Chapter 169: Demonize

"Huh, what happened?"

Ruvalkar couldn’t react at all to the sudden turn of events.

In the first moment, he was about to punch the girl who dared spit on his hand.

However, all he could see in the next moment was his arm flying in the air.

It was extremely confusing on his part as he was a demon— a species who was at a higher level than mortals.

’These mortals couldn’t possibly—’

Ruvalkar’s vertical pupils constricted as he sensed a peculiar demonic power.

His gaze sharply darted in that direction.

A figure with the same features as him was crouching in front of the girl in a black dress, who had been about to die earlier.

Ruvalkar didn’t even look at his severed arm as it grew instantly in the next second.

’Another demon? No, this demonic power is too familiar.’

His eyes squinted as he continued observing the other demon in the distance.

Regis stood up and walked up to Alaric, or rather, his corpse, which had been standing since his death.

"I’m sorry." He muttered under his breath.

He observed the corpse of his companion, who still had a determined expression on his face, with an apologetic light in his eyes.

’If only I didn’t worry too much about being discovered.’

’If only I trusted you a little more.’

’Then...’

Alaric wouldn’t have died.

Regis closed his eyes, feeling empty deep down inside his heart as various thoughts swirled in his mind.

A few seconds passed silently.

Pandora, Killian, and even Ruvalkar all stayed silent, as if waiting for Regis to speak.

"I’m done holding back."

And after a moment or two, Regis opened his eyes as he turned around and met Ruvalkar’s gaze head-on.

Two pairs of crimson eyes met.

The pupil of one was round, while the other was vertical. The former’s sclera was white, while the other was black.

Two demons stared at each other amid the golden field.

"Haha— Regis!! It’s really you! I knew you wouldn’t die so easily!!"

Ruvalkar laughed crazily as he saw Regis’s familiar face, "I’m sure you remember, right? What I said back in Toran City!!"

"Are you here with your real body?" Regis remained calm despite the seething anger in his eyes.

"Yes! After all, I still need to pay you back for destroying my incarnation and foiling my plans!!! I will only be satisfied when I see you begging for forgiveness as I torture you!"

"Do demons really like talking very much?"

Hearing his obvious attempt at taunting him, Ruvalkar smiled, "It will take a lot more than that to make me angry. Well, I still need to punish you anyway. You sure want to die that badly, huh?"

He cracked his knuckles before punching his fists together as a chant left his blackish lips.

[Malivigor]

THUMP—

Ruvalkar’s heart began to beat tremendously, its thunderous sound could be heard all over the swamp.

This sound alone made Pandora and Killian feel a tight grip in their hearts.

The two black stars "shone" brilliantly on his chest, making it look like they were swallowing the light around him.

"Let me show you the specialty of the Baalgoron Tribe."

Ruvalkar grinned, showing his white fangs, before taking a step.

It was all it took before he instantly appeared in front of Regis and punched with all his might.

At this instance, Ruvalkar felt something amiss.

’Huh?’ Was all he could think of as he saw three black stars at the corner of his eyes before his face was met with a fist.

Woosh—

His two-meter-tall body shot backward like a broken kite.

SHKKKK—

Ruvalkar used his black claws to scratch the ground made of gold to slow himself down.

"Wha—"

He couldn’t utter a word as he saw Regis slowly walking towards him.

Disbelief. Dread. Despair. Confusion. Fear.

Countless emotions surged in his mind, almost making him dizzy.

’How could a human child possibly form three demonic stars in just over a year!?’

Ruvalkar’s mind was flooded with a myriad of thoughts that confused him to no end.

How Regis, as a human child, could perfectly control demonic power even better than he, a naturally born demon.

How a human child was able to reach a higher realm than he, who had been working hard for over a hundred years.

These were his thoughts as he...

...ran.

’I can’t fight that.’

The countless ’hows’ in his mind made him sure of one thing: that he must escape.

Ruvalkar, with all his might, dashed towards the spatial rift behind the lich.

"M-Master? What are you doing?" The lich’s grating voice had a tinge of confusion.

Wasn’t his master supposed to be the strongest here?

So... why was he desperately running?

The demon gnashed his teeth, "Utilize your magic array to make this whole place explode!!"

"I-I can’t..." The lich had an "awkward expression" on his "face".

