"Squeak!"
The two-headed giant rat roared, its sharp claws covered in a yellow glow, and in an instant it tore a massive gash across Bonnie's chest. But as a Treant, Bonnie had no vital organs or flesh to speak of, so naturally there was no spray of blood.
On the contrary, not a trace of pain showed on Bonnie's face. A ring of green light instead radiated outward from the wound on his chest.
Immediately, the gash on Bonnie's chest began to close, even swallowing the giant claws into the flesh, drawing an enraged roar from the giant rat opposite.
"Entangle!"
A ring of vines sprouting green leaves erupted from Bonnie's arm like the most terrifying chain of laws, wrapping around the giant rat's body.
"Incredible regenerative ability, and this kind of melee combat power — could this be the legendary Ancient Treant race?"
At the same time, the mystery surrounding Leilin in her mind grew one shade heavier.
Rumble! Rumble!
Terrifying earthquakes ravaged the area around Crescent Lake, kicking up massive clouds of dust, through which two enormous figures could faintly be seen entangled in combat.
From time to time, a tree-arm or vine would be flung through the air, accompanied by horrifying crunching sounds.
Compared to the giant rat, the Treant Bonnie was clearly no match. However, thanks to his racial characteristics, he managed to keep the creature locked in place, buying Belinda a lengthy window to escape.
By the end, the giant rat had claimed victory, but could only roar in fury at a ground full of wood splinters.
Yet in the shadows, others were watching the battle as well.
"That damn rat! Send the guard battalion over — I'm going to kill it!"
Agnes glared at the two-headed giant rat on the shore of Crescent Lake, her eyes burning with intense hatred. Behind her, a few guards could only nod and murmur their compliance.
"Still, thank goodness Belinda is all right!" Agnes patted her chest, a playful glint still lingering in her eyes.
She had naturally never been at ease letting Belinda go on a mission alone and had secretly followed behind. Just moments ago, if the Treant hadn't appeared, Agnes likely wouldn't have been able to hold herself back from intervening.
"That Nick! He's actually quite interesting! This kind of trump card — is it a summoning spell from another world?"
In the Purgatory world, while priests and beast souls were the dominant paths, other power systems had also been passed down. Even the way of Wizards had quite a few lineages here. So after seeing Lei Lin's summoned Treant appear, Agnes wasn't all that surprised — at most, she assumed Lei Lin had inherited some obscure technique.
"But! A casually summoned Treant that can tangle with a fifth-grade
Agnes stroked her chin. "Go warn my brother. Tell him to temporarily halt his current plans and focus all his efforts on investigating that Nick's background. I have a feeling his identity might be anything but ordinary — it could shock us all!"
Only, Agnes didn't know that when Lei Lin's true identity was revealed, what awaited her wouldn't be mere surprise — it would be sheer terror.
"At once!" A guard immediately saluted and withdrew.
"As for you, you disgusting rat — you dared to hurt my precious Belinda! I'll tear out your bones and eat your brains dipped in oil!"
Accompanying this domineering declaration, a vast and terrifying three-headed serpent materialized from thin air and lunged at the two-headed giant rat.
The remaining guards exchanged helpless glances, then steeled themselves and charged forward after their leader.
A great battle was on the verge of erupting...
Because Lei Lin had revealed a mere sliver of his true strength, it had been enough to fully rouse Agnes's wariness. Thomas's plan for revenge was forced to stall, buying him precious time.
However, on a grander scale, the war was only intensifying — spiraling into an even more brutal state.
To stem the tide of the Gluttony Beasts, the
Bloody attrition continued without pause, plunging the entire Holy City into a state of precarious peril.
And after several months, the beast tide — having endured several bloody engagements — once again pushed the front line to the very edge of the Holy City.
The Triumphal Arch and the city walls, once suffused with holy light, had now become the serpent people's last line of defense.
Moreover, unlike the previous spread of the Gluttony Force, this time the Gluttony Beast army had Beelzebub himself presiding over it. Even the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents could not deal with him easily.
It could be said that the entire Holy City had entered a moment of mortal crisis — a point between life and death.
Many of the residents inside the Holy City now had to fall asleep to the roars of Gluttony Beasts, and some even had to contribute their own part to the city's defense.
"I've told you many times! This is Stewart family property, and I am Master Thomas's guest! Unless you have his explicit permission, you have no right to requisition a single thing here! Get lost!"
Lei Lin sent the patrol squad on their way with a sharp and severe tone.
