High above, the wild wind howled.
Monkey, wielding the Golden Staff, locked eyes with Nathan Young, who cradled the wounded King Virūḍhaka in his arms.
It was undeniable: Nathan had no confidence in stopping Monkey, nor even in escaping with King Virūḍhaka in his grasp, for speed itself was Monkey's greatest advantage.
Yet he could not simply flee. No matter what, King Virūḍhaka was his comrade. Though Nathan did not much like him, abandoning a fellow officer was something the third prince would never do.
Taking a deep breath, Nathan wrapped King Virūḍhaka entirely in spiritual power and suspended him behind his own back. Flames converged around him as he unleashed his Three Heads, Six Arms form once more, revealing all his divine artifacts.
Monkey's eyes slowly narrowed to slits.
Everyone stared up at them, dazed and breathless.
"Do you think he'll kill Nathan?" Shortbeak asked.
Anna Yang blinked blankly. After a long moment, she moved her lips and quietly replied, "I don't know either."
Normally, Monkey would never strike at Nathan, but with King Virūḍhaka involved...
She still remembered that day—after Monkey killed White Ape and was promoted to Cavalry Marshal by the Serpent Lord, they met in that brand-new residence, and his gaze was cold as ice.
That hatred was so intense, it was almost visible to the naked eye.
Would he give up such a rare chance to kill King Virūḍhaka just for Nathan's sake?
Maybe he would. But Anna Yang truly couldn't be sure.
In fact, after Monkey's earlier actions, everyone present was convinced he would not simply let things go.
Monkey slowly raised the Golden Staff. "You brought this upon yourself."
"Come on!" Nathan Young glared at Monkey, gritting his teeth and bracing for a life-or-death clash.
In the next instant, Monkey leapt forward in a flash of gold toward Nathan, while Nathan charged at Monkey in a blaze of red.
But just as the two were about to collide, Monkey suddenly veered away and shot toward the ground—there was no violent impact as expected.
For a moment, Nathan was utterly stunned.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead. He knew Monkey had truly struck with full force—so why hadn't...
Wait!
"No—!" he suddenly shouted.
But it was already too late.
Monkey's target had never been King Virūḍhaka, nor Nathan. The sudden burst of rage drew all eyes to him—even those who didn't know the backstory assumed he would chase after King Virūḍhaka relentlessly.
He certainly holds grudges, but he hasn’t lost his mind.
At this moment, having drawn Nathan Young away, Monkey once again appeared before General Lee. Neither Lee, King Northmore, nor King Virūḍhaka had even registered what was happening.
Raising the Golden Staff high, he brought it crashing down onto the shield conjured by King Northmore’s parasol.
A deafening roar, dazzling sparks, and a shockwave swept across the land.
Everyone in Demon City instinctively shut their eyes; soldiers aboard the warships felt a powerful gust rush toward them, and the demon kings hiding in the forest could even feel the earth tremble beneath their feet.
That blow left King Northmore drained, spraying blood onto his treasured parasol.
In their panic, the severely wounded General Lee and King Virūḍhaka reached out, trying to reinforce the parasol’s shield.
But it was too late.
In the blink of an eye, Monkey struck again.
With another heavy blow, King Northmore staggered back, his parasol tumbling to the ground. In the chaos, King Virūḍhaka didn’t even manage to intervene before Monkey kicked him in the abdomen, sending him flying.
Nathan Young could no longer spare a thought for King Southwell. He transformed into a blaze of fire and sped toward the fray.
As the smoke and dust cleared, King Northmore struggled to his feet, clutching his chest and coughing up blood, then looked up toward the sky.
King Virūḍhaka, sent flying, finally managed to steady himself, hovering in midair.
But both of them drew a sharp breath.
In fact, everyone drew a sharp breath.
Right before their eyes, Monkey had already seized General Lee by the throat.
General Lee, his face drained of color, thrashed desperately, terror-stricken as he tried to pry Monkey’s hand from his throat. But not only was he gravely injured, even in his prime he could never match Monkey’s strength.
Monkey glanced up at the Exquisite Pagoda suspended in the sky, its glow fading as it slowly shrank. Grinning, he looked at General Lee and said, “Ten zhang—just five more feet and it would have activated. What a shame, General Lee, Heavenly King Lee. Hahahaha!”
Everyone was stunned.
“He... he’s captured the Heavenly King Lee?” A Skyward Legionnaire at the prow of a warship stared wide-eyed, his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
“If even Heavenly King Lee’s been caught, what are we supposed to do?”
“How could this happen?”
Eighteen thousand Heavenly soldiers erupted in chaos. At that moment, no one knew what to do—only confusion reigned, and more confusion.
This was something that had never happened in thousands of years of Heavenly Court history: before the armies even clashed, the main commander had already been captured.
Demon City erupted in thunderous cheers as every demon shrieked and howled at the sky, their roars shaking the heavens.