A Demon's Journey

Today was an auspicious day in Kloras Town.

It had been a week since Azaroth made a deal with Rein Schwarz.

And today, Azaroth felt that his body was filled to the brim with faith energy. He could advance to 5 Star Rank and create his own core.

Azaroth went to Sophie and spoke, "I will take my leave to find a quiet location to break through to the 5 Star Rank."

Sophie was shocked to hear that Azaroth was going to advance to the 5 Star Rank.

It had to be known that he was already at 4 Star Rank which was exceptional for warriors of their generation.

Yet, he was going to advance one more time.

She showed an envious look while speaking, "Your hybrid blood is really valuable. It will still take another month or so for me to break through to the 4 Star Rank."

She remembered that he was a hybrid and possessed Celestial Blood as well.

At this time, she was quite jealous of Azaroth for possessing this Celestial Blood. He was advancing so quickly that she could only attribute to him as a monster.

Sophie asked him worriedly, "Do you need any help? Or protection?"

"No. Just stay here and wait for me to return," Azaroth told Sophie with a calm look.

"…Alright," Sophie promised him that she wouldn't disturb him during his breakthrough.

Once he heard her, Azaroth left the mansion and used Shadow Steps to reach the training ground. He was using Shadow Steps just to make sure Sophie couldn't follow him.

As he reached the location, he sensed that Tiana had just passed her trial as well. She was meditating and assimilating the Ardor that was injected into her.

She would break through to the 3 Star Rank soon.

Meanwhile, Noah was absorbing the rest of the Ardor from his array as well. He hadn't completely absorbed his reward when he won against his Elemental Trial. He absorbed half and reached the peak of 2 Star Rank.

Then, he spent a few weeks stabilizing his cultivation. And now, he was absorbing the remaining half to break through to the next rank.

There was not much change to his sword intent even as his cultivation rose. But now, if Noah used his Wind attacks along with his Sword Intent, then he would deal thrice or even four times the damage as before.

Moreover, the consumption of his Ardor wouldn't be as apparent.

Combining this with his Enlightened Sword Heart, it could be said that he was the strongest among 3 Star Warriors even though he had barely stepped into this rank.

Azaroth didn't meet with any of them and just went into his personal training ground.

Perhaps only Laura sensed that Azaroth had entered his training ground but since he didn't want to meet with them, she stayed quiet about this information.

Azaroth quickly reached a profound state of concentration while using the Heavenly Demon Meditation Technique.

He felt the Ardor in his body revolve.

With his revolution, his Ardor was transforming. As Azaroth felt this, he was pleased that all three kinds of energies were mixing together and forming a bright core in his energy center.

Currently, the core was extremely small, nearly the size of a thumbnail. But after each revolution, more Ardor would be assimilated with it and it would grow larger. Azaroth's guess was that it would become nearly the size of a cricket ball.

While he was breaking through to the 5 Star Rank, the clouds above Azaroth darkened rather quickly.

Azaroth hadn't noticed it at all since he was concentrating strongly to enhance his Rank.

Soon, a flashy thunderbolt was shot out of those clouds and it struck Azaroth's body!

Azaroth hadn't expected that his breakthrough to the 5 Star Rank would result in Heavenly Tribulation. Otherwise, he would have prepared some defensive arrays around him.

The Heavenly Tribulations would normally occur only when someone was breaking through to the Demon Emperor Rank or they were creating some world-destroying array or maybe some rare medicine.

He had never heard of someone experiencing Heavenly Tribulations while breaking through to the 5 Star Rank or a Demon Lord Rank.

The first bolt of lightning wasn't the strongest, thus even though Azaroth was completely shocked when it struck him, he survived. He did receive many injuries.

Azaroth opened his eyes as he allowed his Heavenly Demon Meditation Technique to work repeatedly.

When he looked up, he saw another flash of Lightning Bolt.

Azaroth's eyes widened as he sensed that the power of this Lightning Bolt was most probably thrice as that of before.

He couldn't underestimate these Heavenly Lightning Bolts.

He survived the first one by a fluke since it was the weakest. If not, he would have been a roasted corpse right now.

The clouds flashed with a bolt of red lightning and the thunder soon struck Azaroth's body.

As the Heavenly Lightning did strike his body, Azaroth realized just how wrong he was.

This Heavenly Lightning wasn't just targeting his body but also his spirit.

'Damnit… Did the heavens realize I am a Demon God? Or is there another reason behind such strong Lightning Bolts? Even a Demon Emperor wouldn't be struck by Lightning Bolts that possesses powers to hurt the spirit.'

