Su Hao took a step forward and swung his blade again.
As Su Hao closed in, 【Steel Armor King】 Abi roared, “Steel Spikes!”
“Plop, plop, plop!”
A multitude of razor-sharp steel spikes suddenly emerged from the shield. They were so swift that Su Hao couldn’t react in time, and he was thrown back by the onslaught of spikes.
It wasn’t over yet; Abi took another step.
“Thousand Needle Forest!”
Countless steel spikes shot out from the ground towards Su Hao.
Su Hao had already reacted by now. He swung his blade, cutting through many of the spikes, but even more spikes pushed him further into the air.
While in the air, Su Hao replenished his runes. His bone knife continued to grow and lengthen until it became a ten-meter-long greatsword, and he swung it down viciously toward 【Steel Armor King】.
This blow made 【Steel Armor King】 Abi’s heart pound with fear. He couldn’t risk taking it head-on and quickly moved to the side.
“Crash!”
The strike cleaved a deep trench in the ground.
Taking advantage of this, Steel Armor King smashed his shield into the ground.
“Thousand Needle Forest!”
Numerous steel spikes emerged from the ground, piercing Su Hao’s bone armor. The spikes shattered, and Su Hao was sent flying once again.
【Steel Armor King】 Abi furrowed his brows, staring at Su Hao, who remained unscathed. He couldn’t understand. “Is he the Steel Armor King, or am I the Steel Armor King? How come I can’t even pierce his bone armor?”
Su Hao inspected himself, realizing he was still unharmed, and he finally relaxed. He said to 【Steel Armor King】 Abi, “So, Abi, right? Not bad. Do you have any more tricks? Let’s see them.”
【Steel Armor King】 gripped his longsword tightly, his face grim. A 【Bone Demon】 dared to underestimate him. Even though it was a different type of 【Bone Demon】, in front of 【Steel Armor King】, it was still a lower life form.
【Steel Armor King】 Abi took a deep breath, his ice-cold eyes fixed on Su Hao. “I’ll give you one last chance. State your name, and I’ll remember you!”
Su Hao nodded and said, “You can call me Wei! I’m giving you one last chance too. Tell me your purpose, or you won’t have a chance to speak again!”
【Steel Armor King】 Abi chuckled, “Purpose? It’s not important anymore.”
Su Hao shook his head, saying, “No, it’s not important to you, but it’s very important to me. I need to confirm some things before deciding on what to do next.”
【Steel Armor King】 Abi laughed heartily, “You don’t need to worry about what comes next because meeting me means you won’t have a future. But since you’re curious, it’s not like I can’t tell you. We’re here to collect the six-year protection fee on behalf of the Tiansha Gang for Temple Forest City. How about that? Haha!”
Su Hao asked, “How much money are you planning to collect?”
【Steel Armor King】 Abi replied, “Not much, just two million Zhu per year. In six years, that’s a total of twelve million Zhu!”
Su Hao furrowed his brows and said, “Wasn’t it one million per year?”
Abi said, “It was one million just now, but now the price has gone up! Haha!”
Su Hao nodded and said, “You’re right; there’s no need to consider what comes next.”
Just then, 【Steel Armor King】 suddenly grinned, revealing jagged teeth, and shouted, “Die! The World of Steel!”
In Su Hao’s perception, 【Steel Armor King】 seemed to be consuming a massive amount of vitality, as if releasing an extremely powerful skill!
Only fifty meters around, the ground began to ripple, as if liquefied, undulating up and down.
The ground’s color darkened and took on a metallic texture.
“What is this? Is it the ability of 【Steel Armor King】?” Su Hao was greatly intrigued but had a vague sense of danger.
Su Hao decided to move away first.
“Hahaha! Die! Steel Restraint!” 【Steel Armor King】 Abi laughed maniacally. His longsword had disappeared from his hand, and he reached up.
The ground where Su Hao stood seemed to explode like a water mine underwater. A large amount of gray substance suddenly rose around Su Hao, forming a circular barrier, attempting to encase and restrain him.
Su Hao leaped into the air. Before the gray substance could completely envelop him, he circled with his long knife, slicing through the encroaching gray material, freeing himself from its grasp and soaring into the sky.
【Steel Armor King】 Abi showed no sign of surprise and continued to laugh, “Running? Can you escape?”
Soon after, large quantities of gray material rose from the ground and moved towards Su Hao. As long as Su Hao descended from the sky, this ‘steel water’ would instantly engulf him, harden, tightly wrap around him, and then grow millions of steel spikes to impale him within the encasement, ultimately killing him.
However, Su Hao didn’t follow Abi’s scripted plan. While in the air, two thin wings extended from his back. Then, he exploded upwards, flying higher into the sky.
【Steel Armor King】 Abi said, “Haha… Uh!”
What’s happening? Why is he flying away? Where’s the restraint we talked about?
On the other side, Yashan was covered in thick bone armor, feeling the beautiful Rose dancing around him. Her figure was elusive, ethereal, as if she had no real substance. She held a short knife and playfully scratched Yashan’s bone armor.
Her scratching was a bit too strong, tearing some of Yashan’s bone skin, sending bone fragments flying.
Yashan stood there, feeling Rose’s attacks and contemplating his strategy. “This Rose should be a level-four heteromorph of the 【Lightfooted People】 sequence, a 【Shadow Demon】. Even though it’s not her optimal time during the day, her form remains elusive and hard to grasp. It’s troublesome!”
Yashan tried to fire bone spines during her attacks, but this 【Shadow Demon】 Rose seemed to lack a true physical form. The bone spines couldn’t find a target.
“I wonder how Boss Wei is doing over there! I need to end this fight quickly!” Yashan, after understanding Rose’s patterns, devised a battle plan.
The plan was simple, consisting of only three steps.
“Second-tier – Lightning!” Step one, Yashan activated the ‘Second-tier – Lightning’ rune.
He didn’t even need to lock onto a target. At close range, the electrical arc of the lightning automatically sought out a target.
“Crackle!”
The sound of electricity erupted, and a dazzling electric arc shot toward the sky. Along with a scream, a graceful figure fell to the ground.
Step one complete.
The 【Shadow Demon】 Rose convulsed all over, unable to control her body.
In step two, Yashan activated ‘Second-tier – Lightning’ once more.
“Crackle!”
Another thunderous roar, and the electric arc struck the convulsing 【Shadow Demon】 Rose on the ground. This time, after the lightning, her body emitted a fragrant aroma. Her convulsions lessened, but her intensity increased.
Then came step three. Yashan picked up a large stone and activated ‘Hardening,’ then delivered three blunt blows to the 【Shadow Demon】 Rose’s forehead.
Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
To Yashan, was there any room for hesitation or sympathy? Would she snore while sleeping?
The battle ended, and Yashan hoisted the 【Shadow Demon】 Rose onto his shoulder and quickly headed towards Boss Wei.
“Hmm?” Just then, Yashan saw a figure circling in the sky.
If it’s not Boss Wei, who else could it be?
So Yashan hesitated and stopped, thinking, “Boss Wei is already soaring in the sky. What am I doing here now?”
Going there now would only cause trouble or risk death.
Inappropriate!
“Let’s wait!”
