Choice

The sun finally reluctantly moved below the horizon line. The brilliance of the setting sun gradually converged as it moved, and the pitch-black sky had already become the domain of the moon.

The beast commander’s eyes darkened, and the magical beasts fighting fiercely with the human soldiers also smiled and glanced at the beast forest slowly darkening.

Unable to withstand this natural alteration, the sun struggled on the horizon for a long time but ultimately slowly descended. The blood-red afterglow was gradually swallowed by darkness, finally ending the first act of the night in a complete annihilation—the encirclement and suppression.

The battle that had once been white-hot near Li Yi, where the magical beast army was fully savoring the thrill of slaughter, suddenly stopped their attacks at the moment darkness fell, as if they had reached an agreement. Taking advantage of the human soldiers still struggling to adapt to the sudden darkness, they swiftly leaped over the crowd, charging at extreme speed, and with claws honed sharp from prolonged combat, they directly targeted Li Yi.

Li Yi at the front instinctively sensed the wrong atmosphere. At the instant it grew dark, even the sounds of combat seemed to cease. Instead came the wind sounds of running at extreme speeds tearing through the air. Li Yi immediately understood what the beasts intended, but as an ordinary human he also needed time to fully adapt to the darkness. In the chaos he could only choose to temporarily retreat.

The human soldiers also immediately grasped the beasts’ intention. In the darkness, groping to adapt, they gave Li Yi a clear path to the rear without a sound. The soldiers around Xia Kui surrounded her with their flesh and blood to prevent any mishaps.

The beasts that came to encircle and suppress Li Yi and Xia Kui simply snorted coldly. As magical beasts they were naturally superior to fragile humans in senses of sight, hearing, and smell, more than twice as keen. In their crazed states they even wished their ears could hear six directions and eyes see eight, and further evolve a vajra pupil to become a Buddha who conquers the world and goes to the West to seek scriptures.

Such a tiny bit of small darkness was naturally not enough to defeat the beasts. Their eyes operated normally in the dark just like in the day, and because the opponents’ movements were obviously much slower, it further accentuated the speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness of these beasts’ actions.

For example, in the bustling crowd they quickly found Li Yi and simultaneously summoned eight magical beasts with different magic attributes and different appearances and states from eight directions, charging toward Li Yi from all sides and completely sealing off his retreat. Hearing the sounds growing closer in the air, Li Yi’s usually steady heartbeat could not help but accelerate. He gripped the long sword tightly, frowning and slowly raising his head to look at the pitch-black sky. His instinct told him that what was coming could not be avoided.

But Xia Kui had already lost her composure. Every action she had taken in these years was to keep her heart clear, always prioritizing the overall situation and the interests of the majority. For a piece of peaceful land she could pay a great deal, including her own marriage.

She had never imagined that one day she would live and bury an innocent girl’s life with such a reason, and this girl was one of her daughter’s few friends, a potential magician she had liked and trusted at first sight, and even this girl had stood up for her in her most needed time, bravely venturing into the enemy camp to infiltrate and achieve victory for her country.

But she still did it. She watched helplessly as that girl was drowned by the crazed magical beasts but gave that girl no help, so she also received the corresponding punishment. The battle that had once been stalemated instantly tilted to the side of the magical beasts. Sang Qing was knocked to the ground, Huan Luo was seriously injured, and Lans’ life and death were unknown. Now even Li Yi was about to be surrounded.

Xia Kui bit her teeth tightly, her eyes fixed on the direction of Li Yi. Although her eyes could not see clearly in the dark, relying on the intuition of husband and wife she determined that Li Yi was definitely in that direction. Although there were many loopholes on the battlefield that needed mending and many empty positions that needed people, at this moment Xia Kui was like a little girl who had completely lost her direction after her mature mask was torn open. She simply wanted to stay by Li Yi’s side, no matter if heaven fell and earth split, blood flowed into rivers, as long as Li Yi was there this world would be safe, peaceful, a good place to catch her breath and heal her injuries.

“Mom, I’m fine!” Huan Luo’s voice further spurred Xia Kui’s steps toward Li Yi. My daughter is still alive; I absolutely cannot lose my husband!

Absolutely cannot lose him! The magic wand in Xia Kui’s hand was gripped tightly. Almost transparent wind elements wrapped around Xia Kui’s whole body. She lightly stepped on the ground, borrowing the wind’s advantage in one aerial spin that skipped over the magical beasts that pounced toward Li Yi and the several close guards protecting Li Yi. Before Li Yi was surrounded she firmly stood back to back with him, and the magic wand in her hand was continuously charged with her magic energy. Two huge wind energy dragons re-emerged from the wind, roaring and charging toward the magical beasts attacking their own master.

The two long dragons of wind respectively temporarily trapped two faster-moving magical beasts. The remaining two magical beasts ignored their companions and swiftly charged toward Xia Kui.

After all, both of these people in their encirclement had the demeanor of leaders. Killing either one would be wrong.

Xia Kui watched helplessly as those two magical beasts drew closer. But this protracted battle had made her magic energy supply somewhat insufficient. Summoning two long dragons had already consumed the last portion of her magic energy. As a magician she did not possess close combat ability (in fact she did have some, but for crazed magical beasts it was… cough), at this moment she only thought about how to not lag behind Li Yi under the protection of the two guards.

Li Yi was not ambiguous either. The way he wielded the long sword was more wise than cold compared to Huan Luo’s, the force he put out was quite precise, neither more nor less, and his cooperation with the guards beside him was also apt, fully prepared for a prolonged battle.

Now the only thing he was worried about was Xia Kui. For Lans and that girl he was already unable to save them. Huan Luo was still without life-threatening danger, and that place of Xia Kui was still relatively safe. But he didn’t expect that Xia Kui would suddenly suffer an emotional collapse on the battlefield. She impulsively used the wind magic’s assistance to run toward him, and resolutely stood behind him to share the risk with him.

Quoting a line often said by so-and-so, this is unscientific.