Chapter 59 - 059. Vs The Demon King [II]
Ren kicked off the air, creating distance and landing gracefully on the muddy peak with his blazing sword held at the ready.
Malakor clutched his bleeding hand with his frail body trembling violently. Dark corrosive blood poured freely from the deep gash.
He glared at Ren with hatred.
The Demon King forcefully channeled a massive surge of his abyssal dark mana into his wounded hand, intending to instantly regenerate the severed flesh and seal the wound.
The moment the dark mana touched the open gash, a terrifying reaction occurred.
The residual Starfire left behind by Ren’s blade had not extinguished.
It clung stubbornly to the edges of the wound and when Malakor fed his dark mana into the flesh, the Starfire aggressively latched onto the abyssal energy.
The white-hot flame violently reignited!
It treated the Demon King’s dark mana like dry kindling.
The Starfire exploded across Malakor’s left hand, rapidly consuming his fingers, burning away the pale skin, and melting the muscle beneath.
"NO!" Malakor shrieked in absolute terror.
He frantically tried to suppress the flame, pouring more dark mana into his arm, but it only fueled the Starfire further.
The white-hot fire aggressively climbed up his wrist, burning with a searing agonizing intensity that completely bypassed his physical pain tolerance.
The divine flame was actively burning away his very soul.
Malakor realized the horrifying truth. If he allowed the flame to reach his torso, he would be completely eradicated from existence.
The Demon King gritted his teeth, his abyssal eyes wide with sheer panic.
He summoned a razor-sharp, jagged blade of condensed obsidian into his right hand.
Without a single moment of hesitation, Malakor swung the obsidian blade down, aiming directly for his own left bicep.
CHOP!
Malakor cleanly severed his own arm just above the elbow.
The amputated limb fell away from his body. Before the severed arm could even hit the muddy ground below, the Starfire completely consumed it, turning the flesh and bone into a shower of brilliant white ash that scattered into the howling wind.
Malakor hovered in the air, heavily panting as dark blood pouring rapidly from his cauterized stump.
His aristocratic untouchable demeanor was entirely shattered.
He looked at Ren Crowhurst, entirely recognizing the terrifying overwhelming anomaly standing before him.
The human was a monster... A monster far greater than the Hero...
Malakor abandoned all pretense of pride.
He needed to survive and he needed to trap this world-breaking human in a domain where the Starfire could be snuffed out by infinite darkness.
The Demon King raised his single remaining hand. He poured every remaining ounce of his spatial mana into the air directly behind Ren.
KRA-KOOM!
The sky tore open violently.
Malakor summoned a massive chaotic portal directly into his Void World.
It was an apocalyptic tear in reality, a swirling suffocating vortex of absolute blackness.
The portal generated a massive terrifying gravitational vacuum, aggressively pulling the rain, the mud, and the surrounding debris into the endless abyss.
The immense suction gripped Ren’s coat, violently dragging him backward toward the swirling black tear.
"Rot in the dark, you Imperial freak!" Malakor screamed, coughing up a mouthful of dark blood as the strain of holding the massive portal open ravaged his frail core.
The Demon King expected the human to panic.
He expected Ren to struggle against the pull, to waste his energy fighting the inevitable gravity of the void but Ren did not panic.
He planted his boots firmly into the mud with his golden eyes locking onto the bleeding, desperate Demon King.
The massive pillar of Starfire coating his durable sword roared furiously, defying the suction of the void.
Ren allowed the gravitational pull to drag him backward, positioning himself perfectly on the absolute edge of the portal’s event horizon then Ren smiled.
"You think the dark scares me?" Ren asked with his voice cutting clearly through the roaring storm. "I thrive in it."
’THE CRINGEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!’
But despite the cringe of his words... He noticed someone was streaming and he was trying to farm views like a regular human being would.
Ren held tightly to his blazing sword with his right hand and he unleashed a massive explosive burst of lightning into his legs, perfectly counteracting the suction of the portal.
He launched himself completely forward, rocketing straight at the hovering Demon King.
Malakor’s eyes widened in paralyzing horror as he tried to close the portal, to cut off the connection, but his mana core was completely depleted.
Ren closed the gap instantly. He reached out with his left hand with his fingers completely coated in blue lightning and grabbed the Eighth Demon King violently by his pale, frail throat.
Malakor choked, his single arm flailing desperately, trying to pry the iron grip off his neck.
Ren leaned in close.
"We are finishing this..." Ren promised softly.
Ren utilized the residual momentum of his leap. He violently reversed his trajectory, dragging the kicking, choking Demon King backward through the air.
