Chapter 356: Chapter 236: Drowning in the Land of Tenderness
A desolate, open-pit mine.
The mine covered a vast area, with traces of human activity even on the two small mountains nearby. It was clearly a composite mine, simultaneously extracting both iron ore and Amber Stone.
The crude dwellings around the mine looked as if they hadn’t been inhabited for years. Buried in deep snow, the view was nothing but an endless, desolate expanse of white.
Zhou Chen walked through the mine, treading on the hard-packed snow. He could sense it—the target he had scorched with his Cyan Flame was here.
Right... beneath his feet!
Suddenly, Zhou Chen shot backward.
The instant he retreated, the ground exploded, sending shattered ice and earth flying high into the air. A pitch-black figure burst from below in a surprise attack. Its dagger-sharp claws swiped upward, capable of slicing through steel with ease.
Zhou Chen had already dodged, flashing to a safe distance. When he got a closer look, he couldn’t help but look astonished.
It was a tall monster, very similar to the one he had just finished off. But this one wasn’t composed of shifting black mist; it was a corporeal Demon of real flesh and blood.
Two thick, demonic horns grew from its head, and massive, fly-like compound eyes dominated its face. It had dense, sharp teeth, and a pair of pitch-black dragon wings unfurled from its back. Its body was covered in thick, dark bristles, its claws were like a tiger’s, and its legs resembled a Werewolf’s, brimming with a sense of Power.
The features of several different creatures were fused into one body, yet they appeared seamlessly integrated, as if it had been born so savage and malevolent.
Based on its appearance alone, this creature looked very much like a... Demon!
"What in the world..."
Zhou Chen frowned. He watched as the parts of the monster’s body not covered by bristles rapidly grew a layer of snake-like, shimmering black scales.
’It’s like... it’s evolving.’
’Old Jack described a creature with this appearance. He must have seen the monster in this form a long time ago... As for the one he and Joey described later, that was either what the monster looked like before it evolved, or a Clone it created. And because of Old Jack’s mental problems, he couldn’t get the timeline straight...’
’Wait... If Old Jack was right about everything concerning the monster, then could his other stories also be true...?’
Before Zhou Chen could finish his thought, a roar echoed as the ground shattered. The distant Dragon-winged Demon shot forward like a lightning bolt. The speed it unleashed in that instant surpassed what Zhou Chen’s dynamic vision could even track!
Partway there, the Demon powerfully flapped its dragon wings, creating a sonic boom. A hurricane and a wave of Bailan erupted outward as it accelerated a second time!
’Fast! Too fast!’
In a flash, a chill shot up Zhou Chen’s spine. He immediately used Flame Jump, but in the fraction of a second before the Instant Teleportation, a foul wind blasted his face. The Dragon-winged Demon brushed past him, and five thin, tangible slash marks materialized in the air, cutting across his body.
Zhou Chen reappeared tens of meters away. His clothes were torn with five claw marks, but his skin only showed five faint lines, barely broken.
But he didn’t relax; on the contrary, his expression grew even more grave.
’Tier Three!’
’That was definitely Tier Three speed!’
’But the Dragon-winged Demon’s Power is weaker, only at a Tier Two level. That’s why its seemingly vicious claw strike did such limited damage to me.’
Zhou Chen’s body had been tempered by the Hammer of Forging, placing him in the upper echelons among Tier Two Ascenders. He was only a notch weaker than an Ascender like Li Chengtian, who specialized in physical reinforcement. A typical Tier Two attack could hardly harm him.
’Judging from that last strike, this Dragon-winged Demon’s Power is in the Tier Two range, but its speed is definitely comparable to Tier Three. What’s even more terrifying is that this thing seems to be evolving. Its Power is Tier Two now, but who knows, in a few days or even a few hours, it could evolve to Tier Three...’
’The murders in Akita Town... without a doubt, they were all just fuel for its evolution!’
’This thing... is probably the mastermind behind it all!’
’I have to weaken this Demon. I can’t let it keep evolving...’ With his resolve set, Zhou Chen vanished in a flash of fire and reappeared behind the Dragon-winged Demon. He held a Blazing White Fire Sword condensed from Essence and thrust it forward.
The Dragon-winged Demon’s back, besides its savage, pitch-black wings, was covered in a large number of hard, shimmering black scales that formed a natural Armor. Zhou Chen could tell at a glance that the scales were astonishingly hard.
However, his sword strike wasn’t a physical attack, but a Spiritual Attack!
The Blazing White Fire Sword bypassed the scales’ defense, piercing into the Dragon-winged Demon’s body with ease. It let out a pained grunt, and then several sharp bone spikes shot out from its spine, stabbing at the space behind it.
But Zhou Chen was already gone. The bone spikes pierced a ball of burning Cyan Flame, which promptly exploded—along with the specialized Aluminum Thermite that was falling from the air.
The violent shockwave sent the Demon staggering. The terrifying heat released by the Aluminum Thermite Burst instantly burned the Dragon-winged Demon’s back to a festering mess. Its scales melted and its flesh sizzled. The agony of the Spiritual Flame burning in its mind drove it to the brink of madness!
The Dragon-winged Demon roared and charged at Zhou Chen, its body a blur of motion, but Zhou Chen had already decided on a tactic to deal with it: kiting!
’No matter how fast you are, can you be faster than my well-timed Instant Teleportation?’
’Now that it has a damage-over-time debuff, all I need to do is kite it. I’ll drag this out as long as I can until Weakness sets in.’
Zhou Chen used Instant Teleportation and appeared forty meters away. He stomped his foot, activating his Alchemy. Brown stone walls erupted from the ground, bristling with countless rock spikes. The walls then rapidly hardened into metal, and the rock spikes transformed into metal ones.
