After eliminating two 8th Tier monsters, and with Zhu Yao using the rules of Heaven Beyond Heaven to rapidly sweep away over a dozen powerful ones, the frontline pushed forward another few dozen meters. They were finally within a hundred meters of the rift.
Just as they pushed the battle line forward again, Li Ban suddenly sensed a faint fluctuation of spiritual rhinoceros at the rear of the main force.
"Priest Hao Yang?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he dropped back to the rear.
"Is that my brother?"
Priest Hao Ze, who had just been standing beside Priest Li He, ran over alongside Li Ban.
Not seeing Hao Yang anywhere when he arrived, Hao Ze asked Li Ban about the situation.
Upon learning his brother had deliberately drawn away a horde of monsters to buy Li Ban time, Hao Ze felt a twinge of worry, but he wasn't overly anxious.
He knew his brother's strength perfectly well. As long as Hao Yang stayed three hundred meters away from the center of the Sea of Monsters, he was more than capable of protecting himself.
The rule of the Sea of Monsters was simple: the closer to the outer edge, the safer it was.
Knowing his brother was right outside, Hao Ze felt an overwhelming urge to rush out and assist him.
But Priest Li He, currently fighting at the front, suddenly called out to him.
"Hao Ze, get back here and fight."
"Priest Li He—"
Hao Ze turned back to explain, but Li He didn't use telepathy. Instead, he spoke aloud for everyone to hear: "Hao Yang has a swarm of monsters on his tail. If you bring him back right now, the pressure on our rear line will skyrocket. How many more of our people do you think we can afford to sacrifice?"
If the death toll climbed any higher, they wouldn't be able to hold their current formation.
Moreover, after fighting his way back through the Sea of Monsters, Priest Hao Yang was in no condition to contribute to the fight right away.
Having weighed the options in his mind, Priest Li He had instantly made his choice.
"But, Priest Li He, what if my brother—"
"Tell him to retreat straight to the three-hundred-meter mark and wait for your signal. Or do you not have faith in his strength?"
'I want to send him some White Seeds.' Left with no choice, Priest Hao Ze compromised, switching to telepathy for a private conversation.
'Then save them for somewhere more valuable.' Priest Li He's response was as merciless as ever.
But then, he followed up with something even crueler.
'Tell Hao Yang yourself. Tell him to go wait three hundred meters away.'
After sending that message, Priest Li He ignored Hao Ze, offering him no chance to argue or agree as he threw himself back into the fight.
Now that they were within the hundred-meter zone, the surrounding monsters boasted the physical resilience of 6th or 7th Tier Priests. Coupled with the bizarre abilities they had gained upon mutation, every single one was incredibly tricky to deal with.
As Priest Hao Ze hesitated, an 8th Tier monster suddenly materialized at the front line.
Li Ban knew that right now, they couldn't spare a single person to help Priest Hao Yang.
Fortunately, he had handed Priest Hao Yang plenty of White Seeds earlier. As long as Hao Yang didn't wander too close to the center, those reserves of spiritual rhinoceros would easily sustain him while he hid among the monster horde for a long time.
Since neither Zhu Yao nor Priest Dong Yi had recovered much strength yet, Li Ban hurried back to guard them, taking no chances.
After a few agonizing seconds of hesitation, Priest Hao Ze reluctantly sent a message to his approaching brother.
The moment Hao Ze's voice echoed in his mind via telepathy, Priest Hao Yang stopped in his tracks.
Hao Ze's heart felt like it was being twisted into knots.
He was only a 6th Tier Star Glow Priest. His mental fortitude was nowhere near mastered, and the guilt and torment crashing over him felt like a churning sea.
He sent one last message to Hao Yang, then spun around, rejoining Priest Li He in the bloodbath.
As Hao Ze turned his back, the faint fluctuation of Priest Hao Yang's spiritual rhinoceros in the distance rapidly retreated.
Li Ban, who was helping to hold the flank, glanced over his shoulder, a flicker of worry crossing his mind.
Zhu Yao, who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened them and gently patted Li Ban's back in silent comfort.
"Now I get why you loathe Li He so much," Li Ban murmured.
"I loathe Li He, but I also loathe myself," Zhu Yao said, her eyelashes trembling slightly. "Because I know he's right. I want to argue, but I don't have the strength to back it up."
Thinking about it, Priest Li He had intentionally let Hao Ze drop back to the rear. He wanted Hao Ze to be the one to turn Hao Yang away, keeping him far from the team to prevent him from drawing danger to them.
And upon receiving that message from his own flesh and blood, Priest Hao Yang would undoubtedly turn back—no matter how terrible his condition was.
Li He's choice to speak aloud instead of using telepathy was another calculated move, tying his ruthless decision to the collective survival of everyone present.
