"It seems you were the one who killed Maliza…"
The demon had not yet arrived, but its voice had already reached them.
After Yamiru's makeshift Kikoho pierced through the demon soldiers' heads, a chilling voice emerged from the dim light ahead.
Whoosh! A black wind, carrying a foul sulfuric smell, blew in. Gradually, a purple-skinned, hideous monster emerged, clearly a demon speaking.
"I am Mala. Remember my name before you die, human."
His cold gaze fell upon Yamiru in the crowd, murderous intent in his eyes.
"Just as I thought, they're after me," Yamiru thought. "That Maliza said he contacted some Samuel Demon King with telepathy… It seems after his death, that Demon King sent others for revenge."
Yamiru, Yamiru, and the Earth martial artists, excluding Namek, were first shocked by the sudden appearance of a demon soldier who was shot through the head by a beam of light. Then, seeing the imposing Mala, they all reacted in unison, shouting, "It's a demon! Everyone, attack!"
The hatred for the demon race erupted without hesitation. The Earth martial artists, after unlocking the nearby mutants' chains, rushed toward Mala in anger.
Those with weapons tightly gripped their spears, swords, and knives, while the unarmed ones fearlessly swung their fists at the demons.
"The strength difference is too great. They're charging in like this… they're walking to their deaths," Namek observed.
As the mutants, though displeased by their treatment, either seemed to have become accustomed to it or were too simple-minded to resist, they followed the Earth martial artists' lead, charging toward the demon army with wild cries.
"Humph! Trash like you dares to make me move?" Mala sneered coldly as he watched the humans rush at him. Without moving, he waited as a large group of demon soldiers finally arrived on either side of him, crashing into the Earth martial artists of various types: regular humans, animal-like mutants, and monsters.
The reason these demon soldiers were called "grunts" was from Yamiru's perspective. To him, these monsters, with their crooked features, barely had more strength than a minor demon, and the stronger ones were at most as powerful as a half-demon.
Yamiru speculated that these demons were probably the products of a mass mutation caused by hellish demonic energy, crude grunts created by the Demon King.
But… even so, to these human fighters, they were still strong enough. Most of them were on par with these demon grunts in strength.
In no time, both sides were locked in a fierce battle.
"Pfft!" A martial artist with a spear pierced a demon grunt's chest. His cold face showed no joy in killing, but rather became even colder.
These inferior demons… Perhaps they were once ordinary humans.
The demon grunt he stabbed, however, had no such complex emotions. Writhing in pain, purple demonic blood poured from the wound and splashed onto the spear. The blood hissed, and soon, faint white mist rose as the spear was corroded by the demon blood, half of it dissolving.
"Argh!" A wolf-headed mutant, fighting nearby, killed a demon grunt with a swipe of his claws, only to get a face full of demon blood. He immediately screamed in agony.
Mala sneered, "Neither human nor demon, truly the trash of trash."
From his small, crimson eyes, a beam of energy shot toward the wolf-headed mutant.
Wham!
Yamiru, running at high speed, slapped the energy beam away with his claw, which crackled with a little white smoke.
The wolf-headed mutant, recovering from the poison blood, looked blankly at Yamiru standing before him, seemingly confused. "Wasn't this guy supposed to be dead when we found him?"
The other martial artists fighting the demon grunts were equally shocked by Yamiru's strength.
When they found him, both Maliza and their lost companion were already dead, with only this "mutant" still alive, barely breathing. Now, not only was he alive, but he had incredible skills! None of them had noticed how Yamiru had rushed in or how he had deflected the unexpected energy beam.
"Hey, are you blind?" Yamiru said expressionlessly, lowering his claw, which still emitted faint white smoke, before turning to Mala. "If you're seeking revenge for that companion, Maliza, make sure you get the right person."
The demon's energy was almost equal to Maliza's, but Yamiru stepped forward anyway.
