The dark clouds in the sky did not dissipate, but instead gathered thicker and thicker, with lightning occasionally tearing through the sky, emitting rolling thunder.

After Lightning and Maisie left with the injured witch, Ashes abruptly spat out a mouthful of blood, her body sinking downwards. If it weren't for the greatsword supporting her, she would have found it difficult to even remain standing.

The previous strike had almost exhausted all of her magic power – although magic power was still constantly pouring into her body, this process was completely beyond her control, as if every meridian in her body was being burned by fierce flames. The aftereffects of magic power exhaustion, combined with the pain caused by the backlash, were simply indescribable.

She didn't know how much longer she could last, but the only thing she was certain of was that she absolutely could not fall here.

Otherwise, everything she had done before would be in vain.

The thunder that descended from the sky undoubtedly severely damaged the Demon Slayer.

Half of its body, which was inlaid with a flying magic stone, was evaporated by the golden thunder. Apart from limited mobility, its strength should also have regressed significantly.

But Ashes didn't feel that way.

Its body was still filled with an extremely dangerous aura. Her heightened senses told her that the enemy in front of her still possessed the ability to continue fighting.

This was also why she had asked Lightning and the others to evacuate as quickly as possible.

In fact, the chaotic magic power on the scene was not caused by her alone. To a large extent, it also came from the Demon Slayer's overflowing power.

Stand up, must strike before the enemy does!

Ashes gritted her teeth and slowly stood up, taking the first step forward.

At this moment, the higher demon, whose body was scorched, also struggled to slowly get up.

Damn it, is it still alive!

When she attacked earlier, Ashes had aimed most of her power at the Demon Slayer. She hadn't expected that the power, enough to annihilate a Mad Demon, wouldn't be enough to completely kill a higher demon. Had she known this, she would have given it another bolt of lightning.

However, to her slight surprise, the higher demon neither turned around and ran away, nor rushed over to fight her desperately. Instead, it dragged its broken body and crawled step by step in front of Ursrook.

What is it doing... does it want to protect the Demon Slayer?

Very well, Ashes tightened her grip on the sword hilt.

In that case, I'll send you both to hell at once!

...

At the moment when the electric light penetrated the interference field, Ursrook heard a call that seemed to come from the depths of its soul.

At that instant, a wondrous connection was created.

Through the dazzling golden light, it saw something at a deeper level—that was the realm it had always longed for but had never been able to reach.

With just one glance, it crossed the threshold and left its mark. And the dividing line before and after this was the essential difference between it and the Grand Lord.

But now, that difference no longer existed!

From insisting on defending Taquila to ambushing humans, it had paid a heavy price and even violated the orders of the Lord of the Sky.

But all of this was worth it!

Feeling the power that the realm of consciousness bestowed upon it, Ursrook directly projected its thoughts into the mind of the Ascended Body Guard.

"Lord, have you... advanced?" The latter immediately conveyed a sense of ecstasy, but it quickly dimmed, "It's a pity that I will soon return to the source of magic power and will no longer be able to follow... you."

"No, I have not advanced – to be precise, I am only one step away from advancing. The Divine Will strike just now seriously injured me, and I cannot complete this step on my own in my current state."

"Is there... anything I can do for you?"

"Sacrifice yourself."

The Guard's thoughts became elevated and excited again, "Is this okay? Please leave it to me, Lord!"

Although it could also try to cross the restriction of the magic stone and directly merge itself with the source of magic power, like what transcendent witches did, the consequences of doing so were unpredictable. For safety's sake, it didn't mind waiting a little longer.

The exchange at the level of consciousness only took a blink of an eye. When the Ascended Body used its last strength to climb up, the extraordinary individual also slowly straightened her body.

No… it was no longer appropriate to call her an extraordinary individual.

More than four hundred years later, the human race once again saw the birth of an extraordinary one.

Fortunately, the Divine Will strike earlier had consumed a great deal of power, and it would be difficult to recover in a short period of time. This was its best chance!

The Ascended Body Guard finally crawled in front of Ursrook. This short distance had made its life force as weak as a flickering candle, but its consciousness became clearer.

"Lord... will our race one day be able to escape the prison of fate, win the Battle of Divine Will, and set foot on that sky that no one has ever touched?"

"There will be such a day, I guarantee it." Ursrook paused and said its name, "Tartaros."

Its eyes lit up, like the last radiance before extinguishing, "Then, please take my soul with you—"

The Guard suddenly stood up and forcefully inserted its hand into its forehead!

...

Ashes couldn't help but be stunned, and then a huge sense of crisis surged in her heart.

She saw the higher demon howling and pulling out the magic stone from the top of its head, along with a large chunk of flesh, and stuffing it into the Demon Slayer's missing body!

The wriggling black light at the wound instantly expanded!

She suddenly remembered what Roland had said—demons need to fuse magic stones to enhance their abilities. Could Ursrook be planning to complete the advancement ceremony in this situation?

Regardless of whether that was the case, they had to be stopped!

Ashes endured the burning pain in her body and once again poured the magic power that she had painstakingly gathered into her sword.

The thunder rumbling in the sky responded to her will. When the power was condensed to its peak, she slashed out her second sword after entering the new realm!

Although the magic power invested in it was not as much as the initial strike, the momentum was not much different. The golden lightning once again broke through the clouds and struck the position where the demon was standing like a whip—

Ursrook let out a sharp roar, and the black light covering its body turned into a missing arm, reaching straight for the electric light!

The two collided, instantly triggering a violent explosion. The whistling air currents stirred up a large amount of sand and rocks, temporarily separating the two's lines of sight.

As the dust slowly settled, Ashes' heart also gradually sank.

The Demon Slayer's figure looked intact, and even the half of its body that had been lost had basically returned to its original state. The only change was that the newly grown arm was several times thicker, and long barbs were inserted into the shoulder and elbow, looking quite like the limbs of the higher demon.

But the aura it exuded was completely different from before.

"I have to commend you, you are a rare genius among witches. You have not only surpassed the strongest human being ever, but also opened the door to the realm of consciousness. As a race with a lifespan of only a few decades, it is truly commendable to be able to do this." Ursrook extended its five claws, easily tearing apart the body of its own kind, and then inserted a gas tank stained with blue blood into its body. "However, it is a pity that you are not the only genius, especially for us whose lifespan can span the Battle of Divine Will. This is an innate difference, although it is somewhat unfair, but fate does not have many choices."

"Your path ends here." As soon as the words fell, it lunged towards Ashes.