Chapter 337: Deadly Pursuit

Ling had logged thousands of hours flying over the Icy Sea. Even by the critical standards of Wu Qingsong—who had watched modern aerobatic displays on television—she was already qualified as an ace pilot.

After all, a pilot controls a machine weighing dozens of tons from a cockpit thousands of meters above the ground, relying on instruments and controls. But Ling was maneuvering what was essentially an extension of her own body.

The moment Wu Qingsong shouted, Ling had already begun accelerating. In the next instant, the aircraft executed a sharp evasive maneuver, abruptly veering eastward.

From start to finish, Ling didn’t even ask Wu Qingsong why.

“Ram! Hide us!” 

Wu Qingsong didn’t have time to explain. He kept his eyes locked on the massive creature rapidly closing in from behind and unhesitatingly awakened Ram’s ability.

The aircraft vanished in midair—or at least, it should have, from a distance.

Ram and Ling had practiced this maneuver countless times, but to their shock, the monster behind them didn’t lose track of them at all. It continued its relentless pursuit, locked onto them like a harbinger of death. Even when Ling executed another sharp turn, the creature followed with unerring precision.

Ram instinctively clutched Wu Qingsong’s hand in a death grip, though he barely noticed.

All their attention was on the behemoth chasing them down.

The propellers were spinning at maximum speed, pushing the aircraft to nearly 500 li per hour—about the limit for small propeller-driven planes in Wu Qingsong’s past life. Yet, the massive creature was still slowly closing the gap. They could already make out every detail of its grotesque form.

Wu Qingsong didn’t blink. He watched its every move, so focused that he even forgot to tell Ling their destination.

The creature suddenly tilted its head back slightly.

“Pull up!” Wu Qingsong shouted.

The aircraft shot upward in a near-vertical climb—just as a massive ball of fire roared past beneath them.

“Dive! Stay low to the ground,” Wu Qingsong ordered again.

“There’s a canyon south of here!” Ram interjected. “It’s narrow!”

She knew these mountains well—this had once been her home.

Ling immediately adjusted course toward the canyon. The momentary distance gained from dodging the fireball was already shrinking as the monster resumed its pursuit.

Wu Qingsong didn’t even have the energy to curse anymore. He stayed locked onto the creature’s every move, while Ram and Ling focused on the terrain ahead, eyes unblinking.

They were now flying less than a hundred meters above the ground. At this altitude, a sudden hill, a cliff face, or even a lone, towering tree could spell their doom.

“Left!” Wu Qingsong yelled again.

Ling obeyed without hesitation. Another fireball blazed past, igniting a vast swath of forest below.

But their sudden turn sent them hurtling toward a jagged rock spire. Ram barely suppressed a scream as Ling banked the aircraft a full 90 degrees, skimming past the spire’s edge by mere meters.

An instant later, the pursuing monster smashed into the rock, shattering it to pieces.

But before Wu Qingsong could celebrate, the creature burst through the debris, completely unharmed, and kept coming.

“Fuck this thing!” Wu Qingsong finally roared.

“Head northeast! To the battlefield!” he ordered.

The canyon Ram mentioned might allow them to shake off the monster temporarily, but it also meant they could become trapped inside with no escape.

If more of these creatures arrived, they would have nowhere to run.

The best—and only—option was to lead this monstrosity straight to the elves. Padamia was too far away. The closest place likely to have elves was the battlefield in Mesthebes—the very one they had just helped turn into a bloodbath.

By the time they had left, the fighting had escalated from regiment-level to full legion warfare. At this scale, it was beyond the control of any half-elf commanders. As Red Moon predicted, both the Sentalus and Yagata families would soon deploy their official members to the war zone.

They could not bring this monster to Nagrand. That left only one choice.

Ling swiftly adjusted course northeast, using the mountain peaks along the way to slow their pursuer. After several near-death escapes, they finally reached the outskirts of the battlefield.

Below, campfires stretched like a sea of flames. Both armies were clearly on high alert, wary of further attacks. Wu Qingsong had no idea if any elves had arrived yet, but they had no alternatives.

“Head for the Sentalus camp,” he instructed Ling. “Fly as low as possible.”

“Ram!”

Ram used her ability at full strength once more. Whether or not it would keep them hidden from elven eyes was uncertain, but one thing was for sure—the monstrous creature behind them would draw far more attention.

Ling focused all her mental energy, pushing the aircraft to skim just above the battlefield at 500 li per hour. The sudden gust from their passage sent soldiers sprawling and extinguished torches en masse.

And then—

“Enemy attack!” a sharp scream pierced the air. “It’s an Abyssal Lord! Abyssal Lord!”

At that very moment, the creature unleashed another massive fireball.

Wu Qingsong shouted for Ling to pull right, narrowly dodging the blast. Instead, the flames engulfed the center of the Sentalus camp, setting countless soldiers ablaze.

Suddenly, several ice projectiles slammed into the Abyssal Lord’s body, disrupting its flight. A heartbeat later, a brilliant, meteoric light streaked across the sky, striking its abdomen with tremendous force.

For the first time, the creature let out a furious roar.

“Ascend! Get higher!” Wu Qingsong seized the opportunity.

With the Abyssal Lord now fully engaged by the attackers below, Ling pulled the aircraft into a steep climb. Within minutes, they vanished into the cover of a low-hanging cloud layer.

Even through the clouds, they could hear the creature’s enraged bellows and the continuous explosions of battle below.

Wu Qingsong glanced at Ram, whose face was deathly pale, and Ling, drenched in sweat.

Though he was eager to know the outcome of the battle, he wouldn’t risk them any further.

With a sigh, he said, “Fly north. We’ll wait in the northern Gobi for a day. If it doesn’t come after us, we’ll head home.”