It didn’t take long before Mikael was rapidly turning in place, the viper's massive body following his movement. And considering its size, that meant it collided with everything in its path. The terrain was already partially destroyed from the passage of the demonic beast tide, but under the Venomscale Viper’s passage, it was truly and thoroughly ravaged.

Trees exploded into splinters, while rocks were either sent flying or reduced to rocky mist. As for the beasts in its path… their fate wasn’t much different from the terrain’s. Body Forging Realm beasts were instantly killed, and the occasional Early-stage beast was sent flying, seriously injured and poisoned—the mass and lethal venom of the Venomscale Viper proving too much.

Mikael’s eyes lit up as he realized how powerful the ‘weapon’ in his hand was. It hadn’t been his initial goal, but who would’ve thought the serpent would be this destructive… Honestly, this gave him the urge to not let go and keep it in his grip as a living weapon.

Vmmmm.

Sangrelia, who was flying beside him under the control of his Divine Sense, suddenly vibrated—and he had the distinct impression it wasn’t because she was pleased…

Mikael’s mouth opened in disbelief. ‘Is she seriously “complaining” because I’m using the serpent as a weapon instead of her?’

Mikael’s eyelid twitched. “I’m not planning to use it for long, don’t worry. I’ll even let it go soon.”

He reassured her. Honestly, needing to reassure his sword was a weird feeling, but he didn’t dwell on it—his attention was too locked on the current situation. As he continued turning, rapidly accelerating, the serpent quickly reached an extremely high speed.

Which only exacerbated its destructive capabilities. Of course, this didn’t come without cost. Mikael’s hands were gradually turning purple, and the muscles in his arms were burning from the strain of keeping hold of a beast this massive.

Especially since the viper was violently thrashing, and given its Mid-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm physique, he needed every ounce of strength just to hold on. And that was with his current positional advantage—if it came down to raw strength, he would definitely lose against any Mid-stage demonic beast.

While the cost of his movements was high for Mikael, it wasn’t any lower for the viper. Having collided with numerous obstacles of varying durability at high speed, many of its scales had been torn off, green poisonous blood splattering in all directions and making the already devastated battlefield even more deadly.

The various explosions caused by the serpent’s collisions—coupled with the spreading poison—stopped the Titanhide Rhino in its tracks. It had been approaching, drawn by the commotion, but now it hesitated.

The same was true for the Fleshgrinder Worm. It had begun to move toward Mikael, but the loud explosions at the surface made it hesitate, unwilling to rise just yet.

These factors came together, changing the previous desperate situation into a strange calm at the center of the storm. Mikael noticed this and was pleasantly surprised, but even that didn’t shift his focus from the viper.

He saw more and more of its scales being torn off. At this point, he was fairly certain it had internal injuries. All in all, the serpent could be said to be seriously wounded. But Mikael wasn’t content with just that—not after poisoning himself to make it happen.

Mikael did two more turns before a small smile appeared on his lips. “It’s enough,” he murmured as his spinning reached a new high. Then he did one final turn toward the sky—and let it go.

The viper's massive body, weighing more than 100 tons, was propelled upward. At first, the Venomscale Viper was pleasantly surprised to finally be released; it even let out a low, contented hiss.

But the joy didn’t last. The viper quickly crossed the 50-meter critical limit. Instantly, an expression of horror appeared on its face. It let out a terrified, panicked hiss as the dark clouds above seemed to activate.

The Venomscale Viper’s instincts flared to the highest degree, warning it of imminent death. It began thrashing mid-air, trying desperately to fall back to the ground. But it had no flight capabilities—only helpless flailing as it awaited the thunderbolt like a Damocles sword.

KRA-KOOM!

A thick bolt of yellow fell from one of the darkened clouds, crossing space in an instant before striking the viper. It was annihilated instantly, the only trace of its existence being the yellow flash that quickly faded.

This spectacle caught the attention of nearby demonic beasts—which Mikael intended to exploit.

Or at least, that was the plan. But just as he tried to move, his vision blurred and he stumbled.

Thud.

His body hit the ground as he felt the poison continue spreading through his veins, seeping from his arms deeper into his body, dulling his senses and weighing down his limbs

He ignored the difficulty of movement and planted a hand on the ground to push himself up. The world wobbled as he rose, but he shoved the sensation down and clenched his teeth. It wasn’t time to lie down and take a nap.

With a grunt, he braced himself against his legs and erupted forward at full speed. In moments, he left the safe zone created with the ‘help’ of the Venomscale Viper’s demolition effort and reached a new stretch of terrain, one in a somewhat better condition than the wreckage left behind by the serpent’s rampage.

The ground was littered with splintered tree trunks and upturned earth—clear signs of the demonic beast tide’s presence. And of course, there was the overwhelming density of demonic beasts in every direction. There wasn’t more than a meter between them, and some even collided with each other due to the sheer crowding.

