“Break!” Both hands locked around Dragonslayer’s hilt. The sword and the true fire formed a golden red sword energy that slashed toward the Ghost King and Bennett. The attack used up all of his energy.
The Ghost King raised all six arms, desperate to ward off the descending sword energy. The sound sizzled through the night like fat on a griddle. The golden red sword energy split the Ghost King into half and also slashed Bennett.
Terror flashed across Bennett’s face. He flung himself backward and hurled three sinister relics into the air.
Boom! The three relics were destroyed. They managed to weakened the sword energy.
Slash! The sword energy still caused a deep wound from Bennett’s shoulder to the abdomen. He flew back and hit the cliff wall crying in pain.
The Almighty Soul Devourer weakened after Bennett was badly injured. “Now!” Jared roared, voice raw and cracking. “Everyone move!”
Summoning the last ember of strength, Jared lunged at the weakest part of the green light shield and sliced it with the Dragonslayer Sword.
A brittle crack rang out. The light shield split open, forming a gap three yards wide.
“Move!” Jared yelled over his shoulder.
Vermilion Demon Lord was the first to react. He returned to human form, grabbed Ferdinand, and rushed toward the gap.
The remaining five disciples guarded Lindsay and ran. Elliot hesitated for a second and followed them.
“Stop them!” Bonefiend roared.
Dozens of cultivators from the Malevolent Path Hall surged toward the gap, desperate to close it.
“Back off!” Jared bellowed. He stood before the gap, covered in blood.
His hands each held the Dragonslayer Sword and the Dragon Bell. Even though was weak, his defiant gaze stunned the demonic cultivators.
The Dragon Bell rang again. The sound wave hit the cultivators of the Malevolent Path Hall, and they flew back spitting blood.
He killed each enemy with the Dragonslayer Sword to buy time for his companions to cross the gap.
The enemies fell one by one, while Jared’s body was covered with wounds. His left shoulder had a bone spike pierced through. His abdomen had a sliced wound. His back was hit by three demonic weapons, but never stepped back.
“Jared!” Lindsay sobbed. Tears streaked down cheeks as lurched toward him, desperate to turn back.
“Go! Run!” Jared yelled without looking back.
Gritting his teeth, Vermilion Demon Lord seized Lindsay by the wrist and dragged through the gap. Elliot and the other disciples poured after them.
The instant the last figure slipped free, Jared’s legs finally buckled. He dropped to one knee, bracing himself on Dragonslayer Sword.
Bonefiend’s gravel-rough voice slashed across the battlefield. “Kill him!”
The surviving members of Malevolent Path Hall hurled themselves forward in a single, desperate wave.
Jared watched them come. A thin, icy grin tugged at the corner of his blood-streaked mouth. He still had one final card to play.
“Explode!” He activated the remaining true fire in his body.
Boom!
A cyclone of gold flames burst outward from Jared’s body, flooding the scene in a heartbeat.
Dozens of charging enemies vanished into the flames. They were reduced to ashes before a scream could form.
The golden flame managed to reach Bonefiend. He screamed in agony while half of his body was burned to a crisp.
The shockwave picked Jared up like a rag doll, hurled through the closing gap, and slammed onto the stony mountain road beyond.
“Jared!” Lindsay’s cry cracked with terror. She dropped to knees and pulled his limp, blood-soaked form against chest as tears streamed unchecked.
Vermilion Demon Lord knelt beside them, pressed two fingers to Jared’s neck, and finally exhaled. “He’s alive, but hanging by a thread. We treat now, or we lose him.”
He glanced back at Dragonfall Ravine. The shattered green light shield’s gap was closing, and the stunned enemies dared not chase after them.
Bennett and Bonefiend were heavily injured. The Malevolent Path Hall had lost the will to attack.
“Move before they catch up on us!” Vermilion Demon Lord snapped.
He slung Jared across his back. An Earthfire Pavilion disciple lifted the barely conscious Ferdinand, and the battered survivors fled into the night.
Avoiding every main road, they plunged into the shadowed forest, taking a long route to Crimson Flame City. Grief and silence pressed on them.
Of the twenty-plus who had set out, only nine remained. Jared, Vermilion Demon Lord, Ferdinand, Lindsay, Elliot, and four injured disciples. Everyone else had fallen.
Lindsay fed Jared healing pills, channeling gentle streams of celestial energy into his wounds while tears refused to stop.
Elliot was filled with jealousy and rage. He went silent when saw Lindsay’s sad and weary gaze.
Days later, they finally reached Crimson Flame City’s gates and went straight into Earthfire Pavilion. The members were in an uproar after hearing about the ambush.
Ignatius Flameheart, head of the Earthfire Pavilion, was enraged when saw the teary Lindsay, the heavily wounded Ferdinand, and the fallen disciples.
“Explain! How did Malevolent Path Hall track you and ambush you at the Dragonfall Ravine?” Ignatius yelled. His aura suppressed the survivors.
Ferdinand woke up after an emergency rescue. “Mr. Ignatius… The incident was strange. The Malevolent Path Hall’s ambush was… So precise… As if they knew our route…”
Ignatius’ gaze cut across the crowd. “Did our people tell them our location?”
Uneasy eyes flicked from face to face while the question coiled through every mind.
The Malevolent Path Hall knew the Earthfire convoy’s location and the time they left Flame Gorge. Moreover, they even set an enormous array at the Dragonfall Ravine to trap them.
There must be a traitor among them.
