The earth quaked, the winds howled and space trembled...
Amidst the burning city, two figures could be seen clashing against each other at speeds faster than the eye can see. On one side, there's the deranged Demon Prince Lu, and on the other was Ashton whose expression was currently serious behind his mask.
Had the Demon Prince retained even the slightest bit of sanity right now, he'd discover to his shock that his enemy looked like he was able to predict every single one of his moves.
And in a sense, that is true...
'Left, left, up, overhead swing, low sweep, an attempt to grab here, a kick there, alright he's gonna snarl at me next, hit him twice there, dodge here, duck to avoid that swing...'
Ashton's thoughts were solely focused on the battle right now. And again, to say that he could predict what the Demon Prince will do isn't really a wrong assumption. But of course, this so-called 'prediction' is just a product of the experience he accumulated so far.
He had fought this demon quite several times already. He was familiar with the Demon Prince's battle style and habits that he could easily predict what he was going to do next.
'Oh, he's going to vomit tons of blood now, I should keep my distance.' He mumbled to himself as he cast Blink to retreat around 100 meters away from the demon.
The Leech Abomination's body wriggled disgustingly before it threw up a flood of toxic blood that doused the entire city.
In this state, being close to Demon Prince Lu is a disaster. The toxic blood he was spewing was incredibly potent. Additionally, the magnetic field around him that attracts blood towards him becomes stronger in this state.
Even with Ashton's recent breakthrough, he could risk being close to him while he's in this state since all of his blood will be drained by the Demon Prince.
In addition to pushing all the aggressors away from him, this attack of the Demon Prince also heals his injuries, making this more annoying to deal with.
That being said though, this doesn't necessarily mean that Ashton could only stare as this happens. Since he couldn't damage the Demon Prince up close, then he'll do it at a distance.
He has guns...why wouldn't he use them?
And that's precisely what he's doing right now. The Mortal Reminder appeared on his hand while the scythe was firmly tucked behind him.
Using its second form which is the sniper rifle, Ashton took aim and shot piercing bullets that not only hurts the demon prince but also dealt with the flood of toxic blood he was releasing.
Flashes of colorful light descended out of nowhere, the most prominent one was white. The clash between corruption and purity generated a chaotic reaction on the battlefield, causing a cacophony of explosions.
And just for good measure, Ashton's circulated his mana and directed it to his right eye, activating the effect of the Right Eye of Purity.
A clear blue radiance shone on Ashton's right eye, it released a buzz and suddenly, the Demon Prince choked.
Demon Prince Lu snarled as he felt pain all over his body.
Having his skill abruptly interrupted by some mysterious force was not a pleasant experience. Now, the Demon Prince wasn't just injured on the outside but also the inside thanks to the backlash.
Ashton's gaze hardened as soon as he saw the Demon Prince kneeling over in pain, without even a shred of hesitation, he drew the scythe and threw it in the Demon Prince's direction.
The Bone Scythe spun like a deadly buzz saw as it flew towards the Demon Prince. The demon sensed this and lifted his head and his arms to defend against the attack but before the scythe hit, a surprising thing happened.
Ashton suddenly appeared at the end of the scythe as if he flew with it when in truth he just appeared there out of nowhere.
With him holding the scythe in mid-air, he added more force to the momentum of the scythe and drove the tip in with a grunt.
The Demon Prince Lu's defense was weak due to him being caught in a surprise attack. Due to that, the tip of the scythe pierced his chest, causing the Demon Prince to falter.
Ashton's wasn't done of course. He wasn't satisfied with just piercing the heart of this demon since he knows that this injury is far from enough to kill it.
Borrowing the momentum of the pierce, he slid and planted his foot on the air itself. He then hoisted the scythe upwards, cleaving the blade up until it bisected the demon's upper body.
Ashton cast Blink just in time to avoid the spray of toxic blood from hitting him. He reappeared not too far from the demon and watched as its bisected parts started regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
'He can't move while healing. Now's the time to lay down the pain.' Ashton declared inwardly.
