Erza hair turned red and wings of flame appeared on her back. She had entered her combat mode. To be honest, she did not have confidence at all against an emperor realm expert. Luckily, the Soul Devouring Demon King was not in his peak condition. It was now only at peak King realm. Nevertheless, it was still next to impossible for Erza and Beel to defeat the Demon King.
"The root of this king's very life and soul had been left in tatters so I had no choice but to seal myself in this place, not daring to see the light of day for ten thousand years! The darkness energy in this place has helped this king slowly recover my vitality and strength and this Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb will be able to restore this king's soul origin!"
"This is something the heavens have blessed this king with. It is the most precious thing to this king in my life! In this disgraceful place, the day on which this herb matured every one hundred years is the day this king looks forward to the most! To think that a foolish and insignificant inferior lifeform such as yourself would dare to have designs on the object that this king treasures the most!"
When an immeasurably strong existence faced a pitiful creature, it normally would not even be moved to anything resembling anger. But it was very clear that Erza had touched this demon's reverse scale, something that she definitely should not have done!
Moreover, the herb was very rare and precious because it could only grow in a very unique environment and would only mature after 100 years.
The baleful aura which it had suddenly released caused Erza's heart to race but after that, she quickly regained her composure. Her eyes turned exceptionally cold as she said, "It looks like… there isn't much room for discussion after all."
Not only was she unable to attain her desired outcome but the situation had deteriorated in the worst possible manner... To think that the Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb was actually the reverse scale of the Soul Devouring Demon King!
This also meant that if she wanted to obtain the Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb, she would have to kill the Soul Devouring Demon King first!
She had to kill a monster that had lived for more than ten thousand years! A monster that was surrounded by boundless mysteries!
"You keep talking like you are the sovereign of this world. However, if you were so strong, why did you end up in this state? Hiding from the world for ten thousands years! You even let your clansmen perished in that war. What a coward!" Erza knew that they had a very small chance to win, therefore, she was trying to anger the demon and found an opening.
Standing in front of her, Beel was unusually silent this whole time. No one knew what he was thinking or doing.
"Hahahahaha!" The Soul Devouring Demon King was not provoked by Erza's words. Instead, a wild laugh erupted from his throat, "Foolish and pathetic creature, how could you even deign to understand the true might of this king! This king's current isolation is only because the very roots of my life and soul have been wounded! As long as this Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb is not destroyed, this king's vitality and his soul origin will have completely recovered soon! When that time comes, this king's body and soul will swiftly recover and this king's strength will grow by leaps and bounds! And at that time, everything in this world will have to bow at this king's feet!"
Erza finally noticed the Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb which was currently being planted in a special corner of this place.
Beel, "..."
"Tch." Erza snorted disdainfully, her expression filled with contempt, "I have met quite a few strong people in my life and there's a whole bunch of people who are stronger than you. But when it comes to being boastful and arrogant, I don't think I've met a single person who has beaten you yet. Oh... could it be that you've been crazy from the start? That sounds about right, in this environment of absolute darkness, it wouldn't be surprising for someone to be driven to suicide within a month or two, much less lose their minds. Speaking of that, I have to say that I am suddenly filled with admiration for you. Not only did you not commit suicide despite being holed up in this place for ten thousand years, you're actually doing just fine."
*Boom!!*
An icy-cold energy wave exploded outwards as the Soul Devouring Demon King's eyes turned from red to jet black. Around its body, dense black-coloured mist gathered. In an instant, all of the darkness energy within the dungeon began to stir violently as an evil wind that seemed to come from hell itself mercilessly swept through and began to erode every part of the place.
Erza and Beel felt a huge pressure on their chests. They quickly leaped backwards with all their strengths, instantly retreating one hundred meters away. The darkness energy that the Soul Devouring Demon King had explosively released made them feel as if they had instantly dropped into the pits of hell.
*Zzzzzssssttt*
*Wooosh!!*
Erza's left hand was covered with black lightnings while her right hand was holding the Heavenly Flame Sword which was engulfed by red flames. Her entire body was being baptized by lightning and flame as her brows were fiercely knitted together.
"Ignorant lower life form, given your pitiful strength, approaching the Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb would only end in your death. This king does not even need to personally execute you. But at the same time, it would also stain this king's treasured herb with the dirty and inferior soul given off by you humans! So this king has no choice but to personally consign you to the dust within this darkness!"
The boundless darkness had completely camouflaged the Soul Devouring Demon King. Erza and Beel could not see where it was and could only rely on their restricted spirit perceptions to sense it. So in this current situation, Erza and Beel had already been forced to assume an absolute defensive posture before they had even come to blows.
