Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Aupin’s counterattack was effective. He eliminated many Fire Venom Bees, but at the same time, he attracted more.

The Fire Venom Bees kept swarming over.

After hundreds of sword thrusts, Aupin felt the soreness in his muscles.

After more than a thousand thrusts, this kind of soreness turned into swelling pain. The arm that was brandishing the sword suffered more obviously. Aupin was under the illusion that it had swelled greatly. The sword in his hand also appeared heavier.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The Fire Venom Bees seemed endless. The bees were angered by their casualties as a large number flew out from the bonfire. The bees surged over like a tsunami, wanting to drown the young couple.

Damn it!

Aupin cursed inwardly and brandished the sword in his hand with all his strength.

The sword was several times heavier now. Aupin knew that this was a sign that his stamina had reached its limit.

He was drenched in sweat and his head was spinning.

The arm that was brandishing the sword was almost no longer his. His muscles were already numb, and every time he thrust out, there was a stabbing pain from his bones, like a gear that had been neglected for years but forced to work despite being completely rusty.

Fire Venom Bees stung Aupin one after another. Under such a barrage of attacks, the defensive effects of the chain armor were minimal.

Aupin gritted his teeth, remembering that there was still the young girl, Violette, behind him. In order to protect his fiancée, he had not taken a step back since the battle began!

With a sword in one hand, he groped around his body with the other and pulled out the Fire Venom Bees that had stung him. They were still struggling.

These Fire Venom Bees lost their lives as a result and were thrown to the ground by Aupin.

“Sir, Sir…” Violette sobbed behind him.

Not a single Fire Venom Bee attacked her. Perhaps it was because Aupin had completely angered the Fire Venom Bees, but a large number of Fire Venom Bees even gave up on the burning bonfire to deal with Aupin. At the same time, it was also because Aupin was carrying out intense physical movements—the heat he emitted was far higher than Violette’s.

To Aupin, time became long and excruciating.

In the end, his field of vision suddenly cleared up, and there were no Fire Venom Bees before him.

The ground was covered with the corpses of the Fire Venom Bees. He had won!

Aupin felt his heart relax. He couldn’t grasp the sword in his hand any longer and the tip almost stabbed into his foot.

Numbness was Aupin’s greatest feeling.

But soon, scorching pain came from the wounds inflicted by the Fire Venom Bees.

The right arm that had been brandishing the sword seemed to not exist, and it almost lost all feeling.

“Sir, be careful!” Violette cried out in alarm.

This scream stimulated Aupin, jolting his numb mind awake.

In the almost extinguished bonfire, more than ten Fire Venom Bees flew out and attacked again.

There was still the last batch of Fire Venom Bees!

But…

I can no longer fight… Aupin gave an acrid smile. He was very aware of his condition.

He was well aware that if these Fire Venom Bees had attacked with the previous hordes, he might have had the ability to resolve them. But now, having relaxed, he had lost all his adrenaline. He couldn’t even lift the sword in his hand.

Although he did not feel anything now, Aupin was well aware that the Fire Venom Bees’ venom had spread through his body.

There seemed to be a voice in his heart that was telling him if he continued to fight head-on, it was very likely that he would pay the price with his life!

This was a strong intuition that came from a warrior’s upbringing.

Aupin valued this feeling and knew that he could not continue fighting head-on.

“Run!” Aupin gritted his teeth and sighed. He turned around and pulled Violette by the hand, quickly running.

The young man and girl ran hand in hand and plunged into the dark forest.

They had no choice but to flee.

If they stayed, they would die from the Fire Venom Bees’ stings. But if they fled, even though it was dangerous, they still had a sliver of hope.

“I will not give up until the last moment!” Aupin’s gaze was determined, his fighting spirit not weakening.

Violette, who was behind him, was dragged by him as she ran. Soon, she staggered and could not keep up with Aupin.

Even if Aupin’s stamina had hit rock bottom, Violette was ultimately a mage.

“Sir, let me stay. I’ll divert their…” Violette panted.

“Shut up!” Aupin suddenly stopped and turned to face Violette.

The girl cried out in alarm and slammed into Aupin’s embrace.

The next moment, the girl’s world spun and her vision changed.

When she returned to her senses, she realized that she was already in Aupin’s arms as he kept running.

