Su Tang had no idea what had just happened.
He saw Angel Devil standing blank-faced and red as a beet, soul seemingly gone.
Before he could ask, a stab of white flashed at the edge of his vision!
Swordlight!
His face tightened; he slid a step back and right—barely dodging.
But…
He touched his cheek. A cyan scale fell off.
Though a new scale immediately grew in, this was his first breach since crossing into this world!
So fast! So sharp!
This devil was different from all the others he'd met!
It wasn't big, but with that sword the pressure topped even the Zombie Devil from that night!
A worthy foe!
"Quick on your feet?!" The geoduck came in with the blade; by the time a residual afterimage of its stroke began to fade, its sword had already cleaved down at Su Tang's side.
"Weren't you so badass just now?! Keep pressing me! Hit me! Use those crappy claws! Hahahahaha!"
Not right in the head, this one.
Pivoting and weaving, he analyzed silently.
With half the Holy Lord's physique, his reflexes and agility were on full display.
The subtle skill normally buried under raw power now shone.
The swordlight was always a step behind!
Slash, chop, thrust, flick—each time he slipped past by a hair, but always clean.
"Hmph! Is dodging all you can do?"
A crafty glint flashed in the geoduck's eyes. Lunging forward, it unleashed a relentless, straight-line thrusting assault; Su Tang micro-stepped back in tandem as usual.
"Heh—let's see you dodge this!" Sensing the perfect opening, it barked, "Sword, boki!"
The treasured blade swelled in answer!
It ballooned more than threefold in an instant! If it had been a mere short fish-gut blade before, it was now a one-and-a-half-meter knight's greatsword!
Longer—and heavier!
Red light flared in Su Tang's eyes. The moment it shouted "Sword," he sensed the wrongness and gaped his dragon maw to exhale.
"—Fire, Dragon's Breath!"
An ocean of flame roared from his mouth; the heat warped the air in a blink!
The geoduck hadn't expected that. It had thought its hidden "banner-tugging art" would flip the board—well, it did flip it, but now it was on defense, forced to hurriedly bring the blade back across its front!
Boom!
Flames surged; the world went crimson!
"Ahhhhhhh! Break—through!!!"
Vertical swordlight went horizontal, shearing down in mere hundredths of a second!
For an instant the dragon's breath was cleft at the waist—a gap almost too small to see.
But for the Dick Devil, it was enough!
It immediately leapt out of the burn zone. Its whole body twitched; aside from the zone shielded by the blade, everything was charred black.
"Despicable human! Didn't you say you're contracted to the Dragon Devil?! Why are you breathing fire!"
He ignored it, face full of pain for his furniture catching fire.
Even with the Tiger Talisman letting him run all his powers without drag, each power itself didn't get a fundamental boost.
His fire-qi was still half of the Holy Lord's split, shattered flame; it could be released, not recalled!
Damn it!
Outside, noises mounted—people had noticed the firelight, some shouting to call the brigade.
A keen gleam lit his blood-red eyes as he looked at the geoduck; his thin tongue circled his fangs.
"A sharp treasured sword indeed."
"Only…"
"My blade is no less keen!"
As he spoke, a dark-cyan flash was already on the geoduck; then fire appeared out of nowhere—condensing into a blade!
"—Fire, Blazing Sword!"
Riotous flame, under exquisitely fine control, compressed to form; energy surged within. Without any increase in his fire-qi, the temperature and strength were nonetheless forced higher!
Without the Tiger Talisman, this was something he'd never have dared to imagine! Now—he could do it with ease!
Half-dragon arms mighty beyond measure, fire-forged blade fierce beyond belief!
He cut without mercy!
The geoduck was once more forced to raise its sword in a rushed block!
"CLANG—!!!"
Metal rang like a great bell; a normal bystander's eardrums would have burst on the spot.
Looking down at the geoduck, teeth clenched under the press just like before, Su Tang narrowed his eyes.
Yes—on flesh alone he could only go fifty-fifty with the enhanced Zombie Devil; the armed geoduck was stronger than that Zombie.
But…
Add fire-qi suppression—and the odds were ten to zero!
"Wait, wait!"
The Hand Devil, silent till now, suddenly cried out, "Don't you want Angel Devil back to normal?!"
Back to normal?
With a sidelong glance, he looked at Angel—off since the beginning. In the firelight licking the sofas, her face was still flushed—whether from that weird white glow or the flames' reflection, who knew.
He looked away and pressed harder, voice like ice. "Kill you and she goes back all the same."
Entry-level hunter knowledge: when a devil dies, the effects of its power vanish.
"No! Not the same! Don't you want to know where this sword came from? Don't you want to know what it has to do with Angel Devil?!"
Feeling the pressure ease a fraction, the Hand Devil brightened and rushed on: "These are Lord Dick's powers! It can forcibly pull out the lower halves of other male devils and refine swords of varying quality based on the 'material'!"
Grass. A plant!
Su Tang's eyes bulged—shocked.
How could there be such a horrifying power! Good thing it only worked on devils. If it worked on humans…
Wait? Male devils?
He turned, incredulous, to Angel. "You're… male?"
This soft exterior, orange long hair, cute face, slender frame…
"It's fine. I'm female now."
Angel Devil pouted, sighed, and said
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