Shuten-dōji's world-destroying strike unexpectedly failed to leave a single trace on that golden giant cocoon.

This caused even Zhou Huai, standing in the distance, to feel a trace of surprise.

The defense power of this golden cocoon was simply ridiculously high.

"What should we do now?"

Kalen flew over from the ruins and landed beside Zhou Huai, his charred face full of solemnity.

He pointed at the deep pit below that had been smashed out by Shuten-dōji.

"Although that old fellow was ambushed by his own shikigami, he definitely isn't dead."

"Once he comes out, coupled with the one inside the golden cocoon, it will be difficult for us to even leave."

Before Zhou Huai could even speak,

Polina on the side had already quickly made a decision.

Her charming purple eyes stared fixedly at the huge pendulum clock floating above the center of the city.

"Forget about that Kujo Eisei!"

"Let's grab the Pendulum of Life first!"

Hearing this, Kalen's eyes instantly lit up.

That's right!

Their primary target was the Pendulum of Life!

As long as they snatched this thing away, Kujo Eisei's resurrection ritual would naturally be interrupted.

"Good idea!"

Kalen let out a roar, no longer hesitating in the slightest.

The Wings of Quicksand behind him suddenly flapped, and his entire body shot forward like a cannonball, kicking up a piercing sonic boom.

His target was pointing straight at the huge pendulum clock suspended in the sky, exuding endless golden light!

His speed was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, he had crossed a distance of a kilometer and rushed right up to the Pendulum of Life.

Seeing that the huge Divine Artifact was close at hand, a flash of fanaticism crossed Kalen's eyes.

He stretched out his big hand, intending to grab towards that pendulum clock.

Yet right at the moment when his hand was about to touch the bell body,

"Hum—!"

The huge Pendulum of Life seemed to have gained its own consciousness.

It suddenly erupted with a golden light several times more dazzling than before.

A vast and peerless golden energy, like a breached torrent, gushed out from within the bell body and fiercely slammed onto Kalen's body.

"Boom!"

With a loud crash,

Kalen's robust physique was like a fly casually swatted away.

Unable to even let out a muffled grunt, he was instantly repelled by that immense force.

Tracing a pathetic parabola through the air, he once again heavily smashed into the city ruins below.

"No way!"

Kalen crawled out of another deep pit looking disheveled and roared toward the high altitude.

"This damn bell is weird! I can't get close to it at all!"

"Its energy right now is much more massive than I expected!"

High above in the sky, Zhou Huai's brows furrowed tightly.

He could sense that the energy accumulated by the Pendulum of Life at this moment was quite massive.

It was continuously extracting the life force of the ordinary people below to maintain this sacrificial ritual.

Wanting to use brute force to force an approach was simply impossible.

Unless...

Just as Zhou Huai was pondering a countermeasure,

a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind.

Back inside the giant beast's corpse, the thing that had sealed the Pendulum of Life was six mysterious chains.

Those chains seemed to naturally have a restraining effect on the Pendulum of Life.

And in Kalen's hands...

Zhou Huai's gaze instantly cast down toward the figure still cursing below, and he suddenly spoke.

"Try using that chain of yours!"

Kalen's cursing abruptly stopped.

He was stunned for a moment, and immediately, those pitch-black eyes widened instantly, his face revealing a sudden realization of wild joy.

"That's right!"

"How could I have forgotten about this thing!"

He slapped his forehead, no longer hesitating at all, and swiftly pulled that huge, pitch-black chain covered in mysterious runes out of his Spatial Ring.

"Watch this!"

Kalen let out an excited roar.

He gripped one end of the chain with both hands, swinging the heavy chain with fierce momentum, kicking up bursts of muffled piercing sounds in the air.

Then, using all his strength, he fiercely hurled the chain in his hand toward the huge golden pendulum clock high in the sky!

The pitch-black chain traced a straight trajectory through the air, like a black dragon choosing someone to devour.

The Pendulum of Life also seemed to sense the arrival of this natural enemy.

The light around its body surged again, attempting to bounce the chain away with that vast energy.

However, that pitch-black chain seemed to ignore all energy impacts.

It effortlessly penetrated the layers of golden light curtains, wrapping with absolute precision around a corner of the Pendulum of Life.

"Sizzle—"

A piercing sound resembling hot oil poured onto ice blocks rang out.

The next second,

a scene that shocked everyone occurred.

That unimaginably huge Pendulum of Life, radiating endless Divine Might, saw the light around its body—rivaling the sun—dimming rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Its massive size, reaching up to thirty meters tall, also began to shrink rapidly.

In just a few breaths, it transformed from a behemoth back into that archaic pendulum clock standing half a meter tall.

Hovering mid-air, its light was weak, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

This heaven-shaking sacrificial ritual was thus forcibly interrupted.

"What is going on?!"

From within the golden giant cocoon came Kujo Eisei's roar of astonished fury filled with disbelief.

"Power..."

"How did the power disappear?!"

"No! No—!!!"

Kujo Eisei inside the golden cocoon appeared exceptionally irritable and angry.

The entire golden giant cocoon began to shake violently, as if some terrifying creature was about to forcefully break free from inside.

But just as Shuten-dōji was unable to break open the golden cocoon from the outside,

it was not a simple matter for Kujo Masakage to come out from the inside.

"Hahaha! It worked!"

Kalen below, looking at the Pendulum of Life high above that had returned to its original state, let out earth-shaking wild laughter.

His eyes flashing with a bright light, he forcefully tugged at the other end of the chain.

He actually dragged that archaic golden pendulum clock straight down from mid-air by sheer force, hugging it tightly in his arms.

High above, seeing this, Zhou Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the process had some twists and turns, it was a success in the end.

Those two fellows Kalen and Polina were quite reliable at critical moments.

Right at this time,

Polina's cold and urgent voice instantly rang out.

"Run!"

"Leave this place first before talking!"

Kalen's reaction naturally wasn't slow.

Clutching the hard-won Pendulum of Life, the Wings of Quicksand behind him suddenly flapped, and without a second thought, he flew rapidly toward the direction outside the city.

However,

before he could fly to the edge of Fuji City,

an extreme bitter cold enveloped this world without any warning.

The temperature of the air plummeted rapidly in an instant.

Kalen only felt as if the surrounding air had frozen solid, making even breathing difficult.

He instinctively raised his head and looked forward.

His pupils suddenly shrank to pinpricks.

I saw that ahead of them, unknown when, a hundred-meter-tall, incomparably thick ice wall had already appeared.

That ice wall was crystal clear, exuding a frigid chill, resembling an insurmountable iceberg that completely sealed off all his paths forward.