Due to the young man and girl’s rash charge into the dark forest, restless noises came from all directions.

Aupin tried to shake off the Fire Venom Bees, but the buzzing bees were still approaching.

Even at the moment of life and death, the young man still maintained his rationality.

Originally, the most direct way to deal with bees was to jump into water and make the bees retreat, but there were vine monsters hiding in the river—jumping into the water was simply suicide.

Aupin could only run along the path he took during the day in an attempt to open up the distance. This was the best choice out of desperation.

However, his vision was greatly obstructed in the darkness, making it almost impossible for him to get his bearings. He could only rely on the vague memories in his mind to guide him.

After almost hitting a tree trunk for the third time, Violette took out a potion with great difficulty from the small leather pouch at her waist.

This potion was stored in a glass bottle, emitting a firefly-like glow.

With this bit of light, Aupin could finally barely distinguish the way.

The trees in the forest were dense and the roots were entangled. It was very difficult to traverse them, much less sprint through!

Most of the time, the bushes and ferns almost formed a wall.

Aupin carried Violette and slammed into the wall!

He felt the entire forest emitting intense malice, extending tens of millions of tentacles towards him, obstructing his quest for survival.

He snapped every vine with every fiber of his being, allowing the thorns to tear through his clothes and rip his skin in the darkness.

The only thing that Aupin was glad about was that there were traces of footsteps on this path. It was the path they had tread during the day. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to move so quickly through the forest.

Violette took out one potion after another and threw them at the Fire Venom Bees. Sometimes the Fire Venom Bees were attracted and slowed down, but most of the time, they were completely ineffective.

“Damn it.”

Aupin’s heart sank as he ran. He realized that his surroundings were becoming more and more unfamiliar, and he knew that he had stepped into unfamiliar territory.

But there was no choice, the Fire Venom Bees were hot on his heels, how could Aupin stand still and determine the correct direction?

He could only run with his teeth clenched in despair.

He didn’t know how far he had run when….

Roar!

Suddenly, a ferocious beast jumped down from the trees.

“What is that?!” Aupin seemed to see a black panther.

A gust of wind with the stench of blood from the predator surged towards them!

At the moment of life and death, he luckily dodged it and continued running without looking back.

The Fire Venom Bees behind him flew over and entangled the suspected black panther.

Soon, the black panther was no match for them. With a roar, it retreated.

Aupin managed to widen the distance between him and the Fire Venom Bees as a result.

However, the Fire Venom Bees hated Aupin to the core and had no intention of giving up. In the following chase, they shortened the distance again and approached the young couple.

Aupin’s stamina was gradually pushed to the limit, his legs as heavy as lead.

He had the will, but not the strength. He began to slow down.

The terrain changed and slowly rose. With the light from the firefly-like potion, a cliff appeared in front of the two of them, one that was bottomless.

During their hasty escape, they had already lost their bearings and entered an unfamiliar territory.

The Fire Venom Bees approached from behind them to the left.

“There’s a cave over there. There’s light!” Violette suddenly said.

Orange-red light emitted from the cave. Although it was extremely weak, it seemed to be inhabited.

Gasping for breath, Aupin’s eyes lit up. He carried Violette and lunged into the cave.

The moment they entered the cave, a scorching aura surged towards them.

There was no sign of human activity in the cave. What was shining was a unique ore. It was red in color and emitted a large amount of heat and a faint orange light.

The ore at the mouth of the cave was sparse and small, but the deeper they went, they found more that were bigger in size.

After a few hundred steps, Aupin felt like he had entered a furnace. Violette was already drenched in sweat.

It was no longer suitable for them to advance. The air in the cave was scorching, and it looked like it would directly vaporize them.

But the Fire Venom Bees that were chasing them also flew into the cave, like Death’s constant approach.

Aupin put down Violette. The two of them were forced by the bees to continue deeper into the cave.

At this point, the life and death pursuit was in its finale.

Aupin felt hope rising in his heart. Although he could not deal with the Fire Venom Bees, by relying on the special terrain here, he might be able to make the Fire Venom Bees lose sight of them.

According to what he knew, the Fire Venom Bees locked onto their enemies through heat. The higher the heat, the more likely it was to cause the Fire Venom Bees to attack!

The future was dark, but there was still a sliver of light.

