Lucifella's blood was not shed in vain.
Thanks to the song that burned her very life force, the purple fog filling the canyon lifted.
"Ugh... What did I... do..."
"Mother? Mother, are you alright?"
The refugees, awakening from their madness, regained their senses one by one.
They wailed in horror at the fact that they had been tearing at their own families just moments ago, or sat blankly, trying to grasp the situation.
Although they were covered in wounds, at least the hellscape of killing each other seemed to have stopped.
But that relief was only momentary.
Rumble-!!!
Suddenly, the earth convulsed as if having a seizure.
It wasn't a simple earthquake.
Behind the canyon, the entire dark forest the refugees had walked through was shaking.
Gravel at their feet bounced up, and the air itself began to feel heavy and oppressive.
"W-What is that...?"
Someone's trembling finger pointed at the forest.
The moment everyone's eyes turned there, an unbelievable sight unfolded.
Crack! Crash!
Giant trees, hundreds of years old, were falling helplessly like dominoes.
And through the collapsed forest, something flashing surged in, filling their field of vision.
It was golden light.
Originally, it was a brilliant color that should symbolize wealth and glory.
But now, it was the 'color of disaster' devouring everything in the world.
It wasn't just simple gold.
As if embodying greed itself, sticky slime flowed over the glistening carapaces.
"Kiiieeeek-!!!"
"Grrrrr...!"
Hundreds, thousands... no, tens of thousands.
The sound of tens of thousands of legs scratching the ground created a terrible noise, like a giant saw slicing through the earth.
This was not on the level of the scouting party that had chased Liu Bei's group earlier.
The 'Golden Predator Main Army,' which had been crouching deep in the forest, had smelled blood and risen all at once.
It was less like living creatures and more like a giant golden tsunami.
Where they passed, not a single blade of grass remained; the land was scorched earth.
Chewing and swallowing everything their steel-like jaws touched, the monsters clad in golden armor poured down toward the valley like a landslide.
"Ah, ahhh..."
The color drained from the faces of the refugees who had barely regained their senses.
An overwhelming fear of 'predation,' incomparable to the fear of running wild as zombies just moments ago, engulfed them.
Many collapsed, their legs giving way to terror that made it hard to even breathe.
Even Liu Zhang's soldiers, who were in confusion due to the destroyed wall, froze upon seeing the spectacle.
"This can't be... Such numbers have never been reported!"
"We can't stop them... Even with the Iron Vine, we can't stop that!"
The soldiers stepped backward, forgetting even to grip their weapons.
It was obvious that even if a steam tank corps arrived, they would turn into scrap metal before that overwhelming quantity.
"Run! Run to the gate!"
Someone screamed and ran toward the broken castle gate.
The entrance leading to the 'Peach Garden' that Sun Wukong had pierced open.
That was the only way to live.
But it was too late.
Rumble-
The speed of the predator swarm was beyond imagination.
The distance to the gate was about a hundred meters.
But the golden tsunami looked poised to cover that distance in less than ten seconds.
Before they could even get inside the gate, everyone here was destined to become pulp inside those voracious maws.
"No... No...!"
Desperate screams filled the canyon once again.
The door of hope had opened, but the bridge to get there had been cut off.
"Oho."
In this desperate situation, only one person was enjoying the spectacle like a game.
It was the Great Sage, Sun Wukong.
With Ruyi Jingu Bang draped obliquely over his shoulder, he watched the golden tsunami rushing in, filling the horizon.
His eyes were full of interest rather than fear.
Like a spectator anticipating the climax of a boring play.
'The numbers are brutal. I could give them a proper massage with Ruyi Jingu Bang.'
If he put his mind to it, he could jump in right now and turn those bugs into mush.
But Sun Wukong didn't move.
Standing crookedly, he looked down sideways at Liu Bei, who was trembling covered in blood.
This was not his fight.
It was a testing ground to see if this hornless punk had the 'qualification.'
"Hey, hornless punk."
Sun Wukong's indifferent voice pierced clearly into Liu Bei's ears even amidst the roar.
"The door is open. You can live."
Sun Wukong gestured with his chin to his back.
There was the entrance to the 'Peach Garden' he had coolly pierced with his staff.
Warm sunlight and a peaceful peach tree forest.
If he took just one step there, he could escape the maws of the hellish predators.
