The Damned Demon

Just as Rebecca's dark and icy attack hurtled towards the Thundering Reaper, the air around Anna vibrated with a palpable tension as a guttural cry escaped from her throat,

"Yaarrgh!"

*KRAAAKKKSH!*

Suddenly, a dark yellow burst of explosive lightning erupted from Anna's being in every direction. The sheer force of the explosion sent shockwaves ripping through the landscape, hurling Grace, Rebecca, Emiko, and Yui backward until they crashed to the ground with tremendous force.

Grace and Rebecca, being closest to the Thundering Reaper, bore the brunt of the lightning blast. They coughed up blood, their bodies splayed out on the rough terrain, too injured to move. Emiko and Yui, although they had been standing farther away, were also severely injured. Their power levels of low-level A Rankers and correspondingly weaker defensive powers left them particularly vulnerable to the peak Soul Devourer's explosive attack.

As they all groaned and writhed in pain, Anna, breathing heavily, quickly stabilized herself. She injected a syringe filled with a shimmering dark liquid into her arm, which immediately intensified the dark yellow streaks circling her body and steadied her breathing.

Surveying the fallen figures, Anna prepared to take advantage of the situation, thinking she could now finally apprehend them all and conclude her mission. However, her confidence was abruptly challenged by the sound of ominous footsteps approaching through the settling dust.

From the swirling cloud of debris, a tall, muscular figure cloaked in black emerged, his presence commanding and enigmatic. The hood over his face obscured his eyes, but not the cold, knowing smile that played on his lips.

"Your Master must have ordered you to capture my Soul Servants alive, huh? I never thought an Unseen would be this strong," Asher stated calmly as he stopped just a few feet away from Anna.

Anna, momentarily taken aback, clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes, "Hellbringer?" she muttered with a hint of surprise. She couldn't detect any dark aura from him, a fact that puzzled and confused her. Just what kind of powerful disguise was he using? Was this how he roamed around undetected?

But she knew there was no reason for her to be concerned about these things, and she only should focus on capturing him for the blue-eyed monster.

"Your Master must be desperate to catch me. So why don't you come and see if you can instead of bullying my Soul Servants," Asher taunted, his tone light but laced with a challenge. He casually raised his hand, his fingers beckoning her forward in a mocking invitation.

Anna clenched her fists upon hearing his words.

Rebecca, who was somewhat conscious, turned to the side, scoffing to herself, wondering if he was mad enough to take on that Unseen bitch on his own. It was not like he was fa-

*ZZZZ-KRAKK!*

Rebecca's thoughts were interrupted as Anna transformed into a dark yellow streak of lightning, time itself seemed to slow around her. The energy coursed around her, the raw power of her speed distorting the very air through which she moved. As she neared Hellbringer, her hand raised in a deadly arc, aiming to deliver a critical strike that would incapacitate him directly, not willing to risk anything.

But the moment her fingertips brushed his cloak, *BOOOOM!*

An earth-shuddering explosion of dark green energy erupted from Asher. Anna was caught off guard by the instantaneous burst, which engulfed her completely. The force of the explosion blasted her away for hundreds of meters, her body wracked with excruciating pain as if she were thrown into a scorching furnace.

Asher stood amidst the swirling dark green flames, his form now revealed as a blazing skull, eerie hollow sockets glowing with dark green light as he watched the Thundering Reaper being flung through the air. *ROAAAARR!!!*

Asher suddenly released the guttural, ground-shaking bellow of the Rakshasa in a heart-stopping moment.

The roar, a terrifying sonic attack, was aimed directly at the mid-air Anna, its reverberations creating terrifying ripples in the atmosphere, making even Grace and the others cover their ears.

Anna felt the roar's paralyzing fear permeating through her armor and entering her psyche, rendering her thoughts frozen and instincts numb against the horrifying pulse of raw power. It was as if she had been plunged into the icy arctic waters, the cold fear proving more immobilizing than any physical constraints.

In the blink of an eye, Asher's figure vanished, reappearing behind the still-airborne Anna, who was only a couple feet away from hitting the ground.

