To say Yamoshi was the strongest among the arriving group was no exaggeration. The energy blast she fired was fast, powerful, and precise—launched almost reflexively the moment Mr. Popo's flying carpet appeared, it nearly smacked right into his and Annin's faces.
Just as Mr. Popo was about to resign himself to the embarrassing fate of returning to the afterlife with a shiny halo to report to King Yemma, Annin stepped in front of him. Forcing her weakened body to move with the last of her ki, she took the blast directly on her right shoulder. Her shoulder armor shattered instantly, revealing flesh already rotting from poison and now further mangled by the attack.
Mr. Popo was stunned. 'What can I say? Truly someone with the makings of a divine being.' Even on the brink of death, she'd sacrifice herself for others—her moral character was too high!
Yet Annin didn't even flinch. She glanced at her sizzling shoulder and even had the composure to joke with the "little girl" across from her:
"If this is what Yamiru meant by a cure, then he was clearly mistaken."
"Ah—" Yamoshi blinked, then quickly realized her mistake. "Sorry! Wrong target!"
Spotting Mr. Popo on the carpet, she asked, "Where's Yamiru?"
Mr. Popo replied blankly, "He's trying to stall the demon king in the castle. He said someone out here could heal her..."
"It's Annin!"
"It must be Lady Annin!"
"So this is the legendary Annin…"
The Earthlings below, still fighting the endless horde of demons, noticed the hovering magic carpet and the wounded warrior woman atop it. Voices rose in excitement.
Yamoshi flew closer. "So you're the Annin they were talking about…" Using her rudimentary ki sensing skills, she assessed the weakened Earthling woman and couldn't help but be awed. "Even in this state, you're still… You're strong!"
"Not strong enough…" Annin murmured, then looked down at the people silently watching her. Lowering her eyes, she confirmed, "Yes. I'm Annin."
"Lady Annin, have you killed Samuel yet?"
"Not yet."
"Lady Annin, we'll fight the demons with you!"
"Good."
"What happened to the others who were with you?"
"Most have fallen. I couldn't protect everyone…" Her voice carried sorrow and exhaustion.
The Earthlings fell silent. An elderly martial artist, unfazed, said, "In times like these, anyone who hasn't turned into a demon is willing to die if it means taking these monsters down. Lady Annin just happens to be the strongest among us." As a low-tier demon lunged at him, he smashed its skull with one punch and added bitterly, "We're all the same. Even these half-human, half-beast freaks." He gestured at the remaining beast-men.
"If my death could end this era, I would've done it long ago…" Annin whispered. "I tried. But it wasn't enough."
Beside her, Yamoshi sighed. "Life on Earth is rough too, huh? Just like my homeworld…" She grumbled, "Is the whole universe like this?"
Annin turned to the girl, surprised. "You're not from Earth?"
Yamoshi crossed her arms, her tail swaying into Annin's view. "Do I look like an Earthling?"
Mr. Popo pointed at the wolf-headed and boar-faced figures below. "Their appearances were warped by demonic energy, but they are Earthlings."
"Oh, right." Unfazed, Yamoshi grinned and extended a hand. "I'm Yamoshi, from Planet Sadala!"
Annin nodded, sighing inwardly. 'Such power… If only she were from Earth…'
Mr. Popo gestured back toward the castle. "We should hurry. Yamiru might not last much longer against that demon king."
"At first, I thought he was staying behind to die. But now…" Annin replied. Despite the thick poison mist, her heightened senses still clearly tracked the clash of energies between Yamiru and Samuel deep in the castle's dungeon. "Without me there, he actually managed to enter the Furnace of Eight Divisions… Don't worry. With the furnace protecting him, not even Samuel—no, not even Satan himself—could touch him."
"Furnace?" Yamoshi tilted her head in confusion.
The people on the ground caught fragments of the conversation, some immediately recalling legends of a massive mystical cauldron said to have descended from the heavens at Annin's birth—along with even wilder rumors spread across the lands.
Annin explained, "The Furnace of Eight Divisions is a treasure my master gifted me. Simply put, it's a tool that aids my training. Staying inside it accelerates my progress and blocks most external disturbances." She paused. "But these functions usually only work for me. Others can only enter when I'm already inside..."
Yamoshi scratched her head, baffled.
Mr. Popo added, "It's said the furnace's interior is an independent dimension..."
"So it's basically a magic stove?" Yamoshi grinned, though her poisoned complexion worsened.
Speaking of complexions—Annin's gaze suddenly shifted past Yamoshi's shoulder. A green figure, visibly exhausted, was flying toward them, followed by a few Earthling warriors who, though only lightly wounded, bore the unmistakable pallor of severe poisoning.
"Yamiru... he hasn't... come back yet?" The Namekian's vision swam as his poisoning deepened.
Yamoshi quickly clarified, "He stayed behind to hold off that demon king. He wants you to heal this sister here."
"How are you holding up?" The Namekian nodded first at Yamoshi.
"I'm managing. We Saiyans are pretty tough." Yamoshi's condition was clearly better than the Namekian's.
Only then did the Namekian turn to the armored woman on the carpet.
Annin's eyes filled with sorrow as she observed the warriors the Namekian had rescued. They met her gaze silently, offering no words.
Curse Samuel, Annin thought bitterly. This newly ascended demon king specializes in poison... Otherwise, so many skilled Earthling fighters wouldn't have fallen. Poison was notoriously hard to defend against—even she could only barely resist it with the furnace's help. Regret gnawed at her; she should have eliminated Samuel outright earlier.
"Don't move." The Namekian landed on the carpet, placing his hand over Annin's energy-blasted shoulder.
Before Annin or Mr. Popo could wonder about his methods, the healing was already complete.
This type of treatment cost the Namekian little energy.
As Yamiru had previously deduced, the Namekian's healing ability stemmed from an innate draconic magic in his bloodline. Those with this talent could naturally borrow energy from the Dragon Realm, healing targets through methods similar to Senzu Beans. The Namekian merely acted as a conduit—the actual cost was borne by the Dragon Realm itself. When the Dragon God had demonstrated this to Yamiru, he'd casually created and extinguished hundreds of Super Saiyan-level energy beings with a snap of his fingers. The realm he'd created would hardly notice such a trivial drain. As for the Namekians scattered across the universe, having long forgotten their true origins, they remained unaware of their healing abilities' underlying principles...
"Incredible!" Annin's eyes flew open as she floated up from the carpet, revitalized.
---
Deep in the castle dungeon, Yamiru—scales shattered, bloodied—flipped midair and tumbled back into the Furnace of Eight Divisions. Gripping the furnace's rim, he used its purifying properties to rapidly expel the demonic energy from his body, reverting to his battered human form. Sensing something, he glanced outward and exhaled in relief. "Looks like she's healed."
"What?!" Samuel, already furious at Yamiru's hit-and-run tactics, suddenly stiffened, whirling toward the outside world.
And outside—fully healed and restored to peak condition—Annin clenched her fists and declared, "Alright, everyone gather! You all get treated by Yamiru. As for me..." Her voice hardened. "I'll handle Samuel."
"Impossible! Annin, how—"
The demon king's disbelief echoed through the dungeon—until a male voice sounded behind her:
"Who are you looking at?"
Samuel turned just in time for a scaly fist the size of a cooking pot to smash into her nose.
The force behind it—somehow even stronger than before!
---
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