"Ah—!" A startled cry came from behind.

Ash turned her head and found that the gale that had swept past her body had not disappeared. Although it had weakened a lot, it was still blowing Yezi away.

At the same time, the Demon Executioner appeared behind her.

This...how is this possible?

That whirlwind was clearly an ability. Why hadn't the God's Stone of Retribution completely sealed its effect?

Without time to think, Ash drew her sword and swung back, slashing straight at the opponent's neck.

But the enemy blocked the blow with only one hand. Upon impact, she clearly saw the blue ripples emanating from the devil's arm.

The Demon Executioner didn't even look at her, but stirred up another gust of wind, blowing Yezi further away.

This guy...his only target is Yezi!

Ash kept closely behind the enemy, but the distance between them gradually increased. Yezi also tried to fight back, but the Demon Executioner nullified all her efforts with a wave of his hand. This level of difference couldn't be compensated for by will at all. The flow of magic in the entire space was disrupted, making it difficult to gather strength.

Is this a high-level devil's control over magic? Whether it's interrupting Yezi's ability or using up magic to push her away, it seems effortless for him—Ash's hands were sweating. If this continues, she won't be able to catch up with the deadly blow that could come at any time.

At this critical moment, Ash's spirit became more focused than ever before.

Faster, faster!

For the past two years, she had been following Taqila's extraordinary training method, wearing weighted blocks most of the time. After taking them off, she could indeed feel the changes in her body—the magic attached to her muscles and bones became more and more immense, constantly nourishing every corner of her body. She even had the illusion that they were gradually replacing her flesh and blood.

But that's not enough.

She had to be faster to save Yezi.

And...to protect the person she wanted to protect.

Driven by consciousness, magic began to gather towards her legs—during the sacred duel with Lorgar, Ash saw a special fighting technique. Focusing magic on a certain part of the body could greatly increase its explosiveness and endurance. This was also why the wolf girl could control the individual changes of her limbs.

The Demon Executioner did not place the main target on her body, allowing her to focus on feeling the flow of magic in her body. The fragmented background environment around her made this feeling even clearer.

When the devil used the same trick for the fourth time, pulling the distance between them to more than twenty meters away, it directly broke through Yezi's vine defense and stretched out its claws to stab her chest.

This blow seemed impossible to save—

Almost at the same time, Ash used all her strength to push off the big tree!

In an instant, she felt like she vaguely grasped something.

Her body seemed to turn into lightning, and the distance of more than twenty meters passed in the blink of an eye, as if time had stopped. Even without using her eyes, she could clearly "see" the big tree she kicked to pieces, and the violent wind she created during her sprint broke through branches and crushed weeds.

The enemy stopped for the first time and raised his hands to block her slash.

"Clang—Bang!"

Under the full sweep, the Demon Executioner was knocked back several meters, rolled two somersaults in the air, and landed steadily on the ground.

Ash continued her momentum, grabbed the falling Yezi, and protected her behind her again.

"Oh?" The devil raised his eyebrows, revealing a hint of interest.

"Fire!"

At this moment, the reinforcements Ash had been waiting for finally arrived at the battlefield—the God's Stone of Retribution Witches squad stationed at the end of the forest jumped out of the dense forest and pulled the trigger of the xìandàn guns towards the only enemy. The huge roar immediately resounded through the forest, and the bullets sprayed towards the target like raindrops. The latter used the tree trunk as cover, dodging from left to right like a ghost. Even so, amidst the scattered flying tree bark and debris, bursts of languang could be seen from time to time on his body.

Further away, there were rapid and chaotic footsteps. Obviously, after the God's Stone of Retribution Witches, the First Army was also completing the encirclement little by little.

The devil looked at Ash one last time, jumped up, and an astonishing amount of magic suddenly erupted from his body, and then quickly rushed into the air, disappearing into the vast night after a few breaths.

"Damn it," the leader of the God's Stone of Retribution Witches spat, squatted down in front of Ash, "My name is Ailena, are you alright?"

"Not a big problem," Ash glanced at the half-comatose Yezi in her arms, and gently wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, "But she needs treatment."

"Don't worry," Ailena comforted, "I received a notice from the front line that Nannawa xiaojie and Twilight xiaojie are already on their way."

...

As soon as the Ascender landed, a nascent body guard greeted him.

"Ursrook, this is the breathing canister prepared for you—"

Before it could finish speaking, the other party snatched the canister and put it directly to his nose and took a deep breath.

"Hiss——————"

After a long time, Ursrook seemed to catch his breath, "Replace it for me."

"Yes."

After discharging the waste canister, the guard inserted a new canister as long as an arm into its spine—for Ascenders, this internal exchange of breathing does not rely on armor and does not hinder movement, making it a more ideal means of carrying.

"I wonder about your trip..."

"It was a little short, but this was expected," Ursrook said expressionlessly, "After all, that is human territory. If they can't even stop this, I should suspect whether Cabradah has really betrayed us."

"No, they didn't stop the real you." The guard said loudly, "The breathing canister xiànzhi your power. If it were within the scope of the Tower of Birth, those bugs would not be your opponents at all!"

Driving magic accelerates the consumption of the mayfly of life, especially for high-level Ascenders. Considering the amount of mayflies required for the round trip, it is equivalent to fighting in shackles.

"So this time it was just a bait. Next time I will choose a fairer place," Ursrook looked south of the forest, "...a suitable cemetery for eternal sleep."

"If the Lord of the Sky Dome could support you more," the guard said with some indignation, "You wouldn't have to use this risky method, the Tower of Birth in Taqila also..."

"Risky?" Ursrook interrupted his subordinate, "I think it's quite interesting. After all, listening to reports is not as good as experiencing it yourself." He took a deformed steel ball from his armor and looked at it carefully for a moment, "The female Awakened has made no progress, but the male without magic has changed. Those humans are not completely useless...It would be better to know more about them."

The guard did not reply, but a look of disapproval appeared on his face.

Ursrook casually put the steel ball into his arms, "As for the Lord...I believe it must have done its best, but the King must have its own concerns and difficulties, there is nothing to be indignant about. After all, we are all fighting to go to a higher realm, to touch that sky, aren't we?"

"You...your teachings are correct." The guard lowered his head.

"Take «Tombstone» and retreat, the road back to Taqila is still long." Ursrook slowly flew up, turning towards the ruins of the Holy City, "Now that the bait has been laid, all that remains is to wait."

Waiting for the day it shrinks and tightens—

We will definitely meet again.