Rex, the Divine General, stood face to face with the Archdemon, a towering figure of malevolence. The air was thick with tension as their eyes locked, each warrior knowing that this battle would determine the fate of the settlement. Within moments, their swords clashed with a force that sent shockwaves through the ground, causing it to crack and crumble beneath their feet. The sheer intensity of their clash took a toll on mother earth and created a small crater, pushing them both inches into the earth.
Rex, unprepared for the Archdemon's next move, attempted a direct attack, but the Archdemon deftly dodged and conjured a dark glaive. With a swift, brutal motion, he struck Rex's armored foot, piercing it despite the divine protection, and followed with a powerful kick to Rex's chest, sending him flying fifty feet away.
As Rex crashed to the ground, pain surged through his body. The Archdemon teleported behind him, his movement shrouded in a dark, glitch-like aura. Grabbing Rex by the hair, he delivered a devastating kick to Rex's head. Rex spat blood and, dazed, questioned his own abilities. Why could the Archdemon overpower him so easily? Why did his divine armor fail to absorb his demonic attacks? How powerful were the demons above him if this is the strength of an Archdemon, not even the second-topmost in the hierarchy? And at that moment, he found his consciousness in the same divine realm where his powers were granted to him by the celestials. Rex, in an all weakened state, found himself kneeling with his head facing down in front of the gigantic celestial assembly, as Rex hauled his head up with pain, trying to meet the gaze of the beings he was addressing, one of the celestial being stood up helping rex to regain himself and stand while providing him gentle support with his hand that seemed to be filled with ocean of galaxies, the other celestials told him how they were the ones who imbue the worldly realms with nourishment and power of theirs and were the ones as well who chose rex to represent them against the demonic threat to their most beloved planet, they explained how they cannot intervene in human world just like the demons as per the orders given to them by the supreme being who created all of the life and existence in this universe. One of the celestials whom Rex identified as Poseidon stood up from his throne wearing sapphire blue and the same nature-luminous hooded robe the others wore, covering their faces. He spoke to Rex with an intimidating tone: "We shall now explain the essence of your powers and how there is a way to increase them even beyond their own designed limits.".
Returning to the battle field, Rex knew there was no time for recoil. He pulled apart the cursed glaive from his foot using his hand with agony and tried to staunch the bleeding by focusing his powers on that injured part. Channeling divine energy into the wound, he managed to slow the blood flow, boosting the healing process. All this while, he evaded the Archdemon's relentless attacks, darting away with his light-speed ability.
The Archdemon, eyes glinting with cruel intent, summoned concentrated dark energy spheres within his grips and hurled them with terrifying accuracy. Rex couldn't dodge them and had his legs pierced, penetrating through his divine armor, which appeared as ordinary skin but glowed and magically concealed its true form while hiding the true identity of Rex as well to the others. The attack tore gaping holes just above Rex's knees, sending searing pain through his body, followed by another heavy kick to his chest that would have been fatal if not for the protective armor. Rex fell a distance apart, crunched his back on a broken wall and cried out in agony, the force of the attack driving him to his knees. Blood poured from the wounds, and for a moment, he was paralyzed by the sheer intensity of the pain. His vision blurred, and he spat blood again, feeling an unprecedented weakness wash over him. The pain was so intense that he cried aloud, temporarily disabled by the brutal assault.
The Archdemon laughed maniacally in a silent tone, mocking the gods, teasing Rex's powerlessness, and calling him their "shitty puppet," possessing powers less than even those of an Archdemon. With a sinister grin on his face, he extended his hand and delivered a two-handed punch to Rex's head, causing his mouth to flood with blood and lose his senses for several seconds again. "Yyyou should have known, pest, that you are no match for me. I will kill you in the worst way possible, for I know this isn't your full power and without it you have no chance against me at all," said the archdemon with a cruel satisfaction. "Let's see if you can unleash it if I do this." Just after saying that, he used his dark powers to bring forth a teenage girl, ensnared in the magical chains of darkness, similar in age to Rex. Creating a needle-sized sword out of his finger nail, he began to scratch and pierce her legs while laughing maniacally, forcing her parents and Rex to watch her suffer in misery. Rex cried out silently, kneeling in supplication, his heart broke as the demon taunted him, calling him impotent, feeble, and pathetic like a worm living in the untidy canals.
