*Content Warning: This chapter contains mature themes, violence, blood, and morally dark actions. Reader discretion advised.*
***
The grand hall crackled with barely contained fury, Kevin's laughter still echoing like a taunt carved in stone. Sons glared daggers, veins bulging, breaths ragged—Damien's scars pulsing livid, Victor's axe gripped to splintering, Lucien's spear quivering, Cassian's flames roaring unchecked, Rowan's blade half-drawn. Arrogant cur, their minds thundered in unison. We'll bury him in pieces.
Kevin's serene smile widened fractionally, blue hair shifting like liquid night, beautiful white eyes gleaming with casual supremacy as he turned to the Heavenly Demon.
"My lord, may I borrow your training ground for a moment?"
The Heavenly Demon's lips split in a feral grin, eyes alight with bloodthirsty anticipation, leaning back with crossed arms.
"Yeah, of course. Do whatever you want."
Kevin pivoted smoothly, white eyes sweeping the seething sons, smile polite yet edged like a veiled blade.
"Well then, shall I call you Young Masters from now on? Well, I shall—just Young Masters. Yes, that's right."
He tilted his head toward the Heavenly Demon, bowing low with fluid grace, blue hair cascading forward.
"My lord, please excuse me. Then I shall prove myself."
Arms spread wide, stance inviting apocalypse, Kevin's voice rang clear and mocking.
"Okay then, Young Masters—let's have a battle. All of you come at me together. Nobody's stopping you. We'll fight in my lord's training ground—it's big enough. And good news: you can use Heavenly Demon Arts against me too. Even if it means killing me, go all out."
Horror and rage detonated simultaneously. Gasps choked the air—wives paled, guards recoiled, daughters froze mid-breath. Suicide? Heavenly Demon Arts on a whim? Sons exploded: Damien roared acceptance, fist slamming stone; Victor bellowed "You're dead!"; Lucien snarled "Oblivion awaits"; Cassian ignited; Rowan and Julian charged forward, blades singing. "If you really wanna die then let's do it, worm!"
The procession stormed toward the training ground—a colossal arena carved from void-black stone, ringed by jagged obsidian spires under storm-wracked skies. Kevin strode at the fore, blue hair whipping in gathering winds, white eyes distant as he pondered inwardly.
I still don't know how strong Heavenly Demon Arts truly are, but I'm certain I can dismantle these brats without breaking sweat. I wonder why that Heavenly Demon dog didn't unleash them on me earlier? Probably he must be testing my depths. But I won't underestimate him—or anyone. Every opponent is an enemy, there are no exceptions. Their ancestor must have ascended to godhood; and these whelps carry that blood, that potential. What I crave most: how potent are the Arts? How many exist? How many has our current Heavenly Demon mastered? Let's find out.
The group arrayed across the pitted sands—sons in aggressive crescents, weapons drawn, auras flaring crimson. Heavenly Demon perched on a throne-like outcrop, face abruptly grave, smile vanished, sweat beading his chin as he mumbled to himself, eyes narrowing on Kevin's casual poise.
Kevin's taking it too lightly... he has no idea the Heavenly Demon Arts' true terror. Throughout our cult's history, only our ancestor mastered all eleven—he created them. And I? Was Only able to master five, and I can barely control it. How did our ancestor forge such abominations?
His mind raced through the forbidden legacy:
**Core Demon Arts**
1. **Demon Scripture: Heaven-Devouring Will** (Passive) – Crushes weaker laws; cultivation destabilizes in proximity.
2. **Blood Mandate of the Demon Ancestor** – Commands blood; foes' wounds fester autonomously.
3. **Demon Pulse of Ten Thousand Calamities** – Heartbeat shockwaves distort space, collapse spirits, spawn fear hallucinations; battlefield turns hostile.
**Demonic Domain Techniques**
4. **Heavenly Demon Domain: Crimson Sovereignty** – Inverts laws; pain fuels power, fear becomes strength, resistance weakens intruders.
5. **Hell-Sky Inversion Art** – Sky bleeds black-red; divine arts falter, demonic ones evolve dynamically.
6. **Demon Throne Manifestation** – Shadow throne amplifies presence exponentially; forces instinctive kneeling.
**High-Level Combat**
7. **Tenfold Demon Destruction Hand** – Strikes layer physical/spiritual/karmic/fate corrosion.
8. **Soul-Grinding Demon Scripture** – Erodes identity/will; grinds existence itself.
**Ultimate/Forbidden**
9. **Demon Ancestor's Last Command** – Temporary world-rulership; laws bow.
10. **Heaven-Burying Demon Eclipse** – Sacrifices lifespan/potential/destiny for irrecoverable death zone.
11. **True Form: Demon Beyond Heaven** – Sheds all titles/bounds; becomes paradoxical calamity.
Just how? the Heavenly Demon sweated, fists clenching.
Sons lunged in perfect, enraged synchrony—eldests Damien, Evelyn, and Lucien unleashing the 3rd Art's fury (Demon Pulse of Ten Thousand Calamities), juniors wielding 1st/2nd (Heaven-Devouring Will and Blood Mandate). The arena sands exploded upward in crimson geysers as Damien led the charge, his massive frame hypertrophying grotesquely, every heartbeat detonating spatial shockwaves that ripped reality like wet paper. Phantom calamities birthed—screaming voids clawing at eyes, spiritual fissures hemorrhaging terror hallucinations of devoured kin. "Taste true bloodline power, upstart! Your dodges end in pulverized meat!" Damien bellowed, pulse after pulse hammering forward, distorting air into howling rifts.
Kevin ghosted left, forearm a blur deflecting the wavefront with casual precision, the impact sending sand tsunamis skyward—Pulse hits hard; distortion lingers 2.1 seconds. Victor bleeds in from right flank next.
Victor thundered seamlessly into the gap, bull-necked bulk a living battering ram, axe cleaving a Mandate-infused arc that forced illusory gashes across Kevin's form—festering welts bubbling crimson, veins compelled to rupture outward in traitorous sprays. "Bleed rivers, blue-haired filth! Mandate feasts on pretenders—your blood boils for Father!" Axe after axe whirled, each swing layering self-multiplying lacerations, arena floor slicking with phantom gore.
Kevin twisted mid-air, palm slapping the haft aside, wounds evaporating harmlessly—Mandate aggressive; auto-worsens fast. Low sweep from Lucien incoming, Evelyn high dagger follow.
Lucien/Evelyn tag-teamed flawlessly, spears and daggers weaving Heaven-Devouring Will filaments that gnawed Kevin's footing unstable, laws buckling beneath him like crumbling ledges, cultivation proxies destabilizing into vertigo chaos. "Crumble to nothingness, outsider! Will devours the unworthy—kneel or shatter!" Evelyn spat venomously, blades dancing lethal embroidery. Lucien's thrust pierced where Kevin had stood, Will-threads unraveling space.
Will suppression peak-eldest; footing eroded 27%. Cassian aerial barrage overhead.
Cassian vaulted with acrobatic savagery, hurling partial Scripture flame tempests—Demon Scripture flickers birthing homing infernos that tracked Kevin's weave, scorching trails vitrifying sand to glass. "Incinerate eternally, coward! Scripture purges interlopers—ash your legacy!" Flames ballooned into draconic maws, devouring oxygen, heat mirages warping sight.