Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrow backed away temporarily after its attack failed, waiting for an opportunity to strike again.

"I'm glad you were with me..." Qing Shu let out a relieved sigh. She glanced at her husband, Dong Jia lovingly. She felt a strong sense of security whenever she was with him. He was the reason why someone careless like her did not die like the others, even when she had made a lot of mistakes in the past.

"Hehe...ugh!" Dong Jia wore a smile. However, it immediately stiffened in the next second as he groaned in pain!

Dong Jia slowly lowered his head and saw a long deadly beak poking out of his chest. Fresh blood was surging to his throat and pouring out of his chest at the same time. An enormous pain slowly replaced the strong love towards his wife.

"AHHHH!!!" Qing Shu screamed. Before she could react, the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrow had lifted her husband into the air...

The Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrow beat its wings. Its strength was utterly shocking. It flew into the sky while holding Dong Jia with its long beak. When he breathed his final breath, it flung its beak and tossed the man to the ground.

Qing Shu watched her husband landing limply on the ground. She suffered a mental breakdown when she saw her husband's remains were beyond recognition. She immediately pursued the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrow that had appeared out of nowhere...

However, when she jumped onto the roots, she heard cries of agony coming from all directions. The Mages that were cleaning up the corpses were under attack by the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows. Many corpses with holes in their chests were hurled to the ground mercilessly. There were a lot of casualties, as they had all dropped their guard against the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows!

Qing Shu was no longer able to tell which Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrow was responsible for her husband's death. She stood still and watched the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows massacring the people in disbelief. She did not expect the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows, whom she thought were their mascots not long ago, would suddenly butcher them as brutally as they had the Hillmen. Both the army and the Hunters suffered great losses. The area below the enormous tree was covered in blood once again as endless cries of agony echoed across the place!

---

A few authorities were still discussing their plan of securing Outer Mount Kunyu under the main trunk when they heard loud cries coming from the distance. They immediately frowned.

"What's going on?" Captain Su asked with wide eyes.

"We are being ambushed!" a soldier responded through the radio.

"Is it those lowly demon sparrows? How bold of them! We won't show any mercy to them!" Tong Shang let out a hollow laugh.

He initially planned to let the demon sparrows live for a little longer. He was considering sparing their lives if they were willing to move away. He did not expect the demon sparrows to take the initiative to attack them instead. It seemed like he would have to kill them all now!

"No, it's...it's the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows! The Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows are attacking us!" the soldier yelled. It was so loud that everyone could hear him.

Nie Lengshan, Captain Sun, Tong Shang, and Wang Dakuo were stunned. They quickly headed over to a spot with a clearer view. They ran up the roots and immediately saw the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows who had just returned from their hunt diving at the soldiers and Hunters fiercely!

Everyone was busy retrieving the corpses of their fallen comrades and the loot from the demon creatures. The Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows were their allies in the battle that had just ended. They had not attacked a single human during the battle, thus everyone assumed they were friendly. They did not place much attention on the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows, even when they were flying closely around them. To their surprise, these Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows were even deadlier than the Hillmen. Countless people had already died to their claws and beaks!

Fresh blood was splattered across the place before the blood that was shed in the previous battle had even dried up. The area under the Giant Purple Sacred Linden was dyed red once again...

"What the heck is going on? Why are the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows attacking us!?"

"Damn it, what are you all waiting for!? Return fire!"

"The second squad is wiped out!"

"Advisor, the seventh squad is dead too."

"Those low-level demon sparrows are making their moves too. There are too many of them!"

The demon sparrows had filled up the whole space below the tree. These demon sparrows were good at diving at their targets. The Servant-class demon sparrows did not pose much threat to the elite Mages, but the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows' strength was comparable to the Hillmen's. They were dealing serious damage to the army whenever they engaged the soldiers at close range.

Just not long ago, the humans were working with the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows to wipe out the brutal Hillmen. Who would have thought that the humans would be massacred by the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows so soon!?

"How is this possible? How is this possible!? Did they find out we're planning to drive them away from the Giant Purple Sacred Linden?"

"Impossible, there's no way they could understand us!" Tong Shang had a grim face.

"We have to retreat now!" Nie Lengshan snapped.

The Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows would not have been able to deal such serious damage to the army if they were still on their guard. Unfortunately, it was too late for them to react now. Hundreds, or even thousands of Mages had died to the demon sparrows' merciless attacks.