The girl's knees were bloodied and she was on the verge of death due to the massive blood loss when Rex, kneeling on the ground, appeared to give up. The Archdemon was overjoyed to see Rex fall apart and devised another strategy to weaken Rex's fighting spirit. Thinking Rex was helpless and vanquished, the archdemon hoisted the girl far in the sky, dangling from his stretched hand, and planned to devour her alive. But Rex wasn't idle; he was plotting.
As the Archdemon gloated and opened his gaping maw with an intent to devour the girl, appearing like a portal to the abyss. Rex tapped into the depths of his divine power, executing the strategy that he had devised while feigning defeat. He needed to act quickly and decisively, so he healed his legs with a canopy of divine energy as much as he could in the ample number of seconds he had. The healing wasn't perfect, but it was enough for a speedier recovery and healing of the injured part. He concentrated on his inner strength, forgetting his pain and rage and turning his mind's attention towards a focused attack with his wide open eyes. Rex had been catching sight of a pattern in the Archdemon's movements right from the onset of their battle—a slight delay providing insight before each attack. He decided to exploit this weakness and land the final blow.
Gathering his remaining strength, Rex summoned a blinding burst of light from his hands. He closed his eyes, concentrating his divine energy into a single point within his chest. The light grew brighter, radiating outwards and flowing into his hands, filling him with a blindingly intense power. He visualized the burst of light in his hands in the form of a spear, sharp and focused, ready to pierce through the darkness of the Archdemon's core.
With a sudden explosive speed that shattered the ground underneath, Rex dashed towards the Archdemon. There was a powerful radiation coming from the Archdemon's chest. Sensing this disturbance, Rex discerned the Archdemon's vital core, identifying its pivotal center. Imbued with his light-speed ability, he momentarily blinded his opponent. In that instant, he took his chance and delivered a concentrated blow targeted precisely at the demon's core. The almighty spear, obeying his master's command, flew through the heavy air and disrupted the dark energy source.
The Archdemon staggered, coughing up black fluids, his once mocking expression replaced by shock and disbelief. Rex, without any further delay, fueled by anger and hatred, delivered a clenched fist of roar to the Archdemon's chest, mirroring the one he had received. With the sole thought and intent to destroy the Archdemon, he happened to trigger the full potential of his divine powers. The impact was so powerful, unlike the one he had suffered, that it infused massive amounts of divine energy within the Archdemon's body and erased him from reality upon contact, vaporizing every last cell of his body in a blinding explosion of light.
Rex stood over the spot where the Archdemon had been, the battlefield illuminated by the residual glow of his attack. But at the same moment, he felt an intense pain coursing through his body that felt like as if cracks had developed over his body, questioning its existence he somehow held his balance. Determined not to let his injuries slow him down, Rex concentrated his divine energy on his injured legs, enveloping them in one more healing light. Gradually, the divine energy mended his torn flesh and sealed the cuts, restoring his strength.
With the Archdemon vanquished, Rex turned his attention to the injured girl. He approached her with a look of mercy and compassion. Kneeling beside her, he placed his hands over her wounds, channeling the same warm and calming healing energy. The light from his hands flowed into her body, knitting her torn flesh together and erasing the pain. Her breathing steadied, and she began to regain consciousness.
As the girl opened her eyes, Rex felt his strength waning and his vision becoming blurry with each passing second. The exertion of the battle and the intense use of his powers had taken a toll on him. He recalled what the celestials had told him to achieve to overcome this and managed to stand, but as the adrenaline faded, he felt a wave of exhaustion crash over him. The last thing he saw before everything went black was the grateful faces of the ethereal knights sitting beside him, praising him, and the serene, relieved expression of the girl he had saved.