Chapter 462: Extreme Fear

The mad woman's struggling ceased.

A vertical line of blood appeared on her neck, spreading downward until it stopped at her lower abdomen.

Sssst! Scalding blood sprayed out.

Wu Xian pulled with a single hand through empty air; her entire internal organs were pulled by invisible force, on the verge of tearing free from her abdominal cavity.

But just then.

From the mad woman's abdomen, countless black, phantom arms suddenly erupted.

These arms varied in thickness and length; the thin, short ones gripped her flesh to prevent her organs from being pulled out, while the thick, long ones extended outward, reaching for the others.

The Black Heaven Demon Infant was trying to protect itself—even before its formal birth, it possessed the power to defend itself.

Unfortunately, the enemies it faced were far too many.

Xiong Gang and Fatty Hu blocked before Wu Xian, intercepting the majority of black arms aimed at him, while Bai Gu transformed into a swarm of venomous snakes that crawled over the mad woman's body, sinking their sharp fangs into the small hands, forcing the Black Heaven Demon Infant to release its grip.

The effect of the Heart-Excising, Intestine-Extracting Art had not faded; instead, the pulling force was increasing, determined to drag out every single organ.

The small hands gradually lost their grip; the tear on the mad woman's body widened.

"Wah! Wah!"

At that moment.

The Black Heaven Demon Infant let out a cry.

Beneath the mad woman's feet, a pool of blood suddenly formed; countless streams of blood rushed into her body, then transformed into the Black Heaven Demon Infant's power.

The Black Heaven Demon Infant's strength surged instantly; the organs already pulled out were yanked back inside! The blood pool within the great cavern dried up in an instant—it had forcibly summoned all the blood stored within the cavern, blood that had been deliberately preserved as energy for the demon infant's growth, available for emergency use.

Though this caused some nutrient loss and triggered symptoms like indigestion, it was far better than being pulled from its mother's body.

But soon, a childish wail echoed from within the mad woman's belly.

Then the black hands stiffened, moving in jerky, halting motions—even Xu Meng and Fu Liang Jian, pure ordinary humans, could easily dodge them.

The Black Heaven Demon Infant's movements slowed, not without reason—all stemmed from one careless act by Wu Xian.

Before leaving the great cavern, Wu Xian had set the blood pool ablaze with Yin Fire; had the Black Heaven Demon Infant slowly digested the blood's power, the Yin Fire would have affected it not at all.

But the demon infant absorbed it all at once.

Yin Fire burns moisture; as it burned, the blood in the pool gradually thickened, the surface even hardening into a crust…

The Black Heaven Demon Infant gathered its strength in one breath, believing it had ingested vast quantities of blood—but it had not realized it had swallowed nothing but blood clots.

"Perfect opportunity!"

Wu Xian's eyes flashed; he did not know why the demon infant had slowed, but he would not miss this precious chance. He leaned back, summoned all his strength, and pulled with all his might.

Puff… splash! Splash!

The mad woman's abdominal cavity burst open; her organs were ripped out—everything from the vocal cords to the duodenum tumbled chaotically onto the ground, the largest mass being the Black Heaven Demon Infant! The demon infant was still digesting the blood clots, and could only surround itself with black palms, forming a massive black egg to protect itself.

Thus.

The Black Heaven Demon Infant had been forcibly torn from its mother's body—it had officially been born!

…

Everyone's faces lit up with relief.

The Black Heaven Demon Infant was now merely a sturdy target.

It could only protect itself with these arms; if they applied even a little more force, they could destroy it completely.

Swoosh! At that moment, the mad woman's vocal cords on the ground were suddenly sucked away by invisible force.

Everyone turned to follow the path of the flying vocal cords and saw a deformed monster standing at the cavern's entrance.

The monster stood over three meters tall.

Its body was dark red; upon closer inspection, it was clear that the dark red was interwoven with countless strange, fragmented tissues.

Its lower half resembled a giant caterpillar, yet this caterpillar was assembled from piled limbs—human legs, insect legs, spiritual forms, even rocks and metal.

Its upper half resembled a human, but it had no head.

On its right side grew seven entirely different arms; the lowest held the recently flown vocal cords, the highest raised a lantern, and the remaining five stretched horizontally to shield its chest and abdomen.

On its left side, there were no arms—only two large, fan-like ears.

This thing was irregular, unbalanced, asymmetrical; no matter how one looked, it was clearly not a normal living being.

It looked as if something that had never seen a human had guessed humans had legs, arms, and ears—but did not know how many, or where they belonged, and so haphazardly stitched them together.

Merely standing there, it filled everyone with dread, triggering a trembling deep within their souls.

The monster's lowest arm, holding the vocal cords, searched several places before finally pressing them onto the top of its neckless throat; the vocal cords merged into it.

"I can now speak human words!"

The voice was identical to the mad woman's, yet the eerie, hollow tone confirmed to Wu Xian that this deformed monster was the Labyrinth's Will.

The Labyrinth's Will had taken this form to stop them from killing the demon infant—and had come down to find them!

Fu Liang Jian also recognized the Labyrinth's Will's tone.

"It's you!"

"Yes…"

His blood surged; he was furious beyond measure—but…

He stood frozen, not moving an inch.

Fu Liang Jian had believed that when he faced the Labyrinth's Will, he would instantly lose his mind, recklessly seek vengeance for his daughter, and even if wounded, he would still drive his weapon into the Labyrinth's Will's body despite the pain.

But now that he truly faced the Labyrinth's Will, he discovered he was trembling.

He lacked the courage to reach for his weapon, dared not take a single step toward the Labyrinth's Will; his jaw quivered, his teeth clattered uncontrollably!

And so, he wept uncontrollably.

Xu Meng's reaction was even worse; he had spent his life pretending to be brave.

But when facing the Labyrinth's Will, this pretense finally collapsed; his spirit, already on the brink from alternating waves of pain and euphoria, shattered completely.

He knelt before the Labyrinth's Will, his expression unreadable—whether he was laughing or crying, no one could tell.

Merely seeing the Labyrinth's Will's form had already broken the two ordinary members of the team.

The others, possessing some abilities, still held on—but they too began trembling with involuntary fear. "Language, speech, chattering…"

The Labyrinth's Will used one finger to pluck at the vocal cords, as if attempting to converse with them—but after uttering a few words, its body lowered like a giant serpent and surged forward with terrifying speed, its massive form radiating crushing pressure.

"Aah! Aaaah!"

Xiong Gang roared, rallying himself, pounding the ground in fury, transforming instantly into his true form, his black fur bristling as he lunged at the Labyrinth's Will.

Boom! The two colossal beings collided, shaking the surrounding air.

(End of Chapter)