Shinja once more got locked in a battle against Hary. Even though she hasn't fully recovered from the last encounter, thanks to Krune's pills, she got quite close to it. So she wouldn't have a problem holding Hary for a while.
On Ao's side, thanks to the boost of the battle formation provided by the demon beasts spiritual energy, he was able to fend off the Infernal Beetle for now. But he couldn't cause any big damage to it either. Fortunately, the same could be said for the beetle. The battle formation defense was airtight, and Ao made sure to cover any flaws that appeared due to this group's short time of practice.
Yusa's side was a little bit better. With no late-stage foundation establishment cultivators on the enemy side, she was able to heavily injure two of the enemies already and was slowly gaining ground. Grand part of this was because of the formations she built earlier and the help Lakin and Ruik provided. However, she knew things were very dire, in fact. Although Shinja looked fine on the surface, she knew the battle against Hary was extremely difficult. As far as she could see, Shinja couldn't cause any damage to him so far.
Hary was ecstatic because he noticed Shinja was beginning to lose efficiency. Although she was still holding him back, he could feel her battle strength was decreasing rapidly. Gory's side was also doing well; in the end, the Infernal Beetle cultivation is much higher than his enemies. It wouldn't take long before Gory achieved victory. The only downside was Yusa's, but he is confident his clan members would be able to hold them long enough for him and Gory to finish their sides.
Shinja finally showed a flaw, and Hary's Flying sword left a deep cut on her waist, which forced her to show another opening Hary used to kick her. Shinja was sent flying and hit the ground below. Hary used this chance to send his Flying sword over, but he was impressed to see that Ao was able to send an attack over in the last second. Although it did almost nothing to his flying sword, it still bought enough time for Shinja to react and avoid a fatal injury. Unfortunately, she was again hit by the sword, and more blood flowed out. She was approaching her limit.
Ao's attack had bought Shinja some time, but it wasn't without any cost. Gory used that chance to hit a flaw in his Battle formation. He killed two demon beasts at once. Although the formation didn't crumble, it lost a lot of its power. Ao also suffered a backlash from that attack and vomited some blood.
Yusa saw that and knew they couldn't hold on any longer. Just as she was about to send a Divine Sense message for them to retreat, she heard another Divine Sense message coming from the Spiritual Vein Lake Cave. Krune had finally arrived and, thanks to the wisps inside the cave, he understood the situation straight away. Unfortunately, he can't send the wisps over yet. There is no one of their team at the Solie Clan or the Harta City to help conceal them. If he wants to save the-wisps, he must win this battle first.
There was only one chance of doing that. It was through his Tribulation Lightning, but he can't show his card that easily. He can only use it once and, after that, he will need a lot of time to recover its power. He decided to use it to deal with the strongest enemy, Hary. Krune then sent a Divine Sense message to the others, telling them not to alarm the enemies of his presence. Shinja, Ao, and the others heard that and were ecstatic. They complied with his request and pretended that nothing happened. Krune, then, silently joined the battle with Yusa. He was only showing the battle power of an ordinary 6th-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Hary and Gory noticed him but didn't pay any attention. With the combat power that Krune showed, he wouldn't be able to change the battle's flow.
The reason Krune appeared was that he wouldn't be able to accumulate the power of the Tribulation Lightning above in the sky without being noticed. Fortunately, he really is at the 6th stage of the Foundation Establishment. All he had to do was to pretend his combat power was really of an ordinary cultivator at this level. After noticing that Hary and Gory ignored him, he finally was able to silently accumulate the power of the Tribulation Lightning high in the sky.
Krune might not be using a lot of strength. He was still sweating all over. He has only one chance; if it fails, they will only be able to flee, and it isn't guaranteed everyone would survive the retreat.
Finally, he charged all the Tribulation Power he had available and waited for the right opportunity. He sent a Divine Sense to Shinja, asking to find a way to make Hary pay attention to her. She knew it was the crucial moment of this battle. Then, she waited again for an opportunity and showed another flaw. Hary immediately took this chance and charged forward.
Krune saw that, and his eyes lit up. He then commanded on his mind.
"Heavens Fall!"
But it was at this moment that Hary felt something was not right. He had already fallen for a flaw trick. He felt this one was very similar to the last.
Hary had focused on his Divine Sense when, suddenly, he saw a scene that made his heart almost stop. Right above him, an enormous Tribulation Lightning was falling down straight at him! He immediately ceased his attack and focused all the power of his body to dodge the attack. The lightning brush past him as a light flash. He could even feel his skin burning a little due to the proximity of the attack. Hary felt a chill on his back, just an instant later, and he would be done for.
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Krune saw that and sighed. He has lost any hope of achieving victory in this battle.
'It's over, I missed.'
Suddenly, just as he was about to send a Divine Sense message to have everyone retreat, he heard a voice coming from his mind.
"Missed? Ha! I refuse to believe anyone in this world can dodge my power!"
Right after hearing that, something unbelievable happened, making everyone's eyes almost pop out of their sockets. That Tribulation Lightning, which had just passed by Hary's side…, made a turn back! It once again charged straight at Hary.
