The Stryx paused in its rejoicing, cautiously looking at the prey that had gone still, slowly dissolving in its acid.
After a few more cautious sniffs and hoots, it concluded the prey was dead.
A deep, joyful whistle erupted from its throat, its beak clicking and chattering as it resumed its little dance, hopping up and down.
Until an unknown sense of foreboding overcame it.
'What if the creature wasn't dead?'
It could not be satisfied unless it devoured the human itself.
Overcome with paranoia, as well as a sense of gloating, the Stryx hopped closer to the acid pool, intent on devouring its prey before melting it entirely.
Its keratinous claws sizzled ineffectually against the acid when it stepped into the spreading acid, unaffected.
Most birds prey on insects. Smaller than them, weaker than them, and unable to fight back.
However, even among insects, there are exceptions.
The praying mantis is an extraordinary creature, capable of killing birds larger than it.
It is an ambush hunter, remaining utterly motionless to trick the bird into approaching it.
Before-
[Empty Fang]
Two large scythe-like azure fangs pierced through the Stryx's neck, hooking into it as it squawked awkwardly, flapping its wings frantically.
"Got you~" The mocking voice rang out before the Stryx felt another, smaller set of fangs piercing into its face, ripping out chunks of tissue.
Lu Zhang stood with a mad grin, two smaller scale Empty Fangs sprouting from his maw, as his arms mimicked the Wind Mantis' scythes.
[Empty Fang Lv 7 -> Empty Fang Lv 8]
[Devour Lv 3 -> Devour Lv 5]
Like a starving child, he opened his mouth wide, and dug into the Stryx's flesh.
He ripped and chewed as his arms constricted, not letting the bird scramble away in a panic.
Its sharp wings and feathers was cutting into his flesh with each panicked flap, the Stryx's claws slipping in its own acid.
Those who devour others must be prepared to be devoured one day as well.
The Stryx tried to spew more acid from within it, only for its throat to be ripped out moments later by Lu Zhang's mandibles.
It struggled until the very end, bleeding and injured.
Its torn wings did not let it fly away. Its legs were shattered and cut open by Empty Fang clad stomps. Its throat was ripped out, sputtering out hot blood and wheezing gasps.
In the next instant, Lu Zhang clambered atop it before biting into its right eyeball, popping it an agonizing manner.
The Gale-Crested Stryx weakened with every flap, its body begging for release.
Its struggle slowed down gradually.
In its dying moment, it fixed onto Lu Zhang with its remaining eye, as if glaring at him.
"What are you looking at me for?" Lu Zhang complained as he tore the steel beak off the Stryx.
"The winner takes it all. The loser has no right to complain."
"That's the world your kind created. Now suffer the consequences of it."
A tired Lu Zhang slumped against the corpse.
"All it takes is one loss."
[Gale-Crested Stryx Lv 11 killed!]
[The Proof is sufficient. Your Limit has been broken!]
[Level Up!]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations on being the first in the world to surpass the First Limit!]
[Your reward has been upgraded!]
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A thick cloud of steam obscured the Bulgasari and Su Yao from the rest of the survivors. Everyone held their breaths to see who would be the one to emerge from the white haze, the Bulgasari's pained squeals coming to a stop.
Within the steam, an unconscious Su Yao gasped awake under a deluge of agony.
Her vision was completely white. The hot steam was boiling her alive, with nowhere to go.
Every gulp of air only brought boiling steam into her throat, scalding it.
Her skin prickled and burnt in a sticky, wet manner. She wanted to scream, but couldn't.
The steam stuck to her like a wet rag as she stumbled around blindly in the burning mist.
Until she felt a sharp piece of metal dig into her hip, followed by a low grumble that shook her bones.
Fear seized her heart in its cold grasp in an instant.
'It's not dead!'
Strangely, the Bulgasari made no move to kill her.
Or rather, it couldn't.
Most of the metal that made up its body had warped and cooled in awkward shapes, leaving it unable to move. Even manipulating the metal that made up its body took far more effort than before, some parts of it clattering off its body, brittle and broken.
