138: Ice and Fire God

Outside the cellar, those hair-raising thuds and piercing shrieks finally began to fade and move away after several agonizing minutes.

The cunning and vicious Bat King seemed to have lost patience, or perhaps determined that it could not break through this heavy defense, and retreated for the time being.

Ten minutes felt exceptionally long amidst the extreme tension and the villagers' painful groans.

The moment the cellar's iron door was pried open by Zhu Lingyun, a figure with ice-blue and crimson wings, resembling a god descending from the heavens, was hovering low over the open space in front of the village committee building.

Zhang Lei's gaze swept over the shriveled corpses of the villagers on the ground; his handsome face was instantly shrouded in frost, and rage surged like magma in his deep eyes.

However, the culprit was nowhere to be seen.

"Officer Zhang Lei!" Zhu Lingyun was the first to rush out of the cellar, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.

He stepped forward quickly, first shaking hands with Zhang Lei solemnly, then straightened his back and gave a standard military salute, his eyes filled with reverence and the relief of surviving a disaster.

Zhang Lei retracted his wings, landed lightly, and returned the salute calmly, his voice filled with concern: "Captain Zhu, there is no need for formalities. What is the status of the casualties?"

Zhu Lingyun's expression darkened, and he pressed his throbbing temples, his voice heavy: "There... there are four villagers who were tragically killed by the Bat King... The rest, including us, were injured by its sonic attack; our heads hurt terribly, as if they were about to split open."

He paused, a look of deep self-reproach appearing on his face, "It is all our fault. Our strength was insufficient, and we failed to protect them..."

"No," Zhang Lei interrupted him, patting Zhu Lingyun's shoulder firmly with his large hand, his tone resolute, "It was an oversight in the base's intelligence work; the danger of the target was underestimated. You managed to protect most of the villagers under the claws of such a dangerous monster and held out until reinforcements arrived—you have already done very well! The fault is not yours!"

His words carried a powerful, soothing force that instantly dispelled the gloom in Zhu Lingyun's heart.

Afterward, everyone helped each other and climbed out of the cellar one after another.

Sunlight shone on them again, but it could not dispel the lingering terror from just moments ago.

Yang Yiyu walked at the very back of the group, a charming flush appearing on her pale face at some point.

Her gaze was fixed on that towering figure—neat short hair, a resolute face, sharp eyebrows, star-like eyes, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist.

Her heart pounded, and she even felt a longing: how wonderful it would be if she could lean on his solid and reliable shoulder...

Just as she was immersed in this secret flutter of emotion—

"Watch out!!"

A shrill scream pierced the brief calm!

A huge, ghostly fast black shadow, like a shadow scythe tearing through space, shot out silently from the blind spot in the shadows of the house behind them!

A pair of sharp, giant claws, gleaming with a cold metallic light and tipped with barbs, grabbed Yang Yiyu's soft shoulders with pinpoint precision!

"Ah—!" Intense pain instantly overwhelmed Yang Yiyu; she only had time to let out a short cry of surprise before her entire body was lifted off the ground by the immense force!

At the same time, that familiar, yet even more shrill and piercing, terrifying sonic wave filled with violent energy erupted like an invisible tsunami!

This time, it was the Bat King's long-premeditated full-force attack!

"Urgh—!"

"My head—!"

The group, who had just stepped out of the cellar and finally calmed down, felt as if they had been struck hard by an invisible heavy hammer!

The villagers instantly collapsed to the ground, clutching their heads and letting out heart-wrenching screams.

Even the members of the Demon Hunting Squad instantly felt their vision go black, their heads splitting with pain, their Supernatural Abilities in disarray, and their bodies stiffening and collapsing uncontrollably!

Li Xueli's eyes were wide with rage as she watched her good friend being abducted into the sky; she wanted to rush up, but was pinned in place by the terrifying sonic wave, only able to let out a desperate cry: "No—!!!"

"Damn beast! You are courting death—!!" Zhang Lei's roar sounded like a thunderclap from the nine heavens, exploding instantly!

Cold killing intent mixed with monstrous rage made the surrounding air seem to freeze!

Crimson flames erupted beneath his feet, and his ice-fire wings flapped violently!

"Boom!"

A sonic boom rang out!

