7: Chapter 7 Killing the Three Fiends

That straight silver line froze abruptly the instant it was about to touch the back of Lin Yuan's heart.

Time did not slow down, and space did not warp.

It simply stopped.

A most thorough defiance of the laws of physics.

There was no expected piercing of the heart by sharp claws, nor any splashing of blood.

Every strand of the Phantom Shadow Demon Sable's silver-gray fur stood on end. An absolute terror originating from the depths of its soul caused the speed and instinct it took pride in to vanish like bubbles in an instant.

A wisp of pale, almost transparent flame had somehow begun to burn quietly on the fur of its chest.

There was no burning pain.

No smell of charring.

Only one sensation... "Emptiness."

On its streamlined body, an eerie flame was burning, and its vital energy and blood were being continuously devoured by that strange fire.

A shriek of terror was stuck in its throat, turning into a voiceless hiss as the Phantom Shadow Demon Sable desperately tried to blink away and escape.

But it was too late.

Lin Yuan turned around calmly, looking indifferently at this Tier 2 Fierce Beast trapped in ultimate terror.

He could clearly feel a stream of pure life energy being fed back continuously through that pale flame, nourishing his nearly parched body.

This feeling... was somewhat wonderful.

But it was too slow.

In the distance, the Explosive Flame Tiger and the Black Armored Rhinoceros had already sensed that something was wrong.

He raised his hand and made a grasping motion in the air. A large amount of the Flame of Guixu gathered, and in an instant, a long flaming blade emitting scorching heat and an eerie aura condensed in his hand.

"Die!"

Lin Yuan shouted angrily, swinging the flaming blade in his hand with a backhand stroke across the neck of the Phantom Shadow Demon Sable.

"Chiss."

No blood sprayed.

At the severed neck, a pale flame flashed by, and the wound, along with the flesh, was "erased"—a small piece of it simply gone.

The head of the Phantom Shadow Demon Sable, still bearing the marks of extreme terror, slid off silently. It was enveloped by flames in mid-air and quickly burned into nothingness.

Its body was completely detonated by that terrifying power.

Finally, in silent despair, this Gobi Assassin known for its speed, along with its steel-tearing claws, was completely devoured by the Flame of Guixu, erasing all traces of its existence.

The wind of the Gobi blew past, unable to stir even a speck of dust.

[Target Unit: Phantom Shadow Demon Sable, cleared.]

The moment the system notification rang out, the earth shook violently!

On both sides of the stone forest, two extremely violent and fierce auras turned into physical pressure, locking onto Lin Yuan.

The mountain-like body of the Black Armored Rhinoceros caused a small earthquake with every step. Light flowed on its earthy-yellow horn, gathering the heavy power of the earth, like a siege beast that had been activated.

On the other side, the Explosive Flame Tiger let out an angry roar. The dark gold flame patterns beneath its crimson fur all lit up, the surrounding air was ignited, and the scorching heat waves distorted the field of vision.

One on the left and one on the right, one defending and one attacking.

The real hunt was only just beginning!

"Bellow—!"

The Black Armored Rhinoceros was the first to charge!

Its heavy body turned into the most primitive and pure battering ram, carrying ten thousand catties of force and kicking up rolling clouds of dust as it crashed forward!

That power was enough to smash a small mountain to pieces!

Facing this world-destroying strike, Lin Yuan's gaze was more solemn than ever before.

He did not dodge.

Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't!

The Explosive Flame Tiger's aura had already locked down all his paths of retreat. Once he dodged, he would immediately reveal a weakness and face an even more violent pincer attack.

In that case... meet it head-on!

Lin Yuan raised his right hand, and a pale fireball the size of a human head condensed in front of him. He pushed it out steadily toward that earthy-yellow horn where infinite energy was gathered.

There was no earth-shattering collision.

The moment the two made contact, a scalp-numbing sound of shattering erupted!

It was like glass being forcibly crushed!