*CRACKKK!*

With precise brutality, and in one fluid motion, he spun her to face the ground and slammed her down with such force that the earth itself seemed to cry out, cracks webbing out from the impact site.

Rebecca watched, her jaw slack in disbelief at the ease with which Asher had taken down this Unseen bitch.

Grace, struggling to prop herself up on her arms, realized once again that she had vastly underestimated the young demon king's strength. Even if he took the Thundering Reaper by surprise, it was still a ballsy move, and his follow-up attacks were well calculated to incapacitate her.

Emiko and Yui, rapidly healing their injuries with their powerful healing abilities, watched in a mix of horror and admiration. The sight of their Master dominating such a powerful adversary was both terrifying and awe-inspiring.

Asher, not yet done, flipped the Thundering Reaper onto her back, clutching her neck, and delivered a direct, brutal attack to her solar plexus using his blazing ring blade, embedding it halfway into her flesh.

*Ksschik!*

The impact was so severe that it echoed like a liquid drumbeat across the silent isles, Anna's cough splattering blood inside her helmet, which was now cracked enough to reveal a glimpse of her face, especially around her right dark yellow eye.

The severe attack knocked the breath out of her, blood spurting out of her abdominal cavity, leaving her gasping and unable to move her limbs.

"You really look like a human," Asher mumbled in a deep, gravelly voice, noting the slight exposure of skin near her right eye. He surmised it must be her real face, as there was no reason for her to wear a disguise beneath the full-body armor.

"Now let's see what the face of a traitor of our kind looks like," he declared in a voice filled with curiosity and command, letting go of his ring blade while his other hand was choking her.

His fingers curled around the edge of her broken visor, intent on revealing the face of the Thundering Reaper.

Anna, barely conscious and struggling for breath, could only watch helplessly as Hellbringer's hand approached. But just as he was about to remove it, Asher suddenly leaped back a few feet.

*SISSHHHH!*

A sudden, radiant white beam of light sliced through the air where he had just been. Asher let out a frustrated growl as he looked at the source of this unexpected attack.

From the direction of the light, a figure descended gracefully from the sky. He was clad in gold armor and draped in a white cape that shimmered with an ethereal glow, embodying the very essence of radiant spirit. In his hand, he held an elegant white staff, its black accents stark against the pulsing white crystal at its top.

It was Arthur, his arrival as sudden as it was dramatic.

Asher clenched his bony fists, not having anticipated this interruption, especially from him. Just what the fuck was he doing here, and how did he find them?

"All of you leave. I will have to shake him off," Asher commanded through gritted teeth, his urgency clear. Grace exhaled deeply, knowing the gravity of the situation, "Let's go before our identities get exposed," she instructed, rising to her feet with the help of Emiko and Yui.

"But the Thundering Reaper is down. Should we really leave Master alone?" Yui asked, concern etching her features.

"We might still have a chance to bring her with us," Emiko added, her voice tense, her eyes flicking toward the Thundering Reaper's prone form.

"You foolish girls. If we stay here any longer and get involved, we will attract more Hunters here. If that brat got to us, the others might not be too far away. Do you want to end up getting captured or killed by disobeying your Master?" Rebecca's sharp rebuke sliced through the air, silencing any further protest.

Grace cast a stern glance at Rebecca, then back at Asher and Arthur, "She usually spouts nonsense, but this time she is right. Our Master told us to leave for a good reason. Let's go before we make it more difficult for him. He knows how to find his way back."

Rebecca gave a smug glance upon seeing that this smug-faced bitch knew when to acknowledge her wisdom.

With those final words, Grace, Rebecca, Emiko, and Yui retreated, vanishing into the landscape as swiftly as they had arrived.

Meanwhile, Arthur touched down softly, his gaze sweeping over the demon king before settling on the bleeding Thundering Reaper, her body barely responding to the electric crackles that once danced so vigorously around her.

"Was it really you?" Arthur suddenly asked in a low voice, his tone a mix of confusion and disbelief.

Anna's eyes flickered as her heart pounded against her chest, wondering if she got exposed and if he knew…

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