Chapter 1769: Abyssal Witch Eye!
Chapter 1769: Abyssal Witch Eye!
Boom!
The red beam crashed into Dragonheart.
The impact was horrifying.
A violent shockwave exploded outward, tearing the cursed mist apart and blasting Jessica, Caroline, Nancy, and the other elves backward several steps. The ground beneath Max shattered instantly, cracks spreading in all directions across the pale bark like broken glass.
His arms trembled under the force of the beam, and even though Dragonheart blocked the attack, the power behind it did not disappear. It drove into him like a collapsing mountain.
For the first time in front of them, Max was blasted away.
His body flew backward violently, smashing through a broken stone pillar and dragging a long scar across the wooden ground before he finally twisted in midair, stabbed Dragonheart into the surface beneath him, and forced himself to stop. Even then, the remaining force pushed him several more meters before the sword carved a deep trench into the ground.
The battlefield fell into stunned silence.
Jessica stared at the place where she had been standing a moment ago, her face completely pale. If Max had not moved, that red beam would have pierced through her before she even realized she was under attack.
Nancy’s eyes widened. "Max!"
Caroline’s expression changed sharply. "That attack pushed him back?"
The four third faction elves were horrified.
They had just seen Max crush Arnold with one finger, kill Lumine’s group with his sword art, and destroy Seraphine and Fin even after they released the full strength of their Pseudo Cosmic Paths.
In their minds, Max had already become an almost unstoppable existence among the younger generation. Yet now, this strange spherical eye creature had fired a single beam, and just by blocking it, Max had been blasted away.
That alone showed how terrifying the beam of red light was.
Max slowly rose from the broken ground.
His fingers tightened around Dragonheart, and a thin trail of smoke rose from the sword’s blade where the red beam had struck. His arms were slightly numb, and his eyes narrowed as he looked toward the floating eye creature blocking the entrance.
"Interesting," Max said softly.
The huge eye creature floated silently in the mist.
Its central pupil began glowing red again.
Caroline’s face turned grave. "Everyone, get behind him!"
Jessica and the others immediately moved back, no longer daring to stand near the creature’s line of sight.
Max stepped forward again, Dragonheart held in his hand, his gaze locked onto the massive blood-red pupil.
"So," he said calmly, "you are the thing guarding the way out."
"Max, do not take that thing lightly."
Caroline’s voice suddenly sounded from behind him, and although she was trying to remain calm, the seriousness in her tone made everyone’s expression change. She stared at the huge spherical eye creature floating at the entrance of Witch God Valley, and for the first time since Seraphine and Fin had fallen, clear fear appeared in her eyes.
It was not the fear of someone who had lost her courage, but the fear of someone who recognized a nightmare from old legends and understood just how dangerous it truly was.
Jessica turned toward her quickly. "Lady Caroline, you know what that creature is?"
Caroline nodded slowly, her face pale. "I have never seen it before with my own eyes, but I have heard of it. In the oldest records of the third faction, there were mentions of a cursed guardian that slept inside Witch God Valley. It was said that when the Witch God Tree was still ruled by the ancient Witch who once controlled this world, she raised a pet with the power to see through space, curse souls, and destroy anything that tried to escape her domain."
Nancy’s expression changed. "The Witch’s cursed pet?"
"Yes," Caroline said, her eyes still fixed on the giant eye. "That thing must be the guardian of Witch God Valley. It is not a normal cursed beast. It is something left behind by the Witch herself."
The moment those words were spoken, the air around the group became heavier.
The Witch who once ruled this world was not an ordinary existence. Even though countless years had passed and only broken legends remained, everything inside Witch God Valley still carried traces of her power.
The cursed roots, the living mist, the ancient ruins, the twisted trees, and even the strange pressure lingering in the valley all proved that the Witch had once reached a terrifying level. If this eye creature had truly been her pet and guardian, then it was not something they could judge by ordinary cultivation realms.
Caroline continued in a low voice, "The records called it the Abyssal Witch Eye. It was said to be born from the Witch’s own cursed blood and fed with the souls of those who betrayed her. Its eye can release a light that does not simply burn the body. It can pierce through space, lock onto life force, and carry a curse that follows the target even after the first strike misses. If you had not blocked that beam just now, Jessica might not have only died once. The curse could have damaged her remaining lives too."
Jessica’s face turned completely pale.
The four third faction elves behind her also took several steps back, their eyes filled with horror as they looked at the huge floating eye.
Nancy’s hand tightened around her sword. "No wonder the attack was so fast. It did not move like ordinary light. It cut through the distance itself."
Caroline nodded. "Exactly. That is why I said not to take it lightly. Its attacks are not something most people can dodge after seeing them. By the time the eye opens and the beam is visible, it is already too late."
Max looked at the Abyssal Witch Eye silently.
The creature floated at the entrance without moving, but the red veins across its spherical body pulsed faster than before. Its huge central pupil remained locked onto Max, as if it had recognized him as the greatest threat among the group.
Smaller eyes at the ends of its tendrils blinked one after another, and every blink released faint waves of cursed perception that swept across the battlefield, measuring the prey before it.
Caroline stepped closer despite her injuries. "Max, listen to me. That thing is guarding the exit. It may not chase us deep into the valley, but it will not let us leave easily. The Witch God Valley is not just a dangerous place. It is a cage. That creature is likely one of the reasons so many people enter and never return."
Max’s eyes narrowed slightly. "So we cannot avoid it."
"No," Caroline said. "At least, not if we want to leave through this entrance."
The Abyssal Witch Eye’s central pupil began glowing again.
This time, the red light gathered more slowly, but the pressure was even more terrifying than before. The space in front of it compressed inward, and the cursed mist around the entrance was pulled toward the pupil like smoke being swallowed by a vortex.
Everyone felt their skin tighten, and Jessica instinctively moved behind Max, still shaken by how close she had come to being struck earlier.
Caroline’s voice became urgent. "Max, be careful. That first attack may not have been its full power."