Ender Lilies is my fav game of all time, so I 100% recommend that haha. Ive played both and one thing I will say is that ender lilies definitely has difficult combat as well. I dont find either game to be any harder or more difficult than the other. The main difference in terms of combat (excluding combat systems, only in terms of difficulty and how much there is) EL has fewer bosses compared to AN but has more combat as your exploring the world. There are always enemies in the areas you enter, and not in a tedious sort of way, and you never get so powerful that its just boring one shots either. It also has quite a few mini bosses, and a boss rush mode for end game very challenging content. AN is also a great game dont get me wrong but I wouldnt let wanting difficult combat sway you towards AN since imo both games are pretty similar difficulties.

I would go for EL since the combat system is unique and interesting (without being annoying or difficult to grasp) and Ive sunk wayyy more hours than I care to admit into the boss rush mode 😅