Chapter 424: Claw Decapitation

Concerned about the demon‑slaying squad members and the Wizard on the ground, Lei En's hammer did not use Thunder Heavy Strike, but instead triggered a Destruction Critical Hit.

The feedback from the war hammer came back a bit light.

Ha Erken's body split open, yet no blood flowed, and it still dissipated like foam.

"Another stand‑in?"

Before Lei En's thought settled, he sensed the mithril light armor behind him being pierced by a sharp weapon, a pointed thing stabbing himself, unleashing unmatched sharpness and destructive force; the true dragon body's dragon‑scale skin was instantly pierced, the point drove into the skin, then was blocked by a level‑4 steel body, unable to advance further.

Ding!

A metallic clang rang out, scattering a spray of sparks.

Ha Erken's cold gaze changed instantly.

The short sword he wielded, "Destruction Fang", is epic‑level; it is so razor‑sharp it can pierce steel plates, virtually nothing cannot be penetrated, and it carries a demon‑breaking effect—shields below level 6 have always been shattered in a single strike.

Once the Destruction Fang pierces an enemy's body, even a mere skin slash Tear a huge wound, while simultaneously triggering Shadow Power to assault the soul, paralyzing the target and stripping resistance.

In the past, countless transcendants have perished beneath this blade.

However, after Lei En was stabbed, he remained unharmed.

Ha Erken's eyes showed disbelief, his expression almost froze, and his movements unconsciously lagged a half beat.

Lei En's war hammer was just swung out, with no time to retrieve it, so he leaned back, his body directly colliding with the short sword against Ha Erken. The backward swing couldn't unleash maximum force, but it was the quickest, and finally struck Ha Erken's true form.

Bang, Ha Erken was knocked flying.

Even though he had used the "Unload Force" Element to offset most of the impact, it still felt as if a dragon had struck him with its tail head‑on, his whole body searing with pain, he opened his mouth and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

Two nearest Mirror Images extended Electric Claw Technique.

One left, one right, the two giant claws formed of lightning flew almost simultaneously; Ha Erken flipped, stepped into the void, and missed the electric claws by a hair's breadth.

His feet stepped on air as if walking on solid ground, he ducked under a war hammer thrown by a Mirror Image, then surged forward, causing two rainbow beams to miss, used a phantom step to evade Bo Erqi's Holy Light Sword, Fei Li'ang's flash blade also lagged a half step, and in a blink he escaped the assault.

This dazzling series of dodges, like a butterfly among flowers, calmly carved a path to safety amid danger; Ha Erken fully exploited his speed advantage.

Even as an opponent, Lei En could not help but admire; truly worthy of a legendary Mid‑stage Trickster.

Admiration aside, his subordinates showed no mercy.

Lei En timed it, flashed forward, opened his mouth and let out another roar.

"Roar!"

This time it wasn't a dragon's roar—its interval was too short and hurt his throat; he emitted a "Shrill" roar from the Bimon Beast's demonic soul, a common Element already at level five, attacking hearing via sound waves.

At such close range, Ha Erken's eardrums tingled with pain.

He had already been injured by Lei En's collision, his body involuntarily stalled for half a breath, blood flowing from his ears.

After Lei En finished roaring, he swung his hammer and smashed forward.

Swoosh…

Ha Erken hurled his short sword at lightning speed, turning it into a streak of light faster than lightning, which instantly flew over a hundred meters, and his body vanished along with it.

Lei En swung his hammer again into empty air, eyes fixed on the distant short sword.

Ha Erken's silhouette materialized, catching the swiftly flying short sword; this move had the same effect as a flash, but reached far farther.

"Shift Position."

Lei En snorted coldly; he had secretly seen Ha Erken use it in the dwarf underground fortress, as it is one of the Trickster's signature abilities.

Ha Erken caught the short sword as it hit the ground, and two portals opened before him, from which stepped out two Mirror Images of Lei En.

Normally, stepping out of a portal is a blink of an eye.

But for Ha Erken, that was too slow; before the two Mirror Images could act, he hurled the short sword again, appearing on a farther street, easily widening the gap.

Throw, catch, flash.

Each time Ha Erken's silhouette appeared, a portal opened nearby, a Mirror Image rushed out, but always lagged a half step, watching helplessly as Ha Erken fled.

"He is escaping!"

Fei Li'ang shouted a warning.

"I know." Lei En nodded, glanced toward the southern direction of Ma Zhuosi's city, Ha Erken feared the Silver Star Title: Duke, his ambush failed, and he fled a long distance, daring not to expose himself for long.

Fei Li'ang instinctively wanted to chase, but hesitated.

He is no match for Ha Erken, and this place is swarming with demon‑slaying squad members and Secret Fire Guard; if he left and Ha Erken turned the tables, the loss would be too great.

"Director, Bo Erqi, stay behind to protect everyone," Lei En whispered, "He can't get far."

Speaking thus, he bestowed upon himself Wind‑Thunder Wings, opened a portal, and entered.

Five Mirror Images took turns continuously using portals to pursue; though they could not block Ha Erken, they firmly tracked his trail, maintaining pressure so he could not easily escape.

On Ma Zhuosi's street, a black shadow flickered by like a fleeting flash of light.

Many residents hiding at home, watching the street, felt as if a shadow flew before their eyes, yet saw nothing.

Then a deep portal opened, from which emerged a tall figure wielding a war hammer, gazing toward a direction before stepping back into the portal and departing.

