The Demon arrived before John with incredible speed and attacked him without hesitation. Its massive hand, which was half the size of John clawed out, each sharp nail at the end of his fingers like a lethal dagger.
Che!
The swipe pierced narrowly by John as he dodged at the last moment. The very air seemed to be cut apart by the sharpness of the claws, and lines in space could be seen from the attack, as if space was almost cut open. Those lines faded away quickly, while the demon appeared before him again and unleashed another attack.
Bang!
John's battle axe cleaved outwards and collided against the Demon's hand. The force of the collision fractured the ground beneath their feet, and both fighters were knocked backwards, both equally surprised.
'Its just as strong as me! Even in my Asura Transformation form!' John couldn't help but be surprised. Not only was the Demon as physically strong as him, it had taken almost no damage from that attack, despite his battle axe slamming directly against its hands. John hated to admit it, but the Demon's body durability was even higher than his at the moment, something that shocked him greatly.
"Interesting," the Demon rumbled as it inspected its hand for a moment, "your ability to borrow the power of the Asura's seems flawless…Just how did you manage to accomplish such a thing?" he asked.
John stared back at the Demon in silence, his guard raised to the maximum.
"No matter, I'll dissect you once this battle is over, and find out for myself," the Demon said as it shot forward once more.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The battle between John and the Demon intensified in an instant as dozens of attacks were exchanged, each with the power to kill an Early Dao Transformation beast. The land rumbled for dozens of miles in each direction, causing many weaker beasts to flee in fear.
Despite not using a weapon, the Demon fought evenly against John, who was using his Asura Transformation. The Demon's weapon seemed to be its body, which was as hard as a Dao Transformation weapon. Not even John's battle axe was able to do much damage, even as he unleashed Advents of Annihilation.
Lightning Disintegration!
John unleashed a barrage of lightning attacks to test the Demon's weakness, but it withstood the attacks with ease as well. It followed up every attack from John with one of its own, which he barely managed to dodge time and time again.
John flashed to the side of another claw attack and appeared behind the Demon. His battle axe cleaved outwards, but he stopped it immediately and flashed backwards before he could finish the attack.
Che!
One of the scythe-like blades jutting out from the back of the Demon's elbow slashed by, its sharpness and lethality even greater than that of its normal attacks. John had truly felt death approaching as that attack was unleashed on him, and had managed to dodge it at the very last moment.
'Shit, I can't even attack it from behind without those spikes nearly taking my life…does this demon have no weakness?'
His mind raced as he thought of ways to defeat the Demon, but he couldn't come up with anything at the moment.
'I can't use my bloodline ability, as I haven't fully healed from using it last time, and using it again this early could permanently cripple me…and my scythe broke during my tribulation, so I can't even unleash any Divine Reaping Scythes….shit!'
In a battle like this, his Divine Reaping Scythe battle art was his greatest hope of defeating the Demon, as its sharpness could pierce through even the toughest of defenses. However, without a scythe, he was unable to unleash his most powerful attack.
The Demon's aura exploded outwards once more, drowning the land for miles in each direction with a sinister aura. John felt his mind come under assault from the aura, but he easily withstood the mental assault and fought back with unhindered efficiency.
"Interesting," the Demon rumbled once more as it appeared before John again and unleashed a barrage of attacks. Each attack was strong enough to shatter an entire mountain, and required John's full power to resist.
Che!
Another claw attack narrowly missed John as he dodged and unleashed a counter attack. His battle axe slammed against the demon's body, but despite his overwhelming power, the battle axe was only able to pierce a few inches before coming to a halt. For a creature over three times larger than John, such a wound was able to be fully ignored.
"What a pathetic weapon," the Demon insulted, as the weapon John was using was a Peak Heaven Tribulation grade weapon, and not even a Dao Transformation weapon. Its massive hand swiped out once more, managing to catch John before he could dodge.
It slammed against his body with unstoppable force, shooting him backwards into the earth like a meteor. His bones creaked in protest and blood rose up in his throat as his body fractured the land once more and burrowed deep into the earth, only managing to stop his momentum after burrowing down for hundreds of yards.
John grit his teeth and shook off the pain his body felt, as that attack had been the strongest attack he had ever withstood directly. He felt like he nearly burst apart from the inside, but had managed to resist it in the end. He shot upwards, appearing above ground a moment later.
Deep wounds covered his body from withstanding that attack, and blood flowed over his skin freely. The Demon couldn't help but pause for a moment, surprised that John was even able to move after withstanding a direct attack from it, which was powerful enough to kill an Early Dao Transformation beast. John was a full major realm lower than it in power, and yet had managed to withstand a direct attack from it. Although he had taken damage, it was not enough to hinder his combat prowess by much.
"Truly the body of an Asura," the Demon said, its greed to devour him growing by the second.
