Jieluo was covered in cuts and bruises as she crawled out of the shattered car window.
The car, once gleaming and new, was now no different from a pile of rags—the twisted steel frame was almost rolled into a ball, the car body was nearly half its original size, and yellow-black oil seeped from the chassis, emitting a pungent smell.
This should have been a car accident with no chance of survival. If not for the protection of the power of nature, she would probably have been mangled beyond recognition by the deformed car body.
Jieluo endured the pain and struggled to stand up. The bridge was a mess, with scattered vehicle parts everywhere, and the truck was blocking the way not far away. She looked back and found that several cement mixers were blocking the way behind her. Even if the car had survived the impact, it would not have been able to leave the highway bridge.
If the accident was purely accidental, the driver behind should have come down to rescue people long ago, but until now, she had not seen a single person. The entire bridge was eerily silent.
If it were normal times, she would have burst into tears, but even though tears were welling up in her eyes and her body was trembling non-stop, she clenched her teeth and didn't let the tears fall.
Jieluo often heard her uncle say that the Fallen would target those who had awakened the power of nature, and this might be a pre-planned ambush.
In the face of the enemy, one must never show a weak posture.
That would not only be useless, but would also worsen one's own situation.
She was no longer a child, but an awakened martial artist!
"Creak."
A grating friction sound broke the silence on the bridge.
The roof of the overturned truck was torn open from the inside by something, and a masked figure walked out of the cab.
To be unharmed in such a tragic car accident and be able to tear the car body apart with bare hands, this was obviously something that ordinary people could not do.
Jieluo couldn't help but press herself against the wrecked car behind her.
Through the mask, she seemed to feel an extremely bone-chilling cold rising from the soles of her feet. Even though she couldn't see the other person's eyes, she could feel that all of the other person's attention was focused on her, just like a venomous snake staring at its prey.
"This is the target you want to deal with? She looks like nothing more than a kid who hasn't even grown all her hair yet." Then two more "monsters" appeared from above the carriage. One could barely make out a human shape, but its hands and feet were somewhat deformed. The other had wings and fangs, no different from a legendary gargoyle.
However, the Fallen could undergo mutations, so it was not surprising that they evolved into any shape. From the red cyclones flashing in front of their chests, it could be determined that both were undoubtedly Fallen.
"There's no need to make such a big fuss over this little girl. Just find a chance to take a bite, and she won't even have a chance to call for help. Why don't I take her life for the envoy of God—" The gargoyle-like Fallen let out a strange laugh and spread its wings, preparing to pounce on Jieluo.
However, it was stopped by the masked man.
The latter raised a finger and pointed it slightly downward. The enemy who had just leaped up was pressed to the ground as if by an invisible palm. The force of the impact was so great that even cracks appeared on the bridge surface!
"Idiot, who allowed you to act without permission?" The masked man said coldly, "You have no idea what kind of opponent you are facing."
"Sir, isn't she... a martial artist who has just awakened?" The long-armed monster said in surprise.
"That's right, but not an ordinary martial artist. You can only see her weak cyclone, but I can see the light shining around her." The masked man bowed to the little girl and said, "Am I right? World Creator—Miss Jieluo?"
What... is it talking about?
World... Creator?
Jieluo swallowed, "You must have mistaken me for someone else."
"So you don't know about this." The masked man was slightly stunned, and then laughed, "But it doesn't matter, everything will be over soon. Before that, please allow me to introduce myself. I am the envoy of God, Delta, from what you call 'Erosion'."
"Are you going to kill me?"
"Kill is not accurate. I am only acting on the order of God to return everything to the right track and send the stolen power back to its source. Your world is also a part of it."
"Envoy of God... can't we kill her?" The gargoyle struggled to get up from the ground, looking confused.
"Not now." Delta said slowly, "As a martial artist, her power is insignificant, but never underestimate a Creator, especially in the domain she created. Your rash actions will only ruin the long-planned plan. In order to adapt to the rules, I can only exert less than one ten-thousandth of my strength, but she has unlimited possibilities. Therefore, before taking action, we must cut off her connection with the world, so that we can ensure that nothing goes wrong. You won't have to wait too long, the rift will be formed soon."
Jieluo then realized that the originally gray sky was covered with translucent diamond-shaped patterns, which were constantly converging towards the center of the bridge. The scenery outside the patterns gradually blurred, as if it was moving away from this world.
"Don't worry, from the moment you entered this bridge, there has been no chance of escape—those stupid logical consciousness bodies think that the Martial Arts Tournament is our target, which is ridiculous! The more martial artists they send, the more empty the defenses in other places will be."
Delta spread his hands, "There are a total of thousands of cores hidden under the bridge, and the Martial Arts Association is completely unaware of this! With the magic power they provide, I can pull this area into the rift where the two worlds overlap. In the rift, the consciousness world domain that you rely on will be interfered with by God, and will no longer be able to give you any help. We will duel here on equal footing until one side—returns to the source!"
As he finished speaking, the patterns in the sky happened to merge together, and all things outside suddenly dimmed, eventually turning into a black void. The bridge, which had lost its light source, should have also fallen into darkness, but just like the world was forcibly cut off, the light belonging to this place still existed, and illuminated every corner of the rift as before.
"Now you can do what you want to do." The masked man said in a deep voice.
The two Fallen looked at each other and jumped up at the same time, rushing towards Jieluo one after the other—
Jieluo held onto the car frame tightly without moving, looking like she was scared silly to outsiders.
The little girl did feel great fear, especially when the enemy's ugly and ferocious bloody mouth was only inches away from her—if it weren't for Fei Yuhan's instructions, she probably would have had difficulty even standing still.
Her mind was blank, but she only remembered two things.
At the moment when the car was hit, her master completely placed the car horizontally, so that the driver's seat faced the oncoming truck carriage directly. At the same time, the other person also put her in his arms—the surging white light surrounded her in the blink of an eye, and the subsequent earth-shattering events seemed to become much gentler.
The second thing was the gentle whisper from the side of the light.
"Don't leave the car too far, stand up and face the enemy."
"I will protect you."
Until the gargoyle Fallen bit down on Jieluo, she didn't take half a step back!
At this moment, a dazzling silver light burst out from the twisted car body, and slashed straight down from the top of the enemy's head. The light flashed by, and the Fallen who rushed to the front suddenly froze in place, and then a small crack opened from the midline, dividing the entire body into two halves.