Maliza was puzzled.
Really puzzled.
Were the demons they encountered on the road mentally challenged? Why did this guy jump out to stop him when he was about to casually kill a human?
"'Live a little longer'?" Yamiru asked expressionlessly—of course, with his current appearance, covered in fine dragon scales, it was hard to read any expression—he lowered the finger that had just fired a counterfeit Kamehameha and deliberately picked on Maliza's words to buy some time. "So, according to you... you originally planned to kill me, didn't you?"
Maliza tapped his temple with his finger. "Lord Samuel told me I could dispose of you however I liked..."
Telepathy, huh? Yamiru guessed it. He remembered that Demon King Piccolo could communicate telepathically with his demon subordinates from far away. Looks like it might be a special ability of demons? What was the principle behind it? Yamiru's thoughts spun for a moment: that's right, it's hell energy! The King of the Northern Border could communicate across the entire universe...
"Originally, I hadn't decided whether to kill you outright or take you as an underling. But now it seems, you're actually dumb enough to try to save a human, one I want to kill..." Maliza sneered. "You're really asking for death!"
Yamiru squinted. "Is it strange to save a human? Didn't I already tell you from the beginning..."
As he spoke, he didn't know when he gathered his ki, snapping his fingers to release an energy ball that sped towards Maliza.
Whoosh! Maliza dodged it swiftly.
"...I've always thought of myself as a human," Yamiru's voice faded from its original position and then reappeared right near Maliza. He took the opportunity while Maliza was dodging the energy ball to appear in front of the human man who had almost been bitten by a snake. "You can sense ki, but you still judge by appearance? Your training is lacking."
Dare to play me?! Maliza realized and immediately became furious.
Normally, Maliza would have blocked an energy ball of this level, but Yamiru fired it so quickly, without any warning, and aimed at a very tricky angle—right towards his eye! As a battle-hardened demon, his instincts led him to dodge.
Yamiru moved closer to the human man, extending his claw to take him away.
But the human, seeing the approaching claws, looked terrified.
Yamiru paused. 'Right, this guy probably couldn't tell who was using telepathy to warn him earlier... And my current appearance is indistinguishable from that of a demon...'
"Idiot! How dare you come this close!" Maliza yelled beside him, more poisonous snakes growing from his body, turning into dark lines charging towards Yamiru, who was momentarily stunned. "If you think you're human, then die with him!"
"Don't kill me..." The human man, seeing the two demons attacking him, grew even more terrified.
At this point, Yamiru had no time to turn back. He could only rely on his sense of ki, twisting his neck to dodge the incoming snake attacks.
At the same time, his claws moved like lightning, catching the several venomous snakes that had attacked from behind.
"So strong!" Yamiru was secretly shocked.
His fingers were perfectly gripping the snakes, but their writhing and struggling force made Yamiru's fingers ache and feel like they couldn't hold on much longer.
Though they were snakes, they were special limbs that grew from such a powerful demon! Yamiru quickly understood. At the same time, one of the snake heads slipped from his fingers and bit down on the back of his hand—thud, the fangs sank into the fine scales with a dull sound, but didn't penetrate.
"Not bad at all!"
With Maliza's sneer, he swiped a claw at Yamiru's face.
Yamiru couldn't afford to release the struggling snakes in his hand and had no choice but to quickly lean back. Maliza's claw scratched across Yamiru's facial scales, leaving two sharp cuts that reached the flesh—just as Maliza's claw was about to tear through Yamiru's arms, Yamiru was ruthless. He opened his mouth, filled with sharp fangs, and bit down.
"Ah!!" Maliza screamed as his claw was bitten, his neck stretching in pain.
Yamiru didn't hold back, and with his clear eyes, dark golden hell energy began to seep in. However, due to the dragon-shaped mark on his right wrist slowly moving, the energy was soon dispelled, and his gaze returned to clarity.
"The harder you bite, the more force you use!" Maliza cursed. "It hurts like hell! Get lost!"
He raised his other fist and swung it towards Yamiru's face.
Yamiru opened his mouth, not releasing the snakes that were still entangled in his hands. Instead, he pressed his elbows upwards, knocking the claw that was about to bite him away, blocking Maliza's incoming punch.
