Chapter 136 (1): Self-Destruction
Boom!!
An earth-shattering explosion rang out. The lava river churned, red mountains toppled and collapsed, and the ground shook so violently it seemed ready to flip over.
Renata spread her wings and conjured a massive magic circle a hundred meters in diameter, with a pentagram pattern and holy scripts, inscribing the sacred texts of the Golden Law. Bathed in holy light, her aura grew in power steadily. Amid faint prayers, the holy light condensed into holy scripts, which then drew a gigantic phantom of an angel mid-air.
The phantom angel stood over a hundred meters tall, draped in a white robe. Her wings and the hems of her robe faded into nothingness, as if merging with the surrounding space. Her face was blurred and unseeable; only the holy silhouette of light could be made out.
The moment the phantom appeared, Renata’s aura surged in power, becoming greater than the Bat Demon and the Thousand-Eyed Demon combined. Under the oppression of the holy light, the molten territory showed signs of an imminent collapse.
Watching the phantom angel bring her sacred spear down, Wayne felt his scalp tingle. He had just acquired this body and the territory, but he was suddenly thrust into high-level combat without the time to read the manual. Wasn’t it unfair?
“Bat, let’s join forces and drive the angel back first!” the Thousand-Eyed Demon shouted. They were both demons at the end of the day. Whatever conflicts they had gotten into could be resolved once the angel was back in heaven.
Wayne silently flipped the demon off.
He was a fake demon, a righteous man undercover in the villain camp. He would have to be crazy to go against an angel. What good would that do him?
The spear of holy light swung down, its magnificent radiance drowning out the sky. Under the all-encompassing attack, there was no room for the Thousand-Eyed Demon to dodge. Failing to recruit allies, he let out a low growl. His wings of black smoke folded in from both sides to construct a black shield in the shape of an inverted triangle before him.
The shield was carved with demonic patterns that resembled dragons or serpents, but with no visible heads or tails. Their countless eyes alone densely filled the surface, evil, filthy, and corrosive. It was the complete opposite of the energy of the holy light.
The unstoppable sacred spear collided with the immovable shield of hell. In that split second, an explosion rang out like the world itself was collapsing.
Brilliant light struck the dome, and sword after sword tore through the darkness, penetrating deep into the gates of hell within the vortex. Meanwhile, black mist surged downward, crawling and weaving through mountains and red rivers like worms.
The two distinct powers entered a brief stalemate before the light overwhelmed the darkness, shattering the shield and slamming hard into the Thousand-Eyed Demon.
He conjured two curved blades and crossed them before his chest, with which the massive spear ended up colliding. Unable to match the terrifying force, the demon was sent flying backward, crashing into the lava river.
The sacred spear pressed further, burying into the red land with a thunderous roar. Sacred flames threatening to destroy the world erupted, casting the dark sky and red continent in white light.
So strong. She can handle the Thousand-Eyed Demon by herself. Who’s next? Me?
Wait, oh no.
Wayne’s eyes widened as he suddenly realized the problem with his thinking. He was one of the good guys, despite what it seemed like on the surface. Why would he put himself in the demon’s position for no good reason? He had been undercover for too long and hadn’t snapped out of it yet. Yes, that had to be the reason.
Sensing the angel’s intense hostility, he could tell that she only attacked the Thousand-Eyed Demon first because she was concerned about getting ganged up on. Once the Thousand-Eyed Demon was dead, the sacred spear would come for him next.
Fine. Wayne approved of the plan of finishing off the Thousand-Eyed Demon first before clearing up the misunderstanding. He really wasn’t a demon!
The Bat Demon’s six eyes lit up with golden light. Countless streams of lava rivers converged from all directions and surged toward where the Thousand-Eyed Demon had fallen. The viscous lava gathered and compressed into an incredibly hardy red sphere, trapping the Thousand-Eyed Demon inside. As the Bat Demon raised one hand, the lava sphere shot up like a cannonball, hurtling toward Renata.
