The deafening roar of explosions was ceaseless. Energy between heaven and earth churned in disarray throughout the Blood Arena, and atop the mountain peak, sand and stone were whipped into furious storms. With every impact, the peak sank a dozen zhang lower.
That upper-grade Demon King-level Flame Demon brandished a Fire Blossom Spear, its flames raging skyward, the spear's momentum heavy and crushing, as though it intended to burn all of heaven and earth to ash.
Yang Kai deflected and parried with the Million Swords, locked in a fierce melee. He appeared indomitable on the surface, but in truth he had already begun to lose ground in a very short time — unwilling to reveal too many of his trump cards, this was the only way.
The two of them fought with abandon, but the other Demon Kings could not intervene at all — or rather, dared not. Boya was still out there, watching them like a tiger. None of them could afford to let their guard down. All they could do was wait for the Blood Demon who had departed earlier to track Boya down, eliminate her, and then reassess the situation.
Before long, a world-ending boom echoed from the distance. Looking up, they saw a mushroom cloud billowing skyward in that direction.
The gathered Demon Kings were elated, recognizing the spot as the very place from which Boya had launched her sneak attack. Such a commotion meant the Blood Demon had found her and was already engaged — perhaps even had her killed.
The Flame Demon facing Yang Kai visibly relaxed, baring his teeth in a vicious grin. "You'll die without even a grave!"
With Boya lurking nearby in ambush, he hadn't dared go all out before. Now that the greatest threat had been eliminated, he had no more misgivings. His entire body erupted in blazing fire as dense, chilling demonic energy surged outward, engulfing Yang Kai in searing flames.
But at that very moment, from the opposite direction, a piercing whistle cut through the air at terrifying speed. Along with it came a razor-sharp aura that locked onto him, and a five-colored streak of light tore through the fabric of space, arriving before him in the blink of an eye.
The Flame Demon's face went blank with shock.
There was no way he could have anticipated another hidden arrow from this direction. The power fluctuations and the technique behind this arrow were unmistakably Boya's — but what about the commotion from before? Wasn't Boya over there?
In the flash of time available, he had no room for deliberation. Instinct screamed at him to dodge.
Even as an upper-grade Demon King, he dared not meet Boya's arrow head-on.
Yang Kai would hardly let him have his way. When the arrow came screaming in, not only was the Flame Demon caught off guard — Yang Kai himself was stunned for a heartbeat. But he quickly grasped it: this was Boya's feint. He didn't know how she had relocated from one position to another, but if she had the ability, there was no need for him to worry.
The laws of space rippled outward, locking down the space around the Flame Demon. His expression froze in pure, uncomprehending horror.
Pssst — the five-colored light pierced clean through his chest, bursting out his back and trailing a shower of blood that boiled like molten magma.
The Flame Demon howled in agony, the flames raging across his body burning even wilder, a testament to the fury in his heart.
The Demon Kings who had been on the verge of rushing in to help — certain Boya was done for — all drew in sharp breaths. They froze in their tracks, a chill running through every one of them, silently thanking their luck.
Pssst, pssst, pssst—
Three more arrows came in quick succession.
Without a sound, two of the spectator Demon Kings had their heads blown apart. The last arrow flew straight for the Flame Demon locked in combat with Yang Kai.
Having learned his lesson the hard way, the Flame Demon was already on guard. He could trace the trajectory and path of this arrow with perfect clarity. Even wounded as he was, dodging it should not have been difficult for someone of his caliber.
He was about to leap aside when Yang Kai flashed him a sinister grin and hissed, "Bind!"
That feeling again — the space around his body sealed off, his entire being sinking into a quagmire where every struggle only dragged him deeper.
The Flame Demon's eyes bulged as he poured every ounce of demonic energy into breaking free of this invisible restraint. But before he could succeed, Boya's second arrow arrived, punching through his abdomen and spewing another torrent of blood that scorched the earth below.
Both arrows had struck vital targets. Tens of thousands of demons in the spectator stands cried out in unison. They couldn't see exactly what was happening inside the Blood Arena, only that the hidden arrows were terrifyingly precise, devastating in power — so much so that even an upper-grade Demon King couldn't evade them, taking two grievous wounds to the body.
A few more arrows like those, and the Flame Demon's life would be in serious danger.
The thought had barely formed when the third arrow came. Its light pierced through heaven and earth, its keen killing intent aimed squarely at the Flame Demon's skull.
Boya had clearly figured it out too. With Yang Kai helping, she had no need to worry about anyone dodging her arrows. All she had to do was unleash her firepower from a distance.
Watching the streak of light draw closer and closer while his body remained utterly immobile, the Flame Demon finally panicked. The first two arrows had wounded him badly but hadn't threatened his life outright. If he couldn't dodge this one, it was truly over.
His pupils contracted to pinpoints. Every last flame on his body rushed forward, coalescing into a wall of fire.
The arrow plunged into the sea of fire, thudding into the Flame Demon's skull — but only penetrating five inches deep, failing to shatter it entirely. The flames, condensing the full force of the Flame Demon's power, had finally weakened this arrow by more than half.
The brutal impact snapped his head backward. Before he could right himself, Yang Kai had already raised his sword and brought it down. The Million Swords sliced through the protective demonic energy and bit into his neck.
His head, eyes still bulging, soared skyward. Boiling blood gushed from the severed stump like a fountain of molten rock. The headless corpse swayed once, then actually began to scramble backward at remarkable speed.