How could this be? Stone Qi and Stone Ghost, were they really both dead?
"Bang!"
Stone Diamond swung his arms fiercely, crossing them to block Lucario's punch and pouring all his strength into resisting the blow.
But his feet couldn't hold their ground and started sliding backward, the harsh screech of friction ringing out for several seconds.
The rocky surface beneath them was scorched, two burn marks etched into the ground, releasing the sharp smell of burning coke.
Stone Diamond stared at his shaking arms, a wave of despair washing over him, his face clouded with gloom.
Glancing sideways, he noticed the other two giant beasts standing nearby, their cold eyes fixed on him.
That look was all too familiar, one he often saw directed at other creatures.
It was the kind of stare that said the other person was about to become nothing more than a corpse.
Though the battlefield was vast and chaotic, Shi Zuan could still sense the movement of the other two sides.
What shocked him was the sudden and tragic outcome: in the brief moments he had been focused on his own fight, his two companions, Shi You and Shi Qi, had already fallen.
He knew well just how skilled they were, arguably more capable of survival than himself, but despite that, they had been taken down shortly after the battle began.
At first, Shi Zuan didn't want to believe it.
But when he saw that strange
Portal appear twice in quick succession, sucking his friends away, there was no denying it, his companions were gone.
Whether they were alive or dead no longer mattered; being captured was as good as lost.
Now, completely alone, Shi Zuan faced three enemies by himself, a hopeless situation.
Even the one directly in front of him was more than he could handle, and he found himself hoping the others would soon be free to come assist him.
What he didn't realize was that Shi You and Shi Qi were having similar thoughts and were already moving faster to regroup.
Stone Diamond, meanwhile, glanced around nervously and locked eyes with Lucario, feeling an overwhelming wave of panic.
How had they defeated Shi You and Shi Qi so quickly?
His arm trembled from the impact of a hard hit, and his whole body shook, not just from pain, but from sheer fear.
Stone Diamond had no time to dwell on how his companions had been taken down.
Survival was all that mattered now.
With Shi You and Shi Qi out of the picture, his only hope was that their leader would step in to help.
He never considered the rest of the tribesmen as potential aid because he knew the vast difference in strength between them and the golden giants, an unbridgeable gap no matter how many reinforcements arrived.
Even if all the tribesmen charged forward, they wouldn't stand a chance against the powerful enemies before them.
So, Stone Diamond resolved to stall for time, buying whatever moments he could until the leader finished dealing with the others.
With his plan set, he exhaled slowly and fixed his gaze on Lucario, ready to face whatever came next.
Let's not even get into the other two opponents, the one Shi Zuan was facing was strange enough on its own.
Each punch it threw was ordinary, nothing flashy, but with every hit, the power behind the next punch grew stronger.
The fight had just started, yet its attacks were already way more powerful than at the beginning.
Shi Zuan felt bitter about this and didn't even get a chance to vent to a teammate.
If only he had known how strong the enemy was, he would have planned differently.
No wonder this opponent felt so unusual.
Shaking off his scattered thoughts, Shi Zuan narrowed his eyes at Lucario.
The plan was to stall, but since they were the weaker side, stalling alone wouldn't work.
Even if the other two giant beasts hadn't left yet, he couldn't hold this one off for long, because with every punch, this enemy only got stronger.
Wait, stronger with each punch?
Shi Zuan's eyes flickered, a sudden spark lighting up his dark gaze, and the bitter curve of his lips lifted just a bit.
In the middle of despair, he found a sliver of hope.
Lucario stood calmly, arms crossed, occasionally exhaling.
Just by standing there, he gave off an intimidating presence.
As the aura, he already knew the two battles beside him had ended without even looking over.
He couldn't hold his teammates back or waste time, he had to deal with this enemy quickly.
Seeing the opponent retreating, Lucario stepped forward slowly, his expression unchanged.
Even his footsteps caused vibrations, like drumbeats pounding against a stone wall.
Halfway through, he pressed down harder on the ground, and at the same time, a stream of pure aura burst out from him.
Suddenly, Lucario vanished from where he stood!
His general skills flashed like lightning.
Stone Diamond's face changed dramatically.
He barely had time to react before, almost instinctively, he bent down and slammed both hands onto the ground.
"Bang!"
The heavy diamond fists hit hard, cracking the earth beneath them with jagged fractures appearing.
Under his power control, the ground pressed down like a thick stone wall at the tail end, while the front suddenly lifted up.
In an instant, a thick wall of black shock rock erupted from the ground, forming a solid barrier.
Stone Diamond clenched his teeth, signaling that the fight was far from over.
Suddenly, a dazzling stream of crystal light burst forth from his palms, flowing into the stone wall like a swirling galaxy.
Almost immediately, the once-black wall transformed into a glittering diamond surface, covered with sharp, sparkling facets.
This transformation wasn't just skin-deep, the entire wall, inside and out, became this diamond-like substance.
But Stone Diamond didn't stop there.
A large chunk of this diamond material broke away from the wall, hovering around him to shield him from nearly every angle.
This diamond wasn't like the gem-quality diamonds crafted by the small diamond race; it was more like a rough, waste gemstone.
Stone Diamond's own body was made of this kind of diamond, not the refined gem kind.
While it lacked the ultimate essence of the land and had no taste or value as a gem, it was incredibly tough.
Luckily, Stone Diamond used this substance as a weapon.
By turning his body into this waste gemstone, he gained much stronger defense and attack power.
He could even emit beams or turn other objects into the same diamond material.
With this entire diamond wall surrounding him, Stone Diamond was confident that even if his opponent broke through, they wouldn't have much strength left afterward.
Suddenly, Lucario appeared in front of the diamond barrier, raising an eyebrow before taking an attacking stance.
An intense, rich orange-red aura of aura burst from his body like a raging river breaking its banks.
The already powerful aura surged upward several meters, making Lucario's presence impossible to ignore in the arena.
Everyone nearby felt a sharp sting in their eyes just from watching the overwhelming display.