Samsara Space: They're all begging me to heal them one more time.

After passing through the corrupt corridor of the witch doctor's quarters, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

This is a breathtaking underground cavern, at least two hundred meters high, with massive stalactites hanging from the ceiling like inverted swords. Dark red bioluminescence emits an eerie glow, illuminating this vast space as if it were an otherworldly realm at dusk.

"call--"

A strong gust of air blew from deep within, whistling as it passed through the cracks in the rocks.

"Watch out for what's above your head."

Zhang Yuan's cold gaze locked onto the shadows hanging upside down in the stalactite forest. They were countless [Jumpers] in a dormant state.

In the very center of these monsters, a figure with the outline of a human woman and wings on her back is hanging upside down on a huge stone pillar.

[Opponent Faction Reincarnator: Scourge]

"Click, click, click."

A sound of claws clashing came from high above—the crisp sound of metal striking bone.

"Brilliant. Even that cunning old witch doctor who plays with poisons has fallen for it."

The woman named "Calamity" released her hind claws from the stone pillar, spread her wings, and instead of charging mindlessly like the previous monsters, she hovered at an extremely tricky height—150 meters.

This distance falls right in the attenuation zone of a typical firearm's range, and the lighting is extremely dim, making it difficult to aim accurately.

"Qiang, knock her down!" Zhang Yuan ordered.

"Alright! Watch me riddle her with bullets!"

Huang Mao Aqiang raised the Gatling gun, the muzzle just beginning to warm up and spin—

A piercing, high-frequency shriek, seemingly capable of piercing the soul, erupted from the mouth of the natural disaster without warning.

[Skill: Banshee's Wail]

[Effect: Creates a sonic impact on a fan-shaped area in front, forcibly causing "dizziness," "tinnitus," and "loss of balance."]

The visible sonic waves crashed down like a heavy hammer.

"Ugh!"

Ah Qiang, whose mental attributes were the lowest, was the first to be hit. He felt as if a blender had been stuffed into his brain. Blood gushed from his nose, his vision went black, and the heavy Gatling gun in his hand crashed to the ground with a "bang." He collapsed to his knees in pain.

Even Lin Qingyue and Tao Tao covered their ears and screamed, their bodies swaying precariously.

The entire team instantly lost its fighting ability!

"Hehehe... As long as that shield isn't there, you're just a bunch of lambs to the slaughter."

The natural disaster let out a contemptuous laugh, and its wings suddenly flapped.

She was clever; she ignored the tough machine gunner and the harmless little girl. Instead, she focused her attention on the team's only melee fighter, Lin Qingyue!

"If we throw you off, this team will be toothless."

Taking advantage of Lin Qingyue's dizzy and paralyzed state, Tianzai swooped down like a gray lightning bolt. Instead of attacking head-on, she cunningly circled around to Lin Qingyue's back.

"puff!"

Those steel-like eagle claws precisely and viciously gripped Lin Qingyue's shoulder blades.

This grip was extremely insidious—not only did it inflict excruciating pain, but it also completely locked down the leverage points of the arms. Although Lin Qingyue hadn't yet released the demonic sword from her hand, with her shoulders gripped from behind like this, she was completely unable to swing the sword in retaliation.

"rise!"

With a fierce flap of its wings, Tianzai grabbed the immobile Lin Qingyue and climbed vertically, reaching the dome nearly two hundred meters high in the blink of an eye.

"Sister Qingyue!!" Tao Tao screamed in terror.

"Stop struggling. In the air, I am God."

Looking down at the ground, which seemed as insignificant as an ant, the natural disaster revealed a cruel smile. "Enjoy the thrill of freefall."

She prepared to loosen her grip.

With the slightest loosening of his grip, this swordsman, who has no ability to fly, would be smashed into a pile of minced meat. This is the simplest and most efficient physical method of killing.

However, just as she was about to be executed...

"Wake up!!"

On the ground, a white beam of light shot into the sky, and although it was far away, it still accurately enveloped Lin Qingyue, who was caught in mid-air.

Purification!

The divine energy instantly washed over Lin Qingyue's brain, sweeping away the nauseating dizziness.

Immediately afterward, Zhang Yuan's calm, almost cold voice boomed in her mind through the team channel:

"Don't panic! Her claws are made of bone!"

"Use Gluttony! Eat her claws!!"

Lin Qingyue suddenly opened her eyes, her cold gaze filled with murderous intent.

At this moment, she was suspended in mid-air, her shoulders gripped, unable to raise her hands to swing her sword. This position would be a deadly predicament for an ordinary swordsman.

But the sword she held was not an ordinary one.

"Trying to kill me?"

Lin Qingyue did not try to break free. Instead, she used the force of the other person holding her to exert her core strength and made an incredible inverted hook motion in the air.

Although I can't swing my arm, as long as I still have the knife in my hand, that's enough.

"Are you hungry, Akagami?"

With a whisper, the inscription on the demon sword cracked open with countless tiny mouths.

[Demon Sword Unleashed - First Phase: Gluttony]!

The golden buff light and the dark red curse erupted simultaneously.

Unable to swing her sword, Lin Qingyue chose to thrust inward.

She gripped the knife in reverse and precisely stabbed the 1.5-meter-long blade towards the pair of eagle claws that were gripping her shoulders tightly from behind.

"Click—Squeak—"

A tooth-grinding chewing sound rang out.

The Calamity's claws, hard as iron and capable of crushing rocks, were like crisp cookies meeting a shredder the moment they touched the [Gluttony] form of the demon sword.

The demonic sword didn't cut them off; instead, it greedily devoured them!

"Aaaaaah—my hand!!"

The natural disaster let out a piercing scream. She felt as if some living thing was gnawing at her bones. The excruciating pain made her instinctively want to let go, but the suction force on the demon sword instead held her in place!

"Trying to escape now? Too late."

Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent's claws shattered, Lin Qingyue finally regained control of her arms.

The two were right under the dome, face to face.

"Don't you like flying?"

Lin Qingyue's lips curled into a cruel smile. The greatsword in her hand was no longer restrained, and it drew a beautiful, inverted crescent moon from bottom to top.

[Secret Sword: Reverse Moon]!

"Pfft—"

Blood rained down from the sky.

The wings that Tianzai was so proud of, along with half of her chest cavity, were completely severed by this one strike.

The two people, having lost lift, fell simultaneously.

"Brother Yuan! Catch her!" Ah Qiang below exclaimed.

"Need not."

Zhang Yuan calmly put away the cross.

As Lin Qingyue fell through the air, she calmly inserted the demon sword into a stalactite pillar beside her to slow down. With sparks and lightning streaking her way through, she leaped several times on the rock face like a black swift, finally landing steadily on one knee on the ground.

Behind her, the corpses of the calamity crashed to the ground like tattered sacks, turning into a pile of fleshy pulp.

[Defeat an enemy Reincarnator (Calamity) to receive 2000 reward points, 1 D-rank side quest, and 4000 Federation War Merit points.]

Lin Qingyue slowly straightened up, gently flicked the blood off the blade, turned to look at Zhang Yuan, her eyes still holding a hint of lingering pleasure:

"The lifting of restrictions was very timely."

"Of course." Zhang Yuan pushed up his glasses. "It's already stipulated in the contract that I will be responsible for your battery life and condition."

He stepped over the corpses of the calamity and cast his gaze into the deepest part of the cave.

There stood a massive biomembrane door, pulsating rhythmically. Behind it, a chilling spiritual energy surged.

"This should be the final battle."

"The cerebrate, and the commander of the opposing faction, are all inside."