Brutality and Slaughter

Chapter 19: Brutality and Slaughter

As Pangu's spirit body gradually dimmed, the situation looked overwhelmingly favorable. It was only a matter of time before they obtained the Crystal of Information. The Demon Kings began weighing their options. They had banded together only because they feared Pangu's might. Now that he was about to be destroyed, the next battle would be over the Crystal of Information.

Almost involuntarily, the Demon Kings turned their eyes toward the Evil Dragon Demon King. His performance against Pangu had been truly outstanding. His demonic aura was powerful, and his Dragon Pearl had shocked them all. The combination of his Demon Core and Dragon Pearl, along with his Azure Dragon Body, made the Evil Dragon Demon King's strength terrifying.

The Evil Dragon Demon King saw their gazes and could only smile bitterly. How could he not know he had become the target of everyone's attention? But there was nothing he could do. All he could do now was wait for the right moment. With his cultivation and defensive strength, the Demon Kings would find it difficult to grievously wound him. If he timed it right and struck just as Pangu's consciousness was extinguished, he had a good chance of claiming the Crystal of Information.

He Yu was also weighing his options. Should he continue this way, helping destroy Pangu before competing for the Crystal of Information? Or should he let Pangu and the Demon Kings wear each other down, so he could claim the crystal without lifting a finger and perhaps even subdue the Demon Kings? And even if he couldn't subdue them, he could kill them all. Wouldn't their lesser demons then all be his?

Just as the demons were each scheming in their own way, Pangu suddenly threw back his head and let out a mighty roar. Streams of spiritual energy surged from his body, forming a barrier that held back the demonic aura closing in from all directions.

"Hmph! This will only speed up the depletion of his spiritual energy. Looks like Pangu will be destroyed much sooner than we thought." Seeing Pangu use a barrier to defend himself against the demonic aura, the Demon Kings all sneered inwardly. This consumed several times more energy than simply letting his body take the impact. To use it under these circumstances was practically suicide!

"Something's wrong! Could Pangu still have another trick up his sleeve?" He Yu didn't believe Pangu would simply throw his life away. If he was willing to speed up the depletion of his spiritual energy to protect himself, he must have something planned.

He secretly sent a telepathic message to the Ten Demon Marshals. Then He Yu and the ten of them quietly retreated behind the other Demon Kings. With everyone's attention fixed on Pangu, their movements went unnoticed. The other demons paid little heed to these eleven weaker Demon Kings; only the Earth Bear King among them had drawn any attention.

Demonic aura crashed against Pangu's barrier, wrapping around its spherical surface in a kaleidoscope of colors until it looked like a multicolored egg. Streams of demonic energy connected the egg to the hundred or so Demon Kings.

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

The multicolored egg expanded and contracted like a heart. Gradually, an incomparably savage and terrifying aura began to emanate from it, as though a peerless fiend were gestating within. As time passed, the savage aura grew stronger, spreading from the egg to encompass ten thousand li of land and sky. Standing within that aura and facing the egg, the Demon Kings felt infinitesimal. At the same time, unease welled up inside them, as if they were ants before a savage lion slowly awakening.

Roar!

Crack!

A dazzling golden flash of axe light streaked across the sky. The multicolored egg shattered, and the hundred or so streams of attacking demonic aura were dispersed by an immense force. Pangu's ten-zhang-tall body appeared. His spirit body had been drained of so much spiritual energy that it was now almost translucent, and the nine-colored crystal in his heart was clearly visible.

What truly horrified the Demon Kings were the streaks of blood-red light circling Pangu without pause. His eyes were bloodshot, and his entire body radiated an utterly terrifying, savage aura that encompassed ten thousand li of heaven and earth. Though Pangu's cultivation had plunged to the middle Golden Core stage, every Demon King felt their blood run cold at the sight of him.

A sense of death unlike anything they had ever known filled their hearts!

"Roar!" The savage Pangu bellowed and moved. His body became a blur, and in an instant he was before the White Ape Demon King, whose cultivation was only slightly higher than Wolf Two's. The giant axe in his hand flashed down, cleaving the White Ape Demon King in two. Blood and entrails sprayed through the air in a gruesome shower. A pigeon-egg-sized white Demon Core had barely left the body before Pangu sucked it into his mouth.

After swallowing the White Ape Demon King's Demon Core, Pangu's spirit body grew a little more substantial, and the might radiating from him increased as well.

"Roar!" Feeling his cultivation rise, Pangu gave an excited roar and charged toward a pale-green Mandrill Demon King nearby. Before he even reached his target, he had already raised his giant axe high, ready to strike.

The Demon Kings had just watched Pangu split the White Ape Demon King in two with a single axe blow and devour his Demon Core. It had been a gruesome sight. Now, as Pangu charged straight at him, moving so swiftly that he left afterimages in his wake, the Mandrill Demon King let out a terrified shriek. His cry was as mournful as a ghost's wail. Retreating and dodging, he released all the demonic aura within his body, pouring it out from his Demon Core and sending it crashing toward Pangu like a sky-darkening wave.

Whoosh! Boom!

Before the Mandrill's pale-green mass of demonic aura could even reach Pangu, his giant axe had already come down. The immense force and terrifying speed made even the void tremble. A blood-red streak of axe light burst from the blade and shot toward the Mandrill's demonic aura.

Boom!

The axe light effortlessly cleaved through the demonic aura, its momentum undiminished as it split the Mandrill in two, just as it had the White Ape Demon King.