At this moment, an extremely low voice icily rang out.
"Illusory Devil Night Sovereign!!"
This voice had not come from Erza nor Beel… instead it was Ash who had said those words!
These four words caused Erza and Beel to be rooted in place while also causing the Soul Devouring Demon King to abruptly freeze in place just as he was about to make an attack.
"Who is it!?" The Soul Devouring Demon King roared as its pupils suddenly radiated a hellish, ebon light. This hellish light fell onto Erza's body as it roared once more, "Oh, so that's how it is! Your body houses another soul… and this soul is actually able to recognize this king's devil art!"
"Ash, what is going on?" Erza asked apprehensively. She was also surprised to hear his voice. She assumed that it was due to the unique environment in this place.
"This monster is neither a beast nor a demon!" Ash's voice was frighteningly low, because the shock and terror in his heart was many times that of Erza's own, "It is extremely likely that this monster is... from one million years ago… during the Primordial Era… it is from the Illusory Devil Clan..."
"A true devil!!"
True devils!! They lived during the Primordial Era and had dominated the Three Realms together with the ancient gods. Their strength, vitality and spirit… were at a level that was far above humanity… and they were an existence that was greater than all other living creatures as well!
But the ancient gods and true devils had clearly gone extinct a million years ago!
It was a general knowledge that the ancestors of those gods who were currently residing in the Upper Heaven, and the ancestors of those demons who ruled the present Underworld, were all previously lower beings. They were beasts, humans, ghosts, and spirits in their early lives.
They cultivated and practiced until they attained their own paths and became immortals. They then called themselves gods and demons. Subsequently, their descendants inherited their evolved genes and followed their ancestors' paths.
Therefore, it was truly a big joke to compare them with true devils. They were not in the same league. A true devil stood on much higher level than the current gods and demons!
"Ash… are you sure?" Erza asked as her heart remained stuck in her throat. If what Ash just said was true, then the monster standing in front of her was a terrifying creature of ancient legend that should have been wiped out one million years ago!!
"It is extremely likely… The Illusory Devil Art that he had displayed may not have been too powerful, but it was incredibly pure! If one's devil body and devil soul was not pure enough, it was impossible to use such a pure devil art… Furthermore the Illusory Devil Art was a devil art that was supposed to have died out along with the ancient devil clan!"
Every single word that Ash said weighed down on Erza like an enormous and heavy boulder. Beel was silently standing beside her with knitted brows. He was holding something like a token, but both Erza and the Soul Devouring Demon King ignored it, since it was long proven that ones could not communicate with the outside world when they were inside this place.
Beel suddenly whispered to Erza via voice transmission, "We definitely need to think of a way to get it to divulge all of its secrets! To think that there was actually a devil hiding in this world! This definitely cannot just be categorized as simply an odd occurrence! This is a huge matter that is big enough to shock all of the Three Realms!"
"If he is really a devil from the ancient devil race, then once he recovers his peak strength, he will bring chaos to all of the Three Realms!"
Erza's quickly consulted this issue with Ash before she shouted out in a stern voice, "Soul Devouring Demon King! I can tell you one thing, the 'Illusory Devil Art' that we know of comes from a sword that is known as the 'Seven Sins Divine Sword'! Does that Seven Sins Divine Sword have any relation to you whatsoever?"
The Demon King unexpectedly replied in nearly uncontrollable rage, "Ten thousand years ago, this king had finally managed to escape the calamity, and even though I did not die, the roots of my life and soul were completely destroyed. Anytime my body came into contact with the light of the sun and the moon, I was wracked with unbearable agony. Furthermore, it was highly likely that I would die in that condition so I had no choice but to cower in this dark abyss! In order for this king to find out what was going on in the outside world, I threw my one and only partner Seven Sins Divine Sword into the outside world!"
"This king had thought that he would do this king's bidding and be this king's eyes and ears in the world. But that traitor actually cut off the soul link that he had with this king! He actually betrayed this king! And he even passed down my Illusory Devil Art to others… AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
"To think that this king actually treated him as my closest partner! But in the end, he wound up betraying this king… THAT TRAITOR!!!"
The Soul Devouring Demon King's emotions were going berserk, and his deafening roars of fury threatened to rupture Erza's and Beel's eardrums.
Erza was cursing the Demon King silently in her heart. She did not want to get shouted. She just wanted to understand why was he still alive!?
In the end, the Demon King could not control his anger anymore as he started to launch his attack.
'Gods Fall!'