abcnovels
Chapter 1923: Candle Dragon's body! Troll clan magic change! Dangerous...
Chapter 1923: Candle Dragon's body! Troll clan magic change! Dangerous...
Chapter 1923: Candle Dragon's body! Troll clan magic change! Dangerous...
Rumble!
The phantom of Zhu Longye's small world was shaking, and the edges collapsed a lot. His face was ugly, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. It was obvious that he had been injured a little bit by the blow just now.
The surrounding geniuses of the bright universe were terrified. When Zhu Longye appeared, they thought they had reinforcements, and their morale was boosted. Who would have thought that a high-ranking demon king-level dark species of the troll clan would be devastated by Zhu Longye.
Is the strength of these dark geniuses really so terrifying?
Not far away, Zhu Longshuang was fighting a dark species of Moth Clan who was at the peak of the Demon Emperor level. Seeing this scene from a distance, his complexion suddenly changed slightly.
She is very clear about how strong Zhu Longye is. Although the two of them usually seem to be at odds with each other, she never dared to underestimate Zhu Longye's strength. It is really surprising that Zhu Longye fell into a disadvantage.
boom!
On the other side, Xie Jie and Alves exchanged a blow, both of them retreated far away, it glanced at Zhu Longye, and said with a smile: "The geniuses of the Zhulong clan are nothing more than that, last time our clan I snatched the body of a candle dragon clan, I thought how strong it was."
Alves looked solemn, he already felt the strength of this dark demon-brained species, and the body of the dark-skinned goat-headed demon could erupt extremely terrifying strength under the opponent's control.
In his opinion, it is stronger than those real dark species of sheep-headed demons in the distance.
This is undoubtedly a bit outrageous!
The body controlled by the Demon Brain Clan is just a dead thing, but it can reach such a level. How did it do it?
The dark species of the Demon Brain Clan is really weird.
"Roar!"
When Zhu Longye heard Xiao Jie's taunting words, his eyes suddenly turned dark red, as if there was a flame burning in them.
boom!
The next moment, a mass of dark red flames really swept out from its body, instantly enveloping it, sweeping through the void like a fire dragon.
"The body of the Candle Dragon!" The Blood God clone narrowed its eyes slightly and looked over here.
The deity's Torch Dragon Body] hasn't been promoted for a long time, I wonder if this Torch Dragon can bring him some surprises?
Once the body of the candle dragon is improved, his real dragon combat body can also be improved a lot.
For this powerful combat body, Wang Teng himself is very fond of it. As his avatar, he naturally knows it very well, so seeing Zhu Longye preparing to use the body of the candle dragon at this moment, even he looks forward to it.
"The body of the Candle Dragon of the Candle Dragon Clan!" Adhoge also showed a hint of interest in his eyes, looked towards Zhu Longye, and couldn't help muttering.
"By the way, there is also the Golden Dragon Clan, who must have a similar Dragon Clan physique." The blood **** clone suddenly looked at Adhoge who was not far in front of him, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.
Because of the battle situation on Zhu Longye's side, they temporarily stopped attacking, and they were all attracted by that side at the moment.
Even Xiao Jie's eyes were slightly fixed. It had heard many times how powerful the body of the Candle Dragon Clan was, but now it really wanted to see it with its own eyes.
"I hope you don't let me down!" Xiao Jie smiled inwardly.
Roar!
A strange dragon roar came from the mouth of the giant dragon condensed with dark red flames, shaking the void.
Immediately afterwards, a huge body slowly emerged from the dark red flame, and a huge dragon head rushed out of the flame first, covered with fine dark red scales, and a pair of dragon horns above the head revealed Show a sense of nobility.
However, this dragon head is not a complete dragon head. From the front, it looks like a human face, retaining a trace of Zhulongye's facial features, which is weird and harmonious.
"It's so ugly!"
Even though the blood **** avatar inherited a lot of memories from the deity, and knew what the Candle Dragon Clan would look like after casting the full body of the Candle Dragon], but when they really saw this appearance, they still couldn't help but complain.
"Roar!" Zhu Longye's huge dragon head suddenly looked towards the blood god's avatar, and a pair of huge and majestic eyes were full of icy coldness.
"Look at what I do, I don't want people to tell me that I'm ugly." The blood **** clone said with a curled lip.
