Chapter 114: The Dance of Blazing Annihilation

“After all, the shop manager has helped me before. Facing the onslaught of the Disaster Association alone, the odds are grim. I must return to check on the battle.” Cheng Feng was about to leave.

“Wait a moment, what do you mean by that?” Cat Maid Xiao Ju hurriedly asked as Cheng Feng turned to leave. “Why is the shop manager in danger? Didn’t you say earlier that it stayed behind to cover us?”

If the shop manager had simply stayed to cover them, then once they were safe, it wouldn’t have needed to entangle itself with the demon hunters any longer.

Given the shop manager’s strength, if it truly wanted to leave, no one could have stopped it. But...

Cheng Feng’s words implying the shop manager’s dire situation made her sense something was amiss.

“Why exactly is the shop manager in danger? Could it be that what you said before... was a lie?” The black cat maid’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Xue Ju remained silent but wore a surprised expression as well; she hadn’t expected this turn of events.

“You’re not wrong in your suspicions.” Cheng Feng halted, expressionless, and without looking back, calmly admitted, “Those words were a lie. Otherwise, you’d all have wanted to stay behind and die. I had to use that method to get you to leave with me.”

“What? You lied to us?” Xiao Ju’s eyes grew even wider.

“The shop manager didn’t want to drag you down, so it instructed me to take you out of the encirclement,” Cheng Feng sighed. “If I hadn’t told you it was staying behind to cover our escape, how else would I have convinced you to come with me?”

Xiao Ju bit her lip in sorrow. “What about itself?”

“The shop manager chose to stay behind because it no longer wanted to run away like before. Moreover, it wishes to atone for what it once did...” Cheng Feng left those words hanging with deep meaning, then headed toward the battlefield, leaving the cat maids standing frozen in place.

...

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Thousands of meters above the ground, bursts of light intertwined in dazzling chain explosions, resembling relentless thunder and lightning, drawing the attention of all below.

Chu Xinghe and Black Night Fork fought fiercely, their collisions shattering the sound barrier with wild ferocity—separating, clashing, then separating again in endless cycles as the battle raged on.

Under the gloomy sky, fiery red and black-grey lights intertwined and collided. Each clash unleashed a powerful shockwave.

The surreal scene on the horizon resembled the untamed brushstrokes of an abstract artist, breathtaking and awe-inspiring.

“Bang!”

The clash between the crimson spirit blade and the black-red massive blade generated a fierce shockwave. This time, Black Night Fork was directly knocked back hundreds of meters.

After more than ten minutes of intense fighting, Black Night Fork was covered in wounds, clearly on the losing side, its gaze heavy with tension.

It had lived for centuries and, as the fourth Abyssal, wielded immense power and authority. Apart from once facing the world’s strongest Abyssal, Ulchia, it had never been defeated.

And now, this was only the second time it had encountered an opponent stronger than itself...

And that opponent was merely a human.

Chu Xinghe stared coldly. “Tyrant Black Night Fork, if this were the old you, the outcome of this battle might still be uncertain. Sadly, you’ve grown old.”

“You’re just a junior. Don’t be so arrogant...” Black Night Fork’s eyes darkened.

“Is that so? Then... let this battle come to an end.”

Suddenly, Chu Xinghe’s hair blazed bright red. Flames surged violently around him, radiating the imposing aura of a fiery war god.

A tremendous force burst forth, causing the air to tremble wildly.

He raised his crimson spirit blade high, endless flames converging from all directions, focusing on the blade’s blood-red edge, bursting into a dazzling blaze.

Spirit Technique—Inferno Annihilation Dance!

A cold gleam flashed in Chu Xinghe’s fiery eyes. With a fierce swing of the blade, the accumulated flame energy was unleashed forward.

“Whoosh!”

A torrent of raging fire energy shot out, tearing through the atmosphere, twisting into a blazing crimson-gold dragon.

The fiery dragon, over ten meters long, roared as it charged toward Black Night Fork.

Facing the deadly inferno, Black Night Fork sensed the threat of death. Normally, it would have dodged, but it had no strength left to evade.

It crossed its arms before it and braced to endure the impact.

“Boom!”

