Chapter 870: Despair After Victory

Nearly twenty magical beasts emerged from the soil, ready to rush into the tunnel. At that moment, Haus, who had been on high alert, roared like a beast, leaping up and pounding the ground with his fists.

Boom!

A crimson shockwave spread outward from the ground, instantly covering the entire tunnel.

Su Che was shocked. He immediately felt his legs go numb, as if he had lost sensation in an instant. This was because the crimson shockwave remained close to the ground, only reaching just above his feet, so it did not affect areas above his calves.

The magical beasts, which had just come out of the soil, had their heads hit by the shockwave. Paralyzed heads meant their minds would also freeze temporarily, leaving them stuck in place.

Undoubtedly, Haus was trying to buy some time for Tianyin in this way. Of course, Su Che also had to be vigilant, wondering if Haus might take the opportunity to attack him and Tianyin from behind.

Yet Su Che knew the chances were slim. At such a critical moment, even someone completely insane wouldn’t do such a thing. To survive, they could only rely on Tianyin to create a miracle now.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths…

In just five short breaths, the dozen or so magical beasts recovered from paralysis. They began to roar frantically as most of their bodies emerged from the soil.

Logically, since Haus possessed such a paralyzing ability, he should have used it again, or even more times, to keep them paralyzed indefinitely.

But Haus didn’t do so, indicating that this shockwave had significant limitations and couldn’t be used endlessly.

Perhaps it was due to his own constraints, or maybe the magical beasts couldn’t be affected a second time. At such a critical moment, Haus didn’t even have time to explain anything—he simply showed through action that there was no other solution.

Haus and the other three people each took charge of a section. They rushed forward and unleashed frequent heavy strike spells at the heads of the magical beasts, aiming to push them back into the soil and buy as much time as possible, preventing them from fully emerging.

Su Che understood that Haus and the others had dozens, even hundreds, of experiences exploring the island. Their experience dealing with magical beasts far exceeded his own. They didn’t need anyone to tell them what to do next.

There’s nothing else but to buy as much time as possible to ensure Tianyin can cut off those monsters’ tails and see what will happen next. Apart from that, all other methods are nothing but futile attempts to cling to life. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang… Except for the two people still frantically digging at the end of the tunnel, House and the others all joined the battle, delivering the most powerful blunt attacks just to delay those monsters from emerging from the soil. Even if it could only buy a moment’s delay, they would go all out. Only Su Che remained by Tianyin’s side, protecting her—partly because his attack power was far too weak to make any difference if he joined the fight. Hiss… Hiss… Hiss… As the tails of the eight monsters at the tunnel entrance were about to be cut off by the circular rings, it seemed only a final push was needed. Those monsters seemed to realize something terrible was happening and entered a state of utter frenzy, their deafening roars almost shattering Su Che’s eardrums. But no matter how hard they struggled, they couldn’t turn around under the attacks of Lao Hei and the others to bite off the sonic rings on their tails. “Cut!” Su Che shouted in his mind. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack… The eight tails of the eight monsters were finally severed. The eight severed tails fell lifelessly to the ground, and the monsters, now without tails, froze in their final frantic struggles, motionless like statues. At that moment, everyone’s attention focused on those eight monsters; even House and the others forgot to keep attacking the dozen or so monsters trying to get in. Strangely, those dozen monsters with half of their bodies exposed above the soil also froze in place, motionless. Not only the monsters inside the tunnel but also the hundreds of monsters in the huge nest outside froze as well. It seemed as if time had slowed down by tens of thousands of times, and everything Su Che saw came to a standstill. Until… With a whoosh, those eight tailless monsters turned into piles of grayish-black dust that scattered on the ground, and only then did time, speed, and everything around return to normal. “Dead!” “Dead on the spot!” “Turned to dust—dead instantly!” Zhuo Li and the other Chaos Travelers couldn’t help but exclaim in shock. They truly never expected that the monsters without tails would simply vanish, dying completely and instantly.

