Volume 3, Chapter 107 – A Desperate Escape

“You… you’re talking nonsense!” Xue Tian’ao barked in a raspy voice in response to Xiao’s words. Clearly, after being stunned for a few seconds, he was filled with doubt regarding what Xiao had said.

Olivia and Lilian had betrayed him? How could that be possible?! They were both head over heels in love with him, so how could they possibly betray him and choose to flee instead of supporting him! It was impossible!

Furthermore, Lockephy was hard-pressed to protect himself?! What a joke! That man was the Great Guardian General, an existence with strength close to the peak of the eighth rank! Even the infamous ‘Sword Demon’ had been repelled by him back then, so how could he possibly be unable to save himself? The Duke of Blackrose and two demon king tier entities were all here fighting him, so who else could possibly harm that legendary powerhouse!

Xue Tian’ao couldn’t help but question internally repeatedly. However, Xiao had no intention of explaining and simply watched the blond man before him with an amused gaze. Or rather, he was a bald man now, since every hair on Xue Tian’ao’s body had been utterly annihilated under the bombardment of Li Mo’s Annihilation Cannon just moments ago.

Although Xiao didn’t speak to explain, after some careful thought, Xue Tian’ao was forced to accept the reality. After all, if Lockephy were unharmed, the old general would have surely come to support his own son-in-law rather than letting him fight here alone. Even if he wasn’t his son-in-law, he would have come for the sake of the Empire.

Yet, the old general was now nowhere to be found, which meant Lockephy had truly encountered some powerful opponent. But who could possibly rival Lockephy?! Countless questions swarmed into Xue Tian’ao’s mind, causing the ‘brilliant and martial’ Emperor of the Empire to fall into a daze as his brain momentarily stalled.

Regardless, he could no longer count on Lockephy’s help. As for relying on the other Royal Knights and the Imperial Guard, it was clearly unrealistic. At this moment, the defenses of the northern wall had finally reached their limit and abruptly collapsed under a fierce assault by the horde of Abyssal Demons. Countless Abyssal Demons had already swarmed into the Sky Dome, dragging his proud army into a bloody and cruel meat grinder of a battlefield. Under these circumstances, the Royal Knight Corps and the Imperial Guard could not possibly come to his aid when they could barely save themselves.

Upon realizing this, Xue Tian’ao’s heart plummeted into a bottomless abyss, swallowed deep by a swamp of despair. As he was now, it was impossible to turn the tables. Everything he had painstakingly built was vanishing into thin air within a single day.

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‘Why… is it like this…’ Staring intently at the Duke of Blackrose, Xue Tian’ao clenched his fists tightly as his pale gold eyes filled with intense anger and malice. However, no matter how angry he was, it couldn’t change the current disadvantageous situation. As the two demon king tier existences gradually closed in on him, the last bit of fighting spirit in Xue Tian’ao’s heart vanished.

All his anger, resentment, and desire for revenge transformed into an unprecedented fear. It made Xue Tian’ao retreat repeatedly as cold sweat poured down his face. If those loyal subordinates of Xue Tian’ao were to see him so terrified and devoid of any will to fight, they would likely doubt their very lives.

To make matters worse, Xue Tian’ao’s physical condition was already starting to deteriorate. One had to know that he was only barely able to survive the battle against these three monsters thanks to the blessing of triple divine power. If he lost this divine power and his strength returned to the high seventh rank, he would likely be killed instantly.

And now, Xue Tian’ao faintly felt that his body was approaching its limit. The golden divine power was no longer as surging as it was at the beginning but was instead gradually dissipating. He suspected that after a few more minutes, he would lose the blessing of the divine power. When that time came, the backlash of the divine possession would strike, directly stripping him of his combat capability and turning him into a cripple paralyzed on the ground.

In that case, he would truly be at their mercy. Watching Snow Devourer and Death Wing launch a coordinated attack from both sides with thunderous momentum and Xiao sketching out a magic circle in the distance, Xue Tian’ao held his breath.

‘No, no… I can’t die…’

“I can’t just die like this, aaaaahhhhhh!!” Taking advantage of the fact that he still had the divine power blessing, Xue Tian’ao recklessly swung the divine artifact in his hand, the Sky-Cleaving Sword.

‘Judgment of Salvation!!’

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Xue Tian’ao suddenly poured all the divine power around him into the divine sword, using his most powerful move at the cost of sacrificing a divine artifact! In this life-or-death moment, he could not afford to hesitate. Losing his life just to save a divine artifact was clearly not worth it.

