With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Luo Ya slowly walked toward Ambux's headless corpse. After a moment's thought, he swung Ryujin Jakka down at it.
Luo Ya's eyes widened as the headless corpse kicked off the ground and leaped backward, making his blade strike the earth with a clang.
He saw Ambux's head and body quickly draw together, blue flames burning fiercely around the severed edges.
Staring at Ambux's ability, Luo Ya was stunned for a moment. He'd been out at sea for years, and before this, he'd relied on Black Flame's immortality to bully others.
But now the tables had turned, and he'd run into someone else with an immortal body. Luo Ya was at a loss. Only someone who cheated knew how hard it was to kill another cheater.
Just then, the sound of countless feet pounding the ground came from nearby. Luo Ya looked up and saw Kobolds surging toward him like a tide, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Luo Ya responded by sweeping out a circular wave of flaming sword energy. It spread in every direction, cutting countless Kobolds in half. Entrails and organs filled the air, scattering with the blood.
After the bisected Kobolds died, their bodies returned to their original forms. Blue flames rose from them and flew toward Ambux.
"I told you! No one can defeat me in my kingdom! You're dead, Luo Ya!"
Ambux, his neck still held together by black-and-blue flames, bellowed with a savage grin.
"These wretches you kill restore my wounds, but if you don't kill them, they'll kill you! You're dead!"
Luo Ya kept swinging his sword, cutting down the endless Kobold army. Watching Ambux rave like a madman, he thought, So I can't heal by absorbing souls from a distance anymore? I have to get over there and finish him. Otherwise, with him gaining ground while I lose it, I'll be worn down.
Ambux healed by absorbing the souls of those he'd marked with slave brands.
Luo Ya, on the other hand, healed through his own power alone. If he hadn't spent half a year eating the fruit from that ruin, he'd already be running out of strength to recover. After all, the damage Ambux had inflicted wasn't merely physical—it had wounded his soul as well.
With that thought, Black Flame blazed around Luo Ya as he charged at Ambux, who was still recovering.
The Kobolds blocking his way made one thing clear: Ambux had gone completely mad and turned every slave he'd branded into one of the creatures before him.
They all had the same Kobold faces, but their clothes made it possible to tell them apart. Men and women, young and old, had all been thrown into this battle.
Ambux's "corpse" was carried rapidly backward by four tall Kobold guards.
Though no one on the battlefield could withstand a single blow from Luo Ya, he was surrounded by enemies surging at him like a tide.
Often, before the body in front of him could even fall, the Kobolds rushing in behind it trampled it underfoot.
Whenever Luo Ya drew close to Ambux, the four Kobold guards swiftly carried him back, keeping their distance.
With his assault getting him nowhere, Luo Ya's resolve hardened. He plunged Ryujin Jakka into the ground.
In an instant, dozens of pillars of fire erupted from the earth, lighting up the pitch-black night as if it were day.
Under Luo Ya's control, the pillars of fire didn't converge on a central point. Instead, they exploded right where they stood.
A deafening boom shook the air. Flames drifted down from the sky, and amid the scorched corpses covering the ground, blue flames surged into Ambux like waves.
Ambux let out a moan of pleasure. Seizing the chance, Luo Ya charged at him with his blade.
With a few swift slashes, Luo Ya cut the four Kobolds carrying the "corpse" into pieces. With no one in his way, he brought his sword down on Ambux.
Clang! Ambux's head and body had been restored, and his left arm had grown back. He blocked Ryujin Jakka's strike with a black claw.
Ambux opened his doglike mouth to speak, but Luo Ya gathered a large amount of Haki in his leg.
Drill Dragon Nail! He kicked, but Ambux raised his knee to block it with a dull thud.
Ambux seized the opening and swiped at Luo Ya's face with his free claw.
Luo Ya gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing crimson. Black Flame surged over his head, while he concentrated a large amount of Haki into his clawed left hand.
Dragon's Breath! Luo Ya's left hand slammed into Ambux's chest, while Ambux's claw struck Luo Ya in the face at almost the same time.
With a bang, the two were thrown apart and fell to the ground.
