Chapter 554 So, you finally decided to show up, huh?
Jian harshly kicked the dark race individual in front of him and looked back at Bia, but his eyes chilled when he saw the phoenix in the clutches of a demon woman.
The woman was transcendent rank, so despite Bia's struggles, she couldn't break free from her hold! He lunged at the woman to rescue Bia, but a demon seized his neck and forcefully slammed his body to the ground, accompanied by a mocking laughter. Jian fought against the grip and screamed at the woman.
"You bitch! Let her go!"
Just like him, Xavier's eyes also turned red when he saw Bia in the demon's hand. He immediately thrust his spear into the chest of the demon in front of him before hurling it at the demon woman, but she effortlessly caught it in her hands. After all, unlike them, who were surrounded from all directions, she had hardly any worries.
An evil cackle slipped from the woman's lips as the snug blue dress hugging her form stretched when she unfurled the four expansive wings behind her back, then peered down at the red-haired and grey-haired humans.
"What? This little bird is quite precious to you two, huh? I suppose I will take my sweet time to end her life then."
Bia looked around with panicked eyes, a terror she had never experienced before gripping her heart tightly as she called upon the small amount of divine energy she had gathered in her body to revert to her original form because she knew as long as she transformed to her original form she would be able to get away from this!
However, her eyes widened in alarm as a shroud of dark energy emerged from the woman's hand and encircled her form.
She realized with a sinking feeling... that she couldn't tap into the divine energy within her body because it was becoming polluted by the darkness!
She opened her beak and sharply bit down on the woman's fingers, but it was as if the woman's fingers were made of steel because the woman didn't even flinch at her attack. Instead, she tightened her grip on her body before slowly and excruciatingly stabbing her pointy nails into her form.
A sweet voice emanated from the woman's mouth as she let out a giggle.
"Don't struggle, little one."
Bia's eyes saw red. This witch, she cursed out loud and started cursing the demon's entire family and ancestry.
-"Let me go! Do you even have any idea which majestic being you are grabbing? Get your filthy fingers off me!"
The demon's eyes turned crescent, and she released a scornful laugh. Majestic? She couldn't fathom the arrogance of this small, exquisite creature. The beast was already under her mercy and still dared to call herself majestic? As Bia screamed relentlessly, the demon woman drove her nails even deeper into the phoenix's body, her eyebrows arching in disdain.
Crimson blood began to seep from the phoenix's wounds, staining her red feathers in an even deeper hue of red. The woman sneered as she gazed at the phoenix and the struggling humans below her.
Jian let out another scream, his eyes turning bloodshot as he caught the glint in the woman's eyes, realizing she was toying with them! Xavier and the others also grasped this truth as they were already at the mercy of the dark side. It was odd that instead of ending them, the demon and dark race individuals decided to force them to witness Bia's suffering.
The battles around them were still ongoing, and the sky was getting redder and darker with each passing second due to the blazing forest; the supreme-rank individuals were fighting the supreme-rank demons, while the transcendent-rank and divine-rank individuals were battling opponents of similar rank. Xavier and Jian could see that many individuals had noticed what was happening to them. However, no one came forward to help because they were focused on saving themselves.
The demon woman's lips curled into a captivating smile as she leaned down to whisper in a voice audible to everyone.
"What if I don't let you go-!"
In that moment, the air around the woman became eerily silent and icy cold. She blinked as a pale hand tightly grasped her wrist. Instantly, a chilling sensation spread through her skin, and she was surprised by how cold the touch felt... but this thought vanished from her mind when she realized that she hadn't noticed how and when the owner of the hand had approached her.
Before she could turn her head towards the figure hovering beside her, a raspy voice, filled with murderous intent, echoed behind her ears. The voice sounded hollow yet chilling simultaneously, with an edge as though if she didn't comply, it would erase her.
"If she's asking to be released, then it means you should release her."
Jian stopped struggling when he saw the silver-haired man, whom he recognized, materialize next to the demon woman. The man had his back turned toward him, but even without looking directly at his face, Jian knew who it was — the familiar yet unfamiliar voice, the coldness seeping out from every inch of his body, and the white earring on his ear. All these signs indicated that the man was the very person Jian and Bia had been searching for all these years.
Jian held his breath for a moment, then burst into loud laughter that filled the now silent air due to the sudden arrival of the silver-haired man. The demon, who had his hand wrapped around Jian's neck, furrowed his brows in confusion. Not only the demon but all the individuals surrounding the humans glanced at each other with confusion.
They all had the same thought in their heads - had the red-haired man gone crazy? Even though the arrival of the silver-haired man was sudden, they could clearly sense that he was just a divine rank human. So, they knew the transcendent rank demon would easily take care of him.
Xavier eyed the silver-haired man just like everyone else. He had heard about him from Jian many times. Jian gave the man many titles - the strongest among them all, the one with overwhelming luck, the one who can turn everything in his favor with just his presence alone, the one who sleeps a lot. But now that he was looking at the man directly, even though the man was just a divine rank individual, Xavier felt a little oppressed due to his presence alone.
The demon woman, despite feeling a bit starteld, let out a chuckle at the audacity of the person floating next to her.
She lifted her head and met the gaze of the silver-haired human with a smile. However, her smile faltered when she realized his eyes held no trace of fear.
Bia whipped her tiny head towards the human and cursed loudly. Her eyes welled up as she started speaking directly into the human's head with a voice filled with various emotions, especially relief, longing, and joy.
-'Kyle, you funkin' bastard! So, you finally decided to show up, huh? I thought you were dead or something... hiek or maybe you just conveniently forgot that you have a bonded companion?!'