Volume Two, The Demon Game Chapter Fifty-One: Fierce Battle

The corners of Lu Yi’s mouth curled further upward. He could already envision these two ants being crushed to pieces under his assault. Just as everything was about to spiral out of control, a voice suddenly echoed in his ears.

Hearing that voice, Lu Yi’s body jolted, and he snapped back to reality. He instantly sensed the immense energy surging in his hands. A brief moment of focus caused his expression to change drastically; if he unleashed these two attacks, he would exhaust most of his internal energy. Moreover, his goal was not to kill Tan Weiwei and Deng Yuqi; throwing such lethal moves was entirely meaningless.

Lu Yi retracted his index finger, then clenched his left hand into a fist and struck Tan Weiwei on her right shoulder. Accompanied by a faint cracking sound, Tan Weiwei let out a scream and was sent flying backward.

After knocking Tan Weiwei away, Lu Yi immediately dodged an ice spear, then quickly drew a throwing knife to deflect the next one. However, since the knife was a projectile, his hand was coated in a layer of ice the moment it struck the spear. Lu Yi glanced at Deng Yuqi, then turned and bolted without looking back.

"Elemental Summoning: Freeze!" Deng Yuqi raised her staff, shouted, and slammed it heavily into the ground.

Lu Yi immediately felt the ground beneath his feet shudder. A moment later, an arched wall of ice several meters high rose before him. The wall continued to shift, rapidly sprouting sharp ice pillars that pointed directly at him. No one wanted to test the sharpness of those ice pillars with their bare flesh, and Lu Yi was no exception. He came to an immediate halt.

"Ah, that stings," Tan Weiwei muttered, rubbing her shoulder as she returned to Deng Yuqi’s side. A faint blue glow spilled from her palm, and soon, her arm regained full mobility. She smiled slightly, "I had a grand feast prepared for you. It would have been such a pity if you had died just like that."

Deng Yuqi also smiled, "You are truly foolish, still clinging to the idea of saving these two prey. If you had just hardened your heart and finished them off, you might have had a chance to escape."

Lu Yi looked around, his expression darkening once more. He scanned the information on his wristwatch, hoping to find an explanation from the City.

"You have been designated as the Demon King by Tan Weiwei’s innate ability. Verification successful."
"Your current identity is Demon King. Being within 50 meters of the Princess identity grants you the passive skills [Militant] and [Reckless]."

Lu Yi briefly reviewed the descriptions of these abilities. Simply put, within a 50-meter radius of the Princess, he had a high probability of being afflicted by a "debuff to intelligence," colloquially known as "growing muscles in your brain." This was the reason for his earlier lapse in judgment.

Tan Weiwei’s expression suddenly turned solemn. She grabbed the hand Deng Yuqi used to hold her staff. "In the name of the Princess, I appoint Deng Yuqi as the Sage and Wise One."

A unique luster immediately appeared on Deng Yuqi’s pale face, and her entire aura shifted. Lu Yi, meanwhile, felt a stifling sense of restriction. He checked his watch, and sure enough, two more notifications had appeared:

"Current identity: Demon King. Within 40 meters of the Wise One, your energy mobilization will be suppressed."
"Current identity: Demon King. Within 40 meters of the Sage, your energy consumption for attacks will increase by 20%."

Lu Yi’s face paled. This talent was monstrous; being in the Princess's range added two negative passive effects, while the Sage and Wise One acted as aura-based passives. And this was only the suppression on him—he didn't believe for a second that these identities wouldn't also grant buffs to Deng Yuqi.

"Your face looks quite interesting right now," Tan Weiwei laughed. "Feeling uncomfortable? I, however, feel wonderful. Not only has my skill potency increased, but my consumption has also decreased."

As she finished speaking, Deng Yuqi swung her staff, and an ice-blue ray shot directly through Lu Yi’s body. Sheets of frost instantly covered him. Deng Yuqi didn't stop, waving her staff repeatedly to send several more ice spears flying.

Lu Yi clenched his fists, mobilizing his energy. With a roar, he shattered the frost on his body and prepared to dodge, but suddenly, he felt his feet ensnared. Glancing down, he discovered his legs were encased in rock. A deep sense of crisis welled up in his heart.

"Hero’s Crystal Rock Sword!" A man holding a black crystal longsword roared, charging at Lu Yi’s back.

Lu Yi gritted his teeth and twisted his body, his energy erupting to shatter the stone around his legs. He then used water-manipulation techniques to control his internal energy. He leaped high, tapped his foot in mid-air, and a footprint formed of dark energy appeared and vanished instantly. Lu Yi took several steps in the void, flipped, and landed diagonally behind the man, successfully evading the pincer attack.