I thought they might go wild for a while, roar frantically, or do something else. In any case, no one dared expect them to simply turn to dust and die just because they lost a tail.
“Great! Cutting off their tails can kill them instantly.”
The travelers erupted in exclamations of joy, seemingly seeing in this a great hope to break through the siege and survive. They could even imagine using this method to overcome the biggest obstacle on Magic Island when they returned to explore it again, and successfully harvest countless Amethyst Fruits.
But don’t forget—only eight magical beasts had been killed so far. Inside and outside the tunnels, there were hundreds, even thousands more, and who knew how many more there were on the entire island.
“Argh…”
Suddenly, the magical beasts inside and outside the cave let out a chorus of roars, seemingly deeply provoked by the deaths of their companions, showing signs of collective madness.
“Protect her! You must protect her!”
Zhuo Li sent a message to everyone: “Surround her in the middle—protect her at all costs.”
Tian Yin had become everyone’s only hope for survival. Though, given the current situation, calling this hope “a thread hanging by a hair” wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Whoosh!
Except for the two travelers who were still desperately digging, Haus, Zhuo Li, Manzi, and the others all gathered around, protecting Tian Yin in the middle and also shielding Su Che at the innermost layer.
“How are you?”
Su Che whispered in Tian Yin’s ear. Compared to the others, Su Che was more concerned about her condition.
It seemed that just cutting off the tails of these eight magical beasts had already put a heavy strain on Tian Yin.
“I’m fine,” she said softly, shaking her head slightly with a smile.
Only Su Che could see that the smile carried both an attempt to comfort herself and a hint of helplessness. If cutting off just eight magical beasts’ tails had left her so exhausted, then how could she possibly fight her way through thousands of magical beasts? That was the most pressing question ahead.
How could she do it?
If Tian Yin really had to risk her life to resolve this crisis, Su Che would be filled with deep regret, hating himself for it.
Yet even now, Su Che stubbornly believed that his decision was correct. If they hadn’t chosen this underground path from the start and instead tried to break through the ice with intense heat to escape from above, that would have truly angered the “powerful one” hidden in the shadows of Magic Island—the one who was secretly controlling everything.

What would happen if we angered it? It would surely be a hundred or a thousand times worse than now! That’s what Su Che thought. Just as the thirteen travelers present prepared themselves to fight to the death against the magical beasts, a strange scene unfolded. Swish swish swish… Dozens of magical beasts with half of their bodies exposed in the tunnel let out a few growls before retreating back into the soil, leaving only a dozen holes behind. Then, with a whoosh, the entire tunnel began to expand in a most bizarre manner… No, it wasn’t expansion—it was as if the circular tunnel’s diameter kept growing, while the surrounding soil receded in all directions like a receding tide, making the space inside the tunnel larger and larger. “Could it be that they’re trying to enlarge the tunnel so that all those magical beasts can rush in at once and tear us to pieces in an instant?” Zhuo Li and the others guessed anxiously. It seemed that the magical beasts had learned that someone possessed the ability to cut off their tails. To avoid excessive casualties, they planned to overwhelm them all at once, leaving Tian Yin no time to cut off their tails. Was that it? Whoosh whoosh whoosh… In just a few breaths, what was originally a tunnel could no longer be called such—it had turned into a huge cave with a radius of thousands of feet, completely connecting with the other side’s lair of magical beasts, like the upper half of a gourd. Huff, huff, huff… Thousands of magical beasts slowly gathered from all directions, with dozens more hanging upside down above, ready to pounce at any moment. With so many magical beasts attacking at once, no matter how skilled Tian Yin was, how many tails could he cut off? Moreover, cutting off their tails alone would take at least dozens of breaths. Facing so many magical beasts, the dozen of us simply weren’t enough—we couldn’t last that long! What should we do? Were we really doomed? Zhuo Li, Haous, Manzi, and the others remained silent. At such a moment, speaking was useless. But strangely, despite thousands of magical beasts gathering within fifty feet away—close enough to drown the dozen of them in one leap—they stopped in a most peculiar manner. One by one, they stared at Su Che and the others with emotionless, gray eyes, yet they didn’t attack. What were they waiting for? Were they waiting for someone to give the order? Zhuo Li and the others were astonished but dared not make a sound. Swish swish…

Until the swarm of magical beasts in front of them parted to the sides, creating a straight path, Su Che and the others realized that some powerful being was about to appear. The leader of the magical beasts? They didn’t have to wait long before they saw a giant serpent demon with a human upper body and a snake lower body, over ten zhang in length, slowly approaching. Creatures of this form were not uncommon in Su Che’s universe. In fact, the beautiful snake clan represented by Ye Lan, the first to enter the Inner World of the Immortal Prison, was almost identical to this serpent demon—no differences at all. The only slight difference was that the tip of this serpent demon’s tail was not free but buried in the soil…