Chapter 174: Settle the scores (10)

The giant’s muscles swelled grotesquely until his skin began to tear under the immense pressure.

His veins bulged terrifyingly and the strength of his fists surged to a horrifying degree, until Lilith’s armor around her wrists began to be crushed, letting out a rapid succession of metallic popping sounds.

Before she could free her arms, the giant yanked her toward him violently, then drove his bone-plated head straight into her face!

Craaaaaack!

A piece of her demonic helmet shattered and her crimson blood sprayed into the air. But the blow didn’t knock her down; rather, her smile widened as if the pain did nothing but fuel her excitement.

Lilith erupted into manic laughter, blood streaming down her forehead.

She ripped her arms from his grip with a violent motion, then lunged at him and dug her armored claws into his shoulder. The blades sank deep, tearing away a massive chunk of his flesh and bone.

But before she could deliver another strike, the giant spun around and unleashed a brutal punch that broke through her defense and struck her side directly, shattering more of her armor and pushing her several steps back.

But he didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath.

He let out a roar that shook the forest and a crimson aura erupted from his body like an active volcano. His battered limbs became lethal weapons, driven by his burning life force, and he charged at her like a meteor.

They weren’t just random punches; every strike carried the weight of a mountain, tearing through the air before reaching her.

Lilith realized that taking these hits directly would be foolish. She beat her wings and darted backward in a blur, and at the same moment, she raised her left hand and tore at the air in front of her.

A massive wall of black ice, over ten meters thick, rose to separate her from him.

Booooom! Boooom! Boooooom!

The giant’s fists rained down on the ice wall in a frenzy. The wall withstood only three strikes before shattering, scattering shards of black ice into the air like crushed glass.

But behind the shattered wall... Lilith wasn’t there.

She was already hovering above him, her cable whip spinning in her right hand, wreathed in a tornado of purple flames.

She swooped down from above and swung the fiery whip in a diagonal arc, aiming to cleave his back.

The giant sensed her approach despite his frenzy.

He raised both arms and took the fiery whip directly. The flesh around his forearms burned until his mountain-like bones were exposed, but he didn’t groan.

He gripped the burning cable with his bare hands, ignoring the flames consuming his fingers, and pulled the whip with all his remaining life force.

Lilith lost her balance in mid-air and was yanked forcefully toward the ground, directly into the path of his rising knee!

"You fool!" Lilith shouted angrily.

Instead of resisting the pull, she intentionally increased her speed. She let the whip slip from her hand, freeing herself from its pull. Just as she was about to collide with his knee, she gathered an immense amount of purple mana in her palms.

Purple lightning tangled with cutting winds, erupting from her hands like a spinning projectile aimed at his exposed chest.

Craaaaash!

The elemental projectile slammed into his chest, piercing the bone protrusions and tearing through what remained of his burned flesh. A large portion of his ribcage shattered and blue blood gushed from the open wound, while his massive body staggered and lost its momentum for a moment.

The crimson aura surrounding him began to fade as the last of his life force was spent, but his body had yet to fall.

Lilith bounced back, landing gracefully despite her shattered armor.

She watched him stagger, then flapped her massive wings and hovered above him for a moment before swooping down from above with all her weight.

She pulled her armored legs together and aimed her feet directly at his shattered chest.

Craaaaaash!

Her body slammed into the giant’s chest, and he collapsed backward once again with earth-shattering force. The remaining bone protrusions shattered beneath her feet, and his chest sank into the broken earth, while blue blood gushed profusely from his mouth.

Lilith settled on top of him and stared into his eyes, where the light of life was beginning to fade.

She reached out into the void and the cable whip materialized in her palm once more, a dark purple energy dancing along its length.

This time, she didn’t use the whip for a direct attack. She sent it whipping toward the giant’s neck, the cable extending through the air before coiling around it in a crossed loop like a snake, its metal blades coming to rest against his flesh.

Purple mana surged terrifyingly through the whip’s cable until its blades gleamed with dark energy. A purple aura began to surround the loop wrapped around his neck, looking like a collar of black flames.

Lilith smiled broadly and tightened her grip on the whip’s handle.

"Rest in peace, you dog."

Lilith pulled the crossed ends of the whip with all her demonic might, and the metal loop began to constrict around the giant’s neck.

She didn’t rush to end it. She kept her eyes fixed on him while he still struggled beneath her, slowly tightening her grip, her smile widening bit by bit as she relished his desperate resistance.

Slaaaaaash!

