"What? You really want to try?" Marshal Silver raised an eyebrow, his gaze cold as he stared at the Serpent Lord. "Come back quietly with me, and you'll get a satisfactory ending. If you refuse, I'll just take your soul back instead!"
The hand gripping the sword tightened slightly.
Clenching his teeth, the Serpent Lord suddenly retreated, roaring hysterically, "Don't even think about it—!"
His figure flickered, transforming into a streak of black light as he darted back into Drake City.
Marshal Silver's lips curled into a slight smile. He too turned into a streak of white light, racing toward Drake City.
At this moment, the sudden appearance of Celestial warships in the sky had thrown the city into chaos. Seeing the Serpent Lord and Marshal Silver charging toward the city one after the other, the city immediately sounded the war drums.
Marshal Silver had barely landed when dozens of Imperial Guards surrounded him.
These Imperial Guards were armed to the teeth, their equipment rivaling that of the Celestial soldiers.
The leading demon general shouted loudly, "Stop! State your name..."
By the end of his words, the tremor in his voice was unmistakable.
The demon soldiers encircling him all looked uneasy.
They couldn't discern Marshal Silver's strength, but they had seen Heavenly Generals before. Judging by his attire, his rank was certainly not low.
Paying no heed to the so-called Imperial Guards, Marshal Silver strode across the stone slabs, his eyes probing the dark corners around him.
Those surrounding him could only move with him.
"I said stop! Stop right there! Didn't you hear me?" the leading demon general shouted, waving his sword.
No matter how much he shouted, Marshal Silver paid him no attention.
"Attack!" he shouted to the demon soldiers beside him.
But the demon soldiers hesitated, none daring to step forward.
"Get moving!" He kicked at the demon soldiers.
The demon soldier, forced, raised his spear and charged at Marshal Silver, screaming.
Before the soldier could get close, Marshal Silver flicked two fingers, not even turning his head. The demon soldier was hurled backward, crashing into the wall behind him with such force that the entire earthen wall collapsed, blood pouring from his seven orifices as he died.
Both the demon soldiers and generals stared wide-eyed, mouths agape in shock.
Moments later, they scattered in panic.
On the cold, deserted street, only Marshal Silver strolled alone. From the cracks of slightly parted windows, countless demons secretly watched him, but none dared to open the windows and peek out.
"Stop running. I've found you," Marshal Silver suddenly halted, a slight smile on his lips. "Are you really not coming out?"
He quietly raised a hand and pointed to the side.
He let out a soft sigh: "Break!"
A surge of spiritual power shot forth, piercing through dozens of tightly packed pavilions and walls, collapsing them with a thunderous roar and sending dust billowing into the sky.
A tunnel quietly formed.
Amid the rumbling, Drake City erupted in chaos. Screams and shrieks echoed everywhere.
As the dust settled, deep within the layered tunnel stood the Serpent Lord, alone, wide-eyed and trembling.
"I told you not to hide. You can't escape, so you'd better come quietly with me."
"You never know unless you try!" The Serpent Lord suddenly clenched his teeth and fists, the sharp horn on his head rapidly lengthening as his body swelled, bursting through his clothes.
He threw his head back, mouth open in agony, as his sharp teeth grew longer.
In the next instant, he transformed into a ten-zhang-long black serpent, howling as he soared into the sky.
Behind him, Marshal Silver leapt up, his form expanding suddenly—armor and all.
Titan's Ascension!
In the blink of an eye, he had become a hundred-zhang-tall giant, grabbing the black serpent's tail as easily as catching a mudfish.
With a powerful yank, the Serpent Lord was dragged from the clouds and smashed heavily into Drake City.
The violent impact brought down countless buildings across Drake City, filling the city with cries of anguish.
In the swirling dust, the Serpent Lord's body writhed in pain, like a mudfish tossed onto the ground, his anguished roars piercing the sky.
A golden figure slowly approached, coming into the Serpent Lord's view, looking up at Marshal Silver suspended in the air.
The two Heavenly Generals locked eyes, and for a moment, it seemed sparks flew between them.
"Zengzhang?" Marshal Silver gripped his sword, gazing coldly at him as he slowly descended from the sky.
"Heavenly King, Heavenly King, save me! Save me!" Facing the golden-armored, blue-faced Heavenly General, the Serpent Lord nearly sobbed as he cried out.
"Save you?" King Zengzhang sneered, his body suddenly expanding into a hundred-zhang-tall giant, crushing the surrounding houses.
Countless demons fled in all directions like ants.
"Heavenly King... what are you doing?" the Serpent Lord shouted in terror.
"Your men killed ten thousand of my Skyward Legionnaires, and you ask what I'm doing?" King Zengzhang raised his sword high, aiming it at the Serpent Lord's neck.
"Heavenly King! Heavenly King! It was a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! We had an agreement!"