With a final, devastating surge of speed, Ren Crowhurst pulled the Eighth Demon King directly into the swirling, suffocating vortex of the Void World and the two figures vanished entirely into the darkness.
The massive spatial portal instantly snapped shut behind them with a deafening thunderclap, completely sealing the connection to the physical world.
The peak of Razorback Ridge fell completely silent, save for the howling wind and the torrential rain.
Miles away, on the forested hill,
Elara and Kal stared at the empty, stormy sky projected on their Broadcasting Mirror.
The chat interface on the Arcane Network completely froze as millions of viewers sat in absolute stunned silence with their minds completely failing to process the legendary clash they had just witnessed.
The Second Star of the Empire had just dragged a Demon King into hell.
...
’I’m only doing this because of the damn mission bonuses!’ Ren shouted in his head. ’Fuck you!’
The transition from the stormy freezing peak of Razorback Ridge to the absolute sensory deprivation of the Void World occurred in a violent disorienting instant.
Ren dragged the Eighth Demon King backward through the spatial tear and the portal snapped shut, cleanly severing the howling wind.. the torrential rain and the ambient mana of the physical world.
The Void World was an endless floating expanse of pure suffocating nothingness.
Gravity ceased to exist... sound struggled to travel through the dense heavy vacuum and the darkness here possessed a physical weight, aggressively pressing against the skin, designed to crush the minds of any mortal unfortunate enough to cross the threshold.
Malakor thrived in this domain.
He commanded the dark... The abyss served as his absolute kingdom... He prepared to manipulate the raw fabric of the void to instantly crush the arrogant human holding his throat...
But a massive roaring pillar of white-hot Starfire erupted from Ren’s right hand cascading down the length of his durable steel longsword shattered those thoughts with them.
Simultaneously, highly condensed blue lightning surged from his core, coiling around his arms and legs like explosive chains.
The flame and the crackling plasma aggressively fought back the darkness.
The extreme heat of the Starfire violently expanded in the vacuum, creating a superheated atmosphere around Ren.
The blinding light illuminated the floating chunks of barren, obsidian-like rock drifting aimlessly through the endless abyss.
Ren tightened his grip on Malakor’s pale throat and he channeled his lightning into his right arm and forcefully hurled the Demon King away.
Malakor rocketed backward, crashing heavily into a massive floating slab of dark stone.
The impact sent a web of deep cracks through the debris as the Demon King coughed up a thick spray of corrosive black blood, scrambling to right himself in the zero-gravity environment.
"You dare enter my realm!" Malakor shrieked.
His voice resonated through the dark mana of the void, echoing from every direction simultaneously. "I control reality here! I will grind your soul into dust!"
Malakor thrust his remaining right hand forward. He manipulated the laws of the Void World, summoning a barrage of massive, hyper-dense spatial lances.
Each invisible spear possessed the mass of a small mountain, rocketing toward Ren with devastating velocity.
Ren kicked off the empty air, utilizing explosive bursts of lightning from the soles of his boots to maneuver flawlessly in the zero-gravity environment.
He swung his blazing longsword. The S-rank steel, superheated by the Starfire, clashed violently with the invisible spatial lances.
The impacts sent catastrophic shockwaves rippling across the void. Ren carved a brilliant blazing path through the barrage, deflecting and shattering the reality-warping attacks with pure overwhelming physical strength.
He closed the distance rapidly, aiming a sweeping horizontal slash directly at Malakor’s torso and the Demon King brought his hand up, forming a layered spatial shield.
’He doesn’t learn his lesson... does he?’
It materialized as a glowing multi-faceted dodecahedron of condensed reality completely encapsulating his frail body.
It was the ultimate defense, a barrier that folded space infinitely upon itself...
Ren’s blazing longsword slammed into the absolute shield.
The resulting collision illuminated the entire Void World.
A blinding flash of white light and spatial distortion erupted from the impact point.
The S-rank steel groaned, vibrating with a terrifying high-frequency hum as the Starfire aggressively chewed into the spatial matrix.
Ren poured every ounce of his monstrous physical strength into his arms and he brought the sword back and swung again.
The second strike struck the exact same micro-fracture. The spatial dodecahedron splintered as jagged cracks spread across the glowing barrier.
Malakor’s abyssal black eyes widened in horror.
The human was physically breaking a law of space with a piece of metal.
Ren swung a third time, channeling the absolute maximum output of his Starfire and lightning directly into the weapon.
The strike applied a level of force that the physical world simply could not endure.
The S-rank steel reached its absolute structural limit as the blade completely failed.
The longsword violently detonated.
