Birdchill City—a world of bird-beasts. Every kind of fierce beast lived here. They often raided nearby cities to feed, but now they faced Drakehorn’s disaster.
When Evan Yang and Lydia Quinn arrived, they caught the scent of blood lingering in the air—even from a distance.
Such a strong blood stench could only be formed by slaughtering a vast number of bird-beasts.
“Looks like he’s absorbed quite a bit.” Lydia Quinn frowned.
“We need to find him fast,” Evan Yang said.
Lydia Quinn nodded, and the two entered the city. Inside, they saw flocks of panicked bird-beasts. Drakehorn’s arrival had left them terrified of outsiders; now, any unfamiliar presence sent them into a frenzy.
So the fierce beasts that once dominated now acted like frightened birds.
“Drakehorn really shook them,” Evan Yang replied.
“That means we won’t have much trouble going deeper.” In the past, entering the city meant constant attacks from bird-beasts, but now there were almost none. Sometimes they heard noises or saw a few birds fly by, sometimes hiding and peeking out.
As Evan Yang and Lydia Quinn searched, sharp screams suddenly echoed from nearby.
Evan Yang and Lydia Quinn focused their senses on the direction of the screams and saw a giant head surrounded by bird-beasts. The bird-beasts were pulled toward it, unable to escape.
"Over there. Let's go." Evan Yang said.
Lydia Quinn nodded and quickly followed Evan Yang as they flew over. Drakehorn was devouring swarms of bird-beasts, intending to feast and recover strength, never expecting anyone would show up now.
It wasn’t until Lydia Quinn’s aura caught Drakehorn’s attention that he stopped devouring. The surviving bird-beasts instantly fled, leaving only dead ones lying motionless.
When Drakehorn saw Evan Yang’s face, he was shocked. "You—it's you!"
"Drakehorn, we meet again," Evan Yang replied.
"Why bother? Why let me out just to hunt me down like this?" Drakehorn said angrily.
"I released you to trade for information. Now I hunt you because you'll bring disaster to this world. The only way is to deal with you," Evan Yang said.
"Deal with me? You think it's that easy? If it were, they wouldn't have needed to seal me." Drakehorn snorted coldly.
"No matter what, this time I have to finish it," Evan Yang said to Drakehorn.
"Dream on! Go die!" Drakehorn roared, opening his mouth. A wave of blood stench poured out, along with a powerful force that pulled Evan Yang and Lydia Quinn toward him.
Lydia Quinn couldn’t resist and was pulled forward. Evan Yang grabbed her and said, "Hold onto me."
Lydia Quinn nodded. Evan Yang stared at Drakehorn’s head and said, "Drakehorn, you think you can swallow me so easily? Dream on. Be careful, or I’ll smash your head to pieces."
"Come on then. I’m not afraid of you. Last time you got lucky, but this time let’s see what you’ll do. Or are you going to use that stone again?" Drakehorn was clearly most worried about the stone.
Evan Yang didn’t take out the stone right away, because he sensed two people lurking in the shadows, clearly targeting both his stone and Drakehorn.
"The stone? I’ll show you right now." Evan Yang took out a stone—not the Intimidation Stone, just an ordinary rock. When Drakehorn saw it, he immediately retreated a few steps, but didn’t feel the expected dizziness.
Meanwhile, Victor Luo and Elise Ling, hiding in the shadows, instantly flashed to Evan Yang’s side. Victor Luo reached for the stone in Evan’s hand; Evan pretended to react too slowly, letting Victor snatch it away.
Victor Luo grabbed the stone and laughed loudly, "Ha! Ha! I got it!"
Drakehorn saw these two newcomers and felt a surge of fear. One Evan Yang was trouble enough, now there were two more.
"Victor Luo, what’s that supposed to mean?" Evan Yang asked.
"What do I mean? You know it—now that I have the stone, if you cooperate with me, we might be able to control Drakehorn. If you don’t, you’ll have to fight him alone, and without the stone, you’ll definitely lose," Victor Luo threatened.
Evan Yang sneered. "Are you threatening me?"
"That’s right, I’m threatening you. You can decide now. And Drakehorn wants to kill you. If we don’t intervene, go ahead and fight him yourself. He doesn’t have the stone now," Victor Luo said, putting the stone away with a smile.
Drakehorn didn’t know what was going on, but seeing the stone put away, he relaxed and asked, "You two really won’t interfere?"
"That’s right, we won’t interfere," Victor Luo said with a smile.
Evan Yang sneered. "Drakehorn, do you know who they are?"
"Who?" Drakehorn really didn’t recognize these two powerhouses.
