Chapter 238: Who Is Being Toyed With By Whom? Hongumbra's red eyes glowed even more viciously and several swirling black fumes of energy started gathering around him. Whatever spell he was casting did not look simple at all. His health as well was on its last straw and he was only barely holding on. This was most probably his last hail mary attempt. Even the demons standing around looked amazed and were watching the leader in awe as if they were seeing something mystical and magical. There was a look of deep respect and worship in their eyes. One could tell that they all were devotedly loyal to the garrison leader. Seeing all this, Liam needed only a fraction of a second to gauge the situation. He did not dare wait and watch the outcome of this spell and started immediately barraging the demon with a volley of attacks. This was why he had waited and spent the time to do some initial intel gathering. From what he knew this satyr excelled at summoning lesser demons and devilish plant-type monsters. He was a druid nature spirit gone astray from the path of nature. So he was also capable of casting dark element spells that evoked strong demonic tentacles from the earth. Liam was most wary of these two attacks since he wouldn't be able to absorb the nether from this type of attack. Besides, just because the demon himself was nerfed and brought down to Liam's level, it did not necessarily mean that his summons would also be nerfed proportionately. So it was definitely in his best interest to finish this fight before the spell casting is successful. His fire-type attacks did the maximum damage so Liam hurriedly started lobbing massive fireballs at the demon. However, Hongumbra simply snorted and flicked his thick finger. The next second the black fumes coalesced and started forming a barrier around the demon. Liam knitted his brows and tried to get in a couple of attacks but the barrier was strong enough to block whatever he sent. "Fine, then I will just come there and personally break it down." Kata Kata Kata. Liam's figure appeared near the demon and the purple sword danced around as he slashed at the barrier relentlessly. He was not aware as he had never trained specifically but the purple sword was covered at the moment with a thin layer of sword aura. The semi-epic weapon clashed against the barrier repeatedly, producing horrendous screeching noises. And every time they clashed, the barrier was the one to whimper and shudder. The insect was able to weaken even this barrier? The demon finally realized that something was amiss. The person who originally appeared weak was no longer going down so easily. The weapon in his hand also did not look ordinary. However, the fight was not over yet. He was, after all, a higher demon from the abyss. How could he possibly be defeated by a puny platoon leader who was as weak as a skeleton? With a loud grunt, he used the remaining energy he possessed and hurriedly finished his casting. The next second, the arena ground started cracking under their feet. Huge, black, thorny tentacles started growing from the crevices that formed. These tentacles looked extremely sturdy and were fully covered in spikes that were dripping with a dark slimy substance. Liam instantly dashed away, moving several paces from the demon. He didn't have to experience it personally to learn that these spines and needles were poisonous. Just a single hit from them was probably enough to completely overturn this fight. If he tried to check if indeed they were, then while knowing the result, his soul would at the same time be waving goodbye, leaving his body. All his hard work up until now would go to waste and more importantly, he would die. He immediately stopped focusing on the offense and shifted to defense. He pushed the remaining mana he had to his feet and hurriedly evaded the swaying traps of death. The tentacles danced around as if they were alive and covered the entire surface of the arena. Liam had to push himself to the extreme to escape their grasp. This was not an easy task and he couldn't focus on the demon while these were dangling around. He hoped that these would last for a couple of seconds because he didn't know how long he could keep up with this, but unfortunately… Liam continued moving and evading, dancing to the tune of the tentacles while Hongumbra and the other demons standing around laughed loudly in amusement as if they were watching a show. Just a couple of seconds ago, they all were pale and ashen, but now that the tables had turned, it had once again turned into a boisterous occasion. All the demons heartily booed and jeered, ridiculing how Liam was struggling in front of their almighty garrison leader. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖 Hongumbra as well silently panted. The others did not know that he had almost dropped dead just now, losing all of his health. So he maintained the haughty posture and quietly recovered his health, watching Liam keenly. His glowing red eyes finally looked a bit pacified. However, for some reason, he still had a bad feeling. So he started another summoning not waiting for this one to fully take effect. Liam, of course, observed this from the corner of his eyes and started sweating slightly. "Fuck. Are these permanent summons or what?" Things were starting to worsen and the chance that he was waiting for hadn't yet arrived. He also did not know just how long he could hold on. Liam as well possessed a demon summoning skill but his only lasted for a couple of seconds but this one was still giving him a headache? Were both summoning rituals of different grade and quality? What were they doing differently? His original plan was to simply evade these and reach the demon. However, that no longer seemed to be a good idea. He clenched his sword tightly and slashed down at the tentacles. He did not want to do this because the things looked succulent. He had a feeling that they might spray poisonous gunk on him but now he had no other choice. Liam rapidly slashed his sword, the tentacles falling around as he pushed past them. His body shot forward like an arrow, avoiding the aftermath of this massacre. However, the few drops of poison still fell on him. It was impossible for him to completely dodge everything. Liam took this as well into consideration. Hongumbra was only starting to recover so he decided to risk this exposure to poison and finish the battle without prolonging it any longer. But even though he had expected it, he had heavily underestimated the extent of the spraying effect. In a fraction of a second, before he could realize it, he was covered with poison from top to bottom! It seemed as if he had hit a node in one of the tentacles that caused this massive ejaculation. The gunk was black in color so he now looked pitch-black with slime dripping off of him. Even his eyes, nose, and ears were covered with this poisonous gunk. All the demons started laughing at this. They hadn't witnessed a fight like this in years. Most demons know that they had to avoid the spiny tentacles like the plague. Only a fool would dare to cut down a tentacle because it contained copious amounts of poisonous liquid. And this fool had done exactly that! He was thoroughly being toyed around by their leader and it was very satisfactory to watch. In reality, Liam did not have any experience of fighting against such high-level beings. So there was only so much he could do relying solely on his common sense and gut feeling. "Damn it." Liam cursed. Even his immaculate semi-epic ranked weapon was covered in gunk. With this much poison, there was no way that he was going to survive. This was a sure shot death but he didn't regret it. Considering the number of ways he could have died before, this was well worth it. With this combat experience, if he faced Hongumbra again, he would have a higher chance of victory. Just as Liam mentally prepared himself, waiting for his inevitable health drop and then his first death, suddenly something felt off. His health was not dropping?