Chapter 100 - 99: He’d Better Try Hard to Hold On a Little Longer

It turned out that after pecking down the Earth Wall raised by Flynn Jenkins, the three Thunder Birds had also exhausted their Energy and dissipated along with it. But soon, three identical little birds flew over, fiercely pecking at the chests of the three of them.

At this moment, a blue-purple bird was pecking at Lana Florian’s chest, striking again and again with its slender, sharp beak. Its speed rivaled a pile driver, and every strike landed in the exact same spot without the slightest deviation. Though the bird’s attacks appeared weak, the damage it inflicted was anything but low.

By the time Lana felt the piercing pain in her chest, a tiny, bone-deep bloody hole had already been bored into her flesh. She had no doubt that if left unchecked, this bird would absolutely pierce through her heart within a minute!

She instinctively used Ice Shield, temporarily freezing her chest. In the next second, the rapid clinking of ice being chipped away echoed through the air, eerie and unnerving.

Unlike Lana and Scarlett Thorne’s initial nonchalance, Flynn had been carefully on guard. So, the moment the bird rushed at him, he instinctively raised his arm to block it. A sharp pain immediately flared on the back of his hand as Blood Beads seeped out. Yet, the bird kept pecking relentlessly, looking as if it swore to drill right through this obstacle blocking its path to his heart.

Nearby, Scarlett’s screams had already begun. A tiny bloody hole had been pecked into her chest, and fresh blood was slowly seeping out. In a panic, she conjured a Water Shield, temporarily blocking the bird’s assault. However, her Water Shield’s defensive capability wasn’t very strong; it clearly wouldn’t hold up for long.

Thrown into chaos, it took the trio a good dozen seconds before they belatedly realized they needed to disperse these Thunder Birds. However, these creatures were condensed from a Seventh Tier Thunder Element, possessing astonishing speed that made their trajectories extremely difficult to track. Furthermore, since they were purely formed by Thunder Power, even if someone luckily landed a hit, it would at most deplete a bit of Energy. It was like slashing a blade through light and shadow—it wouldn’t even leave a scratch.

After all, among the three of them, two were Fifth Tier and one was Fourth Tier. Even though Rick Kaye was at the end of his rope, he was ultimately still a Seventh Tier. How could resisting his Ability be an easy task? In a short time, the three birds had the trio scrambling frantically. They had consumed a significant amount of Ability but were still utterly helpless against the tiny creatures.

When the aircraft carrier of the Head of the Stone Family arrived above the battleground, Doctor Jenkins immediately and clearly sensed the Ability fluctuations of the dying Sixth Tier Two-headed Lizard. His suspended heart finally settled for the moment, and he quickly went to probe for Rick’s Thunder Power fluctuations.

Because of the close distance, he could distinctly sense the Ability fluctuations of every person at the scene. When he detected Rick’s faint Thunder Power fluctuations, his heart instantly sank. This was clearly a sign of imminent death!

Without a second to communicate with the people around him, Doctor Jenkins directly condensed a semi-circular Spirit Bridge and quickly slid down along it toward the ground. While still mid-air, he unleashed his self-created Skill directly toward Rick’s position—the Jelly Cradle. This was something he had spent a long time developing just to coax his older cousin’s little nephew. In this moment of desperation, he couldn’t care less whether Rick would be willing to accept a Guardian Barrier meant for pacifying children.

After releasing the last nine Thunder Hummingbirds, Rick collapsed limply onto the ground like a plant drained of all Vitality. At this moment, he couldn’t even lift a single finger, nor had he even left a final Protective Shield for himself. He knew that his remaining Ability—less than twenty percent—wouldn’t hold up for long, even if he devoted it entirely to defense instead of counterattacking.

The three of them working together would quickly be able to finish him off. They couldn’t possibly let him leave alive, because they wouldn’t be able to bear his subsequent revenge.

