The Stitched Abomination's roar, deep and thunderous, reverberated through the narrow confines of Ash Canyon, shaking the ground and making everyone's eardrums ring.
The colossal, mountain-like creature lumbered forward.
Each earth-shattering step sent tremors through the ground, causing loose rocks to cascade from the canyon walls.
The Necromancer's hoarse, piercing cry sliced through the air, drilling into the ears of every survivor:
"Seize her! Her soul... her power... shall be our supreme offering to immortality!"
In an instant, all eyes turned to Lin Qingyue.
Their gazes were complex beyond measure: relief at surviving the ordeal, awe at the pink miracle she had wrought, and dread that she had become the undead's primary target.
The Burly Captain picked up his mountain-splitting axe and spat a bloody mouthful onto the ground.
"Damn it! These dead bones sure know quality when they see it!"
He glanced back at the Old Priest, still dazed from his faith's restoration, then turned to Lin Qingyue, his voice booming like thunder.
"Little girl, your skills are truly... extraordinary! But what do we do now? That massive thing is charging right at us!"
Su Wan's expression remained as cold and serene as ever.
It was as if the mountain-sized monster charging toward them were merely a magical formula requiring calculation, rather than a terrifying threat.
Her ice-blue eyes calmly assessed the Abomination's size and speed, while a blinding, frigid light erupted from the tip of her staff.
"Frost Path!"
She murmured the incantation and struck the staff against the ground.
A visible trail of ice-blue frost surged forth from beneath her feet with astonishing speed, instantly spreading into a wide frozen zone across the Abomination's charge path.
From the thick ice layer, countless razor-sharp ice spikes erupted upward.
This was her trump card for crowd control—a spell capable of shattering the charge of an entire regiment of heavy-armored cavalry.
Yet the Abomination's charge faltered only momentarily.
Its massive feet crunched down on the ice with a teeth-grinding creak.
The razor-sharp ice spikes slammed into its legs, which were stitched together from countless corpses, shattering into fragments without even piercing its skin.
Its terrifying weight and strength rendered this level of ground control utterly useless.
"The deceleration effect is negligible!"
Su Wan spoke calmly, her voice devoid of emotion, as if reporting experimental results.
"Target's weight exceeds capacity. Possesses inherent high magical resistance. Recommend switching to attacking structural weaknesses or utilizing high-penetration single-target spells."
As she spoke, she was already rapidly constructing new spell models in her mind, even taking a moment to glance at Lin Qingyue with a hint of pure academic curiosity:
"Or... we could just try smearing your Healing Spell on its face?"
Having witnessed the pink miracle, the Ice Queen's thinking had become remarkably flexible and unconventional.
"Xia Lian, attack its eyes and sutures!" Lin Qingyue's composed voice rang out, answering Su Wan's question—they would try conventional weaknesses first.
Xia Lian had already sprung into action.
Her lithe figure danced nimbly across the uneven terrain, seeking the optimal angle of attack.
Her shortbow reappeared, and three enchanted arrows, glowing with a faint silver light, were nocked on the string.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three silver arrows, arranged in a triangular formation, shot with deadly precision toward the Abomination's numerous, murky eyeballs scattered across its body in varying sizes.
The Abomination casually raised one of its massive arms.
That thick limb, crudely stitched together from seven or eight different creatures' arms, served as a perfect fleshy shield.
The three enchanted arrows, capable of piercing steel, buried themselves deep into the putrid flesh but could advance no further.
This harassment seemed to have thoroughly enraged the Abomination.
It halted its advance, and the massive, nightmarish maw on its abdomen snapped open!
A deafening roar erupted!
A dense, murky green mist, reeking of decaying flesh, surged from its maw, engulfing the caravan like a tidal wave.
"Hold your breath! Retreat!" Lin Qingyue shouted.
"Holy Light Barrier!"
Lin Xiyue cried out, slamming her heavy shield into the ground. A golden barrier of light instantly expanded before the group, sealing off the lethal poisonous mist.
The mist hissed and sizzled against the barrier, its corrosive effects causing the barrier to ripple violently. Yet, it failed to breach the protective shield.
"I'll hold it back!"
Lin Xiyue gritted her teeth, her gaze fixed resolutely on the massive monster. As the team's sole shield, she had to step forward.
"No!" Lin Qingyue immediately protested. "You can't withstand it! Its strength is overwhelming—you'll be sent flying!"
She knew all too well the impact force of such creatures. This wasn't something mere defensive stats could withstand. Even if Lin Xiyue managed to block the initial strike, the sheer momentum would hurl her away like a rubber ball.
