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Chapter 277: The Demon (3)

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Annihilation was the realm that concentrated power into a single point to utterly destroy anything.

There were no limits to what could be destroyed with Annihilation. It could shatter objects, living beings, and even magic.

In his previous life, Cheongyeum had once used Annihilation to instantly obliterate a large magic circle that Dorugo had spent months preparing.

Such a deadly strike hit Vahel squarely in the chest.

Vahel’s previously impenetrable body, which hadn’t been scratched even by aurablades was now pierced and the light shone through.

Spiderweb-like cracks spread out from that point. As his body shattered and fragments scattered like shards of glass.

“Guh…!”

Vahel’s face twisted in pain. The impact sent his body reeling backward.

“Ugh… Ugh!”

Vahel fell to his knees. He could barely support himself. He was pressing both arms against the ground.

From his shattered body there was something black started to pour out. It was as if darkness itself was spilling forth.

“Ha…”

Vahel straightened his back with difficulty. He looked up at the sky.

A smile had appeared on his pain-contorted face. Vahel laughed loudly with his eyes wide open.

“Ha ha ha! Even though it’s just an avatar, to think you could destroy me! Amazing! Truly amazing!”

From a demon’s perspective, humans were less than insects.

Yet, even though he had allowed himself to be attacked and his body destroyed by such an insect, Vahel felt no anger.

“In all the fates I’ve seen, there was no one like you! There’s no way I could have missed someone with such incredible skill!”

Vahel was babbling nonsensically and stood up.

“I understand! It’s you! You are the one who has twisted all fates! Thanks to you, we were able to break free from our predetermined destinies!”

The darkness that had been flowing from his cracks like a waterfall suddenly stopped. But the cracks themselves remained unhealed.

“Human! What is your name? I must know!”

“Damien Haksen.”

Damien answered briefly. Vahel was overjoyed.

“Yes! Damien Haksen! From now on, let’s enjoy this to the fullest! Let’s share this joy together!”

The aura emanating from Vahel intensified.

Seeing this, Damien clicked his tongue. A wounded beast was dangerous, but there were limits.

The pressure Vahel was now exuding was far stronger than before. It seemed he had quite a bit of hidden power left.

‘I’ve provoked his fighting spirit. This just got annoying.’

Damien glanced outside the castle. A massive summoning circle was etched into the field.

If he could just destroy that summoning circle, Vahel would be forced to return to Inferno…

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re planning to destroy the summoning circle, right?”

Vahel spoke as if he was able to read Damien’s thoughts.

“I can’t let that happen! It’s too much fun to be interrupted!”

Vahel extended his hand towards the summoning circle. A hemispherical barrier formed, covering the center of the circle.

Damien furrowed his brow.

The main functions of the summoning circle were concentrated in the center. Without destroying that part, there was no way to send Vahel back to Inferno.

“Damien Haksen! Erase those trivial thoughts! Focus on me from now on!”

Vahel extended his hand towards Damien. In that moment, Damien instinctively leaped high into the air.

Rectangular pillars erupted from the ground. Vahel had created structures with his power, “Isolation” attempting to impale Damien.

Damien stepped on the pillars, retreating. This time, he sensed danger above him.

He rolled to the side. A rectangular pillar extending from the sky slammed into the ground.

‘The creation speed is so fast, and there’s no range limit. This is insane.’

Even with Damien’s skills, it was dangerous if he didn’t stay on high alert.

“Ha ha! You’re dodging well!”

Vahel continuously created rectangular pillars to attack Damien.

Damien moved swiftly and continuously evading the pillars. At the same time, he issued a command.

“Hemaera, cover me.”

A full-body armor emerged from somewhere and encased Damien. As soon as Vahel saw this, he spoke with surprise.

“Oh? Could it be? I thought it was destroyed, but it survived and escaped to the surface!”

Inside Hemaera was the soul of a murdered Duke class demon.

It seemed that Vahel was the one who had killed that Duke class demon.

-Va… hel…! Traitor…!

Perhaps that’s why Hemaera reacted violently as soon as it emerged.

“Shut up. You’re too noisy.”

Of course, Damien had no intention of considering Hemaera’s circumstances.

There was no room for that with a monster like Vahel in front of him.

“Hemaera, assist my movements.”

After the battle with the Weapon Master, Damien had fed many Demonic swords to Hemaera.

Thanks to that, Hemaera’s new power had been unlocked. Now, when wearing Hemaera, Damien’s physical abilities and mana significantly increased.

“Fourth Ring.”

The resonance sound was again amplified. Damien stomped the ground. Hemaera added its strength.

Damien’s body shot forward. A wall of air blocked him. Damien easily broke through the wall.

“Impressive! To think you could control that prideful one so freely! Truly impressive!”

Vahel surrounded himself with five barriers. It seemed he was preparing in case Damien aimed for a blind spot again.

However, Damien had no intention of avoiding the barriers. He struck them with Dawn as he maintained his weight and speed.

The second Annihilation exploded forth.

The barriers Vahel had created shattered effortlessly. Vahel’s eyes widened in shock.

Damien aimed to plunge Dawn into the cracks on Vahel’s torso once more.

At that moment, Vahel clenched his hand. An opaque sword extended from his grip.

The sword Vahel created blocked Dawn. As the two weapons clashed, a series of shockwaves erupted.