"What!?"

"B-Because of that bitch’s ability that turned everything to g-gold. She was able to destroy the magic array I engraved in the whole swamp..."

Overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, the lich could not help but stutter.

"Useless...!" Ruvalkar glanced behind him and saw that Regis was still unhurriedly walking.

’Thankfully, that child is still wet behind the ears. Even if I can’t beat a demon who’s a whole star realm higher than me, I can still escape.’

He thought as he looked straight at the spatial rift behind the lich, thinking that he could easily escape.

Unfortunately for him, Regis had never been complacent since he took on his demonized form.

The only reason why he didn’t run was because his opponent was already at his mercy...

...the moment he felt despair.

And so, as Ruvalkar got close to the spatial rift, he heard a chant.

[Verowal]

BOOM— CRACKLE!! CRACKLE!!!

His head exploded in flames before he could take another step towards the spatial rift.

"M-Master!!"

The lich, who had been frozen from shock, returned to his senses.

He "glared" at Regis and shouted, "Y-You monster!!"

"If y-you take another step, I’ll kill your friend!!" The lich shouted as he pointed his withered wooden staff towards Killian, who was bleeding profusely while impaled by the bone spike.

He had no other choice since the magic array that had served as his nigh infinite source of power had been destroyed.

Therefore, he had no other choice but to resort to taking a hostage.

However, contrary to all his expectations, his opponent did not even spare him a glance.

"You must think I’m joking, huh?"

While the lich was getting agitated, Killian silently observed his friend.

No, he was not sure anymore if he could still call "that thing" a friend, since he had changed too much.

’Still, I believe in him.’

Killian’s blue eyes regained their light as he made a decision.

He decided to believe in the only person who reached out to him— the one who prevented him from taking his very own life.

’My vow as a Gladius to be his sword shall not be shaken whatever may happen.’

At this moment, he saw Regis glance at him and smile.

"Wha—"

Cough—

Killian couldn’t utter a word as he coughed up blood.

’Will I still be able to live?’

[Verowal]

BOOM—

The lich’s skull burst into flames as Regis appeared instantly in front of the giant bone spike that impaled Killian.

’Huh?’ Killian was filled with confusion as he could feel himself falling...

Tap—!

...into Regis’s arms in a bridal carry.

He looked at his friend’s face, seeing both familiar and unfamiliar features.

"Hey."

Killian spoke first; he had many questions in mind.

However, the most prominent question he could think of as he felt strong arms around his body was...

"I thought you didn’t swing that way?"

It was Regis’s turn to be speechless as he could not believe Killian had the energy to joke around.

However, before he could reply, he sensed something—

Killian could see the urgency in Regis’s face as he felt his body being lifted.

Regis glanced at him, "I’ll leave the others to you. You should be able to take potions now too." before he launched him towards Pandora and Aurelia.

Woosh—

"What!?!?" Killian couldn’t help but feel shocked.

"HAHA!! You’re too late!!"

Ruvalkar’s distorted voice could be heard amidst the black flames that continued to burn his head.

"You monster! I’ll bring you all with me to the afterlife!!!"

Hearing the demon’s crazed laughter, Regis remained calm.

As he read the reversed circulation of the demonic power in Ruvalkar’s body and the wild demonic power that surged from the spatial rift, he knew what was about to happen.

’I was careless. I didn’t expect him to be that durable and desperate.’

Nevertheless, he knew what to do.

"You know it yourself, don’t you? That you can’t stop me!! Taste the wrath of Evilinus, the world of demons and devils!!!"

As he shouted his last words, Ruvalkar’s body exploded.

Following this was the sudden, rapid expansion of the spatial rift as it instantly widened to a diameter of three meters.

Thunder resounded up in the skies as a tremendous amount of demonic power surged from the rift.

This continued until the space "cracked".

Seeing this, Regis closed his eyes and took a deep breath, raising both of his palms on both of his sides.

He muttered under his breath, "Please work."

And before long, an explosion resounded in a range of a thousand kilometers.

Three black stars "lit" up brilliantly on Regis’s chest like it was about to swallow all the light in the world.

[Maximum Output]

A pair of blood-red eyes opened, along with a chant that seemed to be isolated from the deafening noise of the explosion.

[Indiscriminate Absorption]