Chapter 107: Their Choices, A Flash Of Radiance

The live-combat course progressed very quickly.

Those cannon fodder Abyss Beasts at the edge of the Nest Territory did not cause the trainees much trouble.

In Lin Yi’s perception, it would not be long before some lucky ones ran into those four Stardust Level Abyss Beasts.

“Time to get ready.”

Lin Yi thought to himself.

He stood at the edge of the Abandoned Office Building rooftop, the fierce wind whipping at the hem of his clothes.

Behind him, four inconspicuous bicycle-bearing steel balls were quietly suspended.

With Lin Yi’s current Star Vortex Level control over the Rules, he could already rely solely on Origin Energy to directly launch Attacks imbued with Rule Power.

But if he could use ready-made Tools to reduce unnecessary Origin Energy and mental Consumption, why not do it?

These ordinary small Steel Balls, at this moment in his hands, were the cheapest yet most lethal projectiles.

The majority of Lin Yi’s attention was focused on the four powerful Stardust Level Energy Sources below.

They were like torches in the Darkness, incomparably clear within his perception.

At the same time, on the ruined Street below.

Elizabeth gripped a slender yet exceptionally tough Long Sword, while her other hand raised a standard high-strength Alloy Shield.

Her breathing was slightly rapid, sweat soaked the golden hair on her forehead, but her blue eyes were unusually bright as she fixed her gaze ahead on the small group of Corrosive Abyss Wolves exchanging fire with the Soldiers.

Her squad consisted of herself, Adams, and three Xia Country trainees, coordinating with a full-strength Xia Country infantry squad.

“Left side, three of them! Firepower Coverage!” the Class Monitor’s roar rang out.

Rifles spat flames as Bullets swept out like a Metal Storm, taking down several Abyss Wolves drawing attention at the front.

“Now, go!”

Adams let out a low growl. He had chosen a heavy two-handed Battle Axe; muscles bulged across his body as Origin Energy flooded in, and with a howling swing he cleaved down, splitting open the skull of an Abyss Wolf leaping in from the flank.

Another Xia Country trainee raised a Shield and rushed forward, blocking the pounce of another Abyss Wolf, while the other two seized the chance to stab fiercely at its abdomen with Combat Knives.

Elizabeth moved with agile grace; her footwork was quick, and her swordsmanship was clearly the product of systematic Training—precise and efficient, targeting the Abyss Wolves’ eyes, joints, and other weak points, each strike dealing considerable damage.

Their coordination was slightly raw, but with the veterans’ Firepower support and command, their squad advanced steadily, Cleaning Up the scattered Abyss Beasts they encountered.

However, just as they finished off this small pack of Abyss Wolves and relaxed slightly for a brief moment.

A cold, violent, terrifying Pressure suddenly surged from the corner of the Street ahead on their flank.

In an instant, everyone felt their hearts sink; even breathing became difficult.

A Fear born from the instinct of life instantly enveloped each of them.

“Uh…”

One Xia Country trainee turned pale and gripped their Shield tightly with both hands.

Even the infantry Soldiers who had undergone strict Training and possessed firm resolve suddenly experienced a drastic change of expression, their palms slick with cold sweat around their rifles.

“What is going on?! How are we running into such a powerful Abyss Beast?!”

Elizabeth was horrified. She forced her eyes to move with difficulty toward the Direction the Pressure came from.

At the Street corner, the shadows writhed, and a massive figure slowly emerged.

It was an Abyss Beast shaped like a cheetah, its body covered entirely in dark purple Scales, sharp Bone Spurs growing at its limb joints, and its tail lashing like a steel whip.

Its vertical pupils were a strange amber color, coldly and mercilessly locking onto their squad as it let out a low, threatening “woo-woo” sound, as though sizing up a group of prey awaiting slaughter.

Everyone instantly felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

Compared to the Abyss Beasts they had just slain, this one was like a starving tiger to a toy poodle.

“Damn it, this kind of Pressure is definitely from a Stardust Level Abyss Beast!” The Class Monitor, a veteran with extensive combat Experience, immediately recognized what kind of monster this was.

This kind of Abyss Beast was absolutely not something an infantry squad with only light Firepower could handle.

Were they not supposed to be merely assisting the Training Camp with live-combat drills?

Drills?

How could an Abyss Beast of this level be here?

Despair tinged his voice. “Everyone, prepare to Evacuate immediately, disperse and pull back!”

Almost roaring into the Walkie-talkie on his shoulder, he shouted, “Command Department! Command Department! Area 7 has encountered a Stardust Level Abyss Beast, requesting support! Repeat, requesting Urgent support!”

After that, he snapped his head toward Elizabeth and the trainees and shouted anxiously, “Go! Fall back to the rear! We will spread out and open fire to draw its attention! Move!”

Though the three Xia Country trainees were pale, they gritted their teeth. Instead of retreating, they stepped forward, blocking in front of Elizabeth and Adams.

One trainee shouted to the Class Monitor, “Class Monitor, let the two of them go first. They are not Xia Country Soldiers; we will stay to help you!”

Under this extreme Pressure, no one had time to think too much; they instinctively made their own choices.

However, Elizabeth suddenly jerked her head, her golden hair flying. She forced down the Fear in her heart. Her voice trembled slightly but was incomparably firm.

