Chapter 524 You Don’t Understand My Power (1/2)

[Demons never existed in the first place.]

General Helm had always thought so, even if itself was addressed reverently as the [Thousand Eyed Demon] in a thousand words.

Strictly speaking, that conclusion was not considered wrong. Ultimately, the title 'demon' had originally been a pronoun made by otherworld races on their own accord, and had merely spread out into the Abyss at some unknown point in time. Each layer of Abyssal demon had their own unique name for their own race as it had been their name before their world died.

Those fools that had come for a limited tour or two before quickly crowning the name demons were completely ignorant of all that had gone on behind the scenes and pridefully made their conclusion. The truth, however, was the complete opposite for no 'true demon' existed at all in the Multiverse, and neither was there life that was 'born Chaotic'.

So how were there creatures that disobeyed that logic? While there were certainly aspects of inborn nature in how life behaved, nurture in life later on was just as important.

The cause for everything was this world.

The skies that had been engulfed in dust for ten thousand years and the land eroded by toxic for a few millennia. The true form of 'demon' may have been ordinary creatures, but in this wasteland with where there was no slaughter, plunder and yet souls would still gradually decompose, there had been no soil born in kindness and Order.

And just that.

Against the sudden, violent strike from the giant god beneath it, Helm did not plan its countermove at once as a nostalgic emotion arose within the Demon General's heart as he faced that lava hand that closed in without stopping. Even the name of that sensation had been forgotten, but through waves of evocative thrill, its memory returned to a distant past instantly.

It was perhaps nine hundred years ago. Some powerful otherworld mage had accidentally stumbled into the Sixth Abyss due to a failed teleportation, and was forced to only wander around the barren wastelands. The Lava Inferno had neither Abyssal Lord nor Demon General at the time, with only numerous archdemons claiming various territories of their own. The mage's ability would have allowed it to conquer a piece of land to become a non-demon lord, which was not rare since many evil dragons would tuck their lairs safely at some corner in the Abyss. However, the mage was thinking of his family in every waking moment, believing that it had to leave that wretched world at least and kept searching for a way to leave.

Finally, it found it. The mage arrived by the banks of the Nether River, and attempt to leave by relying on the long river that permeates endless worlds to leave. It believed that it would succeed, but the truth was not as one wished.

As the black rivers gushed, its flesh was eroded by the Nether River while his soul crumbled and dissipated, turning into countless wild abyssal worms under the power of the Abyss itself. Helm's sentience had been born from the shards of that otherworld mage—it had been the finest amongst that clutch of abyssal worms, carrying wisdom and power at the moment of its birth.

With that innate gift, Helm devoured most of its siblings and pieced most of the mage's legacy together through its soul shards, as well as inheriting its name. Through that, it kept growing—by relying on prudence, cruelty and incredible power, Helm finally became a Demon General after a few hundred years and led its army to its 'homeworld', thus completing its first campaign.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon completely revised its own life in an instant, experiencing once more the various striving and labor to survive when it was still weak, as well as the euphoria after completing objective after objective, promptly raising an enlightenment in it.

At some point in time, its mind had been clouded by its string of consecutive victories. Its unstoppable conquests and triumphs had bloated its confidence and made it uncaring towards otherworld beings, so much so that it did not believe that the Gluttony Lord that was crowned the title of 'Demon King' was not a lucky being that received pampering from the Abyss.

Conceit had caused Helm to make its first error of underestimating the Monarch before it.

Its second mistake was in believing that it could defeat its opponent without unleashing its full power.

What folly.

Pow! In that very second, a tremendous boom slowly wafted from the surface below—the Steel giant god, wrapped in an immeasurably violent cyclone, had already clawed at the Demon General that was somehow staying where it was.

”Of course, I had forgotten that the Multiverse still had many champions. Any being capable of sublimating their lifeform could not be underestimated, and it was the same whether they were demons or some other race since all of them are dangerous and formidable, wise and ingenious—capable of threatening my life.”

Ka-cha! After a moment that felt both long and brief, the Demon General that was clenched within the Steel giant's fist spoke thus as it left its reminiscence. Its voice had a certain bizarre tone that seemed to match some unknown rhythm perfectly, causing the mana elements around to whirl. However, would Joshua hear a demon's words? The warrior certainly mustered more strength to squish it instantly; he was not a man who would stop just because the other wanted to talk.

However, it was beyond belief that however much strength the Steel giant used, the Demon General's body that was not so sturdy when it was given a dressing down just now was not breaking. Under the crush of several thousand degrees of heat and virtually a hundred thousand tons of force, Helm's outer shell merely dented slightly.

Then the demon finally spoke—no longer with a raging tone, but a more threatening calm voice.

”You've helped me remember terror. Thank you.”

Krak, plak! The sound of shell shattering rang as endless cracks surfaced across Helm's entire body. Streaks of searing red-gold rays turning into surging flow of light ignited the rather mundane outer shell of the Demon General before infinite heat and radiance ejected out from the cracks over the Demon General's fingers. The shockwave shot upon the clouds and the land, abruptly kicking up tides of extreme explosions as the demon's final voice rang from within.

”Champion, I shall do my best!”

Boom! As the sound of the entire black smoke sky being ignited resounded, the insectoid-demon Guwaganda that had already fled some distance away could not help glancing back to see a Steel giant god being constricted by a golden snake formed of pure energy that penetrates heaven and earth, connecting clouds and soil! The body of the immeasurably huge giant python was covered in densely packed eyeballs that had been closed at first, but was now incessantly opening, raising the python's presence by a notch each time one opened. Incomparably blazing flames burnt on its body as if to destroy everything. Golden radiance was ever present, illuminating the sea of clouds.

Demons are ashes that had lost their fire. They came from dead worlds, and so unfathomably thirsty for the scent of life, intending to reclaim the glory of burning. Though rare, if the ashes did indeed reignite its illumination would probably not dull in comparison to true flames.

”That's… His Majesty's true form!”

Guwaganda stopped running and paused where it was. The insectoid-demon gazed worshipfully, fearfully and longingly at that Thousand-Eyed Python that was tangled against the giant god—the true form of the Monarch that had been bound in mundane form. Helm had turned into a pure energy being centuries ago, using no more than ray magic that was little more than flowing heat that spilled out from the cracks of its body.

At that very instant, giant and python plummeted to the ground from the skies above, their colossal bodies igniting tremendous waves of sparks and fog through friction over the atmosphere. As the two terrifying beings finally landed, the entire central region of the Sixth Abyss trembled resoundingly, with endless echoing thunder and blowing up a blanket of dust that covered the world.

”What's going on…”

High above, the balrog that had thrown out and only awakened now opened its eyes under obscurity and agony throughout its body. Syndicate noticed that it had reverted from greatsword to its original form some time ago, and was falling from the darkened skies. It was still alive, although one-third of its body had evaporated while the flames over its body had also turned pure-white. However, the balrog did not have the time to decry the state of its body or rejoice that it was still alive as it plummeted overhead, for it was staring in astonishment at the huge spots of light shining in the distance. Infinite pillars of light had broken out violently, penetrating the clouds and swept with no pause to dice the entire sky into ribbons.

”How dreadful… How dreadful!”

At the very heart of battle, a demon that had survived by luck shrank fearfully behind a large boulder. It was a succubus that had a body resembling humans and enjoyed traveling different worlds, hiding within crowds to spy on souls. They had an affinity for magic and were the main characters of different tales of demon contracts, and yet the juvenile body of the young succubus was quivering violently as magma splattered all over the ground surrounding it, creating one crater after another.