Chapter 12.9. Third time’s the Charm (9)

  “I do apologize, but by the looks of it, you both won’t last much longer without assistance,” Kane responded.

  “Leave us, Kane. As we said, we have no intentions of asking for—or wanting—any help from you or our lord,” said Pride.

  “You will die if you carry on like this. You do know that, right?” Kane replied.

  “Then so be it. If our death comes today on this field of battle, it will be a worthy death, isn’t that right, Pride?” said Wrath.

  Pride nodded solemnly.

  It was the third time Kane had heard these words. He face palmed and sighed in exasperation.

  As Kane prepared to heal them, Pride grabbed his arm. “Don’t even think about healing us. As we said, we do not want any kind of help,” he said firmly.

  Pride let go of Kane’s hand. Kane looked around at the battlefield and saw over three thousand beastmen remaining. He sighed, patted them both on the back, and said, “Good luck,” before disappearing.

  As Kane disappeared, his handprint appeared on their backs, but Pride and Wrath didn’t notice it. They simply jumped back into action as if nothing had happened.

  Kane returned to Lucifer’s side.

  “Kane, is there a reason why you didn’t bring back Greed, Pride, or Wrath?” asked Lucifer.

  “My lord, you said it yourself—dying on the battlefield is a worthy death. Each of them is ready for their death, and none of them wanted my help. They even sent me away. To respect their wishes, I left them behind,” responded Kane.

  “Yes, you left, but I doubt they are going to die anytime soon. Am I wrong?” asked Lucifer.

  “I see… so you noticed, my lord. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. I couldn’t just disobey your order to assist them, so I gave Greed some of his strength back. Then I imprinted my palm onto the backs of Pride and Wrath, which should keep them energetic until they are done fighting—or until they completely run out of the will to fight,” said Kane.

  “Good work. It’s up to them to handle their fights from now on,” said Lucifer.

  As Lucifer and Kane turned their heads toward Mephistopheles and Apollyn, they saw them exchange a nod. Without hesitation, they charged at each other. Their swords met—and both stabbed through each other’s chests.

  The dark elf, the weretiger, the paladin, the Oread, Kane, and even Lucifer were completely shocked by what they had just witnessed.

  Mephistopheles’s greatsword pierced Apollyn’s chest, coming out the other side covered in blood. At the same time, Apollyn’s two shortswords pierced through Mephistopheles’s chest, also coming out bloody.

  Black flames erupted from the greatsword, engulfing Apollyn completely. Hellfire flared from Apollyn’s shortswords, soon covering Mephistopheles entirely.

  “My lord, did the Demon Lords just kill each other?” asked Kane.

  “For once, I don’t know what just happened,” replied Lucifer. “Stabbing each other through the chest like that would surely be fatal.”

  Mephistopheles and Apollyn were completely engulfed in flames, yet neither cried out in pain. They simply stood there, facing each other as the fire consumed them.

  The flames burned for a long time. Eventually, they began to die down. When the fire completely faded, two charred bodies lay on the ground, burned beyond recognition, side by side.

  Lucifer had no idea what to make of the situation, but he continued watching.

  The beastman prince and the dark elf stared at each other, confused. The paladin and the Oread did the same. Everyone watching was completely baffled by what had just occurred.

  A short moment of silence passed. Then the wind started to pick up, growing stronger and stronger, as if someone was deliberately controlling it.

  Kane sensed it immediately. Something was coming—and his intuition was correct.

  The wind swirled around the burned bodies of Mephistopheles and Apollyn, lifting them from the ground. Sparks crackled and danced within the storm of wind.

  Once they were fully upright, the wind transformed. It became an enormous fireball, a violent mix of black flames and hellfire. The black flames formed the core of the fireball, while the hellfire swirled around it like a roaring storm.

  Mephistopheles and Apollyn’s bodies disappeared inside the black flames. The wind continued to howl violently around the fireball, and the heat it gave off turned the ground beneath it completely black.

  The dark elf and the weretiger prince had been quick to move away. If they hadn’t, they would have been burnt to ash.

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  The fireball began spinning faster and faster, making the surrounding wind blow even more ferociously. As it spun, it started to shrink, becoming smaller and smaller while maintaining its chaotic energy.

  Eventually, the flames began taking a peculiar shape. They twisted and compressed until the fireball resembled a person. The entire body structure was formed from compressed black and orange flames, while a thin outer layer of hellfire surrounded it like armour.

  The body structure shattered, revealing a person inside.

  This person had four horns—two protruding from opposite ends of his forehead, and two more coming out from the sides of his head, coiling elegantly just next to his cheeks.

  He was muscular to the point that he could be mistaken for a bodybuilder. His upper body was bare, revealing black wavy lines that ran across his chest, back, arms, and even down to his fingers.

  Below, he wore black long pants with a half-skirt draped over them. His shins were protected by armour pieces that wrapped around to his knees, and on his feet were black leather ankle boots, completing the ensemble perfectly.

  This person roared, and the sound was so fierce that a violent wind current blasted everything near him away.

  The dark elf and the weretiger prince were caught in it, unable to resist the force, and were thrown backward.

  Mephistopheles and Apollyn’s bodies were nowhere to be seen, yet it was clear they were somehow merged with—or standing inside—that one towering figure.

  Of course, that person was a Demon, but what kind of Demon remained a mystery.

  “My lord,” said Kane.

