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"Incredible!"
This is what most of the human audience thought as they watched the Sun Sage in action.
His sheer display of skill and fundamentals dazzled them. His control over his astounding strength could only be described as immaculate, as not even an ounce of energy was wasted.
They could only imagine what it's like to be in the Demon God's shoes right now since there's no way Cedric would let them experience the true horror of his flames.
And he did all of this with relative ease, like this was just a warm-up to him. Those who thought of this would've never imagined that they were actually on point, especially if Cedric's women were asked.
As for the few remaining demons, their expressions turned severely ugly. They looked as if they swallowed a fly, their fists clenched as they repeatedly cursed the enemy to death. But beneath all of this, they felt fear.
Fear of their ominous fate. Fear of their enemy's overwhelming strength. Fear that their idol, their God, will fall here. Existential fear that they will cease to exist soon.
It was maddening. Just how exactly did things come to this? How did humans progress this fast? How dare they hide their strength to backstab them instead of fighting them head-on! Such behavior was hateful, immoral, and disgusting!
But no matter what they felt, none of it changed their actual situation. They're still endangered right now, and their only hope, the Demon God, was out in that battlefield, forced to eat one loss after the other.
Cedric's flames burned all and were especially effective against elements of the 'evil' alignment. His Sunfire and Sunlight were rich and pure elements of Yang that purify evil, which is a demon's source of strength.
The heat wasn't just comfortable. It actually hurts, and not just physically either; the pain seeps into his soul. Moreover, the flames burned his demonic energy as well, making even the least energy-demanding skills more burdensome to his dwindling reserves.
His strange-lifeform spear was also rendered useless against the purity of Cedric's flames. The miasma it secreted, which could wither all life and creation, was neutralized by Cedric's reinforcement of Concept Laws in this domain.
The Demon God was actually trying to fight back against this, pitting his own comprehension and control over Concept Laws against Cedric's to get the results he wanted.
Unfortunately, he was so outclassed that it's humiliating. He couldn't even see the other end of the immense gap between him and the boy in front of him. In terms of concept law comprehension and control, Cedric was leagues above him.
The sheer gap left him in a rather pathetic state, and it deeply reminded him of what his father-in-law did to him.
That triggered a traumatic response. For some reason, he knew that if Cedric was allowed to continue as is, he would suffer immensely. That's why, in his desperation, he tapped into a power that he has hidden deeply from everybody.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Cedric still had his back against the Demon God, whose fist was stretched out; however, his sword that's wreathed in golden flames rested on his shoulders with its tip struggling against the Demon God's fist.
The struggle caused sparks to fly out. The Demon God's fist shook fiercely with obvious indication that he was putting more force into it in attempts to push his fist into making contact with Cedric's body at least.
But it failed to move even a single millimeter forward. Cedric's hold over his sword looked careless and lacking in finesse but was incredibly solid and steady.
With a slight movement of his wrist, he deflected the fist to the side as he gracefully twisted his body and slashed at the Demon God's chest. The movement was so smooth that it seemed ethereal—like it never actually happened and that everybody was just seeing things, but it did happen.
Because once Cedric took a couple of steps away to make some distance, a fountain of black blood erupted from the cut he left on the Demon God's chest.
Now, everybody could see the gaping scar on his chest. Black blood spurted from it like a geyser, but only for a brief moment because in the next second, his regeneration kicked in and the wound started stitching close.
"You know, I actually wanted to confiscate your spear earlier," Cedric casually stated while twirling his sword. "I figured that I'd earn some merits from it if I surrendered it to the alliance. I also thought that doing that would allow me to learn where the hell you got it from."
"It's a pity that because of my curiosity, I ended up missing out on it." Cedric sighed. "I should've stopped you earlier, instead. If only I knew then that this transformation of yours would be so underwhelming."
The Demon God's expression turned ugly. Even at the peak of his power, this boy continues to underestimate him. Well, the only way to teach him a lesson was to give him a beating; otherwise, he'd continue to remain arrogant.
In his transformed state, the Demon God was convinced that Cedric could never threaten his life. Any wound he inflicted on him could be ignored since it would just regenarate in an instant. His physique, while being large, still allowed him to move at blistering speeds. He could forcefully breach space to close the distance using his sheer raw power.
This is where his confidence lies. It didn't matter if Cedric outclassed him in terms of concept-law comprehension and control. So long as his body was tough enough, he could just shrug off any attempts at his life and dish out a beating of a lifetime.
And so, with this confidence, the Demon God charged ahead once more. This time, he didn't care about anything else. He just focused on really hurting this boy, and if he could, keep him just at the edge of death so that he could torture him more.
Unfortunately, it turns out that he was being delusional about his strength all this time.
Shwing!!!
In a speed that transcended his senses, the Demon God barely caught the flourish of steel passing through him. It's like a breeze passed him, and he was late to realize it.
His mind lagged behind for a couple of seconds; after that is when he 'felt' what just happened.
"AARRRGGGGHHH!!!"
Behind him, Cedric sneered as he muttered, "Did you really think I couldn't cut you with my sword? It seems that you're more delusional than I initially thought."