Maliza, of course, hadn't become so disjointed that he would strike his own arm—such a thing would be foolish—but Yamiru's move stalled Maliza's attack. After all, the position of his arms was so awkward that he couldn't generate enough force for his strikes!
In the brief moment that followed, Yamiru fought with weakness against strength, denying Maliza any advantage in combat. He limited Maliza's actions purely through his martial skills and mastery of hand-to-hand combat.
Though it sounds long, in reality, everything—from Maliza's anger as he sent his venomous snakes to attack, to Yamiru catching the snakes, to Maliza swinging his claws and having them bitten by Yamiru, and then the other fist coming at him—happened in an instant. Maliza relied on his strength advantage, while Yamiru relied more on experience, technique, and quick reflexes.
At the same time, Yamiru sought to buy more time, hoping to absorb more hell energy... But despite the dragon-shaped mark on his wrist driving away malicious thoughts, Yamiru had been consciously cycling between invoking evil thoughts to absorb hell energy and then dispelling them, causing his mental fatigue to accumulate exponentially. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out...
"Damn..." Maliza gritted his teeth as his arms were trapped in an awkward position and the snakes were held in Yamiru's hands. His rage seemed ready to explode from his chest as his muscles swelled, his arms growing thicker. Yamiru, who had been trying to hold him in place, began to feel the strain, unable to resist much longer.
"Kame... Hame..." He muttered through clenched teeth.
"You're hundreds of years too early to defeat me!" Maliza snarled, slowly pushing Yamiru's elbows apart. He opened his mouth wide, and light began to gather inside, with energy quickly charging for release—"Die!"
Just as the energy blast was about to erupt from his mouth, Yamiru yelled in anger.
"Ha..."
At that critical moment, when Maliza's mouth was about to blast Yamiru's head off, Yamiru's body swiftly twisted, his foot kicking Maliza's chin. Boom! The energy blast in Maliza's mouth exploded, sending waves of energy and smoke through the gaps in his shattered teeth.
At the same time...
A small Ki blast was forming under Yamiru's foot—a Kamehameha!
"—Ha!"
With a light shout, Yamiru's foot pressed against Maliza's chin, and the blue-white Ki blast shot out... but it didn't break free! The energy beam pushed Maliza's head back, but the several venomous snakes still in Yamiru's hands struggled. In the tug-of-war, Maliza seemed to suffer as if his limbs were being severed, but he managed to endure it!
Maliza's mouth, now missing teeth, continued to emit black smoke. His chin, however, resisted the Kamehameha, the energy slightly vibrating under Yamiru's foot.
"They told me... you're asking for death..." Maliza's bloodshot eyes were filled with rage! With a wild roar, the venomous snakes in Yamiru's hands exploded into a cloud of blood mist! Maliza inhaled sharply, sucking in the blood mist, his chest expanding exaggeratedly.
Gulp. Yamiru could hear the strange sounds coming from Maliza's thickening neck. His hair stood on end as he felt a surge of life-threatening danger and instinctively jumped away.
Hiss!
Almost the moment Yamiru dodged, Maliza, with his chest bloated, opened his mouth and sprayed out a thick fog, glowing with a sinister green color, almost liquid in form.
"Ah..." Yamiru managed to dodge, but the human man on the ground couldn't escape. The green poison mist quickly settled on him, and his skin began to rot, causing him to scream in agony.
From Maliza's body, the severed venomous snakes were dripping purple blood, and with the lingering green poison mist, he sneered, "Oh? Why don't you protect this human anymore?"
"An elder once said, those who practice martial arts must have the courage to stand up when witnessing injustice. Only then can they be true to themselves," Yamiru said from a distance, shaking his hands. "If I had just watched you kill him, I wouldn't need you to do anything. I would have ended it myself. As for this..." He glanced at the unfortunate man whose body was rapidly rotting under the green mist, sighing lightly. "I am true to myself. Helpless."
With that, he pushed both palms forward, releasing a gust of wind that blew the poison mist away.
"So what if you've blown it away? You think you can still save him..."
Maliza, his mouth full of rotten teeth, mocked. However, the green poison mist that was charging toward him was suddenly stopped by a fist, covered in fine scales, which smashed through it with overwhelming force.
His speed—how is that possible?!