Green smoke burst from the ground a few meters from Leon and whirled around like a thunderstorm.

Stones began falling from the cave Leon had leaned on, but none of them were able to make him crack his eyes open.

’I came here for one thing,’ Leon said in his head while his teammate’s face reeled behind his eyelids. ’And I will make sure Aurelian joins you guys.’

A bone-crackling sound echoed around Leon as he cracked his eyes open.

The translucent panel shimmered to life when he saw the smoke nearing him.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Presence Detected.

Scanning...

Name: Serakel

Rank: B

Type: Infant

Hostility: Critical

Domain Influence: Spiritual Suffocation

Unique Ability: Venom Fang Scripture

A smile tore across Leon’s lips as he pushed himself off the cave’s wall, then began cracking the bones in his neck and relaxing his shoulders.

"They are closing in, Leon." Gia’s voice rose in an urgent tone. "The Serakels are three times the number of the iron-lizards."

"Let them come, Gia."

He tightened his grip on the Hi-no-Kami in his right arm, then gave the cave one last look before dashing into the green storm.

The moment he vanished into the smoke, his heart rate began to drop drastically while his vision also blurred with every passing wind that flew by him. ’This is not what will make me change my mind!’

He coughed and pulled the red-gold cloth over his nose and mouth, then closed his eyes.

We are with you. Go get him.

A mixture of Wu Ze, An Lang, Liu Yan, and all other persons Leon knew to have died for his cause flew around him and anchored him to move forward.

Just as he pushed through the first three rushing winds, an eight-foot Serakel appeared before him. When the creature snarled, acidic liquid flew out of its mouth and sprayed out.

The liquid flew by Leon’s side as he sidestepped it and watched it slam on the ground and burn the spot in an instant.

"Avoid direct contact with the liquid, else you will die." Gia’s voice rose and faltered as the connection broke.

The Serakel swung its sharp tail toward Leon, but ended up wrapping it on the blade of the Hi-no-Kami.

"Let’s see how you use that against me!" Leon smiled as he pulled the katana, chopping the tail off.

Green blood sprayed out of the Serakel’s wound, but it didn’t run. It remained still even when Leon dashed forward to chop its human head off, then vanished.

Leon’s eyes reddened when the blade swung through thin air. "Coward! Show yourself."

Green liquid began to snake around Leon’s suit as he whirled around, stomping his feet at the exact areas the creature’s blood had splashed.

When Leon saw the liquid and brushed it off, a sharp swooshing sound lanced through the air and slammed onto his left shoulder, numbing it in seconds.

His vision blurred when the Serakel materialized a few meters from Leon.

’No.’ Leon screamed in his head and shook his head. ’I can’t fail this one.’

He looked at his palms with his blurry vision, then back at the Serakel. ’I have to fight Aurelian. I am stronger than before. I have to move forward no matter what.’

He dashed forward with lazy steps and swung the sword, but it ended up flashing at the side of the creature and piercing through the ground with a shrill screech.

"I have sent a location into the drift shield. Activate it and let it take you out of here, Leon." Gia’s voice rose but Leon didn’t listen.

"Come here," he pulled the blade from the ground and stretched his right arm toward the creature. "I’m not done with you yet."

His head spun sideways, creating other versions of the Serakel, while the kinetic-drift shield activated itself.

When Leon dashed forward to swing the sword at the creature, the shield hurled him upward and sent him flying. "Gia! Why did you do that?"

He wrestled to set himself free, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t defeat the shield’s strength.

"I had no other choice than to activate the shield to drift you out." Gia’s voice rose as tasteless air flew into Leon’s lungs.

When the Serakel vanished from sight, Leon closed his eyes and screamed. "I curse you, Gia!"

For the first time, the AI laughed with a humanlike voice which sent chills down Leon’s spine.

The heat that was radiating in his skull all vanished when Longwei’s smiling face reeled in his head.

...

On the ground at the front of the Heart of Tartarus, countless Serakels dashed forward and stopped by the wounded one standing at the center of the green storm.

When the wounded one lifted its gaze upward and let out a piercing shriek, all fifty Serakels turned their gazes at each other, then screamed in unison.

The green storm died down when they dashed forward, snaking through ridges and jumping over huge stones, following the direction the starlike object was heading.

Devilish goats chased after them when they drifted past their territory, stomping over them and destroying their huts.

Two of the Serakels turned their human heads when a loud howl exploded in the air.

In a flash, their lower snake bodies transformed into glowing Opal stone while their upper human parts hardened into unbreakable steel.

Jagged horns uprooted from their skulls and formed a ring over their heads while the clouds above them blasted with huge green, tornado winds.

The moment they all transformed, the ground beneath them pulsed with lava, carving burned marks into the earth at every section they drifted over.

...

The drift shield lowered toward the direction of a huge Opal wall at the southern part of Tartarus.

Leon’s eyes glowed as he saw a city of pure gold structures sprawling at the other end of the Opal wall. "Gia, how did you locate this place?"

"Through the scan you did before stepping down the Triarch."

Pain rattled through Leon’s left shoulder bone when the drift shield brought him to the ground level. Leon let out a sharp cry of agony.

The Hi-no-Kami in his left arm slipped down and bounced on the ground when the pain doubled as the Opal stone’s glow dashed toward Leon’s body. "It hurts!"

"This is the only way to regenerate your strength, for whatever reason, you are not making us head back." Gia’s voice rose while tears blurred Leon’s vision.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Location Detected

Scanning...

Territory: Serakel Domain

Proximity: 0.3 km