Level up is hard? I can Directly Purchase infinite Levels!-Chapter 53: Gargoyles Strike! Crisis Returns!

Whoosh—!

A brilliant beam of silver light plummeted from the sky at extreme speed!

Pshhk!

The silver light pierced straight through Raine’s chest in an instant, utterly crushing the already gravely injured unicorn.

Raine’s entire body was pinned backward, the spearhead driven deep into the ground behind him.

Agonizing pain twisted his face beyond recognition.

With only a shattered body barely at the Elite rank, he could almost no longer withstand such a blow.

Both arms clamped tightly around Arlis in his embrace as blood poured from his chest, splashing over her from head to toe.

Pff!

He tried desperately to suppress it, but blood still burst from between his clenched teeth.

Death had never been this close.

His consciousness began to blur.

Buzz...

A gale howled.

A figure with four silver wings on his back hovered in midair directly before Raine, cold eyes gazing down with detached indifference.

"An Elite-rank ant, at best."

Selas glanced at Raine with mild surprise, then his gaze fell upon the blood-soaked figure in Raine’s arms.

"If I’m not mistaken, this must be the human prodigy who escaped from the Tidebound Battlefield, hm?"

"What an... unbelievable stroke of fortune, delivered right into my mouth!"

Selas’s voice brimmed with barely restrained excitement.

He had originally come to the eastern region to investigate the deaths of his kin—and to look for a chance to deal with Raine.

After wandering around the Bloodhowl Highlands for quite some time without finding a suitable opportunity, he had been preparing to return to Crimson City when he heard the news that the human prodigy Arlis had been heavily injured by the Thunderclan prodigy Bruce and had fled into this area.

He hadn’t expected to actually run into them—he had merely followed the trail.

Now it seemed his luck was outrageously good!

As long as he returned to the clan carrying the head of this human prodigy, artifacts, rare elixirs, powerful Divine Relics, and vast resources and privileges would all be within easy reach! 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I’ll kill you, you stone freak!"

Raine’s eyes were bloodshot. Attacking him in a sneak strike at his weakest moment—

"An ant with barely half a breath left. What are you going to use to kill me?"

Selas laughed as though he had just heard the greatest joke in the world.

Forget Raine’s current near-death state—even at full strength, before an Expert-rank peak, he would be nothing more than a slightly larger insect.

Now, Selas could crush him with a flick of his finger...

"System! Consume bloodstones—temporary promotion to Expert rank!"

Seizing the fleeting opening, Raine roared within his mind.

[Ding! Bloodstones consumed: 8,813. Temporary rank increased to Expert Lv. 9!]

With the system prompt, Raine’s aura surged violently upward!

Selas froze for a split second, then his expression changed drastically.

His four pairs of silver wings beat furiously as he transformed into a streak of silver light and dove downward to kill!

At that moment—

Raine opened his mouth.

A torrent of violently raging silver lightning mixed with dark crimson blood qi erupted forth, forming a pillar of annihilation that slammed straight into Selas!

"AAARGH—!"

The terrifying destructive force blasted Selas until smoke poured from his body. His silver wings were scorched black and curled, and even his protective stone skin cracked apart!

Three gargoyle experts who had been patrolling nearby in the air, responsible for reconnaissance, sensed the killing intent and rushed in from the perimeter.

"The human prodigy is here! Kill her—now!"

Selas roared in pain.

Hearing this, the three Expert-rank gargoyles charged toward Arlis without hesitation, not even fully understanding the situation!

Raine flipped his hand and took out the final ability scroll he had obtained from Narkus!

Nex surged in.

The scroll detonated!

A ferocious griffin phantom composed entirely of lightning leapt out with a thunderous roar, pouncing toward the three gargoyles!

Terrifying lightning crashed down. Even as Experts, they could not withstand such a sudden and overwhelming attack.

At the same time—

Raine raised the Thunder Prison Blade with all his strength, channeling every last trace of lightning power temporarily converted within his body into it.

Then he hurled it with savage force at the three gargoyles entangled by the griffin phantom!

