"...Is Scarlet's father...?"
As I stood petrified watching the horrific display before me...
Scarlet finally gave up... and lost consciousness...
I could see the tears falling down her cheeks as her breathing became distant...
I saw the demon king leave the fainted Scarlet lying on the floor as he began focusing all of his attention on me...
I looked behind me, as to check Haruto's condition...
He had already fainted as well, with blood leaving his body from various injuries, however, they did not seem lethal in any way which gave me one less thing to worry about...
Turning to the demon king again...
I could clearly see he kept staring at me with an expressionless face... but rather than me... he was staring at the choker in my neck...
'So that's what he's here for...?'
Seeing the fact I would have to get through him if I wanted to save Scarlet, I wanted to know what I would be going against... I chanted:
"[Master Appraisal]..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Azazel Inferna
Gender: Male
Age: 54,312
Race: Demon
Danger Level: SSS
Class: Ultimate Demonic Caster
Lvl: 1,942
HP: 50,654,937/50,654,937
MP: 50,312,983/50,312,983
STR: 30,645,395
DEF: 30,795,129
SPD: 30,087,184
MRES: 40,789,176
Skills: [Umbra Wrath], [Hell Chains], [Hellfire], [Ultimate Demonic Control], [Demonic Army Summon], [Greater Instant Vanishing], [Ultimate Athos], [Greater Dark Nova], [Aria Destruction], [Greater Dark Essence], [Hell's Gate], [God's Peril], [Demonic Inferno]
Affinities: [Demonic]
Titles: [Calamity], [Demon King], [Demon Monarch], [Emperor of Demonic Magic], [Army Leader], [Human Slaughterer], [Merciless], [Hurting]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My eyes were left to widen, as I saw his absurdly strong stats...
'Can I really beat this...?'
I was at a loss on how to beat or even fight such a monster in my current condition, however...
A single thought filled my head... 'I can't play around... if I want to save Scarlet...'
Feeling the pain that my abdominal wound was spreading pain throughout my body... I looked down at my belt where my 2 swords hanged...
I took a deep breath and let my rapier I had been using for so long, fall to the ground...
*Clang*
'That will not even manage to hurt that guy... 'This' is all I can use...'
I could see Myria in the distance looking at the scene before her with horror... And after she noticed my rapier laying on the ground she just nodded...
My thoughts began to race, and my pulse peaked rapidly...
As I finally unsheathed 'Boukyaku' again...
The second, I released it I also chanted:
"[Master Hide Presence: Off]"
'If I'm going to save her... I'll have to give it my all...'
And as my chant came to a close...
An ominous, wicked and terrifying aura spread around me as I liberated every last bit of killing intent within my being...
Only one thought remained clear in my head as I began falling prey to my own power...
'I will save you, Scarlet...'
Without wasting a single more second, I rushed in at my top speed, obliterating the ground from where I was standing, and as lucky (or unlucky) as it may be, without killing Haruto...
As I charged in at absurd speeds, the demon king calmly chanted:
"[Hell Chains]..."
As his chant came to an end, the ground started to fissure while cracking underneath my very feet as I ran... but...
*crack* *crack*
Unexpectedly, blazing chains began erupting from the ground as they attempted to wrap around me...
'TOO MANY!'
As I kept running, jumping and dodging, I was barely able to escape them...
I was now mere feet away from the demon king as I got ready to thrust my sword...
*Fizzle*
However... when I thought everything was over... a single last chain managed to wrap around my ankle dragging me back when my sword was mere inches away from the demon's king chest...
"Ugh!!!"
I felt my skin burning as I attempted to free myself from the chains that restrained me... however... both my wounds and the fire that embraced the chains prevented me from doing so... and only to make matters worse...
"[Umbra Wrath]..."
As the demon king's chant came to a close once again... several magic circles appeared on the sky filling it with darkness...
'This can't be good...'
And following my intuition... from the sky... hell was released...
In a split second, dozens of demonic magic beams started raining down simultaneously creating explosions and mayhem alike...
I tried dodging once again the best I could but...
*BOOOOOOOOM*
One of the beams hit me directly...
I was flung into the air immediately...
I felt my wound pulsating as blood escaped through my nose and mouth...
'It hurts... it hurts so much...'
I was already suffering so much... yet... this was not all the demon king would be providing me...
"[Greater Instant Vanishing]..."
Before I could even fully comprehend what had just happened, I was greeted by the image of the demon king with his arm raised... I felt scared... I could not fight with my strength due to my wound... nor would I allow for Boukyaku to control me, if I let my emotions run rampant...
Until he finally spoke...
"Weak..."