It was at its weakest since the beginning, quickly recovering as it began reasserting control over the twisted metal.
Su Yao's mind was too blinded by agony to think much more.
Her body was on the verge of giving out. Her low Endurance, though already beyond most humans, was not enough to keep dealing with this.
Blood dripped down her brow, covering her left eye as she scrambled to get away from the Bulgasari.
Suddenly, she stopped.
In a strange moment of irrationality, Su Yao turned around, running towards the Bulgasari.
Its pointed tusk scraped against her side, but she continued until she felt its spiky trunk.
Delirious and exhausted, Su Yao jammed her hand into the Bulgasari's mouth.
Its flat molars were lined with tiny inward hooks to grip onto metal better, but Su Yao was too burnt to care.
The Bulgasari frantically redoubled its efforts to gain control of its body once more, its jaw slowly closing as it strained. The crushing force against her arm did not deter Su Yao.
[Inferno]
She deliberately did not release it indiscriminately, forcing it to remain concentrated in her palm. Her arm was shoulder deep into the Bulgasari's maw.
Any more force, and her shoulder would shatter entirely.
Su Yao simply continued forcing her mana into the skill.
Until she finally felt everything run out.
As she collapsed weakly, arm slipping out, the highly concentrated ball of flaming mana within the Bulgasari destabilized.
Boom!
The steam cloud was blown away from the shockwave.
In the eyes of the survivors, the haze cleared to reveal the despair inducing sight of Su Yao lying unmoving in front of the Bulgasari.
The next instant, the Bulgasari collapsed as well, huge chunks of metal falling off its body as it met its end.
[Bulgasari Lv 11 killed!]
[Level Up!]
[The Proof is insufficient. Your Limit has been loosened!]
The same message flashed in front of Su Yao and Cai Dajian's eyes, though both were too injured to care.
The restorative effect of levelling up kicked in, as Cai Dajian rose to his feet, swaying and staggering.
The dispersed group of survivors trickled back in, scared and vigilant.
"Oh God!"
Elena rushed in, helping Cai Dajian stand straight as she pulled his arm over her shoulders. "You need to res- What?"
In front of her eyes, the tiny pinpricks and burn scars covering Cai Dajian began filling in, rippling and pulsing extremely minutely.
She carried Dajian to the side, laying him down atop a slightly raised part of the floor.
"Watch for any zombies." Elena naturally took charge, ordering the survivors around.
She slowed as she approached the Bulgasari corpse. Awe filled her as she looked at the giant beast, cracks crisscrossing its carapace.
Elena knelt in front of Su Yao's body, hidden from the rest of the survivors by the Bulgasari corpse.
"Why didn't you just die with it?" Elena whispered as she moved her hand away from Su Yao's nose, feeling her weak breaths against her palm.
She moved Su Yao's hair away from her face, her pale hand contrasting against Su Yao's visibly pink skin, which was healing on its own.
"If you just died, I wouldn't have to do this now."
Just as Elena kept her hand on Su Yao's throat, the group buzzed with activity, forcing her to move away as she looked over the Bulgasari corpse.
Lu Zhang had returned, dragging the Gale-Crested Stryx's beak behind him, covered in blood.
Elena clicked her tongue lightly, crouching next to Su Yao, a malicious glint in her eyes. Her long blonde hair framed her beautiful face as she easily returned to a 'worried' expression, although her tone remained venomous.
"Lucky bitch."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to deal with you first~"
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[Name: Su Yao]
[Level: 10]
[Strength: 19 ->20]
[Speed: 17 -> 19]
[Intelligence: 36 ->40]
[Endurance: 17 ->20]
[Stat Points: 25 -> 30]
[Mana: 0/400](Mana Exhaustion)
[Skills: Inspect Lv 6, Inferno Lv 5]
[New Function discovered!]
[To cross the First Limit, a being beyond one's level of existence needs to be sacrificed as Proof of ability!]