489. Bloody Battle

489. Bloody Battle

“Hurry up! We’re losing sight of them!”

Edithe called out, tightly holding Willy close to her chest. In the distance, she saw the shadowed figures moving further and further away as they leapt through the glades of the forest. Amanda glanced back at the redhead, cursing.

“Are you fucking serious? How am I supposed to keep up with that asshole? He’s an Elite Ranked adventurer! I’m just a fucking Diamond Ranked assassin…”

“It doesn’t matter. We need to keep up. We have to get there in time.”

The [Summoner]-turned-[Mage] spoke as she gritted her teeth. Edithe was sure Salvos would be fine. After all, Salvos was Salvos. It would be the end of the world if something terrible were to befall that mischievous but kind Demon.

Nevertheless, Edithe was concerned. She was worried about those who’d been left behind in Lunaris. The injured adventurers and soldiers who’d been recuperating. And it wasn’t just them. There were others she cared about. Three other figures, to be specific.

The baby Wyverns.

While the redhead wasn’t a [Beast Tamer] or the like, she’d spent the last few weeks looking after Novis, Bellum, and Oriur. Edithe couldn’t understand what they said, nor were they too fond of her, but she’d grown quite attached to them over the short amount of time they’d bonded. With only Salvos there, a single slip-up in the face of a horde of outpouring wild Demons could result in the three baby Wyverns’ demise.

And Edithe wasn’t the only one who was fearful of this outcome. She looked down at Willy. The [Will O’ Wisp] burned with cold blue flames. It was the first time she’d seen him like this. He hadn’t said much since they heard the news of what happened in Lunaris. Instead, he’d just remained silent, clearly afraid of what could happen. Perhaps even regretful that left the baby Wyverns in the first place.

“Are you alright, Willy?”

Edithe asked as Amanda panted, unable to keep up with Orgaf who was leaving them in the dust. The Grand Spirit didn’t respond. For a moment, he remained silent. And when he spoke, he ignored the redhead’s question completely.

“There.”

He inclined his body up. Edithe blinked. She looked towards the sky, eyes narrowing. In the distance, she saw the crimson glow. The massive pillar that extended to the sky. Her lips pursed. Her grip on her staff tightened. Nodding, she looked back down reassuringly at the [Will O’ Wisp].

“They’ll be fine… Salvos is there, so they’ll be fine…”

“[Divine Essence of the Daeva Cambion]— I WILL KILL YOU!”

I screamed atop my lungs as I propelled forward, charging straight for the collapsed walls of Lunaris. Iridescent flames burned around me. My Divine Essence. My rage. It left a trail of destruction at my wake. A rainbow-colored streak of flames that burned anything I passed beneath me.

The earth erupted into flames. The white rock ground of the Netherworld burned from the sheer heat of my Grand Skill. The hordes of mindless wild Demons that knew nothing but destruction fled in fear, trying to avoid the spreading flames. But even from a distance, they burned. Their bodies combusted from the blaze that radiated from my fury.

And that rage— the anger which drove me— it was all directed only to a single figure. A crimson man stood atop a platform of black blood. A Primeval Demon. A [Hellprince].

Ira.

He smirked, watching me fly his way with bloodshot eyes. He had fully regenerated his right arm. He stretched it uncaringly before creating a blood-spear from his wrists.

I cared not for his casual demeanor. I was mad. My heart ached. My chest bled, but the crimson blood rapidly evaporated and my flames seared the wound closed. I was injured and tired. But I ignored it all. I let out a blood curdling cry as I raised my Divine Nebular Scythe over my head, reaching the Primeval Demon.

“[Draconic Fury]!”

A crimson glow overcame the iridescent blade of the scythe. I slashed for Ira’s head as he chuckled. His blood formed a sphere around him.

“Nice try, but did you think this would work—”

And his eyes grew wide as my attack sheared straight through his blood barrier like it was nothing. He recoiled, raising his blood-spear to parry my attack.

“Shit—”

For a moment, he stood his ground. He clutched onto his blood-spear, holding up against the force of my [Draconic Fury]. The crimson flakes of vapor from my Skill melded over the rainbow-colored Divine Essence. The iridescent aura shimmered red as my scream echoed into a roar. The image of a creature’s face flashed around me. Like a Wyvern’s maw, but larger— more ferocious.

