Chapter 8: Scales

This attack was one of Lin Xinyan’s most powerful. Facing the anomaly, she couldn’t afford to hold back.

The force of her strike showed no signs of weakening. In fact, her power continued to increase.

The anomaly’s scales were thicker than she had imagined. After the intense impact, only a small crack appeared. By now, she had a different plan.

Despite the anomaly’s massive size, it was pushed back a few steps by the fierce tornado attack.

At this moment, Lin Xinyan’s strength surged again, doubling in power. The anomaly’s retreat speed increased as well.

Crack!

Suddenly, a shattering sound echoed. The attack had finally broken through.

At this point, Lin Xinyan mistakenly thought the opportunity had come. She intended to launch another attack through the cracked scales to inflict greater damage. The tornado kept spinning, its speed unabated. But just as she was about to break through completely, she froze.

“What! There’s another layer inside?”

Beneath the thick scales was another layer of scales. 

After her powerful attack, she was clearly feeling fatigued and was now breathing heavily. The unexpected additional layer of scales thwarted her plan.

Realizing that continuous force output was detrimental, Lin Xinyan retreated, maintaining a significant distance from the lizard.

After enduring the barrage of attacks, the lizard didn’t move. Its blood-red eyes fixed on Lin Xinyan, and it burst into loud laughter.

“Haha… haha…” 

The sound was both a sign of its pride and a mockery of Lin Xinyan. 

“Haha! With such limited strength, you think you can take on the great Gesila on your own? How laughable!”

Lin Xinyan’s resolve didn’t waver. She stared sternly at the laughing lizard.

Gesila wasn’t wrong. It was generally advised for heroes to tackle anomalies of equivalent levels together. On an equal footing, anomalies were usually stronger than heroes.

Though Lin Xinyan was currently a B-rank hero, her strength had reached A-rank levels. Even so, it was impressive that she could hold her own against a near-Spirit level anomaly for so long.

She knew she couldn’t defeat this anomaly alone, but her goal was to buy enough time for the bus to reverse direction and escape.

By now, the bus had turned back, eliminating her primary concern.

In the hero organization, whenever a Nether-level or higher anomaly appeared, the nearest heroes would be alerted immediately. 

This was part of Lin Xinyan’s plan.

Gesila, having laughed enough, began to slowly approach Lin Xinyan.

“The feeling of freedom is truly wonderful. You’re the first human I’ve encountered since my freedom, so let’s have some fun. Do you really think you can match me with your strength? Ridiculous. I was merely playing with you earlier. Now, I’m getting serious. Watch closely!”

Lin Xinyan believed the anomaly’s words. She continued to fix her gaze on Gesila, gripping her Divine Dance spear even tighter. She couldn’t let Gesila go unchecked. She hopped nearby heroes would arrive soon.

Determined not to sit idly by, she prepared to take the initiative.

With a powerful leap, she soared high, swinging her Divine Dance spear to release a shockwave. 

Gesila made no attempt to dodge, seemingly choosing to take it head-on again.

Lin Xinyan was puzzled but continued her assault. As the shockwave neared Gesila, the lizard suddenly vanished.

Her heart skipped a beat. Before she could react, a voice came from behind.

“Over here.”

As the words fell, she turned hastily to see a sharp claw already swinging towards her.