"..."
Everyone was a little speechless, everyone was shocked by the body of the Candle Dragon of the Candle Dragon Clan, but this guy is paying attention to the beauty and ugliness of the other party. Isn't this focus a bit crooked?
"The Candle Dragon Clan is not the purest dragon bloodline after all." Adhogg said.
"Roar!"
As soon as this remark came out, Zhu Longye was furious, and a hot wave spewed out of his mouth. If he hadn't had to deal with the dark species at this moment, he would have rushed over to fight Adhogg.
The geniuses of the Zhulong clan such as Zhulongshuang also glared at him. No one can act like a normal person when they hear that others look down on their own race.
"Adhogg, you can say a few words less." Yurukin said speechlessly.
Although he also thinks that the body of the Candle Dragon of the Candle Dragon Clan is not very good-looking, but as long as it is strong enough, it doesn't matter what so much.
"That's what makes it interesting."
The dark species of the troll clan of the upper demon emperor level grinned grinningly, its huge body was crushed forward, and a big hand was grabbing towards Zhu Longye's huge body.
boom!
The void vibrated, and under that big hand, there seemed to be bursts of explosions in the space, unable to bear the terrifying power.
The power of the upper demon emperor level is terrifying, enough to destroy a star field.
If there is no one to stop it, the ordinary star field may not be enough to be destroyed by a high-ranking demon emperor-level dark species.
"Roar!"
Zhu Longye's huge body was wrapped in the dark red candle dragon's fire, which burst out suddenly, and the huge dragon tail was thrown out loudly.
Peng!
A terrifying explosion sounded suddenly, and the tail of the dragon crossed an afterimage in the void, and then slammed into the big hand of the dark troll race.
The ferocious look on the dark troll face froze slightly, his eyes widened, and the entire huge body fell backwards.
Wow!
There was an uproar all around.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Longye would be so powerful after casting Zhulong's body.
Xiao Jie also showed a little interest. It found that it seemed to underestimate the Candle Dragon Clan, and that body was interesting.
Roar!
The dark species of the troll race became a little angry, covered in black mist, and forced its huge and sturdy body to stabilize in the void, and the battle ax in the other hand slammed down towards Zhu Longye again.
Boom!
A huge ax glow suddenly appeared in the void, and the power of darkness gathered, turning into a pitch-black phantom of the battle axe.
Not to be outdone, Zhu Longye opened his mouth and roared, a bright dark red light gathered in it, and the scorching temperature immediately diffused out.
Around the dark red light ball, the void was distorted, obviously unable to withstand the extreme high temperature.
"die!"
The dark species of the troll clan smiled ferociously, and slashed down with its huge tomahawk phantom, as if it wanted to chop Zhu Longye, the Zhulong, in half on the spot.
boom!
The dark red light ball in Zhu Longye's mouth suddenly exploded, turning into a beam of light, and slammed into the phantom battle ax of the dark troll race.
For a moment, the void seemed to stand still.
Both attacks froze in place, falling into a stalemate.
However, this stalemate didn't last long, and there were bursts of crackling sounds, and then everyone saw that a large number of cracks appeared on the huge phantom of the battle axe.
"How is it possible?" The dark species of the demon king-level troll clan was a little unbelievable. Its blow containing the power of the world was actually crushed by the opponent?
Boom!
But before it could react, a violent explosion sounded.
After all, the huge tomahawk phantom couldn't support it, and burst into pieces, and the beam of light from Zhu Longye rushed towards the dark troll immediately.
"Roar!"
The upper Demon King-level troll dark boy's hole shrank, and he let out a roar, and the black light in his body burst out, trying to resist the bombardment of the dark red beam of light.
Before the beam of light descended, the scorching temperature had already swept in, burning the body of the dark troll race, making it feel a burning pain on its huge and terrifying body.
It's incredible.
Not to mention that it has activated the troll body], its physique is amazing, even the power of the dark stars erupting at this moment is enough to withstand the extremely high temperature, but now it can't resist the temperature swept by the dark red beam of light, how to make it People are not surprised.
But it was too late to think about it.
boom!
The next moment, the dark red beam of light ruthlessly bombarded its huge body under its inconceivable gaze.
The body is too huge, and the target is too obvious. In this case, it is difficult to hide even if you want to hide.
