On the Ark.

pat.

On the other side, the Iron-Eating Beast also turned on its phone and shone it at Lin Ye: "Why do you keep saying I pushed you? I clearly didn't even touch you..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

Lin Ye looked at the Iron-Eating Beast, which was holding its phone a full two meters away from him and whose face was gradually turning pale, and immediately understood what was going on.

"Um..." Lin Ye said in a trembling voice, "Could you turn off your phone? Let's try again?"

The temperature suddenly rose in the next second.

Chapter 533 The Nian Beast (Part 2)

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit..."

Lin Ye was running frantically through the dimly lit tunnel, while a "monster" engulfed in flames was closely following behind him. The scorching heat made Lin Ye feel like a bundle of dry tinder that could be ignited at any moment.

Wait a minute, this is clearly not the right way to do it!

When did this Nian beast sneak up on him? Where are Skadi and Messiah? And most importantly...

"You damn national treasure, why are you running so fast?!" Lin Ye roared at the Iron-Eating Beast, which was three or four body lengths ahead of him. "Didn't you say you didn't believe in the existence of the Nian Beast? Then don't be afraid, wait for me! Let's work together to take it down!"

"Holy crap, who knew the legend was actually true!" the Iron-Eating Beast shouted without turning its head. "Also, what can we use to fight it? It's on fire all over, how are we supposed to fight it? It's better to run away! Speaking of which, running like this is too dangerous. Can you stay away from me? If you're going to die, don't drag me down with you."

Lin Ye was furious: "You damn national treasure, you're actually this kind of person! If you hadn't come and caused trouble, I wouldn't have been targeted by it at all, and you even ran away so fast... Oh oh oh."

A soft, squelching sound rang out.

Lin Ye glanced back and noticed his clothes were on fire. His eyes widened, and a strong will to survive ignited his potential, so he ran even faster, catching up with the iron-eating beast in the blink of an eye. The iron-eating beast also turned to look at him, then its eyes widened again: "Hey, hey, hey, your butt's on fire!"

"I don't need you to say anything more!" Lin Ye said through gritted teeth. "If we keep running like this, we'll all die. We have to take a gamble."

The Iron-Eating Beast clearly understood the situation and gritted its teeth, saying, "Alright. Let's give it a shot. I've never fought anything like this before. What do you suggest we do?"

"Count to three, then turn around together."

"no problem!"

After the two finished their discussion, Lin Ye had just shouted "One" when the intense heat completely ignited his clothes, burning his buttocks. Stimulated by the pain, Lin Ye didn't have time to shout "Two" or "Three." The powerful thought of not wanting to become a roasted pig made him draw [Maple], then turn around abruptly and slash at the Nian beast surrounded by flames.

【Maple】cleaved through the invisible flames and landed on the Nian beast's body. However, the expected sensation of cutting through flesh didn't come; instead, there was a crisp sound, like striking a hard shield. Before Lin Ye could even see what it was, the flames surrounding the Nian beast instantly heated 【Maple】's blade to an unbearable temperature. Lin Ye felt his hands making "sizzling" sounds, like spreading slices of meat on a grill. He had to release 【Maple】, and then watched helplessly as the Nian beast suddenly swung, throwing 【Maple】 to the other side.

At that moment, Lin Ye had only one thought in his mind: it's over. He couldn't even hold a knife; how could he fight?

However, the next second, a loud "Ada" came from behind him.

The Iron-Eating Beast leaped high into the air, executed a graceful turn, and then kicked the Nian Beast. Upon receiving the kick, the Nian Beast was forced to halt its advance and even stagger back a few steps.

Lin Ye stared wide-eyed at the iron-eating beast that had landed: "Holy crap, you're this strong? Is Bruce Lee reincarnated?"

"Who is Bruce Lee?" the Iron-Eating Beast scoffed. "I am who I am, and I disdain to be anyone else. Do you think my kung fu is all just for show?"

"Amazing." Lin Ye couldn't help but give the Iron-Eating Beast a thumbs up.

The iron-eating beast continued to grunt, "Of course."

"But we've already come this far, can you please stop humming?"

"You think I wanted this?!" The Iron-Eating Beast's eyes widened, then it lifted its foot to show Lin Ye. "The sole of my shoe is burned through! How am I supposed to not groan? It hurts!"

Lin Ye then noticed that the foot that the Iron-Eating Beast had used to kick the Nian Beast was now swollen, just like the hand that held the knife.

There was nothing that could be done about it. The flames surrounding the Nian Beast were simply the best form of protection, and he and the Iron-Eating Beast, being mere mortals, had no chance against them.

The Nian beast let out a low roar.

