Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 307: Chapter 297: Protecting to the Death

The new directive the iron giants had just received was to destroy the house in front of them as quickly as possible.

They paid no mind to the little boy who had appeared behind them.

Xiao Fei hadn’t even caught his breath when he saw the giant shatter the last of the golden protective barrier. With no time to worry about himself, he charged forward.

Watching the protective barrier fall, Tang Mo was powerless to help. Her body had reached its absolute limit. Even rapidly absorbing Crystal Stones couldn’t keep up with her spiritual power consumption. She simply couldn’t sustain the barrier any longer.

Tang Mo herself had now lost all combat ability. She could only use her last remaining weaved puppets for a final defense.

The weaved puppets were no more than ants before the iron giants, but with the giants now only a few dozen meters from the house, there was no other choice!

All the weaved puppets swarmed forward, only to be swatted away one by one.

”Stop!”

Xiao Fei shouted, rushing forward to hug one of the iron giant’s legs, trying to stop it. But his Strength was clearly less than even one of the weaved puppets, and the giant quickly flung him off.

Though he hadn’t harmed the iron giant in the slightest, he had managed to slow its advance.

After being thrown aside, Xiao Fei scrambled back to his feet and charged the giant closest to the house, once again latching onto its leg.

As expected, Xiao Fei was sent flying once more.

Seeing this, Tang Mo desperately absorbed a Crystal Stone as fast as she could. She then summoned every last bit of her strength, pouring her spiritual power into the Heaven-reaching Axe in her hands. Finally, she maneuvered her cloud of spiritual power until it was directly above the giant.

She hurled the spiritual power-infused Heaven-reaching Axe downward with all her might, aiming for the first giant’s knee.

The power of the Heaven-reaching Axe, brimming with spiritual power, was immense. Compounded by the acceleration from its fall, it slammed violently into the iron giant’s knee. The first giant immediately dropped to one knee and, unable to rise again, lost all its combat capability.

The Heaven-reaching Axe then ricocheted, landing dozens of meters away and gouging a deep crater in the earth. Its destructive force was no less than a bomb—a precision-guided one with bonus power, at that.

With the foremost iron giant down, the two behind it were undoubtedly facing a major obstacle.

They had to navigate around their fallen comrade’s massive body while simultaneously trying to shake off the mortal clinging to their legs.

But despite the difficulty, they were still getting closer and closer to the house, now just dozens of meters away.

By now, Xiao Fei had been thrown around so many times that his clothes were soaked red with his own blood.

The boy had barely any attribute values to begin with, no Strength or agility to speak of. He was fighting purely on willpower.

And that willpower had a name: to protect what was most important to him, even if it meant death.

Everyone has something they hold most dear. And in this world, for Xiao Fei, that was Bo Niou.

”AWOO—”

A howl echoed from inside the house.

It was Bo Niou, calling out and responding to its master.

The moment Xiao Fei had appeared, Bo Niou had spotted its master through the window.

Its tail wagged excitedly, and it wanted to run out at once, but Hu Bin held it back tightly.

If Bo Niou went out now, it would be suicide. Tang Mo had fought so hard and held on for so long precisely so that Bo Niou could live.

Watching Xiao Fei get thrown to the ground time and time again, Bo Niou whimpered in the room, its cries unending.

A dog might be an animal, but it understood everything.

Mr. Hu was also staring transfixed out the window, his heart aching with worry for Xiao Fei. But in that moment of distraction, his grip loosened, and Bo Niou slipped free.

It ran to the door, leaped up on its hind legs, and pawed it open.

Bo Niou shot through the open doorway and ran right up to the giant. With a vicious GRRR, it bared its fangs and leaped at the giant’s knee.

Bo Niou was incredibly smart. It had just seen something strike the first giant’s knee, causing it to collapse.

It had also seen its master go for the giant’s legs every time. In Bo Niou’s mind, the knee must be the enemy’s weak point.

But Bo Niou was only a dog. It couldn’t possibly understand that its strength was no match for an iron giant. Even if the giant stood perfectly still, Bo Niou’s teeth wouldn’t be able to leave so much as a scratch.

But Bo Niou was only a dog. It wasn’t thinking about any of that. It just saw that its master was hurt and bleeding, and it had to protect him.

”Bo Niou, go back! Go back!!”

Seeing Bo Niou run out of the house, Xiao Fei was frantic, terrified the giant would hurt it.

Bo Niou heard its master’s command, but it didn’t stop. It didn’t turn back.

This was the first time it had ever disobeyed its master.

This time, both Bo Niou and Xiao Fei were flung away by the giant, slamming hard onto the ground.

But this time, the giants stopped. They looked at Bo Niou, lying crumpled to the side, and began to walk toward it.

They knew this dog came from the house. It was one of their targets, and they had to eliminate it.

”Bo Niou, run!”

Xiao Fei saw the giant’s intent and screamed.

”Bo Niou, run! Run!”

Bo Niou heard its master, and it shakily got to its feet. But instead of running away, it began to limp, step by step, toward Xiao Fei.

It had injured its leg and was limping as it walked toward him.

Animals are the species most sensitive to danger, yet at this moment, Bo Niou seemed to have cast aside that instinct. Ignoring the terror before it, it kept moving toward its master, who was lying helpless on the ground, whimpering softly.

”Bo Niou, run! I’m begging you! Please! Don’t come over here! Just run, please...”

Xiao Fei was lying on the ground, unable to get up. The blood from his back stained the ground red once more. His throat was raw from repeating the same words over and over. Tears mixed with blood streamed down his face, a picture of utter misery.

But at that moment, not a single person watching on the screen laughed at the boy’s wretched state. They all stared blankly, their faces already streaked with tears.

Emotion. It is the one thing humanity does not need to learn, should never abandon, and the most honest part of its existence.

It brings every individual in the world to life and gives their existence meaning.

Xiao Fei’s cries were useless. The iron giant reached Bo Niou and kicked it, sending it flying.

Watching this scene from her cloud, Tang Mo felt a sudden surge of power well up inside her. It was not something her rational mind should have been able to produce, but at this moment, it was undeniably there.

She controlled her cloud of spiritual power, diving down sharply to catch Bo Niou as it was sent flying, saving it from a hard landing on the ground.