Chapter 132: Battle in the Skies

Following closely behind the eyeball was a creature with black wings. It did not resemble a bird, and from a distance, its silhouette even appeared human. As psionic energy increases, human vision is also somewhat enhanced, yet Luo Chen could only barely discern the outline of this creature.

Zhuo Yuqing, however, narrowed her eyes, her pupils constricting into thin lines.

Special Skill—Eagle Eye!

Under the effect of Eagle Eye, Zhuo Yuqing’s field of vision expanded significantly, allowing her to see the black-winged creature in the sky clearly.

It was actually... a human!

But its appearance differed from that of a human: it had two horns on its head, frog-like eyes, an aquiline nose, a protruding jaw, and a mouth filled with jagged shark-like teeth. Its face was brimming with malice; by human aesthetic standards, it was not merely ugly, but truly horrific and monstrous. Its physique was robust with bulging muscles; its hands resembled bird talons, bony and gnarled with webbing between the fingers. Its lower limbs were bent, ending in hooves, and the pair of black wings on its back were shaped like those of a bat. Despite its humanoid outline, it was, in fact, a monster!

Zhuo Yuqing suddenly recalled the elders mentioning that besides demon beasts and demon spirits, there existed creatures known as demon-men. It was said that these demon-men were highly intelligent beings from other dimensions. Beyond possessing immense strength, they had intellects comparable to humans, yet they were profoundly evil, devoid of human morality, and viciously cruel—they even took pleasure in slaughtering humans. In short, they were a high-level threat. However, demon-men rarely appeared in the world; most people only heard of them, few had actually seen one, and no one hoped to encounter such wicked beings.

The demon-man, having emerged from the rift in the sky, bore numerous wounds, with gray blood still oozing from some areas. It seemed he had already been through a battle. His target was the eyeball, and his speed was lightning-fast. He pursued the eyeball relentlessly, closing the distance. With a strange, shrill screech, he spread his talons and lashed out with a bolt of lightning that struck the eyeball.

Zhuo Yuqing’s eyes widened. The way he wielded that electrical power was no weaker than that old geezer Lei Zhe. What a formidable demon-man!

The eyeball shuddered, its speed slowing slightly. The demon-man unleashed palm strike after palm strike, raining down lightning until the eyeball finally came to a halt. Realizing it could not shake off the demon-man, it began to counterattack. The eyeball blinked, and instantly, countless tiny fireballs, ice shards, and wind blades materialized from all directions, surrounding it in a dense swarm.

Zhuo Yuqing was startled once more. Weren’t these the abilities of a super-powered warrior? Yet even a super-powered warrior couldn’t unleash so many magical skills at once. Though these were low-level techniques, the sheer volume was perverse. No wonder it could hold its own against such a powerful demon-man!

Luo Chen could only see colorful dots. Seeing Zhuo Yuqing so engrossed, he asked, "What do you see?"

Zhuo Yuqing replied casually, "A very powerful demon-man and a demon spirit capable of going head-to-head with him!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Chen leaped up like a rabbit and grabbed Zhuo Yuqing’s hand to flee. When encountering such evil demons, it went without saying that the faster one ran, the better. Though his curiosity was strong, it wasn't strong enough to cost him his life. Why wait when one could run while the demon-man and demon spirit were locked in a fierce battle?

High in the sky, the eyeball directed the fireballs, ice shards, and wind blades toward the demon-man. The number was so vast they merged into three small rivers, quickly engulfing him.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom..."

A series of continuous explosions echoed. Under such an onslaught, even a super-powered warrior would likely be dead or severely wounded; if it were Luo Chen, there wouldn't even be a scrap left. Yet, when the explosions ceased, the demon-man flew out unscathed. His body was covered in crackling purple lightning—this layer of lightning armor had protected him from harm.

"Crackle!" Amidst a dull roar, a large ball of lightning leaped from the demon-man’s palm.

Perhaps realizing the terror of this move, the eyeball showed a hint of cowardice, quickly firing off two dragons of ice and fire, but the lightning ball proved indestructible. It shattered the ice and fire dragons, finally striking the eyeball.

"Boom!"

A massive bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, splitting a giant tree in the forest—one that would require ten men to encircle—right down the middle. All vegetation within a twenty-meter radius was reduced to charred remains; it was truly terrifying.

The eyeball, struck by the lightning ball, suddenly shrank a bit and began to wobble. The demon-man was overjoyed; although he had exhausted much of his vitality, subduing this Nightmare would be worth it. Fortunately, it hadn't fully matured, otherwise, it would have been difficult to capture.

Just then, a flash of white light appeared in the distance, flying rapidly toward their location. The demon-man’s pupils contracted. A Heaven-Man among the humans?

