68: Chapter 68 Terrifying Roar

Under Lin Tian's gentle yet firm "massage" and verbal reassurance, Lin Yin's tense nerves and muscles gradually relaxed, while the moonlight, like an invisible stream, nourished her greatly exhausted body.

About a quarter of an hour later, the slight pallor on her cheeks regained some color, her trembling arms steadied, and a clear, sharp light reignited in her eyes.

"Brother Tian, I'm ready." She said softly, her tone returning to its usual calmness. She offered Lin Tian a faint smile to put him at ease, then turned around to face the outside of the city wall once more.

The slaughter continued.

The moonlight seemed to become an extension of her limbs, with its clear radiance flowing over the bowstring.

She no longer used the energy-consuming "Full Moon Judgment," but instead pushed her ordinary lunar energy arrows to their limit. Every draw of the bow was as steady as a rock, and every release was as swift as lightning.

The arrows tore through the air with a faint hum, accurately piercing the eye sockets, throats, or joints of the Rotting Skeleton Giant Bears.

The Silver 9-Star behemoths roared repeatedly, their foul energy erupting, but it always dissipated rapidly under the purifying power of the lunar energy. Eventually, struck by successive, sometimes even a dozen, tricky arrows, they wailed and crashed to the ground.

Beneath the city wall, three more carcasses of the giant bears were added. Just as Lin Yin locked onto the fourth one, with lunar energy gathering at the tip of her arrow, ready to fire the fatal blow.

"ROAR!!!"

A low roar, impossible to accurately describe in words, exploded without warning from the far, deep end of the darkness!

The sound was not deafening, yet it carried a terrifying power that pierced the soul and shook the heart!

It did not sound like the roar of a beast, but rather like the murmurs and warnings of some sleeping ancient horror, or some indescribable existence! Where the sound passed, even the air seemed to freeze and chill for an instant, and the light of the torches on the city wall flickered violently, almost extinguishing!

Lin Tian and Lin Yin's bodies shook violently at the same time!

Lin Tian only felt a chill shoot instantly from his tailbone to the top of his head; his heart felt as if it had been gripped by an icy hand, suddenly skipping a beat, and his breathing abruptly ceased.

That was not the trembling of facing a powerful enemy, but the deepest, instinctive fear brought about by the absolute crushing of life levels!

He froze in place, his pupils contracted, his mind went blank, leaving only the reverberations of that roar echoing wildly within his skull, shaking his very soul.

Lin Yin was similarly struck by lightning; her fingers holding the arrow loosened, and the gathered lunar energy quietly dissipated. Her face turned even paler than when she had been exhausted earlier, and her hand holding the bow trembled uncontrollably—not from fatigue, but from pure terror.

The endless violence, chaos, and will of destruction contained within that roar made even her, the Saintess of the Moon, feel an unprecedented chill.

What was even more heart-stopping was the change beneath the city wall. The remaining five Rotting Skeleton Giant Bears, upon hearing this roar, were not scared away; instead, as if they had heard the command of a monarch or the call of their pack leader, they all stopped their meaningless charging.

They raised their hideous heads towards the direction from which the roar came, let out a short howl filled with awe and obedience, and then, without hesitation, turned around, took heavy strides, smashed through the trees along the way, and plunged into the pitch-black jungle at an astonishing speed, disappearing at the edge of Lin Tian and Lin Yin's vision in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a mess and the rapidly dissipating stench.

Everything happened too fast. From the moment the roar sounded until the giant bears retreated, it was only a short dozen seconds.

On the city wall, there was dead silence. The night wind blew by, bringing the scent of the bottomless darkness from the distant jungle.

Lin Tian took a sharp breath, finally breaking free from the soul-freezing shock; his back was already soaked in cold sweat. He leaned against the cold battlement, looking in the direction where the giant bears had disappeared, and then towards the dark abyss from which the roar had come, which seemed capable of swallowing all light, his brows furrowed tightly.

"They left? Were they… summoned away?" He muttered to himself, his voice carrying an imperceptible dryness. "It seems that behind these giant bears… there really is something more terrifying. Is it the true overlord of this area at night? Or some kind of… existence we cannot understand?"

A heavy pressure enveloped his heart. He recalled the terrifying, fleeting glance of surveillance during the retreat from the night battle earlier; it was likely related to the owner of this roar.

"This secret is something most lords who cower within their protective shields at night probably have no way of knowing…" He shook his head, temporarily pushing aside his chaotic thoughts.

Bringing his attention back to himself, a surging sense of power instantly flooded his limbs and bones.

The system notification clearly showed that the frantic hunting just now had caused both his and Lin Yin's levels to soar to Silver 9-Star! They were only one step away from the Gold rank!

The powerful strength acted like a warm current, dispelling some of the chill.

Lin Tian clenched his fist, feeling the surging energy within him, far exceeding what it was before, and his eyes became sharp once again. "Whatever monsters or ghosts it may be," Lin Tian declared to himself, as if proclaiming to the boundless darkness, "Strength is the only hard truth! As long as I become strong enough, the city wall is built strong enough, and the army is large enough, no matter what demons or monsters you are, you will have to think twice!"

Time silently slipped past one o'clock in the morning.

The exhaustion and lingering fear after the fierce battle, mixed with the excitement of the level up, he looked at Lin Yin beside him.

She had also just recovered from the shock; her face was still a bit pale, but her eyes had regained their clarity, and were even more determined than before.

She did not look at Lin Tian, but instead stared for a long time, with a solemn expression, in the direction from which the roar had come, the moonlight freezing in her eyes.

After a long while, she slowly turned around to face Lin Tian. The moonlight illuminated her delicate profile, which still bore traces of fatigue, but more so, an unshakeable determination.

"Brother Tian," she began, her voice not loud, but every word clear, like an oath, "I will definitely become stronger, ten times, a hundred times stronger than I am now."

After a pause, she met Lin Tian's gaze firmly, "No matter what is hidden in the depths of that darkness, I swear in the name of the Profound Moon, as long as I, Lin Yin, have a breath left, I will never let it harm you in the slightest, or violate a single inch of our territory!"

This was not the words of allegiance from a subordinate, but a promise of protection from the depths of her soul, having cast aside shyness and hesitation. The moonlight spilled onto her, holy and full of power.

Lin Tian was slightly stunned. Looking at the unquestionable seriousness in her eyes, a string in his heart was gently plucked, stirring up a complex warm current.

A gratified and gentle smile appeared on his face. He raised his hand and, this time, just gently patted her shoulder.

"Alright, I have received your sentiments." His voice was soft, carrying a reassuring power. He pointed to the brightly lit Lords Mansion behind him, "You've worked hard tonight, and you were frightened too. Don't think about anything else, go back, take a hot bath, relax, and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, we still have 'big things' to do."

Lin Yin looked at his gentle smiling face, and the tense strings of her heart finally relaxed completely. She nodded gently: "Mm, okay."

The two said no more, walked side by side down the city wall, passed through the quiet camp, and returned to the warm Lords Mansion. They washed up separately, the sound of water particularly clear in the quiet night.

When Lin Tian lay into the soft bedding, the exhaustion of body and mind surged like a tide, but he couldn't help but recall that roar and the look in Lin Yin's eyes as she made her oath under the moonlight.

"Tomorrow… the secret realm challenge…" He whispered, a stronger anticipation for the unknown adventure arising within him, along with a more urgent desire to become stronger. With a hint of exhaustion and a hint of heaviness, but mostly with anticipation for the future, he slowly closed his eyes.