Backed into a corner, both Hao Ze and Hao Yang were left with only one choice.
Since Zhu Yao and Priest Dong Yi were temporarily incapable of casting the Spatial Guidance Art, Li He and Priest Lang Jiao had to take the vanguard against the new 8th Tier monster, supported by the weapons and spells of the rest of the team.
It took them over ten minutes, exhausting their elites and detonating two People in a Bottle alongside the deflector device the Director had provided, just to put the creature down.
While ten minutes didn't sound very long, it had been a grueling, high-intensity battle from start to finish, draining massive amounts of spiritual rhinoceros and resources.
Even Priest Li He took a decent amount of damage, forcing him to use clear water for emergency healing.
The group ground to a halt just outside the fifty-meter mark.
The moment they crossed that fifty-meter threshold, more 8th Tier monsters were guaranteed to spawn.
They needed to prepare for the final sprint.
Thanks to the rotating shifts of defense and rest, Ming Kai and Tail finally found a moment to regroup with Li Ban.
Though she was utterly exhausted and covered in cuts and bruises, Tail couldn't hide her excitement as she stared past the fifty-meter mark, catching glimpses of the black spatial rift through gaps in the monster horde.
"I can see the rift," she said to Li Ban, her voice buzzing with excitement.
But when she turned her head, she noticed the grim expressions on Li Ban and Zhu Yao's faces.
"What's wrong?" Tail asked, dropping her voice as she leaned in closer.
Seeing this, Ming Kai shuffled closer as well.
Zhu Yao narrowed her eyes. "So far, we've encountered four 8th Tier monsters. But not a single one of them matches the three 8th Tier monsters the Director recorded."
"Huh?" Tail and Ming Kai exchanged stunned looks.
"Does that mean... we still have to fight three more of them?" Ming Kai muttered in horror.
"What I'm worried about," Li Ban interjected, "is that we won't just be facing three of them. We might have to fight all three at the same time."
Since they hadn't crossed that final fifty-meter threshold yet, those 8th Tier monsters were still lying in wait somewhere.
But a fifty-meter radius around the rift wasn't a large area. If all three of those unseen 8th Tier monsters were crammed in there, then no matter how the team maneuvered, they would inevitably draw the aggression of all three juggernauts at once.
They had actually anticipated a scenario like this before the operation began.
Without the Spatial Guidance Art, their weapons and items nearly depleted, and having already suffered heavy casualties—what would they do if they were swarmed by multiple 8th Tier monsters?
There was only one incredibly cruel answer.
Sacrifice one group of people so the other could escape.
Whether that sacrifice would be 1% of the group or 99% of it, no one could predict.
"Captain Li, Priest Yao... if..." Ming Kai suddenly stammered, "If things go south, don't worry about me."
He was perfectly aware that Zhu Yao and Li Ban had been quietly protecting them throughout the earlier battles.
The entire team was now down to fewer than fifteen non-priest members.
They had only survived this long because this was the absolute maximum number of people the priests could shelter while fighting for their own lives.
Tail and Ming Kai, in particular, had received special attention from Li Ban and Zhu Yao.
Tail looked at Ming Kai in surprise, then quickly chimed in, "I don't need it either."
Her tone, however, carried a bit more confidence.
"I'm tough. I can survive without you guys babysitting me."
Li Ban didn't waste time on sentimentality. "Good. Watch your own backs. And if you get a chance to make a break for the rift, take it immediately. Don't worry about anyone else."
"Anyone else," naturally, included himself and Zhu Yao.
Ten minutes into their rest, the monsters continuously hammering all four of their defensive lines suddenly stopped dead.
Priest Lang Jiao, who had been resting in the center of the formation, immediately looked up, his gaze snapping toward the flank.
It was as if two invisible, massive hands were parting the sea of monsters on the right flank, opening up a three-meter-wide path.
The group finally got a look at the figure emerging from behind the horde.
It was a humanoid monster of average build, with graying hair at its temples.
It wore a somewhat tattered white priest robe. Just looking at it, there were almost no visible signs of mutation.
Only a pair of blood-red eyes that coldly swept over the crowd gave away its monstrous nature.
Seeing that face, Priest Huinv—who had been fighting silently in the ranks and barely spoke to Li Ban's group—gasped in shock.
"Chu Zhan?" Already stationed at the outer edge of their defenses, Priest Huinv inexplicably took two steps forward.
Zhu Yao looked at her, a flash of concern in her eyes. "Priest Huinv, he... he's already a monster."
But Priest Huinv acted as if she hadn't heard a word, walking right out of the formation on her own.
Another priest who was close to Huinv tried to run after her and pull her back, but then seemed to hear something. He froze in his tracks, ultimately staying behind.
