NOVEL NEXT Chapter 685
The yellow and red flames fill the dome, and the last remaining member of the big three is consumed by fire.
There isn't a single yell, curse, or attempt to escape the flames.
The man who lived his life consumed by numbers, certain he would live forever, merely disappears the moment the odds turn against him, accepting his fate.
I float downward as notifications ring in my inner ear.
[Level Up] x2365
[Use Absorption]
Skill: [Foresight][Divine Grade]
[YES][NO]
[Use Absorption]
MCP: 14,289,200,896,345,001
[YES][NO]
[Use Absorption]
Stat: Mental Strength
Points: 18,909
[YES][NO]
My level hits [Lv. 16,706], and I press yes to accept every skill and stat point available to me, while draining the ice and fire around me back into my True Core.
The Divine Energy trapped within the Man and the Horse also flows directly into me, increasing my strength even further, and I feel two unique True Core abilities enter my body.
Both of which are instinctively comprehended in an instant; but I can't fathom the true extent of their power until I use them in battle...
In the same moment, the result of this match pushes my links of loyalty over 45 million, surging upward faster and faster at an exponential rate.
These new True Core abilities and additional hundreds of millions of stat points fill me with confidence as the black dagger's fragments and the horse's armor turn into yellow Divine liquid, consumed by my blade.
I let out a satisfied sigh, but my moment of victory is quickly interrupted by a slow clapping sound from one far corner of the room.
My head turns to the noise, and a telepathy channel opens with the Demon.
"Very impressive. It seems you have a decision to make: honor the pact in place and leave this tower at once to allow me to claim the throne; or fight me for the chance to make this world your own.."
—
Meanwhile, outside the tower, Raven sees three black spears coming at her from separate directions, with body doubles of the Demon she was fighting spawning out of nowhere.
Raven's senses are keen, but every time she locks onto the true body of the Demon, it instantaneously swaps to one of the other doubles.
She disappears using her Divine stealth, not even attempting to attack, but the body she sliced in two moments ago spawns back into reality, right underneath her. Four perfect copies of the Demon block all possible escape routes.
Even with her stealth skill activated, she is too close to fully dodge all four attacks.
The lucky spear that manages to hit her is a body double, but the mythic grade perk given to the Demon allows it to swap places instantly and use its true spear to land a devastating blow on Raven's side.
Blood leaks into the air, and a portion of Raven's body becomes visible as the density of Divine energy and demonic soul energy shocks her system, sending her flying backward.
All four body doubles follow like machines, as the Demon is no longer playing around, aiming to go in for the kill.
Despite Raven's invisibility, the gushing blood and residue from her wound give off a faint energy signature, making it easy for the Demon and its doubles to surround her again, landing another attack that sends her flying down to the ground with another horrific wound, this time in her leg.
Even though a full 1% of stats now rushes through her, putting her strength on par with the unsealed 1st Class Demon, the instantaneous, ruthless attacks from all sides put her on the defensive again just as the battle was starting to turn her way.
Even as the millions of links pour in, gradually increasing her strength, it doesn't do much against the third and fourth heavy hits she receives in the arm and thigh from unbreakable spears.
The attacks she chooses to block or intentionally dodge turn into nothing but Demonic Energy manifestations, and the Demon's real body attacks from where she least expects it.
Each new injury that can't be fully healed by the shared mythic grade self-regeneration skill on her status just makes her invisibility less and less useful.
Dark blotches of Demonic Soul energy left behind in the spear's wounds make it easy for the Demon to triangulate her exact location each time.
While the individual hits aren't fatal, if enough build up, she will slow down more and more, becoming a massive target in the sky.
–
Maria and Abby face a similar problem, as the 2nd Class Demon's unsealed form is simply too overpowered for them to stand a chance.
Even as the links of loyalty surpass 40 million, then 45 million, pushing millions of new stat points into their beings, Maria's blade is continuously pushed back by the unsealed Demon's raw strength, and Abby doesn't have enough power to break through its Greater Form armor despite her superior speed.
They're able to hold it off, but with every second that passes, the Demon gets another chance to land devastating attacks.
Even after using Abby's Restoration magic, Maria's last wound in her stomach from a direct hit by the Demon's dagger isn't fully healed.
They only have fractions of seconds to heal before the laughing, psychotic monstrous force comes down to the desert floor where they are.
