"All units, break out!"
To the surprise of the two Red-Robed Cardinals, Shike fell silent for only a moment before letting out a thunderous shout. Red light surged across his body, and behind him, the spectral image of a massive bird of prey materialized.
It was a creature of mythic perfection, its entire body bathed in flames—a god born from fire itself!
"Fire Feather Technique, Eighth Layer! Shike, you've grown old! You haven't improved at all!"
The two Red-Robed Cardinals exchanged a glance, then stepped forward in unison. A vast, oppressive force erupted outward, bearing down on the fire phoenix phantom before them.
Darkness descended as masses of black fog immediately enveloped them and Shike together. A massive battle was about to erupt!
"Kill them!"
Members of the Mobius Ring shouted in unison. Phantoms clad in dark robes burst from the shadows, daggers and similar weapons in hand.
Cries of battle filled the air. Many members of the special task force were novices, and having already suffered a devastating ambush with heavy casualties, their morale plummeted instantly. Several members on the perimeter screamed and fled into the distance.
Bang! Shike was smashed to the ground by a devastating punch. Curselike patterns crawled across his body, and even the terrifying flames of the Eighth Layer Fire Feather Technique were powerless against them.
Masses of flame were gradually corrupted by the cursed runes, sputtering and dying out.
Gradually, even the fire phoenix phantom behind Shike let out a mournful cry. Shike's face had gone deathly pale, and several massive wounds had opened across his body as black runes burrowed into him like earthworms.
"Haha… Shike! You're dead today!" One of the Red-Robed Cardinals wore a look of elation on his face. "Allow me to—"
"Release the Instructor!"
An explosive roar cut the Cardinal off mid-sentence. He frowned and saw two Fire Feather Tribesmen wreathed in flames charging toward him like madmen, their faces twisted with panic.
"Heh heh… Such hot-blooded youths! Shike, you're still the same as always—skilled at brainwashing!" The other Red-Robed Cardinal, an old man, let out a cold, rasping laugh. "Let me dispatch them first, then I'll deal with you…"
A sickly flush colored the old man's face. Simply killing his opponents no longer satisfied him. Over a decade of hatred had made him want to torment them at length—especially to make Shike despair before finishing him off. Only then would his revenge be truly perfect!
"You… don't…" Shike clutched his chest and turned to look at the figures charging toward him, his face a mixture of touched gratitude and urgency. "Run! You're no match for him! Break out with everything you have!"
"Heh heh… There's no escape!" The old man laughed coldly and had his companion keep watch over Shike. He himself moved to block the path of the two young Fire Feather Tribesmen.
"Instructor! Hold on!" Leilin shouted, his face flushed red. The Fire Feather Technique blazed to its full power in his hands, its terrifying scorching force causing several Earth-level Priests to suffer greatly. Wariness appeared on their faces as they retreated to a safe distance.
"This kind of performance! This is practically the hot-blooded protagonist move from my previous life—breaking through at the brink of death…"
Leilin mocked himself inwardly while committing fully to the act, even using his spiritual perception to scan the surrounding scene.
The special task force had been ambushed and suffered devastating losses. Nearly half the members were already dead. That Misi fellow, however, had smeared blood on his face and collapsed to the ground, using some secret technique to mask his aura. He'd survived until now—far luckier than those who'd tried to flee only to be hunted down and cut apart. He wasn't even seriously wounded, a genuine anomaly.
Looking at Shike's moved expression, Leilin felt somewhat speechless.
"If you knew that these two who seem to be risking their lives to save you actually have their own hidden agendas, I wonder if you'd cough up blood on the spot…"
Leilin's gaze flicked to the side, where Locke—the cold, hardened man who had demonstrated the sixth layer of the Fire Feather Technique—was also fighting fiercely. His face was full of passion and impulsive bravery, the very picture of a loyal and upstanding warrior.
In truth, however, he was just as scheming as the rest. A distinct foreign aura clung to him, well-concealed beneath the surface. If not for Leilin's dual detection abilities—the Chip and his soul power—Locke might have deceived him as well.
"Lei! I'll hold them off! You go save the instructor!"
Locke spotted Leilin's gaze and immediately shouted. At the same time, he unleashed torrents of flame from his body, engulfing several Earth-level Priests around him. Explosions of force rang out continuously—the battle was clearly ferocious.
"You've got to be kidding me! He finds a bunch of low-level cannon fodder as cover and dumps the two Sky-level ones on me!"
Leilin rolled his eyes inwardly but let out a war cry and charged forward, throwing a punch at the Red-Robed Cardinal standing in the middle of the path!
Shriek! An ear-splitting crack of displaced air rang out like a piercing phoenix cry. A phantom slightly smaller than the one Shike had conjured appeared behind Leilin—a blazing fire phoenix. Its vivid crimson flames burned as brilliantly as sunlight, draping Leilin in what appeared to be golden battle armor.