Shards of glowing, cherry-red shrapnel exploded outward in every direction.
Several molten fragments sliced through Ren’s charcoal-grey coat, leaving smoking tears in the expensive fabric.
The sheer concussive force of the exploding weapon completely shattered Malakor’s spatial shield, leaving the Demon King entirely exposed.
Malakor sneered with a fleeting spark of vicious triumph lighting up his pale face.
The human had lost his weapon.
The aggressive, blazing reach of the Starfire was neutralized.
Malakor began drawing raw void energy into his hand, preparing a lethal point-blank execution spell but Ren pressed the assault seamlessly.
He stepped directly through the cloud of expanding, molten shrapnel. He clenched his empty hands into tight fists.
The roaring Starfire and the crackling blue lightning immediately fused around his knuckles, forming a terrifying blazing gauntlet of pure destructive energy.
Ren closed the final gap instantly and he drove his blazing right fist directly into Malakor’s chest.
The sound of shattering ribs echoed loudly in the atmosphere.
The concussive force of the blow launched Malakor off the floating rock.
The Demon King spun wildly through the zero-gravity expanse, trailing a stream of black blood from his mouth.
Ren pursued him relentlessly as he utilized another burst of lightning from his boots, rocketing after the tumbling Demon King.
He caught up to Malakor in open space.
Ren delivered a punishing left hook directly to the Demon King’s jaw. The pale aristocratic face snapped violently to the side spitting broken teeth into the void.
Ren followed up with a devastating knee strike to the stomach, completely caving in Malakor’s abdomen.
The Eighth Demon King became a helpless, battered ragdoll...
The frail, skeletal body that had hovered arrogantly over Astelvern Town suffered destruction under the relentless savage hand-to-hand sequence.
Malakor gasped for breath with his lungs crushed and his vision swimming in a sea of red.
Desperation seized his mind.
He raised his single remaining right hand as he focused his rapidly depleting mana core, attempting to cast a desperate, close-range spatial severing spell aimed directly at Ren’s neck.
Ren tracked the movement flawlessly.
He reached out, his left hand snapping forward like a striking viper and he caught Malakor’s right wrist in a vice-like grip.
The Starfire coating Ren’s fingers aggressively burned into the Demon King’s pale skin.
Malakor shrieked, the spatial spell dissipating instantly as agonizing pain overrode his arcane focus.
Ren planted his heavy, lightning-enchanted boot squarely against Malakor’s shattered chest.
He locked his golden eyes onto the terrified abyssal black eyes of his enemy.
Ren violently pulled his left arm backward while pushing forward with his leg.
The failure of the Demon King’s anatomy occurred in a sickening moment.
The shoulder joint audibly popped out of its socket... The thick tendons snapped like over-tightened bowstrings and the humerus bone splintered entirely.
The pale flesh tore apart with a loud, wet tearing sound.
Ren completely ripped the Demon King’s second arm off his torso.
He carelessly tossed the severed bleeding limb into the endless void letting it drift away into the darkness.
"Ahhhhh...."
Malakor released a soundless agonizing scream.
Dark, corrosive blood pumped furiously from both of his cauterized ruined shoulders.
He drifted helplessly in the vacuum, completely devoid of his hands, stripped entirely of his ability to weave complex spatial magic.
Ren didn’t let out... He grabbed Malakor by the collar of his pristine velvet robes.
He dragged the broken Demon King toward a massive, flat plateau of floating obsidian rock and Ren slammed Malakor violently against the hard stone, pinning him onto his back.
’Fuckass Demon Lord... at least attack in the morning...’
Ren raised his fists, reigniting the blinding white Starfire and he began a merciless, overwhelming pummeling.
He drove his blazing fists repeatedly into Malakor’s face and chest.
Left!
’I...’
Right!
’Was...’
Left!
’In the middle of a...’
Right!
’Fucking good dream!’
Every single strike carried so much force enhanced by the purifying, aggressive heat of the flame.
The Starfire actively burned away Malakor’s corrupted mana, invading his physical body and searing his very soul.
With every Starfire-infused punch that connected with his skull, the Demon King experienced a profound terrifying psychological collapse.
The pain bypassed his current reality.
It forcibly dragged his consciousness backward through centuries of history, plunging him directly into the pathetic vulnerable memories of his mortal life.
[Flashback]
Malakor lay in the thick, freezing mud of a noble estate courtyard.
He was a frail, sickly human boy, coughing up blood onto his pristine white shirt.
He suffered from a crippling mana deficiency which a genetic failure that made him the absolute shame of his powerful magical family.