"You do not understand how bleak your future truly is! Even if you manage to fend us off for a few more minutes, you're only pushing off your inevitable end. Just from the fact that you haven't powered up again tells me this is truly your peak."
It sends its two blades right for Maria, as it knows its weaker attacks are pointless against Abby.
Maria jumps out from Abby's restoration circle to block both incoming daggers with her massive blue soul energy sword. It pulses deep within her core, pushing her newly awakened yellow core to its limits, able to go toe-to-toe with this True Core Demon with a bloodline ascending beyond anything humans should be capable of fighting.
Her Greater Form wavers, but she doesn't give up. The pulsing grows stronger, deeper, and faster as she's pushed backward, gritting her teeth. Tens of millions of eyes look through hers now, as the spectator feature expands for the world to witness the generals fight.
Her feet flow with Superior Ice magic powered by a borrowed plunderer skill, draining the area of all available mana, digging into the desert floor, while the wound in her stomach starts to reopen and expand with black demonic energy far faster than when it was first inflicted.
For the first time in a while, she actually holds back the Demon's attacks. Not just one, but both daggers.
There will be no dodging now, but the rising stats are starting to catch up.
Even Abby leaps over the exchange taking place, but the Demon was ready for a move like this, disappearing before their eyes and meeting Abby in the sky to press its palm into her chest, covering it with a thick layer of the same strange demonic energy used to create the balls of darkness from earlier.
Before she can even send off her attack, Abby is sent flying in the opposite direction, coughing blood, powerless to block it. She's sent hurtling toward the desert floor again, far away from Maria as she still attempts to block the two daggers pushing against her massive sword.
The Demon pushes its palms together, forming another ball of compacted demonic energy between them, then blips forward a few hundred meters to release this toward Maria's unguarded back.
It grins wide, disappearing into thin air again, and reappearing on the desert floor right where Abby's injured form is projected to land.
–
Simultaneously, a massive well of gravity makes everyone beneath the silver dome shiver as the arrow Arie sends at the Yellow Core general coming their way is blocked by the Demon's chest plate alone.
Before this War broke out, his arrow at half this power shattered its armor with ease and nearly killed it on the spot.
Blocking this should be impossible, but violent energy erupts from one of the two remaining demon generals as he yells at Arie.
"Do not underestimate the strength of the Demon Race. Even if I die, I will make sure to take you with me, the one who disgraced me in front of the Vermillion Lord. A 3rd Class Bloodline is enough to wipe every last one of you off the face of the planet."
These words echo from the Demon's furious Greater Form as it grows to over 15 meters tall.
The Demonic Energy vibrates, giving off strange readings. Each step closer makes the Demon's form waver, its energy levels rising and falling unpredictably.
–
This strange reading prompts the black-horned spear user to pause its relentless attacks and turn back to the base of the tower.
"He wasn't ready... Pushing himself further than his bloodline limits. A 3rd Class Commoner trying to pull this much power will surely become corrupted..."
The Demon considers putting its fight on hold to fly over to this other Demon, as if left alive for too long, it will surely detonate, taking out many valuable Commanders and Knights; but sees the second Yellow General send out extra commands to its surroundings to evacuate the immediate area.
The Demon grins and turns back to Raven's beaten form, now not even attempting to use her invisibility and merely blocking attacks to buy time.
Seven large Demonic Energy wounds drain her lifeforce slowly, but the Demon doesn't relent, multiplying three fresh body doubles and going in for the kill again.
–
Fear washes over Arie as Luna's words echo in his mind.
"It's going to be corrupted. Like those ascended beasts we faced in the abyss... If you don't kill it now—"
"I know." He replies, while my doubles catch on to the situation and yell out orders to take cover as something very chaotic and strange is emerging from the twisted demonic greater form...
Arie pulls back another single arrow with every drop of Demonic Soul Energy and borrowed mana he has.
Raven has four more spears closing in on her from all sides, with only two blades to block, impossible to know which one will be the fatal strike.
Abby rockets down toward the laughing 2nd Class Greater Form of the Demon as it charges up another black ball of Divine Demonic Matter.
Maria barely holds back the two black flying daggers, and an even stronger energy attack is headed toward her unguarded back.
The state of the battlefield outside the tower seems quite dire, but the world is watching.
The links of loyalty surge past 50 million, and a notification rings in all of the Generals' ears, giving them new hope to turn this battle around.