Chapter 214: Descent
Though only a few minutes had passed since the invasion began, much of Termina's settlements had been reduced to ruins or set ablaze by an army of shadowy creatures infused with glowing red or purple gemstone cores. The only notable exception to this was the Intertwining Dragon's Palace, which was presently encircled by hundreds of robe-wearing Mages and a group of men and women wearing traditional Taoist garments, presently in the process of erecting four colossal gates and eight eight-sided obsidian pillars covered in complex golden runes.
"You guys have done it now. Our resident Dragon God will not be happy when he learns about this~" hummed Azazel, wielding a two-pronged spear of light and modeling his black, gold, and purple-gemmed Balance Breaker, the Downfall Dragon Another Armor.
"As if we care what that thing thinks..." retorted a man with handsome features and long, unkempt brown hair that extended past his waist and covered his right eye. His lean and muscular frame was garbed in black armor, spiked gauntlets, and two-toed greaves over a form-fitting purple bodysuit, and, as if to emphasize his status, a fur-lined cape adorned his shoulders with ten shadow-formed black wings protruding from the space between his shoulders.
Punctuating his statement, the man, Shalba Beelzebub, raised his right hand, outfitted with a special gauntlet reminiscent of the Boosted Gear but sporting a large, amethyst-hued gem. The Holy and Light Elements were meant to be incompatible with Demonic Power, but Shalba was able to use the gauntlet to produce a pale-green Magic Circle that expelled a broad column of golden light.
"That's an interesting toy you've gotten your hands on," remarked Azazel, casually evading the beam of light and slicing through it with his Downfall Dragon Spear, causing it to glow with an even brighter radiance before he asked, "But did you forget that I used to be one of the heavy hitters of the Sixth Heaven? There are probably only three to four people on this side of Creation with a greater affinity for the Light Element than me."
"That may be. But we both know that form of yours won't last forever," countered Shalba, slipping his right hand into his cape before spreading his arms wide, causing his cape to unfurl and innumerable shadow-hued bees to emerge and spread out as he declared, "I just need to stall and whittle you down, and this is my victory..."
Following Shalba's statement, tiny, amethyst-hued Magic Circles bearing the distinctive infinity-shaped crest of a draconic snake swallowing its tail appeared before the bees' mandibles.
"Well, that's not good..." remarked Azazel, a bead of sweat forming on his left cheek, veiled by his helmet. The crest exhibited by the bees was none other than Ophis', so even though he brandished his two-pronged spear in a broad arc, producing a sweeping crescent of golden energy, he failed to destroy more than a few dozen of the shadowy bees as three-quarters of the swarm focused on erecting barriers while the rest barraged him with a deluge of amethyst-hued lasers formed from Demonic Power.
'He's nearly as powerful as the original Beelzebub...' noted Azazel, having faced the infamous King of Flies numerous times during the war. However, unlike his predecessor, one of the Four Great Satans, Shalba's power was almost entirely borrowed. He was undoubtedly a High-Class Devil, but the bulk of his near Satan-level power was the byproduct of his armor and the result of Ophis lending hers...