His voice was as hoarse as the growling of hell itself, as it planted seeds of fear deep within my soul...
I could only feel the despair filling my being slowly...
But I was snapped back into reality... in the worst way possible...
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
While in mid-air, the demon king brought his mighty fist down... directly on my wound...
As I now laid on the ground as I felt myself choking on my own blood I could only fall into the desperation I hadn't felt for so long...
'I don't want to die... I don't want to die again...'
I could see the demon king taking a dive at unimaginable speeds with me as his target,,,
I was unsure of what to do...
I was surely going to be killed by his fall...
However... right at the last second...
"[HEROIC SLASH]!"
I saw a blindingly glowing sword... being thrust into the demon king's body, giving me just enough time for me to escape...
I looked back shocked to see what had happened...
Haruto was currently struggling to prevent the demon king from moving... yet the demon king was clearly not even trying...
In a single movement... he sent Haruto flying out of the crater as his sword that I had blessed was shattered to pieces...
Immediately after Haruto was sent flying, three scared screams echoed throughout the battlefield, catching both mine and the demon king's attention...
"""HARUTO-SAMA!!!"""
The Evenhide sisters had just witnessed their hero... their idol... their love... being thrown into the air in pain and suffering...
Without a moment's time to waste the three girls left their safe distance and charged towards the demon king ferociously...
But...
the demon king clearly didn't like it...
"Stay out of my way..."
with a faint movement, barely visible to the untrained eye...
The three sisters...
...
...
...
Dropped dead...
Their corpses torn into pieces... by a single movement from the demon king...
And as I was staring at the horrific scene before me a painful scream filled my senses...
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Turning to face the source of such scream... it was none other than Haruto...
He was still bleeding out, hurting and suffering everywhere yet... the pain you could feel from his cries seemed to be so much stronger... heavier... and sadder... than his physical pain...
'Killed without... remorse...'
I could almost feel the pain that Haruto was feeling through his torturous screams...
I could feel my physical pain weakening my body by the second, while my mental pain destroyed my sanity... I wasn't sure how to even distinguish them at this point...
'It hurts... Everything hurts... I don't want anyone to die... Nobody should die...'
Looking back at the corpses with pity and lament I finally decided what had to be done...
In the end...
I tightened my grip on 'Boukyaku' as I charged at unprecedented speeds, heading for the demon king with an immense amount of bloodlust...
'Kill...'
'Kill...'
'Kill...'
That was my sole thought...
'Kill...'
'Kill...'
'Kill...'
However... because I was blinded by my rage... I did not notice the demon king was completely unfazed by my sudden charge...
I didn't even question why that was...
But it was my mistake...
When I finally got into the attack range, I did not waste the opportunity, and attempted to slash...
But...
...
...
...
In an instant, he had placed Scarlet... my friend... his daughter... right in my sword's path, preventing my slash...
I, taken aback and hesitant due to his actions, wasn't able to prevent him from hitting me with his forceful arm, as he sent me crashing against the outer walls of the crater...
*BOOOOOOOOOOM*
*Cough* *Cough*
I spit out blood from choking with it once again...
I felt the pain from my wound growing deeper, as I became aware of what had just happened before me...
...
...
...
'He... used his daughter... as a human shield...?'
...
...
...
I could only stare in pure horror at the true monster I had before me...
A man, who would willingly place his daughter in danger's path in order to protect himself...
A man without care for his own child...
I could feel my emotions stir within me...
The voices calling out...
My hatred burning...
He kept staring at me with an expressionless face as I heard him ask...
"So you're the one who stole Scarlet's seal?"
"..."
"Pathetic..."
...
...
...
That didn't matter... nothing mattered anymore...
As I stood up once more...
I liberated the single largest burst of killing intent I had ever managed to release at once...
My thoughts kept swirling around... as my power exponentially let loose by the second...
'He is willing to sacrifice..."
*crack*
As my emotions grew rampant, small fissures began forming beneath my feet as the pressure around me enlarged to unspeakable levels...
"...my friend..."
*crack* *crack*
"...his daughter..."
*crack* *crack* *crack*
"...for nothing..."
And without waiting any longer...
I began to chant...
In that second... the demon king's expression finally changed. He was now frightened about what was before him...
His expression had contorted and he had now completely lost the menacing aura around him, as his footing became unsure...
And in the midst of his terror, he nervously muttered something...
"Vi...ra...cia...?"
In the end...
I did not care anymore...
'We're in the middle of the desert...'
...
'No one should get hurt...'
...
'Myria can probably run away with Haruto...'
...
'I just have to KILL this b**tard...'
...
And without waiting any longer...
...
"[Absolute... Obli..."