The demon's burning wings flared wide. Then it flapped once. The air screamed as a storm of razor-sharp fire feathers shot out, glowing orange and red.
"Move!" Shen Zhenyu shouted, but Linyue was already in front of him, her palm raised. Blue flames snapped across her arms as she poured her energy into a shield. The barrier expanded just in time, a glowing wall crackled and hissed as the fire feathers struck it. Each impact was like a small explosion. Boom. Boom. Boom. The shockwaves pressed against her body, threatening to tear her apart. Sparks flew as cracks formed in the shield.
Linyue's boots scraped across the cracked ground, her teeth gritted in effort. "There's no time for jokes anymore," she muttered under her breath.
Shen Zhenyu's voice came low and steady. "Linyue, you should go too. I'll take care of it."
Linyue gave him a small smile. "No way. I haven't even started."
The last feather struck the shield with a deafening bang, shattering it into blue shards of light. But there was no time to breathe. The Bloodfire King was already there. Its charred claws stretching forward, so fast they blurred. One burning hand was suddenly inches from Linyue's face. The heat was suffocating, her skin tingling painfully as her eyes widened.
"Linyue!" Shen Zhenyu shouted.
Linyue reacted on pure instinct. Her hands shot up, blue flames exploding outward. The clash sent sparks and embers flying everywhere as the demon's claws slammed against her barrier, cracking it instantly. The sheer force hurled her backward, her body rolling across the scorched ground.
The Bloodfire King didn't give her time to recover. It lunged again. Shen Zhenyu charged in from the side, his sword roaring with crimson fire as he struck at its neck. The blade connected with a spray of sparks, cutting deep into the molten skin, but the wound hissed and closed in seconds, molten flesh reforming as if the cut had never happened.
The demon spun, its tail whipping out with bone-snapping speed. Shen Zhenyu barely raised his sword in time. The impact sent him skidding backward again, his boots gouging deep furrows into the molten earth.
Linyue was already back on her feet. The blue flames around her flared once then snapped into jagged streaks of lightning. Sparks coiled and danced across her arms and legs, the air crackling with lightning spiritual energy.
Shen Zhenyu's eyes narrowed. "Lightning…" he muttered. But there was no time for questions. The Bloodfire King had already vanished.
A flash of orange in his peripheral vision. The demon reappeared behind him, its tail lashing out like a whip. Shen Zhenyu spun, his sword igniting in crimson fire. He barely got his blade up.
The tail hit anyway. The impact sent him flying. He slammed into a boulder with a bone-jarring crash, the stone exploded into rubble. Shen Zhenyu groaned but forced himself to stand, his sword glowing hotter in his grip.
Blue lightning burst from Linyue's feet as she blurred forward, faster than the eye could follow. One second she was on the ground, the next she was above the Bloodfire King, suspended mid-air, sparks rippling off her skin.
She dropped. Her heels crashed into the demon's skull with loud sound.
BOOM.
The shockwave split the ground beneath them, kicking up fire and ash. The Bloodfire King staggered for the first time. Its molten veins sputtered, its regeneration momentarily disrupted by the crackling energy.
Shen Zhenyu grinned weakly from his crater. "Good hit."
But then the demon's hollow eyes flared again. Its cracked jaw twitched. It moved faster than before. Its charred frame blurred—gone in a blink.
Shen Zhenyu's muttered. "It's learning."
Linyue tensed, sparks snapping wildly around her. She didn't see it until the heat slammed into her back.
She twisted just in time as claws raked the air where her head had been. She rolled aside, lightning flashing in every direction. The demon came again, tail whipping around, wings blazing, embers raining from its body.
"Brother Zhenyu!" Linyue shouted. "Don't just sit there!"
"I'm not!" he yelled back, coughing up dust as he leapt from the rubble. His sword burned brighter, crimson flames spiraling upward. With one powerful leap, he brought his blade down in a blazing arc.
The strike connected. The Bloodfire King's arm split clean off, blackened molten flesh hissing as the severed limb slammed into the ground. It sizzled for half a second before disintegrating into embers.
For a heartbeat, Shen Zhenyu allowed himself a grim smirk.
Then the demon's wound sealed. Right before his eyes, the molten flesh reformed—this time into a larger, jagged claw tipped with even deadlier talons.
"Of course," Shen Zhenyu muttered.
The Bloodfire King moved faster than he could react. Its hand shot out and clamped around his throat.
Shen Zhenyu gasped, his skin instantly blistering under the searing grip. The demon lifted him effortlessly, its fingers tightening with murderous intent.
Linyue moved. A jagged bolt of blue lightning ripped from her palm, spearing through the demon's chest. The impact was deafening. Lightning surged straight through its molten core, and for the first time, the creature faltered. Its regeneration stuttered. Its body convulsed violently.
Then the Bloodfire King screamed. No sound came, but the shriek vibrated in their bones, their teeth, and the air itself. The ground fractured in long, deep lines, glowing with liquid fire. The demon's wings flared, flames exploding outward in twisting torrents. And then the world turned white.
A cataclysmic explosion erupted from the Bloodfire King's body. The shockwave flattened trees, vaporized stone, and sent both Linyue and Shen Zhenyu flying, their bodies tumbling across the scorched earth.
Shen Zhenyu groaned, coughing smoke out of his lungs. "Tell me… we're winning."
Linyue's blue lightning sputtered weakly around her as she pushed herself upright. She glanced at the battlefield and her expression darkened.
"Nope," she said flatly. "We're absolutely losing."
Shen Zhenyu let his head drop back with a groan. "Great. Just checking."
Linyue wiped the blood from the corner of her lip with the back of her hand. Blue lightning snapped and sparked along her arms, growing louder with every second. She pushed herself fully upright, her gaze sharp. "Round two?"
Shen Zhenyu staggered to his feet, crimson flames bursting alive on his sword again. He gave her a dry look. "It's not like we have a choice."
He was right. There wasn't a choice. That thing wasn't the kind of opponent you escaped from. Even a horse at full gallop wouldn't make it ten steps before the Bloodfire King burned them to ash.
Level nine. Peak stage fifth-level cultivator equivalent. Shen Zhenyu wasn't even close. He was only second level. And she… well, she wasn't exactly overflowing with confidence either. She didn't expect they were going to encounter level nine demon. She just hoped Song Meiyu and He Yuying had gotten far enough.
The Bloodfire King stood perfectly still, its tattered, flaming wings spread wide, its molten body cracking with fresh veins of fire. Those hollow eyes locked onto them. Then it raised its claws.
The air suddenly shifted. A crushing pressure slammed down around them, so heavy Linyue's knees nearly buckled. The ground groaned and splintered beneath their feet. Molten rock surged upward in jagged, glowing spikes. The sky overhead darkened. Not with clouds, but from the overwhelming density of fire spiritual energy spiraling above the demon.
Linyue's stomach dropped. She knew this. She had read about it and prayed she'd never see it in real life.
"Eclipse of the Inferno," she whispered, her voice tight.
A sphere of raw destruction swelled outward from the Bloodfire King's body. The air seemed to vanish, replaced with roaring flames so intense the world itself blurred. The ground cracked, then dissolved into molten rivers. Trees didn't burn, they turned to ash before they could hit the ground. Even light wavered, bending under the suffocating heat.
Linyue's blue lightning flickered weakly, the oppressive force crushing her defenses.
Shen Zhenyu slammed his sword into the earth, crimson fire spiraling desperately as he anchored himself. His clothes smoked. His skin burned. His teeth clenched so hard his jaw creaked.
"We're—" he gasped, "—going to die very crispy."