"Companion? Revenge? Who are you insulting?" Mala said coldly. "I was glad that Maliza died! But for him to be killed by such a trashy mutant human… It's a disgrace to the demon race! It also tarnishes the name of Lord Samuel…"
Before he could finish, three human martial experts, each possessing at least the skill of the Turtle Hermit, leapt in to attack.
"Demon, die!" one shouted as he thrust his spear at the back of Mala's head.
"Just like those idiots who came to provoke Lord Samuel…" Mala sighed, his tone colder, "I thought fools like them had mostly died off. But you're even more foolish than them…"
He swiftly took down the three attacking martial experts, shattering their spears and impaling one of them with a broken shaft.
The arm was broken and hung limply, like a strand of noodles.
The most severely injured had a collapsed chest, spitting blood and glaring with wide, angry eyes.
By the time Yamiru rushed in, it was too late to stop them, and he watched as the three were blasted away.
His face grew colder, golden light swirling in his eyes. Malicious energy spread from the dragon-shaped mark in his mind, the hellish aura in the air rushing into his body.
The skin, which had once regained its human appearance, once again revealed black scales.
Yamiru's teeth and fingers became even sharper.
He coldly glared at Mala and lunged at him.
"What a strange fellow!" Mala was startled by Yamiru's transformation but quickly nodded repeatedly, "Good, I finally understand how Maliza died at your hands. You deceived him by disguising yourself as one of us... but I'm not as foolish as he was!" He sneered and suddenly launched a brutal attack on Yamiru. "Even if I'm from the demon race, anyone who dares challenge me will die!"
Surprisingly, Yamiru, who seemed to have fallen into impulse, dodged Mala's attack as if he had anticipated it.
What?!
Mala was caught off guard.
Yamiru brushed past his fist, his own fists like crashing mountains, unleashing all of his power in a thunderous strike to Mala's chest.
"Puh!" Mala spat out a mouthful of purple blood. Even though he was powerful, taking that hit still caused him considerable pain.
Yamiru didn't give him a chance to recover. As he continued to absorb the magic energy in the air, he used all his strength to suppress Mala from getting back up.
The human warriors around them, inspired by Yamiru's strength, fought with even greater determination, slaughtering the demon soldiers left and right.
"Don't make me laugh…" Mala roared in rage as he was suppressed by Yamiru. His aura surged around him, and with a loud roar, he used his power to blast Yamiru away.
It wasn't just Yamiru; even nearby humans and demon soldiers were knocked back and scattered in disarray.
The only two unaffected were Namek and Amos.
Amos lowered her head, seemingly unwilling to watch such brutal fighting.
"Go help," Namek's calm voice reached her ears. "Yamiru is right. You dislike fighting because your heart is kinder than anyone else's. But... ending this battle quickly is the mercy we can offer to everyone. Amos."
Amos raised her head, and Namek had already flown toward the three martial artists who had been blasted away by Mala, badly injured and on the verge of death.
Namek knelt down, extending his palm to press against their blood-soaked bodies.
Amos saw that Yamiru, who had been knocked back by Mala, didn't even catch his breath before flipping and charging forward again.
Yamiru's martial arts skills were formidable, and techniques like the Mirage Fist were seamlessly woven into the battle, but even so, he was gradually falling into a disadvantage in his fight against Mala.
"The gap in strength…" Namek sensed the auras of both Yamiru and Mala. "The longer this battle drags on, the more it favors Mala… But why is Yamiru's aura rising?"
"Ah, I…" One of the martial artists, who was on the verge of death but suddenly healed, stared in disbelief at the green-skinned "mutant". "Did you save me?"
Namek remained indifferent, not responding. He continued his work, using his natural magic to heal the other severely injured humans. As for those with minor injuries, he couldn't be bothered.
"Please… save him too… Please save him!" Another martial artist, holding a dying comrade, ran over, tears streaming down his face.
Namek looked over. The man's face was purple, barely breathing. "I'm powerless in this case… He's been poisoned, and my abilities can't cure him. Just like I can't do anything about natural life, death, or illness."