As soon as the Mandrill Demon King died, his Demon Core fell from the divided corpse. Pangu immediately rushed to seize it and increase his cultivation. But more than ten Demon Kings happened to be nearby: the Pangolin, Beaver, Beach Rat, Porcupine, Mane Wolf, and others. Their cultivation was formidable, and they were not far from the peak of the early Golden Core stage. Seeing what was happening, they hurriedly snatched up the Mandrill's Demon Core and then stood together to face Pangu.

Pangu had killed two Demon Kings one after another with a single blow each. But now more than ten Demon Kings had joined forces, and their courage swelled. They were no longer afraid to face him. Their demonic auras surged and converged, the combined power of more than ten demons becoming immensely strong—firmly surpassing the middle Golden Core stage and far exceeding Pangu's strength.

"They're practically rushing to their deaths!" He Yu sighed inwardly. The savage Pangu was like a demon transformed, with strength multiplied. The Demon Kings were still far outmatched. If they faced him head-on now, none would escape death.

He Yu didn't care whether these Demon Kings lived or died. But if Pangu killed them all and swallowed their Demon Cores, his cultivation would surge, making him even harder to deal with.

"Everyone, attack together! Pangu's strength has greatly diminished. This is our chance to kill him in one stroke. Then we can claim the Crystal of Information." He Yu sent the message into the minds of all the Demon Kings. Then he advanced with the Ten Demon Marshals, deliberately slowing his demon cloud and hanging far back, giving the Demon Kings ahead of them the first strike.

Sure enough, when they saw He Yu and the others move, and saw Pangu's dim spirit body, they knew his cultivation had clearly fallen.

Afraid the Crystal of Information would fall into someone else's hands, all the Demon Kings surged toward Pangu. Each of the hundred or so Demon Kings was enormous, and their simultaneous charge made a spectacular sight. Demonic clouds rolled, demonic aura surged like a tide, and the power of a hundred demons filled the world. Mixed with Pangu's savage aura, it threw the forces of heaven and earth into turmoil for hundreds of li.

Seeing the scene unfold, He Yu was delighted. He secretly instructed the Ten Demon Marshals to slow down even more and watch from the sidelines.

"Roar!" Pangu no longer charged toward the dozen or so Demon Kings. Instead, he stopped and looked at the hundred or so Demon Kings converging on him from all sides. Feeling their powerful demonic auras, a surge of battle intent rose within him. The savage aura spanning ten thousand li drew back into his body, and the blood-red streaks circling him merged into him as well. His entire body turned bloodred, brimming with terrifying savagery.

"Ha!" Like the creation of heaven and earth, Pangu twisted his body and gripped his axe with both hands, sweeping it diagonally upward from below. A hundred-zhang streak of blood-red axe light instantly slashed toward the densest cluster of Demon Kings.

The blood-red axe light contained terrifying power, and wisps of savage aura emanated from it. The aura had grown so dense that it was almost forming a faint black glow!

Whoosh!

After striking once, Pangu didn't even look to see the result. He moved again, charging straight toward the dozen or so Demon Kings gathered together. Facing the powerful demonic aura they had joined forces to unleash, he brought his blood-red axe crashing down. Heaven and earth trembled. With a thunderous boom, the powerful demonic aura shattered and scattered, revealing the dozen or so Demon Kings' horrified faces.

Facing the terrified Demon Kings, Pangu swung his axe several times, killing every one of them. He sucked in a great breath, drawing the Demon Cores of the dozen or so Demon Kings—and the Mandrill Demon King—into his mouth. Swallowing so many Demon Cores at once made them difficult to digest. After all, demonic aura was different from spiritual energy. Pangu was attuned to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but not to demonic aura. He could not digest it much faster than any other demon.

Boom!

As the dozen or so Demon Kings died, the blood-red axe light from earlier struck four more Demon Kings. Beneath the hundred-zhang streak of axe light, all four had their demon bodies shattered and were dead beyond a doubt.

In such a short time, Pangu had killed nearly twenty Demon Kings with his axe. The others were terrified and retreated three li, their courage shattered. Even the Evil Dragon Demon King was no exception. He no longer had the slightest confidence that he could face Pangu.

"Damn it! The Demon Kings are so terrified that they won't even dare compete for the Crystal of Information now. I never imagined Pangu would be this terrifying. The Demon Kings are no match for him at all. If this keeps up, once he digests the Demon Cores inside him, his cultivation will surge even higher, making him even harder to deal with. Looks like it's time for me to step in!" He Yu reasoned to himself. Pangu's cultivation was now about equal to that of his main Demon Core, but He Yu had the additional Demon Cores of the Twenty-Four Inner Mansions, as well as stronger offensive techniques than Pangu. He had a good chance of winning.

If he didn't act now, Pangu's cultivation would soon surge, and his chances would grow even slimmer!

Once he made up his mind, the twenty-five Demon Cores inside He Yu began to revolve at full power. The Eight Meridians Mystic Pole operated at top speed, and streams of demonic aura began to pour from his Demon Cores and spread around him.

As the demonic aura poured out, He Yu immediately unleashed a terrifying demonic presence, one even slightly stronger than Pangu's. All the Demon Kings gaped at him, as did the Ten Demon Marshals. They had known He Yu was powerful, but they hadn't expected his strength to reach such heights. His demonic presence was even stronger than Pangu's.

Pangu also sensed He Yu's demonic presence. He felt an immense pressure and fixed his blood-red eyes on He Yu, ignoring all the other Demon Kings.