Chapter Five: Reversal

There was no choice left; Xia Yan had to reveal one of his trump cards, or he would not even be able to defend himself.

Holding the Four-Zero-Two Judgment pistol, he kept pulling the trigger with his left hand, each shot aimed at Ai You, forcing her to evade and thereby easing the pressure from the air bullets. At the same time, his right hand flashed with the ever-changing blade, striking down every air bullet that came his way and reducing them to faint glimmers that vanished into nothing.

Although Xia Yan had, for the moment, broken through Ai You’s assault, many still remained confident that this mighty demon could not possibly lose.

In the luxurious private room, Emilia watched with a darkening frown. Because Xia Yan’s brain region had been developed to too low a degree, his resistance to abilities was poor; the effects of visual deception and the numbing of his body from lightning weapons were both taking a severe toll on him. And the air bullets could even threaten his life.

If he wanted to counterattack, he would likely have to use his demon power. But once he did, the only trump card left to Xia Yan would be fire element—and among his three trump cards, that was the least effective one.

“No, I can’t trigger the demon power. The risk is too great.” Xia Yan split his focus in two, using both hands to deal with the danger coming at him while still desperately searching for a plan.

How could he kill Ai You?

It was difficult enough to drag her down with him, and the chance of a complete victory was so small it could be ignored. Yet this deadlock had to be broken, and as quickly as possible.

There was no time left for hesitation, no time left for confusion. His magazine was running low, and his right hand had grown numb from the relentless strain of swinging the blade.

If his left hand stopped firing and allowed Ai You to move freely, even more air bullets would come raining down. If his right hand could no longer sustain the blade wall’s defense, his life would be taken from him in an instant.

“Come on,” Xia Yan murmured, his voice filled with resolve.

Since victory by overwhelming force was impossible, then it meant he had to fight with everything he had.

The small amplification potion and the small limit-break potion—these were things one had to gamble on when drinking them.

For Xia Yan, this was an even madder gamble, because no one before him had ever taken the two together.

If he failed, he would die on the spot.

But if he wanted to win this match, then making this insane bet was the right choice.

Xia Yan instantly produced the two potions and tipped them into his mouth. They were highly concentrated, so little that half a mouthful was enough to swallow.

“Forbidden drugs?”

“Something that burns through life potential, but can increase strength?”

“Heh, foolish human. Even if you struggle with all your might, you’re still nothing but trash.”

“So be it. Since you’ve used such forbidden potions, go and writhe in the underworld!”

These potions were far too rare, and almost no one could identify exactly what they were, but everyone faintly guessed they were something akin to forbidden medicine.

What a pitiable human. Even at the brink of death, such struggle was meaningless.

They all looked forward to seeing Xia Yan’s blood and flesh spill out soon, to watch this human go and report from hell.

But the next instant, Xia Yan’s actions made their eyes fly wide open in utter disbelief.

It was an ability similar to a demon transformation!

Yet though it resembled one in appearance, the difference in essence was vast, a qualitative gulf that could not be compared.

This was demon power!

Who would dare believe it? A human had actually awakened demon power!

That ability was like standing at the summit of the demon race and mockingly taunting every one of them at once.

The crowd went utterly wild, their eyes hiding a suppressed disbelief.

This was the demon race’s most powerful bloodline mutation ability, one that mocked all demon kin and taught them what a truly perfect transformation was. It was absolutely not merely growing wings from the back and flying in the sky.

Gray flame covered the entire body, combining offense and defense, vastly enhancing physical strength, granting an astonishingly long transformation duration, and allowing flight speed as swift as lightning—this was the most perfect ability!

The moment Xia Yan unleashed demon power, he moved like a whirlwind, surging toward Ai You in the sky. Many people could clearly see that his speed was even faster than hers.

“Damn it!” Ai You panicked. A flicker of light flashed in her eyes as she used visual deception, but just as she felt it was about to take effect, it was blocked by an unseen force.

No—it had form. It was the gray flame enveloping Xia Yan’s entire body.

Ai You felt as if she were going mad. She had never imagined that Xia Yan, that waste, would awaken a second ability, and one of the most terrifying kinds at that: the demon bloodline mutation. She could not even understand why her visual deception had been blocked. Was the energy called gray flame truly this absurdly exaggerated? Could gray flame actually resist even this special kind of ability?

“Xia Yan must die. You have to die. I will kill you for sure. I have never forgotten the hatred from back then, and today is the day you repay it! Die, Xia Yan!” Ai You descended into complete frenzy. Her hair flew wild about her face, her teeth clenched savagely, and with a thought countless air bullets converged and shot toward Xia Yan.

Xia Yan swung his blade, a sheet of sword light surging outward to annihilate everything in front of him. Then he moved, so fast it made the eye blur.

“That power, that speed—how can it be this fast?” Ai You could not understand it. Terror spread through her gaze as she hastily retreated, but she was far too slow compared to Xia Yan and could not escape at all. In an instant, he was upon her.

Once he caught up, Xia Yan unleashed the Wind-Chasing Strike. The blade light, veined with gray flame, enveloped Ai You. This time she would absolutely not escape.

“No, no!” Facing death, Ai You could no longer remain calm. She was truly frightened, truly terrified. She did not want to die like this, especially not at the hands of the human she hated most.

“Not good!” The first cry came from a demon ability user, who quickly awakened his bloodline and rushed toward the center of the arena, channeling his demon power.

“Damn it, we can’t let that human succeed!” Another ability user acted without hesitation, unleashing his power as countless long-range beams shot toward the battlefield.

“Kill him! Hurry and kill him! We can’t let him lay a hand on Lady of the Demon Race!” This was a human ability user, who awakened a thornlike power and surged toward Xia Yan.

“Quickly, there’s no time, hurry!” A mental-type ability user deployed a cutting force like a blade slicing through flesh, attacking Xia Yan’s mind!

Everyone watching this scene cried out in alarm. They had to save Ai You and kill Xia Yan.

All the ability users moved at once, and the entire arena seemed to erupt in attacks raining down upon Xia Yan from every direction.

They could not allow this human to commit such a monstrous act on demon territory.

They could not let him live. His demon power and his human identity were both insults to the demon race, and he had to be killed.

Yet what they had not expected was this outcome—an outcome no one had foreseen.

This humble human, this human scarcely sixteen or seventeen years old, was almost about to claim victory in a decisive battle against this formidable demon.

That was what shocked them most, and what terrified them most.