A thunderous crash echoed.
From the walls of the demon king's castles, a black object flew out like a cannonball taking the skies.
The wings of the escaped demon flapped and he got back in balance.
Flying midair, the demon, Flauros, summoned his energy into his hands.
A seven-meter-long beam of pure black iron formed above his hand.
"HUMAN!!" Flauros screamed.
With his bloodied hair fluttering behind his back, Eugene jumped out of the broken castle and took to the red skies.
Below or above, beyond his enemy, nothing entered his sight.
He kicked off a hexagonal shield and dashed ahead. With each step his speed growing faster and faster.
"[Black Hawk Dive]"
At Flauros' chant, the beam of black tore through the air and shot toward Eugene.
With a careful gaze, Eugene evaluated the incoming attack.
He raised one hand and Ki swirled around him.
Like the blooming of a flower, a giant blade made of his Ki formed ahead of him as he continued onward.
The enormous blade with Eugene's will.
"[Intent Ki: Reversing Autumn]"
Like a gently falling leaf, the blade of Ki floated upward.
The blade and the black beam crashed into each other.
A shockwave spread through the sky as the two attacks gouged each other apart.
And as if it were as important as the tussle of two ants, the culprits behind the attacks ignored them.
Flauros' wings flapped. Eugene's shield propelled him onward.
As their attacks completely cut each other apart, the demon and the human clashed.
Their fists struck and a blast incomparable to the one before spread out.
"Kuh!" The demon grunted. His hand bled, he was pushed back.
Not missing the opportunity, Eugene dived ahead and grasped one of the chains hanging over his shoulder.
The chains grabbed.
The demon ducked.
Eugene hopped off another shield and tried to wrap Flauros in the chains again.
Nimble and swift, the winged demon used his advantage in the air and narrowly avoided his attempts.
Side, back, the demon dashed and Eugene followed.
Flauros snapped his fingers.
As Eugene approached, the air around him turned black in the blink of an eye.
Three dozen rods of black formed mid-air.
"Futile," the human said. As he tried to get the demon's hands in the chain, the black rods were cut apart by his Ki.
In a rush, the demon leaped back and created a wide distance between them.
A chuckle escaped Flauros.
Attacking was haphazard, as long as the direction was toward his target and his arrows numerous, other things didn't come into play. But that human pierced all of his attacks with extreme accuracy in the blink of an eye.
Just how strong was he? Maybe at the level of the commanders of the top ten legions?
Flauros couldn't help but think that his attacks truly were futile. He lowered his stance mid-air and tried to gather strength—
"Fool, I am not talking about your attacks."
— He couldn't summon his strength. He lost the feeling of the demonic energy coursing through his veins. Flauros peered down and looked at his ankle.
The cuffs of the chains were clasped to him.
"I am talking about your very existence."
Eugene pulled the chain. Dragged by his feet, Flauros shot through the air and closed in on Eugene.
He couldn't react. Even if he wanted to, even if he had the ability to, he couldn't.
Eugene smiled.
A piercing pain spread through Faluros' plexus as Eugene smashed his elbow in.
Flauros crashed down from the skies. His body arched upward as blood spilled from his stomach.
Before he could hit the ground, Eugene pulled back again. This time, he smashed his fists, and then kicked him. The demon yo-yo came crashing up and down as Eugene pulled the chains around, cackling like a child.
He spun the chains in his hand and twirled Flauros along.
"Good! It works well!"
Perhaps not having fun anymore, Eugene let go of the demon and raised his hands in the air. Mana swirled above his hands, sending gusts of wind in all directions.
The demon bellowed, Its eyes bloodshot.
Too powerful. Even after facing that pressure, it was too powerful. It was as hopeless as facing his seniors.
Flauros knew he would either sacrifice everything or die by the hands of that human.
Seeing the magic circle as large as a mountain form above Eugene's hands, he shuddered..
Did this human lose his mind, or did he know that the he would have to face Balam and decided he could show this much strength?
"It isn't over yet!!" Flauros' scream spread through the skies.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck in the red ocean above.
Eugene raised his brow.
The demon's body squirmed as the demonic energy contained within him raged like a tempest.
The red skies started to boast a bloody tint.
Black veins spread through Flauros' grey skin as the two horns on his head enlarged. Hs wings spread further into the skies.
Rips sounded out. His muscles bulged and his eyes widened.
"AHHHH!"
Flauros screamed.
"[TRUE DEMON FORM]!!"
***
"Do you see, foolish girl?"
The voice of a fairy that no demon in hell could hear resounded.
Barely keeping her posture from the sheer pressure the two existences exuded, the lady of Acacia Duchy slowly nodded while staring up. Her heart pounded incessantly as she looked at the blood-soaked image of her guard.
The pain he must have gone through was unimaginable for her, how crazed must he have been to be covered in blood from top to bottom yet have but one scratch on himself?
But beyond that, her eyes were fixed on one thing.
He was smiling. As he thrashed the demon, he wore a manic grin that she had never noticed on his stoic, cold face.
"Did you say you wanted to help him?" the fairy said.
Something changed. Lightning flashed and the demon screamed. The pressure all over the place grew as the lady struggled to stand upright.
"Did you think you know him?"
She did. She believed she had learned about him just as much as he had learned about her in their days together. Yet, the fairy seemed to think otherwise.
"You say you're cursed? Evil? Sure." The fairy, ignoring all the pressure in this place, leaned down toward the lady and peered into her eyes. She seemed to be having fun. "Look carefully. If you want to love, go love your kind, a human, demon, elf, it doesn't matter. Whether that being is more evil than your or more unneeded than you, good for you."
She pointed at her guard.
The demon transformed, and her guard smiled.
He raised his other hand as well, and a purple glow filled the magic circle he had created. The lady's eyes widened as she saw the impossible amounts of Arcana rising into his spell.
The demon tried to reach out, and her guard snapped his fingers.
"You shouldn't try to know..."
Everything was quelled. The pressure surrounding them, the demon's screaming, the threatening skies.
One voice boomed.
"[Trinity Series. Destruction Attribute...]"
She blinked—
"[Storm of Destruction]"
—And the demon Flauros had been wiped from the surface of Hell.
And with him.
A third of the Capital City of Balam's reign disappeared.