Chapter 7: “The End”

“Haha, come on! You b*stard Aberrant Beasts! Aren’t you supposed to be so tough? Come on!”

“Captain, with all due respect, if you stop now, the horde behind you will certainly grant your wish.”

“You little brat! Just you wait until we get back, I’ll deal with you then!”

In the boundless horde of Aberrant Beasts, the five members of the search team chatted and laughed as if there were no “beasts” around.
Any approaching beast was greeted with a slash to the head, and those that were lucky enough to dodge were invariably met with the invisible “Ethereal Flame,” devoured completely.

Every member of the search team felt their entire body brimming with power.
Slashing at the beasts was like cutting vegetables and melons; with a flick of the wrist and the fall of the blade, a “beast’s” life was taken.
Of course, they automatically ignored the beasts that were only wounded and not killed…

Their current behavior was understandable.
After all, they had thought they were goners, with no way to survive, and no way to report the beasts’ unusual movements to their superiors.
Who would have thought that under Xia Lixing’s leadership, they would actually be charging through a super A-rank beast tide, leaving those A-rank beasts utterly helpless.
This feeling was just too awesome!

But there was one person who wasn’t happy, and that was Xia Lixing, who was clearing the way at the front.

He, who was responsible for clearing the path, was facing beasts that were in a frenzy under the command of the A-rank beasts.
If it was just a matter of killing them, it wouldn’t be a difficult task.
But now, Xia Lixing had to ensure that he was not blocked for even a moment.
The slightest deviation would have unimaginable consequences.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the five members of the search team still had the energy to joke around, looking quite impressive.
If it weren’t for the “Ethereal Flame” that could completely devour the beasts, not even leaving behind a corpse to block Xia Lixing for a second, they would probably have been “chatting and laughing” with the King of Hell underground long ago.

Even now, when it seemed like there was no danger, they were actually in a situation where things could go wrong at any moment.
The shield formed by the “Ethereal Flame” was certainly strong, but maintaining a stable shield shape without letting it erupt, and without reducing its lethality, was a huge drain on Xia Lixing’s mental energy.
As everyone knew, an ability user’s abilities were controlled by their mental energy.
If their mental energy was depleted, even if their physical strength and ability were still abundant, they wouldn’t be able to use even a sliver of their ability.

“Ethereal Flame” could devour beasts to feedback energy and replenish physical strength and ability, but it couldn’t replenish the mysterious mental energy.
All Xia Lixing could do was to kill the beasts as much as possible before they hit the shield.

“Alright, stop messing around and concentrate! We’re in a super A-rank beast tide right now. Even with Lord Xia Lixing clearing the way, this is no place for us to be distracted!”

Fortunately, the captain of the search team quickly realized that they had become a bit too relaxed and spoke up to remind them.

“What? Weren’t you the one who started it…”

“Ahem… Everyone, focus!”

The captain’s face turned beet red from this sudden retort.
He threw out a reminder and then shut his mouth.
The other team members didn’t press the matter, because they knew that they had indeed been a bit too relaxed.

This was a super A-rank beast tide.
Although those five A-rank beasts couldn’t catch up, the dark mass of beasts from all directions were no paper tigers either.
What’s more, they had all noticed the sweat on the brow of the silent Xia Lixing.

They didn’t have a surefire victory, nor were they here for sightseeing.
They were still standing on a swaying high-wire, and could be crushed to pieces at any moment.

Xia Lixing had no time to mind the search team.
All his energy was focused on the “Ethereal Flame Shield” and the seemingly endless horde of beasts in front of him.
Nearly half an hour had passed since they charged into the horde.
Xia Lixing had thought that once they passed the five A-rank beasts, it meant they had crossed the center of the horde, but it seemed that was not the case.
The feedback from the “Ethereal Flame” still indicated a boundless horde of beasts.

Either he had miscalculated the position of the five A-rank beasts, or there were more than just five A-rank beasts in this beast tide.

If it was the former, it would be fine.
Xia Lixing felt that his mental energy could still last for a while.
But if it was the latter, then they would probably have a hard time getting back alive.

However, Xia Lixing was more inclined to believe the former possibility, not out of wishful thinking, but because the five A-rank beasts had already discovered them and had given orders to intercept them as much as possible, probably closing in on them as well.
If there were other A-rank beasts in this beast tide, they would have probably flanked them from the front long ago.
How could they possibly let them charge through like this, leaving the five A-rank beasts to eat their dust behind them?

