53: You kept your promise.

Evil Axe's blood surged throughout his body, but he did not enter a berserk state.

His strength only increased by a sliver.

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He discovered that the more blood he had, the more flesh and blood essence the Secret Formation extracted, and the faster his vitality drained.

This not only prevented him from gaining the full boost of the berserk state, but the void black hole at the center of the Secret Formation also grew slightly larger for some reason.

But he clearly didn't have the energy to pay attention to such details right now; the Fake Zuan Shu's dagger was already stabbing straight toward his neck.

'Move for me, damn it!'

Evil Axe screamed in his heart, his blood boiling as his body began to move extremely slowly.

However, in the face of the rapid dagger thrust, this amount of displacement was practically zero.

Time seemed to slow down at this moment.

Looking at the approaching dagger, he recognized it as the one Ronan had spent points to exchange for Drill Mouse.

'So Drill Mouse is already dead...'

Evil Axe's heart suddenly became calm; despair and death seemed like things he could face composedly.

'I'm probably going to die too...'

A thick sense of death appeared in his eyes as he prepared to welcome its arrival.

Until a hand abruptly appeared in his field of vision, tightly grasping the blade of the dagger stabbing toward his neck.

"Handsome, need some help?"

An inquiry sounded from Evil Axe's back, coming from the already awakened Red Hammer.

Her left hand tightly gripped the sharp blade, blood flowing from her palm; no matter how much force the Fake Zuan Shu exerted, he couldn't move the dagger even half an inch.

The Secret Formation only responded to those who reacted at the beginning, and it only rendered those people unable to move independently.

Therefore, even though both the Fake Zuan Shu and Red Hammer were inside the circle at this time, they remained unaffected.

"Lady, when did you wake up?" Evil Axe was both surprised and delighted.

"From the moment you said 'I will never let her suffer even a little bit of harm'."

"Lady, leave here first."

Evil Axe felt the speed at which the Secret Formation was absorbing flesh and blood slow down, and the void black hole at the center was gradually taking shape.

If nothing went wrong, in a moment, he would be able to turn around and slaughter the Fake Zuan Shu and Red Star.

Red Hammer shook her head, "Haven't you noticed? The devouring sensation from that black hole is getting heavier and heavier..."

After saying that, her left hand was covered in blood-red light, and a surge of immense power suddenly emerged.

This immense power pulled back on the Fake Zuan Shu, intending to drag him toward the edge of the black hole.

Suddenly pulled like this, the Fake Zuan Shu's dagger instantly flew out of his hand, and he lost his balance, stumbling toward the black hole.

But a sense of crisis between life and death immediately prompted it to stop, turn around, and continue pouncing toward Evil Axe.

Swish.

Red Hammer flicked her wrist, and the dagger in her hand turned into a throwing knife, hitting the Fake Zuan Shu right between the eyebrows.

Unfortunately, its weakness was not in its head.

The Fake Zuan Shu acted as if nothing had happened, reaching out to pull out the dagger and regaining its weapon.

"Lady, quickly lea—"

Evil Axe looked anxious, but before he could finish his sentence, a waist bag was suddenly hung around his neck.

It looked like a storage item from the Arcane Arts Society.

"I can't go on, that blood-light boost just now almost exhausted the physical strength I just managed to gather..."

"I thought about it, and this is the only way..."

Red Hammer wrapped her arms around Evil Axe's neck and kissed his cheek from behind.

"Valaina... what are you trying to do?!"

Evil Axe didn't feel any sweetness from the kiss at all; his face was filled with horror.

The Fake Zuan Shu pounced toward him with the dagger, but Evil Axe suddenly felt his back become empty.

Red Hammer stepped on Evil Axe's shoulders with both legs and then kicked off with all her might, rushing toward the pouncing Fake Zuan Shu.

The Fake Zuan Shu immediately raised its dagger and stabbed toward Red Hammer.

Puchi.

The dagger pierced into Red Hammer's left shoulder.

The Fake Zuan Shu looked up with a grin, only to see a satisfied smile.

"Before I woke up, you didn't let me suffer even a little bit of harm..."