The image of a Dragon.

Ira himself stared with wide-eyed fear, only for the jaws of the Dragon to clamp around him. The blood-spear cracked, but didn’t shatter. And he cried out in pain, sent flying back from the force of the attack.

He crashed into the earth. A pillar of rubble and dust exploded into the air. But I wasn’t done. I was going to make him pay for what he did. He threatened the baby Wyverns… he threatened my babies.

I remembered the scared looks on their faces. I could almost feel the same fear they felt through [Manifestation of the Old Gods]. And my blood boiled.

He was not going to get away with this.

He was going to die now.

She was faster. So much faster. And not just that— she was stronger too.

Before, Ira had completely outclassed her in terms of strength. He could still keep up with her speed, even if she was clearly the quicker fighter. But now, the Primeval Demon wasn’t even able to match Salvos in any way.

He picked himself up amidst the large crater. The dust settled around him, and he groaned.

“What the fuck was that?”

He asked as he raised his blood-spear, dusting himself off. Frowning, he looked up to where he had clashed. He remembered the brief moment where he saw a face. A monster he couldn’t comprehend. One that instilled a primal fear into his very being.

“Was that the Beast—”

Ira started. Then he blinked, his eyes flickering to the side. He spun around just in time to see the silver-haired girl next to him. She didn’t say a word. She barely made a sound. The only reason he was able to react was because of the glittering flames wisping off her.

Her scythe was already raised and swinging for his head. Cursing, he barely side-stepped the attack in time. The tip of her scythe narrowly missed him as he hopped to the left. He could feel its heat like it was brushing against his skin. The blade bounced off the ground with a clink, and for a moment, nothing happened.

Then a streak of iridescent flames shot out. The fire ripped apart the earth, shredding the white rock as Ira gritted his teeth. Fast and strong, but— He grinned, stepping behind Salvos. He twirled his blood-spear and aimed for her head. If you cannot control your fury, then there is no point in your anger!

He thrust his blood-spear for the back of her head. She was turning her head. Too slowly. No matter how fast one was, they couldn’t defend themselves if they weren’t prepared. Ira laughed as his attack reached her—

And froze as it came to a sudden halt. He stared as an iridescent flaming had protruded from the silver-haired girl’s back. It caught the blood-spear just before it could reach the back of her head, even before she fully finished turning to face him.

“[Faux Limbs].”

She whispered as the second arm grew from her shoulder. Then another pair of fiery hands emerged from her torso. Salvos faced Ira, letting go of the blood-spear.

He leapt back, gritting his teeth. He raised his left hand and dug into his neck. Black blood poured out, forming two extra sets of arms at his side.

“You’re not the only one who can do these tricks, Human.”

Ira bared his teeth at her. Salvos cocked her head. Her gaze darkened, even as her iridescent flames burned sharply around her. Like they weren’t even made of fire.

“Tricks?”

Slowly, she lowered her head. Her brows arched darkly over her forehead, and her eyes glinted like a pair of raging candles.

“This is not a game. You die now.”

Salvos leapt at him, and he braced himself. He raised his blood spear, readying all six of his arms. His blood pooled at his feet, shooting up in spikes. But the silver-haired girl didn’t falter.

“[Barrage of Cinders]!”

She tore through the blood-spikes with ease, landing atop the puddle of Demon’s blood. Ira blinked as he saw smoke sizzle from her feet. The black liquid quickly evaporated just from being around her. She sprinted towards him like a blur, and he cursed.

“[Greater Blood Rush].”

He felt the blood pumping through his body. Ira suddenly moved faster as well. He didn’t feel like he was more nimble on his feet, nor did his perception of things around him change. Instead, he manipulated the blood in his body. He could move himself like he was a puppet, forcing himself to exceed his own abilities for a minute.

This should be enough to deal with her.

Salvos reached him the next instant, still lashing out with the flurry of flaming slashes with [Barrage of Cinders]. Ira matched her six arms with his own as he cackled.

“What do you think, Human? Your Divine Essence may give you this temporary boost of strength, but mine is—”

He paused, blinking as Salvos sheared through two of his blood-arms with her scythe while he was speaking. In that moment where they both struck out at each other as with a torrent of attacks, she’d already tore off half his extra limbs. Ira’s entire body ached— he felt the pain as if those arms were his own.

