“Nowhere to hide!” Fen Tu Kuangge rolled across the ground, bursting out of the leaves. His short blade was already plunged into the spot where he had just been concealed, the edge buried deep in the dirt, leaving only the hilt exposed. “Human?”
The eyes of the Dark Guard from the Third Demon Subjugation Battle showed a flicker of surprise. The longsword at his waist was instantly drawn, lashing out in three successive thrusts that pierced straight toward Fen Tu Kuangge, who was just rising to his feet amid the downpour.
Pfft! In a single exchange, one arm of the Dark Guard from the Eighth Demon Subjugation Battle was severed beneath the serrated edge of the saw-toothed sword. Blood, equally red, sprayed from the severed limb, instantly staining the puddles on the ground a deep crimson.
Qian Jin stared at the battlefield as rigidly as a stone, his mental assessment of the Dark Guard rising another notch. The excruciating pain of a severed arm elicited not even a muffled groan; it was as if the lost limb wasn’t his at all. If this demon was this ruthless to himself, one could only imagine what he’d do to an enemy.
With his arm gone, the Dark Guard from the Eighth Demon Subjugation Battle retreated rapidly. The young Demon Warrior, transformed into the state of a one-winged Fallen Angel, surged forward, his body shattering countless raindrops as his shoulders shook. The longsword in his hand flicked up, shaking off the falling water droplets, all his battle qi converging at the tip, locking dead onto the enemy’s throat—the vital spot.
The speed of the Fallen Angel bloodline Demon Warrior was extreme. In the blink of an eye, he had lunged before the Dark Guard Demon Warrior. Within the pupils of the Demon Warrior concealed beneath the black cloth, there was not the slightest trace of tension or surprise; it was as if no emotional fluctuation could be found on him at all.
The sword tip was less than three inches from the Dark Guard Demon Warrior’s throat when the disguised stone suddenly exploded! The strength of the Ninth Demon Subjugation rank surged upward instantly. The strongest of the three Dark Guards flashed a look of bloodthirsty, excited, demonic light in his eyes and stabbed fiercely with his blade!
This strike was silent, carrying almost no prior warning before its explosion!
Fen Tu Kuangge’s blade looked so childish and laughable in the face of this attack.
Fierce! The gleaming narrow blade sliced through the curtain of the torrential rain, emitting a powerful sound of impact and thrust!
The contained ferocity burst forth, tearing fabric and scattering fragments. The bright narrow blade, blazing with battle qi, violently blasted open a narrow, rain-free passage through the deluge!
A smile finally appeared in the eyes of the Demon Warrior from the Eighth Demon Subjugation Battle. He wasn't entirely without emotion. Everything he had done was precisely to lure his opponent next to this fake stone! Now, he had succeeded!
The wing behind the Fallen Angel bloodline Demon Warrior suddenly spread open. The trajectory of his charge through the air shifted in a bizarre maneuver, disrupted by the wing!
Bloodline warriors always possessed unique abilities! At this moment, the single wing of the Fallen Angel bloodline Demon Warrior altered his forward path, and the longsword in his right hand followed the body’s change of line, appearing with uncanny strangeness beneath the jaw of the Ninth Demon Subjugation rank Demon Warrior.
Pfft! The saw-toothed longsword pierced through the Demon Warrior’s jaw and into his brain. Red and white cerebral matter erupted like a fountain! In that flash of lightning, the advantages and disadvantages of both sides, life and death, completely inverted!
The copper spike, a foot long and as thick as a finger, which the Demon Warrior from the Eighth Demon Subjugation Battle had concealed in his sleeve, was already angled sharply toward the back of the Fallen Angel bloodline Demon Warrior.
He couldn't dodge it! The continuous bursts of battle qi, used to locate the hidden Ninth Demon Subjugation Demon Warrior, had consumed too much strength in that instant. If he were in his normal, healthy state, this wouldn't be an issue, but his body was already heavily fatigued, covered in wounds. Most critically, he was afflicted by a potent anesthetic poison that was difficult to name.
“Qian Ke Fuli Te?” A cold light, like a swimming dragon, flashed from amidst the putrid leaves. Duan Feng Bu’er had placed his Unmatched Spear less than three meters from the stone. This sudden ambush brought a look of absolute despair into the eyes of the Demon Warrior from the Eighth Demon Subjugation Battle.
A burst of power, motherly in its ferocity, an equally sudden assault! Duan Feng Bu’er’s spear lacked a sliver of icy killing intent, but instead carried the speed of a sweeping gale.
Lightning cracked open the sky and vanished in an instant. The head of the Demon Warrior from the Eighth Demon Subjugation Battle had already been skewered and lifted by the Unmatched Spear. The steel needle that should have pierced the back of the Fallen Angel bloodline Demon Warrior ultimately never touched his body.
Bang! The body of the Demon Warrior from the Third Demon Subjugation Battle fell stiffly into the mud. Fen Tu Kuangge’s combat suit now bore two long blood trenches, one alarmingly close to his heart.
Fen Tu Kuangge braced himself on the ground with his clawed battle knife, struggling to remain upright, gasping for air to survive. He inwardly counted his luck; his opponents, whether in ruthlessness, experience, or sheer strength, were significantly superior to him. If the deaths of the other two Dark Guard Demon Warriors hadn't momentarily affected his composure, it truly would have been hard to say who would have fallen last.
“Who are you?” The Fallen Angel bloodline Demon Warrior retracted his bloodline power. No bloodline warrior could maintain their activated bloodline form indefinitely. Because of this, battles between bloodline warriors often became contests of who could sustain their transformed state longer.
