Hatsune chased in the direction the Three-Headed Demon fled, having no time to worry about whether Nae would let the Bouncing Demon escape.
With seven or eight hours left until the end of the trial, if the Three-Headed Demon were allowed to escape and subsequently recover, it could attack again, further endangering the few remaining participants.
Hatsune also disappeared into the woods.
With the departure of the Three-Headed Demon, everyone on the field felt an immense relief. Sensing victory, they fought with renewed vigor, shouting and slashing with all their might.
On the outskirts, Nae blocked the Bouncing Demon's attacks while Kimura and Akino successfully kept the Spider Demon at bay. Without the interference of these two demons, the participants regained their confidence, and the tide of the battle began to turn.
The Bouncing Demon moved with precision, like a perfect sculpture under a sculptor's knife, its body operating as if following some fixed commands.
It leaped into the air, reaching a height of over ten meters in the blink of an eye, then descended like a missile towards Nae's head.
In its indifferent eyes, Nae was already a dead object.
With Hatsune no longer by her side, Nae finally became serious.
Facing the Bouncing Demon's attack, Nae didn't dodge. As the demon's feet neared, she raised her arm, which expanded dramatically, and blocked its deadly kick.
Bearing the full brunt of the Bouncing Demon's powerful kick, Nae only retreated a few meters before stopping. She then swung her arm forcefully, throwing the demon off.
The Bouncing Demon performed two 360-degree backflips to distance itself, a hint of a different emotion appearing in its previously indifferent eyes.
Nae was the only prey tonight who had survived a direct hit from its powerful kick, making the demon realize that this prey was extraordinary.
After enduring two attacks, Nae had a rough understanding of the Bouncing Demon's strength and charged at it with her Nichirin Blade.
However, the Bouncing Demon was too agile, easily dodging Nae's close-range slashes. It counterattacked with kicks from various directions, but Nae withstood them with her dense muscles.
The fight went back and forth for several rounds. The Bouncing Demon eventually realized its kicks posed no threat to Nae. Mechanically turning its head, it set its sights on another participant in the chaotic melee.
After a moment, it locked onto a male participant and leaped, forming a beautiful arc in the air, aiming precisely at him.
The male participant, unaware of the approaching death, continued to swing his Nichirin Blade desperately.
By the time he noticed, the Bouncing Demon's feet were only a few meters away. In almost an instant, it was upon him.
His mind went blank, unable to even feel fear. But in that brief moment of distraction, a pink figure dashed through the crowd and stood before him. A clear voice echoed in his ears like a valley echo.
"Love Breathing, Second Form: Love Pangs."
The Nichirin Blade coiled around the Bouncing Demon's leg like a snake.
Nae swung the blade handle, throwing the Bouncing Demon while the spinning blade severed its legs.
The Bouncing Demon crashed into the crowd, falling to the ground with its legs neatly cut off, blood spurting from the wounds, presenting a gruesome sight.
Recognizing the demon that had taken many of their companions' lives, the participants' first reaction was to distance themselves. But seeing its legs cut off, unable to stand, their fear turned into a burning desire for revenge. They all attacked, slashing at the demon.
Outside the circle, only a severed leg kept twitching. Seeing this pitiful scene, Nae felt a pang of pity for the monster, standing helplessly outside the circle. She thought these participants, now unrecognizable, had become like demons.
The Spider Demon let out a strange cry. Following the command, all the demons madly charged at the slashing participants, seemingly intending to rescue the Bouncing Demon.
Several participants fell, and under the fierce attack, the participants were indeed driven back.
In the pool of blood, the Bouncing Demon looked like a pile of mud, with no intact flesh apart from its severed legs.
As the participants retreated, the shredded flesh of the Bouncing Demon started wriggling, merging, and regenerating orderly into muscles. With a muffled sound, its legs grew back.
The Bouncing Demon suddenly opened its eyes, fully restored, and sprang up from the ground.
It's not dead?
Everyone was shocked, more so filled with fear. The demon's revival implied an even more ferocious retaliation.
Or perhaps it would flee like the big one?
It seemed to be the latter.
The Bouncing Demon turned and jumped out of the battle circle, landing on a nearby slope. Just as everyone thought it was fleeing, it turned back and leaped again.
In an instant, everyone realized its intention—to use the slope's height to increase its falling power.
Who would be its next target?
The Bouncing Demon drew the participants' attention, while the Spider Demon led the other demons in a fierce attack, reversing the situation again.
In the crowd, Nae bent her right leg forward, crouched, and gripped the blade handle, ready to draw her blade. Taking a deep breath, she shouted.
"Love Breathing, Third Form: Catlove Shower."
Nae's legs swelled, muscles as dense as the Bouncing Demon's. Her feet created two pits in the mud.
After a moment of charging, she leaped several meters, stepping on a demon's head, and rapidly zigzagged through the crowd.
Every step either trampled a demon to the ground or slashed it with her blade. In the blink of an eye, almost all the demons were knocked down, giving the participants a chance to swarm.
In mid-air, Nae met the descending Bouncing Demon, kicked its feet away, and while it was floating, unable to dodge, she performed a 360-degree backflip, stomping on its back with her right leg. Her calf muscles swelled, reaching six times their density, and she smashed the demon into the ground.
A small pit over half a meter deep formed, and the sound of the spine breaking was distinctly clear.
Nae carefully jumped out of the pit, holding her Nichirin Blade, and stood at the edge, looking relaxed as she gazed at the flat road ahead.
In the crowd, Emiko was astonished by Nae's impressive moves, her mouth agape.
Nae's series of rapid movements almost knocked down all the demons, helping the participants turn the tide. She then kicked away the Bouncing Demon and stomped it into the ground.
The Bouncing Demon's leg strength was well-known among the participants. Yet, Nae's leg strength seemed even more powerful.
As everyone rejoiced, the familiar figure suddenly sprang from the pit, standing behind Nae. The moonlight revealed dirt falling from its body, adding an eerie aura to the already terrifying demon.
Everyone held their breath in fear for Nae.
Emiko shouted, "Watch out!"
"Love Breathing, Fourth Form: Shock of Love."
Nae flicked her wrist, her Nichirin Blade bending and extending, wrapping around the Bouncing Demon's neck.
With a gentle pull of the handle, like pulling a rope, a head flew into the sky, blood spraying like fireworks from the severed neck.
The Bouncing Demon stood straight in the moonlight, then turned to ash.