Zhang Lei's figure left an afterimage in place, instantly turning into a streak of red and blue light, chasing after the black shadow that had abducted the girl at a speed hard for the naked eye to track!

The speed was so fast that it even left a brief wake of air behind him!

"Heavy Water Domain! Activate!!" Zhang Lei's mind raced; within a fifty-meter radius around him, the air instantly became as thick as glue, the temperature plummeted, as if he were ten thousand meters deep in the ocean!

Countless visible, deep-blue water elemental energy particles, emitting an extremely cold aura, emerged from thin air, wrapping and enveloping the high-speed flying Bat King like maggots on bone!

"Squeak—!" The Bat King let out a shrill cry of panic and pain!

It felt as if it had fallen into an invisible quagmire; heavy pressure squeezed in from all directions, almost breaking its wings!

Its flight speed plummeted!

Seeing that it could not escape, the fear of death instinctively made it loosen its claws, throwing Yang Yiyu down from high altitude like a rag doll!

"Hmph!" Zhang Lei snorted coldly, his figure accelerating again, appearing instantly on Yang Yiyu's downward trajectory like a precise falcon.

His strong arms steadily gathered the girl into his embrace; his movements were gentle yet swift.

Looking down, the clothing on the girl's shoulders in his arms had long been torn, and on her fair skin were four terrifying claw holes that were deep enough to see the bone, with edges glowing an eerie black-purple!

The toxin was rapidly spreading along the blood vessels near the wound, forming hideous black-purple veins!

"Trying to run?!" Zhang Lei looked up at the Bat King, which was trying to break free from the constraints of the Heavy Water Domain and fleeing in a panic; his eyes were as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.

Possessing a body tempered by divine fire and speed that was peerless among his peers, how could he let this mere second-tier beast escape right under his nose?

The ice-fire wings behind him erupted with an even more brilliant light, his figure turning into a meteor tearing through the sky!

In just a few breaths, he had caught up to the Bat King!

Zhang Lei held Yang Yiyu steadily with his left hand, while his right hand reached out like lightning, his five fingers hooked, grabbing the Bat King's hideous, ugly head with pinpoint precision!

"Hiss—!"

The crimson-gold divine fire in his palm erupted suddenly!

The extreme heat instantly incinerated flesh and bone!

"Squeak squeak squeak—!!" The Bat King let out a shrill, distorted scream, struggling frantically, but it was as if it were imprisoned by iron pliers, unable to move at all!

In just a few seconds, that massive head turned into charcoal and fly ash in the terrifying divine fire!

A crystal core flickering with a faint green light fell into Zhang Lei's palm.

The massive bat corpse, having lost its head, fell powerlessly toward the mountain forest below like a kite with a broken string.

Carrying Yang Yiyu, Zhang Lei landed slowly on the open space in front of the village committee building like a light feather.

He knelt on one knee and carefully laid the girl flat on the relatively clean ground.

Then, he pressed his hands down into the air, and soft, surging blue water ripples radiated from him like a warm tide, gently brushing over everyone who had suffered from the sonic attack.

Although Zhang Lei had not studied water healing spells, as an Element Controller with mastery over both water and fire, such a spell was merely a trivial matter for him.

The gentle water energy released by a third-tier Element Controller contained powerful energy.

The maddening, splitting headache receded rapidly like melting snow, chaotic thoughts became clear again, and exhausted bodies seemed to be injected with new vitality.

The villagers stopped wailing and looked up blankly.

The members of the Demon Hunting Squad struggled to stand up, filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and infinite gratitude toward Zhang Lei.

"Lord Zhang Lei! How is Yuer?!" Li Xueli was the first to rush over, her voice tearful, looking anxiously at the unconscious, pale-faced Yang Yiyu, and the shocking wounds on her shoulders.

"She is poisoned!" Zhang Lei's voice was low and grave; his fingertips were wreathed in ice-blue cold air, which he carefully covered around the wound, attempting to slow the spread of the toxin.

The black-purple veins slowed their spread slightly under the cold air, but remained stubborn.

"Poisoned?!" Li Xueli exclaimed, tears rolling down uncontrollably.

She knelt beside Yang Yiyu, holding her cold hand tightly, her voice trembling: "Yu! Yu, wake up! Don't scare me! Look at me!"