A desperate counterattack, the bear roars through the mountains.

The lead Black Tooth Jackal was far larger than the ordinary ones, with shoulders nearly reaching waist height, knotted muscles, exposed fangs, and drool flowing freely. Its pair of fierce eyes locked onto Nightmare, filled with brutality and greed. It let out a low growl, and the powerful pressure almost made the bonfire falter.

Medicine Old Man had already flashed to the side the moment he pushed away the boulder, gripping his wooden staff tightly, his aura locking onto the lead jackal, ready to support at any moment. But he knew that the main attack had to be completed by Nightmare; only by instantly killing the leader could the jackal pack outside be deterred.

The lead jackal moved! It did not pounce immediately, but instead crouched slightly and moved slowly around Nightmare, searching for a flaw. The beast's instinct made it sense that within this seemingly weak human, some kind of dangerous aura was hidden.

Nightmare backed against the rock wall, minimizing the directions he needed to defend. His face was pale, his breathing rapid, and his right hand was held loosely, the black longsword in the space fragment ready to appear at any moment. Yet his eyes were like ten-thousand-year-old ice, without the slightest ripple, his remaining perception heightened to the limit, capturing every twitch of the lead jackal's muscles and every minute change in its aura.

The sounds of impact and howling outside the cave became more intense, and the boulder was teetering.

Time was running out!

The lead jackal finally lost its patience. It lunged forward suddenly, not in a straight line, but sweeping across in a strange arc, its sharp claws carrying a foul wind, aiming for Nightmare's waist and abdomen! If this strike landed, it would be enough to disembowel him!

Just as the sharp claws were about to hit, Nightmare moved! He did not retreat, but instead met the direction of the sharp claws, condensing the Nirvana Internal Qi that had just recovered a little in his body, along with a trace of spatial stability brought by the charm of the void lotus seed, all onto his left arm, and blocked it violently!

"Clang!"

It was like the clashing of gold and iron! The sleeve on Nightmare's left arm shattered instantly, and several deep, bone-visible bloody marks appeared on his arm, the pain piercing his heart! But he successfully parried this fatal swipe! At the same time, using the force of this impact, his body leaned back slightly, offloading part of the force.

And his right hand, in that flash of lightning, the black longsword appeared suddenly! It was no longer a clumsy straight thrust, but a subtle flick of his wrist, and the tip of the sword drew a nearly perfect, weak arc containing a certain spatial cutting Concept—this was a glimpse he had grasped from the charm of the void lotus seed, combined with the application of his own Dao Rhyme of Annihilation!

Ssh-la!

The sword light was like a streak of nether thunder in the dark night, its speed exceeding the lead jackal's reaction limit! It had just finished its swipe, its old strength exhausted and new strength not yet born, and could only watch as that streak of black sword light swept across its most vulnerable throat!

This time, it was not a stab, but a cut!

A thin, long line of blood appeared on the lead jackal's throat, then expanded rapidly.

"Gurgle... gurgle..." The lead jackal's massive body stiffened in place, its fierce eyes replaced by disbelief and the fear of death. It wanted to howl, but could only squeeze out a wheezing sound from its ruptured trachea. Fresh blood gushed out like a fountain.

Thud!

It fell heavily to the ground, its limbs twitching, and soon it was silent.

Inside and outside the cave, it was instantly deathly silent.

The jackal pack outside, which had been frantically crashing and howling, seemed to have its throat choked, and all sounds stopped abruptly. They could feel that the leader's aura... had disappeared!

Nightmare leaned on his sword, kneeling on one knee, gasping for breath. His left arm was drenched in blood, the internal Qi he had just condensed in his body was almost completely exhausted, and a sense of illusion came from the space fragment, his vision turning black, almost fainting. This one sword strike had almost drained all his spirit and strength.

Medicine Old Man stepped forward quickly, supporting Nightmare, his eyes filled with shock and complexity as he looked at him. That stunning sword strike, that terrifyingly precise timing, that calm in the face of danger... This was definitely not an ordinary person!

"Quick! They are about to retreat!" Medicine Old Man quickly judged the situation. The leader was dead, the jackal pack had lost its commander, and they were deterred by the eerie nature of their companions' successive deaths in the cave, so they would definitely not dare to attack again. He had to take this opportunity to seal the cave entrance again.

However, just as Medicine Old Man was about to stand up to push the boulder—

"Roar—!!!"

