At the sight, Morgana's expression finally changed.
"Which one of us is the Demon King, you or me? Why do your soldiers look even less human than my Demon Legion?"
She quickly collected herself. Rather than fear, a new gleam of excitement appeared in her eyes.
She licked her lips and gave Qin Feng a meaningful smile.
"Look at that. Just look. What did I tell you? This Galaxy Power was mine all along. Look at his style-it's clearly the same as my Demon Legion's."
She crooked a finger at Qin Feng. "Qin Feng, why not consider joining me? Perhaps one day, when your queen gets tired, I'll even let you have a turn as Demon King."
Qin Feng tilted his head. The amusement in his eyes remained, but a hint of coldness entered his voice.
"You want me as your subordinate? Sure. Then show me what you can do."
He raised his hand and waved casually toward Morgana. "Night Bat Corps, attack!"
The moment the order came, the Night Bat Corps soldiers swarmed toward Morgana.
But Morgana did not retreat.
She controlled the two Demon's Claws, sweeping them rapidly across the space before her. Each swipe sent four or five charging Night Bat Corps soldiers flying.
The soldiers she struck burst into black fragments in midair, then dissipated like mist.
Yet a second later, an equal number of fresh troops poured out of the shadows beneath Qin Feng's feet, filling the gaps and continuing to throw themselves at her.
Wave after wave, without end.
Morgana's expression gradually grew cold.
Though her Demon's Claws were tremendously powerful, clearing an entire swath with every swing, the energy within her was draining at a visible rate.
Meanwhile, the Night Bat Corps soldiers showed no sign of dwindling. However many died were replaced, like a bottomless pit that could never be filled.
It was not as though she had not considered drawing on stellar energy to replenish herself.
But when she habitually extended her consciousness toward the surrounding stellar energy field, she discovered to her horror that someone had sealed off this space using computational power.
An intricate energy barrier tightly enclosed an area several kilometers across, cutting off stellar radiation and dark energy flows from outside. She could not draw even the slightest amount of power from beyond it.
"Damn it!"
Morgana cursed furiously. As she swung a Demon's Claw to knock away two soldiers who had closed in, she glared viciously at Qin Feng. "Playing dirty with your queen?"
Standing in the distance with his hands in his pockets, Qin Feng watched her bedraggled state and smiled at his leisure. "Look at you, getting worked up again. Didn't you say you wanted me as your subordinate? I'm just trying to see how strong you are."
Morgana gritted her teeth so hard they creaked.
By now, how could she fail to realize Qin Feng was mocking her?
But she had no attention to spare for another exchange of barbs.
She had already consumed nearly thirty percent of her energy. If this continued until her energy ran dry, she would become a lamb awaiting slaughter.
And the smiling brat opposite her had clearly calculated exactly that. He intended to wear her down to death right here.
Her gaze swept rapidly around her as countless possible solutions churned through her mind, but that computational blockade sealed off every escape route like an impregnable wall.
Suddenly, her gaze fell on the small island beneath her.
The corners of Morgana's mouth slowly curved into an icy smile.
She raised her right hand and condensed a dark purple orb of light in her palm.
Dense demon gene code churned inside the orb. All it needed was a host to awaken the slumbering demonic will.
"Don't think you're the only one who can call in troops. Your queen can too!"
With that, Morgana hurled the orb in her hand toward the island below.
"No! Stop her!"
Yan cried out, raising her Flame Sword almost at the very instant Morgana threw the orb.
With a flick of her wrist, a fiery-red slash of sword energy howled forth, carrying scorching holy flame straight toward the falling orb.
The sword energy tore through the clouds, leaving a searing trail across the sky as it caught up at a speed far greater than the orb's descent.
But the instant the sword energy struck the orb, it passed straight through as though through an illusion, meeting not the slightest resistance.
After passing through the orb, the sword energy continued unabated toward the city below, striking a skyscraper nearly a hundred meters tall with pinpoint accuracy.
BOOM!!!
The entire building split in two from top to bottom. Its glass curtain walls shattered into glittering fragments that scattered in all directions amid the explosive shock wave.
The wreckage crashed down to either side, smashing into the streets and raising gray dust that blotted out the sky.
Screams rose from below.
"Baka! We're under attack! We're under attack!!!"
"Run! The gods are angry!"
"Help! I don't want to die yet! Aah!!!"
The crowds on the streets scattered like startled ants, the crashes of chain-reaction car collisions mingling with the shrill wail of fire alarms.
Someone looked up into the sky and saw the dark purple orb still falling, their pupils widening to their limit in terror.
"Look up there! What is that?"
Before they could react, the dark purple orb had already fallen into the city center.
Hum!
The instant the orb touched the ground, there was no explosion. Instead, it burst apart soundlessly, becoming an invisible wave that expanded in every direction from the point of impact.
The first to be caught were the fleeing people closest to the orb.
The middle-aged man running at the front suddenly stumbled and looked down at his hands.
The surface of his skin was visibly blackening and hardening. His nails extended at an unnatural speed, curving into sharp claws.
He let out an inhuman roar, the sounds forced from his throat no longer human in any sense.
Then came the second, and the third.
Across the streets of the entire city, demon genes invaded the bodies of countless people of Sakura Country at the same moment.
Their bodies twisted and swelled, their skin turning dark purple or inky black, their eyes becoming a burning dark red.
Once their transformations were complete, the humanoid demons threw back their heads and roared hoarsely. Then they lunged at those of their kind who had not yet been fully corrupted, dragging them into the abyss of mutation as well.
In just a few minutes, the whole of Sakura Island became a hell on earth.
Dark purple energy mist spread among the city's ruins, and the streets filled with the demons' howls.
Above the clouds, Yan's expression was as cold as frost.
She looked down at the rapidly spreading dark purple area, her hand trembling slightly around the Flame Sword.
She could not tell whether the emotions surging within her were anger or self-reproach.
Now that Morgana had a source of reinforcements, their side's advantage had vanished entirely.
Before you continue