NOVEL NEXT Chapter 140: Cracks
Each blow sounded like thunder. Each blow tore more of the man's life away.
The human's body convulsed weakly under the onslaught, his head jerking with every strike, but his strength was already gone. His resistance faded with every passing second.
Finally, after a few more brutal punches, the man's body went still.
Juer'lo halted, his chest rising and falling with a savage rhythm, his knuckles dripping in blood and bits of flesh.
His victim's face was no longer recognizable as human—it was reduced to a mangled, unidentifiable ruin, caved in by the repeated impacts.
Where once burned a pair of defiant eyes, there was nothing left but darkness and gore.
The flames that had once cloaked the man in defiance were gone. Extinguished. His body lay in ruin, chest rising faintly with shallow, ragged breaths. He was alive only in the most fragile sense, his life hanging by a thread. Death lingered inches away.
Juer'lo tilted his head, his grin widening as he muttered, his voice low and venomous:
"Humans… should know their place!"
Without hesitation, he reached down, claws digging into what remained of the man's head.
With a savage tug, he ripped it free from his broken body, severing it in one brutal motion.
Blood gushed out in a violent spurt, cascading down like a crimson fountain, splattering the cracked earth.
Juer'lo let out a triumphant roar and hurled the severed head toward the distant building.
The grotesque trophy spun through the air before crashing against its walls with a wet, sickening sound, leaving a dark smear where it struck.
"Your hero… dead now!" Juer'lo's voice thundered, echoing across the battlefield.
His words dripped with mockery, every syllable a dagger meant to wound the hearts of those who had watched the battle unfold.
From within the building, horrified gasps erupted—shouts of disbelief, cries of grief, voices trembling with shock. The air filled with their terror, their hope shattered in a single instant.
Juer'lo turned his gaze back to the mutilated corpse. His grin sharpened, cruel and twisted, as he raised his massive foot and slammed it down onto the man's chest.
CRUNCH!
Bone gave way under the weight of his stomp, ribs shattering like brittle sticks.
He pressed harder, his foot sinking deeper, piercing through flesh and breaking past bone until it carved a hole straight into the man's chest cavity.
Blood and fragments gushed up around his foot, and Juer'lo's grin widened into something monstrous. He began to twist and drill his foot deeper into the corpse, grinding with sick pleasure.
"Hahahaha!!!"
The wet sounds of tearing flesh and cracking bone filled the silence left behind by the horrified voices, and Juer'lo chuckled darkly once more, savoring the despair that had spread through the air.
Screams erupted from within the building, sharp and piercing, mingling with the sound of frantic wailing.
The voices of men, women, and children blended together in a desperate symphony of terror. Cries of disbelief, sobs of grief, and hysterical shrieks all poured out, echoing across the ruined ground.
"Hehehe…" Juer'lo only chuckled, the deep, rumbling sound of his laughter sinister and vile.
It rolled through the air like poison, mocking the suffering he had caused. His crimson eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction as he reveled in the despair spreading from the building.
Finally, with a slow, deliberate motion, he pulled his foot free from the broken chest beneath him.
A grotesque schluck sounded as blood and mashed innards clung stubbornly to his talons.
Strings of gore stretched before snapping, bits of bone and flesh sticking to his foot like sticky refuse.
Even Riley, hardened by battle and no stranger to violence, felt his stomach twist in disgust at the sight.
The mangled ruin of the man's body, the way the gore clung wetly to the demon's foot—it was revolting. But Juer'lo seemed entirely unaffected, not even acknowledging the horror of it.
To him, it was nothing. Just another corpse. Just another plaything.
With casual indifference, Juer'lo swung his leg and kicked a few times in the air.
Each motion flicked away chunks of congealed flesh and dripping entrails, scattering them across the cracked ground.
He did it as if one might brush dust from their boots—careless, crude, and mocking.
To Riley, the sight was not only disgusting but deeply irritating.
Watching the demon treat a fallen human, who had fought so desperately, as nothing more than dirt to be shaken off his foot burned with bitter rage.
It reminded him of the sheer cruelty of demons, of their complete disregard for life.
And more than that, it dragged him back into memories of his past life—memories steeped in blood and pain. He had seen worse than this before.
Piles of corpses left to rot, entire cities butchered with no one spared, children skewered before their parents' eyes.