Szzrk!

The silver spear, imbued with the might of a Divine Relic and berserk lightning, carried a terrifying momentum as it instantly engulfed all three!

Boom—boom—boom!

A deafening explosion thundered through the high sky!

Countless fragments of stone rained down.

"How is this possible?!"

Selas was completely stunned.

Three Expert-rank elites of the clan—dead just like that?

Something was terribly wrong with this human!

He clearly looked like someone who had just gone through a brutal battle, yet he had still managed to bring the human prodigy out alive!

At that realization, a chilling premonition of death shot straight up Selas’s spine.

He turned and fled without hesitation, wings beating frantically as he tried to escape—but the griffin phantom slammed into him head-on, smashing him from the sky into the ground below.

Lightning ravaged his body, shattering his stone skin and leaving him utterly wretched.

Raine staggered forward, retrieved the Thunder Prison Blade, and walked up to the struggling Selas.

Amid Selas’s terror-filled gaze, Raine lifted his foot and stomped down hard!

Psh!

The head shattered.

Raine didn’t even spare a glance. Gritting his teeth, he cut off half of the silver spear embedded in his chest, then gathered Arlis back into his arms and stumbled toward the edge of the forest.

But the farther he went, the blurrier his vision became, his consciousness slipping away.

It felt as if all his senses were being stripped from him, the world before his eyes fading and swaying.

He could only rely on instinct, clutching the person in his arms as he dragged himself forward.

He didn’t know how much time passed.

At the edge of his dim vision, faint, shifting silhouettes seemed to appear.

He stopped.

Those figures stopped as well.

Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands...

More and more people converged.

They were patrol soldiers.

Some from Iron Dragon Fortress.

Some from the Bloodhowl Highlands.

Others from defensive outposts along different fronts.

Deputy Captain Aaron stood there.

Captain Tom stood there.

Kyle, old Gore, the taciturn Pros, the young Matthew...

Black Falcon. Herbert. Dennis...

Every single one of them stood there, staring at the blurred, tragic figure before them.

His chest was nearly split open. His abdomen was a mangled mess of flesh and blood. His features were unrecognizable. Not a single patch of skin on his shoulders or back was intact.

His eyes were sealed shut by clotted blood. Every wound on his body poured out crimson.

Half of a silver spear was still embedded in him.

Yet everyone recognized the tattered patrol uniform—and that familiar aura.

In that instant, the hearts of the veterans clenched painfully.

Kyle trembled uncontrollably. Gore’s old eyes turned blood-red.

In the sky, powerful auras streaked in one after another, hovering in midair and gazing downward.

They were Garson, governor of Iron Dragon Fortress; Yarna, commander of the Third Battalion; Roderick, commander of the Eighth Battalion...

And Steelbreaker Richard, who had torn through space upon receiving the news—along with the silver-armored young woman.

They, too, saw the scene.

Saw the gravely wounded, dying Arlis.

Their eyes instantly reddened.

Richard and the silver-armored girl stepped forward, arriving before Raine.

"Are they... our people?"

Raine asked hoarsely. He could no longer see clearly.

"Raine!"

Gore cried out, his voice shaking.

Hearing that familiar voice was like the final straw that crushed him.

Raine loosened his arms around Arlis, his body pitching forward as he collapsed.

Richard’s Nex gently lifted Arlis, swiftly guiding her into his grasp.

The silver-armored girl watched anxiously, her gaze locked onto her.

"Her injuries are extremely severe. Even her origin has been eroded,"

Richard said after a rapid examination, turning to Garson.

"I must take her back to the depths of the fortress immediately for treatment. Otherwise, her condition will continue to deteriorate—and her future will be ruined."

With that, he tore open space and vanished together with the girl.

All remaining gazes turned to Raine.

They vaguely understood that the human prodigy had been brought back from deep within the Bloodstained Mountains by Raine himself—but no one knew what kind of horrific battle he had endured.

Seeing Raine in this state, every heart present felt unbearably heavy.