Chapter 442: Madman

None of that mattered anymore.

Since her identity had been exposed, all she needed to do was ensure every single beastman who knew the truth died right here.

Bree cast a glance at Sylas, Hayden, and the other males, who were all bristling with rage, before turning her gaze toward Rory in the distance. As a rank-thirteen Zerg, her eyesight was exceptionally sharp. Even across such a distance, she could clearly make out the expression on Rory’s face.

"Rory, did you detoxify Sylas and the others?" If they hadn’t been cured of her poison, there was no way they would ever act like this toward her.

Rory acknowledged it openly. "That’s right. Not only did I detoxify them, but I also know you belong to the Scaleshedder tribe among the Zerg."

"Only Scaleshedder females can transform into beastman females after reaching rank thirteen without being detected."

Gritting her teeth, Bree snarled, "So today was a setup all along—you intentionally lured me out here?!"

"Congratulations, you got it right. Too bad there’s no prize," Rory replied coolly.

"Hahaha! Hahaha!" Bree suddenly burst into wild laughter. "Dammit... you all deserve to die! Not a single one of you is leaving here alive today!"

Her human form twisted rapidly. With a sharp shhh-la, two black fissures tore open across her back, and two pairs of translucent, black wings burst forth. The wing veins were misshapen like withered tree branches, dripping with sticky, grey-green mucus that splattered everywhere as they flapped.

While her body didn’t entirely shed its humanoid shape, it turned grotesque: her skin hardened into a dark brown carapace, spiked protrusions bulged at her joints, and hooked black claws tipped her fingers, with dark red grime crammed beneath the nails. Most revolting of all was her face. Her features looked corroded by concentrated acid—her left eye was a festering black socket, while her right eye bulged with a murky yellow eyeball. Her lips were rotted into frayed petals, revealing rows of densely packed, razor-thin teeth inside.

"Mama, she’s so ugly!" Terry poked his head out from Rory’s hair. One look at Bree, and he nearly gagged.

Rory almost threw up herself. The Zerg covered in eyes she had met last time had been hideous enough, but she hadn’t expected this Bree to be even worse.

"Rory, head back into the airship first. The mucus on her body is toxic—don’t let it touch you," Vangar warned Rory.

"Then you guys be careful!" Rory knew that staying out here would only distract Vangar and Xarion, preventing them from going all out against Bree.

Seeing Rory turn to head back into the airship, Bree beat her wings and launched herself toward Rory in a flash. Her black claws ripped through the air with a toxic gust, aiming straight for the back of Rory’s heart!

"Looking to die!"

Seeing Bree attack, white light erupted from Vangar’s entire body as he instantly reverted to his true form. The pressure of a rank-twelve powerhouse shook the ground. With a slam of his massive paw, his elemental power condensed into a shield to block Bree. At the same time, he whipped his tiger tail through the air, snapping it directly toward Bree’s wings.

Xarion instantly transformed into a massive white wolf. Ice spikes gleaming with a frigid light condensed around him. White electrical arcs from Vangar gathered on those ice spikes, endowing the vast swarm of projectiles with devastating power. Wherever they passed, the very space began to warp and distort.

Facing the earth-shattering joint attack from Vangar and Xarion, Bree’s hideous, acid-corroded face twisted with rolling malice.

"Just with the two of you?!" She let out a non-human screech—a sound so piercing it felt capable of tearing eardrums apart.

Her ugly black wings flapped violently, detonating a dark-green storm with her at the center!

Bzzzz—

Vibrating at ultra-high speed, her wings kicked up countless fine, needle-like drops of toxic mucus. In mid-air, the mucus rapidly solidified into sharp venomous darts, raining down in a dense, overwhelming shower to meet Xarion’s icy barrage.

Sizzzz-sizzzz-sizzzz!

The collision of ice and poison produced a nauseating, corrosive sound. The moment Xarion’s space-freezing ice spikes made contact with the poison darts, they melted and eroded away, dissolving into wisps of foul-smelling, greyish-black smoke that scattered into the air.

SKREEE—!

The sharp cry of a giant raptor rang out from behind Bree as a pair of massive golden claws swooped straight toward her. Hearing the sound, Bree knew instantly that it was Sylas.

A beastman spawned by my own hands actually dares to try and kill me?!

Bree sneered disdainfully in her heart. She didn’t even turn around; the spiked joints on her back twisted violently, contorting her body at an impossible angle. Instead of dodging, she thrust out her hard, carapace-covered hands tipped with black claws, actively clashing against the giant raptor’s descending talons!

CLANG!!

A deafening ring of clashing metal echoed across the battlefield.

