Executing Glacial Strike, one of the offensive moves in the Flowing River Clear Sword technique that dad taught me, I created a wall of ice and almost froze the two demonic opponents. They broke out of their icy restraints and hopped back, swinging their heavily muscular arms to launch their demonic illusionary sabers at me. Dark destructive qi surged outward, but I cleaved them apart with my sword.
"Damn."
I glanced at the blade. As another practice sword that I took from my dad's rack, it wasn't doing well under such extreme circumstances. The metal was slowly being chipped away, and it probably wouldn't last more than a few more exchanges before shattering completely.
"Kuh!"
That distraction almost cost me, and I was sent hurtling back after parrying a slash from the mustached demon. Skidding back, I glanced at the trembling sword and saw the blade diminished further. At this rate, I would have to switch back to ranged tactics. But the demonic cultivators weren't easy targets, and my azure arrows couldn't pierce their steel-hard bodies.
What other methods could I use? I had already summoned Hei Ba and Long Wang. Through my connection, I could sense that Hei Ba was exhausted and heavily wounded after dealing with three Lava Drakes by himself. Even with his elemental advantage, fighting with three Mystic ranked spirit beasts descended from dragons was no small feat. On the other side, Long Wang was handling the Yellow ranked demons with his water array, and he already made it clear that this was my fight.
The other spirit beasts I could summon were Yellow Rank, and wouldn't be of much help against the Mystic ranked demons. I wasn't reckless enough to sacrifice them as meat shields. They were my comrades, partners, allies…friends. They weren't tools or weapons that I callously expended for my own victory. I might borrow their strength, but I wasn't going to ask them to give up their lives for me.
That was not my summoning way.
"Just give up already, brat!" The other demon howled as he slashed with both hands. I deflected one, ducked the other, and then rammed my sword into his chest. To my horror, the blade finally shattered from the impact, and though my opponent was blown several meters back, blood streaming from a hole in his chest, the wound seemed superficial. Clutching the injury, he snarled at me. "Small little tricks!"
"No choice," I muttered as I retreated, evading the demonic sabers from the injured demon's comrade. But instead of reaching for my bow, I decided to gamble on another trick. I had been exhausted after fighting spirit beast after spirit beast, particularly when I slew one of the Guardian Golems with an incredibly powerful arrow. That might be able to kill the demonic cultivators, but that particular arrow would be a lot slower.
And the demonic cultivators weren't stupid enough to stand still and let me hit them. They weren't as slow as the Guardian Golems, so they would dodge it easily. The faster common azure arrows were fast enough to hit them even when they were moving, but they lacked the power to pierce their steel hide. That meant I had to resort to other means.
"Ugh…I don't really want to use this because of how little qi I have remaining…" Even though I complained, I knew I had no choice. Coalescing most of my remaining qi into my hands, I summoned the twin frost swords instead of Azure Frost. Black Frost and White Frost, the smaller, curved blades required less qi to maintain their manifestation than the thin but ultimately more powerful Azure Frost.
Twirling Black Frost in my right hand, I stabbed at the charging mustached demon, cutting a long crevice into his chest and eliciting a howl. He bellowed and slashed at me, but I parried his claws with White Frost before kicking under his guard and sending him flying. Spinning my swords about, I crossed them to parry the slash from the other demon. As the ground beneath me crumbled, I braced myself and kicked him below the belt, causing him to scream. He desperately threw his hands up to fend off the consecutive slices from Black Frost and White Frost, but my next kick caught him in the solar plexus.
"When he summoned those spirit swords, he's suddenly a lot stronger!" The mustached demon growled, wiping the blood from his mouth. His comrade nodded.
"His power has more than doubled! I didn't think he'll cut through our flesh, which has been tempered to be as hard as steel, so easily!"
"But such strength comes with a price! He can't maintain the spirit swords for long! As long as we outlast him, he'll be sure to fall!"
I didn't wait for them to finish their discussion. Suddenly, I was between them, striking out.
"Ugh!"
"Argh!"
Both demons were sent flying in opposite directions, blood spurting from their mouths and wounds. Ice began expanding over their tough bodies, but they flipped about and landed on their feet before crushing the frost with their demonic qi.
Standing their ground, both demons hurled twin Demonic Illusionary Sabers from both directions. I calmly stayed where I was and cleaved apart the destructive qi with Black Frost and White Frost, leaving nothing but craters in my surroundings.
"He's…unaffected?!"
"Strong!"
Both demons were still circling me, joining up in the middle. They exchanged weary glances.
"Bro, I don't think we'll be able to survive long enough for him to run out of qi. He'll kill us before we can try any tricks."
"Yeah, I agree. And honestly, I don't like such cowardly means. I prefer to crush him in frontal combat."
"He has the upper hand right now, though. We can't beat him in terms of strength, even though there's two of us."
"That's true. I guess we have no choice but to use that."
