But soon, John had no room for other thoughts, as the aura of the person before him had begun to turn terrifyingly powerful.
Initially, he might have been able to control it, but now he was utterly overwhelmed.
The person's aura had intensified immensely.
It was horrifying, absolutely horrifying.
The sensation filled him with an instinctive urge to retreat, but he forcibly suppressed it.
He knew he couldn't afford such thoughts.
Once he contemplated retreating, it would mean he had completely backed down.
Vulture watched John quietly, his lips curling into a mocking smirk.
"Come on, I want to see what you can really do, to actually stand against me. I'm curious how long you can last."
John had clearly reached his limit; the opponent's skills were becoming more fierce, each one hitting him directly.
He felt an excruciating pain all over his body, as if even his bones were emitting a thick, burnt scent—because he had been struck by lightning!
This electric shock was too overpowering for him.
His staff had almost become a hot potato in this moment.
It was unbearable, truly unbearable.
He clenched his teeth hard, trying not to show any other emotion, but he couldn't help screaming out in pain at that moment.
"Ah!"
Seeing his agonized expression, Vulture immediately felt a surge of triumph.
Indeed, he was the most formidable being in this world.
Compared to him, John was nothing but a despicable, disgusting maggot.
One after another, bursts of light slammed into John, leaving him gasping for breath.
The surrounding area had turned into scorched earth due to the intense electricity.
At this point, John could feel that the aura around him had become much weaker.
Initially, there had been some life forms here, but now there were no signs of life at all.
It seemed this place once harbored magical beasts, but now they had all been struck dead.
But thinking about it, it seemed normal, considering how powerful the electricity had been.
Even he was struggling to endure it.
A shock of electricity had almost cost him a quarter of his HP.
If it weren't for his shield and his ability to replenish HP timely, he would have been dead by now, unable to continue.
But John could no longer keep up like this.
He had to find a way to break out of this situation.
His body had begun to merge with this secret realm, and the intense burning sensation made him feel as if his blood was nearly scorched dry.
Too painful, indeed too painful.
The immense agony made John's face twist in pain.
He felt he could no longer hold on, but still, he gritted his teeth and kept from showing any signs of retreat.
Vulture felt even more triumphant, knowing that once he killed this man, the others would be no problem at all.
The others were merely minor soldiers; what threat could they pose?
Moreover, he was now better positioned to deal with others.
Boom!
A massive arc of electricity smashed directly onto John, hurling him several meters back.
His lips had been bitten through, the rich taste of blood instantly filling his mouth, nearly making him vomit.
But still, he clenched his hand tightly, gripping the knife, stabbing it into the ground.
This was the only thing preventing him from being thrown further, though the knife carved a deep mark on the ground, looking particularly terrifying.
If Silver Tear and the others had been there, they would have been extremely surprised; they had never seen John pushed to this extent.
It was incredibly unbelievable, leaving everyone unable to react.
But at that moment, John didn't care about that; he was biting down hard, desperately thinking of a way to counterattack.
What to do?
His control was far inferior to his opponent's, and his body was in too much pain to fully control every muscle.
In the end, all he could do was grit his teeth and try not to fall too soon.
[Secret realm fragment integration: 20%]
The system's prompt made John inwardly groan.
He was already in such discomfort, and now the integration was only at 20%.
Moreover, nearly five minutes had passed; if it continued like this, he might need to endure nearly half an hour.
Every additional minute was immense pain.
This pain was bearable now, but if it continued, and with Vulture adding other elements, it might become unbearable.
Boom! Boom!
Huge orbs of light smashed right in front of John, as he maneuvered the Thorned Rock Serpent to quickly retreat.
But it was too late; after being struck forcefully again, he was hurled several meters away.
In that instant, a mouthful of blood spewed from John.
His mind felt blurred, and he didn't even know what to say.
All his thoughts were numbed by the shock.
The pain was too much!
Outside, he could endure the paralysis brought by the electricity.
But now it was different; the sensation was etched into their souls, an unbearable agony that he simply could not resist.
Even this pain made him wish for death, so unbearable it was.
As another orb of light was about to crash down, John gritted his teeth and wielded his Bloodthirsty Blade.
He had no choice but to take a gamble.
He hoped the Bloodthirsty Blade could break through the opponent's defense.
Since it was a divine artifact, it surely possessed the power of one.
Even if he was under the residual protection of the power of heaven, it couldn't compare to a divine artifact.
In some ways, this plane was indeed lower than theirs.
And nothing from such a lower plane could withstand his divine artifact.
Vulture, however, hadn't realized this.
Seeing John throwing out his weapon, he scoffed coldly.
"If you had given this to me earlier and been willing to kneel, I might have spared you."
"But since you've done this, don't blame me for being merciless."
"Today, only one of us will survive, and it will be me."
Vulture said this as he gathered another massive orb of light, hurling it towards John's head.
It seemed that if it hit, John would have no way out but death.
But at that moment, John saw his knife pierce through Vulture's protective shield.
Vulture's eyes widened too late to retreat.
And the orb was just a moment away from hitting John.
It was a race against time.
Who could dodge faster, ensuring their attack hit the target first?
Faster, just a bit faster!
Break through his defense and strike his heart!
John maneuvered the Thorned Rock Serpent to quickly dodge to the side.
But the blast's aftermath still threw him out, several meters away.
The wave was terrifying, and he could distinctly smell the burnt scent on his hair.
Boom!
And a huge pit had been smashed into the ground, but at that moment, he was too slow to dodge, buried under the dirt.
Was it still too late?
For the first time, a sense of despair filled his heart.