Sterl wasn't afraid of the divine-level demons entering the fray. Instead, he suddenly felt a thrill of excitement as he realized that if any foolish demons really wanted to use the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array, who could possibly outsmart him?
"Could it be that I can intercept them once more?"
The more he thought about it, the more exhilarated he became.
"Thank you!"
He sincerely expressed his gratitude to the Supreme demon that had just perished. To anyone else, the seemingly disconnected words would have been indecipherable, but for Sterl, this demon had hit a stroke of bad luck.
With the knowledge that a divine-level demon was about to enter, Sterl's options had clearly widened. At the very least, there was hope for a bug exploit.
As he pondered, a surge of dark green flames behind him began to swell, eventually morphing into a massive hand that lunged toward him with ferocity.
At that moment, Sterl didn't want to waste any more time. He quickly conjured the Flowing Water Blade once more.
Shattered Void!
With a whoosh, the already severely damaged space took another hit, collapsing and fracturing further!
Behind Sterl, the dark green Flame hand shattered instantly, while a fearsome demon surged forward, wielding a circular blade, frozen mid-air.
Bang!
Accompanied by a sound of shattering, the Supreme demon that had just advanced was now riddled with spatial cracks all over its body. Those cracks morphed into deep gashes that exposed bone—almost dismembering it completely!
To Sterl's astonishment, this Supreme demon somehow managed to withstand the full force of Shattered Void. It was noteworthy that the previous Supreme demon, clearly acting on behalf of the divine-level demon, had been dispatched in a single blow.
"It must be the enhancement from Hell's consciousness that made it so much tougher," Sterl mused, slightly clicking his tongue.
Indeed, he found that while he had no problem overpowering ordinary Supreme and quasi-divine beings, he couldn't deliver a one-hit kill against slightly stronger opponents. The top-tier entities in the Valor Combatants tournament would likely put him in a tough spot...
However, the recently upgraded Supreme demon was also in a dire state, half-kneeling on the ground, its flames unable to be used for offense, instead desperately surging into its body to heal its various wounds.
Sterl casually unleashed thousands of Flowing Water Blades in a torrential barrage.
Whoosh!
The surrounding flames were completely engulfed by the downpour of blades.
The Supreme demon was rapidly reduced, as if undergoing a brutal dismemberment, with more than half of its body stripped away, leaving behind a charred skeleton.
After being momentarily suppressed, its body suddenly swelled, and fierce flames erupted around it like a fiery halo.
Sterl effortlessly sidestepped, utilizing the power of spatial Law to evade the flames.
At the same time, he heard a thunderous roar.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
The newly emerged Supreme demon had already entered its second phase. This was clearly a boss-level creature. With its life force and attributes amplified, it was no easy opponent to handle!
The demon swung its circular blade, slicing through the air. In an instant, the rivers of blood flowing beneath surged forth, transforming into multiple afterimages that charged at Sterl.
From the front, back, sides, above, and below, nearly every angle was locked down. A faint aura of blood hung in the air, rendering all teleportation abilities utterly ineffective.
After exhausting energy with two major skills, Sterl found himself too drained to unleash more powerful moves. He could only summon a clone to utilize Protection Power, shielding himself from the incoming attacks.
The blue Star Radiance shield surrounded him, while the blood-red demon afterimages struck it. Ultimately, they merely caused the shield to tremble slightly. By the time the afterimages dissipated, they had inflicted no significant damage.
When the shield faded, Sterl casually shook his head. "Come on then?"
Not a single attack went unanswered.
The countless rivers of blood beneath them had already destroyed their riverbeds.
It was fortunate that this area was heavily reinforced by the consciousness of the layer of hell; otherwise, it would have collapsed and crumbled long ago!
"Ha ha! Bring it on!"
Sterl was getting hyped up!
This strategy of trading blows was not only effective but also saved a lot on potions. Sterl could easily replenish his energy using some of the low-level potions he had procured during the last shopping trip with Linna.
It wasn't that he was stingy; it was just that the best recovery potions required either additional charges or Valor Contribution Points to purchase, and he was reluctant to part with them.
After about ten minutes of intense combat, the Supreme demon began to realize something was amiss.
A look of human-like confusion and disbelief appeared in its eyes. As a boss, the demon was fine with trading injuries with Sterl; it thought this human was merely seeking death. But as the battle wore on, the demon started to notice a troubling trend: it was becoming increasingly weakened, with its life force dwindling to only 20%.
Meanwhile, the opponent before it appeared to be full of vitality, growing stronger with each passing moment.
However...
As a boss, unless it was a special setting, there was no concept of retreat.
With no other option, the Supreme demon let out a long, desperate howl, attempting to gather its strength once again.
But Sterl wasn't going to give it that chance.
After several exchanges, he still had about half of his life force remaining, and his energy was completely replenished, ready for another Shattered Void!
Swish!
In an instant, Sterl slowly conjured the Flowing Water Blade. At the same time, the demon's circular blade struck him, creating a wound deep enough to see bone, while the dark green flames seared through Sterl's flesh.
This attack contained at least several types of chaotic memories, including life-draining, weakness, and curses—any one of which could easily spell death for a demigod-level player.
Yet, Sterl remained unfazed.
He slowly and resolutely pulled out his sword...
Tiny shards of space shattered around him like a storm. The demon, with only one-fifth of its life remaining, desperately tried to dodge but found itself frozen in place.
It couldn't move!
Then, the demon was shattered along with the surrounding space!
Sterl exhaled a breath of stale air, a hint of regret in his expression.
The surrounding space had become extremely chaotic, making it significantly more challenging to set up formations here.
Without the assistance of Shattered Void, his conventional methods for defeating the Supreme demon—especially a Supreme-level boss—would be nearly impossible.
"But if there really is a divine-level demon scheming a blood sacrifice to devour gods, perhaps there will be some unfortunate soul to help me repair the space," Sterl thought to himself.
Next, after some hesitation, he quickly organized the battlefield, collecting all the dropped spheres.
Then...
He set off on his journey back.
At the same time, Sterl pondered over how he would fabricate a story later on.