His gaze swept the surroundings, quickly catching potential obstacles to his escape—whether terrain or beast. Thoughts flashed at lightning speed, and even though the poison blurred his vision and muddled his mind, he focused and calculated the most optimal escape route from what he could see.

Once a plan formed, he didn’t waste a moment. He began weaving between obstacles and beasts, doing his absolute best to move with maximum speed, minimizing every motion to the limit of what he could manage.

When a Body Forging Realm demonic beast on the side attacked him, he would ignore it, and when they were in his path, he would run through them, making them explode into pieces.

This ‘barbaric’ method of displacement was actually pretty efficient, as it allowed him to move without needing to change his path too much or constantly evade each beast, which would have made him lose precious seconds.

The downside of this method was that it wasn’t exactly stealthy—hard to miss a row of exploding beasts—but Mikael prioritized speed above stealth, especially considering that the poison was still spreading in his veins, numbing his movements more and more.

It didn’t show as he just ran in a straight line, but the effect revealed itself moments later when Early-stage demonic beasts, drawn by the series of explosions, attacked him.

Claws, fangs, horns, talons, and more came toward him. Normally, he would have evaded and retaliated using his Moonpiercer Sword Art, but Mikael didn’t. He tanked everything with his body, only making small movements to minimize the damage he took.

SKRRRCH!

Bloody gashes quickly appeared on his body. Some of them were light, ‘only’ causing some blood to flow, but others were deep enough to reach the bone. Fortunately, injuries of that severity were in the minority, but they still worsened Mikael’s condition by the second.

Mikael gritted his teeth through the pain and continued with the strategy even as he accumulated more wounds. The reason wasn’t that he was a masochist or anything of the sort—it was simply because he didn’t have any other choice.

With the poison continuing to spread in his body, his movements were becoming slower and more clumsy by the second. Because of that, if he wanted to evade the beasts’ attacks, he would need to make large movements, which would waste a lot of time.

Time that he didn’t have. As for using Moonpiercer Sword Art... it would be even more time-consuming, making the bad situation worse. All that was in Mikael’s mind as he continued on his path to escape this death trap.

In this fashion, a dozen seconds passed during which Mikael at the cost of severe injuries was able to cross hundreds of meters, reaching only 500 meters from the edge of the tide—and that was considering the Titanhide Rhino had sent him flying deeper into the horde. Otherwise, he’d be even closer to the exit.

‘Almost there. Just a little more and I’m out of this damned trap!’ he thought, just as he dove low, letting himself slide beneath the stomach of an Early-stage boar. As he rose to his feet with a clumsy motion, he heard the beast crash behind him, trying to crush him—but he was faster and continued unharmed.

But sadly, reality decided it was time to slap the thought that he might escape alive right out of his head, because moments later, he felt subterranean movements approaching from below.

At the same time, he caught the Titanhide Rhino beginning to charge from the inner layer of the tide toward him, having regained interest in the small human.

The Fleshgrinder Worm wasn’t truly problematic—as with his abilities, he could probably survive. The true problem was the Rhino, which was not only extremely powerful but, more importantly, far faster than the current Mikael.

In top condition, maybe he could have outrun the Titanhide Rhino, but certainly not in his current state. For the current him, being able to stay conscious with poison this potent running through his veins while continuing to rapidly move through the tide of dense demonic beasts was already a feat. So outrunning this moving hill?

He didn’t delude himself into believing he would be fast enough—especially considering that, because of his broken left leg, he needed to limp, which made using Cloudbreaking Stride impossible. At least not with his current mastery, further increasing the disparity in speed between the Rhino and him.

All that was stacking against him flashed through his mind in an instant. ‘Okay, it isn’t that bad. If I position and time myself well, I can maybe use this Rhino charge to push myself further away from the tide. Maybe even the last 500 meters in one shot.’

He grimaced before continuing his train of thought. ‘Yeah, a super idea. In this way, I can be sure that my already failing body gets the push it needs to pass past its breaking point…’ he thought with some irony.

Mikael continued to move, his ‘footing’ staying steady even as the ground trembled under the moving hill that was the Titanhide Rhino. At the same time, he caught subterranean movement that signaled that the Fleshgrinder Worm was rapidly approaching.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

His right foot rapidly touched the ground, but even as he gave his best, the two demonic beasts were quickly catching up. After all, not only was he slower than them, but he also needed to waste time evading the most critical attacks from nearby Early-stage demonic beasts.

Wasn’t he supposed to tank them all?

Yes, this was his strategy—but only for attacks he could survive without taking too much damage. Otherwise, he would evade them. After all, if an attack would decapitate him, he wouldn’t tank it simply because it was the ‘plan’.

And that’s without counting that his condition was rapidly deteriorating. His movements were already slowing. His breaths came short and sharp, and every jump sent pain screaming through his left leg. He knew he was almost out… and his body didn’t feel like it could make it.

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Glad you’re walking this path with me.

— End of Chapter —