This bizarre scene made the onlookers shrink their necks in fright.

Swoosh!

Again it was a Shift Position, Ha Erken landed, turned back to look, couldn't stop panting, his mouth tinged with a few strands of blood. He reached out to his chest, used "Damage Transfer" to shift the internal injuries outward, the level‑7 self‑healing effect manifested, and the wounds healed at a visibly rapid pace.

Yet this was not without cost; his stamina and soul power plummeted rapidly.

Moreover, the Shift Position ability consumed heavily; after using it dozens of times consecutively, Ha Erken could barely sustain it.

He had tried to conceal with illusion, or slip into shadows, but whatever method he used, it had no effect on the relentless pursuers, always being seen through at a glance.

These Mirror Images differed completely from the Mirror Image technique he remembered.

Each Mirror Image resembled the original, possessing cognition, and could see through all disguises and illusions at a glance, leaving him nowhere to hide.

Just after catching his breath, a portal opened a few steps away.

"Damn it!"

Harken muttered under his breath.

This was the most troublesome enemy he had ever encountered, more troublesome than the Legendary High-rank Fulin Ke, with more Mirror Images than his own phantom clones, the living threads uncontrollable, all kinds of illusion and disguise ineffective, essentially his own nemesis.

If he stopped his flight, he would be surrounded by several Mirror Images.

But if he kept fleeing like this, he would eventually run out of strength, and might even draw the Duke Yin Xing, making things even worse.

"We have no choice but to fight outright; first take out his Mirror Images."

Harken calmed himself, activated Phantom Step, speed spiking, his figure scattering like a wisp of black shadow, stabbing from the side‑rear at the silhouette that had just emerged from the Portal.

With a ding, the Destruction Fang pierced a layer of dragon‑scale skin, then got stuck, unable to advance any further.

"Hm?"

Harken's complexion changed, muttering his bad luck; the figure before him was not a Mirror Image but the true body.

Lei En regarded the short sword lodged at his waist as nothing, turned and delivered a heavy hammer strike; his Soul Eye saw Harken re‑activate Substitution Technique, while he himself leapt to another direction, dozens of meters away, instantly slipping into shadow.

The Warhammer, midway through its swing, slipped from his hand and was hurled straight toward Harken in the shadows.

"Roar!"

A dragon's roar rang out, Harken's figure froze; as he regained his Willpower, the Warhammer had already shot forward, enlarging in his sight.

At the critical moment, Harken rolled on the spot.

It looked rather clumsy, but he ultimately avoided the lethal blow.

The Warhammer was yanked back by a bolt of lightning; Harken's eyes and hands were swift, he rose and seized the hammer shaft that flew overhead, feeling a tingling electric paralysis—damage mild enough to endure—so he exerted force to drag it, entering a tug‑of‑war.

Without the Warhammer, the Dragon Rider's threat was much lower.

Lei En narrowed his eyes; the electric suction ring's pulling force was not impressive, and he couldn't retrieve the Warhammer from a distance for the moment.

If the mountain won't come, I'll go to it.

He hesitated not, launched a charge, and simultaneously gathered a Rainbow Beam in his hand, aiming at Harken.

Unexpectedly, Harken neither dodged nor evaded, his gaze fixed on himself; his Soul Eye saw a powerful supreme Element flicker in his mind.

"Mimicry!"

The Rainbow Beam erupted; the Enchanted Necklace on Harken's neck activated, flashing a magical shield that was instantly pierced, forcing him to swallow the Rainbow Beam whole. His leather armor shattered, his chest a mess of blood and flesh, yet a victorious smile spread across his face.

However, his smile suddenly froze.

Mimicry failed!

There is only one explanation: his soul strength is weaker than his opponent's. Mimicry Elements can only simulate targets whose souls are weaker; if stronger, the simulation is incomplete or missing more Elements, and only when the gap is extreme does it fail outright.

But Lei En was clearly only a newly promoted Legendary High-rank transcendent, which Harken could not comprehend.

While Harken was stunned, Lei En had already charged to the front.

Harken instantly released the Warhammer, his figure darting backward, while his other hand forcefully hurled the Destruction Fang; at that moment, a Mirror Image stepped out of a Portal behind him.

The Mirror Image wielded an Arcane Torrent Staff, and upon appearing instantly triggered the staff's final Stasis Field for today.

An invisible force field descended, binding the space within dozens of meters.

The Destruction Fang's speed dropped sharply, as if slowed a hundredfold, drifting lazily, then was struck to the ground by an Electric Claw Technique released by a Mirror Image. Harken, having activated teleportation, appeared beside the Destruction Fang, horrified to find himself still within the Stasis Field, barely able to move.

The third Mirror Image flashed behind Harken, solidly hammering his back.

Puff!

Even though the Mirror Image possessed only half of Lei En's strength and had lost most of its force, under the Destruction critical hit it still shattered Harken's spine.

Harken was hammered forward, stumbling toward the charging Lei En.

Lei En, bare‑handed, transformed his right hand's five fingers into sharp Bimon Giant Claws, swung forcefully as if rehearsed countless times, and Harken's neck was thrust forward, severed in a single slash.

Fresh blood splattered as Harken's head flew upward.

The Stasis Field had not ended; his head was suspended mid‑air, unable to touch the ground, eyes wide open, yet he was already completely dead.

(End of Chapter)