Seeing her master injured, Little Flame unleashed scorching flames across her body and roared as she pounced toward the demonic shadow.
But the demonic shadow merely swung a heavy fist. The next moment, Little Flame suffered the same fate as her master, slamming headfirst into the cliff wall.
"Little Flame, are you okay?"
Li Tonghui clutched his chest as he stood up and walked to Little Flame's side.
"Roar——" Little Flame stood and responded.
"To think god remnant of this level would come looking for us brothers—I'm almost honored." Jun Mo Li stood up and subtly glanced behind him at Jun Bai.
"Phenex——"
The demonic shadow roared, dispersing into scattered fragments that surged toward Jun Bai like a tidal wave.
"There's no Phenex you're looking for here!"
Jun Mo Li responded to the demonic shadow, then—ignoring the wound on his back—drew the light sword at his waist and slashed out a trail of afterimages.
"Waterfall Sever!"
The sharp fast sword cleaved through the pitch-black substance surging toward Jun Bai.
"Here there's only our brother—Jun Bai!"
A pillar of fire shot skyward, weaving into a barrier that shielded Jun Bai in front.
The dispersed demonic shadow couldn't penetrate the fire-elemental barrier and was forced to reconverge.
Li Tonghui and Jun Mo Li—two injured men—stood in front of Jun Bai, using their not-particularly-broad backs to block the demonic shadow's path.
"Third brother, his target is you."
Jun Mo Li shouldered Mountain Severer again and said: "I'll hold him off and buy you time to escape."
"Second brother..." Jun Bai stared blankly at Jun Mo Li. "Did you already know?"
"I didn't know, but your past has always been quite mysterious, so I prepared myself long ago."
Jun Mo Li smiled.
Didn't know? Impossible—he and Li Tonghui hadn't just arrived in the Guili Assembly yesterday.
The storytellers at Fengdeng Lou had long ago repeatedly told the tale of how the God of Abundance fought bloody battles for the Guili Assembly and even sacrificed her life.
From the moment he heard the most distinctive feature of the God of Abundance—white hair and red eyes—Jun Mo Li had already begun preparing himself.
"I'm also buying time."
Li Tonghui put on the knuckle dusters Jun Bai had given him: "I'm the eldest brother—naturally I have to protect my little brother."
"Little Flame, take third brother and go."
"No—eldest brother, second brother—no!"
Jun Bai suddenly realized what Jun Mo Li and Li Tonghui intended to do. He immediately stepped forward—the three brothers would face this demonic shadow together.
But Little Flame suddenly appeared behind him, bit down on his clothes, spread her wings, and flew off with him.
"No!"
Watching Jun Bai disappear into the distance, the demonic shadow's already unstable emotions instantly lost control: "Phem..."
But before the word could finish, a fist wearing knuckle dusters and a bladeless sword edge appeared right in front of him.
"Don't keep your eyes only on our brother!"
Flames ignited on the fist and slammed heavily into the demonic shadow.
"Your opponent is us!"
The heavy sword Mountain Severer swept horizontally and struck the demonic shadow across the face.
The demonic shadow was forced back by the two.
The two injured men stood as if unscathed, backs straight, jointly blocking the demonic shadow's path.
"Speaking of which, I always thought it was just a coincidence. I never expected third brother to actually be a god."
"Now that I think about it, third brother's amnesia was probably caused by this thing. In life, he must have been the Dream God who perished together with the God of Abundance."
"They didn't perish together—after all, third brother is still alive."
"True." Jun Mo Li nodded slightly, then sheathed his light sword and gripped Mountain Severer with both hands.
"The Dream God—you were dealt with by our third brother in life. Now that you're dead, let us two older brothers have a turn with you." Li Tonghui clenched his fist.
If anyone else heard this, they would probably mock the two for overreaching.
Mortals declaring war on a god—could be called courageous or simply foolish ignorance.
And the reason for the declaration: mortals protecting another god. That would naturally draw ridicule.
If mortals had the power to protect gods, why would they seek the gods' shelter? Even the power mortals wield now comes from the gods' gifts.
Like Li Tonghui's Vision.
But some things must be done.
Even if the power gap was insurmountable, in the eyes of these two, Jun Bai was a little brother who needed protecting.
This had nothing to do with whether Jun Bai was originally a god—it was simply something the two older brothers had to do.
Moreover, the current Jun Bai had long lost the strength he once had to slay the Dream God. The fact that he lost his memories due to god remnant was the best proof.
Whether from emotion or reality, Jun Bai was the one who needed protection.
Since that was the case, Li Tonghui and Jun Mo Li had nothing to hesitate over. Protecting their little brother unconditionally—that was the choice of the two older brothers.
Li Tonghui wielded fire; Jun Mo Li wielded sword. The two charged toward the undead Dream God.
...
Little Flame bit Jun Bai's clothes and carried him farther and farther away. The oppressive demonic shadow shrank continuously in Jun Bai's vision, until he could no longer clearly see his two older brothers.
In that instant, something seemed to shatter.
"Little Flame, put me down." Jun Bai's tone was unprecedentedly calm.
"Roar——"
Little Flame's tone conveyed refusal.
"Put me down—I have to go save them." Jun Bai lifted his head, eyes rimmed red. "Aren't you worried about eldest brother too?"
"Roar~"
Little Flame's tone was filled with sorrow, but she still refused Jun Bai's request.
But this was her master's command—she had to carry it out to the end before she could return.
"So emotional communication is useless, huh?"
Jun Bai murmured to himself.
Crimson eyeshadow appeared at the corners of Jun Bai's eyes. Specks of flame emerged and coiled around his body.
A crimson tail feather flew out from Jun Bai's collar.
At the same time, an aura that sent all birds into a frenzy leaked out.
Countless birds, upon sensing this wisp of aura—no matter where they were—immediately dropped everything and rushed toward their king's side.
From deep mountains, forests, even from within the Guili Assembly.
Birds poured out in flocks, converging in the sky without prior agreement, paving a path overhead that blocked out all sunlight.
"Since emotional communication is useless, then I can only resort to force."
Flame wings spread behind Jun Bai. Little Flame immediately realized she had lost control over fire elemental power.
All of this signaled that the god who once protected the Guili Assembly—Phenex—had officially returned.