Red Hammer opened her arms and firmly locked the Fake Zuan Shu in a hug,

"You kept your word, Aen."

Using the momentum of the charge, she rushed into the void black hole at the center of the Secret Formation together with it.

"However, I won't be able to let you carry me for the rest of my life..."

And with that kick, Evil Axe was instead kicked out of the circle, simultaneously breaking free from the Secret Formation.

Because of Evil Axe's departure, the Secret Formation was about to trigger its self-protection mechanism.

At this time, the void black hole at the center completely devoured the rushing Red Hammer and Fake Zuan Shu.

In an instant, the entire Secret Formation completed the sacrifice transfer and began to operate.

"No!!" Evil Axe immediately spat out a large mouthful of blood.

"Red Hammer!!" Ash Leaf only reached Evil Axe's side now; she was about to lose her mind and continue forward when Evil Axe grabbed her ankle tightly.

"Don't..." As soon as he spoke, Evil Axe spat out another mouthful of blood, "Go, quickly..."

Only then did Ash Leaf notice Evil Axe, who was suffering from the backlash.

Her face was covered in tears as she laboriously dragged Evil Axe away from the danger of the Secret Formation.

The Secret Formation began to operate, and the void black hole grew larger and larger, but the constraints and suppression within the formation did not weaken; instead, they were constantly strengthening.

After seeing the Polluter being devoured, the Mercenary Vice Commander immediately deactivated the Black Flame all over his body.

Even though he was powerful and had a deep foundation, he couldn't withstand the damage to his body caused by the Reverse Breathing Technique.

Ever since he saw that brat from the Arcane Arts Society suddenly act like a different person, he had a faint feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't say exactly what.

Especially the black hole at the center; at first glance, it didn't seem related to Divine Revelation at all.

But he had clearly inspected the Secret Formation, and there were no problems. Why was this happening?

Most importantly, after the Secret Formation began to operate, he should have regained his ability to move.

This point was clearly written on the parchment of the Secret Formation, and there had always been such a saying.

Where exactly did the problem lie... wait.

The Vice Commander suddenly shifted his gaze to the center; on the yellowed Secret Formation paper directly beneath the black hole, his breathing suddenly hitched.

At this time, Red Star, who had been invisible, revealed himself.

Seeing that the Secret Formation was operating smoothly and the threat of the Polluter had been eliminated, he felt there was no longer any need to hide.

"It seems you've finally noticed." He looked at the Vice Commander with a beaming smile.

"That's not the parchment of the Divine Revelation Secret Array, it's..." The Vice Commander was too agitated to speak.

He never thought he would make such a simple mistake.

"It's kraft paper." Red Star grinned, looking like a conspirator whose plot had succeeded.

"Wh-when..."

The Vice Commander looked at the kraft paper, which was almost identical to the yellowed parchment of the original Divine Revelation Secret Array; his blood surged, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

"Of course, it was when you turned your backs and walked toward the circle."

Red Star looked smug,

"How's my aging technique? To make the kraft paper of this Secret Formation look like yellowed parchment, I put in quite a lot of effort."

"What kind of Secret Formation is this now?" The Vice Commander felt his blood turn cold instantly.

"Just an ordinary Devouring Secret Formation..." Red Star mocked, "Of course, you're the one being devoured, hahaha..."

"If you had stayed obediently on the altar, why would I have needed to use this Secret Formation specifically left for me by my mentor?"

Speaking of this, Red Star shook his head with a slight sense of regret.

Using such a valuable Secret Formation was indeed a bit of a pity.

But White Night's combat power was too strong; he had actually managed to eliminate almost all the Polluters in the square before the Calamity Beasts arrived, and he could even harm the Void Spirits and forcibly leave the altar.

This not only disrupted his deployment but also forced him to use the Labyrinth Array of this place, which finally brought them back here.

Although the process had some twists and turns, as of now, everything was developing according to plan.

"Are you sure I'm the only one being devoured?" the Vice Commander spoke coldly.

"Of cour—"

Red Star was about to sneer when he saw the black hole slowly rise into the air, its opening flipping downward.

At the same time, an unparalleled and powerful suction force suddenly descended upon the two people within the formation.