Oscar calmly watched the swarm of blood bats rushing toward them. Then he heard Dugu Yan speak in a cold voice, "Soldiers block the enemy, water is stopped by earth."
At this point, there was no way for them to escape. Their only option was a desperate counterattack.
The blood-red bats flew extremely fast and were already close within moments.
Their eyes were also blood-red. When they spotted their target, they let out harsh cries, exposing sharp fangs. Thousands of bats flapping their wings brought with them a foul bloody wind that made the two of them tremble.
At this moment, Oscar suddenly pulled Dugu Yan into his arms, carrying her in a princess hold.
Originally tense, Dugu Yan was taken aback by this sudden move. Feeling Oscar's warm chest, she instinctively pressed her legs tightly together.
It was not because Oscar was holding her, but because the situation was extremely dangerous. With the slightest mistake, both she and Oscar could fall from this narrow path and be crushed to dust.
Dugu Yan completely trusted Oscar, so she did not say much. Instead, she stayed alert. Once her martial soul possessed her, she used her long dragon tail to wrap around Oscar. At the same time, a flick of her jade-like fingers sent a cold gleam shooting toward the nearest blood bat.
But the bat's body merely twisted slightly in the air, and it dodged the poisoned needle with ease.
Dugu Yan's heart trembled as she whispered, "Oscar, bats are not like other birds. They have a special keen ability that allows them to easily sense attacks. Even spiritual power cannot affect this. Unless the speed of the strike exceeds their reaction limit, it is very difficult to injure them."
As soon as she finished speaking, Oscar gave a faint smile. A pair of black wings with a span of more than eight meters unfolded from his back, and a long scorpion tail appeared. At the same time, a black-golden sausage entered his mouth.
This was Oscar's fifth spirit ability sausage, the Evil Demon Tiger Whip Sausage.
At this moment, Oscar, who had once been a handsome silver-haired youth, had changed completely. The smiling mask on his face cracked apart as his body swelled, revealing a sinister face.
His height had reached three meters, making the Dugu Yan in his arms appear small and delicate.
His clothes burst apart, leaving only a pair of special shorts to cover him. A layer of black armor-like chitin grew over his body. It looked like hair, but was not.
He flapped his wings, rising into the air. His three-meter-long scorpion tail, made entirely of black segments, swayed behind him. At its tip was a venomous barb glowing with a strange black-gray light, terrifying to behold.
His silver hair had become a waterfall of black, and in the center of his forehead was a black mark shaped like the word "King." Three gray-black stripes appeared on each cheek, glowing like the scorpion's barb, making him even more sinister.
Oscar no longer gave off the gentle warmth of a breeze. Instead, he radiated the madness of ultimate darkness and evil. His once calm eyes now reflected a twisted demonic aura, as if a single glance could shred someone's soul.
Although spirit skills could not be used here, his sausages and spirit bones were unrestricted.
The blood bats in the air, as if possessing intelligence, did not immediately attack. Instead, they circled around the pair, surrounding them from every direction.
But Oscar's evil god wings generated violent gales with every beat. After consuming the Evil Demon Tiger Whip Sausage, he had mastered the wind element.
The windstorm prevented the bats from approaching. They could only circle, unable to find a chance to strike.
Oscar spoke softly, "Hold on to me."
Understanding that this would minimize their size as a target, Dugu Yan no longer let herself be carried princess-style. She wrapped her arms around Oscar's neck, her long legs and dragon tail coiling around his waist, pressing her face against his chest like a small satchel.
Freed, Oscar's arms glowed with azure light, and a long jade-like sword appeared in his hand.
All this happened in just seconds.
For ordinary people, facing so many blood bats would already mean certain death.
These bats, with their speed and attack power, were superior even among their kind, and might even carry venom.
But Oscar and Dugu Yan could handle them calmly. Oscar relied on strength, while Dugu Yan relied on absolute trust in him.
Perhaps Dugu Yan's earlier poisoned needle had provoked them. The next moment, dozens of blood bats suddenly lunged forward.
Oscar did not even swing his sword. A beat of his wings released blades of wind that sliced the attacking bats into pieces.
Ignoring them, Oscar spread his wings and flew forward.
More bats rushed in again and again, but every time, they were shredded by countless wind blades, unable to even slow him down.