"Hmm?! Fire Feather Technique, Seventh Layer! At its peak!" The Red-Robed Cardinal blocking the path called out in surprise. Though the Fire Feather Technique was the signature art of the entire Fire Feather Tribe—nearly every adult tribesman cultivating at least one to three layers—those who reached the fifth layer or above were exceedingly rare. Seventh Layer at its peak meant he was only a single step away from the Sky-level! For a Fire Feather Tribesman of this age, that was absolutely extraordinary talent.
"Little fellow, your luck has run out—running into me!" The Cardinal sneered. Extinguishing geniuses was one of his favorite things to do. Even if such geniuses might have achieved boundless heights in the future, a dead genius was worth less than a dog.
Crack! A surging torrent of black energy cleaved through the void, taking the form of a massive scorpion that materialized in front of Leilin.
"Break!" With a shout, the crimson energy in Leilin's hands intensified, becoming like a roaring flame as he hurtled toward the enormous scorpion.
Sssss! The flames ignited by the Fire Feather Technique blazed upon the scorpion's massive pincers, instantly searing a large charred patch as masses of black energy evaporated and dissipated.
But that was all it accomplished. Crack! The scorpion's other pincer swept forward, sending Leilin flying backward. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Aaargh! Let the instructor go!" Leilin, "gravely wounded," scrambled back to his feet and charged again. Though the fire phoenix phantom behind him was less terrifying than before, it still let out a piercing, resonant roar.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Leilin was sent flying again and again. The Red-Robed Cardinal appeared intent on wearing him down to death, using this to torment Shike. Each time, he deliberately held back just enough to let Leilin struggle back to his feet.
"Lei…" Watching Leilin fight so tenaciously, refusing to give up even when gravely wounded, Shike felt his heart—previously as hard and cold as steel—begin to burn with warmth. Two streams of heat rushed to his eyes, and he nearly broke into tears.
"Give up, child! Run!" Shike let out a futile shout.
"No! I'll never give up!" Leilin shouted words that made him want to vomit, all while swinging his fists. The explosive heat scorched the ground red around him.
Bang! He was sent flying once more. The Cardinal took several steps forward. "I've grown tired of this game. Next time, I'll finish you!"
Whoosh! The massive black scorpion dissipated, and its energy consolidated before the Cardinal. A terrifying wave of power radiated outward.
"Is that Lei guy really just an idiot?"
On the other side, Locke had "just happened" to dispatch a few opponents and was quietly closing the distance.
"Almost time. Once that Lei dies, I can use the thing to save Shike and climb to a position of power…"
A look of steely resolve rose in Locke's eyes. His hand slipped inside his clothing, feeling for a round object hidden there.
"Lei, you're a good man, and you possess astonishing talent. But sadly, this is a world where the strong devour the weak. Your hot-blooded passion will never be rewarded—it'll only leave you broken and bleeding. Rest in peace…"
Locke murmured to himself, crouched and still like a leopard preparing to pounce, waiting patiently.
Suddenly, his eyes bulged wide, nearly popping from their sockets. His mouth gaped open as he let out an incredulous howl: "What the—!!! This is actually happening?!"
"For love and justice!!!"
Leilin, wreathed in flames, appeared even more sacred. As the Cardinal bore down on him, a look of sanctified resolve appeared on his face.
Then, with his shout, a torrent of golden flames erupted from within him. Every wound on his body healed in an instant. Behind him, the flames coalesced into a titanic phoenix phantom that blotted out the sky.
If the phantom Leilin had summoned before was merely an image, the phoenix now hovering behind him was different—every single feather was utterly real, as though an ancient fire phoenix had descended upon the mortal world.
The powerful waves of the Fire Feather Technique shattered the barrier of the Seventh Layer's peak and surged into an entirely new and far more formidable realm!
"Damn it! He actually broke through!" Locke swore out loud.
The Eighth Layer of the Fire Feather Technique was already at the Sky-level. In other words, Lei now stood at the same height as the other two Red-Robed Cardinals and Shike!
"Is this… is this actually possible?"
Compared to Locke, the Cardinal directly involved was even more stunned, feeling as though his entire worldview had suffered a devastating blow.
A hot-blooded fool had actually broken through at the brink of death? And now he'd advanced to become an equal? This defied all reason!
On the other side, Shike's face was a mask of joy and astonishment.
"Kill!" The terrifying shockwave of the Eighth Layer Fire Feather Technique propelled Leilin forward like a bolt of fire, closing the distance to the old Cardinal in an instant. Blazing energy swept outward, smashing through the old man's defenses and setting his eyebrows and beard alight.