"But..."

"There's no other choice. We have to retreat now! The Servant-class demon sparrows are forming a circle further away. They aren't just trying to stop us from using magic, they are planning to trap us all here under the tree! We have to force our way through before they set up the cage. Otherwise, no one is going to leave this place alive!" Nie Lengshan snapped.

Nie Lengshan had the highest authority during a battle. Even though Tong Shang was unwilling to give up on the opportunity, he had no choice but to agree with Nie Lengshan's decision.

"These goddamn Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows! I'll assemble a greater army when we make it back to the city and kill them all!" Tong Shang snapped furiously.

"Everyone, head east, we're going to fight our way through!" Nie Lengshan's voice echoed in everyone's ears.

The soldiers and Hunters were finally able to recover from the messy situation under the command of the Sound Mage. They quickly moved into formations and barely held their ground against the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows.

As for the Mages that failed to regroup with the army in time, they ended up being butchered by the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows, despite trying their best to make their way to the army. Many people broke into tears watching their comrades falling to the ground. It was meant to be a great victory; why did it end up like this!?

---

The soldiers and Hunters regrouped under Nie Lengshan's command after suffering great casualties. They returned fire by firing their spells into the air continuously, killing a significant number of Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows. Unfortunately, the situation was just too one-sided. They had to retreat at once!

"Soul-Twisting Melody: Broken Inearth!" Nie Lengshan murmured under his breath. Each tone he produced was like a strong beat of the drum of death. The sound produced directly penetrated the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows' flesh and snapped their souls in half!

Nie Lengshan rarely used the Soul-Twisting Melody. However, after seeing how everyone just kept dying around him, he angrily played the deadly melody, even though it would damage his soul in return!

The melody of Broken Inearth overwhelmed every single sound in the area. It felt like the dark presence of countless envoys of death were circling in the air. The area of the spell was incredibly huge. The Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows started losing their balance as if they were intoxicated as soon as they were caught by the deadly melody. A moment later, their eyes, mouth, and ears started bleeding as if the devils had harvested their souls. They fell from the sky and smashed heavily into the ground...

The Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows started pouring down from the sky like rain. The incredible spell had provided some relief for the army. The soldiers and Hunters did not expect Nie Lengshan to possess such astounding power. The Soul-Twisting Melody was as strong as a destructive Super Spell!

"Well done, Nie Lengshan!" Captain Su and Tong Shang exclaimed.

The Soul-Twisting Melody had killed many of the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows. It was utterly satisfying to the humans. It should have taught the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows a great lesson about messing with the humans!

Nie Lengshan took a deep breath after he finished the Soul-Twisting Melody...

The attack was very effective, but it was nowhere enough to overcome the situation. He clenched his teeth and began to murmur under his breath again to cast the same spell!

"Lengshan, don't..." a female Captain immediately advised against it.

"There's no other choice. I can't just watch them die," Nie Lengshan did not take the advice. He insisted on playing the melody. However, he immediately felt a great blow to his soul. Not many Sound Mages would dare to play the Soul-Twisting Melody consecutively. It was no different than committing suicide!

Suddenly, a long sharp tree branch came down from the sky. It reached the ground before anyone could react...

The tree was so huge that it was shrouding a huge part of the sky. The army had yet to leave the enormous shadow that it was projecting. The branch was like a deadly spear that a deity from the heavens had tossed down. It punched right through Nie Lengshan from above...

"Lengshan!" the female Captain burst into tears and screamed in agony.

The branch was withdrawn rapidly, lifting Nie Lengshan up with it. Everyone immediately looked up, but there was already no sign of Nie Lengshan, apart from a few drops of his blood falling onto their faces...

An overwhelming fear immediately filled their souls!

What just happened!?

What the hell was that!?

The thing had stabbed Nie Lengshan and dragged him right up into the tree within the blink of an eye… It had killed the emotional support of their army so easily!

What exactly killed him!?

The female Captain that was beside Nie Lengshan never shifted her gaze away from the tree...

When they first arrived, the female Captain marveled at the beauty of nature as soon as she set her eyes on the spectacular tree. She never thought she would be able to see something so magical. A huge tree shrouding the sky, tall enough to touch the heavens...

But now, she was trembling in fear when she looked up at the enormous tree once again… her body was spasming violently!