"Alas, I really didn't collude with the enemy,"
Qian Niao sighed.
Now, the three demon lords opposite him believed he had colluded with the enemy, and Qi Manyao also thought so. This left him with no way to explain himself.
In fact, ever since he saved Wan Lei at the Liu family, he had already been considered to have colluded with the enemy.
However, Qian Niao had his own standards. If he said he hadn't betrayed, then he hadn't betrayed.
Qi Manyao would not be able to leave. Since Qian Niao had to bear the charge of colluding with the enemy to save her, she could not simply abandon him.
Colluding with the enemy was a death penalty in any race or civilization, and in some cases, it was even more agonizing than death.
The only thing she could do was to kill these three demon lords to the best of her ability, so that no one would be able to testify against Qian Niao.
However, if Qian Niao did not want his own kin to kill Qi Manyao, could he allow Qi Manyao to kill his own kin?
After all, he had not betrayed the Demon Race.
In fact, if one were to count carefully, if Qian Niao did not kill enemies on the battlefield, the enemies he let go would kill other demons, thus making him indirectly responsible for killing other demons and betraying his race.
However, it didn't matter. Qian Niao had his own principles. He didn't obey military law, only the principles in his heart.
Seeing that both sides were about to fight, the outlaw Qian Niao pondered for a full second, concluded that Qi Manyao's side was at a disadvantage, and thus stood with Qi Manyao, confronting his three comrades.
"Hmph, two walking second-class merits. We've hit the jackpot, brothers, charge!"
The leading demon lord snorted and charged forward first, his saber slashing towards Qian Niao's head.
The other two also attacked Qian Niao.
In their eyes, killing a cultivator at the True Plane's Void Realm was far less meritorious than capturing a traitor colluding with the enemy alive.
Of course, it would be even better if both could be captured alive, and then there would be an additional witness.
Qian Niao sighed, and his thunderous staff suddenly appeared in his hand. The ends of the staff flickered with dark abyssal thunder.
Unlike before, within this dark abyssal thunder, there were also some fine, colorful bolts of lightning.
Qian Niao swung his staff, sweeping it towards the three attackers. Their weapons collided, and the ensuing powerful impact nearly caused the underground world to collapse.
Countless stalactites fell, and stone pillars crumbled. After blocking the blow, Qian Niao slammed heavily against the rocks behind him, spitting out green blood.
Qi Manyao also made her move, and the lightning on her spear erupted, piercing directly towards the leading demon lord's eye socket.
However, the demon lord's strength far exceeded Qi Manyao's imagination. His three-zhang-tall, robust body extended a hand, grabbed Qi Manyao's thrusting spear, and then, raising his broadsword, he struck fiercely at the shaft of her spear. Qi Manyao was immediately flung away.
"You two keep Qian Niao busy, and I'll capture that human first before we deal with this brute together!"
At this moment, Qi Manyao had just been thrown against the rocks, crashing through several stone pillars before coming to a halt, her blood and qi surging.
The demon lord picked up Qi Manyao's spear and casually threw it back at her.
Seeing this, Qi Manyao gritted her teeth, her body transforming into a bolt of lightning. She flashed to a zhang away, narrowly dodging this fatal blow.
"Be careful, this guy is an upper-level demon lord. If you can run, run quickly!"
Qian Niao, who was being surrounded by two lower-level demon lords in the distance, shouted a warning.
"You're too late."
Qi Manyao stood up, rolled, and picked up her spear. The upper-level demon lord was already striding towards her, his immense pressure suffocating.
With no time to hesitate, Qi Manyao sprinted rapidly to the side while pressing a button on her armor's wristband.
As the button was pressed, a small launch port appeared on the back of Qi Manyao's hand. She suddenly turned, and the launch port on her wrist suddenly shot out a small sphere.
The small sphere flew directly towards the upper-level demon lord's face. The demon lord, unfazed, reached out and caught the small sphere, then, with great interest, brought it to his face for a look.
BOOM!!!
The small sphere suddenly exploded, blowing the demon lord's palm to smithereens. His face was also covered in numerous crater-like wounds, bleeding profusely.
"ROAR!!!"
The demon lord roared, his pride wounded by such a clumsy mistake. He stomped his foot hard on the ground, his body surging forward like lightning, his broadsword cleaving down with thunderous force.
Qi Manyao dodged the blow. Due to the close proximity, she changed her thrust to a sweep with her spear, striking the demon lord's calf.
However, her attack was like a tickle to the upper-level demon lord. The demon lord raised his foot and directly stomped on her spear, then raised his saber to slash at Qi Manyao.
The broadsword was several times larger than Qi Manyao's body. Qi Manyao struggled fiercely to pull out her spear but couldn't budge it. It was too late. She once again transformed into lightning and flashed to the side.
If Wan Lei were present, he would have recognized Qi Manyao's technique, which was exactly the same as his own Lightning Release, when she used it for the second time.
After creating distance, Qi Manyao hovered in mid-air, lightning flashing in her eyes. A flickering ball of lightning appeared between her hands and was hurled towards the enemy.
Seeing this, the demon lord swung his saber with one hand, splitting the ball of lightning.
The lightning ball was struck head-on and split into two halves, but it did not dissipate. Instead, it rapidly grew larger, one to the left and one to the right, engulfing the demon lord within.
Qi Manyao's eyes turned cold, and with a sudden clench of her fist, the lightning ball contracted, firmly trapping the demon lord within and devouring his life force.
This move of hers was more than enough to deal with ordinary demon lords, but she was facing an incredibly powerful upper-level demon lord.
The demon lord roared towards the sky, unleashing boundless demonic energy. This energy seemed to have substance, tightly enveloping him while also expanding outwards with even more violent force.
Qi Manyao struggled to control the lightning, preventing the opponent from breaking free. However, she was merely a small cultivator at the Void Realm; how could she possibly contend head-on with him?
After persisting for half a minute, her lightning could no longer bear the strain and shattered with a roar.
The demon lord dropped his broadsword. Facing this slippery, tiny human before him, his wide-ranging weapon was indeed difficult to wield effectively.
His demonic energy suddenly surged outwards, enveloping Qi Manyao. In just a breath or two, the area they occupied was shrouded in demonic energy.
As she was enveloped by the demonic energy, Qi Manyao retreated, but at this moment, her body was corroded by the demonic energy, feeling as heavy as carrying a mountain, making it difficult for her to use her agility.
The surrounding demonic energy grew thicker and thicker. Qi Manyao couldn't even release her divine sense, so she could only hold her spear and wildly sweep and stab at the demonic energy, defending against the enemy's attacks.
Suddenly, a massive fist appeared abruptly in front of her.