The blazing fire dragon engulfed Black Night Fork, erupting into a terrifying explosion of flames that shone brilliantly against the somber sky.

The rolling sea of fire spread, painting the horizon crimson. At the fiery maelstrom’s base, Black Night Fork’s figure plummeted toward the ground.

The showdown between the ace and the Abyssal—humanity emerged victorious!

At such a height, Black Night Fork’s armor was shattered and its body weak to the extreme. Falling from this height, it would surely be shattered to pieces.

Victory!

Seeing the shadow falling from the sky, the demon hunters’ minds flooded with thoughts of triumph, their faces lighting with joy.

Many felt even greater admiration for Chu Xinghe. None of them could have subdued this formidable and terrifying monster. Unexpectedly, Chu Xinghe’s strike had decisively defeated it.

No wonder he was the undefeated ace of the Disaster Association... truly living up to his name!

At that moment, Cheng Feng, now clad in the association’s combat uniform without his mask, returned to the encirclement as one of the demon hunters.

From afar, he had seen the loud fiery explosion in the sky.

Sensing the danger, he rushed to the battlefield at top speed and saw the black figure falling from the sky.

His eyes widened.

Though distant, his vampiric vision allowed him to see clearly that the figure tumbling through the firestorm was Black Night Fork.

The shop manager had lost.

Who was the opponent capable of defeating the shop manager?

Liu Shiyu noticed Cheng Feng’s arrival and approached, asking, “Cheng Feng, why are you so late? The battle is almost over.”

“Had diarrhea,” Cheng Feng replied casually, his gaze still fixed on the sky. Suddenly, he spotted a figure with fiery wings on its back.

The figure seemed familiar, and a flash of memory sparked in his mind.

The ace—Chu Xinghe.

“So it was him,” Cheng Feng murmured.

He had seen Chu Xinghe in the promotion tournament and later learned much about him.

Unexpectedly, the Disaster Association took the “Black Night Fork Subjugation” seriously enough to send a top-tier powerhouse like Chu Xinghe.

Titles such as “Strongest Demon Hunter,” “Humanity’s Hope,” and “Monster Slayer” all belonged to Chu Xinghe, reflecting his immense influence and power.

Liu Shiyu suddenly noticed an unknown figure in a black robe flying toward Black Night Fork’s falling direction.

“What’s that?”

Her gaze shifted immediately as she gave chase.

Seeing this, Cheng Feng didn’t ask questions and followed closely behind.

“Brother Shen!”

“Hmm!”

Shen Changqing walked along the road. When he met acquaintances, they greeted each other with nods or brief hellos.

But no matter who it was, no one showed any extra expression, as if indifferent to everything.

Shen Changqing had long grown used to this.

After all, this was the Demon Suppression Division, an institution maintaining stability in the Great Qin Empire, primarily tasked with slaying demons and monsters, though it had other secondary duties.

In the Demon Suppression Division, every individual’s hands were stained with blood.

When one becomes accustomed to life and death, many things lose their significance.

At first, Shen Changqing struggled to adapt to this world, but over time, he grew accustomed.

The Demon Suppression Division was vast.

Those who remained here were either formidable experts or possessed the potential to become so.

Shen Changqing belonged to the latter.

The division was divided into two professions: Guardians and Demon Exterminators.

Everyone entering the division started at the lowest rank as a Demon Exterminator and rose step by step, with hopes of eventually becoming a Guardian.

Shen Changqing’s previous identity was that of a trainee Demon Exterminator—the lowest rank among Demon Exterminators.

With memories of his previous life, he was very familiar with the division’s environment.

After a short while, Shen Changqing stopped before a pavilion.

Unlike the rest of the grim and bloodstained Demon Suppression Division, this pavilion stood out like a crane among chickens, exuding a different kind of tranquility amid the pervasive bloodiness.

The pavilion’s doors were wide open, and people occasionally entered and exited.

Shen Changqing hesitated briefly before stepping inside.

Upon entering, the atmosphere changed instantly.

A waft of ink fragrance mixed with a faint metallic scent of blood brushed his face, causing his brow to furrow instinctively before relaxing again.

The bloodstained scent clinging to everyone in the division was nearly impossible to wash away.