*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooom…*
The underground dungeon was enduring the most terrifying calamity it had ever experienced in its existence as raging lightnings and sinister darkness filled every nook and cranny. The space within was crazily collapsing on itself and the thunderous explosions sounded like they were being produced by a heavenly bell that was being repeatedly smashed by an enormous mountain.
At this moment, if there were other students or elders on the scene, even if they were strong individuals who were at the King Realm, just these earth-shaking explosions would be enough to instantly cause their energy and blood to flow in reverse, rendering them unconscious.
And if they were weaker than that, they might simply be killed on the spot, completely shattered in body and soul.
Fortunately for Erza, she was covered in a faint blue barrier. This was the most precious life saving treasure which Valentine Clan had given her. It could defend against an attack from an early Emperor Realm expert. Erza subconsciously activated it when she was losing her consciousness.
One man and one devil had already exchanged hundreds of blows in this sealed world of darkness. It was as though the both of them had come to an agreement of sorts, as their strength continued to rise with no end in sight… both man and devil kept pushing each other and testing the limits of each other's power.
The catastrophe that had engulfed the dungeon grew more and more intense and it was as if the small world had been thrown into the mouth of an erupting volcano. Only the almost-matured Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb remained undisturbed, even though it was right in the eye of the storm.
*Bang!!!*
The Devil Slayer Sword exploded forward but the body of the blade was smashed aside by the Soul Devouring Demon King. Lightnings which contained the strength of the heavy sword exploded against a stone wall that was more than one hundred fifty meters away.
Immediately, an extremely shrill and piercing cracking sound muffled the explosions of the lightnings as a long crack which stretched all the way to the floor appeared on the stone wall.
Beel's blade sliced through the air as he lost his balance, but he swiftly gathered himself. Grasping the five hundred thousand kilogram Devil Slayer Sword easily in his hand, he immediately counterattacked, fiercely smashing the Soul Devouring Demon King's devilish claws aside.
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Booooom…*
The dungeon continued to shake as stone fragments began to fall from the crack in the stone wall that Beel had smashed. Before those fragments even hit the ground, they were swallowed up by an immeasurably frenzied vortex of energy.
After more than a thousand exchanges, it was remarkable that the man and the devil were still evenly matched. From the start to now, neither party was able to gain even the slightest advantage over the other.
Beel's expression was extremely gloomy, because this was no simple exchange of skills, this was a fight to the death. Between him and the Soul Devouring Demon King, one of them had to die… Yet his eyes were still shining with an excitement which only seemed to grow fiercer with each passing moment.
On the other hand, the Soul Devouring Demon King was growing more and more alarmed.
He was a devil, a true devil from the ancient times and he was a ruler amongst the devils at that! Moreover, it was tacitly understood by all devils that humans were merely an inferior lifeform that was not much different from a scurrying ant. In the past, a casual wave of his hand would have been enough to destroy a planet that contained billions of humans.
So even though his life and soul origin had sustained incredible damage and his current strength was not even a fraction of what it used to be, the contempt that he had for humans still remained carved into his very bones.
Although he was in his current weakened state, the aura that Beel exuded was still many times weaker than his own… and even though Beel held a bizarre sword that caused his power to recoil and his soul to tremble uncontrollably in fear, in the eyes of the Soul Devouring Demon King, he was still an insect.
However, from the moment he had first exchanged blows with Beel, shock began to resonate within his soul. Not only did this shock not grow weaker with each exchange, it was instead growing more and more intense with each passing moment.
Initially, he had not used all of his strength, because when he was facing a lowly creature such as this, using all of his might would be a huge stain on his name.
After realizing that Beel's strength was far greater than he had initially anticipated, he also began to increase the power that he used. But no matter how much his power rose, the other party was able to match it. And right now, it had reached the point where he was using ninety percent of his strength, yet he was still unable to suppress Beel.