The young couple gritted their teeth and squeezed out the limits of their stamina as they staggered forward in the cave.

The cave began to narrow. The scorching hot ores almost covered the mountain walls, forming a swath of redness.

They could not touch the mountain walls at all—they were too hot!

“There are traces of wild beasts here,” Violette suddenly whispered.

Aupin traced the direction where the girl’s finger was pointing and saw the traces of sharp claw marks on the mountain wall.

Beasts that could survive in such an extreme environment were definitely not simple!

Aupin’s heart sank, but he shook his head and laughed bitterly.

What wild beast did he need to worry about in his present predicament? He had no other choice!

After the Fire Venom Bees entered the cave, although their attention was diverted by the ores and they often leaned on the ores to absorb their heat, they did not give up. They continued to hover behind them sporadically.

With their future uncertain, the young couple could only brace themselves and advance.

Suddenly, Aupin’s body shook.

Immediately, a strong spell of dizziness assaulted his body and mind, almost making him faint on the spot.

Sh*t. Aupin staggered. His entire vision began to shake, as if there was an earthquake. He could barely stand.

The fire venom was acting up!

Aupin had no choice but to stretch out his hand to support himself against the mountain wall.

Sizzle…

The mountain wall roasted his leather gloves as black smoke quickly rose.

At the same time, a stench spread out from Aupin’s body.

The stench immediately made the Fire Venom Bees behind him stir restlessly. They gave up on the ores and swept away their wavering and careless states. With surging killing intent, they swarmed at Aupin.

The colors from Violette’s face drained instantly.

She suddenly understood: on the one hand, the Fire Venom Bees chased after objects with high temperatures to absorb their heat. On the other hand, they used the scent of the fire venom to lock onto the enemy! When the fire venom flared up, the special stench would completely stimulate the Fire Venom Bees’ ferocity.

Aupin’s body contained a large amount of fire venom, which meant that a large number of Fire Venom Bees had died at his hands. Such an adversary would naturally cause the Fire Venom Bees to attack violently.

Pale with fright, Violette hurriedly took out a potion and splashed it on Aupin, trying to hide the stench of the fire venom. It immediately showed its effects.

The Fire Venom Bees’ killing intent vanished. Once again, they were attracted by the hot cave rocks around them.

“Hurry, this potion can only hold for a short while.” Violette placed Aupin’s arm over her shoulder and dragged him forward with her delicate body.

After taking a few steps, Aupin felt the sky and earth spin. He lost his sense of direction, and it was impossible in every sense for him to move!

The fire venom made his body heat up. It was as if a giant bell was ringing in his head.

Relying on the only sliver of clarity left in his head, he said weakly to Violette, “Go, quickly.”

The girl was not poisoned by the fire venom. In this cave, the Fire Venom Bees only targeted Aupin.

It was indeed possible for Violette to escape now!

However, the young girl shook her head fiercely. Her eyes sparkled with tears as she said with an incomparably determined voice and a sobbing tone, “No, Sir! I won’t abandon you. It wasn’t easy for me to find you. It wasn’t easy for us to reach this step. How can I give up!?”

Aupin sighed and suddenly pushed Violette away.

“Run!”

“No, Sir!”

As the two of them tussled, they fell to the ground.

The Fire Venom Bees were already above them.

Death had arrived at this moment!

Violette closed her eyes shut, but Aupin glared at the bees as they lunged at him. He fell to the ground, unable to get up.

He watched helplessly as the Fire Venom Bees aimed their stingers at him. When they were only a inches away from his face…

Roar!

Suddenly, a beast roar came from the cave.

The roar echoed in the mountain walls as the Fire Venom Bees suddenly scattered, greatly shocked.

They seemed to be drunk as they flew through the air and even collided with one another.

Bam! Bam! Bam…

Then, there was a series of rapid bangs, like a war drum being struck by a strongman.

A monster ran over from the cave. It traveled with a strong wind, and its figure was so fast that it only left a huge shadow in the young couple’s eyes.

The mysterious cave monster pounced at the Fire Venom Bees.

The unyielding and ferocious Fire Venom Bees were driven away by the monster and began to flee in a panic.

The monster chased after them and the two of them quickly left the cave.

The cave quickly fell silent.

On the ground, the young couple panted as they looked at the ceiling of the cave in a momentary daze.