Thus, this terrifying swarm was easily wiped away.
Leaning against Oscar's chest, Dugu Yan looked up at his firm, sinister face, her heart full of joy. She felt no despair at all in this deadly place. Instead, she felt only happiness.
The bats seemed intelligent. After testing him several times and being crushed, they no longer dared to approach within ten meters of Oscar.
But they also refused to leave, circling and flapping around, following closely.
"These bats are really hateful," Dugu Yan said angrily.
Seeing that the bats only harassed instead of attacking, Oscar sped up. Surrounded by gales, his speed increased further.
Any bat that tried to break through was torn apart by the windstorm.
Even with Oscar flying so fast, the bats chased closely, their speed not much slower.
Oscar flew for nearly five minutes like this.
"Screech!"
A larger blood bat shrieked. Immediately, all the others let out sharp cries, piercingly loud, as if summoning something.
Oscar froze mid-flight, his dark gray eyes flashing as he stared ahead.
Sensing his sudden stop, Dugu Yan looked forward as well and gasped.
Hanging upside down below the narrow path ahead was a massive bat.
Bathed in the dim red glow around them, its entire body radiated dark golden light.
It was more than four meters long, its enormous claws gripping the narrow path, each more than a meter wide and sunk deep into the stone.
Amidst the shrieking of the blood bats, the giant bat slowly unfurled wings spanning ten meters. Its claws released their grip, and it soared upward, blocking Oscar and Dugu Yan's way.
The bat's true form was revealed. Its whole body glowed dark-gold, but most terrifying was that it had three heads. The blood bats all flew past Oscar to gather behind this colossal beast.
Dugu Yan murmured blankly, "So we beat the little brothers, and the big brother shows up?"
This was the Dark-Gold Three-Headed Bat King. In the original story, Tang San and Hu Liena had also faced this creature on the Hell Road, and it had brought them great danger.
If the earlier bats had posed no threat to Oscar, this Bat King did.
Something about it seemed different from the one in the original.
Back then, Tang San and Hu Liena had only been at the Spirit King level, while Oscar was already level seventy, just one spirit ring away from becoming a Spirit Sage.
Oscar's strength and foundation far surpassed Tang San of the original story. Yet even so, he felt pressure from this beast.
That alone showed its extraordinary nature, far beyond the one described in the original.
The Bat King's six eyes glared at them with icy light.
It wasted no time on probing. The central head shrieked, its wings spread wide, and it lunged straight at Oscar, ignoring the terrifying gale surrounding him.
Before its massive body even reached them, an overwhelming aura swept over them, more terrifying than all the previous bats combined.
From its might, Oscar instantly judged that this creature's power exceeded that of a typical fifty-thousand-year spirit beast.
This was already beyond the Bat King of the original. Though Oscar did not know why, he understood that this Hell Road would be far from simple.
As it attacked, Dugu Yan released Oscar's neck and flicked her wrists, sending a rain of poisoned needles toward the Bat King.
But the Bat King did not stop. Its golden wings swept, knocking the needles aside. Even Dugu Yan's seventy-level spirit power behind the needles could not pierce its hide, leaving only faint white marks.
This showed how terrifying its defense was.
Yet that was only against Dugu Yan's poison needles.
At the same time, Oscar's wings flapped, and several massive wind blades slashed at it.
The blades struck its body, but did no damage.
Oscar then noticed a faint golden barrier of spirit energy covering the beast's body. That was why its defense was so fearsome.
Although he had read the original story, Oscar could not recall every detail. This Bat King was clearly different, and its abilities were not fully known to him.
But that did not mean he could not defeat it.
This was not Tang San's bat, and he was not Tang San. Dugu Yan was not Hu Liena either.
Though the Bat King's defense was formidable, they could see the golden barrier dim slightly with each attack.
That meant the shield was not invincible. It consumed energy with each defense.
But now, the Bat King grew faster.
When it was within twenty meters, its central head spat out a dark-golden wave toward them.
Dugu Yan quickly wrapped her arms around Oscar's neck to avoid affecting him.
She did not separate from him because the blood bats were still waiting to strike. If she left him, she might be overwhelmed, forcing Oscar to split his attention.
It was not that she could not handle the bats alone, but staying together saved spirit power. When Oscar could no longer continue, she would take over.
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