Upon landing, Lu Yi recognized the man: "Liang Feisong!"

He looked back at the ice wall; unsurprisingly, there was a gap. It was clear Deng Yuqi had let Liang Feisong through. The rock that trapped his legs had been cast by Liang Feisong the moment Lu Yi broke free from the ice.

Although Lu Yi had dodged the attacks, the ice spears were still moving, and within two seconds, they would have pierced Liang Feisong. Tan Weiwei extended her right palm toward Liang Feisong, who held his crystal sword high. In unison, they shouted, "Hero’s Glory!"

The ice spears suddenly veered, turning upward to float in parallel with Liang Feisong’s longsword. Liang Feisong spun around and slashed toward Lu Yi, "Hero’s Slash." Several ice spears merged into his sword, and as he swung, a brilliant blade of light cut toward Lu Yi.

Feeling the danger intensifying, the six-pointed star in Lu Yi’s eyes flared. In the nick of time, he mobilized his water energy to carve a gap in the light blade and slipped through. Even so, the attack was too sudden; despite his quick reflexes, he still sustained several new wounds.

"Blade light?" Lu Yi stared at Liang Feisong. During their introduction, he had clearly displayed earth-type energy; how could he suddenly manifest sword light? Was he hiding an ace?

Suddenly, Lu Yi had a realization. "Princess, Hero, Wise One... could these identities not only provide buffs but also grant active skills to their subjects?" Lu Yi’s mouth twitched. "That is far too powerful."

He subconsciously glanced at his watch. The good news was that there was no notification of negative status effects within the Hero’s range. The bad news was a much worse prompt:

"Current identity: Demon King. You are within the range of the entire Princess’s Knights Order. If you are defeated or killed by them within 10 minutes, the Princess’s abilities will be upgraded, and the levels of the other identities will increase."

It appeared that being designated as the Demon King was a marker that provided the opposing party with active skills and various passives. He quickly scrolled past the content. The information on the watch changed:

"If after 10 minutes, the Princess’s Knights Order has failed to defeat or kill you, or if you defeat/rout the Knights Order within 10 minutes, the Demon King identity will be strengthened. In this case, the Demon King identity can be retained, and your abilities will be reconfigured."

Lu Yi froze. This talent was profound. First, the designation of the Demon King involved a judgment because Tan Weiwei’s talent growth was tied to defeating or killing the Demon King. Then, the Wise One and Hero she appointed received buffs and powerful skills; if they succeeded in defeating the Demon King, their abilities would improve. Conversely, if they failed, the Demon King would be empowered.

Lu Yi shook his head. Now was not the time to ponder Tan Weiwei’s talent. He looked at the three of them surrounding him again and said in a grave tone, "Watcher, you have quite the repertoire. In less than 20 minutes, you’ve managed to assemble a trio."

"Heh, you could say that," Tan Weiwei smiled, circling him as the three of them tightened their formation.

"Actually, the hardest one to catch was this prey," Liang Feisong pointed at himself. "Though he was a bit slippery, he was still easier to catch than you."

Deng Yuqi took over, pointing at herself. "As for this one, he was too confident, thinking he could take me on. After casting a few spells, he was trapped in my illusion and ended up with a mental energy deficit, never waking up."

"The Wind-Chasing Squad," Lu Yi spat out bitterly.

"A bunch of fools, right?" Deng Yuqi continued. "I think so too. You are the only prey who has truly surprised me and made me feel so genuinely furious, Lu Yi."

"Hmph," Lu Yi snorted and charged toward Deng Yuqi. "Why would you let a mage get so close to me?"

"Ice Binding!" Deng Yuqi waved her staff at him.

However, it was a feint. Mid-charge, Lu Yi suddenly flipped and lunged toward Tan Weiwei. Tan Weiwei smiled and casually tossed away her dagger. "Lu Yi, this is not the best place to break through."

She raised her right palm, and two streams of energy illuminated it. A magnificent Western rapier appeared in her hand. Gripping it, she thrust toward Lu Yi, "Glory Sword Art." The rapier let out a light chime, producing several phantoms, and one sharp tip after another pierced toward Lu Yi.

The moment the rapier appeared, Lu Yi felt a sense of dread. He sensed a power of suppression within it. He quickly condensed a water shield in front of him, but not expecting it to hold, he immediately threw himself to the side.

The water shield was useless; it shattered the instant it formed. Several sword tips pierced Lu Yi, and black smoke rose from his body. It was clear this rapier possessed the ability to consume dark energy, similar to a demon-hunter's weapon.