That was how it was when Demon Emperors fought to the death. Manzhu was all in. If Anxing showed the slightest weakness, she would lose for sure.
The reason Anxing was on the losing end wasn’t truly a gap in power, but that her magic crystal had just been used up—while Manzhu still had hers.
In fact, Manzhu had brought two magic crystals on this trip.
One was originally meant for Anxing. But with things as they were, Manzhu of course chose to use it herself.
Anxing’s demonic energy was gone for good, while Manzhu got to recover twice. This battle had never been fair.
Layer upon layer of blood-red flower vines now enclosed the battlefield. With her advantage, Manzhu didn’t rush to expand it. Instead, she built a tall wall—a wall to keep Anxing from escaping.
“You really think you can hide all this from the predecessor!” Even with the situation against her, Anxing shouted angrily at Manzhu.
“They don’t have time to care about us now. I’ll kill you, kill that little brat, devour all of you, and then hide from those guys—what’s the problem?” Manzhu sneered, never having submitted to the so-called predecessor.
All that talk of awakening after countless failures, of gathering the strength of all the demons—she didn’t buy a word of it.
To her, the predecessor was just like any other demon!
Sending them to attack the Sanctuary as cannon fodder? No way she’d go along with that.
“You idiots, getting sold out and still counting money for them!” Manzhu fancied herself smart, never putting herself in direct opposition to the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary was a coward’s shell; with so much land left in the world, why go head-to-head with those guys?
Was she looking to die?
If her urge for destruction could be vented on a few weak kin, why bother butting heads with the Sanctuary?
“You betrayed us! You betrayed your own mission!”
“I don’t remember having any mission. That’s just you idiots clinging to your fantasies.” Manzhu sneered in reply.
Compared to Anxing, she really was more human—but the bad kind.
“Just stay here and become fertilizer for my flowers!”
A blood-colored light shone in Manzhu’s eyes. This time, she really was going to unleash an attack powerful enough to kill Anxing for good.
“Is this… infighting?” Staring at the rising red wall in the distance, feeling the faint demonic surges, Xia Mo pondered for a long time and finally reached a conclusion she herself found hard to believe.
Those two Demon Emperors were fighting—seriously trying to kill each other.
Why? Could it be that Shuangyue was sowing discord among them?
But if the two Demon Emperors were fighting, why was the vortex of demonic energy in the sky spinning again?
She turned a puzzled look toward the Flower Sprite and Meteor beside her, wanting to hear their thoughts.
The Flower Sprite and Meteor had none. To them, the world was simply noisy.
As for why Anxing and Manzhu were fighting—they weren’t involved, how could they know what had happened?
“Anxing and Manzhu’s strength should be about even. Even if one wins, the victor won’t be in good shape.” The Flower Sprite thought this might be a good opportunity.
With their two enemies fighting, they could play the fisherman—catching both at once.
“How’s your recovery going?” The Flower Sprite looked at Meteor.
They’d fought Anxing and Manzhu just half a day ago; their condition was far from optimal.
This wasn’t their home turf—their recovery was much slower than the demons’.
“Not bad. After a desperate fight, I can still handle one Demon Emperor.”
They weren’t in shape to fight a full-strength Demon Emperor, but a battered one, fresh from a death match? They had the courage to give it a try.
Not long after, even better news came from the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary would dispatch a new squad to support them, instructing them to keep both Demon Emperors occupied.
“If that’s the case, we’re sure to win!”
“Holy Lord…”
“Are you wondering if I’m being rash, sending support so quickly without careful thought?”
“Yes.”
The woman in the silver-white robe looked up at the sky, letting out a meaningful sigh.
Of course, she knew everything she was doing was falling into that person’s trap, and that the land she guarded would fall into peril because of her decision.
“Let the children without combat ability leave the Sanctuary through the secret passage. Everyone else, prepare for battle—we have guests coming.”
“Guests? But why?” The six-eyed crow behind her sounded confused.
The crow’s human form was poorly done—awkward and only vaguely human in the center, with most of it still its original form.
Compared to the Holy Lord, who had fully taken human shape, the crow’s cultivation was far from complete.
“If we wait any longer, things will get completely out of our control.” The Holy Lord’s gaze drifted far away, as if she could see the black vortex through the great distance.
Not long ago, she’d sensed a strange, familiar aura from there—as if they shared blood, yet as a spirit of heaven and earth, she had no kin.
So what was it? She didn’t know.
Unfortunately, she had no time left to seek the answer.
Thud!
A blood-red flower sword pierced the girl’s chest, pinning Anxing hard to the ground.
The battle had raged for a long time, but in the end, it was clear Manzhu had won.
Pinned to the ground, Anxing was completely helpless. She could only glare at Manzhu with eyes full of hatred, as if trying to kill her with her gaze alone.
Sadly, she didn’t have the power to do that.
Failure was the ending she couldn’t escape.
Vines erupted from the black earth, stabbing into Anxing’s body and draining the last of her demonic energy.
Killing a Demon Emperor outright was troublesome. Manzhu had to deal with Anxing bit by bit, lest her defeated opponent retaliate at the last moment.
“I’ll kill that little brat first, then come back for you.” After ensuring Anxing couldn’t resist anymore, Manzhu decided to deal with Luo Shuangyue next.
Killing Anxing would take time, and she worried this delay might cause unexpected variables.
This battle had lasted long enough. On the other side, the Black Calamity was almost over; Luo Shuangyue might soon finish absorbing the Demon Emperor’s remains.
No more time to waste—she had to kill Luo Shuangyue before the girl recovered.
As for Anxing, leaving her here wouldn’t be a problem.
Manzhu shot a cold glance at Anxing, who was impaled and unable to move, then waved her hand to open a gap in the now tightly-shrunk red wall, stepping outside.
Then, she saw the black-and-red butterflies dancing in the air.
These were strange things she hadn’t seen when she built the wall earlier. Could they be a mutation of those silver-white butterflies?
Thinking that, she casually flung a burst of demonic energy, trying to shatter the black-and-red butterflies blocking her path.
A stream of darkness flew out, effortlessly destroying one butterfly.
Tch, she thought it was something impressive… Manzhu’s eyes flashed with disdain as she strode past the shattered butterfly, heading for Luo Shuangyue.
She didn’t notice that the destroyed butterfly wasn’t dead. Its blood-red eyes had already fixed on her, and even the demonic energy she’d flung was now part of the butterfly.
The butterflies’ wingbeats suddenly grew violent. Manzhu glanced disdainfully at the swarm encircling her, wondering how such fragile things could possibly block her way.
Petal-shaped attacks flew at the butterfly formation, blasting them apart. Manzhu felt delighted by the destruction—she enjoyed this kind of wanton annihilation.
Attack after attack, her eyes grew crimson, her breath grew harsh. She never noticed the massive blood-red butterfly looming above her, sending countless black-red threads down upon her.
She thought she was attacking fragile little butterflies, but those butterflies had long since become part of the great butterfly.
All her attacks landed on the giant butterfly, stirring not even the slightest ripple.
Destruction—she wanted to destroy everything she saw!
Manzhu forgot who she was, forgot what she was supposed to do. Now, she only wanted to destroy everything.
The giant butterfly gradually faded, merging into Manzhu’s body along the black-red threads. Endless destructive urge crushed Manzhu’s reason completely; now, she had become a puppet, a marionette controlled by the urge for destruction.
Her gaze drifted forward. There was still something alive—she had to destroy it…
Whoosh!
A violet beam crashed hard into Manzhu’s back, making her stumble forward.
Well then, looks like someone else was eager to die.