"I don't know what you're talking about! Prepare to die, demon!" With a blank expression, King Zengzhang swung his sword at the Serpent Lord.
A flash of white light streaked across the night sky, accompanied by a piercing sound.
Marshal Silver, who had been hovering in the sky, was suddenly on the ground, holding back King Zengzhang's sword.
The tip of King Zengzhang's sword was only a few feet from the Serpent Lord's neck, but under Marshal Silver's pressure, it trembled and drew away.
At this moment, the Serpent Lord was utterly terrified.
"Marshal Silver, what are you doing? Dare to shield a demon? Aren't you afraid the Jade Emperor will punish you?" Zengzhang gritted his teeth, shouting as he exerted force.
"If you're going to kill, don't use the Soul-Eater Sword. There are still things we haven't clarified. He's a witness!" Marshal Silver gave King Zengzhang a meaningful look.
King Zengzhang's eyes flickered.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"No matter the reason, a Heavenly General who colludes with a Demon King must be executed!"
"Your forces killed ten thousand of my Black Tortoise Division's Skyward Legionnaires. Today, I must kill him!"
With that, he fiercely swung the Soul-Eater Sword, slashing at the Serpent Lord once again!
With a deft move, Marshal Silver blocked the Soul-Eater Sword again. "If you have nothing to hide, why rush to kill?"
"You're slandering me! As a Heavenly General, you shield demons? I'll report you to the court!"
"We'll see who reports whom!"
Just then, the Serpent Lord tried to fly away, but Marshal Silver yanked him back, knocking down two more pavilions in the process.
King Zengzhang stepped past Marshal Silver, swinging at the Serpent Lord, but was blocked again.
Seizing the moment, the Serpent Lord struggled to escape through the collapsed city wall, only to have his tail pinned by Marshal Silver's foot.
King Zengzhang wanted to kill, Marshal Silver wanted to save; the Serpent Lord wanted to flee, Marshal Silver wanted to capture.
For a time, blades flashed and dust filled the sky, obscuring the sun.
Beneath their feet, the earth trembled, countless buildings collapsed, and even the towering city walls crumbled like dead wood.
Within the city, countless demons and demon soldiers died or were injured, fleeing in all directions, their cries and wails filling the air.
In the struggle between two hundred-zhang giants and a ten-zhang black serpent, Drake City, prosperous for fifty years, was utterly destroyed.
......
Two warships slowly ascended, carrying the unconscious Yang Chan, her caretaker Miles Moon, Fiona Fox, the wounded, and a carefully selected demon escort.
Perhaps out of a bit of selfishness, Simon wanted to send everyone from the previous team aboard. Sharpbeak was a given—he was in charge of scouting ahead. Lyu Six-Turn could go either way, so he was simply treated as a wounded. Big Horn, with his prior experience piloting a warship, naturally had to go.
As for Old Ox, he refused to board no matter what, so he stayed by Simon's side.
Watching the two warships head west, Simon let out a long sigh.
"If it were me, I'd have left long ago," Old Ox sighed beside him.
"You could leave too, you know," Simon shot him a look. "It's not like I didn't give you the chance."
"I'd like to leave, but no one wants me to go with her," Old Ox said with a sly grin at Simon.
That smile was a little lecherous.
Ever since Simon caught him trying to kill Sharpbeak, Old Ox hadn't smiled so freely in ages—or at least not while sober.
Simon patted Old Ox on the shoulder and led him aside. "There's no chance for me and her. As for you, your day will come. One day, it will."
"No chance?" Old Ox didn't understand, but he was used to not understanding Simon. "You, at least, look somewhat human—just with a tail. Who'd want someone like me? Only way is to steal one."
Watching Old Ox laugh heartily, Simon suddenly joined in. "Just remember, if you steal one, make it a princess. And it has to be a princess from Rakshasa Kingdom."
"Why? Are Rakshasa princesses beautiful?"
"They should be."
"Should be? Like your—your—"
"Yang Chan."
"Right, is she as beautiful as Yang Chan?"
"She should be."
"That'd be nice. But I wonder if she's really a princess... How are their palace guards? Maybe if I train for a few more years, reach the Divine Spirit Realm, and you teach me that flying technique, I could give it a try. But you'll have to come with me. If you do, I'll feel at ease."
"Then we'll take a warship together. Meeting the father-in-law, can't lose face."
"Sounds good!"
Seeing Old Ox's earnest expression, Simon suddenly felt something indescribable.
If he really were the Bull Demon King, that wouldn't be so bad.
But now, the elder brother following the seventh brother—wasn't that a bit backward?
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Haven't written a word in two days. Severe cold, but the worst part isn't the cold—it's the cough. It really tears you apart.
It's so painful. If I hadn't switched to daily updates, I'd probably have stopped updating by now.
The draft I've painstakingly accumulated is dwindling... It's agony.