Chapter 136: Admirable Courage, Like Moths to a Flame

“They? Are you referring to those pitiful refugees in your memory, or the monsters here who have stolen the civilizations of others?”

Adonsa looked at Li Kangshan but was actually keeping a close eye on Xiluoya’s changes.

The gruesome scene of her kin being bisected had intensified Xiluoya’s struggle, yet Adonsa noticed that Li Kangshan’s intervention brought about a strange shift in her as well.

If one were to chart Xiluoya’s emotional fluctuations as a waveform, the death of her kin would register as a sharp spike, while Li Kangshan’s appearance was like a high, flat plateau.

“Run, run!” Xiluoya forced out a few garbled syllables through clenched teeth.

Even though Adonsa hadn’t used any tricks, the earlier scenes of bloodshed had already unsettled Li Kangshan; before, he had been on the verge of collapsing several times in front of this monster disguised in human skin.

He instinctively glanced toward the burly veteran who always faced the front lines with broad shoulders.

Xu Xiaoke shook his head helplessly and silently moved his lips: “Do what you won’t regret.”

As if renewed courage surged within him, Li Kangshan turned to Adonsa and said resolutely, “Adonsa… Sir, the divine land has fallen, the demon clan has achieved ultimate victory, and everything is over. Please, spare these poor souls!”

Adonsa shook his head in disappointment. “So you understand nothing. The courage born of ignorance is nothing but foolishness.”

Li Kangshan almost pleaded, “No, I know there are many hidden truths I might not be entitled to know. But why can’t we seek a perfect solution? You are so powerful—surely there’s a way to save everything without any sacrifice!”

Adonsa looked at him as one would regard a cherished animal, then chuckled softly. “Powerful, therefore able to save everything—is that your meaning? Then if one is not powerful, can one simply abandon all hope?”

That remark struck a nerve. Li Kangshan wavered for a moment but then said firmly, “As long as it’s within our power, why can’t we…”

“To me, this world is nothing but a petri dish, and you are merely microbes kept within it. Whether I nourish you or drip a few drops of antibiotic experimental drugs, it is no matter of ethics or morality—it depends solely on my whim and purpose.”

Li Kangshan’s vision blurred, and a pure white face with a radiant smile was suddenly almost pressed against his own.

Though no breath touched his skin, a chill ran down his spine, raising the hairs on his body.

“Destroying you—what does that have to do with me?”

Before Li Kangshan could grasp the full meaning of that sentence, a coldness spread through his chest, and his consciousness felt as if it were about to drift out from the crown of his head.

He instinctively reached to his chest—but found nothing.

Adonsa toyed with the fist-sized chunk of flesh in his hand and gently nudged Li Kangshan, who collapsed like a bamboo pole.

Before falling, Li Kangshan finally realized what that piece of flesh was—

It was his heart!

Everything had happened so suddenly, yet it seemed inevitable.

Facing a mercurial monster like Adonsa, one must always be prepared for death at any moment. The stories where protagonists and villains bicker endlessly only to have the hero turn the tables are, after all, just stories.

Roger, who had been dazed for a moment, suddenly felt suffocated. He quickly realized this was no illusion—a vortex was truly sucking all the surrounding air away.

Xiluoya’s skin and bones began to writhe violently, cracking and popping, as if thousands of insects were crawling beneath her flesh.

She inhaled a vast amount of gas, causing her body to swell rapidly. The tentacles restraining her dug deeply into her flesh, as if trying to tear her apart.

The dull, deathlike emptiness in Xiluoya’s eyes vanished completely, replaced by infernal black rage.

Anger robs one of reason; it intoxicates, and it leads one to recklessly barter away the things once dearly loved.

The fire of blood kin revenge scorched Xiluoya’s soul, blurring her murky colors as her suppressed beast nature was reborn. Her sense of human identity faded without her even realizing it.

Perhaps inside, she was howling in agony: “Adonsa, I refuse to be human anymore!”

Adonsa watched Xiluoya’s miraculous transformation with keen interest and waved his hand, retracting the tentacles.

Suddenly freed, Xiluoya sprang into a massive sphere and then blasted forward like a jet rocket toward Adonsa, releasing compressed white gas. The basic law of conservation of momentum propelled her onward.

However, facing such a reckless charge, Adonsa delivered a spinning kick on the spot, striking Xiluoya’s meat-like armored form with brutal force. His foot connected with her face like a city-smashing hammer.

Xiluoya’s entire head drooped as if it were a rotten fruit about to fall, with brain matter dripping from the cracks.

Yet an uncontrollable frenzy dominated her actions. Her immense vitality fueled her rage, and as her brain suffered successive damage, she slipped further into a nonhuman state.

A chill forced Roger to step back unconsciously, as if facing a lone wolf bereft of its cubs in a cold, helpless night.

That was the murderous intent built upon forsaking everything. Roger truly did not wish to confront it head-on unless absolutely necessary.

Roger grabbed the still-distracted Xu Xiaoke and retreated to the farthest vantage point where he could still observe the general situation.

Whether intentionally or not, Xiluoya had been kicked by Adonsa right beside the hulking tadpole.

The once-paralyzed giant suddenly sprang up and lunged, swinging its four strongest arms with claws at Xiluoya. Over time, it had regained some mobility and planned to strike first and devour her.

Yet Xiluoya, having fully embraced her monstrous identity, had reached a new evolutionary height. Her control over her body and combat awareness far surpassed that of the crude creature born from mere chaos. She leaked gas from her body, twisted midair to avoid the giant’s long-prepared strike, and landed back into the lake.

The giant grew suddenly frantic and leapt after her into the water, splashing wildly.

Despite its shallow intellect, it understood all too well what would happen if Xiluoya returned to the vast lake.

The lake still held a great deal of undigested remains; whoever consumed them first would advance their evolution.

And evolution is always a brutal, last-man-standing survival. The slow must perish.

The lake churned for a moment before settling again, save for a few scattered bubbles. Tentacles swiftly dragged several floating corpses under.

The undercurrents surged—anyone could foresee that beneath the surface a fierce overtime battle was about to unfold, blurring the already decided outcome once more…

No, the outcome had long since been sealed.

Boom!

A massive shadow shot skyward, giant waves crashing onto the shore.

Adonsa stood unflinching beneath the cascade, not a drop of moisture clinging to him as every bead of water rolled off effortlessly.

Tiny as a flying squirrel, Adonsa faced the colossal shadow and, for the first time, revealed a satisfied smile.