]
[Chronos reduced by 9.5N.]
[Chronos reduced by 1225N.]
Whir, whir!
An invisible barrier seemed to materialize before the two figures on the stone bridge.
Countless rock fragments blasting toward them eerily scattered on their own before reaching them.
In the dust, a streamlined, droplet-shaped void emerged—the wind-tunnel trail left behind by the whistling gravel as it veered away.
Whoosh~
A dark shadow twisted through the air in an eerie arc, changing direction and diving straight down toward Yang Zicang. Yao Chiming reached out, but it was already too late.
Yang Zicang’s eyes blazed as he raised his hand without hesitation.
Snap!
His right hand instantly seized the hilt of the oncoming broken sword, flipping it to grip it upside down in his palm.
The blade of this severed sword was now only a little over thirty centimeters long.
Yao Chiming’s eyes trembled, his expression a mix of shock and complexity!
–Haah~– The young man let out an odd sound, caught between excitement and pain.
His throat rattled with ragged, huffing breaths.
Yang Zicang stared intently at the rampaging monster across from him, which was now rising to its feet on the platform, its strides unbridled. He grinned and said, –Throw me over there.–
–What?–
Yao Chiming looked at the cruel smile on the young man’s face, as if staring at a madman.
–I said, throw me over there. That way, the distance issue is solved.–
The broken sword, held upside down in his palm, began to blaze with golden phantom flame.
–Are you sure? Uh…–
Yang Zicang turned his head slightly, his gaze cold as it met Yao Chiming’s eyes:
–Can’t you understand?–
The burly man’s eye twitched slightly as he swallowed hard and said in a deep voice, –Fine!–
The man crouched into a horse stance and braced himself with arms cupped before him, while Yang Zicang stood firm and stepped one foot into his hands.
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