Double Dagger Delinquent

Chapter 68 Demonic Ritual

Iryoku narrowed his eyes.

"I’ll hold off this monster! You focus on the hag!”

And with that, he charged at the aberration, daggers drawn, ready to strike.

The aberration screeched and lunged. Iryoku dashed forward, weaving between the creature’s spiked bones, and unleashed a swift, circular double strike with his daggers—but the blades barely made a mark on its now-hardened, fleshy core.

“Tch…”

He barely dodged to the side as the creature’s black bone-spikes flared outward, raining down in a deadly barrage. With quick reflexes, Iryoku jumped again, this time firing his harpoon. The white rope glowed with magic as it shot forward, piercing the beast’s midsection—embedding only halfway—before quickly retracting, still glowing, and making the creature screech in pain.

“It was shallow… but I can damage you,” Iryoku muttered.

“Reika! Any ideas on how to beat this crazy hag... man-thing?!” Yumi shouted.

Reika stared at Lunara, her mind racing. “I’m working on it... She’s absorbing our magic. Every time we attack with spells, she gets stronger. This isn’t a normal fight.”

Yumi, already drawing another arrow, grimaced. “Then the longer this lasts… the more we’re just feeding her.”

She fired a normal arrow at the aberration creature, but it bounced off harmlessly.

Halim stood frozen, trembling. “This has to be a nightmare. Why would the headmaster do something like this…?”

“Calm down, Halim,” Iryoku barked from the distance. “Help Reika figure out how to stop her!”

The creature shrieked again, enraged. It curled into a ball of spikes and hurled itself toward Iryoku like a bladed meteor. He sidestepped just in time, redirecting the impact so it crashed into the tower floor instead of hitting him, leaving a massive hole and destabilizing the ground.

Iryoku’s harpoon and glowing white rope danced through the air, slashing at the aberration at high speed, striking with a graceful yet deadly rhythm.

“Wow, your weapons are high-caliber, young man,” Lunara said mockingly. Both her hands moved in intricate patterns, weaving magic into the air.

“I’m almost done with the final touches…”

Spell marks flared to life beneath her feet—glowing red circles and runes carved into the platform itself.

Yumi, unsure who to attack, turned to Reika. “What do we do?!”

Reika, trying to form a strategy, finally shouted, “Yumi, charge a big one—something powerful!”

Yumi nodded and readied another arrow, this one glowing intensely, its tip spinning like a magical drill. She fired it at Lunara’s barrier. “Piercing Arrow!”

CRASH!

The shield flickered, nearly collapsing—but quickly regenerated, once again absorbing the magic into Lunara.

Reika focused all her attention on the barrier—then she saw her chance.

“Halim! You too! Charge a big spell—quickly!”

Snapped out of his daze, Halim blinked. “Ah—what? Okay!” He gripped his staff and began chanting. A massive fireball began to form at its tip, growing with each word.

Reika focused, charging lightning in her hand, sparks crackling as energy swirled around her palm.

“Yumi, charge another one!” Reika ordered.

“Now, Halim!” she called.

“Fireball!” Halim shouted, launching the blazing orb forward.

“Yumi—now!” Reika yelled.

“Piercing Arrow!” Yumi cried as she released her shot again.

The fireball exploded against the barrier—BOOM!—rocking the platform in a wave of flames. Just before the magic could be absorbed, Yumi’s arrow struck—its spinning drill-tip boring into the shield, screeching as it tried to penetrate.

Then Reika raised her hand and shouted, “Lightning Storm!”—CRACK! A massive ball of lightning surged forth, slamming into the barrier just after.

The combined assault dimmed the barrier… then dimmed it more… It shimmered, pulsed—and nearly collapsed.

Reika smiled. “It seems she can’t block and absorb our spells at the same time.”

Lunara stood tall amidst the storm. “I’m always a step ahead. The spell is done,” she said coldly. “It no longer matters what you do, young ones.”

But for a split second… the barrier faltered.

It was all that Iryoku needed.

A flash of movement.

She looked down and saw her body severed at the waist. Blood dripped as her eyes widened in disbelief.

In front of her stood Iryoku, burned and scorched, his breath heavy. He had slashed her with both daggers simultaneously—his harpoon blade moved like a separate limb, fast and vicious, slicing and mangling her body with brutal precision.

SCRRHHHH!

The aberration screamed and leapt at Iryoku in a frenzy, spinning like a bone saw mid-air, aiming straight for him. He barely dodged, throwing himself to the side and out of the tower with a heavy breath as the monster slammed into the floor behind him.

With the barrier finally down, Yumi, Halim, and Reika unleashed a second volley.

FWOOM.

CRACKLE.

WHIIIIIRRR.

Magic rained down on the creature—fire, lightning, and Yumi’s magical arrow all struck at once.

The monster wailed in agony as its body was crushed under the devastating force.

Falling through the air, Iryoku fired his harpoon, embedding it into the stone wall. The glowing rope immediately retracted, yanking him back up to the top. He landed beside the others, smoke and ash still rising behind him from the battlefield.

He glanced at Yumi and Reika—and they both glanced back at him.

“Are you okay?” the three said in unison.

