"Arrrrrrrgh—!"
"It huuuuuurts!!"
A huge howl echoed through the empty factory. Moonlight slanted through the broken roof, dicing the floor into patches.
Smiling with bared teeth, Su Tang clamped both hands around the blood-red intestine and gripped tight. The flames moved in a windless surge, rising and falling; he shouted at the top of his lungs: "Come—out!"
The already-ruined floor groaned underfoot. Veins bulged along his flame-sheathed arms; in the wavering red light the coiled-dragon contours of muscle were clear to see.
It was like a tug-of-war. Under the terrifying brute force bolstered by flame, the blood-red intestine was visibly hauled out section by section!
And then came the owner of that intestine!
Feeling his power crest, blood-red light flashed in Su Tang's eyes. He rooted his stance to the floor, drew strength up from the ground, then twisted, turned, and pulled!
"Ruuuumble—!"
Dust billowed everywhere. The slam of a massive body hitting concrete boomed through the space.
At the same instant, a tongue of fire slithered like a spirit snake along the intestine into the dust-fog, illuminating everything within.
Su Tang squinted and let out a slow breath.
As the breath hazed the air, it sparked into a few threads of flame.
"Devil hunter! You must dieeeeee!!"
A voice steeped in pain and rage rolled toward him—the Zombie Devil the gang boss had mentioned in his dying breath.
The pressure from this thing, as big as a two-story house, was leagues beyond that chaff Leg Devil from before. Its body nearly reached the ceiling—close to five meters tall by the look of it.
As to why "body" and not "head"… its head wasn't on a neck; it bulged like a tumor from the upper torso. It did have a full set of features—but it was bald.
The lower body was propped up by those blood-red intestines, crisscrossed like roots, serving as both legs and arms.
Honestly, this look blew past Su Tang's mental limit. Forget the Holy Lord—by comparison even Po Kong, the Mountain Demon, seemed delicate and pleasing.
Fortunately, when he activated his power, the fire surged to his head—his brain went on fire. That might cost him some reason for a while, but in a sense it also protected his sanity.
Otherwise, just seeing that mug would have had him puking his guts out.
"Everyone—tear that damn devil hunter to pieces!"
Seething with spite and dread, the Zombie Devil stretched an intestine to point at Su Tang and barked orders to the zombies closing in from all sides.
They tottered as they walked, eyes empty and dead—clearly meant to wear down his stamina.
So that's why the Shadow Ninja had both nodded and shaken his head earlier.
The people inside had all turned into zombies.
However…
Licking his lips, Su Tang held out his hand with thumb and forefinger at a forty-five-degree angle and smiled.
"You think you're the only one with lackeys?!"
Whooosh—
Shadows on the floor began to flow, gathering under each zombie's feet.
Shadow Ninjas poured out of the darkness one after another, sprouting across the factory like bamboo after rain.
"Impossible—!" The Zombie Devil screamed in disbelief, whipping intestines through the air. "What devil did you contract with?! How can there be shadow and fire and ninjas—did you sign three contracts by yourself?!"
"Ah-ha—"
Su Tang threw his head back and laughed. Fire burst underfoot as he shot forward like a rocket straight at the Zombie Devil.
"What devil did I contract with?"
Flames bloomed around his fists. Madness surged in his pupils as he brought them crashing down on the Zombie Devil's head.
Sparks exploded; red light flooded the air. His ringing shout rolled out with the gust:
"Haha! Speak his name and it'll give you a scare!"
Sound drove wind; smoke sealed off the whole area in an instant.
"It hurts it hurts it huuuurts—!!"
The devil screeched through the smoke. A bowl-thick intestine lashed down like a whip from above.
"Hurt? Good!" Flames surged everywhere, and Su Tang's figure flickered through them, slipping past the whip strikes. Even his voice drifted in and out. "If you die, it won't hurt!"
The fire climbed, fast.
Fireflies of ember scattered about seemed summoned, zipping toward the center and congealing in midair into five half-meter fireballs.
"Eat my Five Fireball Divine Technique—hahahaha!"
Crackles raced through the air as things caught. Waves of heat rolled out. Before his words had finished, the five fireballs ripped away, all aimed at the Zombie Devil.
Unlike little Su Tang, the devil's near-ceiling-filling bulk made a perfect target. There was no dodging—only tanking it!
The instant flesh met flame it charred. Blood hadn't even a chance to drip before it steamed into scalding vapor. Black and red mottled together, laced with the devil's agonized howls.
Su Tang dropped from the air. He didn't have the Rooster Talisman; he couldn't hang aloft for long.
Hearing those howls, rather than relax, he frowned deeply.
Damn it! The Holy Lord's residual fire-qi was too little, and he only had half of even that. Temperature and reserves both fell short. Judging from that full-throated screaming, the pain was real—but not fatal.
If only a Dragon Talisman would drop right about now.
For power, it could blast; for endurance, it stood for the Holy Lord's endless energy. With the Dragon Talisman, Su Tang could feed fire-qi forever and stop worrying about sustain.
Thinking this, he hurried to recover his inner fire.
But the Zombie Devil didn't give him much time.
Heat-thick smoke thinned quickly, and Su Tang looked up—of course.
The devil's body had no unburnt patch left—char and pitting everywhere, injuries heavy—but… not dead.
Damn it, still not enough burst.
Drawing a deep breath, Su Tang readied himself to go in again.
A bronze-dark sheen like old copper ghosted across his face—but went no further.
Because he suddenly heard a sound.
It sounded like…
A chainsaw?
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