102: Chapter 102 Isn't this Jiang Chen? Haven't seen him for a few days, how come he's gotten so mushy?

Upon seeing who it was, Gu Changming immediately changed direction, his figure tracing an arc through the air as he dashed toward the location of those six people.

He knew Jiang Chen.

They even had a pretty good relationship.

The man had been his teammate in his past life, serving as the main melee attacker.

Just like himself, he had survived until the very end.

His strength was absurdly powerful, but compared to Gu Changming, he was still just a tiny bit lacking.

Of course, in the other man's eyes, Gu Changming’s strength was also just a tiny bit lacking compared to his own.

So, although he didn't know why the man had appeared here...

Considering the influence of the butterfly effect, Gu Changming didn't intend to just stand by and watch, certain that the man could escape on his own.

After all, with a variable like himself added to the mix, and his brief interaction with Tang Ningfei—who had also appeared here...

If an accident occurred and caused this guy to die early in this beast tide, it would be a huge loss.

...

Jiang Chen swung his blade, the blade-light tearing through the air and narrowly grazing a teammate's waist, forcing back a Griffin-like magic beast that had almost bitten into the man's abdomen.

Then, he seized the teammate’s collar and threw him backward with a surge of strength.

"Stand firm!"

The teammate stumbled to the ground, his face deathly pale.

Almost simultaneously, Tang Ningfei finished her incantation, and a blazing Pyroblast fireball whistled through the air, accurately smashing into the griffin's face.

The flames exploded, and the magic beast let out a roar of pain, its momentum faltering.

Jiang Chen took the opportunity to retreat, catching up with the team in a few steps.

His breathing was still relatively steady, but his brows were already tightly knit.

At this moment, except for him, all the other team members were injured.

The teammate from just now had an arm bitten off, another had his face covered in blood so that it was impossible to tell where he was hurt, and the remaining two had multiple abrasions and were breathing heavily.

As a mage, Tang Ningfei’s injuries were slightly better, but the situation was not optimistic; her face was deathly pale.

The team's speed was inevitably slowing down.

Behind them, the roar of the beast tide was getting closer and closer; the ones that had just attacked them were merely a few magic beasts that had charged ahead.

If this continued, they would be swept into the beast tide with no hope of survival.

Tang Ningfei glanced at the teammate who had just been saved.

He was moving his legs mechanically while gasping absent-mindedly, his eyes vacant, clearly not yet fully recovered from the shock of nearly losing his life.

Then she looked back again.

That rolling wave formed by countless magic beasts was now close at hand, like a black tsunami pouncing toward them, feeling as if they could be completely swallowed up at any moment.

Despair, like ice water, instantly soaked her heart.

She bit her lip and raised her voice to shout, "Jiang Chen!"

Jiang Chen immediately looked over, a trace of undetectable hope in his eyes. "Have you thought of a way?"

"No." Tang Ningfei shook her head slightly, her face expressionless. "You should go."

Jiang Chen was stunned; his footsteps didn't stop, but his brows knit tighter. "What?"

"Leave us," Tang Ningfei’s speaking speed increased, "run alone, don't worry about us anymore."

The surrounding teammates also heard these words.

They looked at Tang Ningfei in astonishment, then at Jiang Chen.

But after the initial surprise, a complex expression appeared on their faces; no one refuted her, and no one pleaded.

They just gave Jiang Chen an extra look—a look that was complex, filled with urgency, resignation, and also entreaty.

But in the end, they all lowered their heads, gritting their teeth as they continued to struggle forward.

They all tacitly accepted the decision made by Tang Ningfei, their captain: leave them behind so that Jiang Chen alone could survive.

"It's no use if you keep dragging us along," Tang Ningfei continued, her words exceptionally calm. "If this goes on, we'll all die here. But if it's just you alone, you can escape."

She was telling the truth.

Jiang Chen was C-rank, and a top-tier C-rank in every aspect. If he weren't "burdened" by the injured whose speed was getting slower and slower...

With Jiang Chen's strength, if he went all out, he might be able to tear a hole in the edge of the beast tide or use his speed advantage to pull away and escape.

But now, just because he was still dragging them along, he was going to be submerged by the beast tide behind them as well.

Jiang Chen's lips pressed into a hard straight line, and his footsteps suddenly became heavy.

Leave them and escape alone?

He looked at Tang Ningfei and the others again... well, perhaps this was the only solution now.

"Don't think about it anymore." Tang Ningfei’s voice rang out again, interrupting Jiang Chen's struggle with urgency. "Go!"

Jiang Chen's chest heaved as he took a sharp breath; the scorching air in this secret realm made his lungs ache. He was about to speak—

Suddenly.

A familiar vibration came from the ground beside them.

It was the vibration of what seemed like countless iron hooves striking the ground simultaneously, and it was approaching from their flank at an incredible speed!

Jiang Chen subconsciously turned his head, his pupils suddenly shrinking.

Tang Ningfei and the other team members also looked over in horror.

On the crimson horizon to the left, another black wave was surging toward them!

Its speed was so fast and its momentum so fierce that it was not at all inferior to the beast tide chasing them from behind!

In the blink of an eye, the beast tide attacking from the flank had rushed close.

No detours, no turning.

Under the dumbfounded gaze of Jiang Chen and the others, that torrent of beasts crashed heavily and solidly into the side of the massive beast tide that was closely pursuing them.

"BOOM!!!"

In that instant, it was as if two moving mountains had violently collided.

An indescribable roar erupted, mixed with the cracking sounds of countless bones breaking, as well as the frantic screams of dying or enraged magic beasts!

The air current, carrying dust and hot, fishy blood mist, swept across the surroundings like an explosion's shockwave!

Jiang Chen and the others steadied themselves, looking at the suddenly surging beast tide with shock and astonishment, not understanding what had happened.

They just watched as those two death torrents, composed of hundreds or thousands of violent magic beasts, tore into each other before their eyes.

As far as the eye could see, there were only tumbling, pouncing, and colliding shadows of beasts; claws and fangs flashed in the dust and blood-light. The originally crimson world was, at this moment, stained with a new layer of dark red by this terrifying slaughter.

This sudden upheaval left Jiang Chen and the other five completely stunned on the spot, their minds blank.

Immediately after, a figure caught their attention.

In the center of the two torrents, a figure stood atop the head of a Dragon-headed magic beast.

This scene left everyone staring in a daze, feeling as if the beast roars were about to fade from their ears.

But soon, Tang Ningfei’s words pulled their attention back.

"Gu Changming?!"

Hearing this name, everyone was stunned again.

Jiang Chen reacted even more strongly, immediately raising his head again, his gaze firmly locked onto the back of the figure standing atop the beast tide.

Then, his heart gave a heavy thud.

"Gu Changming?!"