Episode 343: The Final Battle (2)
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky was painted in shades of crimson, and darkness began to creep over the land. Yet, just as the shadows started to claim their territory, they were abruptly banished by a sudden burst of light.
The source of this brilliance was not the sky, but Demian Haxen himself.
”…”
Dorogo felt a sense of déjà vu in the overwhelming aura emanating from Demian. It reminded him of a distant past, a continent teeming with monsters, where a figure named Ruin had once appeared, exuding a force that shook the world and stood against his foes.
“How dare you…!”
Dorogo spat through gritted teeth, his voice laced with disdain. “You think you’re something just because you inherited Ruin’s talent?”
His eyes burned with a fury born of seeing something precious defiled. In response, darkness erupted from Dorogo, spreading like a viscous swamp. From within this murk, a grotesque creature rose, its body twisted with backward-bending legs and four arms. Its lower half was covered in fur, while its upper body was smooth, with two shriveled heads attached to its chest and abdomen, their features melted beyond recognition.
-Groooan!
-Ughhh!
The heads emitted ghastly sounds, prompting Dorogo to shout, “Silence!” The heads fell quiet, though they continued to mutter under their breath.
Turning his gaze back to Demian, Dorogo declared, “You’re not the only one who’s grown stronger!”
While Demian made his way to Mount Karon, Dorogo had been busy absorbing the bodies of demon kings. “I won’t kill you. You’re still useful to me!”
With a powerful leap, Dorogo’s backward-bending legs shattered the ground like thin ice, propelling him into the sky like an eagle. Raising his four arms, he summoned a dark energy that blotted out the sky, forming a black sun.
Dorogo seized this dark sun and hurled it down at Demian. But just before it could strike, a flash of light split the black sun in two, scattering it into petals of red.
”…”
Dorogo stared in disbelief at the scene. The energy he had amassed from absorbing three demon kings, concentrated into a single point for maximum destruction, had been effortlessly cleaved apart. It was as if he was facing the same insurmountable wall he had encountered when he first met Ruin.
“Don’t talk nonsense!” he shouted, unsure if he was addressing Demian or himself, as he thrust his four arms toward Demian.
Darkness seeped from the ground beneath Demian, swelling like a tidal wave. Dorogo raised his arms, and the darkness surged upward, then crashed down to crush Demian.
A sound like a blade slicing through air rang out, clear and sharp. Lines of light spread across the darkness, which then shattered into pieces, revealing Demian Haxen, unscathed.
”…”
Despite unleashing such power, Dorogo hadn’t even touched a hair on Demian’s head. The grim reality sent shivers down his spine.
“It seems you have nothing more to show,” Demian remarked, bending his knees slightly, lowering his head.
He’s coming.
The thought barely formed before it was already too late.
I have to stop him.
But by the time Dorogo realized this, it was already over.
Red petals filled his vision, and in an instant, one of Dorogo’s arms vanished. Reflexively, he turned to find Demian standing behind him, sword stained with blood.
“Argh!”
Dorogo conjured swords from his energy, gripping them with his remaining three arms and lunging at Demian. The swords struck the ground, but Demian was already gone.
A sharp pain accompanied the loss of another arm. Dorogo gritted his teeth against the agony and spun around, but Demian was nowhere to be seen. Not that he had vanished—his presence was confirmed by the third arm flying skyward.
“Demian… Demian Haxen!” Dorogo’s eyes darted frantically, searching for Demian, but he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of his afterimage.
“Gah!”
The last arm was severed, leaving Dorogo defenseless.
“In that case…!”
Dorogo summoned his energy, invoking the power of sloth. He didn’t need to target anything specific; everything in the world was his target.
“Stop!”
With Dorogo’s command, the world froze. Birds halted mid-flight, leaves suspended in the air.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Panting, Dorogo slowly turned to see a blade poised at his throat. Following the blade with his eyes, he saw Demian Haxen, and felt a chill run down his spine. Had he been a moment slower, his head would have been severed.
“You crazy… bastard.”
Focusing his energy on his wounds, Dorogo regenerated his severed arms in an instant.
-Ughhh…
One of the heads on his torso groaned. Dorogo glanced down, his voice icy. “I told you to shut up.”
With that, he conjured weapons from his energy once more, placing them against Demian’s limbs.
“Even you can’t do anything against the power of sloth.”
Dorogo intended to sever Demian’s limbs. No matter how powerful Demian Haxen was, he would be helpless with only a torso remaining…
In that moment, Dorogo saw it—Demian’s eyes locked onto his own.
“What the…?”
Instinctively, Dorogo leaped back.
At that instant, Demian Haxen moved, swinging his sword at Dorogo. Thanks to his quick retreat, Dorogo narrowly avoided the strike.
Sweat beading on his brow, Dorogo stared at Demian. Time was supposed to be frozen. The world was supposed to be still.
Yet Demian Haxen moved as if nothing was amiss.
“How…?”
“Well.”
With that brief response, Demian prepared to charge again.
Dorogo invoked the power of sloth once more, trying to halt Demian. In response, Demian slashed the air with his sword, dispelling the power in an instant.
Dorogo’s eyes widened in disbelief. “He cut through the power of a demon king…”
He couldn’t finish the thought as Demian charged again.
Sloth was ineffective. Lust would be the same. In that case…
Dorogo invoked the power of pride, twisting the space around him. Demian, charging toward Dorogo, appeared in a different location, thrown off by the warped space.
Buying himself a moment, Dorogo gathered his energy again, twisting the space around Demian so that no matter where he moved, he would return to his original position, trapped in a prison of distorted space.
“I didn’t want to use this!”
Dorogo’s goal wasn’t to kill Demian Haxen, but to capture him alive. Yet now was not the time to hold back—his own life was at stake.
“Just stay alive, damn it!”
The space around Demian began to compress, so dense that even light couldn’t escape, crushing him with darkness.
The abyss created by the compressed space sought to crush Demian Haxen. But it dared not encroach upon his domain, held at bay by the white sword in his hand.
The sword’s power of nullification repelled the abyss, keeping the area around Demian brightly lit. But the sword’s endurance was uncertain, so Demian raised the other sword in his hand.
“Erebus.”
Erebus let out a mournful cry, but its power was blocked by the twisted space. Demian compressed Erebus’s power, wrapping it around the blade.
He would cut through it all—the abyss pressing down on him, the demon king’s power, Dorogo’s malice.
With strength surging through his arms, Demian’s swords flashed. The abyss tore apart, exploding in a burst of light, clearing his vision.
In the distance, Dorogo stood, aghast. Demian immediately launched himself forward.
“Damn it!”
Dorgo once again twisted the space around him, wielding the power of arrogance.
But Demian was not one to fall for the same trick twice.
“Erebus, weep.”
The power compressed within his blade was unleashed, engulfing the world and swallowing Dorgo whole.
The forces of arrogance and Erebus clashed, canceling each other out and dissipating into nothingness.
With no protective barrier left to shield him, Dorgo stood vulnerable. Demian fixed his gaze on Dorgo’s chest.
That was the core of Dorgo. His very soul resided there.
Demian braced himself, gathering strength in his legs.
Scarlet petals scattered in the air as Demian charged forward like a crimson flash.
The tip of Erebus pierced through Dorgo’s core.