The three of them smiled at each other—but suddenly, Iryoku’s expression changed. A powerful, An overwhelming sense of danger surged around them. Iryoku turned sharply.

The others followed his gaze toward the ruined platform, where Lunara’s mangled body and the remains of the black aberration lay, shrouded in swirling smoke.

A faint magical light pulsed—then vanished.

The smoke stirred, shifting in eerie silence.

From its center, a massive shadow began to emerge.

The figure raised a clawed hand, and with a flick of its wrist, a heavy gust of wind burst outward—scattering the smoke and debris, sending fragments tumbling off the edge of the tower. Iryoku quickly struck the ground with arpoon blade, the white rope lashing around his body and wrapping protectively around his companions.

And then they saw it.

In the middle of the clearing stood a humanoid creature—just under two meters tall—with two long horns jutting from its head. Its limbs were slender yet lethal, muscles sharply defined beneath black, obsidian skin that shimmered like scaled armor. Its hands and feet ended in razor-sharp, metallic claws. Reptilian slits marked its pupils, and its eyes glowed with a blood-red hue. A long, black tail swayed slowly behind it.

A demon.

Iryoku's eyes widened at the sight—there was something disturbingly familiar about it. It reminded him of Deborah.

Yumi, Reika, and Halim stared, wide-eyed, at the imposing figure.

The demon turned its gaze toward them and smiled—a grotesque, human-like grin that made their stomachs churn. Then it slowly looked down, eyes locking on a charred, pulsing mass of flesh and bone on the ground—so twisted and mangled it was impossible to tell where Lunara ended and the aberration began.

The demon spoke.

“Were you the one who summoned me? Hahaha… You’re already in such a meaty state.”

Its voice was deep and metallic, reverberating through the air with unnatural, thunderous power.

The group huddled together near the edge of the tower, tense and silent.

Iryoku’s mind raced. It’s fully intelligent—it can speak.

“Maybe… we can reason with him,” he whispered.

Everyone turned to him in surprise.

Then, to their shock, Reika raised her voice—trembling, but firm.

“Excuse me… esteemed Mr. Demon.”

Yumi and Halim turned to her, wide-eyed.

“What are you doing?!” Halim hissed, panic in his voice as his body trembled uncontrollably in the demon’s presence.

The demon slowly turned to face them once more. “You’re not as scared as most mortals.”

Iryoku instinctively stepped in front of them, blades drawn, stance guarded.

The air grew heavier—pressurized, like the calm before a storm.

Reika spoke again.

“Do you know the method for traveling between realms?”

The demon’s twisted smile grew wider, revealing rows of sharp, pointed teeth.

Then it laughed.

It gripped its head with one clawed hand, tilted it back, and let out a bone-shaking, booming laugh— “HAH… AHAHAHAHA!”

The sound echoed across the tower, vibrating through the air and rumbling in their chests like thunder. Waves of dark energy rippled outward from the sheer force of its laughter.

“Truly… the mortal races are endlessly entertaining.”

It finally stopped, its shoulders settling as it let out a low chuckle.

“I really do love... to be entertained... Well, since the Sun Eater is not nearby—neither the darkness nor the light are present…”

The demon raised one clawed finger to its chin, tapping it thoughtfully.

“Let’s see… whether you're arriving or departing, the gate can be anywhere—with the right markings. Or a predetermined anchor. You’ll need a good amount of Primitivus cells, probably… and a vessel. Maybe they’re counted… or maybe not…”

It paused, then smiled again.

“Well, that’s all I’ll tell you for now, puny mortals.”

Then it turned and walked toward the mangled remains of Lunara and the aberration.

“Now—entertain me.”

Its hand hovered above the torn flesh, and from its claws flowed a stream of black energy, crackling and hissing as it cut through the air. With a chilling, wet sound, the meat began to twist and reassemble. Bones cracked and realigned into a grotesque exoskeleton. The lower half became quadrupedal—like a twisted centaur. Flesh grew over the bone, followed by thick, blackened scales that gleamed like obsidian armor.

The head, however, remained only half-formed—one side still a bare skull. Elf-like ears jutted from the sides, and long, blue hair—unmistakably Lunara’s—hung from the back of the malformed head. A single black horn protruded from her forehead. She now stood over three meters tall.

Iryoku and the others recoiled in horror at the abomination.

The demonic Lunara spoke with a distorted, hollow voice.

“Greetings, my lord…” she said, bowing to the demon.

The demon, still smiling, replied,

“Joka'latrex.”

“Powerful Joka'latrex,” Lunara exclaimed. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel fire.net

The demon laughed once more, then turned his gaze toward Iryoku and his group.

“This time, entertain me—and I won’t attack you... directly.”

Lunara turned to them, her face twisting into a perverse, eerie grin.

“I told you, young ones… you will be mine. Just surrender. Resisting is meaningless—I always win.”

From Lunara’s massive claw, a spear-like bone weapon began to form, glowing with pulsing dark energy.

Sensing the impending danger, Iryoku acted fast. He grabbed Yumi, Reika, and Halim—then leapt from the tower.

An instant later, the spot where they had been standing exploded in a blast of black energy, obliterating the top floor. Stone and debris rained down from above.