Only then did Lin Ye and the Iron-Eating Beast finally have the chance to witness the Nian Beast in its entirety. If Lin Ye were to describe it, he could only say that the Nian Beast looked like a dragon enveloped in flames. Not the reptile of Western mythology, but rather an Eastern dragon, with its distinctive horns and serpentine body being the best proof. However, it was quite different from the dragons Lin Ye had in mind, especially its strong arms on both sides of its body.

"Oh my god!" After a few seconds of excitement, the Iron-Eating Beast, now calmer, was once again dominated by fear. "Why would something like this really exist? I thought it only existed in movies."

Lin Ye was about to say something when he suddenly noticed something floating around the Nian Beast, like dust.

However, he soon realized what it was. When he raised his claws high, the dust floating around him instantly gathered together and condensed into a crimson greatsword enveloped in flames.

Lin Ye's eyes widened: "This actually works?!"

brush.

This was the Nian beast's first attack; its crimson greatsword slashed directly at the Iron-Eating Beast. The Iron-Eating Beast tried to run, but its feet had been burned, making it much slower and unable to dodge the attack. It could only watch helplessly as the greatsword fell.

Just then, a gray-white figure appeared between them, accompanied by a loud clang of metal. The seemingly unstoppable greatsword was forcefully deflected back.

"Skadi!" Lin Ye shouted.

The one who made the move was naturally Skadi.

She deflected the Nian beast's attack, but it wasn't easy, because Lin Ye noticed that Skadi's body also took two steps back, leaving two deep furrows in the ground with her feet.

This was the first time Lin Ye had ever seen someone who could match Skadi's strength.

Oh, this guy isn't human either.

“Step back,” Skadi said curtly.

Lin Ye didn't hesitate. Knowing that he was just a hindrance, he immediately helped the Iron-Eating Beast back a little, and then he heard Messiah's voice again.

“It seems he’s not fully awake yet,” Messiah said. “That’s fine then. Let him continue sleeping and never wake up again.”

Lin Ye raised his head and saw Messiah slowly emerge from the darkness, holding the [Maple] that had just slipped from his hand.

……

……

Author's note: The Nian beast here is directly based on the huge phantom behind Nian Jing 2.

Chapter 534 The Choice Between Life and Death

When Lin Ye saw Messiah emerge from the shadows with the Maple Leaf in his hand, he felt much more at ease.

Although it's unknown how much power Messiah can unleash, [Maple] will undoubtedly be more effective in her hands than in Lin Ye's. Her mere appearance seems to overwhelm the Nian Beast in terms of presence, though this might be Lin Ye's illusion. Regardless, Lin Ye still believes that the Messiah and Gaskadi combination should have no problem dealing with the Nian Beast.

So it's quite clear what he needs to do.

That meant he didn't want to cause trouble for the two big shots! So, supporting the limping Iron-Eating Beast, he ran ten meters away in one go. Even so, he still felt it wasn't enough, but he couldn't see clearly any further, so he stopped. Meanwhile, the Nian Beast seemed to sense the power of Messiah and Skadi, becoming somewhat restless and uneasy. It let out a series of low roars, as if threatening them.

At this moment, Lin Ye also noticed that Nian's roar was somewhat special, unlike that of an ordinary wild beast. To be precise, it sounded more like a dragon's roar, possessing a terrifying power. After the dragon's roar, the surrounding temperature rose again, and flames danced around it like fallen leaves swept up by the wind.

Skadi gripped her greatsword tightly and launched the first attack on the Nian beast. In combat against large creatures, her experience might even surpass Messiah's. At this moment, the Nian beast was nothing more than a slightly larger creature in her eyes; since it was a large creature, it could be killed. If one strike didn't kill it, she'd strike again—this was Skadi's motto.

The Nian beast sensed Skadi's fighting spirit and used its flames to attack her.

The flames didn't reach Skadi; ​​instead, they were enveloped by maple leaves that appeared out of nowhere. Normally, flames could burn any leaf, let alone one blessed by the Nian beast. Yet, those seemingly fragile maple leaves firmly contained the flames attacking Skadi, preventing even a sliver of light from breaking through.

This allowed Skadi to rush unimpeded to the Nian beast, wielding the greatsword that had claimed the lives of countless deep-sea monsters, and slashing towards the Nian beast's head. But the Nian beast, now devoid of flames, was not a helpless lamb to the slaughter; it too wielded a greatsword, which it then used to strike Skadi.

The two greatswords clashed together, producing a dull "clang" that echoed in the confined space, making Lin Ye want to cover his ears.

Skadi initially gained the upper hand in the struggle between the two beasts. Skadi's strength was comparable to the beast's, and she was far more agile in the terrain, able to attack from various angles. The beast, on the other hand, could only retaliate passively, and its defeat became increasingly apparent as Messiah firmly suppressed its controlled flames.

