Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

”Yang Yu! There’s one more of the Four Heavenly Kings! He’s here!”

Bai Jin immediately reported to Yang Yu what she had just seen.

Whipping his two weapons, Yang Yu kept his eyes fixed on the steadily shrinking Blood Bar above Ammonval’s head while deliberately letting Ammonval’s attacks slam into his own body, fulfilling the activation condition for [Fury Blood].

Hearing Bai Jin’s report, Yang Yu’s brows knit tightly; those thoughts that had flashed through his mind were gradually becoming reality.

”Bai Jin, it looks like Iyas is here too.

Can you help me stall them for a bit?

Don’t let the other Four Heavenly Kings come over here.”

Yang Yu inhaled and exhaled once, completely calming down as a crimson hue spread outward from his chest, draping him in a blood‑red War Garment.

Bai Jin nodded heavily. The remaining member of the Four Heavenly Kings was a defense‑oriented Heavenly King.

If she could use a dense barrage of attacks to pin him down and keep him away from Yang Yu and Ammonval’s battlefield, Yang Yu should gain more room to maneuver and decide the outcome in one go!

Chanting a Spell rapidly under her breath, Bai Jin wove a large‑scale magic. Iyas, riding on Lotcar across the battlefield, once again drew her Longbow.

Just then, from afar Iyas saw the right forearm of [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne flare with light as a massive mechanical arm clamped over his right hand.

At the glove position of that mechanical arm, a cyan orb snapped perfectly into a recess; cyan light spurted out from the groove, spreading along the patterns on the mechanical glove and forming streaks of cyan‑blue lines.

On the inner side of the mechanical arm were ten squares, of which one now lit up faintly.

Bai Jin and Iyas unleashed their attacks almost simultaneously. Magic Thunderbolt crackled up and down, while the shining arrows carrying Iyas’s consciousness once again tore through the sky.

The Light Arrow fully controlled by Iyas could turn into light mist in front of the Steel Fragments, piercing through the enemy’s defenses.

However, [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne gave Iyas and Bai Jin absolutely no chance to perform. He and all the Steel Fragments beside him vanished in an instant.

The next second, [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne appeared in front of Yang Yu without any warning!

[Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne raised his eyes, dark circles and all, and activated a Skill:

”[Steel Shield Defense].”

In a flash, the Steel Fragments orbiting [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne rapidly expanded, forming a rotating bowl‑shaped Shield that descended over the battlefield like an inverted cover.

Yang Yu’s twin blades slammed into this Shield, instantly throwing up a shower of sparks!

”Ammonval, you really are in a sorry state.”

[Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne’s face remained stony as another square on the inside of the huge mechanical arm lit up. He activated the Skill of the Equipment [Laplace],

”[Fallen Land]!”

A dazzling reddish‑brown light burst from [Laplace] as [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne smashed his fist into the ground.

In an instant, the earth quaked and mountains shuddered. Centered on [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne, the ground fractured inch by inch and the terrain collapsed rapidly downward.

In just a few seconds, [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne had created a massive crater like the impact site of a meteorite; the roar of its formation could be heard clearly even kilometers away.

With the terrain suddenly shifting, the ground under Yang Yu’s feet trembled. Using nimble footwork, he dodged the effects brought on by [Fallen Land] while glancing toward the newly appeared [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne and reading his stats.

[One of the Four Heavenly Kings of Demon King Army

[Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne

Level: LV195, HP: 522587/522587, MP: 93126/93698

Strength 2957, Defense 10786, Intelligence 3254, Special Defense 10420, agility 2251

Special: [Steel Clan Level 9] all Physical damage -45%, Magic damage -18%

[Separation Creation lv.max] this unit can split into multiple bodies, creating Creations that act in accordance with its will. Stats will change depending on the degree of separation; if not split for a long time, stats will slowly recover. Current attribute strength: 91%.

[Indomitable Body] after taking a hit, increases Defense and Special Defense by 2% for 10 seconds, up to 20 stacks.

[Indestructible] restores 0.5% of max Life Value every 10 seconds; when Life Value is below 50%, restores 1% of max Life Value every 10 seconds.

Resistance: Physical Resistance +50%, Fire Attribute Resistance +20, Ice Attribute Resistance +20%....]

[Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne truly lived up to his reputation as the Strongest Shield among the Four Heavenly Kings. Aside from his double defenses breaking five digits on the panel, he had three Special Items that massively boosted his tanking.

The only Special Item that didn’t increase tanking still granted him a certain degree of utility.

What shocked Yang Yu even more was that [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne possessed positive Resistance to almost every attribute.

Aside from weak Attack and slow movement speed, Yang Yu could hardly find any other flaws in [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne.

It really proved his initial decision was correct.

With this kind of Iron Turtle holding the field, as long as he topped up his Blood Volume with Potions when low, Yang Yu’s group could be stuck fighting him for three days and three nights.

Once they were stalled by an Iron Turtle like this, the Demon King could arrive at any time.

In order to take down Ammonval quickly, Yang Yu had already activated [Fury Blood]. Even if he managed to unload his full damage output smoothly, he probably still wouldn’t be able to shave off even half of [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne’s HP.

Let alone breaking through [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne’s defense to kill Ammonval.

Bai Jin was shocked by [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne’s sudden repositioning. Without a word, she pointed her Magic Wand at [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne.

But down in the crater, Yang Yu shook his head at Bai Jin up in the sky.

Bai Jin and Yang Yu linked up via Telepathy, and Yang Yu immediately said to her:

”The operation’s a failure!

The Demon King is likely to arrive soon; we can’t break through this Heavenly King’s defense in a short time!

Retreat!

Follow the retreat plan I laid out before!

Move!”

Bai Jin nodded and immediately ceased all Attack Magic. Using Telepathy, she contacted Iyas, Qiuye, and everyone else participating in the operation, ordering them to withdraw.

The [Fallen Land] created by Laplace didn’t just make the ground sink; it also inflicted a heavy slow on everyone standing within its bounds.

Yang Yu pushed against the strong slowing effect and sprinted toward the edge of the field.

[Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne noticed Yang Yu’s intention and said to Ammonval behind him:

”Hurry up and take Potions to heal your wounds.

If I hadn’t made it in time, you would’ve been in real danger this time.

Quick! Any slower and he’ll get away!

”

Urged on by [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne, Ammonval hurriedly took out Potions and poured them into his mouth. The wounds all over his body that Yang Yu had stabbed into him began slowly recovering.

Ammonval wanted to say something, but his train of thought was interrupted by [Iron Steel Dragon] Black Diamond Lorne’s muttering:

”This time the goddess’ Apostle really is something else.

Everything is proceeding exactly according to Lord Demon King’s plan. I won’t allow any more of the goddess’s Angel Envoy to disrupt our designs.”

Ammonval tightened his grip on the longsword in his hand and laughed:

”Exactly! Trash who only knows how to use such underhanded tactics must be completely wiped out!”