The moment the words left his lips, the remaining two Eighth-Rank Demon Lords lunged toward Liang Xiaoke, leaving only the Ninth-Rank Demon Lord to guard Wagangs.

Facing two Eighth-Rank Demon Lords, Liang Xiaoke remained utterly composed, shrouded in swirling black light as he engaged them both. Even when the first Demon Lord he had knocked away rejoined the fray, he showed no sign of falling behind.

Seeing Liang Xiaoke single-handedly hold his own against three Eighth-Rank Demon Lords, the complexions of Wagangs and the Ninth-Rank Demon Lord shifted drastically. Just who was this man? How could he possess such overwhelming strength?

“Elon, you…” Wagangs began to call out to the Demon Lord beside him, urging him to intervene, but he abruptly halted as Ye Jingyu took a single step forward. A subtle, almost imperceptible aura washed over them, causing the words to catch in Wagangs’ throat and forcing him to swallow them back.

Sensing Ye Jingyu’s rapidly escalating power, the Ninth-Rank Demon Lord named Elon frowned deeply. He positioned himself firmly in front of Wagangs and stated with grave seriousness, “Your Highness, I urge you to step back. This individual is no simple foe!”

Though arrogant, Wagangs knew that anyone who elicited such a warning from Elon was indeed formidable. Without another word, he turned and retreated backward, his accompanying guards quickly closing ranks to form a tight cordon around him.

“Friend, might you grace me with your name and race?” Elon’s voice was remarkably level as he addressed Ye Jingyu. A Ninth-Rank Demon Lord was a supreme master even within the Demon Realm; he ought to know every expert of that caliber, yet this man was utterly unfamiliar to him.

“Does a man about to die truly require knowledge of my name?” Ye Jingyu countered, a look of sheer disdain spreading across his face.

“You… you… you are far too arrogant! I, Agathos*Elon, issue a challenge in the name of the Wolf God—a challenge that ends only in death!” The Lycanthrope race was inherently volatile. Elon had maintained courtesy with Ye Jingyu, wishing not to provoke a Ninth-Rank master unnecessarily. But to be treated with such contempt shattered his restraint.

He took a deliberate step forward, procuring a dagger from seemingly nowhere and tossing it directly before Ye Jingyu.

A challenge, an eternal challenge—this was the most sacred and solemn decree among the Demon Tribes, a duel that would not cease until one combatant lay fallen.

Every demon would treat such a challenge with reverence, but Ye Jingyu was not a demon.

“The hell I’ll challenge you! Brothers, charge! Chop this bastard up!” Ye Jingyu sneered, drawing the Heavenly Sovereign Blade and bringing it down in a savage arc toward Elon.

The blinding blade light instantly enveloped Elon. The sheer force behind the strike was enough to obliterate any Ninth-Rank Demon Lord. Elon’s expression flickered, and a massive iron trident materialized in his hand, which he swung up to meet Ye Jingyu’s blade.

But at that moment, Chi Yixiu surged forward, raising his war axe and bringing it down upon Elon. Though currently possessing only the strength of an Seventh-Rank Demon Lord, the sheer, raw power of his physical body was so immense that it tore open the void itself, sending a devastating force hurtling toward Elon.

Elon had only just managed to shatter the formidable light emanating from Ye Jingyu’s blade when he saw the immense axe descending upon him, causing cold sweat to break out. He instinctively pulled back, swinging the trident once more against the colossal axe.

BOOM… A thunderous crash echoed. Elon was violently driven backward by the force of the axe strike, but Chi Yixiu was also thrown back, and the Rending Heaven Battle Axe in his grasp began to visibly crack under the strain of channeling such power. His arms throbbed painfully; after all, his opponent was a true Ninth-Rank master.

However, Elon’s nightmare was far from over. Hu Yanqi, already prepared and poised, had drawn the Setting Sun Bow and nocked the Setting Sun Arrow.

Without needing to aim, the right hand holding the string released its tension, sending a streak of black light flashing forward. It arrived almost instantaneously at Elon’s sternum.

A wave of terror washed over Elon. He had sensed absolutely no powerful aura emanating from Hu Yanqi; in his estimation, Hu Yanqi was, at best, a mere First-Rank Demon Lord. Yet, the arrow he loosed contained enough destructive energy to wound, perhaps even critically injure, him.

What kind of arrow was this?

The iron trident was slammed into position before his chest almost instantly. The black feathered arrow struck the trident, exploding in a massive burst of firelight. The violent energy blasted Elon backward, leaving a gaping bloody crater in his chest from which golden blood hemorrhaged uncontrollably. As for the trident, the material it was forged from must have been extraordinary, as it managed to withstand such catastrophic force.

Just then, the Nine Li Tower, which had been hovering in indecision, seemed to make a resolute choice. Its tower-like body stepped forward, positioning itself directly in front of Elon, and it brought down a massive axe with merciless intent toward the injured Demon Lord.

Elon, his internal energy thrown into chaos by Hu Yanqi’s preceding arrow strike, had no time to stabilize his breath. Seeing the giant battle axe descending, his face twisted in horror.

“Nine Li Tower! You are a Ninth-Rank Demon Lord, the patriarch of the Niuren clan! To stoop to such a tactic of overwhelming numbers—you disgrace the name of our Great Demon God!” Elon roared, parrying the massive axe with his trident even as he cursed.

“Hmph!” The Nine Li Tower paid him no heed, merely issuing a cold snort. Ye Jingyu was the emissary of the Great Demon God; if he permitted this, there must be justification. Why would the Great Demon God object?

With increased force in both arms, the colossal battle axe carved a black streak through the air, slamming down violently onto Elon’s trident.

The Nine Li Tower was a genuine Ninth-Rank powerhouse, possessing vastly superior strength compared to the current Chi Yixiu. Elon, caught completely off guard, could not possibly withstand the impact.

Elon’s arms instantly shattered, exposing golden bone amidst spraying fragments of pale flesh. The ground beneath his feet was blasted open into a colossal fissure, hundreds of feet deep and thousands of feet long—the result of him diverting the majority of the Nine Li Tower’s force downward in his final moment of desperation.

Even so, his body was flung backward once more.

It was precisely at this juncture that Ye Jingyu reappeared before him. The Heavenly Sovereign Blade glowed with seven-colored lightning as he brought it down hard toward Elon. A flash of fire, a streak of starlight, and a bolt of thunder erupted simultaneously from Ye Jingyu’s body, the three forces merging to strike viciously at Elon’s heart…

Feeling the impact of this converged, triple-attribute power, Elon’s expression finally collapsed completely…

(Ugh, the connection was terrible last night, and the first upload didn’t register. I thought it hadn't gone through, so I uploaded it again, causing a chapter duplication. But I distinctly remember stating at the end of the chapter that it was four thousand characters, not six thousand, so where is the deception? Six chapters today, twelve thousand characters—that will certainly be delivered!)