Purple Gold Marquis's expression showed no fear, but a hint of gloom. Clearly, the appearance of the Thorn Flower Witch was a significant blow to him.
The Blood Sickle Demon, on the other hand, displayed an inexplicable terror, to the point that even Eddie felt embarrassed for it. How could a creature of Golden Level Seven be afraid of a Bronze Level One Thorn Flower Witch? Sure, this little witch had a few extra hands, and she was cultivated using the arm of Demon King Hasin, but that didn't seem enough to justify such fear.
Little WenLykenntly tugged at Eddie's sleeve, a signal he understood well. She was preparing for a surprise attack.
Purple Gold Marquis seemed indecisive at that moment.
Should he continue the fight by summoning more battle beasts, or should he leave?
He couldn't make a decision. Leaving now, no one could stop him, but it seemed a waste to let go of the severely injured innate little thief, especially when he was so close to killing him.
If this innate thief were allowed to grow stronger, a future encounter would likely not end the same way.
Human warriors, especially innate ones, grew quickly, and such a young innate would improve rapidly.
If he didn't kill him now, the consequences of a future encounter were unthinkable.
But summoning more battle beasts, would that ensure victory over the innate little thief?
It was uncertain! With the help of the Snake Demon Lolita, he might find himself in yet another tough battle...
What Purple Gold Marquis feared the most wasn't the Thorn Flower Witch, but the low-profile Little Wenli.
He felt that this Snake Demon Lolita was the most formidable enemy, even more dangerous than the cunning innate thief!
As a life-protecting battle beast with a treasure trove of abilities and a talent for binding arrays, she was nearly invincible...
unless he killed the innate thief, killing her was impossible. Just her two summoning beasts, the Petrifying Medusa and the Storm Mermaid, were trouble enough.
Purple Gold Marquis, with the intuition of a powerful warrior, sensed that the Snake Demon Lolita still had reserves of strength.
She was likely hiding her true power, waiting to strike him a devastating blow.
Thus, he was caught in a dilemma.
To leave or not to leave?
As Purple Gold Marquis pondered heavily, the Thorn Flower Witch, disregarding the difference in levels, launched an attack on the Blood Sickle Demon of Golden Level Seven.
Her true body remained on the floral platform, her tender little hand pointing.
Dozens of plants rapidly extended toward him, stretching ten, twenty meters, aiming at the Blood Sickle Demon.
Several offshoots, like green pythons, twisted and turned in mid-air, directly coiling towards the Blood Sickle Demon.
The two mindless Thorn Flower Demons were the craziest, shooting high into the sky before diving down, transforming into a green giant that devoured everything in its path, ferociously pouncing down.
Eddie's jaw dropped at the reaction of the Blood Sickle Demon. Incredibly, it fled right in front of the Purple Gold Marquis.
A Golden Level Seven demon, afraid of a Bronze Level One Thorn Flower?
This was something one in ten thousand people wouldn't believe!
The thick stems of the Thorn Flower had little lethal power against the Blood Sickle Demon, but their purpose wasn't to harm or devour, but to entangle.
Despite being seriously wounded, the Blood Sickle Demon, intent on fleeing, sliced through the thorn stems like cutting grass.
Even the four bucket-thick offshoots couldn't withstand its attacks and were cut in two.
Only the two Thorn Flower Demons could resist, enduring two strikes of the sickle and still lunging forward, their thorny arms wrapping around the demon's body.
In the sky, countless white spores began to drift down unnoticed.
On the ground, wherever there were bloodstains, armor fragments, or energy-blasted soil, Thorn Flowers or carnivorous plants grew rapidly upon contact with the spores.
And the severed Thorn Flower stems on the ground took root and regenerated, forming more and more plants.
The more the Blood Sickle Demon slashed, the more Thorn Flowers grew on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, a small sea of flowers emerged.
Numerous Thorn Flowers extended their stems, wrapping around the Blood Sickle Demon's body.
Many of them opened various mouths, devouring everything – skin, armor, or demonic energy.
The savage eating manner even made the daring Eddie shudder!
The Blood Sickle Demon kept swinging its sickle, trying desperately to free itself from the entangling Thorn Flower stems that covered its entire body.
At Golden Level Seven, it could have easily dealt with other battle beasts with a few swings of its sickle.
But faced with the Thorn Flower Witch, who was not afraid of being cut and whose growth rate was terrifyingly fast, it was a huge problem.