Sylas’s massive body was blasted backward like a kite with a broken string, tracing a pitiful golden arc through the sky before slamming heavily against a distant cliffside, triggering a cascade of dust and shattered rock.

Behind the airship window, Rory’s heart clenched tight, her fingernails digging deep into her palms. This is a real battle! Bloody, cruel, and lethal with every single move! When Vangar and Vincent fought before, even though it was grand and filled with terrifying power, neither had aimed to kill.

Rory kept her eyes locked on the battle.

Noticing the situation outside, Vincent offered a gentle, low reassurance. "Rory, don’t worry. Vangar and the others can still handle it. If Xarion wants to break through to the next rank, he needs to push himself to his absolute limits. There’s no need for Wen to step in just yet."

Rory nodded, letting him know she understood.

Out on the field, the moment Bree knocked Sylas away, Vangar ripped through the air, sweeping his tiger paw down at her with the force of thunder. At the same time, Xarion controlled hundreds of ice spears, sealing off all of Bree’s escape routes like a giant cage closing in on its center!

"All of you—DIE!"

The ferocity on Bree’s face flared even brighter. She completely ignored the ice spears closing in behind her, letting those razor-sharp tips pierce straight into her dark brown carapace.

SCREECH—

The ice spears grinding against the hard shell produced a bone-chilling rasp, penetrating barely an inch before failing to push any deeper! The liquid flowing from Bree’s wounds wasn’t blood, but an intensely corrosive, thick green venom that ate away at the tips of the ice spears, leaving them pockmarked and ruined.

Enduring Xarion’s attack head-on, Bree flashed right in front of him. Her poison-drenched black claws slashed across his back in an instant.

"Xarion!" Watching this scene unfold, Rory felt her heart leap into her throat.

"ROAR!"

The excruciating pain caused Xarion’s massive wolf body to stagger.

"AAAAGH...!"

Simultaneously, the triple pain rebounding back to her made Bree scream at the top of her lungs. "DAMN YOU!"

Bree glared at Xarion with venomous hatred and hastily swallowed something. The next second, her wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As Bree’s wounds healed, the injuries on Xarion’s body began to heal as well. He stared at Bree, pouncing at her like a creature possessed.

Xarion completely abandoned all defense, employing a suicidal playstyle that traded wound for wound and life for life. His wolf claws ripped through the air with sharp whistles, and icy blades condensed madly around him before blasting outward, completely unconcerned with whether he might catch himself in the crossfire.

"Madman! You absolute madman!" Bree screamed and cursed.

Every time she injured Xarion, she suffered a triple backlash from her own attack. Yet seeing Xarion launch another assault, she had no choice but to strike back.

Bree’s black claws tore through Xarion’s flesh, leaving deep, bone-exposing wounds as the venom seeped in instantly. Yet Xarion acted as though he couldn’t feel the pain at all. Allowing his wounds to split wider, he countered with an even fiercer bite, tearing a massive chunk of armor plate straight off Bree’s carapace!

Pfft!

ROAR! ℯℯ𝑙.

Razor claws and icy blades continuously carved new scars into Bree’s body, while her venomous talons and ragged wings left Xarion equally battered. For a time, the battlefield was a chaotic storm of flying flesh and carapace, interwoven with wolf howls and piercing shrieks.

The wounds on Xarion’s body multiplied, his snowy white fur matted with crimson blood and blackened, festering flesh. Yet the battle intent burning in his eyes only grew hotter, like twin polar flames that would never die.

Bree, by contrast, was in far worse shape. Her wounds were far more numerous, her carapace shattered in multiple places as thick green venom pooled over her entire body. Her once-proud wings were shredded to tattered rags—a picture of utter humiliation.

"You lunatic! Get away from me!" Bree cursed while locked in a desperate struggle with the demonic wolf. She was already starting to regret her choices; she shouldn’t have engaged in the first place—she should have just fled!

Vangar had pulled back from the melee at some point, his massive tiger form standing quietly off to the side. His tiger eyes were locked tightly onto the fight, ensuring Xarion’s life was never in true danger.

Inside the airship, watching the severe wounds covering Xarion, Rory felt her heart aching terribly. She knew Xarion wasn’t in fatal danger, but seeing him battered like this, how could she not feel pained?

Wen’s gentle voice sounded beside her. "Xarion has already touched the threshold of rank twelve. He’ll be breaking through very soon."

Out on the battlefield, Bree finally realized something was terribly wrong.

This Xarion wasn’t trying to kill her at all—he was using her as a whetstone! If they kept fighting like this, even if she won, it would be a pyrrhic victory at best. What’s worse, his aura was growing stronger by the second, and she no longer held any advantage whatsoever!

Flee! I have to flee right now!