Standing over him were his three older brothers. They possessed strong, robust bodies and vibrant elemental auras.
They looked down at him with an expression of disgust.
"What a fucking tool man..."
The eldest brother stepped forward, driving his heavy leather boot directly into Malakor’s face.
The impact shattered his nose, driving his head deeper into the freezing mud.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The brothers laughed which was a cruel echoing sound that mocked his absolute helplessness.
They kicked him in the ribs... They stepped on his fragile fingers... They beat him, viewing him not as a sibling but as a disgusting insect polluting their bloodline.
Malakor wept in the mud, clutching his bruised ribs.
He felt a suffocating fear... He possessed zero power to stop the abuse... He lived entirely at the mercy of stronger men... He spent the next three centuries mastering forbidden blood magic and spatial manipulation.
He sacrificed his humanity, ascending to the throne of the abyss and he became the Eighth Demon King specifically to ensure he would never, ever feel that pathetic overwhelming helplessness again.
However, that didn’t seem to be the case now...
Ren’s blazing right fist crashed into Malakor’s cheekbone, shattering the bone entirely.
Malakor stared up through his swollen, bleeding eyes. He looked at the tall, imposing man pinning him to the rock.
He looked at the brilliant blue hair whipping in the energy storms and he looked directly into the piercing, uncompromising golden eyes burning with absolute authority.
The Demon King’s mind completely broke.
He no longer saw the Second Star of the Empire...
He saw the terrifying abusive big brothers from his childhood.
He saw the apex predator, the overwhelming physical force that he could never hope to defeat.
He felt the exact same suffocating fear he had felt lying in the mud centuries ago.
Malakor sobbed.
The great Eighth Demon King, the master of the void, wept openly, tears mixing with the dark blood streaming down his ruined face.
Ren drew his right fist back, condensing the Starfire into a hyper-dense blinding sphere of pure destructive energy, preparing to deliver the final blow.
’I’m almost out of mana so I need to put everything into this...’
Absolute panic overrode Malakor’s depleted core as he tapped into his own life force.
’I need to escape... maybe the seventh...’
He sacrificed decades of his accumulated soul essence, funneling the raw, volatile energy into his chest.
He forcefully tore a jagged unstable spatial rift directly above his body aiming blindly for the physical world.
The exit portal ripped open, revealing the stormy rain-swept sky of Razorback Ridge.
’That’s not where I want to g—’
It didn’t matter... Malakor threw his weight upward, desperately tumbling toward the escape route as Ren brought his fist down.
The Starfire-infused punch connected flawlessly with Malakor’s lower jaw just as the Demon King crossed the threshold of the portal.
The jawbone shattered completely as the force launched Malakor through the spatial tear like a bullet fired from a rifle.
Ren stepped calmly through the portal right behind him.
’Whoo... at least he brought me back.’
The spatial rift snapped shut, leaving the Void World to return to its silent floating darkness.
The transition back to the physical world brought the roaring sound of the storm crashing back into their ears.
Torrential rain lashed against the peak of Razorback Ridge as the howling wind whipped across the dark obsidian rocks.
Malakor crashed heavily onto the slick freezing mud of the mountain peak.
He tumbled uncontrollably for twenty feet, leaving a thick trail of dark blood across the stone, before finally coming to a halt near the edge of the precipice.
The Demon King lay on his stomach in the mud.
He possessed no arms to push himself up and his lower jaw hung uselessly, shattered beyond repair.
His majestic velvet robes hung in burned bloody tatters.
The freezing rain washed over his ruined body, washing away the last remaining shreds of his aristocratic arrogance.
He was completely utterly broken.
Ren stepped calmly out of the dissipating spatial tear.
His charcoal-grey coat hung open, singed by the exploding shrapnel of his previous sword.
His brilliant blue hair clung to his forehead in the heavy rain and his piercing golden eyes looked down at the pathetic writhing creature in the mud with an expression of disgust.
Ren walked slowly across the peak as his heavy boots splashed in the puddles.
Malakor heard the footsteps approaching.
The Demon King painfully rolled onto his side, looking up at the towering human.
The primal terror completely dominated his shattered mind as he abandoned his abyssal throne and he abandoned his pride.
Malakor grovelled pathetically in the freezing mud.
"P-Please," Malakor slurred as his voice had become a broken gurgling wheeze through his shattered jaw.
He writhed in the dirt, pressing his face against Ren’s boots. "I yield! I submit! I am a King! I possess infinite wealth! I command the deepest abyssal trenches! I offer you forbidden artifacts, endless land, the absolute secrets of the universe! Spare my life! I beg of you, spare me!"