Terrifying energy erupted from the dark red beam of light, instantly engulfing the dark species of the trolls, and there was an astonishing roaring sound.
The terrifying high temperature swept in all directions, making many geniuses of the dark species and the light universe startled, and retreated one after another, not daring to approach it in the slightest.
Seeing this scene, Xiao Jie in the distance couldn't help shrinking his eyes, but immediately there was a trace of heat in the depths of his eyes.
The body of the Candle Dragon Clan!
It really is unusual.
At this moment, it looked like the dark species of the goat-headed demon race, and it spit out a long and big tongue from its mouth, licked its lips, and looked delicious.
On the other side, Adhoge also showed a trace of solemnity in his eyes. Although he really didn't like the appearance of the Zhulong family after the transformation, he had to admit that the talent and strength of this Zhulongye were not weak.
"As expected of a world master genius, Zhu Longye's Zhulong body is really not comparable to Zhulong Mountain." A scarlet light flashed in the eyes of the blood **** clone, and he whispered secretly.
If someone saw his appearance, they would find that his eyes were almost exactly the same as those of Jie Jie's.
Although the two had different demands, they undoubtedly had a strong interest in Zhu Longye's body.
Roar!
In the void, Zhu Longye's huge body suddenly raised his head to the sky and let out a proud roar, showing his strength, but immediately felt a chill for no reason.
What kind of eyes is this demon brain tribe?
He turned his head to look at Jie Jie, and found that the other party was looking at his body, his eyes were hot, and he immediately realized that the other party was peeping at his body, and he was suddenly very angry.
"you wanna die!"
Zhu Longye roared towards Xiao Jie, staring at him with a pair of dark red dragon eyes, as if there was a dark red flame burning in it.
"Jie Jie Jie... You should take care of yourself first." Jie Jie sneered.
"careful!"
A loud shout suddenly came from the side, and the person who spoke was Zhu Longshuang. She seemed to see something terrifying, and her eyes widened instantly.
Zhu Longye immediately felt a more evil breath erupting from behind than before, and even broke through his candle dragon's flame directly, coming straight towards him.
He turned his head abruptly, and saw jet-black tentacles suddenly burst out from the dark red flames, sweeping towards him, and before he could react, they were already entwined around his body .
Roar!
Zhu Longye let out a roar, and his huge body twisted wildly. The flames of Zhu Long wrapped around its body, burning the pitch-black tentacles, trying to break free.
The tentacles were made of flesh and blood, and there were scarlet eyeballs inlaid on them, which were very evil. Under the burning of the flames, the flesh and eyeballs continued to fall off, emitting a very disgusting burnt smell.
But above this tentacle, there is a force of darkness constantly spreading out, repairing that terrifying tentacle at a speed visible to the naked eye.
For a while, Zhu Longye's Zhulong Zhiyan couldn't do anything to this terrible black tentacles.
Roar!
A roar came from behind, and the troll dark species rushed out from the flame of the candle dragon. At this moment, its appearance has completely changed, the flesh and blood all over its body swelled up, and the feeling of being strong disappeared. It became extremely bloated, and the entire huge body was like a huge and ugly piece of meat, covered with weird scarlet eyeballs, and mouths that kept opening and closing.
Black tentacles stretched out from all parts of its body, like big hands!
The ultimate evil and darkness emanated from the body of this dark troll race, sweeping across a large starry sky, causing the complexions of the surrounding geniuses of the light universe to change drastically, and horror emerged in their hearts.
"Magic change!"
Immediately, a horrified cry erupted from someone's mouth, causing a great uproar. All the geniuses of the bright universe stared at the huge and ugly dark troll race in astonishment.
What a frightening scene the demonic transformation of the high-ranking demon emperor-level dark species is!
For those warriors of the universe level and domain master level, this is the first time they have seen it.
The huge body of the dark species of trolls is like a source of dark infection, exuding a terrifying and evil sense of darkness, even just looking at it makes people feel extremely uncomfortable.
When many cosmic warriors saw this terrifying existence, they couldn't help but feel confused, and a strange blood-red color appeared in the bottom of their eyes, and it was about to spread to the entire eyeball.
"do not look!"