The martial artist's lips trembled, unable to continue his pleas. He could only watch his friend in his arms, silently shedding tears.
Whoosh! Yamiru was struck by a punch from Mala, flying out and skimming past Namek's side. Just as he was about to soar away, Namek suddenly reached out and yanked him down.
"Puh, phoo!" Yamiru spat out blood. At this point, he had taken on his demon dragon form, clutching his chest where his scales had shattered and blood gushed out. He glanced at Namek.
It seemed they had reached a silent understanding. Namek didn't say anything and cast a healing spell on Yamiru.
"A genius Namekian of the Dragon Clan?" Yamiru thought to himself, feeling his strength rapidly recover. His injuries visibly healed, and using his sharp eyes, he focused on Namek's surroundings, trying to understand the differences between the healing ability of this Namekian and the principles behind the Senzu beans.
The answer was simple: there was no difference.
The principle behind the Senzu beans was that they contained a catalyst that drew the essence of the Yellow Springs, reshaping the consumer's body.
And Namek's healing power seemed to turn himself into a "Senzu bean", calling upon the energy of the Dragon Realm. Yamiru quickly realized the distinction. However, he believed the Dragon Race, sent to various realms, might not know of the Dragon Realm's existence, but were instinctively using their innate magic and secret techniques.
During the brief moment of healing, Yamiru's sharp eyes noticed some clues about Namek, and Namek also sensed something was amiss with Yamiru.
"You're clearly poisoned too..." Namek exclaimed in surprise. "But the toxin is disappearing on its own... Wait, the toxin was wiped out by this!" He grabbed Yamiru's right wrist, noticing the black scales that covered it, as well as the dragon-shaped mark, which was faintly glowing and shifting.
"Toxin? Detoxify?" Yamiru was initially stunned. He looked at the dragon-shaped mark on his wrist and instantly understood.
The dragon god elder of this era didn't directly remove the poison for me! Instead, he attached the ability to detoxify onto this dragon-shaped mark!
Old man! Well done!
Yamiru leapt up, pushing Namek away, and rushed to the side of the person who was already poisoned and on the brink of death. He raised his hand and pressed it down, focusing his mind and silently wishing for the dragon-shaped mark to detoxify.
"Wait, is... is that you?" The human who was holding his poisoned and dying friend was initially startled by Yamiru's appearance and almost went to attack, but when he saw the poison's purple hue on his friend's face slowly fade and the toxins rush toward the dragon-shaped mark on Yamiru's wrist, he quickly realized, "You're the one that was picked up, the... mutant..." This mutation is too extreme, isn't it!?
"Thank you... you..." The poisoned person woke up, and as he looked around, he saw the magic-like figure hurrying off to the next one.
"Hey! Do you think I'll just stand by and watch you..."
Mala sneered as he flew towards Yamiru, "You have the ability to detoxify! You, neither human nor demon, must die!" Among the six demon kings, their Lord Samuel was known for his poison, and now there was someone capable of detoxifying? This couldn't be allowed!
Mala was about to strike Yamiru, but Yamiru didn't even look at him.
Just as Mala was about to assassinate Yamiru, a green hand suddenly grabbed his arm, and he couldn't move at all.
"Hey, what are you looking at?"
Namek's expression remained neutral as he squeezed Mala's arm, causing it to cave in.
Mala was horrified and desperately tried to break free, but Namek's grip was like an iron clamp, unyielding.
"He's right, what are you looking at?"
Suddenly, the voice of Yamoshi rang in Mala's ear, and he was so startled that his soul almost left his body. He turned to look, and Yamoshi's youthful face was nearly pressed against his. Yamoshi raised her hand and placed it on Mala's face. Compared to his large face, her palm looked delicate, yet it unleashed overwhelming power, pushing his head and sending him flying.
Throughout this, Namek never loosened his grip... he never let it go.