Up at the front, Priest Li He simply narrowed his eyes, saying nothing.
Meanwhile, Priest Lang Jiao, currently rotated out of combat, rubbed his chin, a glimmer of amusement flashing through his eyes.
Li Ban held back Zhu Yao, who was about to rush after her, and darted right behind Huinv himself. "Priest Huinv—" Before he could finish, Huinv's voice echoed in his mind.
'I'll lure him away.'
'There's no need for you to sacrifice yourself like this.'
If a Dark Moon Priest lured away an 8th Tier monster all on her own, her fate would be sealed.
'Besides, throwing your life away like this won't even buy us much time,' Li Ban shot back via telepathy, his tone growing harsher.
Priest Huinv smiled, glancing back at Li Ban. 'My cute Priest Ban, you need to understand that you absolutely cannot save everyone. Furthermore... since Chu Zhan is here, I don't intend to leave the Recycling Station anyway.'
If Priest Huinv was dead set on drawing away the mutated Chu Zhan, Li Ban knew he couldn't stop her.
His mind raced before he sent another message. 'There's a Priest Chu Zhan on the outside as well. And he's still single.'
In his desperation, Li Ban had instinctively used a word from his past life.
Yet, Priest Huinv instantly understood exactly what he meant.
Her only response, however, was to raise a hand and press it firmly against Li Ban's chest.
"I don't want the one outside. I want this one."
The corners of her lips curled up and her eyes crinkled in a smile. It was as if she had suddenly come back to life, glowing with vibrant energy.
But Li Ban knew this sudden vitality was like a firework. Beneath that fleeting, brilliant spark lay a resolute death wish.
Using the guiding art, Priest Huinv shoved him back into the crowd. Li Ban opened his mouth, but the words caught in his throat.
It seemed Priest Huinv's goal had never been to escape the Recycling Station in the first place.
Perhaps she had made up her mind the moment she volunteered for this mission. Or perhaps even earlier—when she left the Black Beast Camp and set out for the Continental Center.
She had come to find the Priest Chu Zhan of her own timeline. Wherever Chu Zhan was, that was where she belonged.
As a 7th Tier Priest, it was naturally impossible for Huinv to kill the 8th Tier monster Chu Zhan had become.
But, just like Zhu Yao had done earlier, stalling him for a while wouldn't be an issue.
The monster Chu Zhan standing on the flank was entirely different from the four 8th Tier monsters they had fought so far.
Beneath the coldness in his eyes, a faint glimmer of sanity seemed to remain.
As Huinv approached, he didn't attack. Instead, he used his terrifying aura to pin down the monsters on either side, stopping them from interfering.
And just like that, Huinv hovered right up to Chu Zhan without a single shred of resistance.
The smile never left her lips. Her eyes were bright and wide, like a young girl's.
"You told me to leave first back then. You said you'd be right behind me. Instead, you told me to meet you at the edge of the continent..." Huinv slowly shook her head, unable to tear her gaze away from Chu Zhan's slightly aged face for even a second. "You liar."
Fearlessly, she closed the distance until they were less than a meter apart.
"I walked the entire border of the Northern Continent. I waited for you for so many years... only to find that you never left the center."
"Squelch—"
Chu Zhan's response was to plunge his monstrous hand straight through her chest.
And clutched in that monstrous palm was a heart that had not beaten in many years.
"Heh!"
Not an ounce of despair crossed Priest Huinv's face. Instead, her smile grew even more radiant.
"You do still recognize me!" Ignoring the gaping hole in her chest, she threw her arms around him, locking her hands together in a vice grip. "In a place like the Recycling Station, shouldn't you have gone for my brain first?"
Still clinging tightly to Chu Zhan, Huinv abruptly blasted backward. She plowed right through the horde of monsters behind them, flying off into the distance with no intention of stopping.
The parting in the horde swiftly slammed shut behind them, swallowing their figures completely.
A moment later, Li Ban couldn't even sense the fluctuations of her spiritual rhinoceros anymore.
Returning to Zhu Yao's side, Li Ban noticed that her eyes were red, though her expression had already returned to a stoic calm.
She didn't need his comfort.
Even Cat Girl merely scratched her cheek, forcing a stubborn tone as she muttered, "I guess all that romantic sap is good for something after all."
Ming Kai stared blankly, lost in whatever thoughts were running through his head.
Li Ban took a deep breath and looked at the three of them. "Get ready. We're about to make the final push."
Sure enough, with Chu Zhan gone, the suppression on the horde vanished, and the monsters immediately grew frenzied again.
Seeing that the flank was about to be overrun, Priest Lang Jiao and Priest Li He barked out an order simultaneously.
Push into the final fifty meters!