Everyone knew how powerful the Abyssal Blade Demons were. One or two wasn't frightening, but if there were a hundred or two hundred of them fighting Lin Lei's group of eleven head-on, most of Lin Lei's side would surely perish. And now the Abyssal Blade Demons were so densely packed they could only be counted in the tens of thousands.
There was no choice!
Run!
"Follow the second plan—advance underground." Lin Lei's voice echoed through everyone's minds.
"Chk~~" The Black-armored Giant Scorpion's long tail tip began to rotate, easily boring through the metal cliff wall beside it. At astonishing speed, the scorpion carved out an underground tunnel, and Desri, Rocherly, and the others dove in one after another.
Lin Lei, Fain, the Three-headed Six-eyed Golden Ni, Bei Bei, and Olivia held the rear.
Every Abyssal Blade Demon shot forward like lightning, like a swarm of locusts, blanketing them all at once.
"Kill." Lin Lei held the Black Jade Heavy Sword in one hand and the Purple Blood Soft Sword in the other.
In this moment, countless Abyssal Blade Demons rushed in. Whether it was Lin Lei, Fain, the Six-eyed Golden Ni, Bei Bei, or Olivia—all of them faced terrifying assaults. Among them, Olivia was the first to be forced back.
Olivia gripped his Mystic Ice Longsword as both black and white light flared across his body. His sword clashed against the saber of an oncoming Abyssal Blade Demon, and his body shook. His gaze turned cold as the Mystic Ice Longsword deftly redirected the force with an upward sweep.
"Shk—" The black-and-white light-streaked sword sliced clean through the Abyssal Blade Demon's head, sending it flying.
But immediately three more Abyssal Blade Demons slashed at Olivia from different directions. His expression changed, and he retreated swiftly to dodge. However, in terms of speed, these Abyssal Blade Demons were comparable to Fain and Bei Bei. Olivia could only manage to block one of the strikes with his Mystic Ice Longsword.
"Put!" Two consecutive blows landed on his Dou Qi Shield.
Olivia's Dou Qi Shield shattered instantly. Gritting through the pain, he used the impact of the blows to propel himself backward into the tunnel carved by the Black-armored Giant Scorpion. Even so, nearly half of his waist had been sliced open.
If he had been any slower, he would have been cut clean in two.
"Boom!" Right after, it was Fain who was driven back into the tunnel by the horde of Abyssal Blade Demons. Four of them struck in unison, sending Fain's body hurtling through the air—his body was even split into three pieces. Yet Fain's head quickly retreated into the tunnel.
At the same time, Fain's body was regenerating at an astonishing rate.
"Lin Lei, be careful—if you can't hold, retreat quickly," Fain sent through soul transmission as he withdrew.
Lin Lei had already felt how fearsome these Abyssal Blade Demons were. In the span of a single exchange, after he killed four in quick succession, his Pulsing Defense and Earth Guardian Holy Armor were overwhelmed by the barrage of wild saber strikes from the swarm and collapsed.
Dragon Scales cracked. Blood sprayed.
The Life Source Pearl's power surged within him. "Chk chk~~" The damaged Dragon Scales regenerated, and Lin Lei's Pulsing Defense reformed across his body.
"Yi~~"
Bei Bei split into eight copies, attacking frantically. Already, more than a dozen Abyssal Blade Demons had fallen to its claws. But the demons were clever—dozens of them simultaneously attacked the "eight copies." Each copy faced three or four demons at once.
Bei Bei's body was battered backward, streaks of blood already visible on its fur.
"Boom." A swarm of Abyssal Blade Demons surged toward Bei Bei.
"Bei Bei, fall back!" Lin Lei shouted.
"Whoosh." Bei Bei didn't hesitate and darted into the tunnel. By the time it made it inside, its fur was torn open and its body was drenched in blood. The sight made Lin Lei's heart ache. After all, Bei Bei didn't have a Life Source Pearl!
The Three-headed Six-eyed Golden Ni wore black battle armor and held out longer than Bei Bei had.
"Lin Lei, fall back if you can't hold!"
The Three-headed Six-eyed Golden Ni were also battered into the tunnel by the overwhelming number of Abyssal Blade Demons, their bodies slick with blood. With each rear guard fighter who entered the tunnel, the defensive perimeter naturally shrank.
Once the Six-eyed Golden Ni pulled back, Lin Lei retreated to the tunnel entrance.
"Kill him!" Countless Abyssal Blade Demons roared, raising their razor-sharp sabers as they slashed toward Lin Lei.
"Not good." Over a dozen Abyssal Blade Demons attacked Lin Lei simultaneously from every direction—above, below, straight ahead, and from both sides. More than a dozen strikes in all. Each one was as fast as lightning, impossibly fast!
Lin Lei's Purple Blood Soft Sword and Black Jade Heavy Sword managed to take down only two of them. The remaining dozen-plus strikes all landed on his body at once!
"Boom!" His Pulsing Defense, which had reached the 64th layer of Earth Pulse, collapsed instantly.
"Not good." The sheer impact of those dozen-plus blows sent Lin Lei flying. As he was hurled backward, his Dragon Scales were shattered, blood streaming from his body. The Life Source Pearl's green glow flashed continuously as Lin Lei's body repaired itself at astonishing speed.
"I can't hold anymore. They should have gotten a fair distance by now."
Lin Lei flew back along the tunnel.
"Roar~~" Massive numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons roared as they poured into the underground passage. Meanwhile, outside the canyon's mouth, still more Abyssal Blade Demons were gathering and flooding into the tunnel one after another.
"After them!" Countless Abyssal Blade Demons howled in fury.
Lin Lei glanced back. The demons' eyes burned with bloodthirsty madness.
"Rumble~~~" Earth-type elements gathered wildly as massive boulders materialized behind Lin Lei, instantly sealing the tunnel completely. As Lin Lei flew at top speed through the passage, more and more rock piled up behind him.
Earth-type Instant-Cast Eighth-Level Magic—Rain of Shattered Stone.
"Although the Black-armored Giant Scorpion travels underground faster than any of us, this world is made of metal. The ground beneath us is all metal. Its tunneling speed can't possibly match pure flight. Right now I can only buy as much time as possible."
Lin Lei flew while continuously sealing the passage behind him.
"Whoosh!" Behind him, vast numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons sped through the tunnel in pursuit.