The Flame of Guixu was frantically burning and devouring the Black Armored Rhinoceros's horn, but the earthy-yellow light flowing on it actually turned into layers of indestructible barriers, desperately resisting the "erasure"!

The erosion continued, but it was no longer an instant kill!

The Black Armored Rhinoceros let out a painful and furious roar, its charging momentum forcibly halted.

It could feel its hardest horn, which contained its source power, being decomposed and stripped away piece by piece from a conceptual level by an incomprehensible force!

This slow process of watching a part of oneself "disappear" was far more terrifying than instant death!

A stalemate!

Just as Lin Yuan was fully channeling the Flame of Guixu to engage in a struggle of strength with the Black Armored Rhinoceros, the Explosive Flame Tiger on the other side seized this fleeting opportunity!

"Roar!"

With a roar, it turned into a burning crimson afterimage and lunged!

On its charred claws, blazing fire energy erupted instantly, forming a violently burning fireball that aimed straight for the back of Lin Yuan's heart!

Killing move—Explosive Claw Strike!

The hair on Lin Yuan's back stood on end.

Most of his mind was occupied by the Black Armored Rhinoceros; he couldn't turn around at all right now!

At the critical moment, he could only spare an extremely faint wisp of his focus to flick a nearly invisible pale thread of fire behind him.

The next moment, a scene the Explosive Flame Tiger would never forget occurred.

Its explosive flames, which were enough to melt steel, were sucked in like they had hit a bottomless black hole the moment they touched that pale thread of fire.

All the light, all the heat, and all the energy were instantly devoured by that tiny thread of fire, without leaving even a wisp of smoke.

The Explosive Flame Tiger's claws swiped at empty air.

Immediately after, an indescribable "sense of emptiness" came from its front claws.

It looked down to see that a section of its claws, along with the flames attached to them, was... gone.

Terror instantly overwhelmed its violent rage.

"Chiss..."

The final sound of annihilation rang out, and the massive Black Armored Rhinoceros was finally completely erased amidst its painful roars.

Only one fierce beast remained on the field.

The bizarre death of its companion drove the Explosive Flame Tiger completely insane.

It abandoned all defense, its crimson fur exploding outward as the dark gold flame patterns brightened to the limit. Raging flames enveloped its entire body, turning it into a moving sun!

"Roar—!"

A deafening Roar of Raging Flames turned into physical waves of sound and fire, sweeping toward him.

Then, it opened its bloody maw, and all the fire energy in its body frantically gathered and compressed toward its mouth, forming a giant explosive fireball over two meters in diameter that was constantly twisting and expanding!

This was its final strike, staking its life and dignity!

Facing this world-destroying, desperate counterattack, Lin Yuan's face also turned slightly pale.

He raised both hands.

A more majestic and profound Flame of Guixu than before gathered between his palms.

It was no longer a fireball, but a pale vortex that was constantly spiraling and shrinking.

It greedily devoured all the surrounding light, causing that area of space to dim as if it were an entrance to absolute nothingness.

Go.

Lin Yuan pushed that pale vortex out nonchalantly toward the roaring "sun."

There was no sound.

There was no light.

The moment the giant explosive fireball touched the pale vortex, it was swallowed silently like a phantom that had never existed, failing to even stir a ripple.

The pale vortex did not stop, continuing forward to meet the Explosive Flame Tiger in its death charge.

At this moment, time seemed to stand still.

The Explosive Flame Tiger's violent charging posture dissolved silently within the pale vortex.

Its flames, its flesh, its bones, its soul... everything turned into the purest "nothingness" the moment they made contact.

It couldn't even let out a scream.

[Remaining Fierce Beasts: 0]

[Special Assessment Subject: Three Fiends Hunt, completed.]

[Time Taken: Ten minutes and nineteen seconds.]

[Evaluation: ...]

The system once again fell into a speechless silence.

Above the Gobi, there was dead silence.

Lin Yuan stood in place, a series of needle-like pains coming from his brain, and he even experienced a brief moment of blacking out.

He swayed slightly before barely managing to stand firm.

This time, the consumption far exceeded any previous time.