Beyond it, the unrealistic sweet scent of peaches wafted on the wind, mixing repulsively with the stench of blood here.
That alien scent contrasted even more cruelly with Liu Bei's miserable reality.
"If you run alone now, you live. You can bet on it. You're confident you can run faster than my staff, right?"
A smirk hung on Sun Wukong's lips.
"The rest of the trash... well, they'll all become beast food in a minute."
"...!"
Liu Bei bit his lip tight.
He bit it so hard that blood seeped out again from his torn lip.
His gaze wavered.
The open door of salvation.
And the army of death approaching from behind.
The hundreds of powerless people caught in between.
Rationally, he had to run.
If everyone was going to die anyway, it might be right for him, the leader, to survive and plan for the future.
That was the reasonable judgment.
But Sun Wukong didn't give him that opening.
"I set the stage for you."
Sun Wukong stared straight into Liu Bei's eyes and drove in words like daggers.
"If you run away here, you're just a loser. You're destined to die alone running away your whole life."
"..."
"Where's that spirit you had when you were barking at me while I held you by the collar earlier? That grand 'hope' you talked about."
Sun Wukong's golden eyes shone coldly.
"If it wasn't just lip service, prove it."
Liu Bei's gaze crossed dizzily in the air.
On one side, the peaceful peach forest visible beyond the pierced wall.
The only path of 'survival' opened by Sun Wukong.
On the other side, the golden tsunami rushing in to swallow the forest.
The wave of overwhelming 'death' created by tens of thousands of predators.
"Captain... Are we going to die?"
"I'm scared... Mom..."
The small hands of children clinging to his legs were trembling like aspen leaves.
The warmth of those fern-like hands was transmitted through Liu Bei's trouser cuffs.
Unlike his reason which was turning cold, the children's body heat was too hot and desperate.
'If I live... these children die.'
It was too clear an answer sheet.
Sun Wukong was right. If he ran now without looking back, he could live.
The day might come to build strength and take revenge later. That might be the strategically correct choice.
But.
'What meaning is there in a paradise where I survive alone?'
The shaking in Liu Bei's eyes stopped.
Instead of running away, he slowly turned his body.
And he faced that giant golden tsunami rushing toward him with open maws head-on.
Slide.
Liu Bei took out the
The palm-sized fragment consisted of irregular polyhedrons, and inside it, golden magical power swirled like a living creature.
Just holding it felt like the fingerprints of his palm were burning.
As if reading its master's anxious heartbeat, the fragment was vibrating hot enough to burn his hand.
'If I mount this power on a weapon and swing it.'
Liu Bei tightened his grip on the fragment.
'I could cut down the enemies in front of me. I could kill hundreds, thousands. But... that's not enough. I can't stop them all.'
Simple martial force could not handle that overwhelming quantity.
What was needed now was not the power to kill enemies.
It was the absolute 'authority' to make them submit and protect his people.
"Huu..."
Liu Bei let out a rough breath and raised the hand holding the fragment.
But that hand was headed not for a sword hilt, but for his own left chest.
The place where his heart was beating.
"...Kugh!"
Liu Bei hesitated no more and drove the sharp end of the fragment into his own flesh.
Sizzle-!
Along with the smell of burning flesh, terrible pain struck his brain.
It wasn't simply the pain of being stabbed.
A burning pain, as if molten iron from a blast furnace was being poured directly into his veins, wrapped around his whole body.
Skin and muscle tore, and through the gaps, the fragment's golden energy flowed in explosively.
His vision flashed white.
Numerous memories of having to run away cowardly because he had no power in the past flashed by like a revolving lantern.
He never wanted to repeat that helplessness again.
Even if this choice burned his soul away.
His heart raced as if to burst.
High energy that a weak demon body couldn't handle rode his veins and forcibly awakened every single cell in his body.
"Kuuuugh...!"
Liu Bei gritted his teeth, forcibly swallowing the scream trying to burst out.
His mouth burst inside, and the taste of blood spread fishily.
But he didn't remove his hand embedded in his chest.
Rather, he pushed it deeper, as if engraving the fragment into his soul.
In his fading consciousness, Liu Bei moved his bloody lips and swore to himself.
'If someone must suffer... I will bear it.'
A golden flash filled his eyes.
'What use is a Peach Garden without its people!'