“No! I have never learned to abandon my comrades and flee alone. Besides, against this type of Speed-focused Abyss Beast, turning your back and running is the stupidest choice!”

Her mind, under intense Fear, was instead racing. She spoke rapidly: “Do not confront it head-on; we cannot win! Move! Everyone, immediately fall back into that half-collapsed shop next to us and use the building’s structure to delay it!”

At the same time, she did not forget to encourage her teammates.

“I do not know where it came from, but as long as we hold on for a bit—just a bit—the Chief Instructor will definitely notice something is wrong here. He will come to save us!”

She held an almost blind faith in that man who was like a god or a demon.

On the distant rooftop, Lin Yi clearly “heard” Elizabeth’s shout. The corner of his mouth moved ever so slightly. “Tsk, she does trust me.”

And just then, the purple-bladed leopard observed for a moment and seemed to confirm that the prey before it posed no threat.

Or, more likely, it had lost patience, or been enraged by the Soldiers’ attempts to scatter and distract it.

Its amber vertical pupils shrank sharply as the muscles in its limbs bulged in an instant.

“Roar!”

A low, violent snarl.

In the next second, its figure blurred, turning into a streak of purple, tearing through the Air with a shrill screech as it lunged straight at Elizabeth, who stood at the very front and had just shouted to organize the Defense.

Its Speed was so great it surpassed the visual tracking ability of almost everyone present.

The Aura of Death instantly enveloped Elizabeth completely.

“Am I going to die?”

The thought rose uncontrollably.

A trace of Despair flashed through her blue eyes, but even more was a resolute unwillingness.

Instead of retreating, she poured all her scant Origin Energy madly into her Shield and Long Sword, ready to make one last block.

Even if she died, she would break a few of its teeth!

Adams roared in Anger, trying to charge forward to intercept, but that terrifying Speed and Pressure stunned him half a beat too slow.

The Xia Country Soldiers’ eyes went bloodshot as they frantically pulled their triggers. Most Bullets hit nothing but air or were deflected by the Scales on the purple-bladed leopard’s body.

The three Xia Country trainees cried out in Exclamation and tried to rush forward.

It seemed everything was already too late.

At this critical juncture.

On the rooftop, Lin Yi’s gaze turned cold.

Soul as the guide, Origin Energy as the fuel, Rules as the core, thunder as the form!

Then.

The small Steel Ball floating at his side was instantly wrapped in countless raging purple arcs of lightning. The blinding thunderlight turned it into a tiny sun, briefly outshining the sunlight on the rooftop.

Then this Steel Ball, engraved and strengthened by the manifested Rule Power, vanished in an instant.

Below, Elizabeth felt an Aura so scorching and so razor-sharp that it seemed to graze her cheek as it passed.

It even made her feel as if her hair had been singed.

Immediately after.

“Boom!!!!”

A blazing, dazzling bolt of lightning, straight as a line, like a divine spear of judgment descending from the heavens, tore through the sky in an instant.

It ignored all obstacles in its path. The wall of a half-collapsed building was pierced as if made of paper, leaving behind a charred hole with molten edges.

This beam of Deathly white light, overbearingly and flawlessly precise, pierced into the head of the purple-bladed leopard that was mid-pounce.

No struggle, no Process.

The beast’s ferocious lunging posture froze in an instant. In its cold amber pupils, there was not even time for shock and Fear to appear before all light vanished.

Then.

Bang!

A nearly pure-white sphere of destructive Energy suddenly swelled from within its skull, instantly devouring and vaporizing its massive body.

The terrifying Shockwave spread outward in a perfect sphere, rapidly sweeping up and blowing away all rubble and dust on the ground.

The intense light forced everyone to shut their eyes involuntarily, and the deafening roar made the earth violently Tremble.

When the blinding light and thunderous noise slowly Dispersed.

All Elizabeth could see were drifting motes of dust carrying a scorched smell, and the strong scent of ozone and strange residual Energy in the Air after annihilation.

That arrogant Stardust Level Abyss Beast had completely vanished.

As if it had never existed.

Having narrowly escaped Death, Elizabeth stood there in a daze, her arms still held in a guarding posture, faint Origin Energy light flickering on her Shield and Long Sword.

She gasped for breath, heart pounding wildly, her blue eyes filled with dazed disbelief at having survived.

Adams was frozen mid-charge, his face utterly bewildered.

All the Soldiers and trainees stared, dumbfounded, at the now-empty space ahead and the building wall that had been pierced through.

What just happened?

Who did that?

Almost instinctively, everyone—including the still-shaken Elizabeth—snapped their heads up, following the Direction from which that terrifying white light had come.

In the distance, at the edge of the tallest office building rooftop, the sunlight traced out a blurry yet upright figure.

It was too far to see his face clearly, but everyone knew who it was.

A breeze blew past, scattering the smoke.

At this moment, in their eyes, that figure seemed as tall as heaven and earth.

“Ch-Chief Instructor…”

No one knew who, with a trembling voice full of boundless awe, softly spoke those words.

Nothing more needed to be said; everything was clear.

Elizabeth slowly lowered her arms. Looking at that distant figure, the faint relief of survival in her heart was quickly replaced by an even stronger surge of excitement and yearning.

She was even trembling slightly.

Experiencing it firsthand was far more overwhelming than watching that brief Video at the Opening Ceremony.

So this is…the power of the Rules?

Is this the height they might one day reach?