The metal barricades that had surrounded the area now lay collapsed on the ground.

There was no time to wonder why.

At the edge of the pit, which looked like a great scar upon the earth, rubble suddenly began to spray out like a torrential downpour!

An aura of terror, oppression, and raw violence instantly filled the air, making everyone on the bus feel as if they were suffocating!

Then, a massive, ferocious limb covered in dark scales, radiating destructive power, slammed its claws onto the edge of the pit!

BOOM!!!

Like a nightmare crawling from the abyss, the colossal figure brutally tore through the reinforced structures at the pit’s edge, clawing its way completely out of the ground!

The Demon Beast was as massive as a heavy-duty truck. It resembled a giant lizard but possessed the ferocious head of a bull and a ridge of sharp spines jutting from its back!

Its vertical pupils, as crimson as a blood moon, scanned the surrounding buildings and people with cold cruelty.

A low roar, deep enough to make a person’s heart feel like it would burst, rumbled from the depths of its throat!

BANG!

An invisible force—its terrifying Energy Field—erupted from its center, instantly spreading like a tangible storm!

The first to bear the brunt were a nearby temporary work shed and several abandoned construction vehicles. As if swatted by an invisible giant hand, they were instantly twisted, shattered, and torn apart!

Screams were cut short, annihilated by the terrifying force! A spray of brick fragments and mangled limbs flew through the air!

Panic erupted like a physical plague among the crowds at the bus station and on the streets.

"Run!!!"

"Demon Beast!!!"

"Help—!"

Screams, cries, shoving, trampling... an atmosphere of despair instantly consumed the entire street.

Under the pressure of the Flying Star Level Demon Beast’s Energy Field, ordinary people were as fragile as paper. They either had their internal organs ruptured by the concussive force or were torn to shreds by the subsequent bursts of energy!

Inside the bus, Li Wen felt a chill as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss.

Even from several hundred meters away, that invisible pressure still weighed on his chest, making his blood roil and his breathing incredibly difficult.

Flying Star Level!

’A level of power far beyond my imagination! This is something I’m absolutely no match for right now. Even looking its way feels lethally dangerous!’

Ignoring the aches wracking his body, Li Wen kicked out the window glass and jumped down.

Then, without a backward glance, he broke into a desperate sprint toward the Fire Hall.

According to the rules, every branch of the Fire Hall was overseen by a Hall Master.

And those Hall Masters were all Flying Star Level experts.

He was the only powerful figure Li Wen could think of in the heat of the moment.

Fortunately, he had been far enough from the Demon Beast to begin with. After he sprinted for several dozen meters, the unbearable pressure finally lifted.

「At the same time.」

Piercing sirens blared through the sky! The Bluestone County Emergency Response Department had reacted with incredible speed.

A few moments later, the sound of something tearing through the air echoed from the sky!

Two figures came soaring through the air, exuding the powerful auras of Martial Artists, before landing fearlessly before the great beast.

It was none other than the Hall Master of the Bluestone County Fire Hall and the county leader in charge of security and armed forces—two Flying Star Level experts.

"You beast! Cease your rampage!" the Hall Master roared. Despite facing a Demon Beast whose presence clearly outmatched his own, he didn’t back down an inch. Hair and beard bristling, he brandished his longsword, which pulsed with a cold light.

"Evacuate! Everyone, evacuate now!" the county leader yelled, anxiously directing the security officers and firefighters who were just arriving.

However, the gap in their power was a vast chasm.

The late-stage Flying Star Level beast paid them no mind, its massive tail sweeping across like a steel whip! The air itself cracked from the force of the blow!

Facing the sweeping tail, a flicker of deadly resolve flashed in the Hall Master’s eyes. He gritted his teeth and unleashed a lifetime’s worth of training, meeting the attack with a torrent of sword light!

BOOM!!!

A deafening clang, as if of striking metal, erupted! Blood sprayed from the Hall Master’s mouth, his longsword shuddering violently as he was sent flying. He slammed hard into a low wall and was half-buried by the rubble.

He struggled, but found he couldn’t get up.

’The power gap... it’s too great!’

The county leader’s face was deathly pale. Having been away from battle for a long time, his movements were clearly a step too slow against such a ferocious beast.

Swept up in the gale-force winds kicked up by the Demon Beast’s claws, his protective aura shattered.

He was sent flying like a broken doll, only stopping after he slammed into a police car and flipped it over. He collapsed to the ground, coughing violently, clearly out of the fight.

In a single exchange! The two strongest experts in Bluestone County had been grievously wounded!

The great beast roared, its crimson eyes locking onto the panicked crowd ahead as it began to take heavy, ponderous steps.

With each step, the ground trembled and rubble flew. It was going to charge into the densest part of the crowd!

"Stop it!"

"Open fire! Get its attention!"

The commander of a military unit that had rushed to the scene was deathly pale. Though his body trembled uncontrollably, he still charged to the front line.

He knew small arms would have little effect on a Flying Star Level Demon Beast, but right now, their only hope was to distract it.

The regular Martial Artists and armed personnel who arrived after them charged forward, trying to form a barricade with their own flesh and blood!

But their sacrifice was futile. Every sweep of the Demon Beast’s claws and tail unleashed a bloody storm, leaving a carpet of mangled bodies and severed limbs in its wake.

The pungent stench of blood filled the air. It was a heroic tragedy, but it was having little to no effect.

...

Far from the battlefield, inside the county security command center, the atmosphere was suffocating.

"We can’t stop it! We can’t stop it at all!"

"The Hall Master and Director Wang... are defeated!"

"Late-stage Flying Star Level! We don’t have any expert of that caliber stationed here!"

"Where’s the support from the city? Where are the experts from the Fire Hall? If they don’t come soon..."

"The provincial command said they’ve dispatched someone urgently! But the fastest they can get here is..."

Despair was spreading. Every decision-maker in the room understood that Bluestone County’s power ceiling was simply too low. Faced with an assault of this magnitude, they were utterly helpless. Their only hope lay in reinforcements from the outside.

Just as the great beast crushed the last line of resistance and closed to within a hundred meters of the terrified, fleeing crowd, its monstrous head tilted back. It opened its vast, bloody maw lined with razor-sharp teeth as a terrifying energy began to build in its throat, on the verge of erupting in a breath of pure destruction.

VMMMM!!!

High in the heavens, a piercing glint of cold light suddenly materialized!

It appeared without warning, moving faster than thought itself!

It felt as if space and time themselves had frozen in that single instant.

There was no flashy trajectory, no world-shaking sound, only a single blade of light—so pure, so sharp, it could cut through all things!

The blade of light descended from above, as fine and absolute as a thread of divine punishment.

SHLICK!

A soft noise.

Like a hot knife through congealed fat.

The massive, monstrous head of the late-stage Flying Star Level beast—which had been just about to spew its destructive breath—was severed from its body with no resistance whatsoever, horns and all!

Its motion froze in an instant.

The last glint of light in its crimson eyes was one of frozen bewilderment.

RUMBLE!!!

The massive, headless corpse crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris!

From the severed neck, viscous, blackish blood sprayed forth like a miniature waterfall!

Meanwhile, its enormous head rolled to one side like a deflated ball, the savage light in its eyes fading to nothing.