Without help, the Thorn Flower Witch alone might not be able to kill it, given the vast difference in levels.
However, the real trouble started with the golden arrow from the Petrifying Medusa.
The arrow whooshed and struck the Blood Sickle Demon's right leg, and instantly, the entire leg began to petrify slowly.
Thorn Flower offshoots took the opportunity to root into it, growing directly on the demon's right leg, sprouting new Thorn Flowers.
Thousands of Thorn Flower stems entangled together, binding the Blood Sickle Demon firmly to the ground.
The Blood Sickle Demon howled in agony, frantically raising its blood sickle, attempting to sever its own right leg.
Eddie, perhaps the most shameless man in the world at kicking someone when they're down, seized the opportunity as soon as he saw the Blood Sickle Demon's misfortune.
He first knocked away the blood sickle with his giant stick, then delivered a stunning blow to its head.
In the two seconds of dizziness, the Thorn Flower stems, offshoots, and the two Thorn Flower Demons had already entwined the Blood Sickle Demon, leaving only its head free.
Eddie shamelessly snatched the blood sickle and threw the hot potato into the lake.
Bereft of its favored weapon and entangled in dense Thorn Flower stems, the demon let out a thunderous wail of despair.
Despite losing its weapon, being severely injured, and completely entangled, the Golden Level Seven Blood Sickle Demon's strength was still terrifying. It forcibly broke the Thorn Flower stems one by one.
Seeing the demon almost breaking free, Eddie unceremoniously wielded his Dragon-Slaying Dagger, stabbing wildly.
The blood that splattered only made the Thorn Flowers grow more robustly.
Every small piece of flesh or demonic armor Eddie cut off was devoured by the Thorn Flowers, some even burrowing into the wounds to tear and bite.
The demonic energy fire was utterly ineffective against them, with countless mouths waiting.
Whenever a fire ignited, countless mouths rushed to feed on it.
The Purple Gold Marquis watched with a chill in his heart, now understanding why the seemingly insignificant Thorn Flowers could kill two Blood Hell Demon Kings and five thousand elite soldiers of the Demon Legion.
It was a simple case of predator versus prey.
For the prey to defeat the natural predator wasn't just a matter of strength; there were too many counteracting elements.
Protective demonic fire, tough demonic bodies, immense strength, and terrifying destructive power were all useless against the Thorn Flowers. They could devour demonic energy fire, consume and digest the tough demonic bodies, and even regenerate rapidly, spreading onto the enemy's body.
The number of Thorn Flowers was too overwhelming. Once they reached a terrifying quantity, they could overpower any level difference.
Although the Purple Gold Marquis couldn't control the Void Ship, he could still teleport through accumulated energy.
Drawing a circle with his hand, he created a vortex in space, preparing to travel through another ripple exit.
This teleportation technique, honed for over fifty years, allowed him to teleport successfully even without mastering spatial control.
As he was halfway through teleportation, with his body partially in and his back still visible, Little Wenli made her move.
She had been planning a surprise attack and had waited too long...
As soon as the opportunity arose, she struck with precision ten times faster than Eddie, who had been watching the Purple Gold Marquis's every move.
Her binding talent instantly manifested, and her Ice Halo Twin Blades chopped at the Purple Gold Marquis's demonic wings.
The Storm Mermaid's Golden Trident pierced the Marquis's back, while the Petrifying Medusa's second golden arrow had already hit his demonic tail.
The teleportation space shattered instantly, and the backlash of the failed teleportation, combined with the triple strike to his back, left the Purple Gold Marquis in excruciating pain.
With Eddie in front, Little Wenli behind, and the Thorn Flower Witch on one side, he was completely surrounded.
At this point, the Purple Gold Marquis cared little for the pride of a demon abyss powerhouse and fled toward the unguarded volcano crater as his first instinct.
Eddie and Little Wenli relentlessly pursued him from behind.
The Storm Mermaid and Petrifying Medusa, unable to catch up, turned their attention to the still-resisting Blood Sickle Demon instead.
Unable to fly or teleport, the Purple Gold Marquis had no choice but to run for his life. Eddie wielded his Moon Blade and chased after him wildly.
While his savage attacks were effective, Little Wenli's strikes were even more efficient, freezing the Marquis for a second or two with each hit.
