Episode 277: The Demon (3)

The art of “Destruction Strike” was a technique that focused immense power on a single point, shattering structures with ease.

There were no limits to what could be destroyed with this strike. Objects, living beings, and even magic could be obliterated.

In a past life, Cheongyeom had once used Destruction Strike to annihilate a massive magic circle that Dorgo had spent months preparing.

That same lethal blow now struck Bahal square in the chest.

The once-impenetrable body, which even an Aura Blade couldn’t scratch, was pierced, and cracks spread out like a spider’s web. As his body shattered, fragments scattered like shards of glass.

“Ugh…!”

Bahal’s face twisted in agony as the force pushed him backward.

“Ugh… Ugh!”

He fell to his knees, struggling to support himself with his arms on the ground.

From his shattered body, something dark oozed out, like a cascade of shadows.

“Hah…”

With great effort, Bahal straightened his back and looked up at the sky.

Despite the pain contorting his face, a smile crept across it. With eyes wide open, he laughed loudly.

“Hahaha! Even if it’s just a clone, to think you could break this body! Impressive! Truly impressive!”

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

Yet, even after allowing such an attack and having his body destroyed, Bahal felt no anger.

“I’ve never seen a fate like yours! There’s no way I could have missed someone with such incredible skill!”

Bahal rose, speaking in riddles.

“I see it now! You’re the one who twisted all destinies! Thanks to you, we can escape our predetermined fates!”

The darkness that had been pouring from the cracks suddenly stopped, though the fractures remained.

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

“Damian Haxen.”

Damian replied curtly, and Bahal’s joy was palpable.

“Yes! Damian Haxen! Let’s truly enjoy this moment together!”

Bahal’s aura intensified.

Damian clicked his tongue. A wounded beast was dangerous, but this was on another level.

Bahal’s presence was now far stronger than before. It seemed he had been holding back a significant amount of power.

“I’ve stirred his competitive spirit. This is going to be troublesome.”

Damian glanced outside the fortress. A massive summoning circle was etched into the field.

If he could destroy that circle, Bahal would have no choice but to return to hell…

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re planning to destroy the summoning circle, aren’t you?”

Bahal spoke as if reading Damian’s mind.

“That won’t do! I’m having too much fun to let you ruin it!”

Bahal extended his hand toward the summoning circle, and a dome-shaped barrier covered its center.

Damian clicked his tongue again.

The circle’s main functions were concentrated in the center. Without destroying that, he couldn’t send Bahal back to hell.

“Damian Haxen! Forget your distractions! Focus on me now!”

Bahal reached out toward Damian, who instinctively leaped high into the air.

A rectangular pillar shot up from the ground, a structure Bahal had created to impale Damian.

Damian retreated, stepping on the pillar. A sense of foreboding came from above.

He rolled to the side as another pillar descended from the sky, striking the ground.

“The speed of creation is insane, and there’s no range limit. This power is absurd.”

Even with Damian’s skills, he had to stay on high alert.

“Haha! You’re dodging well!”

Bahal continued to conjure pillars, attacking Damian relentlessly.

Damian moved swiftly, evading the pillars while issuing a command.

“Hemeira, cover me.”

A full-body armor emerged from nowhere, enveloping Damian. Bahal seemed surprised.

“Oh? Could it be? A masterpiece! I thought it was dead, but it escaped to the surface!”

Inside Hemeira was the soul of a slain duke-level demon.

It seemed Bahal was the one who had killed that demon.

-Ba… hal…! Traitor…!

Perhaps that was why Hemeira reacted so violently upon emerging.

“Quiet down.”

Of course, Damian had no intention of considering Hemeira’s grievances.

Facing a monster like Bahal left no room for such concerns.

“Hemeira, assist my movements.”

In his battle with the Weapon Master, Damian had fed many cursed swords to Hemeira.

As a result, Hemeira’s new powers were unlocked. Wearing it now greatly enhanced his physical abilities and mana reserves.

“Four Rings.”

The resonance amplified. Damian stomped the ground, with Hemeira lending its strength.

Damian shot forward. An air wall blocked his path, but he broke through it effortlessly.

“Impressive! To control that proud creature so freely! Truly impressive!”

Bahal surrounded himself with five barriers, anticipating another attack from Damian.

But Damian had no intention of avoiding the barriers. He channeled his weight and speed into his strike, shattering the barrier with Destruction Strike.

Bahal’s eyes widened in shock.

Damian aimed to drive his weapon into the cracks on Bahal’s torso once more.

At that moment, Bahal clenched his fist, and an opaque sword extended from his hand.

The sword Bahal conjured blocked Damian’s weapon, and a shockwave erupted from their clash.

“Interesting, isn’t it? A sword made with Isolation. It’s smaller, but much sturdier.”

Bahal boasted, but Damian wasn’t impressed.

“You’re being a nuisance.”