In the moment the sisters were arguing, a burly figure roared and charged forward. It was the Burly Captain, his face scarred with horizontal gashes!
"This old man won't hide behind a bunch of young girls with a clear conscience!"
His eyes burned crimson, his muscles bulged with exertion, and the pink heart tattoo on his arm stood out starkly against his rugged physique.
"Hrrraaagh!"
He leaped high, his mountain-splitting axe whistling through the air as he brought it down savagely on the Abomination's calf.
Thwack!
The axe blade sank deep into the putrid flesh, carving a terrifying wound more than half a meter long and deep enough to expose bone!
A gush of multicolored tissue fluid and purulent blood spewed forth, filling the air with a nauseating stench.
Such a blow would have crippled any normal creature instantly.
Yet the Stitched Abomination merely glanced down at the wound on its leg—a gash no more significant to it than a toothpick scratch.
In its murky eyes, a hint of human-like... irritation flickered.
It was utterly enraged.
Its massive bone club, as thick as a roof beam, swept through the air with a thunderous roar!
"Bring it on!"
Feeling an inexhaustible surge of strength within him, the Burly Captain charged forward instead of retreating, bracing his mountain-splitting axe across his chest to meet the blow head-on!
Clang—!!!
The ear-splitting clang reverberated through the air, numbing eardrums.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground beneath the Burly Captain's feet as the colossal force drove him backward several meters, the bones in his arms groaning under the immense strain.
Yet he held firm!
"Again!" he roared, grinning maniacally through bloodied lips.
The Stitched Abomination, seemingly stunned that this puny insect had withstood its attack, bellowed in fury. Its free arm lashed out with lightning speed, swatting at the Burly Captain like a fly!
This time, the Captain's old strength had waned, and new strength hadn't yet surged. There was no escape.
Boom!
A deafening crash.
The Burly Captain was flung through the air like a discarded rag doll, blood spurting from his mouth as he crashed heavily into a carriage. The impact shattered the sturdy wooden planks, sending splinters flying.
He struggled to rise, but another gush of blood left him collapsing limply to the ground.
Yet this fearless, suicidal attack had successfully halted the Stitched Abomination's charge.
"Well done!" Lin Qingyue praised, her staff already pointed at the fallen burly man.
A thick, pink "Healing Spell" beam struck him with precision.
"Ah—"
The Burly Captain let out an even more blissful groan than before.
The crushed bones in his chest visibly rose back into place at an astonishing rate, his wounds healing rapidly. Even the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth were completely "purified" by the pink Holy Light.
A larger, pinker, and even more adorable heart-shaped mark slowly materialized on his bronze chest, radiating a gentle glow.
The burly man flipped upright from the rubble like a carp and leaped to his feet.
He touched his now-perfectly healed chest, then glanced down at the overwhelmingly girly heart tattoo, his expression twisting into extreme confusion and bewilderment.
Who am I? Where am I? Was I just about to die?
Why do I now feel like... there's an explosive force about to burst inside me?
He clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking like popping beans, as he sensed the overflowing, explosive power surging within him.
In the end, he swallowed back his snarky comment about the cute pattern on his chest.
Whatever!
Just go all out!
"Sister Qingyue! New enemies!"
Xia Lian's tense voice crashed down like a bucket of ice water.
Everyone tensed, turning to look in the direction she indicated.
At the other end of the canyon, a new undead army had materialized without warning.
Leading the charge was a knight mounted on a skeletal warhorse. Clad in pitch-black heavy armor, only two crimson points of Soul Fire glowed through the visor's slits.
The massive rune-etched demon blade in his hand radiated not ordinary death aura, but a chilling, soul-freezing aura of absolute decay.
The temperature in the canyon plummeted to freezing in an instant.
[ Death Knight Lord Lv. ??? ]!
Judging by both his level and the restrained, abyss-like pressure emanating from him, he was far stronger than the one the Lin Qingyue sisters had encountered in the College Entrance Exam Dungeon.
Trailing behind him was a squad of Apprentice Death Knights, all at Level 30.
A pallid death energy swirled around them, dimming even the sunlight.
Ahead lay the Stitched Abomination and the Necromancer.
Behind them loomed the Death Knights.
The convoy was utterly trapped in this desolate wasteland.
With a clatter, a longsword slipped from an adventurer's grasp and fell to the ground.
His face was utterly blank.
Despair was no longer just an atmosphere.
It was the icy reality gripping each person's throat.