One Against Three Demons

On a clearing not far from the summit of Mount Fujikasane, nearly every demon on the mountain had gathered.

Leading them were three demons: the Spider Demon, the Bouncing Demon, and the Three-Headed Demon. Compared to the ordinary demons, these three were slightly more intelligent and each possessed unique physical advantages.

Han Zhiqi kept the Three-Headed Demon occupied. With no worries behind them, the contestants finally shook off the fear and despair in their hearts. Working together to entangle the demons, they gradually turned the tide in their favor.

Nohime still could not bring herself to strike the killing blow. She clearly knew they were no longer human, and she had steeled herself to cut off their heads, but every time she was about to swing down, her hand trembled uncontrollably.

The two demons that had been watching from the hillside finally moved.

The hearts of Nohime and the other two rose into their throats. As Han Zhiqi had said before, if the two demons joined forces to ambush him, they did not need to intervene. But if they harassed the contestants, the three of them were to hold them back.

But with the strength of just the three of them, could they really restrain two demons working together?

And if the two demons rushed at Han Zhiqi, that meant he would be facing three demons alone. Could he truly defeat the combined strength of all three?

Han Zhiqi was the hope of the entire team now. If he lost, the whole team lost. Could they really stand by without helping him?

Though the three exchanged no words, their thoughts aligned perfectly. None of them knew what to do, so for the moment, they could only follow Han Zhiqi's instructions.

Since Han Zhiqi had said that, perhaps he truly had the strength to face three demons at once.

That was what the other two thought. As for Nohime, she knew Han Zhiqi was powerful, but not powerful enough to fight three demons working together on his own.

Perhaps the two demons still remembered how Han Zhiqi had injured them earlier. They raced down from the hillside to the clearing, ignoring the contestants beside them as they charged straight at him.

"Han Zhiqi, watch out! Those two demons are heading for you!"

Han Zhiqi was focused on fending off the Three-Headed Demon's attacks when he suddenly heard Nohime's warning from behind. Before she had even finished speaking, abnormal temperature shifts appeared within the area controlled by "Cold Tide," coming from above and behind him.

Han Zhiqi sneered. So I was right. Becoming demons lowered their intelligence, but amplified their personalities. They followed their instincts in everything—for example, holding grudges over every slight.

Han Zhiqi swung his blade and split apart the fist hurled by the Three-Headed Demon. At the instant the Bouncing Demon's feet kicked toward the back of his head, he froze the ground beneath his feet, leaned back at a forty-five-degree angle, and slid rapidly backward on the ice. He needed to widen the distance between himself and the Three-Headed Demon immediately.

At that very moment, the Spider Demon had stealthily crept behind Han Zhiqi. Seizing its chance, it sprang up from the ground and lunged at the back of his neck.

The Bouncing Demon attacked from above while the Spider Demon attacked from below, their coordination perfect.

Han Zhiqi was already thoroughly familiar with such underhanded tactics. He held his Nichirin Blade horizontally before his chest, and as the two demons pounced from above and below, he twisted his waist with all his strength, using the force of his torso to drive his entire body into a rapid spin.

The Nichirin Blade held before his chest swept across the Spider Demon's chest and abdomen, then sliced past the Bouncing Demon's calf.

Han Zhiqi became a small whirlwind of snow and wind, threading through the two demons' pincer attack before landing steadily in the clearing several meters away from the three demons. His snow-white haori fluttered in the wind, and the wisteria flowers upon it seemed almost alive.

The beautiful dodge left the three people nearby utterly dumbfounded. In that situation, if it had been any one of them, they would likely have either had the backs of their heads kicked in or their necks bitten through.

There was another thing they could not understand. Even though Nohime had warned him in time before the two demons arrived, how had Han Zhiqi accurately judged the direction and timing of the attacks without even turning around?

But regardless, Han Zhiqi's effortless escape from danger greatly lifted everyone's spirits.

After confirming that Han Zhiqi could handle the combined assault of the three demons, Nohime and the other two finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to join the fight against the other demons.

With Han Zhiqi holding those three down, dealing with the ordinary demons around them was only a matter of time.

The Bouncing Demon, Spider Demon, and Three-Headed Demon stood together.

Two frozen wounds on the Spider Demon's chest were giving off cold vapor. The Bouncing Demon had a wound on its right calf as well, but its muscle density was clearly far greater than the Spider Demon's. The wound was not very deep, and the ice was melting at a visible rate. Before long, the wound healed.

Behind them, the Three-Headed Demon had two heads and one face, each letting out shrill, furious cries. Its six arms were covered in frozen wounds.

Then, as if it had gone mad, its six huge hands began tearing at one another, forcibly ripping off the arms covered in icy wounds. New arms quickly grew from the severed stumps.

The Three-Headed Demon's actions left everyone stunned.

Han Zhiqi glanced at the people fighting fiercely nearby. This time, he decided to make the first move.

He worried that if he could not effectively keep the three demons occupied, they would seize the chance to harass the other contestants. If that happened, the will to win they had so painstakingly gathered might collapse once more.

"Ice Breathing: Fusion Technique: Phantom: Shattering Timed Rain."

This was an area attack skill that fused "Third Form: Shattering Timed Rain" with "Sixth Style: Phantom."

First, he would use "Phantom" to rapidly approach the enemy while creating countless footholds. At each foothold, he would activate "Shattering Timed Rain." In this way, a single attack became an overwhelming area assault, leaving the enemy nowhere to evade.

Han Zhiqi's figure flickered, and he instantly appeared all around the three demons. At nearly the same time, every figure swung its blade down, and dense ice spikes shot from all directions toward the three demons at the center.

The moment Han Zhiqi's figures suddenly appeared around them, the three demons became restless. When they saw the dense ice spikes flying toward them, their fear only deepened.

The Spider Demon and the Three-Headed Demon each let out urgent, furious roars.

The Three-Headed Demon's six arms continuously stretched longer, winding around its bloated body. It was clearly planning to use all six arms to wrap itself up completely.

Beside it, the Spider Demon anxiously spun in circles, trying to use its short body to burrow out along the ground. But ice spikes were shooting up from the ground as well. In the end, it turned and spotted the Three-Headed Demon beside it, then darted beneath its feet in a flash.

The Bouncing Demon simply leaped into the air.

Every ice spike struck the Three-Headed Demon's arms wrapped around its body, piercing beneath the skin and freezing together with them.

Han Zhiqi had originally intended to catch the three demons off guard with "Phantom: Shattering Timed Rain," then unleash other skills according to the changing situation.

But he had not expected the Three-Headed Demon to wrap itself up like a rice dumpling. The skills Han Zhiqi had prepared were immediately rendered useless. After all, if it could tear off its own arms, then even if he cut them, it probably would not accomplish much.