Instantly, the Primeval Demon tried to disengage.

“You are…”

And he trailed off. He couldn’t speak even if he wanted to. Ira remained unmoving, mid-jump, frozen for what felt like an eternity. And when he moved again, it was against his free will.

Salvos moved too. However, she didn’t take advantage of this moment of vulnerability. Instead, she seemed to glide backwards, reversing her swinging motions. The Primeval Demon watched this in confusion, only to realize he was doing the exact same thing.

He looked on helplessly as he returned to where he was standing in front of Salvos. His blood-arms didn’t regenerate. They were still hacked off and lying on the ground like a puddle. He waited, wondering when this curse would end.

And then it did.

All of a sudden, Ira felt like he had control of his body again. However, he was already in motion. He was mid-attack, swinging from Salvos with his six arms. Except— this time, he didn’t have six arms any longer. He only had four arms.

And Salvos swung down with her scythe, easily cutting through his other two blood-arms. Ira shrieked, leaping back once again. It was like they’d repeated the same motions as before, but now he had even less arms than before to fight back. Now, he was left with his two real arms to face the silver-haired girl.

“What was that ability—”

He opened his mouth, but Salvos burst forward with a blast of flames. She swung at him with a final strike from her [Barrage of Cinders]. He parried it with his blood-spear, clenching his jaw as the crack in the blood-spear grew.

This time, Salvos wasn’t empowered by whatever that crimson attack had been. So Ira stood his ground, pushing back against the silver-haired girl. He almost felt like he could knock her back this time around, but she was aware of that. She didn’t stand still in front of him, instead skidding around him, using her scythe as a pivot as she reached him from the side.

He gaped as the flaming arms at her back shifted, taking on a sharper shape.

“Are those… scythe-arms?”

He heard his answer in a moment as the blades dug deep into his right army. Where it had been ripped off the first time around from the golden clone’s blast. His eyes bulged in pain as she slashed straight through his elbow. His forearm came flying off as he lost grip of his spear. Then there was a crack.

The Divine Nebular Scythe shattered the blood-spear, slicing straight for him before he could move away. He shouted in agony as the weapon dug deep into his chest, cutting straight through his blood barrier. He stumbled back, dropping to his knees. And Salvos tossed his torn arm back at him. She leapt back as it glowed,

“Goodbye. [Demon’s Mark].”

“You—”

Ira started. Then he paused. His eyes flickered away from the glowing arm at his side as he was bent double on his knees. He stared at her for a moment, processing what she said.

“Demon’s… what?”

And a powerful explosion engulfed his entire being.

I watched as the blast of crimson flames engulfed Ira. At first, the explosion glowed a dark red. Then the iridescent light from my Divine Essence poured forth, filling the fire with an incandescent light. It shone brightly like the moon in the night sky.

A grand blaze that shimmered like a rainbow. I waited for the notification to arrive. I had attacked Ira with everything I had from the moment he threatened my babies. I wasn’t going to play with him. I wasn’t going to take my chances. I wanted to incinerate him completely. Until he was nothing but ash.

But the notification never came. I narrowed my eyes as the flames dissipated, and I heard a soft chance.

“[Blood Of My Enemies, The Eternal Sinner’s Duty—”

A figure emerged from the crater. A shadow that hid amongst the smoke. He had been nothing but a burnt chest. Half the remains of a head. And yet, here he was, floating towards me. His body regrowing in an instant. Faster than even a Potion of Regeneration could heal my wounds.

His neck snapped into place as his body rippled. A single arm grew back, and he pointed a finger at me from beneath the curtain of smoke.

“[Empower Me To Rebuke Their Fury.]”

And a beam of Demon’s blood shot out. But it wasn’t just the normal black blood. It shimmered an iridescent color. A glow that encapsulated all the colors of the rainbow. A spectrum of light that shot towards me, carrying the might of my Divine Essence my way.

I clicked my tongue, teleporting out of the way as the beam struck the city behind me. The ground shook, and the sky shone as an explosion that dwarfed my [Demon’s Mark] ripped through the white ground. I flickered back into existence, facing the regenerating Ira.

He sneered at me as the last of his limbs grew back, eyes blazing in a calm anger.

“Did you really think you could defeat a Primeval Demon of Wrath with your rage? Please. What a foolish joke.”

And I wasn’t sure how I was going to kill him now.