Even with Stewart's name to fall back on, Lei Lin had still been forced to risk a bit of mental suggestion before the soldiers would obediently leave.
"This is already the fourth time this month, isn't it? And each time is more urgent than the last. It looks like the rumor that the Gluttony Beasts are about to breach the Holy City has already spread quite far..."
After sending them off, a bitter smile played across Lei Lin's face.
He then made his way over to the flower bed. The small green tree had grown considerably taller, its entire form a vivid emerald, like a flawless piece of art.
Even with the formation concealing it, this peculiar phenomenon had still attracted a fair amount of attention. Had Lei Lin not been keeping a constant vigil, there very well might have been some bold madman who would have snuck in to steal it.
"The Holy Light Crystals that Belinda delivered last time seem to have had an excellent effect on the
Lei Lin studied the small green
"First I went to the trouble of humoring Thomas, then I demonstrated my strength — and between the two I managed to buy exactly two years. Just enough time to successfully cultivate this branch cutting! What a blessing of fate!"
Lei Lin's eyes burned with intensity.
Ever since discovering that the Holy Light Crystals benefited the Wisdom Tree sapling, he had naturally struck out on his own several times in secret, pulling off a number of audacious heists to amass a large quantity of Holy Light Crystals. This had dramatically accelerated the growth of the Ancient Wisdom Tree cutting.
Lei Lin was always meticulous in his work, leaving behind no clues. Moreover, with the ongoing racial war, the forces conducting searches were not particularly vigorous, and the cover provided by his location allowed him to slip through unnoticed with ease.
After all, who would ever suspect a dying old man?
Yes — two years had allowed the Ten Thousand Serpent Curse Seal to drain nearly all of Lei Lin's life force. Even with the Mimicry Spell, deep wrinkles had begun to spread across his forehead and the backs of his hands.
"Chip! How long do I have left to live?" Lei Lin asked in his mind.
"Ding! Collecting host's life-force data... Constructing predictive model... Experiment complete. Estimated host survival time: 34 days, 12 hours, and 32 seconds!"
The Chip reported back faithfully.
"Just a little over a month, then? That's shorter than my previous estimate — is it because of the last time I made my move? *Cough cough*..."
Lei Lin broke into another violent fit of coughing, and even his handkerchief was stained with scarlet blood.
"The rejection reaction is getting worse and worse too!" A bitter smile hung at the corner of Lei Lin's mouth as he tossed the blood-soaked handkerchief aside.
He could be said to have already weakened to the absolute limit.
The terror of the Serpent Curse Mark was almost fatal for the blood descendants of the Ten Thousand Serpents and for warlocks who had used the Ten Thousand Serpents bloodline.
In truth, the fact that Lei Lin had managed to hold on until now was already something truly remarkable.
"ROAR!! AWOOU!! BOOM!! CRACK!!"
Piercing roars, bursts of multicolored fire, the shrieks of countless serpent-folk, and a faint tremor from the ground — all of it came pouring in.
The Gluttony Beast tide outside was launching yet another assault on the Holy City.
Neither the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents nor Beelzebub had made a move, as if some unspoken agreement had been reached between them, leaving the outcome entirely in the hands of their subordinates.
Sieges like this now played out several times a day on average, causing enormous casualties and displacing yet more refugees.
Because of his backing and protection, many neighbors had come begging for help — and of course, Lei Lin had refused every single one of them without mercy.
"No! I don't want Daddy to go! Please, don't take me to the battlefield! I don't want to die!"
From the street nearby came a great deal of commotion, the wailing of tortured souls reaching Lei Lin's ears.
"What a… mess!"
Lei Lin shook his head and settled back into his armchair, narrowing his eyes slightly as though drifting into a light doze.
"Grandpa Nick! We've come to see you!"
Bang! The front door was shoved open, and
"Hey! You two are here!"
Lei Lin wore a warm smile on his face, looking like a kind, hospitable old man living alone, delighted to see the neighborhood children stop by. "I just happened to brew some tea!"
The shabby little courtyard was no different from before, except that beside the small green tree, Lei Lin had set up a round wooden table and a reclining chair, never straying more than a step away from them.
On the wooden round table sat a white porcelain teapot, wisps of steam continuously rising from it.
"Come! Try the new drink I've made!"
Lei Lin was quite the gracious host, brewing a cup of the green tea each for Belinda and Sophia.
"Mmm! It smells wonderful!" Sophia cupped the teacup in both hands, her eyes brimming with pure satisfaction.