Episode 344: The Final Battle (3)
Erebus’s blade pierced through Dorogo’s chest, emerging from his back.
Dorogo’s eyes widened in shock, as if they might pop out of his head.
He locked eyes with Demian, his gaze filled with agony. Demian did not look away.
For a fleeting moment, their eyes met, and a torrent of emotions surged within Demian.
Yet, he suppressed them all. The satisfaction of revenge could wait until Dorogo was truly dead.
“Farewell.”
Demian unleashed the power of Erebus. The force of annihilation began to consume Dorogo’s soul.
”…!”
Dorogo’s jaw dropped as if it might unhinge, but no scream escaped. The pain was too overwhelming.
Desperately, Dorogo clutched at Erebus with his four arms, trying to pull it out.
Demian, unfazed by the effort, drove the blade deeper.
“Aaaaargh!”
Finally, a scream tore from Dorogo’s throat, but Demian did not relent.
“Aaaah! Aaaaaaah!”
At last, the power of Erebus completely obliterated Dorogo’s soul.
With his soul extinguished, Dorogo’s head slumped forward, and his four arms fell limp.
His massive body slowly crumbled, his backward-bending legs folding beneath him.
Thus, Dorogo met his end.
”…”
Demian stood silently, gazing at Dorogo’s lifeless form.
The long-standing enmity was finally severed. At last, Demian had achieved the peace he sought.
Yet, why was it?
He felt no joy. No sense of relief.
Instead, a crushing weight pressed upon his heart. It was a strange sensation.
”…This isn’t what I expected.”
Perhaps it was because Dorogo’s death didn’t feel real.
Demian moved to withdraw Erebus from Dorogo’s body.
In that instant, a chill ran down his spine. His muscles tensed as if plunged into an icy lake.
Quickly, Demian pulled Erebus free and stepped back from Dorogo’s corpse.
Swallowing hard, he glared at the body.
”…Kahak.”
Then, a laugh escaped Dorogo’s lips.
“Kahaha… haha…”
As the laughter grew, Dorogo slowly lifted his head, his eyes brimming with ecstasy.
“Finally… finally, it’s gone.”
The two heads attached to Dorogo’s torso began to crumble into dust.
“Their wretched remnants… those accursed things have fallen away!”
As the laughter intensified, Dorogo’s presence began to swell.
“Now I feel it! Their power! Their authority!”
His massive form melted away, but instead of pooling on the ground, it coalesced toward the center.
From the viscous liquid emerged a figure.
A woman, tall and muscular, with a body that could incite desire, cloaked in darkness.
“I knew it. With Erebus, it was possible.”
The woman, Dorogo, spoke with a chilling smile.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Demian.”
Demian was stunned by Dorogo’s transformation.
Now he understood why he hadn’t felt joy at Dorogo’s death.
Instinctively, he had known. Dorogo wasn’t truly dead.
He had been deceived.
What Dorogo had revealed wasn’t his soul. It was the remnants left by the demon kings.
Arrogance and Sloth were known as the strongest among the demon kings.
Their remnants wouldn’t be ordinary. They must have been hindering Dorogo from claiming their power.
“You’re deep in thought.”
Dorogo addressed Demian, her red lips gleaming seductively.
“But you shouldn’t be lost in thought with me in front of you. Besides, you owe me a lot, don’t you?”
The darkness transformed into fabric, wrapping around Dorogo’s voluptuous form.
“Time stop didn’t work, did it? Then I suppose I’ll have to cast it on you.”
Suddenly, Demian’s vision blurred. He couldn’t distinguish up from down, or even sky from earth.
When he regained his senses, he was high in the sky.
”…Ugh!”
Before he could grasp the situation, a sharp pain erupted in his abdomen, and blood spewed from his mouth.
Only then did Demian realize.
Dorogo had kicked him. So swiftly that he hadn’t even noticed.
But this was manageable. His inner strength had withstood the impact…
“Didn’t I tell you not to overthink?”
Demian looked up. Dorogo hovered above him, floating in the air.
“Looks like I’ll have to hit you a few more times to knock some sense into you.”
Before the words were even finished, Dorogo’s form split into countless reflections, as if mirrored infinitely.
These weren’t mere illusions. They were all her, her form stretched by distorting space.
“Brace yourself.”
All the Dorogos moved simultaneously. Fists and kicks flew from every direction.