This made the Iron-Eating Beast, who was watching from the side, click its tongue and say, "Wow, this looks much more exciting than making a movie! It turns out that not only does the Nian Beast exist, but there are also people capable of suppressing it. Your two friends are amazing! By the way, who exactly are you people?"

Lin Ye replied, "We are a pharmaceutical company."

"Heh, if you don't want to talk about it, fine. I didn't force you."

Lin Ye sighed softly, thinking that no one would believe him if he told the truth these days.

At this moment, Lin Ye was relatively relaxed, thinking that at this pace, the Nian Beast should soon be defeated by Skadi and Messiah working together. However, just as this thought crossed Lin Ye's mind, an unexpected change occurred.

But as Skadi gradually figured out the Nian Beast's defensive tactics, she increased her speed once again. Although the underground wasn't her domain, Skadi's strength allowed her to control the Surge of Sorrow. In one attack, she suddenly used the Surge of Sorrow's power to its fullest extent, slashing fiercely at the Nian Beast. The Nian Beast clearly hadn't expected Skadi's power to increase so significantly, and the greatsword it controlled was almost knocked away by Skadi.

When she managed to hold on, Skadi had already bypassed the Nian Beast's sword and was thrusting directly at the Nian Beast's head.

With Skadi's power, Lin Ye thought that the Nian Beast's head would be pierced through.

However, this did not happen. In those few seconds, a shield appeared out of thin air between Skadi and Nian.

The shield blocked Skadi's attack. Skadi frowned slightly, then increased the strength in her hand, trying to pierce the Nian beast's shield. She failed, and instead wasted time. The Nian beast, controlling its greatsword, swept it towards Skadi. Skadi had no choice but to leap, barely dodging the attack from above. When she landed, several strands of her severed gray-white hair fluttered to the ground.

"How did that shield appear?" Lin Ye was a little stunned. He had thought that Skadi's attack was about to end the battle.

The iron-eating beast thought for a moment and said, "It's probably alchemy."

"alchemy?"

“Yes, that kind of ability that only exists in legends,” the Iron-Eating Beast said. “I always thought it was all fake, but even the legendary Nian Beast has appeared, so alchemy isn’t surprising, is it? By the way, don’t you feel it getting hotter and hotter?”

Is it getting hotter?

The iron-eating beast reminded Lin Ye that the surrounding temperature seemed to be rising.

Skadi lowered her head, watching the few strands of hair that the Nian beast had just severed at her feet slowly burning in the intense heat. Then she looked at her greatsword; the tip was slightly deformed. Clearly, the shield the Nian beast had conjured out of thin air was far more durable and hotter than Skadi had imagined.

At the same time, she could hear a constant "sizzling" sound, which was the sound of flames burning leaves.

Clearly, the Nian beast's power is still increasing, and it's almost reached a point where even the Messiah can't suppress it.

"We can't delay any longer." Messiah's voice echoed in both Lin Ye's and Skadi's minds. "Its power is still recovering, and both I and the formations here are about to break through its defenses. We need a result. I will use all my remaining power to break through its defenses. After that, I'll probably sleep for a while. Lin Ye, remember to bring me back."

Should I take a nap?

Before Lin Ye could react to the meaning of Messiah, she spoke again.

"There's one more thing. Right now, I can only break through its defenses. What happens after that is up to you," Messiah said slowly. "For example, whether to let it die or let it live."

……

……

Author's BB: -121

Chapter 535 (3K5)

Messiah's words left Lin Ye momentarily bewildered, unable to grasp her meaning. Given the current situation, was she still considering sparing the Nian beast's life? Giving it a chance at this point would be tantamount to sending them all to their deaths! Moreover, if a beast of this level were to regain its strength and be released into the outside world, it would be practically a walking natural disaster. If Lin Ye possessed the abilities of Master Fubo, he would have personally suppressed the Nian beast a thousand times over.

However, Messiah clearly wouldn't have overlooked these points, so Lin Ye wanted to clarify Messiah's meaning, but time was running out. In the short span of less than half a minute they exchanged, the Nian Beast's strength increased further, and Lin Ye could already see flames seeping out from the dense array of maple leaves, while the temperature inside the cave rose once again.

"I'm going in." Messiah brandished [Maple] and leaped into the air. "Get ready, you only get one chance."

The "you" Messiah referred to was naturally Skadi. Although Skadi didn't seem to like Messiah much, she knew this wasn't the time to act impulsively; the Nian beast before them was indeed something that could only be dealt with by the two of them working together. So she gripped her greatsword tightly, focusing intently on the Nian beast, waiting for the "best opportunity" Messiah would provide.