He was wary of Heaven-Men, especially after his intense battle with the Nightmare had left him significantly drained. He knew he was no match for a Heaven-Man. No, he had to hurry! The demon-man shrieked, and a second lightning ball sprang from his palm.

The eyeball blinked again. As it did, the tiny star-like light spots within it flickered simultaneously, as if countless eyes were blinking at once.

The demon-man’s vision blurred. When he looked again, the eyeball was gone. In its place was a monster with a dragon’s head, deer antlers, lion eyes, tiger back, bear waist, snake scales, horse hooves, and an ox tail. Its voice sounded like rolling thunder, and its entire body was draped in electric currents—but these were blue.

The demon-man was instantly struck with dread: a Thunder Qilin. This monster was a supreme demon spirit of the lightning element! And he knew this Thunder Qilin was merely the Nightmare in disguise.

In reality, to everyone else, the Nightmare remained an eyeball; only the demon-man saw the Thunder Qilin. The Nightmare’s greatest ability was not its magical skills, which were stronger than those of super-powered warriors, but its illusions. And this illusion skill, known as "Nightmare," was far more than a mere trick to frighten people.

In fact, the Nightmare used "Nightmare" to suppress the target's mental strength, thereby indirectly weakening their power. Although the Nightmare’s own strength hadn't truly increased, the power dynamic between it and the target caught in the "Nightmare" had shifted. In reality, the demon-man’s lightning ball suddenly shrank significantly, and the purple electricity on his body receded—this proved that under the influence of the "Nightmare," his power had been diminished.

However, to drastically boost its virtual strength within the "Nightmare," the Nightmare had to expend a massive amount of illusion energy. Transforming into a demon spirit of the Thunder Qilin’s caliber was particularly draining. It seemed the Nightmare was going all out. This infuriated the demon-man, who thought, *This wretched Nightmare is willing to pay any price to cast such a high-level "Nightmare." Even if it repels me, it certainly won't escape the hands of that Heaven-Man!*

Time was running out. The demon-man once again began to grapple with the Nightmare, now disguised as a Thunder Qilin. He spat out lightning balls, but the Thunder Qilin countered by spewing its own. The two lightning spheres collided in mid-air and vanished into smoke. However, to others in reality, they still only saw lightning balls and the magical skills released by the eyeball.

Due to the shift in power, the Nightmare within the "Nightmare" could now stand toe-to-toe with the demon-man. Lightning ball after lightning ball collided, bursting into dazzling electric sparks. The intense heat caused the falling rain to evaporate instantly. Neither side could gain the upper hand, but the demon-man grew anxious, as the Heaven-Man was drawing closer. He could not drag this out.

The demon-man spread his arms, and a torrent of purple lightning gushed forth, covering the Thunder Qilin like a massive web. The Thunder Qilin, encased in blue electricity, charged straight into the lightning net.

It was a battle of "either the fish dies, or the net breaks"!

*Crackle, crackle, crackle...*

After a dense, rapid-fire sequence of sharp sounds, the lightning net shattered. The demon-man coughed up gray blood and was sent flying. But as his vision blurred, he saw the Thunder Qilin revert to the shape of an eyeball. This meant the Nightmare’s "Nightmare" had ended. Having deployed such a high-level illusion and suffered a heavy blow, the Nightmare—whose strength was already a cut below his—was in even worse shape. The eyeball’s volume shrank significantly once more; its power had plummeted again.

The demon-man was certain he could subdue the Nightmare in five minutes. However, the white light in the distance was traveling at an incredible speed and was already very close; it would likely arrive in three or four minutes.

The demon-man was cruel to humans, but the super-powered human elites would show no mercy to a wounded demon-man either. At that point, he wouldn't just lose the chance to capture the Nightmare; he might even lose his life here.

Yet, after spending so much effort, to fall short at the final step—the demon-man could not help but feel extreme frustration and indignation. *Damned space rift, why did it have to open at this moment, letting the Nightmare escape into human territory!*

With a shrill cry, the demon-man abandoned the Nightmare and turned to fly toward the hole in the sky, disappearing into it shortly after. The Nightmare did not return to the world within the rift, knowing the demon-man would surely lie in wait there until the space rift closed.

However, a human with an immensely powerful aura was rapidly approaching from the distance. If this continued, things would be dire! The eyeball blinked again, and the countless tiny light spots within it blinked in unison. Its target was the forest below. As if countless pairs of eyes were searching simultaneously, the situation across a large area of the forest was received by the eyeball.

Humans. There were two humans. Their auras were not strong, and they were moving toward the distance!

*Hmm, these two humans have arrived just in time. Whether I can escape the hands of that powerful human depends entirely on them!*