In addition, the power that radiated from the Devil Slayer Sword alarmed him greatly. Given such power, every swing of that sword should expend a great amount of Beel's energy, as he merely had the body of a mortal. Shockingly, even after a thousand sword strokes, not only had his blows not become softer, they were actually growing stronger and stronger with each swing.
This was a lowly creature with an inferior body and aura. Yet he seemed to hold a power that was not inferior to the power his devil god body bestowed him!
'This damnable human being, he was definitely desperately holding on just by the skin of his teeth! Given his pathetic aura and his pathetic body, how can he continue to release such a level of power!?'
The Soul Devouring Demon King's expression warped fiercely as black light suddenly exploded out of his fiendish pupils. The highest level of the Illusory Devil Art was instantly channeled and dark devil energy surged up from within his entire body without reservation.
Beel's brows knit together as he let out a great roar. All of the muscles in his arms swelled, veins twisting and joints popping explosively as he shot forward using both feet as a spring. Berserk profound energy flowed from his entire body into his arms before surging into the Devil Slayer Sword. Without holding back, he fiercely swept the sword forward.
*Boooooom!!!*
The dark earth beneath Beel's feet had completely fractured and stone fragments were billowing in the air like leaves in his wake. He heavily smashed into the wall behind him with a loud crash.
The overly strong stone wall caused the enormous power that he had endured to completely rebound back into him, rendering his entire body numb. His consciousness instantly blanked as he nearly spat a large amount of blood out of his mouth.
The Soul Devouring Demon King was not in a much better state than he was. He had been sent flying overhead by Beel's sword smash. His huge devil body had smashed into the stone ceiling above before violently rebounding off of it. After that, he had rolled for tens of metres before he finally smashed into a stone wall.
When the Soul Devouring Demon King finally stood up, his eyes and expression had completely changed. Even his breathing had grown incredibly rough and heavy.
He… a mighty devil lord, to think that he had actually been sent flying by a human being!!
Sent flying by a human being!!
Sent flying!!
It was like a devilish curse that resonated in his ears and his soul again and again. When he had been wounded by Beel's sword at first, it was because he had been in a total state of shock and so he did not react fast enough to defend. But this time around, he had clearly used all of his powers in an all-out clash, and there were no cheap tricks involved either, yet he was still sent flying in the end!!
What kind of a humiliation was that!?
It also clearly proved that… the human who stood in front of him, the one that he had thought to be no more significant than an ant, actually had power that rivalled his own!
Beel had gotten to his feet before the Soul Devouring Demon King and even though he had endured an attack from his opponent at full strength, the five hundred thousand kilogram Devil Slayer Sword had not budged from his grip.
Though some of his bones had sustained hairline fractures and more than ten of his veins had snapped, to him, these were merely superficial injuries.
He stabilized his energy and blood before slowly sauntering towards the Soul Devouring Demon King, "Soul Devouring Demon King, you kept calling me a pathetic and lowly human being, so here I was, thinking that you were hot stuff… But it turns out that you only amount to this much after all!!"
"You… dare… to…"
Regardless of Beel's reckless mockery, the Soul Devouring Demon King had already become so incensed and ashamed because of this humiliation that all his rationality had practically flown out the window. During the Primordial Era, even in the world of devils, he was still one of the devils that stood above the rest! Mere human beings were not even qualified to kneel in his presence!
Yet right now, he had been sent flying by a human, had been wounded by a human, was being looked upon contemptuously by a human and had even received mockery from a human.
He had never experienced a humiliation like this before in his lifetime!!
"Light… less… Eternal... Nightmare!!"
As he chanted those words in a voice filled with enough hate to encompass the universe. Boundless darkness descended from above like a pitch-black curtain.
It instantly plunged Beel into a quagmire of darkness as that terrifying devouring power immediately assaulted both his body and soul. Every cell in his body seemed to be swarmed by countless dark and sinister hands which tried to drag him towards the abyss of death.
"Break!!"
"Forbidden Devil Art: Beelzebub Arcana!!"
"Time Stop!!" Suddenly, a female voice resonated in the boundless darkness.