Without hesitation, Rose and Red Heart turned and fled. Though filled with doubt and uncertainty, neither was foolish. They knew that whatever had Night Owl and his companions fleeing in such a panic must be incredibly dangerous.
At this moment, even a slight curiosity could lead to unimaginable consequences. Escaping was the immediate priority.
After flying three to four hundred meters, Rose suddenly heard a strange noise from behind.
It sounded like many wings flapping simultaneously.
With the corner of her eye, she glanced back and widened her eyes in shock.
"What is that?"
Five to six hundred meters behind, a bizarre creature was rapidly pursuing them.
The creature appeared to be composed entirely of wings, covered in pale feathers that intertwined to form a mass. It had no head, limbs, or facial features—only a long tail trailing behind it.
All the wings flapped simultaneously in every direction, a flight method that should have been chaotic, yet this winged creature flew swiftly and steadily.
It was as if the wings were merely for show, and it was flying using some other means.
"What kind of creature is that?"
Seeing Night Owl and the others catching up, Red Heart impatiently asked.
Night Owl's expression was grave. "I don't know either. We were searching for you when we encountered that creature. It attacked us on sight, and we were no match for it, so we had to flee."
Rose and Red Heart exchanged glances, both skeptical.
Night Owl, Black Forest, and the Hunter were all strong. The idea that a single creature could have them running for their lives was hard to believe.
However, they soon had no doubts.
The winged creature behind them suddenly accelerated, its body swelling as if taking a deep breath.
In that instant, Night Owl and the others felt the air in the tunnel shift.
Then!
"Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!"
A terrifying howl echoed through the tunnel, the dreadful sonic wave spreading like a shockwave, accompanied by intense energy fluctuations. Death followed the wave, crushing everything in its path.
In an instant, all the apprentice wizards groaned, pain etched on their faces beneath their masks, and their flight halted involuntarily.
Seizing the opportunity, the winged creature closed the distance swiftly, its wings flapping violently, sending countless blade-like air currents shooting towards Red Heart, who was at the back.
In a flash, Red Heart's shield spell, energy particle barrier, and magical item defenses were shredded into pieces by the air blades, and his body was torn apart into a cloud of blood mist.
The others, recovering their breath, saw this and turned pale, forgoing incantations in favor of activating their magical items, flooding the winged creature with a kaleidoscope of light.
Having done so, they fled in haste.
None bothered to conserve their strength, each employing their life-preserving methods, their speed now far surpassing what it was before.
But before long, they encountered a rock wall ahead.
A dead end!
Night Owl gritted his teeth, shouting, "Break the wall!"
The group acted in unison, unleashing their strongest attacks on the wall at the tunnel's end.
Boom!
The thick rock wall shattered, revealing a dark opening beyond.
Without slowing, they dashed through the opening one after another.
Their vision dimmed momentarily before regaining some light.
Beyond the opening lay another massive cavern.
They glanced around, their gazes pausing abruptly.
Not far away, Sunan, the Traveler, and the Staff were surrounding Ira.
Both parties were momentarily stunned upon meeting.
Night Owl was about to speak when his expression changed, and he quickly dodged aside.
Rose and the others did the same.
Boom!
Countless air blades erupted from the opening, shattering the rock walls and widening the gap several times over, followed by the winged creature bursting through.
"What is that?"
The Traveler and the Staff were stunned.
They had assumed Night Owl and the others had encountered Saulo and Stone Scorpion, leading to their frantic flight.
But now it seemed they were being chased by this bizarre winged creature.
Yet, Sunan was the most astonished.
He stared intently at the winged creature, his eyes flashing with uncertainty.
The winged creature before them was identical to the statue found in Giant Eye City.
"Is this creature the divine being worshiped by the beholders?"
Sunan was filled with doubt.
After taking Giant Eye City, he had instructed the Red Widow to search for this divine being, but to no avail. He hadn't expected to encounter it now.
On reflection, the location wasn't too far from Giant Eye City, so the divine being's presence here wasn't entirely surprising.
"Be careful, this creature is strong!" Rose warned, her voice serious. "Red Heart died by its hand! It can use the Banshee's Howl!"
At this, the Staff and the Traveler's expressions turned grave.
The Banshee's Howl was a notorious large-area instant-death attack with terrifying destructive power!
Creatures with physical and mental attributes below a certain threshold would bleed from every orifice and die upon hearing it.
Even those who could resist would be severely injured.
While third-level apprentice wizards had strong physical and mental attributes, they couldn't completely ignore the Banshee's Howl.
Hearing this, Sunan simply smirked but said nothing.
Others might have only read about the Banshee's Howl in texts, not fully understanding it, but he had witnessed it firsthand in his past life.
The true Banshee's Howl was feared even by formal wizards.
If this divine being could use the true Banshee's Howl, Rose, Night Owl, and the others wouldn't have made it this far!
What they called the Banshee's Howl was likely a similar sonic ability, akin to the Death Knell Striker's sonic attack.
Even so, this divine being's ability to easily kill Red Heart meant its power level was at least that of a fourth-circle legendary, possibly stronger.
With this in mind, Sunan's expression grew serious.
"Chirp chirp!"
Perhaps never having encountered so many humans at once, the winged creature paused in surprise before shrieking and flapping its wings, sending a barrage of air blades towards the group.
Reunited with their companions, Night Owl and the others felt bolstered and stopped running, initiating a counterattack.
