“Hmph… finally revealed your true colors!” Daji, standing beside Orochi, had been prepared. Almost the instant Taira no Kiyomori acted, she reacted.

In a flash of lightning, a pair of demon orbs floating in mid-air met the scattered rosary beads.

Demonic and demonic energies collided in the air, creating bursts of black and purple light.

"You think you can run wild here?" After deflecting Taira no Kiyomori's attack, Daji immediately controlled [Collapse Country] (the name of the pair of demon orbs) to pursue him.

However…

While Daji was preoccupied with blocking the demonic energy, Taira no Kiyomori had quietly retreated and prepared his second move. And the target of this second move… was none other than the dome of the main hall.

Bang—

Before the light faded, another explosion sounded.

Clearly, Taira no Kiyomori's sudden attack was just a feint. His real goal… was to open a passage in the roof of the building, so he could escape.

Taira no Kiyomori knew very well that with his strength, he couldn't possibly inflict any damage on the Demon King. Even in a one-on-one fight with Daji, he didn't have the confidence to win, let alone with dozens of demon generals sitting in the main hall… if a fight really broke out, he would be dead for sure.

No sooner said than done… Daji had only taken a few steps when Taira no Kiyomori had already transformed into Qi and escaped through the hole he had created.

"No need to chase him," Orochi's voice rang out immediately.

This sentence was mainly addressed to Daji, but also to the demon generals in the main hall.

"But… Lord Orochi…" Daji seemed to want to say something.

But Orochi interrupted her in a deep voice, "It doesn't matter…" He closed his eyes again, propped his chin on his hand, and sat sideways, "Taira no Kiyomori's loyalty is based on 'obsession with power'. His betrayal of me means… he believes he has found a more powerful master."

"Eh? How could anyone be stronger than you?" Daji said with a charming smile, "You are invincible…"

"In this world…" Orochi wasn't in the mood to listen to Daji's flattery, so he interrupted her again, "...there is no such thing as 'invincible'." The tone he used when saying this was… meaningful, "No one knows this better than I do."

…………

Beneath Koshijo Castle, the martial arts arena.

"Next match…" The announcement statue continued after the previous battle ended, "…Wang Tan Zhi, versus… Ning Ning."

"Ara~ it's my turn." When her name was called, Ning Ning was standing next to her husband (Toyotomi Hideyoshi), chatting with him. She looked quite relaxed. After hearing her name, she casually said something and walked towards the arena.

"This isn't good… it's my turn…" On the other side, also having been called out, Xiao Tan's reaction was much bigger, "No matter what, she's still a Musou-level warrior. Even if her strength isn't as strong as Orochi's demon generals, it's impossible for me to deal with her easily…"

"Good luck, I hope you have a fun time and die in the duel." Jue Ge, standing near Xiao Tan, once again said something unpleasant with a smile on his face.

"I'll cheer you on too," Qi Sha chimed in, "But… if possible, I hope you can lose at my hands."

"I'm declaring in advance, if you get beaten half to death, I won't heal you." Hua Jian also added insult to injury.

"Hey… everyone's hoping I die…" Xiao Tan squinted and looked back at the three, complaining.

"Just reminding you, don't forget that this script is a no-holds-barred battle royale, you need to have basic combat awareness," Feng Bujue added seriously.

"Heh…" Xiao Tan chuckled dryly, said nothing more, and walked straight to the arena.

Before he had gone far, Feng Bujue had already turned and headed in another direction. The person Jue Ge was looking for was naturally… Six String's Head. Cang.

…………

On a sand dune at the edge of the other dimension.

Di Di—Di Di Di—

Qiu Yi used Bukujutsu (a technique from *Dragon Ball*, originally belonging to the Crane School; after the Z series began, almost all powerful characters knew it, the principle is to control the Qi in the body to fight against the Earth's gravity) to advance forward, while pressing the battle power detector, muttering to himself: "Strange… I clearly detected a guy with a combat power of around 10,000 here before, but after arriving here… the signal disappeared instead."

"Hmph… so you've come after all." Suddenly, a faint groan came from the wind.

"Uh… cough… cough… since you're here, then stay." Another gentle, but constantly coughing voice followed closely behind.

Before the two finished speaking, a light burst out in the sky above the sand dune, and a magic circle composed of gold and white colors suddenly appeared, encircling the area of several dozen meters around Qiu Yi.

At the same moment, Qiu Yi felt his body sink, and his whole person fell heavily onto the sand.

"This… what's going on? The gravity suddenly became stronger?" Qiu Yi didn't know what a "formation" was, but he could probably guess… that he had fallen into some kind of trap, "Who's there? Who's plotting against me?"

"Cough… cough cough…" Accompanied by the sound of coughing, a solitary figure came floating over, "Gazing coldly, I laugh at the azure clouds, lonely for life, I am proud of the heavens."

As the verse was uttered, his identity became clear.

This person was the "Literary and Martial Crown" – Jimo Hou, one of the top intellectuals in the Thunderbolt world.

"I still don't understand…" Two seconds later, another figure appeared beside the sand dune, "... why you guys have to recite poetry every time you appear."

This brother's style was completely different from Jimo Hou… Jimo Hou was wearing white clothes, a gorgeous headdress, and carrying a long sword with a sword tassel on his back. He had a refined appearance; while this guy… was wearing a very simple beige coarse cloth shirt and pants, a beige shawl, and a wide-bladed long sword on his waist. Although he was also quite handsome, his skin was bluish-gray, and his skin was dotted with many granite-like dark gray stone scabs. His light purple hair and pointed ears also seemed to indicate… that he was not a pure human.

This one was Zelgadiss Graywords, a synthetic being with the power of a demon and a stone golem, known as the "Cool Magic Swordsman."

"Hmm?" Qiu Yi glanced at Jimo Hou and Zelgadiss, respectively. The numbers fed back from the battle power detector made him sneer, "Heh… in order to defeat me, Qiu Yi, you two specially set up this trap, huh?"

"Cough cough… cough cough cough… this formation was originally prepared for Taira no Kiyomori," Jimo Hou coughed as he answered, "Until recently… I felt you and your companions enter this space, so, we changed our target…"

"I can also see that you are stronger than that strange monk," Zelgadiss, standing on the other side of the formation, said as he threw off his cloak and took a stance, seemingly preparing to attack.