Chapter 344: Demonization

"No..."

Killian muttered under his breath, his eyes shaking in disbelief.

On his arm was a hand, grasping him tightly.

However, that was it.

Beyond the forearm, there was nothing, the limb having long been severed from its body.

"No..."

Killian’s heart threatened to leap out of his chest due to the countless emotions swirling within him at this moment.

Everything happened in an instant.

From the countless tentacles attacking him to three people sacrificing themselves to save him.

His body was riddled with numerous gaping injuries, yet he forced himself to stand up, the hand grasping him falling in the process as though it had lost all its remaining strength.

Killian’s piercing-blue eyes wandered all over the area as he saw two corpses that had been mutilated beyond recognition.

Of the three, all that remained of one was the hand that had been grasping him. The second had been reduced to a severed leg, with the rest of the body nowhere to be found, while only the left side of the third remained.

"No."

His voice trembled as he slowly called out their names.

"Sora."

"Hans."

"Dabi."

...

In the blink of an eye, three people had fallen.

And they fell not because they were fighting, but because they had saved Killian from certain death.

"Ah... no..."

Tears fell from his eyes as he gripped his sword once again.

---

In the distance, Regis saw everything through the corner of his eye.

Unfortunately, he could only helplessly watch everything.

Aside from those who had fallen before his eyes, he did not know what had happened to Zild and the others, as he had only heard their screams earlier.

’I can’t let them die... I can’t...’

’What should I do?’

’I can’t let them die.’

’This is only our first mission, yet...’

’No...’

Various thoughts raced through Regis’s mind as he fell silent.

Noticing his behavior, Aziza smiled. "Oh? Why did you stop struggling? Are you finally ready to reciprocate my love~?"

’First things first, I need to get out of this demon’s control.’

Regis’s expression relaxed as he began considering every possible solution and calculating the consequences of each choice.

’My divine power’s not enough. My faith’s not enough...’

No matter how hard he thought—no matter how hard he tried to avoid that one action—everything ultimately led to it.

"So be it."

Regis forced the words out of his throat as his blood-red eyes fearlessly met the seductive crimson ones right in front of his face.

The Demon Lord of Lust licked her lips as she slowly leaned in, her alluring lips about to touch his.

"Brother!" "Boss!"

Pandora and Killian shouted in panic.

The other surviving members also watched in despair.

After all, although they did not know the details, they knew that a kiss from the Demon Lord of Lust was not simple.

It was the same as the feeling every other living being feels when they encounter a demon face to face.

The primal fear that seemed to stem from every fiber of their being itself.

It was the same this time.

However, just as Aziza’s lips were about to touch Regis’s...

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted, brought about by the violent fluctuations of an enormous amount of mana...

...and demonic power.

A massive mushroom-like cloud rose into the air, only beginning to dissipate after a few moments.

"!!!"

However, the sight that greeted everyone made their eyes tremble violently.

Aziza was not an exception, as even her eyes widened to their limits from the sheer shock she was feeling.

"You strange human—no, just what are you?"

Regis’s figure was soon revealed.

His fair skin turned pale as black veins could be seen throughout his body.

Two long black horns grew out of his temples, while a pitch-black tail ending in a sharp point grew behind him.

His hands turned into sharp black claws with scales of the same color growing up to his elbows.

The whites of his eyes had turned black, making his blood-red irises even more prominent.

Mist came out of his lips with every breath, his gaze locked onto the Demon Lord of Lust.

On his chest were the Two Aura Stars and Five Mana Stars that had connected into Seven Aether Stars.

However, another five pitch-black stars appeared below them.

The aether and demonic power intertwined within his body, producing violent fluctuations of energy like a storm being forcefully contained by Perfect Adaptation.

This was none other than Regis in his demonized form.

’This is the first time I’ve used this since back then...’

He silently thought to himself, ’In fact, this is the first time I’m using this.’

After all, the first one was from his first visit to the Realm of Evil back then.

’Such corrupt demonic power... nauseatingly so. There’s only one devil with the same characteristics as this, yet even she falls short.’

A deep frown appeared on Aziza’s beautiful face as she asked warily, "Are you a follower of the Devil of Decay and Corruption—no, are you Her demon lord?"

"No."

Regis answered calmly. "I am but a mere human."

"Pfft— Phuahaha! You’re quite funny, aren’t you~?" The Demon Lord of Lust wiped the tears from her eyes.

Without paying her any attention, he merely glanced over his shoulder.

There, he saw his surviving comrades.

Most of them were looking at him with pure terror, leaving a bittersweet feeling in his heart.

Nevertheless, Regis did not hesitate as he raised one hand towards them and chanted.

[Indiscriminate Absorption]

WOONG!!!

A tremendous suction force enveloped his comrades as they were thrown inside the world in his consciousness.

"Stay here and rest," Regis’s voice echoed throughout his consciousness world.

’It’s been a long while since I used this place...’

He thought as he made sure that no one else was in the vicinity.

This was why he had avoided using the inner world of his consciousness: accessing it required an evil craft, which would have exposed his demonic power.

In front of him, Aziza was still clearly in a state of shock.

It was only after a few moments that she came to her senses and smiled. "Oho~? You don’t like it when there are people watching, is that it~?"

"I can smell it."

Regis spoke calmly as he looked straight into her eyes.

"What do you mean~? I just want to love you—"

"You’re afraid of me."

"..."

The Demon Lord of Lust fell silent at his remark.

"Because I’m something you can’t understand."

Regis smirked. "For starters..."

He snapped his fingers along with a chant.

[Verowall]

BOOM!

Black flames instantly covered Aziza from head to toe, preying upon every fiber of her being with her fear itself as fuel.

The lingering despair of the Sanguine Order members had also become fuel for the flames of the Devil of Despair and Destruction.

While living beings had a primal fear of demons, there was a fear even more ancient than that.

A kind of fear that was indiscriminate—something that could be felt by every living being, including demons.

The fear of the unknown.