When he saw the Skill Lana casually threw out—Thousand Arrows Piercing Heart—he couldn’t help but smile bitterly. This woman was truly ruthless. She was so afraid he wouldn’t die completely that she had to deliver a fatal finishing blow. After all these years of affection, even if she wanted him dead, she shouldn’t have wanted his corpse left in pieces, right?

He closed his eyes, quietly waiting for death to arrive. At this moment, his heart was filled with extreme remorse. Before they came, Sev Steele had taken the risk to tell him about that prophetic dream. Yet, he only knew to suspect his beloved’s companions; from start to finish, he had never doubted Lana in the slightest. Thinking about it now, he had truly been foolish beyond belief.

Those two had always followed Lana’s lead. Even if they were given the utmost courage, they wouldn’t dare act on their own behind her back and ambush her fiancé. If an ambush was going to happen, the mastermind had to be Lana! But they had grown up together. With over twenty years of a bond forged through life and death, he had instinctively resisted doubting her. Now... he was just reaping what he sowed.

Just as all his hopes turned to ashes, he suddenly felt his body being enveloped by something soft and squishy. The sensation was like a baby lying in its mother’s womb—warm, comfortable, and safe. Rick thought this was just a hallucination everyone experienced before dying. He didn’t open his eyes and continued to lie there quietly.

The moment Doctor Jenkins landed on the ground, he saw Rick lying motionless with his eyes tightly shut inside the Barrier. Then he saw the three people being attacked by three Thunder Birds. Among them was his distant cousin, Flynn. If those three hadn’t backstabbed Rick, there was no way Rick would have left behind an attack Skill to deal with them right before his death. Therefore, Doctor Jenkins immediately locked onto Flynn with his spiritual power.

Flynn, who was already flustered by the Thunder Birds’ attacks, found it difficult to condense an Earth Shield after being trapped by Doctor Jenkins. He could only use his arms to shield his chest. The Thunder Bird pecked at his arm strike after strike, sending blood and flesh flying. It was a miserable sight!

In his hazy consciousness, Rick vaguely heard Scarlett’s agonizing screams. He also heard Flynn’s panicked yells, "Lana, these damn birds can’t be dispersed at all! What do we do?" Lana didn’t answer. She was probably racking her brains for a countermeasure.

Rick couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. He mused that if they wanted to disperse his Thunder Birds, they would have to put in a lot more effort than that. As long as he was still breathing, his birds could not be dispersed by any Ability user below the Seventh Tier. They could only slowly exhaust the birds’ Energy using Ability attacks. He had to try his best to hold on a little longer. Even if he couldn’t kill these three, he at least had to make them suffer for a while longer.

Suddenly, he heard another familiar and furious voice calling out, "Flynn, how dare you collude with them to murder Rick?

"Do you know he is the renowned Judge, the captain of the Second Security Zone’s escort aircraft carrier, the Doomsday Judgment?

"Once this gets out, the entire Jenkins family will have to bear the wrath of the Second Security Zone’s higher-ups. Are you trying to bring ruin to the Jenkins family?"

That was Jared Jenkins’ voice! Wasn’t he unable to use his Ability? How could he have found this place? No, it was impossible. It had to be a hallucination before death.

Then Rick heard Flynn’s panicked defense, "No, no, I didn’t! I swear, I really didn’t do anything!" Rick sneered in his heart. Flynn indeed hadn’t done anything—at least, he hadn’t actively ambushed him. However, he had raised an Earth Wall to defend Lana when she backstabbed Rick, completely blocking Rick’s counterattack. But none of that mattered anymore. He was about to die.

History had always been written by the victors. He had lost, and he had lost because of his unreserved trust in his beloved. After he died, they could fabricate ten thousand excuses to absolve themselves. The simplest excuse would be that Rick, worried about the fleet’s safety, couldn’t wait for the Seven Star Grass to mature and left alone first. Then, he inexplicably went missing. No one would suspect a thing, because Lana had shared a life-and-death bond with him for years. Everyone else in the world might harm him, but she never would!