Dark red flames erupted from Hector's palms, surging madly while he glared at Damon with murderous eyes.
"Come on, don't be shy." Damon said with a mocking smile.
Seeing this, Hector was furious. He felt disrespected by the fact that Damon wouldn't even take him seriously, even now he was in a much weaker body.
Hector wondered if he was so useless that even in Damon's weakest state, he still looked down on Hector. Bone-cracking sounds could be heard as Hector crouched like a wild beast.
His muscles bulged under his skin as he tapped into the physical strength his fox spirit lineage granted.
Bang!
The wooden floor beneath Hector's feet shattered as he charged forward. He punched forward, unleashing a torrent of dark red fox fire, but Damon didn't seem bothered.
Zeph!
Immense wind erupted from Damon's body, surging high into the sky like a fierce hurricane. Hector's fox flames were drawn into the flames, turning the wind hurricane into a fox fire hurricane.
The fiery hurricane seemed to shrink abruptly, leaving Hector confused. Almost instantly, the shrinking fiery hurricane exploded violently, forcing Hector to cross his arms to shield himself.
...
The fierce dark red hurricane did not escape Duke Hail and Michael's vigilant gaze. They were both genuinely shocked to see it, causing both men to exchange glances.
"There is a battle taking place within the Forbidden Palace." Michael said with a frown.
"I can see that." Duke Hail shrugged and continued drinking his tea.
"You are not interested in finding out who?" Michael asked, surprised by his father's indifference.
"Not really." Duke Hail shook his head. "Why get involved when I can let whoever our hero is doing most of the work for me?"
Michael rolled his eyes at this response. Duke Hail had always been the lazy type, so it was surprising he would say those words.
In the end, Duke Hail's decision was the best. He was simply curious about who their mysterious helper was.
Originally, he suspected it may be the noble family heads staging a resistance against the fox spirits, but their soldiers weren't still out in the open.
Nothing had changed, so it couldn't be them. But if it wasn't them, who?
...…
Hector's figure appeared over Damon, and he viciously stabbed forward with his claws.
Glac!
Hector's airborne figure was instantly turned into an ice sculpture, as the entire rooftop of the Forbidden Palace was encased in ice. Damon exhaled white, chilly air, glaring at Hector's frozen figures with knitted eyebrows.
"Not enough?"
Arrrrgggghhhh!
Hector's furious roar was followed by an abrupt eruption of a fierce dark red pillar of flames. Within the chaos, Hector looked down only to see Damon casually standing within the fierce flames unharmed, it seemed like the flames purposely avoided him.
"Spirit magic!" He screamed crazily.
Hector had seen this multiple times in the past. This secret element, no one else had access to, made Damon seem invincible on the battlefield.
"You know how this goes." Damon sneered mockingly as his eyes revealed an invisible pressure.
Boom!
The fox fire was instantly blown away by the invisible force, while Hector was sent hurling across the rooftop. He hit the ground and rolled uncontrollably, only stopping at the edge.
Blegh!
Hector clenched his stomach while he forcibly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Bastard," Hector growled, his fangs stained with blood. "You can act all high and mighty as you want, but you are nothing but a shadow of your old self."
"Yet this mere shadow can toy with a nine-tailed Demon fox. Hahahahaha. Good… Good… I will pick this shadow over you any day." Damon retorted with a mocking chuckle.
Damon seemed unfazed by his foe's taunts. On the other hand, Hector was furious when he heard Damon's response. His face reddened with embarrassment while his nails grew into claws.
"I'll kill you!" Hector bellowed as a dark red fog diffused from his body.
Moonlight Mirage.
Under the light of the moon, a demon fox could create an impenetrable fog that bends light and sound, confusing enemies and making the fox invisible within the mist. The mist causes hallucinations, making it nearly impossible for enemies to distinguish reality from illusion.
In a mere second, the entire rooftop was covered in Hector's illusionary fog. Damon stood calmly with his hands gracefully placed behind him and his eyes closed while waiting for Hector to make a move.
Suddenly, his eyes yanked open as he noticed multiple shadowy figures moving in the red fog. Soon, he was surrounded and they all lunged forward.
Buzz!
All the illusionary clones vanished as Hector was held up in mid-air with spirit magic.
"I am the God of Death. Your illusions and distractions are useless, I can sense your negative emotions. How do you think I knew you would try to get rid of me? Did you really think that old fox was well hidden within your statue? Your throne room oozed of resentment the moment I revealed my Death magic to you." Damon scoffed.
A powerful shockwave of spirit force dispelled the illusionary fog, while Hector remained airborne, unable to move a finger. Even now when he had all the advantages, he was miserably losing against Damon, who only had remnant soul energy substituting as his mana reserve.
Was he so worthless?
Even now, Damon looked at him, not like a person but a thing. He felt like an item that Damon could discard at any time.
Damon made him feel worthless!
"I'll kill you, even if it's the last thing I do!" Hector bellowed with bloodshot eyes.
He originally planned to conserve his mana against Damon for Duke Hail and Michael, but none of that mattered anymore. He wanted nothing more than to get rid of Damon right now.