Azaroth had no idea about the reason but he knew he couldn't continue to take on these lightning bolts on his body. His spirit might be destroyed before his body then.

But he was also aware of the fact that it was impossible to dodge the Heavenly Lightning.

The only choice was to block it. But there was no time to set up an array that would block it. And if he created an array in a hurry, it would be too weak to resist the Heavenly Lightning making Azaroth's effort useless.

When he saw the Red Lightning Flash once again, a cold look appeared in Azaroth's eyes as he spoke, "The Heavens want to destroy me? Even you aren't qualified!"

Violet Hell Flames covered Azaroth's body. The shape of his flames transformed into a gigantic violet dragon's head.

The Third Bolt of Heavenly Lightning flashed down to destroy Azaroth.

Meanwhile, Azaroth immediately used his technique 'Dragon Jaws!'

The gigantic Violet Hell Flames Dragon Head opened its mouth as it moved towards the red lightning bolt.

The Violet Hell Flames Dragon clashed against the Bolt of Heavenly Lightning.

The shockwave was so great that tremors could be felt in the entire Kloras Town.

Laura, Noah, Ralph, Tiana, and Yrellea were jolted awake as they felt that shockwave. They were the closest to it and looked in a distance and saw Violet Flames clashing against the heavenly lightning.

Noah and Tiana were more or less done with their breakthrough.

Laura sensed that it was Azaroth who was fighting against the Heavenly Lightning. She immediately informed Noah, "It's master. It's his Violet Flames that are clashing against the Heavenly Lightning."

Noah's eyes widened slightly and then turned towards that Heavenly Lightning.

He used Phantom Step and quickly moved in Azaroth's direction.

He was so worried and anxious that he didn't give any order to Laura and others.

Since they hadn't received any orders, Laura and others quickly followed Noah to Azaroth's location.

Azaroth had no idea that his retainers were coming towards his location. He was busy dealing with this Heavenly Lightning.

After some moments, the bolt of Heavenly Lightning lost its power. It was Azaroth's Violet Hell Flames that gained the victory.

But there was no trace of happiness on Azaroth's face.

He could sense another stronger bolt of Heavenly Lightning building up in those clouds.

Azaroth also empowered his Violet Hell Flames with his Ardor.

He knew that the next bolts would be even stronger and he had to use his full power to resist them.

A moment later, the clouds flashed with a deadly red color as the thunderbolt came crashing down towards Azaroth.

This time, even though Azaroth had empowered his Violet Hell Flames. The Dragon Jaw only managed to resist for a second before it vanished.

However, Azaroth felt that this one second was more than enough.

He released Red Lightning from his hands and attacked that Thunderbolt with a lightning bolt of his own.

Another shockwave occurred. The ground around Azaroth had already cracked. As time passed, the cracks were getting wider.

"…Now, flare up!" Azaroth whispered as his lightning bolt received a sudden increase in power and it overpowered the Thunderbolt sent by the heavens.

He quickened his cultivation speed as he refined more of his Ardor into 5 Star Ardor.

The Ardor he had used until now was merely 4 Star Ardor. He couldn't use his 5 Star Ardor or it would all have been for nothing.

He needed to wait until the core he'd built was big enough to be self-reliant.

Azaroth felt that his physique was also transforming.

He looked at the clouds above and felt that it was a pity. If he had some time, he could continue to cultivate and evolve his entire Ardor.

Once that happened, he was confident in passing this Tribulation.

However, as he saw the Lightning Flashing in the Clouds, he realized that these merciless heavens were unlikely to offer him such precious time.

He was ready to use his 5 Star Rank Ardor to fight against the Heavens. Even if it would result in all his effort being useless, he didn't mind it. Staying alive was his greater priority.

He would have another opportunity to reach the 5 Star Rank, but there would be no revival this time if the heavens succeeded in killing his spirit and body.

Azaroth saw a bright red flash raining down towards him. This was the 5th Lightning Bolt that was shot at Azaroth.

Just as Azaroth was going to use his Violet Hell Flames to destroy this Thunderbolt, he heard a loud screech.

He then noticed the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder changing its target and moving towards his right side.

There, Azaroth's eyes widened slightly as he saw Zena, his Crimson Lightning Phoenix.

If she was here then that meant Laura and others were also nearby since he had left Zean with Laura.

As he sensed everyone's location, he let out a tired sigh as he thought 'This will become troublesome.'