Chapter 350

Chapter 350: It’s Time to Deliver

The longer it existed in a form resembling a human or an animal, the more pronounced its inner emotional fluctuations became. And as its body teetered on the brink of collapse within a few hours, these emotions surged unrestrained.

The Horned Demon pinned the Blood Puppet to the ground with one hand while clenching the other into a fist, which erupted into roaring flames.

“Boom!”

A devastating punch, a dual attack of physical and mystical force, slammed into the Blood Puppet’s head below.

Red crystalline shards scattered in all directions; some dissolved into nothingness mid-air, while others quickly reformed into blood, splattering onto the injured teammates nearby.

The punch left a gaping hole above the Blood Puppet’s neck.

Yet, it did not die.

After relinquishing control of its body to the blood, the Blood Puppet’s original form had withered to a shriveled state.

Moreover, the blood itself expanded, propping up a robust humanoid frame, so the Blood Puppet’s true brain lay in the chest area, slightly to the right of the neck.

What the Horned Demon had shattered was merely a mimicked head; though this was no great feat for the Blood Puppet, it had been a long time since it had suffered such a humiliating defeat.

Where would the next punch land?

The Blood Puppet had no idea.

It faced a life-and-death gamble, where losing meant instant annihilation, and winning only bought a few more seconds of existence.

It didn’t dwell on the thought, focusing instead on fulfilling the task delivered by the powerful human—whose name it didn’t even know.

It hoped that after its death, this hidden powerful superpowered individual would choose to dedicate its strength to Hope City.

Just as it braced for death, the Horned Demon hesitated for a fleeting moment, then brought its flaming fist down again, striking the left side of the Blood Puppet’s body and scattering more of its blood.

Moments earlier, the Horned Demon had realized it could no longer sense the biological field of the feathered serpent.

That field had begun to weaken half a minute ago, and now it vanished entirely into the vast sea of human biological fields, like a buoy disappearing beneath the ocean’s surface.

As half-finished creations, the fall of the feathered serpent and the flame giant had always been part of the plan.

But according to the will of the mycelium, which had separated before entering the body, this final act was supposed to end in an explosion.

Why, then, had the Horned Demon sensed the death of the feathered serpent’s humanoid body without detecting any explosion in the corresponding direction?

True, dozens or even hundreds of buildings were ablaze, but the energy in those flames paled in comparison to what remained in that body.

The suspicious circumstances hinted at a truth—one the Horned Demon was reluctant to accept—

that the human no longer feared fire, which was why the feathered serpent had chosen not to self-destruct before going offline.

All these thoughts raced through the Horned Demon’s mind in an instant. By the time it prepared to deliver a third punch, its hand already raised and flames gathering, it was too late.

In a flash, it retracted its hand and leaped backward, springing several meters away.

The massive, car-sized head of the feathered serpent crashed precisely where the Horned Demon had stood, shielding the Blood Puppet behind it.

The Horned Demon tilted its head upward, locking eyes with a human whose identity it could never mistake, no matter how many faces he wore.

The opponent’s aura seemed to shift once more.

“My friend, it’s time to deliver.”

Lin Qingliu casually told a joke from an unknown world, and although the Horned Demon couldn’t understand it, it sensed a chilling killing intent from him.

It instinctively planned to unleash the power it had absorbed from the flame giant to create an explosion for escape, but saw a fireball, nearly the size of the feathered serpent’s head, forming in Lin Qingliu’s hand.

It finally understood why the feathered serpent did not self-detonate.

Evolution is the ability of all life, but rapid evolution—evolving at a visible speed—is a capability embedded in the genes of mycelium life.

Yet, why was this human able to overcome the flaw of weak fire in such a short time?

Not only that, but building on a foundation of fearlessness towards fire, he was even able to create flames, surpassing the understanding of the mycelium.

At that moment, Lin Qingliu’s individual existence completely severed from its perception of humanity.

Rather than viewing him as a protector of humans, the mycelium felt he resembled a predator vying for control over humanity.

And now, his position in the biological chain seemed to be upstream of its own.

But had the plan failed?

No.

Let alone Wang Xiao, who had reincarnated countless times, even the usually cautious Shadow Master bore two penetrating wounds on his hands and side at this moment.

The Horned Demon had quietly obtained their blood samples during the previous battle, which were now wrapped in a cocoon formed within its body.

As long as it delivered this blood back to the forest for analysis, even without obtaining their brains, it could gain a basic understanding of the abilities of these two humans, making it much easier to replicate them later.

Thinking this, the Horned Demon realized that this humanoid body’s mission had already been fulfilled.

These three bodies were initially planned to cause massive destruction before their deaths; as for inflicting casualties on humans, that task was meant for the surging Beast Pack like a tsunami.

In the moment of making this decision, the remaining wings began to wrap around the Horned Demon’s body.

Its hands and feet swiftly began to distort, and its entire body started to change into a torpedo shape, like a caterpillar preparing to spin a cocoon.

Having given up all activity, the Horned Demon’s outer surface seemed to have completely deactivated; from a distance, Fresnel’s beam of light concentrated at a point, intensely burning for several seconds, leaving behind only shattered remnants without penetrating through.

Such defense was something even Fresnel had never encountered before.

Meanwhile, Lin Qingliu in the air clearly observed more; he saw the Horned Demon’s body beginning to show the same fiery patterns he had witnessed himself not long ago.

“Retreat! He’s about to self-detonate!”

The Horned Demon’s choice to end in this manner was completely within Lin Qingliu’s expectations; even if he had fire resistance, it did not mean that other humans did.

The remaining blood on the surface of the Blood Puppet surged rapidly, forming wings similar to those of birds once more.

He quickly began to glide close to the ground, grabbing Wang Xiao, the Shadow Master, and the unaware Survivor, retreating backward, while superpowered individuals in other directions began to swiftly withdraw with the assistance of the outer personnel.

But there was no time left.

Before the watchful crowd, the blond man in the sky resolutely flew towards the extraordinary beast preparing to self-detonate below, disappearing into a cloud of mist that seemed to emerge from nowhere.

“Boom!!!”