A loud shout erupted from Alves' mouth, and he looked solemnly at the magically transformed troll dark species, a pure white war bow suddenly appeared in his hand, and the light force in his body converged, transforming Several bright arrows missed and shot towards the opponent.
stop! stop! stop
There was a sound of piercing through the air, and those bright arrows disappeared like real streamers, turning into a few white lines in the void, and instantly landed on the magically transformed dark species of the troll race.
boom! boom! boom
That terrifying bloated body suddenly exploded several clusters of blood mist, whether it was the power of darkness or the terrifying flesh and blood, they all melted under the purification of the power of light, and then left a few huge bodies on the body. Dark red blood sprayed out of the blood hole continuously.
Roar!
The dark troll roared loudly, and the eyeballs on its body looked at Alves with evil intentions and hatred.
Peng! Peng! Peng...
But at this time, Zhu Longye finally took this opportunity to break free from the shackles of those black tentacles, and a dark red beam of light erupted from his mouth again, shooting straight at the dark troll race.
boom!
Terrifying flames exploded on the troll dark species, submerging them again.
But this time, the dark species of the troll tribe forcibly carried it down, burning with flames all over, its huge and bloated body seemed indelible, rumbled in the void, and rushed towards the candle dragon wildly.
Zhu Longye's eyes were extremely solemn, looking at the body of the troll clan that was rushing straight, he roared angrily, and rushed forward not to be outdone.
They are all geniuses of the same level, how could he be willing to lose to the dark species of the troll race.
Alves' help just now made him feel a little unwilling, thinking that it was not his own strength to break free from the shackles.
So he wanted to kill this demonic troll dark species, and let everyone see his true strength.
boom! boom! boom
The two huge bodies suddenly fought in the void.
After being reminded by Alves, the other geniuses of the bright universe came back to their senses, and stopped looking directly at the body of the dark troll race. They were pale and full of heart, and headed towards the dark creatures around them.
"Fighting against me, you still dare to be distracted."
Seeing that Alves attacked the dark troll, he couldn't help being a little annoyed. A terrifying breath erupted from the body of the goat-headed demon, and a pair of fleshy wings behind him flapped loudly, turning into an afterimage , the speed increased suddenly, and it came in front of Alves in an instant. At some point in its hand, a battle sword appeared, and it fell straight down.
The terrifying dark red sword light erupted. It was the means of the dark species of the sheep-headed demons. It not only contained the power of darkness, but also contained the fire of fire, which was very powerful.
"Huh!?" Alves' face was slightly condensed, and he wanted to shoot the dark troll race again, but now he obviously couldn't do it anymore, so he could only deal with the dark demon brain race in front of him with all his strength.
The long spear in his hand burst into a bright white light, and the spear light swept out, colliding with the sword light.
boom!
The attacks from both sides were annihilated in the void.
Alves' light-type force can indeed suppress the power of darkness, but the demon-brained dark species in front of him is obviously not a good stubble, and even his power cannot suppress it.
"Jie jie jie..."
A piercing and sharp laughter came from his mouth, and a huge phantom of a small world suddenly appeared above his head, in which the power of dark flame surged, and the dark red lava flowed like a river in the small world, Whether it is the sky or the earth, there are lava rivers all over the place.
Alves focused his eyes, his heart was shaken, and he didn't dare to neglect, a phantom of a small world also appeared above his head.
This small world is extremely unique!
The dazzling holy white light shines in all directions, making people unable to see anything clearly, only a vast expanse of whiteness.
After the phantom of this small world appeared, a large area of dark power was dispelled and purified... The warriors of the light universe around them suddenly felt a lot more relaxed, and the feeling of being suppressed by the dark species suddenly dissipated.
On the other hand, the dark species seemed extremely uncomfortable, the power of darkness was suppressed, and the extremely rich power of light spread out, making them feel uncomfortable all over, as if they were about to be purified.
Many dark species couldn't help but retreat towards the rear, away from the phantom enveloped by the small world full of light power.
This is amazing!
It is just a projection, and it shows such a strange effect. If the real small world is manifested in this starry sky, what kind of holy power will it have?
"Light-type warriors really have something." Seeing that domain, Xie Jie also showed a trace of solemnity in his eyes.
No matter how big it is, it doesn't dare to underestimate a light-type warrior of the same level.
The light system is the greatest nemesis of dark creatures!
Alves didn't speak, and drove the phantom of the small world above his head crashing forward.