Hary saw that and was alarmed! Since when can Tribulation Lightning make curves? Of course, if he were present on the day Shinja broke through into the Core Formation Realm, he wouldn't think like that. Unfortunately for him, what happened that day was kept as a secret inside the Mercenary Guild.
Hary once again tried to dodge, but this time, Krune used a Divine Sense attack to assault Hary's soul. Due to the difference of cultivation between him and Hary, this attack couldn't do much more than stopping Hary for an instant. But that was all Krune needed. Hary didn't have time to put up any kind of defense, and the Tribulation Lightning struck him head-on!
BOOM!
The Tribulation Lightning exploded with power inside Hary's body, worse than that because Hary was in the sky. The power of the lightning had nowhere to go. It then created havoc inside his body, destroying the majority of his meridians and crippling his dantian. By the time the power of the lightning finally dissipated, Hary had already been burnt to the point he looked charcoal.
Hary's body plummeted from the skies and hit the ground. The battle, which was so intense just a second ago, had totally stopped. It was so silent that one could hear their own breaths.
Everyone focused their Divine Senses on Hary's body, and, surprisingly, they noticed he was still alive! Of course, he was in no condition of causing any problems anymore.
Krune saw that and let out a sigh of relief. But then he remembered that voice that had appeared in his mind. Now he is absolutely sure, he wasn't hallucinating during the first time he heard it. The tribulation lightning lingering in his soul really had a sentience of its own!
But now, it wasn't the time to care about that. Krune sent a message to Shinja and asked her to talk things over. The enemy still had one Core Formation Expert, and his group was in no shape to continue battling. Understanding what Krune meant, Shinja came forward to deal with the aftermath.
"Your friend there can't fight anymore. We don't wish to have a battle to the death in this place, either. If we really did that, although I'm confident of our victory, we would lose a lot of our friends. If you decided to throw caution to the wind, we weren't giving you any wisp. The question is: whether you want to die here or leave with just some injuries. It is up to you."
Gory heard that and reverted to his human form. As a Demon Insect who preferred to live in the Danger Zone, he cared little about people knowing about his human face or not. He then looked at Hary and sighed. He could be said to be an acquaintance of Hary. They have known each other for over a hundred years! Not to mention that Shinja's words weren't wrong, with Hary out of the picture, he had very little hope of achieving anything in this place. He decided he would first retreat with Hary and then gather more forces to come and take the wisps away. He hasn't given up yet on those 9th- stage wisps, which could possibly allow him to break through into the next stage.
"Very well, you, lot of the Cout clan, we are leaving."
Gory took Hary's body, and, together with the remaining members of the Cout Clan, he left straight away.
How could Shinja and the others not notice what he was planning? But that was fine. They just need a few minutes, and everything will be over. Krune looked at everyone and said:
"Alright, we are teleporting all the wisps straight away. I've already tested the teleport formations on the way here. So everything is fine."
Krune then looked at the demon beasts, bound by the contract to protect the cave, and, later, at Lakin. His disciple noticed what he meant and came forward to talk.
"We are leaving the Katiu Forest for a very long time, maybe even forever. So, according to our contract, the wisps you should protect aren't going to be here anymore. So you are now free to do whatever you want. I believe, with your experiences today, your cultivations will soar in the future. Our relationship is over here!"
Hearing that, the majority of the beasts left straight away. Being free of the blood contract bindings was the best news they heard today. They got a lot to digest from today's battle as well, not to mention those guys would definitely come back later with even more forces. Staying here would be suicide!
Lakin looked as demon beast after demon beast left one after another, but three demon beasts stayed. Lakin looked puzzled at them.
Krune also saw that but didn't say anything. Lakin was the one who gathered those guys, and whether he decides to take them in or kick them away, it is his problem!
Krune went back to the Spiritual Vein lake. Before activating the teleport formation, he took out a few Healing Pills he had been keeping for situations like that. He looked at the state Shinja and the others looked like, but didn't say anything. Between real friends, no words were necessary. He just carved today's events in his heart.
While Yusa and the others were recovering, Lakin appeared inside the Spiritual Vein Lake Room. Behind him, one could see those three demon beasts from before.
Krune laughed at that sight.
"Are those your new friends?"
Lakin and those demons seemed a little at a loss with that question.
"I guess you could say that."
There wasn't even a need to mention the Lizard Dragons. They obviously were there as well.
Slowly, Yusa and the others stood up. They didn't have time to waste here. After all, Krune explained how he set up the formation at the Raskie Danger Zone. There is also a Concealing formation to hide their presence once they get there.
"Alright, we need one person in each formation. Yusa has the Concealing Runestone Formations, one for the Solie Clan Formation, and the other for the Harta City Formation. The one in the Raskie Danger Zone has already had one, as I said. Ao will stay in the Solie Clan, and Yusa will check the Harta City's. As Shinja has the highest cultivation, she takes care of the Raskie Danger Zone. She can simply scare away any beast that approaches the formation. I will stay behind to send everyone. Any question?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Very well, time is of the essence. Let's go!"