Chapter 95: Sacrifice, Judgment, and Demons
Lin Qi turned his head, intending to urge Jiren, but as soon as he moved, countless serpent-like creatures emerged from the ground beneath them.
"Tch... What the hell are these things? I can't even sense their energy..." Lin Qi muttered as he was forced to release another energy blast.
As the rolling smoke dissipated, Lin Qi found himself surrounded by the black-robed soldiers who had invaded Buming Star.
"These damned bastards..." Jiren roared angrily and charged toward the black-robed soldiers.
"Don't get caught up in the fight! Hurry and find Gicchin!" Lin Qi, noticing Jiren losing his rationality in anger, teleported beside him instantly.
"Let's go..." Lin Qi teleported again, this time appearing where Gicchin and several villagers were surrounded.
Gicchin and the villagers were encircled by a large group of black-robed soldiers. Although they weren't weak, the sheer number of opponents was overwhelming.
"Wheel tactics... How shameless!" Lin Qi gazed at the dense horde of black-robed soldiers below.
"Master..." Jiren spotted a black-robed soldier attempting a sneaky move and rushed into the fray, joining the chaotic melee.
On a high platform nearby, illuminated by bonfires, the black-robed leader was holding a struggling mini Jiren aloft as if performing some kind of ritual.
"Master... I've captured him! Please grant me more power!!" the leader exclaimed.
"Master..." Mini Jiren cried out repeatedly, desperately seeking help.
Even during his parents' death, he had likely never witnessed such a chaotic battle. Terrified, he covered his wide, fearful eyes with his hands.
"Let him go!" Pushing aside the black-robed soldiers in front of him, Gicchin shouted in anger. "What are you trying to do?"
"Naturally... a sacrifice!" The black-robed leader's crimson eyes glinted with excitement. "Oh, great demon lord..."
"Face judgment!" Jiren, ignoring everything else, unleashed a barrage of energy blasts at the black-robed leader on the platform.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"What are you doing? Are you trying to hurt Jiren?!" Gicchin, seeing the blasts directed at the black-robed leader, leapt onto the platform to shield him.
The energy blasts struck Gicchin, triggering a series of explosions that engulfed the area in smoke. When the smoke cleared, Gicchin, now battered and bruised, was kicked off the platform by the black-robed leader and fell heavily to the ground.
"Damn it..." Watching the heavily injured Gicchin lying in a deep crater, Jiren gritted his teeth and charged forward again.
"I'll handle it!" Unable to bear it any longer, Lin Qi teleported behind the black-robed leader and threw a punch.
However, before the punch could land, the leader once again used Mini Jiren as a shield.
"Tch... How are we supposed to fight like this?!" Lin Qi growled in frustration.
The group became increasingly hesitant due to Mini Jiren's hostage situation. Meanwhile, the villagers below continued to fall to the relentless assault of the black-robed soldiers.
"You despicable scum..." Gicchin climbed out of the crater and joined the battle once more.
Everyone was desperately trying to rescue Mini Jiren, but while their enemies weren't particularly powerful, their sheer numbers posed a significant challenge.
Like ants overwhelming an elephant, the relentless swarm impeded Gicchin's progress. Although Jiren's combat abilities were decent, they weren't enough to turn the tide.
Lin Qi couldn't risk using overly powerful attacks either, as the collateral damage could harm Mini Jiren, defeating the purpose of rescuing him.
The battle reached a frustrating stalemate.
Observing the deadlock, Lin Qi decided to withdraw from the melee. Seizing the moment when the black-robed leader let his guard down, Lin Qi teleported and rescued Mini Jiren in an instant.
By this time, Mini Jiren had already fallen unconscious from being violently tossed around. Looking at the pale and lifeless Mini Jiren in his arms, Lin Qi gently handed him to Gicchin.
"You should go and save the rest of the villagers," Lin Qi said.
Leaping in front of the black-robed leader, Lin Qi intercepted the punch intended for Jiren. "This guy is stronger than you!" he declared. "Let me handle this!"
"I'll punish him!" Jiren, unwilling to listen, clenched his fists in rage.
"I told you, you can't beat him..." Lin Qi sighed, exasperated by the hot-headed youth.
Before their argument could end, two shadowy figures wreathed in black mist appeared in the sky, and a mocking voice echoed.
"You summoned me again... for what purpose?!"
"That's..." Gicchin quickly regrouped with the villagers, forming a defensive circle as they stared upward.
"Demons!!"
"Run..." The sight of the two black mist-shrouded figures caused the villagers battling below to collapse into despair.
They dropped their weapons and fled in panic, leaving Lin Qi and Jiren on the high platform. Some even began hurling insults at Gicchin, who was cradling Mini Jiren.
"So much for defeating the Evil Army... Why did we come here to die?!"
"Those are demons... DEMONS!!"
"I can't believe the Evil Army is backed by demons!"
"We can't win... Continuing will just lead to more deaths... my wife, my parents..."
"It's just a child! Give up... Gicchin, maybe we still have a chance to escape!"
"Gicchin, you planned this, didn't you? You wanted us to die here!"
"Just kill Jiren already! That kid will get us all killed!"
"Yeah... I'm done. Let them kill whoever they want!"
Watching the remaining villagers throw down their weapons and collapse to the ground, they began pressuring Gicchin to abandon Mini Jiren.
Gicchin's expression darkened. "Have you all given up? What about our fallen comrades?!"
"Can you face their sacrifices? Let their deaths be in vain?!"
Gicchin looked at the villagers in disbelief. "We agreed to destroy the Evil Army and save innocent lives..."
Seeing the infighting among the villagers and the encroaching black-robed soldiers, Jiren let out a cold laugh. "See? They're still betraying me and Master..."
"Demons, huh..." Lin Qi's gaze shifted to the two shadowy figures in the sky. For some reason, they seemed oddly familiar.
The village leader on the ground shouted bitterly at Gicchin, "We don't want to live like this anymore..."
"What did we do wrong? Even if we defeat the Evil Army, can you fight the demons?!"
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