“Interesting, isn’t it? It’s a sword made with Isolation. It’s much sturdier due to its smaller size.”

Vahel boasted. Of course, Damien didn’t think much of it.

“You’re being a nuisance.”

Damien put more strength into his arms. Hemaera assisted his movements.

Damien pushed Vahel back and launched another attack.

“Ha ha ha! This is fun!”

Vahel swung his semi-transparent sword. Damien countered with Dawn.

Their attacks clashed in mid-air multiple times. Each collision sent shockwaves that scattered nearby objects.

“Damien Haksen! You have quite the skill!”

Vahel shouted joyfully. In contrast, Damien was quite surprised.

Normally, demons relied on their powers and rarely learned swordsmanship.

But Vahel was different. He possessed swordsmanship skills that surpassed even the Master Class.

“You’re indeed a Duke class demon.”

“Are you complimenting me? Thank you!”

Damien sneered.

In other fields, maybe, but swordsmanship was Damien’s domain.

There had been many powerful opponents with more mana or physical strength than Damien.

But no one had ever surpassed him in swordsmanship.

Damien’s eyes moved quickly, reading all of Vahel’s movements. Once he gathered enough information, he made his move.

The trajectory of Dawn extended. Each stroke deflected Vahel’s sword and pierced his weak points.

“Huh?”

Vahel was instantly driven into a defensive stance. He struggled to fend off Damien’s attacks.

“Me, who has trained for hundreds of years… being pushed back by a human who hasn’t even lived for a few decades? Something’s wrong here…”

At that moment, Damien brought Dawn down hard. He pinned Vahel’s sword to the ground.

This opened a path straight to Vahel’s chest.

Dawn climbed up Vahel’s blade. Damien swung Dawn wide.

From bottom to top.

A blue arc split Vahel’s torso.

It was different from when he targeted the neck. Vahel’s body was already damaged by Annihilation.

Dawn pierced Vahel’s body and continued to cut diagonally through his abdomen and chest.

“Argh!”

Vahel screamed and staggered backward. He was clutching the wound on his body with his hand.

Sticky darkness oozed from the long slash. Vahel stared at it for a moment.

“…I underestimated you.”

The laughter had disappeared from his voice. His playful face had turned stern.

“I thought you were an amusing human… but no, you’re a dangerous one.”

Vahel’s demeanor shifted dramatically. The air around them grew cold.

“If I let you live, you’ll be a threat. I should kill you here and now.”

A massive killing intent flooded towards Damien. Damien twisted his lips.

“For a mere avatar crawling up to the surface, you sure have a lot of hidden tricks.”

Damien coldly assessed Vahel’s level.

‘If I use Fifth Ring and the Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation, it will still be tough.’

A ruler of Inferno.

He had never faced a Duke class demon, even in his previous life. It was time for Damien to reveal his hidden move.

“If I can’t win as a human… I’ll bring out something else.”

Damien manifested the Authority of Envy. He converted his mana into dark mana and absorbed it.

“…What?”

Vahel’s eyes widened as he witnessed the scene.

“Wait… how do you have that authority? No, more importantly, how are you using it?”

Damien was equally surprised by Vahel’s reaction.

No one had ever recognized Damien’s authority until now.

“Damien Haksen…! Explain immediately! How do you possess that authority…?”

At that moment.

A powerful holy presence was felt from afar. Both Damien and Vahel turned their gaze simultaneously.

A flash of light descended from the sky, landing between them.

With a tremendous explosion, the ground was deeply gouged. The fortress was blown away, leaving a large crater.

“Oh my, I didn’t expect Sir Damien to arrive first.”

A familiar voice echoed from the crater. Sure enough, Radiant Light walked out of it.

“I’m glad I made it before Sir Damien got hurt.”

Vahel’s eyes lit up as he saw Radiant Light.

“Quite a beautiful human.”

“Oh, thank you for the compliment. You seem to be a demon summoned by Pandemonium…”

Radiant Light scrutinized Vahel from head to toe. Her expression hardened.

“…Damien Haksen, what is that? It doesn’t seem to be a Marquis class demon.”

“You are correct. This is Vahel, a Duke class demon.”

Radiant Light looked at Damien in disbelief. But only for a moment.

“…This is great. Really great.”

Even Vahel tilted his head in confusion at her unexpected reaction.

“Human woman, what’s so great?”

“Killing a Duke class demon, the chief of those filthy and vile demons would greatly glorify the name of the God in heaven.”

Vahel looked at her in astonishment.

“Human woman, shouldn’t you be thinking about how to survive first?”

“How can I think of my own safety when faced with evil? Even if I die, God will embrace me, so it doesn’t matter.”

Vahel stared at Radiant Light with a look of disgust.

“Turns out you’re a completely crazy human.”

Despite being called crazy by a demon, Radiant Light was unfazed.

“Are you sure you don’t need to shake off the debris on your head?”

She pointed at Vahel. As she said, many small stones had clung to Vahel’s head when the crater formed.

“I don’t care about such trivial things.”

“You should care.”

Radiant Light drew upon her divine power.

It was directed at the stones on Vahel’s head.

“They’ll be quite heavy.”

The stones glowed brightly.

At the same time, Vahel’s head was forced to the ground.

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