However, the Marquis's protective demonic fire thawed the ice quickly, and his desperate sprint, coupled with the uphill terrain that favored his large form, allowed him to narrowly escape their attacks.
Never in his life had the Purple Gold Marquis been so embarrassed and battered.
But to survive, all he could do was run.
He sensed that the Snake Demon Lolita still had reserves of strength and was preparing some terrifying attack. As a superior being, the Purple Gold Marquis had this dangerous premonition.
So, regardless of Eddie's curses and mockery, and no matter how he attacked, the Marquis ignored it all.
A mere Moon Blade couldn't inflict a fatal wound.
Eddie was also running out of strength, and fearing the backlash of the demonic blade, he dared not use it. His ordinary slashes were merely superficial wounds.
Suppressing his anger, the Purple Gold Marquis desperately fled up the mountain.
Seeing the bubbling, rolling lava in the cave, blocking his path, he felt a surge of relief.
He leapt towards the volcano crater.
Mid-air, he spread his injured demonic wings, preparing to flap them hard and fly out of the crater to escape this death trap—"Your time is up!"
Eddie and Little Wenli had been waiting for this moment. They both leaped onto the Purple Gold Marquis's back.
Eddie's final innate sword energy, which he had been holding back, erupted at this moment.
A bloody hole opened in the Marquis's back.
Little Wenli drove her Ice Halo Twin Blades into the wound, enlarging it, while gathering a cluster of light more brilliant than the aurora, and injected it into the Marquis's wound.
As Eddie and Little Wenli leaped up, still in mid-air, the Purple Gold Marquis suddenly spun in anger, his demonic claws tearing towards them, as if to drag them down with him.
But he had forgotten about Little Wenli's unique Array Binding talent.
Little Wenli's eyes widened, and she glared.
The demonic claws froze mid-air, inches away from grasping them. But as the Purple Gold Marquis's body fell, they helplessly slid down, unable to change their fate.
The Purple Gold Marquis plummeted into the lava with a thunderous crash.
Standing at the edge of the volcano, both Eddie and Little Wenli were exhausted to the extreme, nearly collapsing on the ground.
But out of concern for the final outcome of the battle, they kept their eyes fixed on the Purple Gold Marquis in the molten lava.
If even such a plan couldn't kill the Marquis, Eddie would have no choice but to use a teleportation scroll to escape...
As the Purple Gold Marquis struggled in the searing magma, the white light Little Wenli had infused into his back, reacting against his demonic energy, exploded with earth-shattering force.
Eddie and Little Wenli saw the Marquis's massive body crash heavily onto the blood-red lava, quickly swallowed by it, leaving only a wisp of blue smoke rising.
Little Wenli was too tired to speak and transformed into a rainbow light, drifting into Eddie's body to rest.
Without her in this battle, Eddie might have been utterly defeated by the demon-transformed Purple Gold Marquis.
Having killed the Marquis, Eddie suppressed his excitement and staggered down the slope, eventually collapsing onto the soft body of the mysterious beauty. He laboriously produced a healing potion from his Witch-Ring and crushed it, healing them both... If he didn't act quickly, both of them would have perished! As Eddie put all his effort into throwing the Purple Gold Marquis into the volcano, the Thorn Flower Witch miraculously evolved.
From a Bronze Level One Thorn Flower Witch, she transformed into a Silver Level One Thorn Flower Witch.
The change was significant. Eddie noticed the little girl, originally around seven or eight years old, had grown to about ten, her body noticeably taller.
What kind of growth potion had she consumed?
The Blood Sickle Demon was still struggling and not yet devoured.
What was going on?
As Eddie was pondering, he suddenly saw the Thorn Flower Witch licking the blood off his and the mysterious beauty's bodies, like a little cat sneaking fish, which made him furious:
"You little bloodsucker, scram, or I'll flatten you!"
The Thorn Flower Witch seemed terrified of Eddie.
Seeing him angry, she immediately scurried away on her little feet, naked, her little buttocks wiggling, and ran back to her flower platform.
Her disturbance made Eddie notice something odd. The Thorn Flowers that grew from the spores around him were different from the normal ones. They were blood-red with golden patterns. Was it his blood that had this miraculous effect, or was it the blood of the mysterious beauty that was so precious?
If it weren't for the mysterious beauty being critically injured and close to death, Eddie might have wanted to strip her naked, like peeling a little lamb, to study her body more closely...