The Wounded Three-Headed Demon

The Bouncing Demon fell from the sky, plunging straight down at Han Zhiqi.

Without even sparing it a glance, Han Zhiqi tapped the ground with his toes and leaped backward, easily evading the attack.

Having missed its footing, the Bouncing Demon sprang up again, this time landing in the forest.

After several exchanges, Han Zhiqi felt that the Bouncing Demon was nothing particularly formidable. Its main strengths were its high jumps and silent landings. It either carried people into the air and dropped them to their deaths, or used the force of its legs and falling momentum to attack. As long as one avoided its attack before it landed, it posed no threat.

It might have been difficult for others to evade its silent attacks, but for Han Zhiqi, no matter which direction it attacked from, as long as it entered the domain created by "Cold Tide," he could detect it immediately and react accordingly.

The same went for dealing with the Spider Demon.

The six arms wrapped around the Three-Headed Demon's body slowly loosened. It now resembled a giant octopus, while the ice spikes frozen into its body made it extremely uncomfortable, drawing continuous roars from it.

The Spider Demon darted out from between its legs, glanced at Han Zhiqi, and apparently decided that even three demons together could not defeat him. It actually turned tail and slunk back into the forest.

Han Zhiqi sensed that something was wrong. If he could not keep the three demons within his field of vision, their next moves could introduce too many uncontrollable variables. For example, they might seize the chance to harass the other contestants nearby. That was the most worrying possibility.

"The other two demons have retreated into the forest. You three, stay alert."

Han Zhiqi tried to move forward and stop the Spider Demon, but the six extended arms blocked his way. Left with no choice, he called out a warning to the three of them.

The battle returned to its opening state. The Three-Headed Demon tangled with Han Zhiqi, while the Spider Demon and Bouncing Demon hid in the forest, waiting for a chance to strike.

Six massive hands clawed frantically at Han Zhiqi. Missing again and again made the huge creature increasingly furious. Its six long arms occasionally lashed about like whips, and whenever Han Zhiqi closed in, they would swiftly draw together in an attempt to crush him in an embrace.

The Bouncing Demon occasionally burst out from the trees from some unknown direction and stomped down once or twice. But with such a one-dimensional method of attack, it could do nothing to Han Zhiqi beyond leaving craters in the mud.

The Spider Demon seemed to have learned its lesson. Once it hid in the forest, it never came back out.

Its intelligence was clearly a little higher than the other two's. It had most likely deliberately lured the Three-Headed Demon into chasing it at the beginning, breaking apart Kimura's alliance and ultimately turning everyone into prey.

With no assistance from the other two demons, Han Zhiqi decided to focus on this giant lump of flesh. The most urgent matter was to cut off the two heads on its neck and see whether that would kill it.

Still, Han Zhiqi did not hold much hope. He had always felt that the face on its chest was the Three-Headed Demon's fatal weakness, but he decided to cut off the two heads first to confirm it. Compared to that face, the heads were easier to reach.

Han Zhiqi swung his Nichirin Blade forcefully from side to side, chopping apart the hands reaching for him as he rapidly closed in on the Three-Headed Demon. The closer he got, the more frenzied the demon's attacks became.

One enormous hand descended from above, slamming toward Han Zhiqi. If it hit him directly, he would undoubtedly be smashed to pulp.

Han Zhiqi stepped back to evade the palm, then leaped onto the Three-Headed Demon's arm.

Using the ice that formed beneath his feet the instant they touched its arm to steady himself, he sprang and darted about, swinging his Nichirin Blade with all his strength. While dodging demon hands attacking from every direction, he rapidly advanced toward the heads.

The Three-Headed Demon seemed to have anticipated Han Zhiqi's intentions. Its two heads spun wildly, letting out indistinct cries of terror. Six arms crisscrossed overhead as the massive hands grabbed and slapped down with even greater ferocity.

Close enough!

Seizing the opportunity, Han Zhiqi used the Three-Headed Demon's swinging arm as a foothold and launched himself upward. He gripped the hilt with both hands, raising the blade toward the head on the left.

Just as he was about to swing, two arms suddenly intertwined from either side, like two grimy gray scarves wrapped around its neck.

Han Zhiqi froze for a moment. He had forgotten that this thing still had six agile arms.

He turned to look at the head on the right and found two arms wrapped tightly around that one as well. Han Zhiqi was rendered speechless. He immediately gave up on decapitating them and changed to a downward slash.

"Ice Breathing: Fourth Form: Icefall."

Han Zhiqi flicked his wrist and exerted force with both hands. Cold energy poured from the blade as white mist and ice shards swirled around it. Like a streak of white, it plunged straight down between the Three-Headed Demon's two heads.

Several huge hands closed in from all directions, attempting to catch and hold up the descending Nichirin Blade. But the demon had clearly underestimated the power of this strike.

As its name implied, "Icefall" was like a waterfall descending from the heavens, its plunging force powerful enough to shake heaven and earth.

With the force of a thousand tons, the blade crashed down onto the Three-Headed Demon's overlapping palms, and vast cold energy began to surge from its edge.

In the blink of an eye, its palms and arms froze solid. Upon colliding with the Nichirin Blade, they shattered into chunks of ice that rained down over the Three-Headed Demon's body.

The Three-Headed Demon let out a heart-rending scream and desperately tried to stop Han Zhiqi from approaching. Yet several palms had been severed in succession, leaving only frozen arms that would not obey its commands.

The Nichirin Blade struck between the Three-Headed Demon's two heads. The edge sank more than ten centimeters into its body, but could go no farther.

Even so, the damage dealt to the giant was immeasurable. Cold energy invaded its body through the blade. The wound froze over, and gleaming white ice spread from it toward the heads on both sides.

Wracked with pain, the Three-Headed Demon desperately flung its body around, trying to throw Han Zhiqi off. Snow-white frost bloomed across its dead-gray body from the inside out, and its heart-rending screams echoed throughout Mount Fujikasane.

The screams were like thunder falling from the ninth heaven. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the clearing not far behind them, including the demons that had been retreating.

Suddenly, the Three-Headed Demon swung its legs forward and charged toward the crowd.

"Everyone, scatter!" Han Zhiqi shouted, then pulled out his Nichirin Blade and jumped down from the Three-Headed Demon's body.

Hearing Han Zhiqi's voice, along with the shouts of Kimura and the other two, everyone swiftly disengaged and followed the three of them away from the Three-Headed Demon.

The Three-Headed Demon staggered into the spot where the crowd had gathered moments ago. Several demons still lingered there, and when they saw its agonized state, fear appeared on their faces.

One of the demons could not bear the pressure brought by the Three-Headed Demon. It let out a strange cry and turned to run toward the mountaintop, only to be seized by a pair of huge hands wrapped around the Three-Headed Demon's neck and torn in half.

The other demons immediately crouched on the ground, too frightened to move.

The Three-Headed Demon roared, and every demon turned to look at Han Zhiqi in unison. Then, as though they had received some command, they all lunged at him together.

The Spider Demon and Bouncing Demon also burst from the nearby forest, but instead of attacking Han Zhiqi, they charged straight at the contestants.