Sunan scanned the area, noting Ira's absence—she likely escaped during the chaos.
The illusionist woman was adept at concealing herself. If not for her using an illusion on him and being exposed by the Death Knell Mark, capturing her would have been difficult.
Refocusing his thoughts, Sunan turned his attention back to the winged creature.
Dealing with this divine being was the priority!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunderous explosions echoed through the cavern!
The multicolored spell lights illuminated the cavern like daylight.
The winged creature was likely the first in nearly a millennium on the Starlight Continent to be besieged by seven third-level apprentice wizards.
And it was worthy of such an ensemble.
Despite the sevenfold assault, it held its ground, manipulating air currents to shield against spells while flapping its wings to send waves of air blades in retaliation, occasionally summoning lightning to catch them off guard.
"Air currents and lightning—this creature's divine energy might relate to domains like sky and air."
Sunan pondered.
A divine being's abilities depend on the divine energy's associated domains.
For example, the Screeching Bug's divine energy is linked to sound waves.
The divine domain of this winged creature could be inferred from its abilities.
Regardless, a divine being meant divine energy and bloodline marks. Having encountered one, Sunan wouldn't let it escape.
"Everyone, how about giving me this divine being?" Sunan called out.
Amidst their fierce battle, the others were taken aback by Sunan's words, nearly struck by incoming air blades.
Night Owl glanced at Sunan in confusion. "It's too early to discuss that. Let's deal with the creature first, then talk about distributing the spoils."
Rose, however, immediately grasped Sunan's intention. "You want to capture it alive?"
"That's right." Sunan nodded calmly.
Everyone was stunned.
They were already struggling to fend off this creature, unsure if they could even kill it, yet Sunan was thinking of capturing it alive—wasn't that a bit far-fetched?
"Now's not the time for jokes," Black Forest said disapprovingly. "Instead of boasting, help us deal with this creature!"
"I'm not joking."
Sunan remained composed, casting a spell missile to fend off the winged creature.
"It's better to discuss the spoils distribution beforehand to avoid disputes later."
Black Forest retorted, "If you can capture it alone, it's yours!"
"Deal!" Sunan looked to the others. "What do you say?"
Night Owl and the others exchanged glances, unanimously withdrawing.
Their curiosity was piqued.
Despite their combined efforts, they couldn't handle the creature. How did Sunan plan to capture it?
Even the Traveler and the Staff, who had witnessed Sunan's power, felt he was being overly ambitious.
The creature clearly wasn't something one person could handle.
Let alone the fact that capturing was much harder than killing.
But they knew Sunan wasn't impulsive or reckless. If he acted, he had a reason, so they wanted to see his plan.
Having secured agreement, Sunan unleashed his full power. Silvery metal liquid seeped from his pores, rapidly forming metallic spikes that rained down on the winged creature!
Hiss hiss hiss!
The air barrier that easily withstood their spells shattered under the metallic storm in just three to four breaths, the sharp spikes leaving bloody gashes on the creature's body.
"Chirp chirp!"
The winged creature screeched in pain.
The onlookers gasped.
"What is that?"
"Such a powerful attack!"
"A magical item?"
Those who had seen the magic core before, like Rose and the Traveler, were equally astonished.
They sensed the magic core's power was even greater than before.
Ignoring their reactions, Sunan activated the Death Knell Mark on his hand.
A piercing sonic wave swept forth, freezing the winged creature mid-air.
Seizing the chance, Sunan hurled three high-level rune stones, which exploded into golden-red flames upon the creature.
Simultaneously, four gray Doom Claws materialized, clawing viciously at the creature.
The winged creature was the strongest being Sunan had faced so far. Thus, he attacked with full force, using nearly all his trump cards without regard for the cost.
He threw high-level rune stones like they were free, swapping out Doom Rings as needed, showing no restraint.
Under Sunan's relentless assault, the winged creature could only wail in agony, unable to retaliate, barely holding on.
The Forest Cabin members watched in shock, dumbfounded.
They hadn't expected Sunan to actually subdue the creature!
And what were those gray claws and rune-engraved stones?
Magical items?
The gray claws were one thing, but the stones' power far exceeded dim-level magical items—what were they?
Snapping back to reality, they swallowed audibly.
Sunan's displayed power was terrifyingly strong.
On an entirely different level from them.
Only now did they realize they had severely underestimated Sunan, whose true strength far surpassed their expectations!
After the barrage, Sunan's Doom Rings were depleted.
Only one Death Knell Mark remained, and over twenty high-level rune stones were used.
Despite the significant cost, the results were impressive.
The winged creature lay on the ground, bloodied and barely breathing.
Sunan casually fired a spell missile, causing the creature to twitch and wail, unable to rise, confirming it was finally subdued. He exhaled deeply.
Given its fourth-circle legendary status, a divine being, he had used most of his trump cards, his mental power nearly exhausted.
Had this not been enough to defeat it, he would have had to resort to his last remaining trump card.
Ideally, he wanted to avoid that.
After all, it wasn't safe yet.
Saulo remained unseen, possibly lurking nearby, watching. He needed to keep something in reserve just in case.
Approaching the winged creature, Sunan took out a gemstone and began crafting a sealing array.
His prior research on the Death Knell Striker had given him methods to weaken divine beings, which he now applied to the winged creature.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a shadow shot from the opening, bringing a foul wind as it attacked Sunan's back.
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