After briefly considering the two possibilities, Xia Lixing breathed a small sigh of relief.
As long as there were no other A-rank beasts blocking the way, he refused to believe that he couldn’t carve a path to the end of this beast tide.

“Can you still hold on? If you can, I’m going to speed up.”

Deciding to charge out of the beast tide as quickly as possible, Xia Lixing shouted to those behind him.

“No problem!” ×5

After receiving an affirmative answer, Xia Lixing suddenly withdrew his giant blade, allowing the swarming beasts to crash into the “Ethereal Flame Shield.”

His forward steps did not stop.
Xia Lixing’s “Ethereal Flame Shield” temporarily became the sharp blade that cleared the way for him.
And on the giant blade that Xia Lixing held inverted, waves of heart-pounding fluctuations gradually began to emanate.

Then, Xia Lixing made a very ordinary motion.

He swung the blade.

The giant blade was swung upwards from below with great force, and a devastating blade beam shot out under the shocked gazes of the search team members.
That’s right, a blade beam, a blade beam formed from “Ethereal Flame.”
The violently twisting air made the invisible “Ethereal Flame” clearly visible.
The massive blade beam crushed its way forward, and all the beasts in its path were like fragile bubbles, shattering on contact.

“Charge!”

Xia Lixing let out a roar and suddenly accelerated, charging along the not-so-wide path cleared by the blade beam.

His roar snapped the search team members out of their daze.
This was no time to be daydreaming.
While most of the beasts were distracted by the blade beam, they had to rush out as far as they could!

No longer deliberately conserving their strength, everyone ran at their fastest speed, except for Xia Lixing, of course.
He maintained a speed similar to the rest of the team, still charging at the very front.

After a brief moment of distraction, the beasts also reacted.
Ignorant of fear, they roared again and charged towards the nearest humans.
The path cleared by the blade beam was instantly filled with beasts again, and it looked as if the six of them were about to be blocked by this group of beasts.

Xia Lixing sneered and once again swung the giant blade in his hand.

Another blade beam, this time even larger than the last.
The blade beam once again cut open the path ahead.
The search team members didn’t even need to bother with the beasts to their left and right, letting them crash into the “Ethereal Flame Shield.”
All they had to do was to keep up with Xia Lixing’s speed and follow his lead all the way.

Aberrant Beasts do not fear death, and soon the new path was blocked by them again.
Xia Lixing used the same trick, continuing to swing his blade and unleash blade beams, running wildly along the path opened by the blade beams.
The price for clearing the path so crazily was a speed that almost reached the team’s limit, and the cost was Xia Lixing’s rapidly depleting mental energy.
As for his physical strength, with the feedback from the “Ethereal Flame’s” devouring, it was still too early to wear him out like this.

Xia Lixing was actually gambling, gambling that the edge of the beast tide was within an acceptable range for him.
If he didn’t take this gamble, and continued to advance as before, the distance he could cover would not be much further than in the current situation.
Since the distance they could advance was about the same, he might as well take a gamble.
If he won the gamble, they would break out of the beast tide’s range faster; if he lost, it would only be a matter of dying sooner or later.

Xia Lixing felt that his luck had always been pretty good.
And this time, his luck seemed to be as good as ever.

Another blade beam, and Xia Lixing looked down the path it had cut open.
This time, what he saw was not the dark mass of beasts in the distance, but the long-awaited open land.

“Hahahaha! We’ve finally reached the end!”

Xia Lixing suddenly burst out laughing, and the “Ethereal Flame Shield” he had been maintaining shattered and erupted with his laughter, instantly clearing out the beasts around them.
Before new beasts could swarm in, Xia Lixing once again retracted his blade, but this time, his giant blade was swung horizontally.

A huge crescent-shaped blade beam devoured countless beasts in front of them, and after fighting in the horde for more than half an hour, the group finally saw the familiar open land.

The five members of the search team all threw their heads back and roared.
They had finally done it, the magnificent feat of breaking through a super A-rank beast tide with the lead of only one A-rank combatant!

As for the possibility that the beasts might still pursue them relentlessly after they broke out?
Let them chase if they wanted.
They would even be glad if the beasts that could keep up with their speed could catch up.
That way, the entire beast tide would be considered broken without a fight.

At this moment, their hearts seemed to fly towards the distant central city with the blade beam that had not yet completely dissipated.

Until they saw, in front of them, the eight huge figures surrounded by black mist.

Those were eight A-rank Aberrant Beasts