Unlike before, Xue Tian’ao had learned his lesson and didn’t foolishly shout the name of the move while preparing his ultimate. Instead, he took advantage of the moment Xiao was constructing his magic circle to manifest his own golden formation!

Xue Tian’ao’s eyes suddenly shrank as the long golden sword abruptly disintegrated into countless metal fragments that danced through the air. As the magic circle rotated, these shards turned into endless golden particles that gathered continuously into the formation as if answering a call.

In the next moment, accompanied by Xue Tian’ao’s wailing cries, the golden light on the formation gradually converged to form a hundred-meter-tall humanoid half-body phantom with a blurred face and an aura of slaughter. The male half-body phantom, wrapped in golden light, was filled with a holy aura, and the ‘Sword of Judgment’ in its hand contained the power to destroy heaven and earth. Once this sword fell, ordinary enemies and half of the Sky Dome would likely turn to dust.

This time, Xue Tian’ao’s skill was surprisingly not interrupted by Xiao. That howling, god-of-slaughter-like golden phantom immediately swung the energy sword in its hand, launching a powerful attack against Xiao and the two demon king tier existences ahead. In an instant, earth-shattering energy exploded once again, and even Xue Tian’ao himself was sent flying by the shockwave.

In the next instant, while being knocked back, Xue Tian’ao immediately mobilized all his divine power and magic power to boost his speed to its absolute peak! In a flash, he turned into a golden meteor and charged out through a crack in the barrier!

That’s right, having lost his will to fight, Xue Tian’ao ultimately chose to run. Although the Judgment of Salvation skill was extremely powerful, Xue Tian’ao didn’t believe it could defeat the Duke of Blackrose and the two terrifying demon king tier existences in one go. Once they crushed the phantom, he would surely be unable to escape death.

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In that case, he had to flee while the enemies were stalled! As long as there is life, there is hope! As long as he survived, all these forces and influence could be rebuilt!

With such thoughts, Xue Tian’ao dashed frantically toward the south after breaking out of the barrier.

‘Will… will I succeed?!’ Seeing that the enemies behind him had not yet defeated the golden phantom, Xue Tian’ao felt a burst of wild joy in his heart. However, before he could immerse himself in the joy of surviving a disaster for long, a black demonic spear was suddenly hurled, violently piercing through the golden phantom with irresistible force and soaring into the sky to strike directly at him!

?!!

‘That… that is?! That bastard’s demonic spear?!’ In an instant, his joy vanished, replaced by an endless sense of trembling. Guided by his survival instincts, Xue Tian’ao hurriedly tried to mobilize his power for defense. However, the speed of the demonic spear was completely beyond his expectations. Before he could even condense the divine power for defense, the laughing demonic spear pierced straight through his abdomen and shattered his spine.

Having suffered another heavy blow, Xue Tian’ao let out a heart-wrenching scream as the acceleration provided by his divine power came to an abrupt halt. He fell sharply from the sky and crashed onto a nearly collapsed building outside the imperial palace.

Xue Tian’ao, who barely managed to crawl up from the ground, had a face twisted with fear. He looked back toward the imperial palace every now and then with an expression of utter terror. Strictly speaking, the attack from the demonic spear just now hadn’t dealt him a fatal wound, but it had effectively interrupted his acceleration. His shattered spine wouldn’t recover immediately, which meant he couldn’t accelerate like he had before.

Looking back at the gradually disintegrating golden phantom, Xue Tian’ao grew increasingly terrified and uneasy. After all, he knew very well that if he failed to seize this opportunity to escape, once his ultimate move was completely broken, only a miserable death like in his previous life awaited him.

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‘No… I… I can’t die…’

‘Regenerate faster! Regenerate already!! Regenerate for me right now!!’

Dragging the lower half of his body that had no sensation, Xue Tian’ao constantly urged himself internally while doing his best to mobilize the divine power within him. Unfortunately, because his power was nearing its limit, the regeneration speed was not satisfactory. Seeing the Annihilation Cannons of the two demon king tier Abyssal Demons blast the golden phantom until it was riddled with holes and nearly collapsed, Xue Tian’ao was like an ant on hot lava, extremely anxious.

Right then, as if sensing something, Xue Tian’ao’s eyes suddenly shrank.

‘That… that aura is? She actually came over?!’ The Chosen Son saw the possibility of survival. Suddenly turning his head to look not far away at two beautiful figures, one black and one white, rapidly approaching the imperial palace, the fire of hope in Xue Tian’ao’s heart was reignited.

‘There’s… there’s a way…’

After revealing a morbid smile, Xue Tian’ao dragged his temporarily paralyzed lower body and suddenly rushed toward the two figures ahead.