  “Yes, I feel it too, Kane,” replied Lucifer. “Whatever that Demon is, it has the power to fight me one-on-one at my current level. That means those four warriors are about to face a Demon dangerously close to my own strength.”

  Lucifer leaned back on his throne, astonished. I never imagined Mephistopheles and Apollyn possessed such an ability, he thought to himself.

  The Demon turned and faced Lucifer’s direction. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared and reappeared right in front of him.

  “My lord…” Kane began, but Lucifer held up a hand.

  “Don’t,” he said calmly, his eyes locked on the Demon standing before him.

  Lucifer settled into his Demon King position: legs crossed, one arm resting on the armrest, the other with his fist supporting his cheek. He stared directly at the Demon, sensing the enormous hostility radiating from him—hostility that rivalled Lucifer’s own, as a fellow Demon.

  The Demon bent the knee before Lucifer. His face was humanlike, but his eyes glowed a fierce blood red.

  “So, you are the fusion of Mephistopheles and Apollyn, huh?” Lucifer said. “You look much more human than I expected.”

  “Yes, my lord,” the Demon replied. “I am the combination of Mephistopheles and Apollyn.”

  “Hmmm, even though two people combined to form one, it seems your voice is a combination of three individuals. I figure one of those voices is specifically yours,” said Lucifer.

  “You are correct, my King,” replied the Demon.

  “Hmmm, now enlighten me—what exactly is your name in this form?” Lucifer asked.

  “Since this is my first time being in the world, I, unfortunately, have no name,” the Demon responded.

  “Well, that’s fine. I’ll let your creators name you. But you’ve kept your opponents waiting long enough, haven’t you? Return and deal with them quickly,” said Lucifer.

  “As you command, my King,” said the Demon before disappearing and reappearing back on the battlefield.

  “My lord, how are you feeling?” Kane asked.

  “I had to force myself to hold back from fighting him myself. Those glowing blood-red eyes… I could tell they were filled with an enormous amount of power, and that truly got me excited. Even he wanted to fight me—I could feel it from the hostility radiating off him,” said Lucifer.

  “As I thought, my lord—you’re still the same battle-hungry beast you’ve always been,” said Kane.

  “Indeed,” Lucifer replied. “Anyway, even though that Demon is close to my strength, I don’t believe it will be easy for him to defeat those two, especially because of the abnormal healing they have going on.”

  Something clicked in Lucifer’s mind, and he activated his Demonic Overlord eyes.

  He saw that the Oread fairy was secretly spreading fairy dust over the battlefield. The reason he hadn’t noticed it before was that the Paladin had spread his holy magic over the fairy dust, hiding it from plain sight. It was so well-hidden that it seemed like it had always been there naturally.

  Lucifer finally understood why the Dark Elf and the Weretiger Prince were able to heal so quickly. He considered removing the fairy dust and the holy energy, but ultimately decided to leave it as it was.

  The Demon stood in front of the four warriors. The Dark Elf and the Weretiger Prince exchanged a glance, then charged at him.

  The Dark Elf veered to the left while the Weretiger went to the right. As they reached the Demon, the Dark Elf swung her blade at great speed, aiming for his head. The Demon blocked it effortlessly with his bare forearm.

  At the same time, the Weretiger threw a punch, but the Demon stopped it with his palm. Without missing a beat, he grabbed the Weretiger’s fist and the Dark Elf’s blade.

  With a single, powerful motion, he smashed the two of them into each other before hurling them both into the sky. Almost instantly, he appeared above them and delivered a roundhouse kick, sending them crashing into the ground.

  The Demon appeared where the Weretiger had crashed. He grabbed the Weretiger by the leg, then leaped toward the Dark Elf and smashed the Weretiger into her.

  Taking a few steps back, the Demon pointed his index finger at them. A large black-and-orange fireball began forming, growing rapidly before he fired it at point-blank range, hitting both the Weretiger and the Dark Elf.

  Without pausing, he turned his attention to the Oread and the Paladin. He pointed at them, created an even larger black-and-orange fireball, and fired it in their direction.

  The fireball tore across the battlefield, leaving burn marks on the ground. As it neared the Paladin, he unsheathed his sword, jumped in front of it, and slashed it in half.

  Unfortunately, the force of the fireball sent him flying into the gates of the Capital. He wasn’t severely injured, but he coughed up some blood from the impact.

  As the Demon prepared for another attack, the Dark Elf and Weretiger dashed straight at him. They both delivered a hard, heavy right hook to his stomach, causing the Demon to bend over slightly.

  Not stopping there, they followed up with a double uppercut, sending the Demon soaring into the sky. As they jumped after him, they struck with a double axe-handle punch, smashing him back into the ground.

  Meanwhile, the burn marks on both the Dark Elf and the Weretiger were healing even faster than before their transformations.

  “My lord, that Dark Elf… what exactly is her power?” asked Kane.

  Lucifer’s eyes followed the battlefield as he replied, “Ah, that… well, it’s what we would call forbidden magic. She’s being supplied with power that goes far beyond her body’s natural capabilities by whatever God or being she and her people believe in.

  “But,” Lucifer continued, his voice grave, “it comes at a high price. If she survives today, she will only live a few more days. That’s what the Dark Elves in Hell have told me.”

  “What a waste of potential,” said Kane. “She is throwing her own life on the line to protect humans… that’s rather pathetic.”