Damian exerted more force with his arms, with Hemeira supporting his movements.

He pushed Bahal back and launched another attack.

“Hahaha! This is fun!”

Bahal swung his translucent sword, and Damian countered with his own.

Their weapons clashed repeatedly in mid-air, each impact sending shockwaves that scattered nearby objects.

“Damian Haxen! Your skills are impressive!”

Bahal shouted with glee, while Damian was genuinely surprised.

Demons typically relied on their powers and rarely learned swordsmanship.

But Bahal was different. His swordsmanship surpassed even the Master Class.

“As expected of a duke-level demon.”

“Is that a compliment? Thank you!”

Damian smirked.

In other areas, perhaps, but swordsmanship was Damian’s domain.

Many had surpassed Damian in mana or physical prowess.

But none had ever bested him in swordsmanship.

Damian’s eyes moved swiftly, reading Bahal’s every move. Once he had gathered enough information, he acted.

The trajectory of his weapon extended, each strike deflecting Bahal’s sword and exploiting his weaknesses.

“Huh?”

Bahal was suddenly on the defensive, struggling to fend off Damian’s attacks.

“How can I, who has trained for centuries, be pushed back by a human who hasn’t even lived for decades? Something’s not right…”

Then, Damian delivered a powerful downward strike, pinning Bahal’s sword to the ground.

This opened a path to Bahal’s chest.

Damian’s weapon traveled up Bahal’s blade, and he swung it with force.

From below to above.

A blue arc cleaved through Bahal’s torso.

Unlike before, Bahal’s body was already compromised by Destruction Strike.

Damian’s weapon cut through, slicing diagonally from abdomen to chest.

“Argh!”

Bahal screamed, retreating as he clutched his wound.

From the long gash, a sticky darkness seeped out. Bahal stared at it for a moment.

”…I misjudged.”

The laughter was gone from his voice, and his once playful face was now stern.

“I thought you were an amusing human… but I was wrong. You’re a dangerous one.”

Bahal’s demeanor shifted dramatically, and the air around them turned icy.

“Leaving you alive would be a mistake. I should kill you here and now.”

A formidable killing intent bore down on Damian, who twisted his lips into a smirk.

“For a mere clone that crawled to the surface, you have quite a few tricks up your sleeve.”

Damian assessed Bahal’s level with a cool head.

“If I use Five Rings and the Starfall Elixir? Even then, it would be tough.”

A ruler of hell.

A duke-level demon was a formidable foe Damian had never faced in his past life. It was time for him to reveal his hidden card.

“If I can’t win as a human… I’ll have to use something else.”

Damian activated the power of envy, converting his mana into dark energy and absorbing it.

”…What?”

Bahal’s eyes widened at the sight.

“Wait a minute… How do you possess that power? No, more importantly, how are you even using it?”

Bachel’s reaction left Damian equally stunned.

In all his encounters, no one had ever recognized Damian’s power before.

“Damian Haxen…! Explain yourself! How on earth do you have that power…?”

Just then, a surge of divine energy was felt from afar. Both Damian and Bachel turned their heads almost simultaneously.

A flash of light streaked across the sky, and something landed between them with a deafening crash, gouging a deep crater into the ground. The fortress was obliterated, leaving a massive pit in its place.

“Well, I didn’t expect Sir Damian to be the first to arrive.”

A familiar voice echoed from the crater. Sure enough, Radiance emerged from the depths.

“Good thing I got here before you got hurt, Sir Damian.”

Bachel’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Radiance.

“Quite a beautiful human.”

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

Radiance scrutinized the man from head to toe, her expression hardening.

”…Damian Haxen, what is that? It doesn’t seem like a marquis-level demon.”

“You’re right. This is Bachel, a duke-level demon.”

Radiance looked at Damian in disbelief, but only for a moment.

”…I like it. I really do.”

Bachel tilted his head, puzzled by her unexpected reaction.

“Human woman, what do you like about this?”

“A duke-level demon is the leader of the vile and wretched demons, right? Killing you would greatly honor the name of the Great One in the heavens.”

Bachel looked at her, bewildered.

“Shouldn’t you be more concerned about surviving me first, human woman?”

“How can I think of self-preservation when faced with evil? Even if I die, the Great One will embrace me, so it doesn’t matter.”

Bachel regarded Radiance with a look of disgust.

“Turns out you’re completely insane, aren’t you?”

Even being called mad by a demon didn’t faze Radiance in the slightest.

“Are you sure you don’t want to brush off those stones on your head?”

She pointed at Bachel, referring to the debris clinging to his head from the crater.

“I don’t bother with such trivial things.”

“You might want to reconsider.”

Radiance summoned her divine power. The power of the sect’s blinding pain, ‘Enhancement,’ manifested.

It targeted the stones on Bachel’s head.

“They’re going to feel quite heavy.”

The stones began to glow brightly.

In an instant, Bachel’s head was driven into the ground.