Fierce Battle with the Scalehide Demon-Mother

"Your blood must taste absolutely exquisite!" The Scalehide Demon-Mother ran her long tongue around her lips in a slow, savoring circle, murderous hunger glinting in her eyes.

The softer the girl, the purer her skin — the sweeter her blood.

The Scalehide Demon-Mother stepped forward. Just as she was about to sink her claws into the young idol, a shirtless man emerged slowly from the shadows in the corner of the stage.

It was as though an invisible door of darkness had swung open, and a living person stepped right out from within.

The Scale-Skin Mother Demon seemed startled. She leapt back in a single nimble bound and pressed herself against the safety railing, those eyes boring into the figure stepping out of the shadows with unbridled fury.

"Y-you... you again!!" The Scale-Skin Mother Demon clearly remembered Mo Fan. The moment she laid eyes on him, hatred blazed through her like a brand.

She would never forget — this was the one who had killed her mate.

"You're not getting away this time." Beneath Mo Fan's feet, purple Star Charts began to flicker and weave into existence.

When it came to dealing with this Scalehide Demon-Mother, Mo Fan would show no mercy whatsoever — even if the heavily poisoned woman were killed as collateral, he couldn't allow this creature to keep doing harm.

"You... do you really think you can stop me?" A hoarse, grating voice scraped out from the Scale-Skin Mother Demon's throat.

Compared to their last encounter, she had grown far more powerful.

She had absolutely no reason to fear a mere Mage like Mo Fan now. If anything, this was the perfect chance to be rid of this wretched hunter and avenge her husband.

The long tongue shot out like a whip. The Scale-Skin Mother Demon snapped her maw open and lashed it through the air toward Mo Fan with a rush of wind.

"Sickle-Bone Shield!"

Mo Fan activated the Sickle-Bone Shield without hesitation. The black buckler materialized at his side and covered him completely.

His Lightning Element Star Chart was almost finished — he couldn't let this thing destroy it now...

**Crack!**

It should have been a soft, pliable tongue — but when it struck the Sickle-Bone Shield, the entire shield shattered to powder in a single instant. One hit. That was all it took.

After smashing through the shield, the tongue slammed straight into Mo Fan's body. He saw the danger, broke off the Star Chart, and threw himself into a sideways roll.

**Crack!**

The tongue still grazed his back. A deep, ugly welt blazed to life across his spine.

If the Sickle-Bone Shield hadn't absorbed the bulk of the blow, a strike with that kind of power would have snapped his backbone clean in two.

Mo Fan gritted his teeth against the burning pain flaring up his back.

*Damn it. Enchanted Gear at the Sickle-Bone Shield's level can't take even one hit from this thing.*

This Scale-Skin Mother Demon had probably reached Battle-General-class. Nothing else could explain how she had reduced his shield to rubble with something that casual.

"Die, die, die!!"

Even while lashing her tongue, the Scale-Skin Mother Demon managed to force out guttural, feral words between strikes.

The tongue curled upward, then hammered down from above, aimed squarely at the crown of Mo Fan's skull.

Mo Fan didn't dare let his guard slip for a single second. A direct hit would leave nothing but a smear on the stage floor.

"Shadow Fade: Phase!"

The instant the tongue came crashing down, Mo Fan's body sank eerily downward, swallowed whole by the shadow beneath his feet.

Like a figure gliding just beneath the surface of still water, his shadow-form darted through the darkness, shooting rapidly toward the shadowed corner of the stage, where his body gradually solidified back into existence.

He was now standing beside the young idol. He glanced over at her.

"You... don't worry about me." The idol's voice trembled slightly, but her gaze was steady — she clearly had some means of protecting herself.

"I'm going to draw it away from you. If you can, tell your lighting crew to switch the stage lights to alternating light and shadow!" he told her quickly.

The idol gave a short nod. Her face was ashen, but she was holding herself together.

While the Scale-Skin Mother Demon was still reeling her tongue back in, Mo Fan seized the moment and vaulted upward, landing atop the railing of the aerial stage.

"Fire Burst!"

From that height, he thrust his palm forward and hurled the flame outward.

Rose-red Char Bone fire struck the Scale-Skin Mother Demon's body and began to consume her blue-green scales.

The Char Bone flames would burn continuously. Mo Fan knew a Basic-Level spell likely couldn't deal lethal damage to a creature like this — but as long as the fire kept burning, the relentless searing was a force not to be underestimated.

"**Skraaak!!**"

The Scale-Skin Mother Demon let out a piercing shriek. She could see Mo Fan looked ready to run, and she was nothing if not agile — like a spider, she scuttled rapidly along the railing and gave chase at terrifying speed.

The flames coating her body guttered out as she moved. Her scales were clearly exceptional armor; the Char Bone flames were designed to burn through bone and internal organs, but even fire seeds of Spirit Grade couldn't incinerate those outer scales, let alone penetrate deep enough to do real damage.

Mo Fan didn't stop casting. The moment the flames on her began to die down, another ball of Fire Burst: Char Bone was already coalescing in his palm.

In this situation, the explosive burst of Fire Burst might actually be less effective than the sustained burn of Fire Burst: Char Bone. His goal right now was simple: keep enraging the Scalehide Demon-Mother and draw her somewhere that favored him.

She was too fast. He couldn't keep fighting her in this cramped space — and not every spot he stood would have a shadow ready to sink into.

He had already burned through the Blood Beast Boots earlier; without replenishing his Magical Energy, they were useless now.

The Sickle-Bone Shield had been smashed to powder. The only tool he had left for defense was Shadow Fade.

And Shadow Fade wasn't invincible — if anyone launched an attack into the shadow area while he was inside it, not only would he be forcibly ejected, he would take catastrophically amplified damage...

Standing at the edge of the aerial stage railing, Mo Fan saw the Scale-Skin Mother Demon come lunging at him and, without a second thought, threw himself off the edge and dropped into the open air below.

She had apparently anticipated it — this wasn't the first time he had pulled this stunt. This time, she drove her hind legs hard off the railing and launched herself after him at an even greater speed.

*She's that fast?!*

Mo Fan saw that the Scale-Skin Mother Demon was less than five meters away, and ice shot down his spine.

Up on the aerial stage, the young idol had sprinted to the railing's edge. When she saw the Scale-Skin Mother Demon dropping like a thrown blade toward Mo Fan — who was falling far more slowly — her heart lurched in her chest.

She wanted to do something. Otherwise, Mo Fan would be gutted in midair before he ever touched the ground.

But she was too slow. The Scale-Skin Mother Demon moved like a bat loosed from darkness — a single blur through open air, and her outline was impossible to track.

Claws already extended, the Scale-Skin Mother Demon ran her long tongue slowly across her talons in midair.

This time, she would tear this nuisance human to shreds.