After Renata unleashed the great attack, her aura rapidly weakened, and the condensed phantom angel showed signs of dispersing. In the final moment before the light faded, she poured all her holy light into her spear and hurled it at the rapidly approaching lava sphere.
As soon as the energy spear penetrated the lava, numerous swords broke out of the shell. From a distance, the fiery sphere looked like a hedgehog curled into a ball, covered in dense white spines.
Boom!
The lava exploded. The Thousand-Eyed Demon beat his black, misty wings, hovering in mid-air with a bowl-sized hole in his chest, where his heart should be. His face, covered in black mist, twisted with rage.
They were both demons, but the angel chose to work with the Bat Demon instead of him. He could see the writing on the wall. He would be driven back to hell by the angel and the Bat Demon, complaining to other demons in bars with the same damn line he had heard so much: I was so close!
Becoming hell’s laughingstock was difficult to take, but not impossible to accept. After all, hell had numerous other jokes, and a failed descent was far from exciting or scandalous enough to keep demons’ attention. When every other demon was a joke, he would be mocked for at most two days before things blew over.
He was furious and frustrated because he couldn’t afford to lose. The thoughts he had drawn to the human world couldn’t return to hell, and once erased, his main body would become drastically weaker.
Moreover, his thoughts hadn’t descended alone, but along with part of his soul. Hell operated on the simple and honest rule of survival of the fittest. With no power, he couldn’t defend his territory, and without territory, his strength would decline further. Thinking of the ‘allies’ who only kicked him when he was down, he could already picture his future.
How could he not be enraged?
“Bat, work with me. I’ll give you half of my territory in hell,” the Thousand-Eyed Demon said. The situation was too unfavorable for him to continue playing the father figure. He put aside his pride and said, “She’s an angel, which makes her the devil to us. Wake up! She’s using you. Once I’m dead, she won’t spare you.”
“We’ll talk about that after you’re dead!” Wayne responded coldly. Clenching his fingers, he drew an energy greatsword consisting of fire elements from the scorching air currents.
Among the four elements, his affinity for fire elements was the strongest. Combined with his authority over the molten territory, the energy sword he manifested with compressed fire elements was incredibly powerful, with a frighteningly high temperature.
The Bat Demon flapped its wings, its agile body moving at high speed through the air. The fire sword slashed toward the Thousand-Eyed Demon. The unusual heat burned the demon and made explosive noises the instant it approached.
Shriveled bug corpses fell from the demon’s black robe, spontaneously combusting in the air, indicating that his physical form was being erased bit by bit.
The body the Thousand-Eyed Demon was using had always meant to be temporary, only for his descent to the mortal realm. He was going to take over another body, but for various reasons, he never had the time to do so.
This body had limited potential and a fundamental shortcoming in its life essence, which lowered the demon’s ceiling. Even with powerful thoughts, he couldn’t make the most of them. Case in point, the large hole put in his chest by holy light wouldn’t mend.
More and more dead bugs fell, and the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s physical form grew increasingly fragile. After swinging his curved blades to meet the lava greatsword a few times, his strength and speed were diminishing and getting suppressed. He faced a certain defeat!
Strike while the enemy is down!
Wayne swung his fire sword faster and more fiercely. As he gradually familiarized himself with the playbook of the territory, its temperature began to climb rapidly. Collapsed mountains liquefied, merging with the lava. Looking around, the entire land was slowly sinking. Nothing but lava remained.
Like Wayne, the angel knew to exploit her enemy’s moment of weakness. She reforged her spear with holy light and flapped her wings to reach the center of the battlefield. The tip of her spear sputtered sparks like a firework, enveloping the Thousand-Eyed Demon.
So you all want me dead, huh? The Thousand-Eyed Demon’s eyes flashed red. Once he was certain that he couldn’t preserve his physical form, he went for self-destruction without hesitation.
Rather than letting outsiders destroy him, it was better that he do it!
As expected of a demon who had struggled in hell for years. He was ruthless and decisive, harsh to others but even harsher to himself.