Zhang Chuanlei’s crystalline tail was dented and oozing blood, but he paid it no mind, charging toward the energy beast once more.
“Damn it, where’s the backup! If they don’t get here soon, I’m a goner!”
Zhou Ming kept rolling to dodge the energy beast’s attacks while continuously firing his largely ineffective Air Bullets.
Zhang Chuanlei’s crystalline tail thrust upward, stabbing viciously into the wolf-type energy beast’s abdomen.
Boom—
Zhang Chuanlei was hit by the counterattack, several Air Bullets slamming into him, staining his black uniform red.
On the other side, Yue Liang and the others were still entangled with the remaining Dust Rank energy beasts.
Zhou Ang, Yue Liang, and Li Yaoming gathered together, still adhering to their “gang up on one” strategy, slowly whittling down the number of remaining beasts.
Yue Liang and Zhou Ang were like tigers descending a mountain, swinging iron rods to continuously attack the energy beasts; Li Yaoming stayed in the rear, using “Outcome Adjustment” to slow the residual energy’s speed while waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Only when one beast turned to ash and smoke did they let one more enter the combat rhythm.
In the distance, the roar of engines gradually began to sound, growing clearer and clearer.
Two vehicles emblazoned with the Lantern Bearers’ insignia sped over at high speed, kicking up dust, and slammed hard into the energy beast horde.
One of the vehicles directly ran over and sent two Dust Rank energy beasts flying, greatly reducing the pressure on Yue Liang and the others.
The doors opened, and twelve Lantern Bearers rushed out, armed with various weapons and fully equipped at their waists.
Seeing the reinforcements had arrived, Zhang Chuanlei let out a long sigh of relief and shouted loudly:
“Eliminate this Dust Rank energy beast first!”
The newly arrived Lantern Bearers quickly divided tasks. Five went to support Yue Liang’s group, while the remaining seven joined Zhou Ming and Zhang Chuanlei in surrounding and attacking the Dust Rank wolf-type energy beast.
The Lantern Bearers’ standard tactic relied on firearms for attrition, but against a Dust Rank energy beast capable of manipulating air currents, this was clearly of limited effect.
Bullets were deflected by the chaotic airflow around its body. The energy beast roared, stirring up wind and sand, temporarily blinding everyone.
Seizing this chance, the energy beast fired several Air Bullets in succession while opening its mouth to charge up a more powerful Compressed Air Blast.
“Get out of the way!”
Though Zhou Ming couldn’t see clearly either, he sensed the airflow converging toward the beast’s mouth again through his Environmental Perception and immediately yelled.
He hurled the iron rod in his hand toward the point of airflow convergence while pulling the nearest Lantern Bearer back.
The next instant—
Before the energy beast’s Compressed Air Blast could fire, an iron rod followed the airflow directly into its mouth, causing the charge to fail and explode inside its maw!
Boom!
The energy beast’s body was torn apart by the shockwave from various points.
It struggled to its feet, spat out the iron rod, shook its head, and gathered fierce winds around its limbs again, beginning to move at high speed around the Lantern Bearers.
Zhang Chuanlei’s crystalline tail stabbed fiercely into its abdomen, flames and electric sparks exploding across the beast’s body. Bullets, Air Bullets, and other attacks rained down.
However, the Dust Rank energy beast gave them no chance to catch their breath. While firing Air Bullets, it began charging another Compressed Air Blast.
Several Lantern Bearers failed to dodge in time, were hit, and cried out in pain.
Right at that moment—
The sprinting energy beast seemed to crash into an invisible wall, coming to an abrupt halt.
It roared in fury, firing Air Bullets at the empty space ahead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The attacks struck an unseen yet indestructible barrier.
It was Yue Liang!
With the five Lantern Bearers joining them, Yue Liang’s group had quickly dealt with the remaining Dust Rank energy beasts and rushed over to support.
Seeing the Dust Rank energy beast moving at high speed and hard to pin down, Yue Liang decisively rushed into its path and deployed “Containment Field.”
It worked—the energy beast, forced to stop moving in order to break the barrier.
“Now! Quick, while it’s stopped!” Yue Liang shouted.
Everyone instantly seized the opportunity.
Shadow Orbs bombarded the energy beast, continuously corroding its body; Zhang Chuanlei’s crystalline tail stabbed frantically; flames materialized out of thin air, weaving a net of fire to restrict its movements.
“Rooooar—!”
The Dust Rank energy beast roared at the sky, the surrounding air currents madly converging toward it. Its body swelled continuously, the airflow around it clearly visible.
A Compressed Air Blast charged again, firing with greater speed and power.
The fire net was instantly torn apart. Several Lantern Bearers were sent flying, their clothes shredded, blood dripping.
The Dust Rank energy beast roared again, the airflow constantly expanding outward, completely surrounding Zhou Ming and the others.
Then, it began to run at high speed. The airflow rotation intensified, and Air Blades, Air Bullets, and Air Bullet continuously shot out from the vortex.
Trapped inside, everyone could only rely on Yue Liang’s barrier for meager support.
“This is almost at Windflow Rank level…” Zhang Chuanlei said through gritted teeth.
“Captain! Think of something fast! I can’t hold on much longer!” Yue Liang shouted.
Cracks began to appear in the barrier. Everyone was pushed back step by step under the suppression, with almost no chance to fight back.
“Is this the second phase…? Does it get harder when there are more people?”
While desperately dodging attacks, Zhou Ming thought of countermeasures and couldn’t help but complain.
His ability attacks were almost useless against this Dust Rank energy beast, and the weapons in his hands couldn’t break its defense either, offering no help to the battle.
“We’re gonna die… we’re gonna die!”
Right at that moment—
The high-speed running energy beast suddenly stopped, as if forcibly held in place by some power.
It let out a low whimper, unable to move like a small animal being pinned down.
Though the Lantern Bearers didn’t understand why, they seized the chance to unleash their full power.
Tail Kagune, flames, bullets… all sorts of attacks poured down furiously.
After several consecutive rounds of bombardment, the Dust Rank energy beast finally whimpered and dissipated into ash and smoke.
“Again…”
Zhou Ming leaned on his knees, panting, completely ignoring the pain on his body, and instead began to think about that abnormal moment of stagnation just now.
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