A deafening roar, filled with endless brutality and power, exploded like thunder from the depths of the distant mountain forest! This roar contained unimaginable penetration, the entire cave trembled slightly under this roar, and the gravel and glowing moss on the top fell down with a rustle!

The jackal pack, which had just fallen into panic and silence because of the death of their leader, heard this roar and immediately let out wails of extreme fear, followed by the chaotic sounds of frantic escape, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye!

Medicine Old Man's face turned pale as paper in an instant, ten times worse than when he faced the jackal pack earlier! He froze in place, forgetting even to seal the cave entrance.

Nightmare also suddenly raised his head, his remaining perception allowing him to clearly capture the terrifying aura contained in that roar, which far exceeded the Black Tooth Jackal and made the Soul tremble!

"It... it is it!" Medicine Old Man's voice carried a trace of imperceptible trembling, "Iron Claw Rock Bear! One of the overlords on the periphery of this mountain range! Why would it appear here? This roar... it has been disturbed, and it is coming in this direction!"

Iron Claw Rock Bear? Overlord?

Nightmare's heart sank to the bottom. Out of the wolf's den and into the tiger's lair? And this time, it was a terrifying existence that could easily crush both of them!

Medicine Old Man reacted quickly, desperately pushing the boulder at the cave entrance back into place, his face extremely solemn: "Trouble! The Iron Claw Rock Bear's sense of smell is several times more sensitive than the Black Tooth Jackal's, and its strength is enough to overturn this small hill! Hiding in the cave is no different from being a turtle in a jar!"

He looked at the three corpses of the Black Tooth Jackals on the ground, and then at the extremely weak Nightmare, a trace of despair flashing in his eyes.

"We must leave immediately! Before it completely locks onto this place!" Medicine Old Man made a quick decision, stepping forward to support Nightmare.

"It... is too late." Nightmare sensed that terrifying aura pressing in like a substance, his voice hoarse and calm. The aura was moving extremely fast, and carried a kind of violent rage, clearly completely enraged by the previous movement and the smell of blood.

He could even feel that in the space fragment, the primal cube had sent a weak fluctuation again. This time it was not a stream of knowledge information, but a kind of... instinctive warning and analysis aimed at the terrifying life form outside!

The analysis results showed that with their current state, the success rate of escaping was infinitely close to zero.

Desperate situation! A true desperate situation!

Nightmare took a deep breath, suppressing the coldness in his heart. He looked at Medicine Old Man, his eyes as sharp as knives: "Old man... do you know if this Iron Claw Rock Bear has any weaknesses?"

Medicine Old Man was stunned, looking at the eyes of Nightmare who was still calmly looking for a way to survive even in a desperate situation, and smiled bitterly: "Weaknesses? Absolute strength and defense are its biggest advantages! Its back and limbs are covered with rock armor comparable to refined iron, the only fatal weakness might be its eyes and oral cavity, but wanting to attack there is as difficult as ascending to heaven! And when it goes berserk, no one in this mountain forest can stop it!"

Eyes... oral cavity...

Nightmare's mind operated frantically, combining the weak analysis data about the Iron Claw Rock Bear's life energy structure transmitted by the primal cube. The data was extremely limited, but it pointed to a vague direction—the energy gathering point in its skull did not seem to be completely uniform.

At the same time, in the space fragment, the world tree seedling seemed to have sensed the terrifying life aura pressing in like a mountain from the outside, transmitting a weak thought with natural Rank suppression, but this thought was too weak to form an effective deterrent.

But it was this thought, colliding with the analysis data of the primal cube, that sparked a spark in Nightmare's mind!

An extremely crazy thought, with a success rate so low it could be ignored, formed in his mind.

He looked at Medicine Old Man, his tone fast and clear: "Old man, trust me one last time... when it approaches and breaks open the cave entrance, find a way to attract its attention for a moment! Even if only for an instant!"

Medicine Old Man looked at Nightmare's bottomless eyes, where there was no despair, only a kind of cold determination and calculation. He remembered the stunning sword strike Nightmare used to kill the lead jackal before, and a trace of absurd hope inexplicably arose in his heart.

"Good!" Medicine Old Man nodded heavily, gripping the wooden staff in his hand, his eyes also becoming resolute, "This old bone of mine will gamble with you, little friend, one more time!"

Outside the cave, the heartbeat-inducing heavy footsteps and violent wheezing were getting closer, like the drums of death, beating in their hearts.

A huge shadow shrouded the cave entrance.