Demon Dragon Appears

The Mammoth King was said to possess limitless strength, especially that trunk, which could easily smash even steel. Yet Qi Yan had withstood it with his body alone. Was this guy's body made of steel?

The Mammoth King's eyes widened. It raised its right foot high, then stomped heavily onto the ground.

Boom—!!

A terrifying tremor rapidly spread outward from beneath the Mammoth King's foot.

The ground exploded with a roar.

"Waaahhh!!"...

Everyone struggled to remain standing.

Qi Yan flapped his wings and flew into the air.

He pointed his index finger at the Mammoth King. Black energy rapidly gathered before his fingertip, forming a small black sphere that continuously compressed.

"Black Cero!"

Bzzzzzz! Whoosh—!

A beam of black light shot toward the Mammoth King. Its enormous body, over ten meters tall, had no way to dodge and could only take it head-on.

"Roar—!!"

Boom—!!

The black Cero engulfed the Mammoth King's body, forming a hemispherical barrier of light that spread outward. Everything in its path was destroyed.

When the light faded, a massive crater had appeared. The Mammoth King lay unconscious within it.

"Awesome!!"

"Mr. Qi Yan is incredible!!"

"He defeated five Nine-Star Monsters all by himself! He's unbelievably strong!!"...

Seeing Qi Yan take down five Nine-Star Monsters in such a short time, all the soldiers and swordsmen erupted into cheers. Without those five Nine-Star Monsters, the pressure on the human side would be greatly reduced.

"So strong!"

Alan was utterly shocked. He had only been at a disadvantage while fighting a single Nine-Star Monster, yet Qi Yan had taken down five of them in roughly a minute. That kind of strength was simply overwhelming.

He had once believed himself to be a genius, but today he realized he had been a frog at the bottom of a well. Whether it was Qi Yan or Yoriichi Tsugikuni in the arena, they were the real geniuses.

"What is going on today? There are way too many monsters!"

Clay felt rather depressed. Usually, Arthur was the only opponent he recognized, so why had two monsters appeared today?

Arthur was equally shaken. Qi Yan's strength was already comparable to one of the Ten Wizard Saints, wasn't it? Most importantly, he was far too young.

"So this is Qi Yan's true strength?"

Erza finally understood why Qi Yan had been able to complete an S-Rank Mission. With strength like that, completing an S-Rank Mission was only natural.

Qi Yan flapped his wings and swiftly returned to the city wall.

Whoosh!

Qi Yan undid his transformation and began panting heavily.

"Mr. Qi Yan, are you all right?"

The king hurried over and asked with concern.

Qi Yan waved his hand. "I'm fine. I've just consumed too much magic power. I probably won't be able to help with the rest of the battle."

The king said sincerely, "Please don't say that, Mr. Qi Yan. You have already made the greatest contribution to this battle. Leave the rest to us!"

Because Qi Yan had defeated the five Nine-Star Monsters, the humans' morale soared. Under the suppression of artillery fire, the human swordsmen fought with increasing courage.

The monsters' morale, meanwhile, plummeted after Qi Yan defeated the five Nine-Star Monsters.

"Light's Judgment!!"

Arthur unleashed his ultimate move, heavily wounding the Nine-Star Monster Kui Lion with a single slash.

"Thunderclap: Flash!!"

Clay also found an opportunity to unleash his special technique.

His body turned into lightning as he darted between the Nine-Headed Serpent's remaining heads, severing all of them in an instant.

Erza's battle with the Silver Moon Wolf was also nearing its end.

"Purgatory Shatter!!"

Erza changed into the black Purgatory Armor and wielded a massive serrated blade.

The huge blade struck the Silver Moon Wolf fiercely.

"Awwoo—!!"

The Silver Moon Wolf let out a pained cry before finally collapsing to the ground.

Only the One-Horned Blood Ape, which had been fighting Alan, remained. Seeing that all the Nine-Star Monsters had been defeated, it lost the will to fight. After swatting Alan away with one palm, it turned and charged into the forest without looking back.

When the other monsters saw the Nine-Star Monsters flee, none dared to remain. They all scattered and ran.

"Ooooooooooh!!!"

Seeing all the monsters flee, everyone raised their weapons and shouted excitedly.

"This is great!!!"

"We won!!!"...

One hundred thousand monsters was a terrifying number, and the Nine-Star Monsters alone were more than capable of slaughtering a city or destroying a nation. If Qi Yan had not suddenly appeared and dealt with the five Nine-Star Monsters, this country might have been destroyed. Qi Yan was the hero who had saved it.

Qi Yan also breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. It looked like his bonus was safe.

Suddenly!!

Something shaped like a ball flew out from the forest.

With a bang, it crashed into the crowd.

When everyone saw what it was, they were immediately horrified.

"The One-Horned Blood Ape!!!"

It was the head of the Nine-Star Monster One-Horned Blood Ape that had just fled.

"W-what happened?!"

"Didn't that thing run away? Who killed it?!"

"That was a Nine-Star Monster!"...

Just as everyone was wondering what had happened, a round of applause rang out.

Clap clap clap!!

"Not bad! Not bad! That was quite a show! Really entertaining!"

Along with the voice, a somewhat sinister-looking young man emerged from the Great Monster Forest. He had long purple hair, wore purple clothing, and had slightly dark skin. He appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.

"Who are you? Did you kill the One-Horned Blood Ape?"

Arthur stepped forward and questioned him. Although the other party had killed a Nine-Star Monster, his words and tone made everyone deeply uncomfortable.

The young man sneered. "A human? I am not some lowly life-form like a human, so do not compare me with them. As for that little monkey, it defied my orders, so naturally it had to be executed."

Erza noticed his wording. "Orders? Are you saying these monsters attacked the city under your command?"

The young man raised a finger. "Bingo! Congratulations! You got it right!"

"Why did you do this?"

"Why? That question is simple. Of course, it was for revenge!"

"Revenge?"

"That's right! To repay someone for sealing me away for four hundred years."

The king had initially been confused. As a king, it was normal for him to have grudges with others, but he did not remember offending anyone like this. Yet the moment he heard the young man mention being sealed for four hundred years, he immediately realized who he was.

The king's expression abruptly changed as he shouted:

"Watch out!! This guy is Demon Dragon Alazam!!!"