Gory, heartbreaking scenes that had seared themselves into his mind. This was the reality of demons. This was who they were.
Juer'lo stretched his towering body, rolling his shoulders with a languid ease, as though preparing for a casual stroll rather than continuing slaughter.
Then he raised his massive hands and extended them toward the trembling building in the distance.
A moment later, the earth itself split apart with a violent crack, and thick chains of pure darkness erupted from below.
They whipped forward like serpents, glowing faintly with sinister energy as they tore through the ground, crashing against the building's walls with devastating force.
The structure groaned under the assault before collapsing in on itself, beams and stone splintering apart.
Debris scattered everywhere as the chains carved through it like blades.
And then—horrifically—they slithered back out of the ruins, coiled tightly around living bodies.
Men, women, and even children were bound within the suffocating darkness, their limbs pinned and their chests constricted by the crushing force.
Their cries rang out as they were dragged into the open, each voice pleading desperately for mercy. Tears streamed down dirt-streaked faces, little hands clawing helplessly at the chains.
Some begged. Some screamed. Some simply wept, their voices breaking into hoarse, hopeless sobs as the dark chains dragged them closer to their captor.
Juer'lo simply scoffed at the sight of their tears, his eyes gleaming with cold amusement.
The sound of their begging, the way they cried and clung desperately to life—it didn't stir the slightest pity in him. To him, their suffering was nothing but entertainment.
Beside him, the smaller one-horned demon chuckled as well, the guttural sound filled with cruelty.
His fanged grin stretched wide as he leaned forward, drinking in the sight of the humans' torment. To both of them, the tears of mortals were not pleas for mercy, but fuel for mockery.
"You thought you could stand against me…" Juer'lo rumbled, his deep voice vibrating through the air like thunder.
He tilted his head, his grin splitting further as the chains constricted tighter around the humans' fragile bodies. "And now… you'll learn your lesson."
A chorus of panicked screams erupted as the coils of darkness began to squeeze.
One by one, the humans let out ear-piercing shrieks, their voices shattering with pain.
Bones cracked, ribs splintered, and their faces twisted into masks of anguish as the demon methodically crushed them alive.
Their tears dripped to the ground, their desperate cries echoing like broken glass across the ruined village. But Juer'lo paid them no mind.
Instead of the sound softening his heart, the cruel curve of his lips only widened. His smirk stretched, becoming something monstrous, something that fed on despair.
And then, as if their agony was not enough, a low laugh rumbled from deep within his chest.
It grew louder and louder until it became a booming, guttural roar of laughter.
Juer'lo then seized several of the chained humans in one massive grip and slammed them brutally against the ground.
Blood splattered, bodies crumpled, their cries silenced in an instant. He laughed harder, every motion of slaughter bringing him more delight.
The smaller demon, still grinning, suddenly froze as if remembering something important. His chuckle faltered, and he blinked before muttering, "Ohh… we were asked not to… kill them all…"
The words had barely left his mouth before Juer'lo's expression shifted into a violent scowl.
His smirk vanished, his features contorting with irritation.
With a savage growl, he whipped around and smacked the one-horned demon with the back of his hand.
The impact sent the smaller demon flying, his body slamming into a half-collapsed wall with a sickening crunch.
"Tch!" Juer'lo clicked his tongue, gnashing his sharp teeth together in frustration. "And I was already having so much fun!" he thought bitterly, his claws flexing with restrained rage.
His glare shifted back to the terrified survivors still tangled in his chains.
For a long moment, it looked as though he might kill them all anyway—just to spite the order.
But after a growl of dissatisfaction, he finally loosened his grip, dropping the broken, sobbing humans onto the ground like discarded trash.
"This should teach you useless humans a lesson," he spat, his voice thick with disdain. A derisive snort followed as he folded his arms, glaring down at them as if their very existence offended him.
Juer'lo's cruel grin froze mid-motion. His head jerked slightly as a sudden, unnatural chill slithered down his spine.
His breath caught in his throat, and for the first time since the fight began, there was no laughter, no mockery—only silence.
Behind him, the very air itself began to splinter. Thin black lines appeared in the sky, like cracks spreading through glass.
They zigzagged violently, tearing through reality with a sound like grinding stone.
The chill pressed harder onto Juer'lo's back, colder and heavier with each passing second, until it felt like the very marrow in his bones had frozen solid.