"snort!"
Xiao Jie snorted coldly, and the dark red phantom of the small world also crushed out, and the rumbling sound shook the void, as if it wanted to obliterate everything.
Boom!
In an instant, the phantoms of the two small worlds collided together.
The power of dark flames and the power of light collided crazily, eroding and obliterating each other, and fell into a stalemate.
In another battlefield, the genius fighters from the Starry Sky Academy are also fighting against the dark species at this moment. One by one, the genius fighters are fighting towards the dark species, fighting with them, and spilling blood on the starry sky.
Among the geniuses of the Seventh Star Academy, everyone from the Star Club gathered together and was fighting with a group of dark races from the Lazy Mist Clan.
The dark species of the lazy mist family are not common in the light universe. Even on the battlefield of the defense star, the dark species of the lazy mist family are rare.
However, today, there are many dark species of the Lazy Mist Race here, and they are also geniuses in this race, with strange methods and extremely powerful strength.
The strength of the members of the Star Society is not weak, but it is the first time for them to face the dark species of the Lazy Mist tribe, and they do not know their methods, so they will inevitably fall into a disadvantage.
boom!
Wade was tightly entangled by a low-rank Demon Emperor-level lazy fog clan dark species, and the thick black mist filled the air, scaring him back again and again.
"Wow wow wow... this fog is too difficult to entangle, wherever you go, it's endless."
He yelled while dodging.
"Human race, die for me." The lower Demon King-level lazy fog race dark species on the opposite side was a little impatient, shouted coldly, and a long whip appeared in his hand, rolling towards Wade.
boom!
When the long whip was swung out, the black mist condensed and turned into a giant black python with scarlet eyes fixed on Wade, swallowing snake letters like a living thing.
What's even more frightening is that the giant python condensed by the mist has numb faces, as if lifeless and full of laziness.
Wade originally wanted to avoid it, but when he saw those faces, there was a hint of confusion in his eyes. He seemed to have lost interest in everything, and he didn't want to resist at all in the face of the giant python that was rushing straight.
The dark species is so terrifying, it is better to die...
"Fatty!"
A loud shout suddenly came from the side, like a thunderclap.
That was Reynolds. He was the closest to Wade. He noticed the abnormality of the other party and immediately sounded a reminder. The voice contained the power of thunder.
Wade was shocked, his eyes immediately became clear, and the trace of laziness dissipated in an instant. Looking at the giant python that was no more than a hundred meters away, his complexion changed slightly, and before he had time to think, the battle ax in his hand slammed out.
Roar!
The flames swept out, and a phantom of a giant beast emerged, and then the flames gathered and turned into an ax light, and slashed towards the giant python fiercely.
Boom!
The light of the ax was engulfed in the power of the flames, and immediately landed on the top of the giant python's head. The giant python let out a neighing sound, and suddenly turned into mist and dispersed.
"It's dangerous! It's dangerous!"
Wade was worried, patted his chest, and immediately stepped back, shouting: "Reynolds, thank you."
"Be careful, don't die." Reynolds shouted.
"Fatty, what happened just now?" Yue Qiqiao was being supported by the other dark species of the lazy fog tribe at the moment, but she also noticed the situation here, and couldn't help asking loudly.
"That giant python is a bit weird. The face condensed on it seems to contain a strange power. It is very similar to that fog. After watching it for a long time, it will become lazy and even lose the instinct to survive. I, who is so cherishing my life, almost Just stand there waiting to die."
When he thought of that feeling, he still felt very heartbroken, and looked at the dark species of the Laziwu tribe in the distance, full of fear.
"Heh, even if you know, so what, can you block the lazy fog of my lazy fog?" The lower devil-level lazy fog clan dark species sneered.
"This group of geniuses from the bright universe has some strength, and we will work together to solve them." The other dark species of the Lazy Mist said coldly.
"That's good, a quick battle, but we can't be preempted by other races."
Several dark species of the Lazy Mist Clan immediately gave up their attacks and gathered in one place, causing a large area of black mist to condense towards the center.
"What are they going to do?"
Wade, Reynolds, Baichuanliu, Yu Yunxian, Yue Qiqiao, Tai Beisha and other geniuses saw this, their faces were all extremely dignified, and they all gathered together, looking at the dark species of the Laziwu tribe opposite.
