From the moment Mike summoned that creepy giant axe, Ming Yi had already moved his right hand behind his back. A few drops of blood spun in the air like tadpoles, then vanished.

Then Ming Yi drew a slender Bloodsword and pointed it at Mike.

“Nice presence.” Mike raised a brow, then roared, “Come on!”

He swung up the giant axe and charged at Ming Yi like a tank, all brute force and momentum.

Ming Yi didn’t panic. He stood perfectly still, expressionless, watching Mike’s advancing steps.

“Hm?” Halfway through his charge, Mike suddenly felt a chill from both sides. He didn’t think twice. He stopped at once and brought the giant axe up to block.

Clang, clang.

Two blood arrows struck the face of the axe and disappeared instantly.

And right then, Ming Yi moved.

The moment he moved, he became a black blur. He shot straight in front of Mike, then thrust his Bloodsword upward at an angle, aiming directly for Mike’s face.

Mike looked at the incoming blade without the slightest panic. He merely tilted his head a little and dodged the thrust. At the same time, his hands never stopped moving. He swung the giant axe down in front of him.

When that strike missed, Ming Yi didn’t try to take the axe head-on. He slipped under Mike like an eel with a sliding sweep, going straight behind him.

Boom!

Mike’s giant axe smashed hard into the ground. After the deafening impact, a small dent was actually blasted into the maze floor.

Ming Yi’s eyes tightened a little. Good lord, how much strength was that?

After all the battles with Corruption Artifacts along the way, not a single one had left a mark on the maze Miriam had funded and built. Yet Mike made a crater with one hit.

So what if that axe landed on him instead?

Ming Yi swallowed.

“You’re pretty fast. Your footwork’s good too.” Mike turned and looked at Ming Yi again. “But if you think those flashy little tricks are enough to beat me, then you’re way too naive.”

“I never expected this level to beat you.” Ming Yi shrugged. “Might not even count as a warm-up.”

“Then stop dragging it out and show me what you’ve really got!”

Mike’s gaze sharpened. With a shout, he swung the giant axe in a full arc as if it weighed nothing, yet it carried crushing force as it came straight for Ming Yi.

Ming Yi shot out another thread of blood from his hand. It stuck to a wall to the side, and he swung backward like Spider-Man, dodging the mountain-splitting blow.

At the same time, Mike’s pursuing step paused slightly.

At some point, several ultra-thin blood threads, almost invisible to the naked eye, had come from all directions and wrapped around his limbs, wrists, and neck.

He could break free with just a little force. But the sensation was like mosquitoes buzzing around him, endlessly irritating.

After swinging through the air in an arc, Ming Yi whipped himself forward again. He flew back toward Mike, and the Bloodsword in his hand split into two, one in each hand.

Mike tore free of the blood threads and slashed horizontally with the blood axe at the incoming Ming Yi. But Ming Yi flipped lightly, tapped the axe head with the tip of his foot, then flipped again and passed over Mike’s head.

At the same time, the two Bloodswords crossed and carved an X across Mike’s back.

Pshk.

Two shallow cuts appeared on Mike’s back at once, bringing a slight sting. The moment he landed the hit, Ming Yi pulled far away again, leaving Mike no chance to counterattack.

Mike’s face had completely darkened by now. This impossible-to-guard-against fighting style made him feel like he was trapped in a swamp. He had all this strength, but nowhere to use it.

“You’re seriously as annoying as an insect.” Irritation rose on Mike’s face without him even noticing. He had clearly run out of patience.

“When I get angry, I’m terrifying.”

A faint red glow appeared on the giant axe in Mike’s hand. In an instant, Ming Yi felt the air in the whole space turn thick and sticky. The oppressive pressure made it hard to breathe.

A heavy smell of blood rushed into his nose.

Mike’s whole aura changed. He became savage, violent, and brutal. Even his eyes seemed to turn blood-red.

So he’s pulling out his big move now?

Ming Yi’s heart jolted slightly.

Then Mike moved.

Ming Yi watched as Mike, who had been over ten meters away, appeared right in front of him in the very next instant.

So fast—

Before even the thought of shock could fully form, Ming Yi felt like his chest had been hit by a speeding car. His body flew backward like a kite with its string cut.

