Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

[Lion’s Roar] is a skill that can cause a binding effect. The greater the difference in strength between the two sides, the longer the binding effect lasts.

While using this skill, Wan Huawen also used [Blood Burst Earth], creating a deceleration field centered on himself.

From the start, he double-insured this battle.

Yang Yu felt as though something had completely hooked him, unable to move from his spot.

What awaited him was Wan Huawen’s straightforward and unadorned fist.

Just as the fist was about to touch Yang Yu, Yang Yu moved his shield in front of him, executing [Shield Counter], and red thorns rapidly climbed over the heavy shield, piercing into Wan Huawen’s large fist.

Wan Huawen didn’t react to the pain from the thorns, forcefully pressing his fist against Yang Yu’s shield.

With powerful Inch Force, Wan Huawen’s upper robe instantly turned into fragments, revealing the muscular fur-covered body.

One blow with Inch Force sent Yang Yu flying, and Wan Huawen applied multiple enhancement skills like [Bodybuilding], [Speed Enhancement], and [Power Enhancement] on himself.

Then, he used [Evil Tiger Fierce Pounce] and [Red Blood Path], his body enveloped in a layer of red light, rapidly pursuing Yang Yu, who was raising his shield.

At that moment, scorching flames sprayed from Yang Yu’s shield, but it didn’t stop Wan Huawen’s charge.

In the blink of an eye, Wan Huawen’s entire body crashed into Yang Yu’s Flame Dragon Shield.

However, what he collided with was merely the Flame Dragon Shield.

The blazing fire had not yet extinguished on the shield, when a black stream of light shot through the roaring flames at the side, straight towards Wanzhang Lion’s chest.

Seeing the direction of the sword blade, Wan Huawen raised his hand, intending to catch Yang Yu’s blade with one hand, while gathering strength in the other, planning to release a [Shattering Heavy Strike] that could cause massive damage and penetrate enemy armor upon catching it.

However, to Wan Huawen’s surprise, Yang Yu’s dancing sword blade shifted unexpectedly, retracting a bit, drawing from his wrist to his elbow.

A strange black aura invaded the wound, causing internal damage to Wanzhang Lion.

This was a premeditated deception attack.

[Shadow Deception], even if part of the opponent’s strength was sealed, it could still output based on the enemy’s original strength.

If the opponent’s strength enhanced during the battle, this skill would utilize the enhanced strength to deal damage.

Yang Yu’s unexpected move instantly shaved off over Five Thousand of Wan Huawen’s blood volume, reducing about a quarter of his blood.

It wasn’t over yet as orange light flickered on Yang Yu’s sword blade, piercing through the fleeting opening toward Wan Huawen’s abdomen.

”Clang—” Yang Yu’s strike seemed to stab into an Iron Wall.

Upon closer inspection, Wanzhang Lion’s solid belly had turned into a black sheen with metallic luster.

Wanzhang Lion used [Metal Hardening Defense] to completely evade Yang Yu’s [Double-sided Slash].

Yang Yu hadn’t expected Wan Huawen to use this move.

[Metal Hardening Defense] requires a certain amount of metal to activate, a skill of elite Heavy Knights.

However, this skill becomes awkward once learned by Heavy Knights, as it can only block one strong physical attack.

Heavy Knights are meant to stand at the front, absorbing more damage; ignoring just one damage is clearly insufficient.

Moreover, Heavy Knights have more advanced alternative skills than this one.

Though Yang Yu didn’t know how long it takes Knights to learn a skill, it seemed they needed to exert much effort to learn even one or two.

Compared to such widely applicable skills, they prefer abilities that can continuously enhance defense, improve their endurance, and have greater versatility.

Although Wan Huawen had no metal on him, he could use this move, which was truly bewildering.

Could it be because of the iron-rich blood, and the Blood Lion fighting by manipulating the power of blood, thereby gathering iron ions on the surface to form such a defense?

That’s preposterous!

Without giving Yang Yu much time to think, Wan Huawen’s glowing fist smashed toward him.

It was too late to dodge.

Wan Huawen’s punch hit Yang Yu’s chest, where Yang Yu could hear his ribs crunching and shattering.

Regretting setting such a flag before the match, the repercussion was swift and severe.

Knocked back several meters, Yang Yu barely had time to breathe before Wan Huawen rapidly approached, using [Lion Overlord Fist] to pursue.

This is the Blood Lion’s most powerful skill; if hit, the damage would be far from limited to some broken ribs.

The entire rib might shatter into pieces.

”[Thorny Binding]”

An enhanced skill birthed a massive amount of purple thorns in front of Yang Yu at an incredible speed, like resilient ropes, encircling Wan Huawen from all directions.

Even with his strength halved, Wan Huawen remained formidable. Faced with the enhanced thorns, a simple exertion was enough to break them apart.

If it were the old thorns, they might not hold Wan Huawen for even a second, but the enhanced ones bought Yang Yu quite some time.

Rolling to grab the Flame Dragon Shield from the ground, Yang Yu used [Shield Block] to face Wan Huawen’s large fist.

If it were a Rare quality shield, it would already have shattered into countless pieces under Wan Huawen’s punch, but the Flame Dragon Shield perfectly blocked this attack.

With the attack failing, Wan Huawen immediately executed the next skill.

Fast, precise, ruthless—these were the combat principles of the Blood Lion Clan.

If sparring with his disciple, Wan Huawen might have held back, but facing Yang Yu, if he isn’t entirely serious, he might actually be defeated in direct confrontation.

”[Blood Lion Control]”

With a roar, withdrawing his fist, Wan Huawen swung his arm, two massive golden claws reached from his back toward Yang Yu’s waist, aiming to embrace Yang Yu, restricting his actions.

This move is most effective against quick adversaries, and the terrifying aspect is its ability to adjust hand position mid-way, leaving no room for escape for the embraced.

However, Wan Huawen only grabbed an illusion, with the golden arms caught in a black shadow.

Yang Yu had long concealed himself under the phantom cover of [Shadow Power], withdrew his shield, and crawled on the ground like a crocodile, slipping through the gaps between the golden claws and the ground.

Then Yang Yu used [Escape Expert] skill to relieve the deceleration control on himself, rapidly retreating out of the [Blood Burst Earth] zone.

Red light burst from the ground, yet Yang Yu stood at its edge, avoiding substantial damage.

The battle isn’t over.

Wanzhang Lion watching the vanished phantom before him, again stepped towards Yang Yu in the red glow.

This time, Yang Yu could fully utilize his speed to evade the attack.