"Be careful, the methods of this group of lazy fog people are really weird." Wu Yan looked serious, and said in a deep voice: "I have seen the records of this group before, the fog they use is called lazy fog, which can make people lazy It means that it is impossible to guard against."
"Taibeisha, can your power of light block their mist?" Yue Qiqiao turned her head and asked.
"If I fought alone, I could still restrain the other party, but now they are teaming up..." Tai Beisha shook her head and didn't finish speaking, but everyone already understood what she meant.
Rumble!
Under the combined force of those dark species of the lazy fog tribe, a large black mist has spread over, completely covering the void.
Looking from the outside, it looked like a big bowl formed by black mist, turned upside down, covering all the warriors of the Star Society inside.
"this!
! "
"Vice President! What to do? We are surrounded."
"Damn it, how could the dark species of the Lazy Mist Race be so difficult!"
Warriors from the Star Society kept swarming over. They frantically attacked the black mist, but they couldn't break it no matter what. All the attacks fell into it, like a stone sinking into the sea, without any waves rising.
Instead, under its contraction, they could only keep retreating, moving closer to Yue Qiqiao and the others.
In the eyes of everyone in the Star Society, Yue Qiqiao, Yu Yunxian, Reynolds and others are naturally the strongest existences other than the president. Now that the president is not around, they are like the backbone.
"Let's take action together, we can't let this lazy fog touch us, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous." Wu Yan said solemnly.
"That's all there is to it."
Reynolds and the other geniuses nodded without any further hesitation. They launched their strongest attacks one after another, blasting towards the extremely thick black mist.
Outside, in a battlefield, the warriors of the Qingyan Society are also fighting. Ruan Banlian and others are also tired of coping with a group of warriors of the Phantom Mirage Clan.
However, they are stronger, but they have not yet fallen into desperation.
And this time the Qingyan Society dispatched two world master-level geniuses, although not as good as Feng Qingyan, but their strength is quite strong, and they can protect the Qingyan Society for the time being.
At this moment, Ruan Banlian suddenly saw that the people in the Star Society in the distance were surrounded by the black mist, she couldn't help being slightly taken aback, and then a sneer appeared on her face:
"The Xingchen Society really came to seek death. I don't need my Qingyan Society to take action. Today they will completely die at the hands of the dark species. No one can save them."
"A group of cosmic-level warriors dare to come to the battlefield, they simply don't know the heights of heaven and earth, and death is in ~ A Qingyan warrior shook his head when he saw this scene.
"After the fall of Wang Teng, the Star Society has already existed in name only. It is only a matter of time before it disappears. It is a pity for those geniuses." Another warrior from the Star Society said regretfully.
"The universe is cruel, and the weak prey on the strong. Even if they don't die at the hands of the dark species today, they will be annexed by other big forces one day in the future. Since they chose to follow Wang Teng, the end is already doomed." Ruan Banlian said coldly.
Wen Ningfu, Jiadeng, Qi Lianfeng and other geniuses heard the words, and they took time out to see the distance during the battle, and there was a gleam of joy in their eyes.
The geniuses of the Star Society are finally about to perish.
They have been suppressed too hard in the Star Academy during this time, and they have long hated everyone in the Star Society in their hearts.
Seeing that they are about to fall into the hands of the dark species now, of course, my heart is extremely happy.
"not good!"
Zhu Longshuang saw this scene from a distance, and there was a trace of anxiety in her eyes. She knew that Wang Teng was still alive, and if members of the Star Society fell here, it would be fine if he found out.
But at this moment, she is supported by a dark species at the peak of the Demon Emperor level, and she has no time to care about him.
On the other side, several domain master-level warriors were also extremely anxious. They were Tong En, Yuan Bai, Bi Yao and others who were familiar with Wang Teng.
"You dare to be distracted when fighting against me!"
A dark monster of the demon armor clan snorted coldly, condensing a huge phantom of the demon armor, and bombarded Tong En and the others.
"Go away!" Tong En yelled, holding a battle sword and slashing out a huge flaming sword light, the power of the tyrannical domain merged into it, trying to cut off the phantom of the demon armor.
However
clang!
A sound like metal trembling suddenly came out, and Tong En's sword slashed on it, and a string of sparks shot out, unable to break through the defense!