"They’re from the Luo Clan. Do you know why they’re here? They want to control you! Make you their servant. How about that? Isn’t that worse than death?" Evan Yang said with a cold smile.
Drakehorn was shocked. He never expected anyone would try to control him—this was outrageous.
"Drakehorn, do you really think we can control you? We were just talking. Right now, you have a good chance—deal with him. Otherwise, if he gets the stone back, you’ll be in trouble," Victor Luo said, his tone threatening.
Drakehorn quickly understood—Victor Luo wanted to use him to get rid of Evan Yang, while Evan was warning him about the situation. But Drakehorn resented Evan Yang more, since Evan had stopped him from merging with his body. He snorted coldly, "I’ll deal with you first."
With that, Drakehorn opened his mouth and resumed attacking Evan Yang. Without the stone’s suppression, Drakehorn unleashed his devouring power without restraint. Lydia Quinn was still under Evan Yang’s protection.
Lydia Quinn realized the danger—if she didn’t make a decision, Evan Yang would die. She said, "Let go of me, so you can fight him freely." "No way, or Mad Elder will blame me," Evan Yang replied, knowing how important Lydia was to Mad Elder. No matter what, he had to protect her. "But right now—" Lydia Quinn said worriedly. "It’s fine, I can still fight." Evan Yang waved his hand, summoning the Polar Sacred Flame. The temperature swung between burning hot and freezing cold, forcing Victor Luo and Elise Ling to retreat.
"This Evan Yang is terrifyingly strong," Victor Luo frowned.
"Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone like him—hot and cold at the same time," Elise Ling replied.
Drakehorn was suffering—the flame hit him with both heat and cold, leaving him confused about whether to warm up or cool down. Furious, he shouted, "What kind of attack is this?"
"What’s wrong? Can’t take it? Let’s see who lasts longer—you or me," Evan Yang said.
"Damn it, I’ll eat you!" Drakehorn roared, mouth wide open, lunging at Evan Yang. With Lydia Quinn slowing him down, Evan Yang couldn’t dodge, and both were swallowed.
Evan Yang worried Lydia Quinn would be affected by the devouring force inside, so he sent her into a safe space, leaving himself free to move.
Drakehorn was delighted to see Evan Yang swallowed. Inside, his body’s corrosive power was strong enough that even if Evan Yang stayed too long, not even his soul would survive. Drakehorn was thrilled.
Victor Luo and Elise Ling didn’t expect Evan Yang to be swallowed so easily. As they debated whether to act, Drakehorn sneered at them, "What? Didn’t you want to control me? Come on, today I’ll swallow you both too."
"Drakehorn, don’t get cocky. I’ve got this," Victor Luo said confidently, holding the stone.
Drakehorn paused when he saw the stone—it was the useless rock Evan Yang had shown earlier. Victor Luo treated it like a treasure, channeling power into it and saying, "The two of us together are more than enough to subdue you."
He pulled out six giant swords, which spread out to surround Drakehorn’s head, forming a formation that targeted him.
"You control the six swords, I’ll deal with Drakehorn," Victor Luo said to Elise Ling.
Elise Ling nodded. She knew these six swords were key—once they entered Drakehorn’s head, he’d be completely under their control. Their power would double.
Victor Luo held the stone, sneering at Drakehorn. "Come on, let’s see where you run."
"Pathetic," Drakehorn snorted. He didn’t know what the six swords were for, but ignored them and started fighting Victor Luo.
Man and beast clashed head-on. Victor Luo was full of confidence because of the stone, but Drakehorn didn’t care and attacked wildly. Soon, Drakehorn gained the upper hand.
Seeing Drakehorn still stronger despite the stone’s supposed effect, Victor Luo protested, "How can this be?"
"You think you’re strong? Or think you can handle me with that stone?" Drakehorn laughed as he attacked.
"This stone should weaken you by a fifth, and with this formation, you’re no match for me," Victor Luo said.
"Looks like you’re treating that broken stone like a treasure," Drakehorn sneered.
"Broken stone? This is the Intimidation Stone!" Victor Luo declared.
"Intimidation Stone? If it was the real one, it’d work. But I don’t know if what you’re holding is real or not—it has no effect on me. Didn’t you notice?" Drakehorn said.
Victor Luo was stunned. "Impossible, you say it’s useless?" "That’s right. When you showed it earlier, I realized it had no effect. I just don’t get why you’re so proud of a broken stone," Drakehorn mocked. "How can this be? Impossible." Victor Luo flipped the stone over and over, unable to accept that the stone he snatched from Evan Yang was a fake.