The metal loop clamped around his neck, and the mana-infused blades sank into his flesh. They carved their way through the thick muscles and massive bones, while Lilith continued to pull the whip without blinking.

A gruesome tearing sound rang out, then everything suddenly stopped.

The giant’s head was severed from his body and shot into the air amidst a massive fountain of dark blue blood, its droplets splattering over the shattered trees and rocks.

The giant’s head rolled across the ground before slamming into it, smashing what remained of the rocks and creating a deep crater.

As for Lilith, she remained standing over the corpse, her shoulders rising and falling with her rapid breaths.

She lowered her whip slowly, then looked at the body lying beneath her feet.

A broad smile stretched across her face, baring her teeth in an expression that seemed closer to euphoria than satisfaction.

She ran her tongue over her lips, a manic glint still shining in her purple eyes.

She had truly enjoyed that.

It wasn’t just the giant’s death that brought her joy, but the fierce resistance he had put up until the very last moment... the thrill of tearing apart such a powerful opponent with her own hands and abilities, especially knowing that the short Morveth was also affected by his puppet’s slow death.

But amidst her euphoria, her purple eyes caught a very small movement.

"Damned Dreamer..."

Lilith muttered as she slightly raised her head, scanning the area for the source of the movement.

It didn’t take long for her to find it.

Just a few meters from her enormous face, a strange bird hovered silently amidst the smoke.

It had the head of a bird of prey, with a sharp, hooked beak and wings covered in dark feathers, while its torso resembled that of a human.

Given Lilith’s enormous size, towering over sixty meters, the bird looked incredibly small to her. But the moment she focused on it, her brows furrowed.

The short-statured Morveth stood atop the bird’s back, his black hair cascading over his face. Beneath the curtain of hair, his tiny mouth twisted into a grimace as his small teeth ground together, as if he were furious over the loss of his puppet.

Lilith had been so engrossed with the giant that she hadn’t even felt him sneak this close.

Before she could raise her massive palm to crush him along with his bird, the Morveth slipped one of his spindly hands from beneath his cloak.

The glassy red eyes embedded in the flesh of his arms glowed with a terrifying, bloody gleam, their pupils shrinking until they seemed to aim directly at Lilith’s eyes.

And suddenly...

The world around her stopped.

The hybrid bird disappeared. The Morveth disappeared. Even the headless body of the giant vanished from beneath her feet.

The sky turned blood red in the blink of an eye, and the air grew heavy, saturated with the stench of sulfur and burning ash.

Lilith’s eyes widened in shock.

The purple mana surrounding her dissipated, and her giant body began to shrink back to its normal size. When her feet settled onto the ground once more, she found herself in a completely different place.

A vast expanse of black, rocky land stretched before her to the horizon beneath a suffocating red sky, toxic vapors rising from its fissures.

And from the distant crimson fog, another figure began to form.

He was tall and heavily built, with a well-proportioned, muscular body that radiated immense physical strength. He wore thick black armor crisscrossed with red fissures that glowed like embers.

Armored plates with sharp edges rose above his shoulders, while a black cloak with tattered edges draped behind him.

Despite his terrifying appearance, he was handsome in a strange, almost inhuman way. His pale face had sharp features, and his eyes glowed red. Above his head rose two black, backward-curving horns, resembling a demonic crown.

In his hand rested a broadsword with a black blade, black flames dancing along its edges. An aura of heat and dark smoke surrounded his body, giving him a majestic and terrifying appearance.

Lilith’s expression changed completely.

The euphoric smile that had been on her face moments ago vanished, replaced by a deep frown. Fury ignited in her purple eyes, and her body trembled with intense emotion.

It was clear she knew this person very well.

"You..." Lilith whispered, her voice heavy with hatred she could not conceal.

The next moment, her fury erupted.

Dark Purplemana surged violently from her body, then began to swirl around her like a raging storm.

The black earth trembled beneath her feet, and threads of energy gathered around her wings and horns, while her eyes blazed purple.

Her usual playful, manic expression vanished, replaced by a face twisted with rage, as if merely seeing this demon had brought a long-buried hatred back to the surface.

In contrast, the demon showed no sign of being bothered by her anger. Instead, a faint smile formed on his face.

His raspy voice echoed in the open arena, while his demonic smile widened slightly.

"Long time no see, Princess."

****

Author’s Note: 3 extra Chapters today to make up for my recent lack of updates. I hope you’ll forgive me.

I needed that break to clear my head and figure out the direction I want the story to take.

We’ve fallen in most rankings, but with your support, we can make a strong comeback this month.

I hope you’ll forgive this author for falling short and continue supporting him!