"Hmph, a mere subordinate tries to bite his master." Erza was surprised to hear Beel's voice.
'Beel is the young prince referred by the demon?' Erza pondered silently in her heart as she moved closer to where the sounds were coming from.
"I really wonder how could the Four Forefathers miss out this place?" Beel continued to talk.
"Because they were fool and arrogant! They never tried to understand the nature of this place. As long as I remained hidden here, even if the Four Forefathers themselves entered this place, they would still not be able to detect my existence!"
Finally, Erza was close enough to see the fight. As she expected, Beel was actually a Knight as she could feel his powerful aura from far away. He really hid it well from the academy and his friends.
Erza saw Beel in his extraordinary battle armor. It was dark blue and black in colours with most of his vital parts were covered by special irons. Against the demon, Beel was holding a sword with black lightnings dancing around him.
"Sacrifar!" Suddenly the name of the sword came into her mind. Erza assumed that it was Ash doing since this was actually her first time seeing the sword. The blade was roughly 1 metre in length and it was pitch black in colour, including the handle.
Beel was clearly on the losing side as he was bleeding from all over his body. As for the Soul Devouring Demon, Erza did not see it at all. She could only hear its voice.
All of a sudden, two pinpricks of deep red light sprang to life in the boundless darkness that was hanging over Erza's head.
Those were a pair of immeasurably dreadful eyes! Erza felt her body and soul fiercely tremble the instant those eyes opened.
"Foolish human! Was the reason you disregarded your own life to arrive in this place to beg this king to personally send you on your way!?"
It was not the least bit bewildered that the Soul Devouring Demon discovered her presence and its hoarse and raspy voice was filled with a violence and arrogance that caused one's heart to palpitate.
"What are you doing here?!" Beel was surprised to see Erza in this place. He quickly rushed forward and stood in front of her.
"Sorry, I was worried about you and thought that I might be able to help." Erza hid the fact that she came for the Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb. She did not want to notify the demon about her other purpose.
Even though Lance had already told her that there was a dreadful demon hiding in this place, upon seeing it herself, her heart was seized by shock and horror. Because its existence was something that even the principal, who had been guarding the academy for years, was not aware of!
"Are you the Soul Devouring Demon King?" Erza asked while controlling the fear in her heart. Even though this was the first time Erza saw the demon, she had a strong feeling that he was not a mere Soul Devouring Demon. He should be their king! A Demon King! That was a being who was equal to humanity Emperor realm expert!
According to some books which she read in the higher floor of the library, Soul Devouring Demon King was a very famous character in the past. It was said that even Saints could fall from his soul attacks if their souls were weak. Furthermore, the amount of experts at Saint realm and above was not big in the first place. And those who had strong souls were even fewer. As a result, most people were very afraid of the Demon King.
"Hahahaha!" That dreadful voice erupted in laughter, "This king had only appeared once to you humans but who would have thought that you would still remember this king's name after ten thousand years have passed. Even though this king has not seen the light of day for ten thousand years, making a single appearance was enough to plunge you pitiful creatures into an eternal abyss of terror, hahahahaha..."
The Soul Devouring Demon King's voice was extremely unpleasant and Erza could barely make out what it was saying. Furthermore, every single word that was uttered from its mouth caused her body to cramp up and its laugh was extremely hard to bear. But the words it uttered had completely admitted to the fact that… it was truly the Soul Devouring Demon King that the Gods and Demons thought was long dead!
That also meant that… it had survived for the past ten thousand years till now!
The strongest Demon Kings would have died several times over in the space of ten thousand years, yet it still remained despite a whole ten thousand years having passed!
This lifespan was completely inconsistent with logic and common sense!
"To think that it really was this guy!" Erza said to Beel in a low voice, "It has not passed away despite ten thousand years having gone by, it is definitely some kind of abnormal monster!"
Beel, "..."
Erza sucked in a quick breath as she regained her composure. She raised her head once more and spoke in a calm voice, "Even though you have never shown yourself in the Northern Continent, the name of the Soul Devouring Demon King has never once been forgotten. As for me, I am merely what you termed a pitiful human being. I have no grudge or vendetta against you, so I definitely do not want to become your enemy. I am here only for the sake of one thing, once I obtain it, I will leave this place immediately. I will definitely not speak a single word regarding your presence... I apologize if I am disturbing your peace and rest."
It was very clear that Erza had no desire to enter into a deadly struggle with a horrifying creature that could survive in this environment of darkness for at least the past ten thousand years. If it did not obstruct her attempt to obtain the Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb and they both remained amicable to each other... That would naturally be the best result that could be reached.
However, Erza's hopes were dashed just as those words left her mouth.
"You foolish, pathetic and insignificant lower lifeform!!" The Soul Devouring Demon King thundered, that ear-piercing and soul-scalding voice filled with fury, contempt and disdain. That pair of eyes which seemed like two dark red abysses suddenly dropped down from the air, "Not only do you have designs on this king's Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb, you're actually still dreaming that this king will let you live!"
*Bang!!*
With a huge explosion, an enormous black figure landed heavily in front of Erza and Beel.
A baleful aura that seemed to come from hell itself assaulted Erza, forcing her to stumble back five steps as she reflexively clenched her fists. Fortunately, she had Beel who was standing in front of her and shared some of the pressures.
From its voice, Erza could tell that it was no more than thirty meters away from her but the only thing she could see in the darkness were those red eyes. Other than that, she was not even able to make out a hazy silhouette, despite activating her 'Dark Vision'.
It surprisingly knew that Erza wanted the Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb. It seemed like the Demon King's intelligence was not lower than its strength.
Even though the Soul Devouring Demon King was close by, she still could not see it. However, Erza did feel a dreadful pressure envelop her as it sought to crush both her body and soul. This pressure was entirely different from any other kind of pressure that Erza had endured in her life. Icy, violent rancor, arrogance and unreal bloodlust.
Erza felt a thick wave of negative emotions envelop every corner of this dark world. All of a sudden, she was struck by the dreadful feeling that she was sealed in some kind of hellish volcano and that she was about to face the cruelest punishments imaginable.
"What should we do?" Erza sent Beel a voice transmission. The situation was worse than she thought. She did not expect that instead of a greater demon, she was up against a Demon King, an Emperor realm expert.
She was wondering why she only met with two groups of elders along her way to this place. But now she finally understood that most of them should already been killed or held captive in a hidden place by the demon.
Erza guessed that the Soul Devouring Demon King was waiting until the Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb was ready to be consumed, then he would use it to recover his peak form. After that, he would definitely leave this place. Erza did not dare to imagine what kind of hell he would bring to the outside world.
"I estimate that the herb will be ready to be consumed in an hour from now. We are currently the only ones who could stop him. However, in all honesty, we are really not his equal."
"Even when we are putting our lives on the line?"
"You are willing to do that for the people who might turn against you once they know that you are a half demon?" Beel asked in wonder.
"I'm just following what my heart says." Erza calmly said as she drew her sword.
"Ignite!"