He then summoned the Mortal Reminder in its fourth form - the Rocket Launcher Form, in his hands.
Normally, the time it'll take for him to load up a shot by converting spells wouldn't be enough to guarantee that the shell will hit the demon. Thankfully though, Ashton could use the third benefit that the Cursed Book of Infinity gave him - Memorize, to instantly form a shell.
Ten Memorized Spells, all instantly converted to a shell for the Mortal Reminder to use.
He lodged the launcher on his shoulders, aimed and fired at the still healing demon.
Boom!!!!
The shell flew like a streak of light, crashing through the demon and causing yet another earth-shaking explosion.
That shell just now was formed by using ten High-Order Spells, of course, it'd be devastating.
Ashton retreated by casting a blink backward. The Mortal Reminder disappeared from his hands and he was once again holding the Bone Scythe.
The rocket shell didn't just cause an explosion though, that's way too simple for something made out of 10 High-Order Spells.
Above them, the dark clouds parted, allowing the entire city to bask in heavenly light. From beyond the clouds, thick chains doused in blessed-golden light suddenly came down and pierced the skin of the Demon Prince.
The demon snarled like never before. An unbelievable pain, seeping through his very soul, coursed throughout his body. The injury that got healed just now didn't do much to lessen the pain of being pierced by these Heavenly Chains at all.
Ashton could see the demon's body being roasted by the chains. Black smoke emerged from his body, representing the corruption being burned away by the chains.
No amount of pain could ever be compared to what Demon Prince Lu was feeling right now. All he could ever think and feel was the deep-seated pain mercilessly coursing on every single inch of his body.
As the chains mercilessly pinned him down and burned the corruption out of him, Ashton gathered his mana at the edge of his scythe. Condensing it completely until the entire blade turned white.
Ashton slowly marched to where the Demon Prince was. He eased up his breathing but didn't dare to let down his guard. He observed how the Demon Prince was reacting and discovered that he has nothing to worry about.
This shell he called: Heavenly Chains Descent, not only summons phantom chains that completely suppress Demonic Corruption itself, but it also won't disappear until he wills it or the corruption was completely gone.
He's initially afraid that the Demon Prince will be able to struggle against this since there were cases when he was able to during Ashton's attempts at the Simulation Zone.
But seeing as how the Demon Prince was acting right now, he was confident that this battle was over. There's no way this thing will be able to resist the pain of the Heavenly Chains right now.
The fight felt longer but in truth, only a few minutes passed since they started. Everything happened so fast and Ashton was completely concentrated which is why it felt long to him.
Ashton eventually arrived at where the Demon Prince was. Still, chained up, snarling in pain, unable to even struggle due to how much pain he's in.
Taking a deep breath in, Ashton raised his scythe and cleaved the demon in half. With the last, unwilling roar from the demon, it died.
The crimson seal on the scythe let out a faint brilliance. All of a sudden, all the blood of the Demon Prince coalesced at the seal, turning into a single orb which the seal absorbed completely.
Ashton felt the thrumming of the seal and the scythe in extension as he breathed a sigh of relief.
[Notice! Demon Prince was slain! Cleptomancy took effect! You received...]
***
Somewhere far at the extreme opposite of the Blue Planet...
A demon wearing a regal cloak with its hood covering most of their facial features, suddenly felt their heart sinking to their stomach. They took out a piece of rock from their pocket and watched in horror as the rock turned into dust!!
"BROTHER!! NOOOOOO!!!"
"WHO!? WHO IS SO AUDACIOUS TO KILL MY LITTLE BROTHER!!!"
The demon's expression warped out of sheer anger and despair. They then glared in a specific direction before turning into a streak of light and disappearing.
Later, they'd find out that the Demonic City where his Little Brother was stationed was now reduced to mere rubble. It was completely desolated, and there were no traces left of his brother or the killer.
The demon roared at the heavens and swore:
"Lu...I swear I will avenge you. I will find who your murderer is and I will make them regret what they did to you..."
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