Chapter 960: 960. Struggle

King Elbas had managed to defeat the attacks of two powerhouses and save Ravaging Demon at the same time. The latter eventually regained his foothold and resumed his flight toward the leader of the Royals.

Great Elder Diana couldn't interfere with him. She could use abilities that didn't rely on her precision, but their power would be lower than her main attacks. King Elbas would fend them off with some casual spell.

She was even on the other side of the battlefield, so she didn't have time to fly through the chaotic area and intercept Ravaging Demon before he reached King Elbas.

On the other hand, Chasing Demon was near the Patriarch of the Elbas family and could see Ravaging Demon rising in the sky toward his ally. His titan was no more though, so he lacked offensive methods at the moment.

Both Great Elder Diana and Chasing Demon had yet to attack King Elbas directly. They had avoided bringing their battle on that stage to maintain the focus on Ravaging Demon.

Once the three powerhouses started to attempt to their lives, the battle would gain different features. It wouldn't be a struggle to seize or prevent an advantage anymore. It would become an actual war between the three major organizations of those Mortal Lands.

The truth was that no one desired an all-out war. The three organizations lacked the assets necessary to pierce the defenses of their enemies, meaning that a proper battle among them couldn't lead to benefits.

After all, the three of them didn't manage to rout the Shandal Empire even when they were at their peak and were fighting together. Going against each other after suffering all those losses would be suicidal since none of them could gain anything from their enemies.

Chasing Demon found himself in a pickle. Attacking Ravaging Demon in that situation would force King Elbas to deploy more spells. Instead, attacking the Patriarch of the Royals would take away his attention from his ally.

That would create a window that Great Elder Diana could exploit, giving her more chances to finish Ravaging Demon. Yet, it would also start a war against the Elbas family since it couldn't ignore a direct assault to its powerhouse.

Countless thoughts surged inside Chasing Demon's mind as he looked at the flying Ravaging Demon. The hatred for Charming Demon's death still burned inside him, but he had to consider other aspects due to his political status.

The Hive was flourishing under his rule, but it had just suffered huge losses. Bringing it into another war would be a poor decision, especially since it could seal an alliance with the Council and suppress the Elbas family.

Also, the Hive could execute secret plans against the Ravaging Demon sect in complete safety with the separate dimension. Obtaining the location of its assets wouldn't even be a problem since the Council was bound to have countless reports about them.

In the end, Chasing Demon thought about the inheritance of his Master. His two old friends were improving, but they needed his protection to focus on their cultivation without worrying about the enemy forces. The same went for Noah, which Divine Demon had chosen personally.

Chasing Demon could choose to pursue the approach that gave him the highest chance of success in his vengeance, or avoid war and focus Ravaging Demon with his attacks. The first option would put Noah and all the assets of the Hive at risk, while the other would probably lead to the escape of his sworn enemy.

A series of boulders appeared around the Patriarch of the Hive. They morphed into tall puppets that had sharp claws instead of hands. They didn't have detailed facial features, but horizontal cracks spread on the lower part of their faces to form large mouths.

The puppets began to fly in a straight line toward King Elbas. They raised their claws while their insides trembled to charge a weaker version of the titan's sound attack.

King Elbas' eyebrow arched at that sight. He felt that he had underestimated Chasing Demon's hatred when he saw that he had decided to attack him. He wasn't scared about those spells, but defending himself and saving Ravaging Demon at the same time would force him to waste another powerful inscribed item.

Still, the puppets made a sharp turn and dived toward the rising Ravaging Demon as annoyance filled King Elbas' mind and the blood flowing out of his forearm turned into flames.

It turned out that Chasing Demon had decided to prioritize the Hive over his revenge. Targeting King Elbas had only been a distraction that had forced the latter to prepare a defensive spell.

Ravaging Demon was a mess. His body was nearing a critical state, and his consciousness was still recovering from the titan's cry. When he saw the puppets diving toward him, his expression turned ugly, and his smile finally disappeared from his face.

Massive quantities of blood came out of his mouth as flames spurted from his injuries. It seemed that he was neglecting his state to turn himself into fire to avoid the incoming attack.

Yet, the cracks on the puppet's heads spread at that point, and a series of dense shockwaves came out of them, engulfing Ravaging Demon with their tremors.

The Demon saw his flames falling apart, and the sound attack made his mental sphere struggle to maintain control over his "Breath". He stopped flying to stabilize his condition, but that break made the puppets reach him before King Elbas could activate a different spell.

The puppets slashed with their claws, which fell apart once they pierced Ravaging Demon's skin. Their rocky limbs took fire when they came in contact with his insides, but they managed to inflict more injuries nonetheless.

King Elbas suppressed a curse when he saw that Ravaging Demon was risking his life. The puppets wouldn't be too dangerous in a normal situation, but his ally was already nearing his limit.

The flames accumulated around him morphed to turn into small fiery birds that flew in Ravaging Demon's aid. They crashed with the puppets and made their bodies crumble. However, the destruction of the rocky constructs released the energy that they contained.

A series of explosions swept Ravaging Demon, engulfing his form into a cloud made of dust and rocky debris. King Elbas could only dive toward his ally at that point, and flames burned the entirety of the cloud when he reached it.

Once the cloud was no more, everyone on the battlefield could see an unconscious Ravaging Demon floating in the air with his body filled by ugly wounds.

Great Elder Diana and Chasing Demon prepared other spells while King Elbas analyzed the unconscious Demon. The latter was alive, but it was so weak that his figure barely emitted any aura.

King Elbas took out a large orb from his space-ring at that point, which sucked Ravaging Demon in its insides before exploding, filling the sky with a bright white light.

When the light dispersed, a pale and conscious Ravaging Demon was standing right next to the powerhouse of the Elbas family.