Step Into the Finale 7

Roiling flames devoured everything around them.

Inevitably, it wasn't just me—Agent Kong was also swept into the wave-like flames, and he couldn't help letting out a terrified cry. "Ah!"

Only then did I remember that I'd forgotten to warn him. I hurriedly added, "Don't worry. My flames won't harm allies."

In fact, they hadn't merely left my allies unharmed. The ground and the greenery beside it hadn't caught fire either. Whether it was the heat capable of destroying everything or the intense light capable of blinding people, both only affected the enemies. As long as I intended it, the flames could display this special effect of holding themselves to multiple standards.

But it wasn't over yet. The moment the three demons were destroyed, two more demons crawled out from the distant shadows beyond the reach of the flames and intense light.

At the same time, through that exchange, I had confirmed something else: they were weaker in combat than last night's Fallen Demon Hunter.

They were just as huge, but their speed was much lower, and their mobility was on an entirely different level. At least when they charged, I hadn't had time to move my feet, but I could still move my arms and make a symbolic attack. As for whether their attack power was the same, I had no idea. After all, I had already killed them before their attacks could land.

As for their defenses... the flames I had just unleashed would probably have produced roughly the same effect on last night's Fallen Demon Hunter, so I couldn't see any difference there either.

All in all, last night's Fallen Demon Hunter should have been an elite among them, while these things were merely cannon fodder.

The two demons let out deafening roars and charged as if they didn't care about their own lives.

That would only lead to the same outcome as the three demons before them.

Considering that the demon from earlier had used its companion as a shield, they might have seemed like mindless beasts, but they possessed at least some intelligence. I didn't believe they were stupid enough to make such a pointless sacrifice. Was this overly conspicuous frontal charge meant to draw my attention?

I didn't turn around. Instead, I sensed what was behind me through the surrounding flames.

Sure enough, a shadow had already crept silently along the ground to a distant spot behind me. That place was still within the range of the firelight, but the shadow remained completely unaffected by the illumination, and a demon emerged from within it.

At that moment, the demon was approaching me while avoiding the flames on the ground. With the roar of the blazing fire and the charging howls of the two demons in front masking its movements, even its huge, clumsy body could carry out this stealthy assassination tactic.

At first, I had intended to burn it to death directly, but then I changed my mind. Wasn't this a perfect opportunity?

Zhu Shi and Agent Kong thought that my only impressive quality was my attack power, so I would demonstrate my margin for error when facing a sneak attack right here. I had originally planned to use an evil spirit for the demonstration, but unfortunately, the evil spirit hadn't appeared. Now that opportunity had practically fallen into my lap, so there was no reason to miss it.

And this demon wasn't as agile as the Fallen Demon Hunter. Even with this extra complication, I could still protect Agent Kong.

I raised my right hand toward the two demons ahead. The flames on the surrounding ground immediately surged toward them under my control, reducing them to ashes.

Seeing that the troublesome flames on the ground had been redirected, the demon behind me immediately advanced without restraint and rushed close to me.

Its two arms transformed into mantis-like bone blades, crossing like scissors as they slashed at my torso.

I pretended not to notice and didn't even turn my head.

Agent Kong, however, noticed the demon. His expression changed drastically, and he shouted, "Look out!"

At the same time, he pulled the trigger at the demon.

If it had been last night's Fallen Demon Hunter, it wouldn't have been possible for human-level reflexes to catch up with it. Even if Agent Kong's mind could react in time, his body absolutely wouldn't have been fast enough.

But this demon couldn't do that. A gunshot exploded, and although I had no idea what kind of special round was loaded in that revolver, the demon's enormous body was knocked off its charging path on the spot, grazing past me.

And just as Agent Kong himself had said, this was ultimately an emergency weapon. Although it had barely affected the demon's charge, it couldn't inflict any significant damage.

Realizing that its ambush had failed, the demon let out a frustrated hiss. It would have been nice if it could remember to continue attacking at that moment, but unfortunately, it no longer wanted to fight. It immediately fled into the distance.

All I could do was sigh and glance at the back of the demon in the distance.

As my gaze fell upon it, a brief flash of fire, as swift as lightning, flared up. Its body instantly turned to ash.

The battle ended. All the flames and strange disturbances around us disappeared. Apart from the ashes scattered across the ground, it was as if nothing had happened.

According to Agent Kong, this was undoubtedly a "slaughter that was far too easy."

Because of the precedent set by the Fallen Demon Hunter, it was impossible to determine with certainty that those demons weren't human. I had killed them without the slightest psychological burden simply because they didn't look human to me.

But if the enemies that had appeared before me had been utterly human, and I had been ordered to kill them, then setting aside the difficulty of overcoming the psychological barrier, there would have been no difference in practical difficulty. I still could have killed them with ease.

Before this power, life was so terribly fragile... I simulated that scene in my mind, feeling an indescribable emotion.

"That scared me to death. I thought that monster was about to get me." Agent Kong let out a sigh of relief beside me. "Zhuang Cheng, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Thinking of how Agent Kong had interrupted me just now, my newly arisen reflections were replaced by speechlessness. Truly, eight or nine times out of ten, things in life didn't go as one wished. It seemed I had better look for another opportunity to demonstrate my abilities in actual combat, or perhaps I shouldn't insist on finding such an opportunity at all. Simply demonstrating the skills I knew in front of them would also be an acceptable compromise.

Of course, if possible, I still hoped for a more dramatic opportunity to show off.

I temporarily set aside my tangled thoughts and walked forward, wanting to touch the ashes on the ground.

I wondered what difference there would be between the ashes left after burning something anomalous and ordinary ashes.

But after taking only two steps, I involuntarily stopped.

Agent Kong should have been standing behind me at that moment, with the sunlight behind him casting his shadow in front of me. But at some point, the arms of this human shadow on the ground had changed shape. They looked like a pair of long blades.

I reflexively turned around.

But before I could bring him into view, the sky and earth suddenly spun. My vision crashed down onto the ground, and then a headless body, both familiar and strange, fell beside me.

I struggled to raise my eyes, wanting to see who had attacked me.

Then, a powerful slash plunged mercilessly into my eye socket, even shattering my brain...