106: Chapter 106 I will sacrifice my life to cover your escape.

Karuge watched the two men whose auras had suddenly surged, lunging at him with an even more ferocious momentum; a hint of irrepressible exhaustion flickered in his eyes.

What was with these two? They were clearly only at the Flame Crystal rank.

How could they have fought him for so long and even remained on equal footing...

He had originally thought that by taking the field personally, he could quickly deal with those nuisances, allowing the beast tide and their tribe to continue moving forward...

But now, not only was he unable to secure a victory after a long assault, but if the other person's strength hadn't been slightly inferior and their reactions half a beat slower just now, he would have likely died more than once!

And now, they fought with increasing bravery, their momentum growing even stronger as they pounced toward him like enraged ferocious beasts.

A fierce light flashed wildly in Karuge's eyes as he suppressed the trace of unease in his heart. He let out another deafening roar and, dragging his giant blade, charged forward with equal audacity!

...

It was another brief but even more intense clash.

But this time, it was different from the previous battles.

Squelch!

The Telekinetic Shuttle pierced directly and ruthlessly through his abdomen, drawing out a spray of scalding blood.

Almost simultaneously, Jiang Chen's Tang sword hacked violently into his parrying right arm. The blade became wedged in the arm bone, producing a tooth-aching grinding sound.

Cough!

Karuge spat out a large mouthful of blood, the intense pain instead stimulating his final ferocity.

The muscles in his left arm bulged as he swung his giant blade in a fierce sweep, a desperate move intended to take his enemies down with him.

That ferocity once again forced the two opponents back.

He staggered back a few steps. No longer raising the giant blade, he leaned it against his feet to support his body.

High in the sky, Kalun, who had been watching tensely, couldn't help but cry out in shock upon seeing the leader in such a miserable state:

"Chief!"

Hearing Kalun's cry, Karuge raised his head to look up.

Looking at the hideous wounds on his body, Kalun's eyes flickered violently as he shouted loudly.

"Let's retreat! Chief! Retreat back to the tribe!"

If this continued, he would simply be worn to death by these two humans!

Retreat?

The word caused Karuge to daze for a moment.

They had already given everything; was there even a way back?

In an instant, the last withered figure of the old priest Geer, sitting alone by the campfire in the tent, surfaced in his mind without warning.

For just a moment, his breathing hitched.

In the next moment, the hesitation and fatigue in his eyes completely faded, replaced only by a near-fearless resolve.

Clang!

He exerted sudden force, pulling the giant blade that was propped against the beast's back and pointing it at Gu Changming and the other.

He wheezed with effort, every breath carrying bloody foam, as he looked up at Kalun in the sky.

"Go back... take the tribe, and go to their world!"

"I will settle things here."

Kalun was stunned for a moment.

Before he could react, he saw Karuge below suddenly raise his uninjured left fist and strike his own chest heavily!

Thump!

Immediately after, Karuge spread his arms as obscure, ancient, elegy-like incantations flowed from his blood-stained lips.

Simultaneously, his burly frame began to undergo a bizarre transformation. A blurred phantom, similar in outline to his original body, actually began to faintly peel away and shimmer from him.

Gu Changming's pupils constricted, sensing that something was wrong.

Without waiting to warn Jiang Chen, his figure lunged forward. Psychokinesis exploded beneath his feet as he prepared to strike the opponent down.

However, just as his body leaped into the air, a violent gale generated out of nowhere slammed into him head-on!

The wind was as solid as a wall, carrying a brutish repulsive force that actually blew Gu Changming, who was halfway through his pounce, flying backward.

He flipped in the air, Psychokinesis surging to stabilize his figure. Upon landing, he immediately looked up.

He saw that several translucent but equally stout and burly figures had appeared beside Karuge at some unknown point.

They were clad in simple, ancient armor and held illusory weapons. Their faces were blurred, and their eyes burned with an obstinate, inextinguishable battle intent identical to Karuge's.

"Ancestral Spirits...?!"

Kalun's voice trembled in the air.

As a priest-in-training, how could he not recognize what Karuge's move was?

It was the forbidden secret technique of their Flame Beastmen tribe. Using the life and soul of the tribal chief as fuel, it summoned the battle spirits of past ancestors and forcibly infused them into oneself, raising one's realm by an entire stage...

After this technique, even if he were lucky enough not to die, Karuge would be reduced to a cripple.

This price left Kalun completely dazed.

"Go!"

Karuge's unquestionable roar came again, breaking his stupor.

Kalun grit his teeth hard, knowing he couldn't be indecisive now and let the sacrifice go to waste.

He then jerked the vulture's talons. The Flame Feather Vulture let out a shrill cry, flapped its wings to turn, and carried him rapidly away from the battlefield.

Gu Changming watched the other leave but did not stop him.

His attention was now entirely on Karuge. At this moment, dozens of beastmen ancestral battle spirits stood towering behind him! They were lined up silently, emitting a desolate, heavy aura that nearly oppressed the soul.

Like birds returning to a nest, they were silently merging one by one into Karuge's broken body.

With every soul that merged, Karuge's aura surged like a volcanic eruption!

Before even half of the souls had merged, the spreading pressure already made Gu Changming feel considerable strain.

Jiang Chen's eyes shifted, finally looking toward Gu Changming with inquiry in his gaze.

Gu Changming also noticed his look. Frowning, he shook his head and said, "We can't fight this anymore. Take Tang Ningfei and the others, escape quickly, and withdraw from the Secret Realm."

Jiang Chen was stunned and blurted out, "Then what about you?"

Gu Changming took out a pitch-black glove from his robe and pulled it onto his hand, saying:

"Me?" Gu Changming's tone carried a hint of the absurd. "I'm obviously going to sacrifice my life to cover your escape, okay?"

"Ah?" Jiang Chen was taken aback.

"Do you believe that?" Gu Changming finally glanced at him. "I'm not stupid. Of course I have a way to get away, but if you guys don't leave now, you really won't be able to."

In this situation, the opponent could no longer be killed.

So he could only let Jiang Chen and the others run for it.

As for the opponent... he couldn't be killed and might not be beatable, but tangling with him for a bit was no problem.

Hearing Gu Changming say this, Jiang Chen's tense nerves relaxed slightly. He had almost thought just now...

"Take care!"

He didn't waste any more words, stating it decisively. Then, exerting force through his feet, his figure leaped several times and jumped back to the relatively safe area where Tang Ningfei and the others were located.

After landing, he quickly explained the situation.

Then he picked up the weakened Tang Ningfei, and the six of them quickly retreated toward the camp's Secret Realm exit.

Seeing their figures turn into small dots, Gu Changming finally withdrew his gaze and placed it back on Karuge.

At this moment, the opponent's aura was completely different from before, having broken through a major rank. His already burly body seemed to have expanded another size, and magma seemed to flow beneath his dark red skin.

Furthermore, his eyes had completely turned into two pools of burning blood-red. His reason had been entirely consumed by the desire for rage and destruction, and he let out inhuman roars.

At the same time, Gu Changming also finished putting on the nightwalker gloves, tightening his fingers.

Almost simultaneously, the outline of his body began to undergo eerie distortions and changes.

His entire body turned into a deep shadow color, and his physique elongated. In an instant, most of his body had transformed into a pitch-black, tall, and thin form extremely similar to a Shadow Devourer, with only his face retaining some human contours.

Well, the benefits brought by the Mimic Beast's upgrade were more than just a little.

At least the degree of this transformation was quite a bit higher.