Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

Several blue wind blades shot out from the swirling wind vortex, intertwining with each other, blocking Yang Yu’s path before the approaching Wind Snatching could reach him.

Yang Yu took a deep breath, stood his ground without dodging or evading, not moving a step, and activated [Surface Coating].

A strange glow flashed over the shield, as Yang Yu used it like a tennis racket to deflect an oncoming wind blade back.

With a flick of its claws, Wind Snatching shredded the wind blade deflected by Yang Yu into pieces.

A gleam flashed in its eyes as it moved like the wind and lightning, increasing its speed to an incredible level even without using a wind vortex.

In the blink of an eye, Wind Snatching reached Yang Yu, releasing wind attribute magic of different colors from the palms of its hands, red and blue crisscrossing on its arms. Its arms appeared to be equipped with gauntlets capable of fiercely unleashing wind magic, and it slammed them down on Yang Yu.

Focusing his gaze, this time, Yang Yu chose to evade rather than parry.

Dodging the falling gauntlets, a sharp wind blade cut Yang Yu’s short sleeves, leaving a trace of blood.

At that moment, the effect of [Wind-controlling Wolf Spirit] ended, causing multiple wind vortices around Wind Snatching to weaken.

Anticipating this moment, Wind Snatching slightly accelerated to conserve the vortex’s strength.

But it was this slight acceleration that gave Yang Yu the opportunity.

Dodging Wind Snatching’s attack, orange light once again enveloped Yang Yu’s sword blade, and he stabbed directly at Wind Snatching’s side.

In an instant, crimson blood gushed out, dyeing Wind Snatching’s fur red, scattering like open flowers through the wind vortex.

Confirming the damage inflicted, Yang Yu retreated repeatedly, letting Wind Snatching’s swinging claws hit empty air.

The wound on Wind Snatching continued bleeding profusely, but soon, the bleeding stopped, and the wound healed completely.

The wind vortex in its palm shot out magic, and Wind Snatching swung its elbow at Yang Yu, who crouched down to dodge the attack once again.

A sense of crisis was instinctively born in Wind Snatching’s heart.

Reversing the rotation of the wind vortex, Wind Snatching drew Yang Yu’s body in with a pull of suction from its palm.

However, Yang Yu was already prepared for this move, dodging out of the range of Wind Snatching’s absorbing palm, and once again stabbed his sword into Wind Snatching’s thigh.

Wind Snatching uttered no howl, simply continuing to track Yang Yu’s movements with its eyes, launching continuous attacks.

The two engaged in a prolonged bout of offensive and defensive exchanges.

During this battle, Wind Snatching gradually realized that without using the wind vortex to accelerate, hitting Yang Yu was almost impossible.

But using the vortex to accelerate...

Previously, the vortex-accelerated attack could barely hurt Yang Yu, but now it couldn’t harm Yang Yu at all.

Reluctantly, Wind Snatching had to increase the power of the wind vortex just to barely touch and injure Yang Yu.

Initially, Wind Snatching intended to sustain that speed of attack to gradually wear down Yang Yu until the weakened wind vortex recovered.

Yet, shortly after, the speed-enhanced attack was once more dodged by Yang Yu.

It wasn’t an illusion; Yang Yu’s movements were getting more agile.

Wind Snatching’s expression grew serious.

As the prospective Clan Leader of the Wind Wolf Clan, having faced many opponents, Wind Snatching had encountered such individuals who grew stronger during battle before.

If such a person isn’t dealt with quickly, they would grow increasingly powerful in the fight, eventually causing unimaginable trouble.

Recalling Yang Yu’s previous matches, Wind Snatching noted that, barring the first match, every bout lasted quite a while.

The longer the battle lasted, the more composed Yang Yu’s expression became.

It wasn’t the look of confidence from the start, but rather a steady assurance of victory over time.

In previous matches, Yang Yu intentionally hid his battle growth, making it difficult to detect unless one paid special attention.

But now, due to the relentless pressure from Wind Snatching, Yang Yu was forced to give his all at every moment to prevent any mistake from costing the match.

With another slight increase in speed, Wind Snatching launched a probing attack which Yang Yu easily evaded.

Yang Yu’s movement confirmed Wind Snatching’s suspicions; though now they might still be on even ground, in ten minutes or so, the scales would tip in Yang Yu’s favor.

In Wind Snatching’s mind, a plan rapidly formed based on the state of each vortex.

Unanticipated by Wind Snatching, that probing attack became the spark for Yang Yu’s shift to offense.

In a match, any momentary lapse in focus, any mistake, any curiosity could become a breach for the enemy.

Like a drop of ink spreading in a glass of water, red expanded from Yang Yu’s chest, cloaking him in a scarlet war garment, his eyes glimmering with orange light.

Without warning, countless thorns crazily grew around Wind Snatching.

Releasing countless wind blades, Wind Snatching aimed to shred every approaching thorn, but one or two slipped through the wind blade’s gaps and wrapped around him.

”Impressive! Figuring out the weakness of my wind vortex in one exchange. It’s meaningless to hide any more strength if defeated here!”

Wind Snatching roared, sprouting two more wind vortices on the back of its head and tail.

As the future Clan Leader of the Wind Wolf Clan, Wind Snatching could manipulate up to sixteen wind vortices, far exceeding ordinary members.

By mobilizing the newly summoned vortices, the air around Wind Snatching turned into wildly chaotic wind blades, shattering all the thorns binding it.

Wind Snatching dropped to the ground like a ferocious wild wolf, with all its wind vortices flashing with its roaring, conjuring hurricanes with magic power.

The magic power on Wind Snatching’s panel was rapidly consumed down to merely one-fifth by these hurricanes.

A clear sky suddenly covered itself with dark clouds, a massive storm forming above Wind Snatching’s head.

Strange winds blew from inside the arena to the outside.

Golden braids fluttered slightly as Vorquis tightly grasped her somewhat tattered Hero Cloak, her eyes fixed on the two in the arena, lost in thought.

Beside Vorquis, Hapi raised her wings, thrilled by the rising wind but paused her skyward cheer upon seeing Vorquis’s profile.

After that day’s match, Vorquis suddenly disappeared.

Though the three searched the arena extensively, they couldn’t find Vorquis. Inquiring and seeking, they eventually located her at the Martial Arts Hall.

At the time, Vorquis was deeply dispirited, battered and bruised, refusing to accept treatment from the Martial Arts Hall’s medical staff, pushing away Hapi and the others, stumbling back to her residence, and shutting herself in.

Notwithstanding Hapi’s various attempts...even when Hapi presented her favorite food while fanning outside, Vorquis remained withdrawn.

Today, when Princess Eena mentioned outside the door, ”Today’s match is with the one who defeated the Wind Wolf Clan,” Vorquis finally opened her room’s door.

Hapi was at a loss with sophisticated matters, but she sensed that watching the match made Vorquis deeply troubled.

Folding her wings, Hapi sat reservedly beside Vorquis, waiting with her for the match to conclude.