He slammed hard into the wall behind him. His insides churned violently, and a wave of extreme nausea made him feel awful. In the end, he couldn’t hold it back and spat out a mouthful of blood.

But Mike didn’t stop.

He appeared at Ming Yi’s side again, raised the giant axe high, and brought it down toward him.

Shit!

In the middle of the crisis, Ming Yi used the last bit of his reason to fire a blood thread into the distance. His whole body shifted sideways through the air, barely dodging the blow.

Mike’s explosive speed was completely out of proportion with his huge frame. His steps never stopped as he rushed straight after Ming Yi.

So his Corruption Artifact ability is to push himself into this bloodthirsty, violent state for a short time? His speed and strength both jumped massively.

Ming Yi’s eyes turned cold as well. The two Bloodswords in his hands silently changed shape.

If that’s how it is, then there’s no need for me to keep holding back either.

Time to flip the card.

Ming Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The blood in front of him began to spin and shift at high speed, condensing into a blood sphere the size of a fist, which slowly floated toward Mike.

Mike didn’t care about the blood sphere at all. He casually smashed it apart with one swing of his axe, scattering it into droplets.

And then, the sudden change hit.

Those scattered droplets didn’t fall to the ground. In an instant, they turned into tiny blood arrows, densely packed and suspended in front of Mike like a rain of arrows.

There were so many of them, packed so tightly, that just one glance was enough to make your heart tremble.

No time to dodge!

Mike was already charging. There was no way he could stop in time, so he could only grit his teeth and crash through.

One blood arrow after another struck his body. In less than a breath, Mike was covered in cuts from head to toe. Blood sprayed everywhere, and he looked utterly miserable.

What chilled him even more was that, at some point, Ming Yi had already rushed in with swords in both hands.

Enduring the intense pain, Mike raised his axe with difficulty and slashed sideways, trying to cut Ming Yi in half and send him flying.

But Ming Yi forcefully blocked with the Bloodsword in his left hand, knocking the blood axe off course. Then, with a smooth turn, his right-hand sword spun back around and slashed at Mike with a cold gleam.

Gulp.

By then, the bloodthirsty aura around Mike had already faded. He stared blankly at the Bloodsword pressed tightly against his neck and swallowed with difficulty.

It had seemed slow, but the whole fight actually hadn’t lasted long. From the moment Ming Yi was blasted away and coughed blood to this reversal, not even a full minute had passed.

What just happened?

Even Mike himself hadn’t fully processed it.

Those densely packed blood arrows had terrifying killing power. Even his body, strengthened by the Corruption Artifact, had been like paper in front of them, pierced through with ease.

“I... lost.” Mike closed his eyes in disbelief.

“Good match.” Ming Yi smiled and returned to looking harmless and harmless again.

Mike fell silent for a while, then suddenly spoke.

“Well... this might be a little abrupt, but can I ask something?”

“What?”

“Just now, you kept using hit-and-run tactics. You were doing everything you could to avoid clashing with me head-on...” Mike hesitated, as if unsure how to phrase it. “...But at the very end, when you blocked my Bloodthirsty Axe, I felt like your Bloodsword was much harder and sharper than I expected.”

“At first, I thought your Corruption Artifact just wasn’t suited for frontal combat. But now I’m not so sure anymore...”

“From the very beginning, were you never planning to fight me at full strength?” Mike stared hard at Ming Yi.

Ming Yi answered without changing expression, “Nope. I was going all out the whole time.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” Ming Yi smiled.

Mike didn’t press further. He just let out a sigh, relaxed, and dropped to the ground with a thud.

“Even if I let everyone down, and that doesn’t feel great... a loss is a loss. I was simply outmatched, so I can accept it.”

Ming Yi sat down beside him too.

“Well, my job ends here.”

“Huh? You’re not going to help your companions?”

“That fight with you took a lot out of me too. I don’t have the strength left to support anyone else.” Ming Yi shook his head. “I’ll leave the rest to my companions.”

The excuse was so obvious that Mike frowned slightly. But then Ming Yi added:

“Just like they trust me to handle my part, I have more than enough faith in them too.”

Mike looked at the confidence in Ming Yi’s eyes and gave a self-mocking smile.

“Looks like we were the ones judging people through tinted glasses all along.”

“You third-generation people... you’re a lot better than I imagined.”