I wasn't paying much attention to their conversation, already launching myself forward. Both of them hurled more illusionary demonic sabers at me, forcing me back. But when the smoke cleared and I neutralized their assault, I caught sight of the two demons being…gay.
Okay, that was a bad joke. Anyway, the two demons were standing side by side, linking their clawed hands. Demonic qi erupted from their bodies before engulfing them in a corrosive nova that wrecked their surroundings. Both demonic cultivators howled in what seemed like both agony and ecstasy before they vanished from sight.
"Ugh!"
Throwing up my hands and shielding myself with my short swords, I lowered the blades a fraction to watch the outcome. I wasn't surprised to see that both demons were gone, replaced by a two-headed goliath that was impossibly more grotesque than before. With a hulking muscular body that towered over three meters, the two heads glowered at me with sneering demonic visages, their tongues lashing out to lick across their lips. The faces remained unchanged, but their merged body was slightly different. Right now, they sported two pairs of arms, each tipped with deadly claws.
"Hah! Cowered by our combined strength now?" The fused demons taunted. I stared at them before shrugging.
"I don't know. Looks gay to me."
"Gay? Heh! It's strength that counts!"
Then they vanished, appearing in front of me after a black blur. I blocked their first slashes, bringing up both Black Frost and White Frost to deflect their upper pair of arms, only to be attacked from below. Springing upward, I kicked the lower pair of claws away and then landed on the wrist of one of them, using it as a platform to propel myself upward and spinning above their heads. They spun around, one of their claws almost stabbing me in the midriff, but I deflected it to the side with my swords.
"Oh, not bad! You really are fast!"
"As expected of an Archer-class!"
Chortling in glee, they caught me from the side with a fist that altered my trajectory and sent me crashing a few meters away.
As I skidded away, I tried to jump back to my feet, but the fused demons were upon me, pummeling my position with all four claws. The sharp tips gouged rock out of the cavern floor and showered me with rubble, and though I did my best to parry and block with my two swords, their four arms proved to be enough to overwhelm me.
"Let's see how many blows you can block!" One of them cackled, hammering at me. I dodged a slash from one claw, only for another to rake my cheek and drew three ragged tears across my face. My glasses were almost knocked askew and I could feel blood dripping down my face and down my chin. The next fist caught me off guard, and though I managed to parry their punch with my crossed swords, I was still sent hurtling several meters away.
"Ugh!"
Even as I struggled to keep my footing and stop myself from falling over, I studied them intently.
"Their speed and strength are more than double of before!" Blood leaked from my mouth as I stumbled back, digging my heels in to halt my momentum. The next slash came from above, but I dove to the side before deflecting another set of claws with my swords. Planting a foot on one of their arms, I launched myself to a safe distance, only for them to laugh boisterously.
"Ha ha ha! Is running all you can do? You're dead, brat!"
Not at all discouraged by their fleeing prey, the fused demon remained where they were. Swinging both pair of arms, they launched a set of Double Demonic Illusionary Sabers, four arcing qi of destructive potential that leveled most of the cave, destroying rock pillars, flattening stalagmites and shattering stalactites. I tried to counter with both my swords, only for my silhouette to vanish in an explosion.
"Heh! That was three times our normal strength! He will never be able to withstand such a blow!"
The combined demon cackled triumphantly at the devastation they had caused, believing that they had annihilated me from existence with that strike. But as the smoke cleared, they caught sight of an azure arrow streaking toward them.
Not just any azure arrow. Azure Frost being used as an arrow.
While they were standing still, believing that they had won, I had switched my spirit weapons and drew my bow, making use of the dense smoke to conceal my movements. By the time they realized what was being fired upon them, it was too late for them to evade.
"What's this!?"
"NO!"
Despite their speed having tripled, they couldn't dive out of the way in time. My spirit arrow caught them in the chest before detonating and ripping them apart. A mushroom cloud blossomed within the confines of the cave, incinerating everything caught within the blast.
A few seconds later, the forcibly separated corpses of the Mystic ranked demonic cultivators fell, most of their body charred or simply disintegrated from the force.
"Huff…huff…"
I lowered my bow, my fingers bleeding from the sheer force. The last shreds of my qi vanished and I sank to my knees. I had given my all in that shot, having used up every single ounce of my energy. If I had failed to finish off the demonic cultivators with my arrow, I would be the one who died. It was a risky gamble, but one that paid off.
Though right now I was vulnerable. Gritting my teeth, I leaned on my bow and tried to stand, only to stumble when my reliable weapon snapped. I stared at the broken pieces in dismay, the splintered parts falling from my hands.
It was no wonder. I had been using this bow for years, and it was no longer able to withstand my potent qi now that I had reached Mystic rank. I closed my eyes and gripped the remains of my bow tightly, silently thanking it for its long years of service. With an exhalation, I slowly rose to my feet and turned to face the other threats.
And not a moment too soon, for the silhouette of a cultivator burst through the acrid smoke to close in on me.