There was a moon tonight, and it was bright, illuminating the desolate wilderness.
Across this barren stretch of land, four angels with glowing white wings soared through the air, cutting through the darkness as cold, silent shadows. In the blink of an eye, they were closing in on Lin Lei.
"Fast." Lin Lei's heart tightened.
Lin Lei's strength lay in offense, not defense. His attacks were powerful enough to kill a beginner-stage Saint Realm powerhouse, but his defenses were lacking. He could hold up against opponents below the Saint Realm, but a Saint Realm expert's strike was more than he could endure.
"Hmph." Lin Lei stomped against the ground, the auxiliary magic of Rapid already activating around him. His body flickered gracefully to the side as he dodged. In terms of sheer speed, though, he was still a touch slower than the four angels.
"Yi—!"
A piercing screech split the air. A black shadow, even faster than the four angels, materialized out of nowhere and slammed straight into the angel nearest to Lin Lei.
"Die." The angel's cold fist drove toward the shadow.
"Boom!" The fist, blazing with white light, hammered into the black shadow's body, sending it crashing to the ground. But the shadow rebounded instantly, shooting back up with even greater speed.
"Whoosh!" Two razor-sharp claws swung upward, raking狠狠 across the angel's body.
The first claw clashed against the angel's fist. The second claw tore straight into the angel's torso. The angel's body was already on the verge of collapse, and under that vicious swipe, it shuddered violently—the muscles across its surface cracked open, and blood streamed down.
"Boom!" The black shadow coiled its body and slammed into the angel once more.
The impact accelerated the angel's disintegration.
With a thunderous crack, the angel's body exploded outright. Its once-brilliant white wings dissolved into nothingness. A two-winged angel had fallen.
Watching from behind, Lan Dan stared at the black shadow in astonishment.
She could tell it was Lin Lei's pet—that adorable little Shadow Mouse. But by now, the Shadow Mouse had grown to nearly a meter in length. It had once been no more than twenty centimeters, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. And its speed was terrifying… faster even than a two-winged angel.
Lin Lei, on the other hand, was not particularly surprised.
"Over six years ago, when Bei Bei fought Helu in the Magic Beast Mountain Range, they were roughly evenly matched. In the six years since, Helu has barely grown at all—he's already hit his limit. But Bei Bei has been growing continuously these past six years… Now, Bei Bei's speed alone far surpasses Helu's. And in terms of defense, even Bak, that Saint Realm Undying Warrior, probably isn't much tougher than Bei Bei." Lin Lei knew all too well how terrifying Bei Bei could be.
Bei Bei's speed now was extraordinary.
Lin Lei trained himself to the bone every single day, while Bei Bei simply ate and slept, slept and ate. Yet its rate of power growth still outpaced Lin Lei's.
One only had to look at Bei Bei's transformed size to know. It could now stretch to a full meter long.
"Squeak squeak~~" Bei Bei cried out in excitement, and a soul transmission reached Lin Lei's mind: "Boss, leave these two-winged angels to me. Their attacks can't even hurt me."
Lin Lei was momentarily speechless.
Two-winged angels—beginner-stage Saint Realm, and they couldn't even wound Bei Bei.
What kind of freakish magical beast was Bei Bei?!
The remaining three two-winged angels watched in fury and disbelief as the black Shadow Mouse killed their comrade with a闪电-like pair of swipes and a single charge.
Before they could react, Bei Bei was already lunging toward one of them.
"Don't bother with it—kill Lin Lei," Lan Dan's icy voice rang out.
The three angels ignored the terrifying Shadow Mouse and charged straight at Lin Lei. But if they wouldn't leave Bei Bei alone, Bei Bei certainly wouldn't let them go.
After all, Bei Bei's speed dwarfed theirs by a wide margin.
"Whoosh." A blur of black flashed past, and Bei Bei was already beside one of the angels.
Lin Lei, meanwhile, had dodged far to the side. Being surrounded by angels was something he had no confidence in handling, but one-on-one was a different matter entirely. He wasn't like Bei Bei—a freak whose defense was absurdly strong.
"Yi!"
Bei Bei opened its massive jaws and lunged to bite the angel.
"Boom!" The two-winged angel's fist smashed down at Bei Bei without hesitation, but Bei Bei's claws seized the angel's right fist in a vice grip. Then it bit down.
Crack!
The right hand was severed clean off.
The two-winged angel endured the pain and struck furiously with its left hand, slamming it down on the black Shadow Mouse. That furious blow gathered nearly all of the angel's remaining energy, and the radiance from its left hand blazed as bright as the sun.
"Boom!" The palm struck the black Shadow Mouse's body—but at the same instant, the Shadow Mouse's claws raked twice across the angel's chest.
Muscle tore open. Blood sprayed through the air.
Bei Bei was sent hurtling to the ground, but the two-winged angel's body convulsed several times. Its internal meridians shattered completely; even its organs could not withstand the horrifying energy and ruptured. Blood poured from every opening as the angel toppled to the earth with a thunderous crash.
Another angel dead.
"Boss." Bei Bei's gaze was locked anxiously on Lin Lei.
"Boom!"
Lin Lei was sent flying by a punch, but the two-winged angel that struck him shuddered slightly before collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud. The last remaining angel was already chasing after Lin Lei.
"Boss." Bei Bei pushed its speed to the absolute limit, and combined with Lin Lei's own evasive maneuvering, managed to intercept the pursuing angel just before it reached him.
Bei Bei glared at the two-winged angel before it.
"Boss, are you all right?" Bei Bei's soul transmission asked.
"I'm fine. Another couple of those and I wouldn't hold up." Lin Lei wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. One of the black scales on his chest had cracked, and blood was seeping through.
A wave of fear washed over Lin Lei.
Moments ago, two angels had attacked him simultaneously. He had been slightly slower than them, and in the end could only choose to trade blow for blow—taking one of their strikes while killing one of them in return.
"Still not fast enough. If my speed or defense could just match Bei Bei's, I wouldn't be in such a wretched state," Lin Lei sighed inwardly.