An uncountable barrage of blows rained down, tossing Demian’s body through the air.
The relentless assault suddenly ceased, and Demian’s battered form plummeted to the ground.
“Ahaha.”
Dorogo laughed, throwing her head back.
Her face, that of a peerless beauty, twisted grotesquely, yet she didn’t care in the slightest.
“Did you see? This is my power! You’re nothing now! Less than a worm!”
Demian, lying on the ground, struggled to his feet. Dorogo, seeing this, asked incredulously.
“How are you still alive?”
The simultaneous, space-distorting attack was something Demian shouldn’t have been able to withstand.
His bones should have shattered, his organs ruptured and spilled out.
Yet Demian hadn’t lost consciousness and was even standing.
Dorogo narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Demian, then let out a sound of realization.
“I see. You absorbed my attacks with the power of Gluttony. I didn’t expect you to master Epsilon’s technique in such a short time.”
She was right. Demian had absorbed Dorogo’s attacks with Gluttony, then released them to defend himself.
“But it seems you couldn’t block them all?”
That was true as well. It was impossible to block every attack.
The ones he couldn’t block had ravaged his body, making it difficult to even stand.
“Ptuh.”
Demian spat out blood and extended his hands. Erebus and his divine sword flew into his grasp.
“Are you seriously thinking of continuing?”
Dorogo asked, incredulous.
The technique she had just demonstrated was nothing.
It was merely punches and kicks.
If she wished, she could reduce Demian to dust.
“Stop resisting and surrender quietly. Not that it matters, but even if you try to kill yourself, it won’t work. Keeping your soul tethered to your body is child’s play.”
“Shut… up.”
For the first time, Demian spoke. His words were slurred, his mouth filled with sticky blood.
“Stop spouting nonsense and come at me. This time, I’ll truly kill you.”
“Even in this situation, you refuse to show weakness? You’re infuriatingly arrogant.”
Dorogo clicked her tongue. Demian spoke again.
“I won’t say it twice. Come at me.”
His face, smeared with blood and dust, emitted a fierce, blue light from his eyes.
Seeing that gaze, Dorogo hesitated.
Demian’s words weren’t bravado or provocation. He genuinely intended to kill her.
From Dorogo’s perspective, it was an absurd stance. Yet she couldn’t mock him.
The only person she had ever loved had acted just like Demian.
Never fleeing from any unfair battle. Ultimately claiming victory.
”…Nonsense.”
But Dorogo dismissed her thoughts with a single word.
“You’re not Ruin. You’re just an ordinary person who inherited Ruin’s talent.”
Yet, no matter how much she denied it, the reality remained unchanged.
Demian Haxen was unyielding.
Despite the overwhelming disparity, he didn’t retreat. He was genuinely intent on fighting her.
From Dorogo’s perspective, it was an unforgivably audacious attitude.
“If that’s how you want it… I’ll utterly destroy you. Your pride, your dignity, everything.”
Dorogo waved her hand in the air, and the four demon kings lying on the ground vanished. She had used the power of Arrogance to send them elsewhere.
Next, she created a massive portal behind her.
It was too large for just Dorogo to pass through. It seemed as if she was showing it to Demian.
As the portal opened, it revealed another world. Seeing it, Demian couldn’t help but be shaken.
Beyond the portal lay the Haxen estate.
He saw the Spring Castle where his family resided and the bustling servants.
His father and mother were strolling in the garden.
“I’m going there now.”
Dorogo spoke with a mocking smile.
“I’ll desecrate your family. Make what happened in your past life seem like child’s play.”
“Stop…”
“When everything is over, I’ll open the dimensional gate for you. So you can watch your family’s final moments with your own eyes.”
“Stop… I said stop…!”
Damian’s voice trembled as he spoke, but his fury failed to reach Dorogo.
“Until then, stay here and wait.”
“I told you to stop!”
Damian pushed his inner strength to its limits, charging at Dorogo with the intent to kill.
Yet, he couldn’t get close. Dorogo stretched the space between them like taffy.
No matter how hard he ran, he couldn’t touch Dorogo. Damian’s eyes burned red with frustration.
Meanwhile, Dorogo stepped through the dimensional gate. As soon as he passed through, it closed behind him.
With Dorogo gone, the space returned to normal. But the gate had vanished completely.