Here it comes! The means for me to temporarily achieve ten-tier combat power under special conditions!
The moment the demon chose to erupt, Lin Ran canceled his Susanoo and drew another majestic-looking long sword from his divine artifact-fused body.
Cursed Sword · Dassertein!
Since you've chosen to clash with me using dark energy, I'll make sure you know who the true king of darkness is.
Without rushing to reveal the Black Dragon's body, Lin Ran swung the Cursed Sword, slashing directly at the demon's throat.
It had to be said, after ascending to the tenth tier, the demon's confidence had immediately soared. He didn't even bother with his previous demonic transformation, maintaining his normal form. With a sinister grin, he charged towards Lin Ran's direction of attack.
"You think you can match my strength with your current self? Daydreaming!"
In his extreme confidence, the demon didn't even bother to draw a weapon, directly smashing his fist towards Lin Ran's Cursed Sword with an arrogant expression.
It seemed he intended to smash both the sword and Lin Ran to pieces with a single punch.
However, Lin Ran, possessing Kenbunshoku, had naturally made ample preparations when he dared to charge at the demon so brazenly...
*Whoosh!*
Just a split second before their fists and sword were about to collide, the dull gray aura surrounding them instantly changed color, shifting towards an icy blue.
Simultaneously, the demon could clearly feel an icy chill spreading from his arm, quickly enveloping his entire body. This caused his fist, which should have been unstoppable as it hurtled towards Lin Ran, to miss its target due to Lin Ran's subsequent evasion.
What terrifying frost power!
The demon's brow furrowed instinctively.
He knew that his current energy was absolutely crushing Lin Ran. The power comparison between them shouldn't even be proportional...
But Lin Ran, with some special means he conjured from who knows where, not only slowed his attack but also managed to allow this cold to infiltrate his body, paralyzing his nerves and eroding his consciousness...
Could his mastery of ice elements have reached the edge of absolute zero?
Realizing the danger, the demon didn't dare to press on and decisively retreated a step.
Although he now possessed the energy level of a tenth-tier expert, crucial aspects like physical condition and energy tier had not changed.
Therefore, he couldn't truly achieve the overwhelming dimensional crushing power that a genuine tenth-tier expert could exert on lower-tier opponents with their domain and rule powers.
The actual improvement might not even be as good as Lin Ran's Black Dragon's Body – after all, the Black Dragon's Body directly enhanced his physical form.
But even such a method that could boost him to world-class energy levels was enough for anyone to scramble for.
"Oh? You're not pushing through? Quite cautious, aren't you!"
Lin Ran was not surprised by the demon's retreat at all. He chuckled and showed him the new weapon that had appeared in his left hand.
It was an ethereal blue, long and narrow ice blade, with a thick yet sharp edge. It was the divine artifact he had just forged, named Frostmourne!
"Again!"
The demon had now regained his composure, seriously assessing Lin Ran's prowess, and began to conjure energy blasts in his hands.
In his eyes now, the priority was to stall Lin Ran, giving the Blood Elf an undisturbed environment to continue his work.
Fighting for dominance might actually be his undoing!
With an ice blade in his left hand and the Cursed Sword in his right, Lin Ran nodded slightly.
"Since you said so, then I shall... oblige you!"
Cross Slash!
Lin Ran placed his dual-wielded weapons diagonally together and thrust them forward, unleashing two sword energies, one black and one blue, forcing the initiative against the demon.
The demon couldn't stand for this and, without any hesitation, fired his energy ball.
"As if I'd be afraid of you?"
Let alone the fact that his energy reserves were already countless times greater than Lin Ran's, the mere fact that he had spent considerable time charging his attack while Lin Ran only used a rapid cast spell meant he was already at a significant advantage.
However...
The instant the demon's energy ball left his hand, a nearly invisible spatial vortex appeared in the air, directly swallowing the energy ball.
???
Because everything happened so incredibly fast, the demon briefly wondered if he had misread or fallen victim to some strange illusion.
But the energy ball's inexplicable disappearance and the loss of control over it made him deeply realize that this seemed to be a real event...
Damn it!
It happened too suddenly. At this point, retreating was clearly impossible.
He had to take this cross slash of ice and dark energy head-on.
He'd take it, but not for free!
He had already retreated once due to that soul-freezing sensation. This time, he had to charge through!
Having made up his mind, the demon didn't hesitate. After coldly receiving the two blows, he formed the Claw of Calamity in his hand and clawed directly at Lin Ran.
Lin Ran merely cast a disdainful glance at him and vanished from his original spot.
He missed again!
The demon felt his hard-won composure starting to fray.
To be honest, facing someone as full of tricks as Lin Ran, it would be abnormal not to have one's mentality shattered...
Especially when you think you have a huge advantage, that you can win just by closing your eyes and attacking, but you can never land a hit.
Just as the demon was trying to suppress his killing intent and scan the air for Lin Ran's presence, he suddenly realized that Lin Ran had, at some point, forced his way past him and was now beside the Blood Elf.
"Hey, is it about time?"
Lin Ran said in a calm tone, his ice blade already at the Blood Elf's throat.
The other Cursed Sword was held by another "person" emanating dark energy, with a face nearly identical to Lin Ran's. This figure stood behind the Blood Elf, pressing the sword against his back.
The recent powerful double strike and the summoning of the Black Dragon's Body had been executed so seamlessly that even the Blood Elf, who was observing, was caught off guard.
The Blood Elf, who hadn't fired a single shot, was now in an extremely passive situation.
As for the demon, who had been left behind...
Lin Ran's thought was that one who was already afflicted with curse and ice damage by him hardly needed to be considered anymore!