A gaping hole had been torn through Ambux's chest. Blue flames burned around it, and through the opening, Luo Ya could see the wall behind him and a fresh wave of Kobolds approaching.
Luo Ya's face was stripped down to bare bone. Of his blood-red eyes, only one remained, still fixed on Ambux. Black flames roiled across his face as well.
"That ability of yours is pretty useless, isn't it? You've been healing for so long, and this is all you've got?" Luo Ya taunted.
From their exchange, Luo Ya could tell that Ambux had much less control over his body than before.
After all, Ambux was a master who specialized in hand-to-hand combat. It would be difficult for Luo Ya to seize the initiative in close quarters against him.
Yet in this exchange, Luo Ya had completely dictated the flow of the fight. And Ambux was healing far more slowly than he was.
"Is that strange Black Flame of yours another ability the sword gave you? It's impressive, I'll admit. I'll train hard in swordsmanship from now on," Ambux said with a sinister grin, waving his hand.
At Ambux's gesture, countless Kobolds surged toward Luo Ya like another great tide.
They grabbed, kicked, and tore at him with their long snouts. These Kobolds, now wholly transformed into Ambux's slaves, attacked Luo Ya like zombies, throwing themselves at him again and again.
There was no denying that Ambux's ability was shamelessly unfair. If Luo Ya didn't kill the Kobolds, they would bury him alive. If he did kill them, they would become "food" to heal Ambux's wounds.
For a time, Luo Ya was caught in a dilemma. Surrounded by the Kobolds, he could hardly break through and reach Ambux.
And Ambux wasn't helpless in a fight, either. Even if Luo Ya got close, it would be difficult to kill him in a single blow.
With no other choice, Luo Ya could only repeat his earlier strategy, constantly slaughtering the Kobolds around him.
But during this three-day battle, Luo Ya didn't have enough stamina to unleash battlefield-clearing attacks like Infernal Fire Prison or Blazing Hell.
He could only swing Ryujin Jakka, occasionally using a couple of Fire Burning City Walls to kill dozens of enemies at once.
He watched helplessly as Ambux continued absorbing the blue flames and healing the gaping hole in his chest.
"You're quite the hard worker, Luo Ya. You've killed tens of thousands of these wretches already. The ones left are all I can control on this island.
"But what are you going to do about the tens of thousands still here? What an ugly sight—you're going to be mobbed to death by these wretches! Hahahaha!"
Ambux laughed wildly as he recovered on the outskirts of the battlefield.
The island's population had originally been at least a hundred thousand, but Ambux had consumed their souls to heal himself in the early stages.
Normally, Ambux wouldn't have needed so many people to recover. But just like the wounds he'd inflicted on Luo Ya, Ryujin Jakka's injuries also affected the soul.
There were still tens of thousands left. As Luo Ya's stamina ran lower and lower, his swings grew slower.
Every time he swung his sword, he had to gasp for breath. After his final slash, Luo Ya seemed to lose his footing from exhaustion on the mountain of corpses and severed limbs. His foot slipped on a severed hand, and he fell, then knelt on the ground, leaning on Ryujin Jakka.
Seeing Luo Ya kneeling, Ambux waved his hand, now that his wounds had healed. The surrounding Kobolds immediately froze in place, like statues.
"Are you pretending to be exhausted to trick me into coming over, Luo Ya? What an ugly trick. It doesn't matter whether you've really lost the ability to fight.
"Your only fate is to be torn to pieces by these wretches! Hahahaha!"
Ambux laughed wildly. Blue flames gathered around his claws as he slashed at Luo Ya. Three claw-shaped blades shot out with a swish, cutting the Kobolds in their way to pieces as they flew toward him.
Luo Ya wasn't discouraged that his ploy had been seen through. After all, brainless villains like the ones in anime were rare. Ambux had clearly decided to wear him down.
With a clang, Luo Ya sprang up from his crouch and swung his sword, cutting the claw blades apart before charging at Ambux again.
Ambux laughed and waved his hand. The surrounding Kobolds swarmed toward Luo Ya once more.