Chapter 62: Chapter 58: Withdrawal
By the time Evan noticed what was happening, it was already too late.
A massive body cast him in shadow, shoving him aside. In the instant he lost his balance, he instinctively turned his head and saw Millian’s tear-filled eyes.
In that moment, so many complex emotions flashed through those brown eyes.
Gratitude, reluctance, relief, acceptance...
These feelings mingled together, finally coalescing into a look filled with love.
Her life had been too bitter, but that one encounter, when her emotions were at their most fragile, had become the sole ray of light in her eternally dark world.
That day, she found the courage to live on and hope for the future. Though the final outcome wasn’t perfect... perhaps this was enough.
At least, during those days, she had truly "lived."
And so, she smiled and gave him one last, deep look, as if to etch his image into her very soul.
"Millian—!"
Amidst the young man’s roar, the Giant Axe—as merciless as any cruel reality of the past—fell upon the girl without a shred of pity.
Her body was like a bundle of tattered cloth, sent flying weightlessly.
At that moment, it felt as if something inside Evan’s mind had violently exploded.
It was something he had always dreamed of, a wish finally granted, yet Evan’s heart was filled with nothing but grief.
He scrambled up from the ground, gripping the Sword in his hand, an inhuman growl escaping his throat.
Following his instincts, filled with rage and profound sorrow, he unleashed the most perfect, most ferocious strike of his life—
CLANG—!
The blade struck the Giant Axe, and in an instant, he was sent flying back, completely overpowered.
Reality, after all, isn’t a movie. A heart full of rage cannot bridge a gap in power. Even with the aid of Skills, Evan’s feeble Strength was nothing before the Minotaur.
Evan felt as if his entire body had been shattered. He didn’t know how many bones were broken, but blood trickled from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as his consciousness began to fade.
Hearing the sounds, a fierce glint flashed in Lin Mo’s eyes. He put all his power into a Slashing attack, his swinging Wolf Bone Sword bisecting several Cat Demons that were swarming Bain.
Bain struggled to his feet and picked up the Sword and Shield from the ground, looking as if he still intended to fight.
"Take Evan and go! Now!"
Lin Mo’s shout snapped him out of it. Stumbling, Bain rushed to the fallen young man and began dragging him toward the Secret Realm’s exit.
The remaining Cat Demons tried to give chase but were blocked by Lin Mo. With a single Slashing attack, he instantly took four heads.
Meanwhile, Cody was also on the verge of collapse. Surrounded by several Cat Demons, he was powerless to defend himself. And what’s more...
From a corner, a sinister gaze quietly fell upon him.
The Cursed Cat Demon had lost an arm, but it wasn’t dead. No longer tied down by Lin Mo, the nearest person—Cody—naturally became its new target.
Lin Mo noticed, but the Cursed Cat Demon’s speed surpassed his own. At this distance, he would never make it in time to save him.
Lin Mo gritted his teeth, about to make a futile attempt anyway, when he suddenly caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.
He immediately roared, "Cody, get down!"
Hearing his voice, Cody froze for a second, then chose to trust him. Ignoring the attacks from the Cat Demons, he dove straight to the ground.
The move left his back completely exposed to the Demons’ claws. The Cat Demons swarmed him, about to use their sharp talons to tear through his already tattered Leather Armor and rip out his heart!
But just then, a Heavy Axe came flying through the air with a heavy WHOOSH.
The Heavy Axe Lin Mo had brought from the earlier chamber played a crucial role. The immense force, combined with its own terrifying weight, was like a heavy-duty truck running over a speed bump; it sliced the Cat Demons in two without any contest.
Even the Cursed Cat Demon, unable to dodge in time, had a good chunk of its body sheared off.
’An opening!’
A sharp glint flashed in Lin Mo’s eyes. He glanced at the approaching Minotaur, then completely ignored it, charging toward the heavily injured Cursed Cat Demon at top speed.
In the previous fight, he had been tying down the Cursed Cat Demon while also finding time to kill other Cat Demons to relieve the pressure on his teammates. The Physical Consumption had been immense, so he hadn’t dared to rashly use Cross Slash. But now...
"Cross Slash!"
The already heavily injured Cursed Cat Demon had no strength left to dodge or resist Lin Mo’s attack. The fierce sword light sliced it into four pieces!
Without needing a reminder from Lin Mo, Cody forced his battered body up from the ground and ran for the Secret Realm’s exit.
At the same time, a notification flashed before Lin Mo’s eyes.
[Cross Slash] Skill Level +8!
"Skill [Cross Slash] Level 2 (20/20) has leveled up!"
"Current Skill: [Cross Slash] Level 3 (0/40)"
"Gained attribute points: Strength +2!"
In that instant, it was as if Lin Mo’s exhausted body had been revitalized. The sudden increase in Strength gave his body, which had already reached its limit, a new reserve of power.
’This is enough!’
Lin Mo turned to face the Minotaur charging at him, brandishing its Giant Axe, his eyes filled with fury.
"You beast! Time to die!"
The next moment, he swung his Wolf Bone Sword, and two intersecting beams of sword light crashed against the Giant Axe.
This time, his Level 3 Cross Slash, combined with his 15 points of Strength boosted by the Wolf Bone Sword, allowed Lin Mo to instantly overpower his opponent. The Giant Axe flew from the Minotaur’s grasp, and the remaining sword light sliced open its chest, sending blood gushing forth.
The Minotaur staggered back several steps before finally steadying itself, but Lin Mo was already gone.
Before it could pick up its nearby axe, Lin Mo suddenly appeared behind it and, using the last of his Physical Strength, unleashed another Cross Slash.
The blade tore through coarse skin and sank into the Minotaur’s tough flesh. The intense resistance almost brought Lin Mo’s attack to a halt, but as the blade scraped against bone, the second beam of sword light followed almost instantly. The physical damage bonus from his Stealth skill activated at that moment, finally shattering the Minotaur’s defense and severing its spine!
[Stealth] Skill Level +8!
[Cross Slash] Skill Level +8!
A moment later, as the two notifications faded from view, Lin Mo finally lowered his Sword and fell backward onto the ground.
His chest heaved as he gasped for breath.
It was the first time since coming to this world that he had fought to such an extreme...
’But unfortunately, I still couldn’t save everyone.’
Lin Mo tilted his head back and looked toward Millian, who lay in the distance.
From his tilted perspective, a look of astonishment suddenly appeared on his face.
He hadn’t noticed it during the heat of battle... With the Minotaur’s immense Strength, there was no way Millian’s Leather Armor could have withstood the blow from a Giant Axe that weighed hundreds of pounds. She should have been sliced in two without a doubt.
But—
Lying in a pool of blood, Millian’s body was still intact.
