The Defeated Aina

Xia Lun felt he had never been in a better state than he was right now.

An endless stream of power surged from within him, and his perception of the world around him seemed sharper... His mood suddenly became buoyant, as if he were slightly tipsy, his whole body floating on air.

The bat-like wings behind Aina flapped instantly, and she pulled back to widen the distance from Xia Lun again.

Her combat instincts screamed out a warning—this current version of Xia Lun gave her a very bad feeling. He was like a completely different person from just moments ago.

"What's wrong, Aina?" Xia Lun's tone carried a hint of helplessness as he touched his flushed cheek. "Do you dislike me that much?"

"What did you drink?" Aina asked coldly.

"Just an ordinary strength potion," Xia Lun said, a faint smile curling at the corners of his mouth, though his gaze uncontrollably drifted over Aina's figure.

The Aina before him... her slender form clad in blood-red armor, dashing and heroic... she was truly beautiful.

He wanted to strip that armor off her... and try it on himself.

It would definitely look cool.

He just wasn't sure if the size would fit.

Aina naturally had no idea what was going through Xia Lun's mind at that moment.

But she knew that what Xia Lun had drunk was certainly no ordinary strength potion.

What the hell had that damned witch added to it? To let someone at Xia Lun's level experience such a leap in power.

"Aina... let's continue." Xia Lun twisted his neck, his joints cracking sharply, his gaze turning fierce. "I told you—I'm going to teach you a proper lesson."

The potion's effect had a time limit, so he couldn't afford to waste any more time. If the effects wore off, he would once again be at Aina's mercy.

In truth, if he weren't drugged, the two of them would be evenly matched, each unable to gain the upper hand. But since he couldn't close the distance, his stamina would run out before hers.

"Big talk," Aina said, stubborn as ever. Even though she knew that Xia Lun now had the ability to threaten her, she chose to keep up her defiant front.

If she lost her nerve, she wouldn't be far from losing outright.

The potion Ankula had brewed for Xia Lun worked even better than he had expected.

His strength had increased not just by thirty percent, but by nearly fifty percent.

A surging sense of power nearly burst through his muscles and bones. But it came at a cost—he could feel his stamina draining at an unprecedented rate, urging him to end the fight quickly.

As for chatting... after he defeated Aina, he could talk as long as he wanted. Xia Lun understood this well enough.

Boom—

A flash of crimson radiance erupted from the holy sword. Xia Lun's figure transformed into a streak of red light, charging at Aina with an unstoppable momentum.

Aina swung her staff. The space around her seemed to boil as countless magical arrays materialized behind her, bubbling up like froth in heated water—frost, flame, lightning, wind blades, all kinds of powerful elemental forces mingling together like the primordial chaos of creation itself.

Xia Lun's form streaked past, triggering a series of magical explosions that bloomed like fireworks.

But the destructive power contained within them was far beyond anything ordinary fireworks could match.

The shockwaves from the explosions spread outward in rings, scattering the clouds.

High in the sky, two red meteors tangled and collided. One dodged, the other relentlessly pursued. They drifted apart and drew close again, like a pair of playful lovebirds.

But anyone with even a little insight could tell that the rippling aftershocks swirling around them, nearly warping the very space, were terrifyingly powerful.

Aina gritted her teeth.

No matter what kind of attack she launched, Xia Lun would simply charge straight through the explosion's fury.

He was a monster...

Of course, Xia Lun wasn't just recklessly barreling through without skill. His body wasn't durable enough to survive Aina's magic unscathed.

Instead, he used his explosive speed to close in the moment a spell was about to take shape, evading direct damage, or he would cleave straight into the heart of the explosion with his holy sword, hacking the forming spell apart so it released barely a fraction of its power.

It was like a cannonball flying through the air—once split open, it seemed to lose all its force.

Aina fled in a panic. Faced with such an unreasonable monster, she couldn't think of a suitable countermeasure.

Against an opponent of equal rank, she had countless ways to outmaneuver him. Against weaker enemies, she held absolute control.

But now, Xia Lun's power had surpassed anything Aina could control.

When her magic could be effortlessly neutralized, she felt like a stripped beast, completely exposed before Xia Lun.

"Pressure Dominion!"

Aina slammed the base of her long staff upright before her, and a ripple spread through the air.

"Clang—"

A gravity far more horrifying than before crashed down on Xia Lun. A cylinder of distorted pressure, five hundred meters in diameter, formed around him. The ground below cracked inch by inch, and rubble was ground into fine powder.

But Xia Lun barely stumbled before bracing himself against the crushing weight—a force that could flatten even a dragon—and pushed forward even more determinedly toward Aina.

Out of options, Aina could only watch helplessly as Xia Lun grew closer and closer.

Raw power translated into speed. The velocity Xia Lun could now unleash gave Aina no hope of escape.

Xia Lun stood before her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Got you." He let out a satisfied smile. His breathing was a bit heavy, and his forehead was damp with sweat, plastering his hair to his temples, adding a wild edge to his look.

Aina could clearly feel his hot breath. She raised her head stubbornly, meeting his gaze through the cold visor of her helmet. "I haven't lost yet!"

"Then what tricks do you have left?" Xia Lun taunted.

Aina lifted her hand and swung her staff at Xia Lun.

Compared to ordinary warriors, Aina's strength was still considerable—a blow like that could snap the bones of even a high-ranked fighter.

But Xia Lun couldn't help but chuckle softly. In his eyes, such an attack was as harmless as a child's tantrum.

Aina found her wrists instantly grabbed by Xia Lun. Faced with his inhuman strength, there was no chance of breaking free, and her staff clattered to the ground with a loud clang.

Xia Lun's face slowly drew closer. He whispered into her ear, still covered by the iron helmet: "So the Lord Demon King... can't handle losing?"

"Bastard..." Aina clenched her teeth in fury, but every attempt at resistance felt utterly powerless.

Xia Lun removed her helmet, and her silver hair flowed freely in the wind.

Looking at that strikingly beautiful face, Xia Lun couldn't help but press his lips to hers.