At this moment, everyone had already fled beyond the city walls.
They didn't stop as they passed beyond the walls, pressing onward into the distance. Even from outside, the deep, relentless rumble of the battle reached them, accompanied by the suffocating demonic miasma spilling from the Demon Lord.
Compared to before, it was far thicker… far stronger. He was raging.
Inside the town—
All hell had broken loose. Pillars continued to collapse. Dust and shattered stone filled the air.
The demon lord laughed out loud.
"Interesting, human! For a human, you are very strong. What are you really?" he said, as he traded blow after blow with Ard in the air and in the ground.
"I told you already," I replied calmly. "I'm Ard. A traveler."
The demon lord frowned. He was staring straight at me with his scary black eyes.
"You can play pretend all you want, but with your power…your age. You must be one of the prodigies in the human side. You're not one of the heroes. I don't remember your face after all."
I narrowed my eyes, shaking my head silently.
He smirked, a dangerous curl of his lips.
"Still, you are a human who can go toe-to-toe with a demon lord. Quite impressive." He paused then he smiled maliciously, "This body had served me well, but it is beginning to break. A replacement would be nice. So will you surrender peacefully?"
Again, his power increased, and started to descend walking on the ground.
This time, the demonic energy emanating from him was enough to make ordinary people die the moment they came close!
He vanished and came in front of me kicking my stomach. The impact came like a hammer striking leather. With a huge spark, I was sent flying backwards to a broken pillar. Seconds passed. Dust and debris hovered around me, and the ground beneath trembled.
"HAHAHA. You are still alive!? How resilient!"
"I suppose you don't call yourself a demon lord for nothing," I then muttered, and stood up patting my clothes. Then I looked at him. "But you won't be able to touch me again."
"Again, how arrogant!" he barked back laughing.
Then slowly walked forward towards me.
"I'll admit, it was entertaining. But your mana must be exhausted by now. Thus, I have to end this. Otherwise, those humans you are trying so hard to stall time for will really escape."
"You are right. We are the only ones left here now huh."
In the next second, just as he stepped closer, I then vanished right before his eyes. How? Uder the full moon, it was simply natural. My shadow stretched and flowed across the ground like liquid—and I slipped seamlessly into the darkness.
Confusion flickered across the baron's face.
At first, shock.
Then… a slow, knowing smile.
"Fool! Did you really think I wouldn't anticipate a last-minute trick after seeing the shadow in your blades?"
Ard who has assimilated into the demon lord's shadow was now looking at a dark sea whose waves roared like a tsunami, threatening to sweep away everything in its path.
But then—
'Huh?'
The demon lord's face darkened.
Something sinister and dangerous was creeping up on him.
'Something is wrong.'
Then amidst the confusion, he heard Ard's voice from somewhere!
"Please stop your futile efforts." The voice said and it echoed in the demon lord's head.
Hearing him, the demon lord's eyes darted around his surroundings.
When he couldn't see or sense him unlike earlier anymore, the demon lord flew to the air. He poured all his demonic energy into his hands, and controlled rocks and debris to go up before raining it down the town shattering everything.
Before he realized, he was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving, yet a slow, triumphant smile spread across his face as the dust and debris settled down.
There was no way anyone could survive that!
Seconds passed and he could no longer hear him. His unexplained fear went away for a second while he went on top of the tower with a satisfied relieved look.
It was then.
Without him knowing, I came out of his shadow, and had reappeared behind him.
When he turned around swallowing hard feeling something sinister behind him, I smiled widely and a tyrannic killing intent poured and fell down on him.
Cognitive fracture!
Suddenly, he felt like he was in another world as he saw my crimson eyes. Before him, he suddenly fell down and felt as if he was drowning on an ocean of blood for hundreds of years!
When he returned back to reality, he gasped for air and screamed in horror causing him to go away from the tower.
Watching him, I was now the one on top of the tower. My sword screamed as magic surged into it, its sharpness and density skyrocketing in an instant!
I swung upwards.
Swoosh!
The energy blade tore through his chest like paper starting from his belly up to his neck.
Crash!
The demon lord spat blood as his body was flung away, and smashed into the castle walls all the way to what seemed to be a study.
"How... How's this possible!!!"
Ard leapt from the rooftop, descending like a falling comet, as he chased after him with inexplainable speed.
When he landed.
The figure of Ard standing at six feet tall suddenly looked much taller and bigger than ever. And at that moment, he could feel it—the familiar feeling of fear locked onto his eyes.
Only then did he also noticed that unlike him whose clothes were thoroughly razed to ashes and torn all over, revealing his injured body, Ard hardly had no injuries at all.
"You…monster!"
His instincts screamed in horror as he looked at me.
"No, no, no…!"
His instincts screamed. His demonic energy spiraled and then cracks of black light tore across his skin as he screamed, the dark veins on his face and eyes glowing purple black!
"AARGH!!!"
He slammed his hands into the ground, unleashing a storm of barrages and debris going towards me shattering the whole study.
I raised my sword.
Every attack dissolved before reaching me, erased as if they had never existed.
When the dust subsided, the demon lord was gone.
Seeing him fleeing, a smile bloomed on my face.
Then laughter burst out—wild, unrestrained, and it reached the demon lord's ears who couldn't even understand why he was fleeing. His body was practically shivering before that human!
Ard meanwhile looked at his palm and placed his hand on his chest.
It was the first time he had a fight while having the ring and the emotions it gave him were just too fascinating.
It felt like ecstasy as his heart pounded with exhilaration, racing faster than ever.