Among bloodline warriors of the same rank, some were called geniuses, and some were not. The duration one could maintain their bloodline power was one of the criteria for assessment.
He didn't wish to waste too much bloodline energy, so he reverted to his human form, staring at Duan Feng Bu’er and Fen Tu Kuangge with suspicion and vigilance. The longsword in his hand remained unrelaxed, perpetually ready for battle. “Us?” Duan Feng Bu’er watched the other party just as cautiously. This fellow, capable of transforming into a Fallen Angel bloodline Demon Warrior, possessed a completely human appearance. By rights, he should still be considered a Demon Warrior belonging to the Demon race: “Our military received intelligence that the Demon Clan’s Dark Guard has been highly active in this area, seemingly searching for or pursuing someone, so we came.”
“Is that so?” A lofty, aloof voice slowly drifted through the rain curtain: “I had hoped to use this opportunity to lure out another General from the Zhence Imperial Dynasty. I didn't expect two very young Demon Subjugation Warriors to arrive instead! Good! Very good! One of you, if I am not mistaken, should be among the top-tier bloodline warriors from the Zhence Imperial Dynasty’s Ten Great Bloodline Warriors—the Nine-Headed Serpent bloodline warrior, perhaps?”
Through the driving rain, Qian Jin saw a Demon Warrior, clad in the same black Dark Guard uniform, approach with his hands clasped behind his back. On his chest, however, there were more insignia than on the previous Dark Guards: Stars!
Two stars! Dark Guard Two-Star! Not the Dark Guard Seven-Star mentioned in the intelligence!
“Qieke Fuli Te, they indeed came to save you. Whatever the Dark Guard intends to do, if it involves the Zhence Imperial Dynasty, destroying it is always the right course of action! It’s the same principle as if the Black Dragon Army of the Zhence Imperial Dynasty intends to do something—if the Demon Race destroys it, that is surely correct.”
Qian Jin still couldn't clearly make out the appearance of the newcomer through the rain curtain. Like the previous Dark Guards, this one had a covering below his nose, but his covering was metal! A thin black metal plate; if formed into a full mask, it bore a slight resemblance to Hua Yan Bu Jian.
“I must admit, Qieke Fuli Te, your tenacity and ability exceeded my estimations.” The Dark Guard Two-Star stood in the rain without immediately attacking, his eyes scanning his surroundings, striving to locate any potential danger.
His gaze swept over the pile of rotten leaves where Qian Jin was concealed. Qian Jin immediately felt as if his body was being targeted by a snake.
“It seems it’s just the two of you.” The Dark Guard Two-Star gently flexed his hands. “Good! Very good! Qieke Fuli Te, I had assumed my three subordinates would injure you, making capture easier. I didn't expect two Demon Subjugation Warriors from the Zhence Imperial Dynasty to appear. This time my military merit will increase significantly. Once my power rises again, I’ll certainly earn another star.”
“Nila, where is Dedeluo?” Qieke Fuli Te stared intently at the Dark Guard Two-Star through the rain.
“I am here. So, tell me, where do you think your good friend, the demon, has gone? Naturally, he is in the embrace of the stars.” Nila’s eyes held the mocking smile of a cat playing with a mouse: “It’s quite interesting, really. A menial servant, a half-breed of human and demon, naturally awakened the power of the Fallen Angel bloodline. You should have had the opportunity to step into the upper echelons of my Lucifer Dynasty, yet you are being hunted by the Crown Prince because of Princess Yunal’a’s entanglement. Boy, don’t think that just because you awakened the Lucifer bloodline power, you are truly a Fallen Angel. The Crown Prince’s woman, is that someone you can covet?”
“Miss Yunal’a is not the Crown Prince’s demoness,” Qian Jin said, hearing Qieke Fuli Te’s words, as if he were grinding his teeth to speak them.
“The entire Demon Race will belong to the Crown Prince in the future. And she’s just one female demon?” Nila sneered. Perhaps because the Dark Guards rarely spoke, now that he had the chance, his floodgates hadn't immediately closed: “I truly don't understand. You should know that your ability can only slightly delay the time the Crown Prince spends toying with Princess Yunal’a. Why risk your entire demonic life for all this? If you hadn't done this, perhaps your demonic life would have been very smooth, and you might have achieved the awakening of a second-level bloodline power, gaining a full pair of wings, and acquiring greater strength and potential.”
“Laide is half-dead?”
“What do you think?” Nila waved his hand irritably. “Enough talking. Capturing you alive—I wonder how the Crown Prince will torture you to death?”
The questioning words still drifted in the rain when Nila’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and his body rapidly inflated, instantly stretching his clothes apart. His height shot up to nearly three meters. His skin began to glow with a color resembling black iron.
Giant Troll Bloodline! Beneath the three great bloodlines of the Demon Race, there were still Ten Great Bloodlines! The Giant Troll Bloodline was comparable to the Titan Bloodline of the Zhence Imperial Dynasty! It granted immense strength, though its speed was not remarkable, and its skin was extremely tough, like armor bestowed by heaven. Its sharp claws were even comparable to battle weapons! The nature of what grew from the claws differed based on the degree of bloodline awakening!
Legend held that when the Giant Troll bloodline first awakened, the nails would automatically grow a powerful anesthetic! A mature, strong black bear, if only scraped enough to break the skin, would become completely paralyzed and powerless within five seconds!