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Lugia’s length emitted a swarm of red lights.
As the glaring red lights gradually dimmed out, Joshua slowly opened his eyes. Right before him, a whole new world was laid out.
“This is…”
The previous scene with mountains of bones had vanished without a trace. The current scene was one he had seen before.
It was a bottomless pit of unending darkness. From the pit emerged its master, accompanied by the faint clanking of metal. A chorus of the screams of the dead gave way to a figure holding his head in his hand.
It was the Lord of Dullahans, the master of the eighth minor demon world, Infinite Hell.
— There’s more.
The moment Lugia’s voice sounded, the ground in front of Joshua split in two. As per Lugia’s words, there was more. Before his very eyes, the fires of hell rose through the fissures. Black chains twined around the twisting flames like predators regarding their prey.
— A unique space like the minor demon realm is not exclusive to just the eight masters, including the Lord of Dullahans and Lich King. It’s just that places like this are hard to find to be considered a minor demon realm. By the way, this place you are seeing now is called the Black Chain Hell, the second minor demon world, and it once belonged to me.
“So…”
— Basically, if you bind the eight minor demon realms, you could form a major demon realm. In the name of the Demon God, you would attain an absolute domain that even Demon Kings couldn’t break.
“H-How?” Jerath demanded as he batted away the chains approaching him.
It was an understandable response, given that the only thing that could break through a unique space was a higher-level unique space. Jerath was contracted to Asmodeus, the 32nd-ranked demon, after all. As such, he certainly was not able to accept that his space had been broken.
“You—What’s your real identity!?”
— I told you.
A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.
Lugia sneezed out a bunch of light as if to mock Jerath’s fear.
— Don’t you dare talk about “how dare I” in front of me.
“How dare a sealed demon be impudent!”
— ...this bastard.
Jerath gritted his teeth. He was still sure that Lugia is a sealed demon. He wasn’t wrong. A demon that lost its power and was trapped in a medium was called a sealed demon.
The Demon Realm revolved around survival of the fittest. Some demons got stronger by keeping the demons they’ve defeated within arm’s reach. Even if that wasn't their goal, there were a lot of demons who sealed other demons to keep as trophies.
But the important thing was, being sealed was a mark of shame. It was undeniable proof of defeat.
“Right… that’s how it is. I’ve heard stories of demons mainly focused on sub-space creation. You’re one of them.”
— I can’t believe it.
“As per common knowledge, sub-space creation is only good for support purposes, and can never be a primary mean of combat…That must be why you became a sealed demon.”
Jerath smiled shiftily upon making his conclusion.
— Well, some guys don’t learn unless it’s beaten into them.
“Let’s see how long you can bark.”
— I don’t bark, I don’t even have a mouth.
Joshua briefly swung Lugia he was holding while he quietly listened to the two beings talk.
“Enough small talk,” Joshua said, swinging Lugia. “Berber, pay for your sins.”
- I will handle this guy.
At some point, the Black Knight, Duke Altsma had strode up to Joshua. His burning red eyes boring into the other death knight, presumably Third Prince Kasselon, opposite him.
“That’s…!” Jerath was surprised to see another death knight standing in his way. “No way…”
- I would like to see the Sun Sword created by Emperor Marcus, the first member of the Imperial family to become a Master.
The Lord of Dullahans took a step back.
- I'd like to take care of him myself, but it looks like someone else has a bigger stake than me. I’ll just watch, for now.
When the undead duke’s fiery eyes turned to Jerath, his face twisted into a scowl.
“You overstep yourself…!”
Jerath’s face was creased with justified anger. He found something that he had lost and been looking for, but it was being used by someone else. On top of that, that particular someone else was being nonchalant about it.
Behind Jerath, space contorted as dozens of 4th Circle black magic, Dark Balls were created.
“I will show you why people called me the best battle mage.”
Joshua couldn’t help but smile.
“Then I… will show you why they call me the Legendary Spear Knight.”
“How arrogant…”
Jerath was the first one to move. He murmured a short spell. Kasselon also dashed forward, spurring the Black Knight into action.
‘I'll use teleportation magic to make up for the big difference in speed.’
A glint flashed across Joshua’s eyes as he leveled his spear towards his right with a smile and a Dark Ball flew right into it and exploded.
Jerath blinked away, undeterred by the failure of his first attack.
‘Mages use other support-type spells to compensate for their physical weakness.’
Jerath reappeared behind Joshua with his arm covered in the tell-tale sparkling colors of strength and swiftness magic. Holding a dark ball in his hand, he swung his fist at Joshua's vulnerable back.
This time, however, Joshua’s response startled him. Joshua didn't try to get out of the way of the punch flying toward the back of his head, nor was the spear used to stop it like the last attack.
His hand, though? The Dark Ball, a black magic spell powerful enough to pulverize rock, was met by a human fist.
“Is this the pride of the knights? Hah—!” Jareth let out a chuckle.
“Careful! Keough!” Rod called out having experienced Jerath’s power himself. He had seemed to have regained his consciousness over time.
“Too late.” Jerath remarked.
The Dark Ball began to change its composition as it collided with Joshua’s fist. Its destructive nature was transformed into a powerful suction force that seemed to warp the space around it. It spun in the air and began to emit a strange keening.
The black magic that Jerath used became something else: a Black Hole. The 4th Circle spell had been transformed into a 6th Circle spell.
“Go! Just go!” Rod screamed, and bit his lip.
Physical force wasn’t the only thing Joshua needed to worry about when it came to the Black Hole’s suction.
“Would it be considered black magic if you can avoid it by will alone? Hahahaha.” Jareth let out a hearty laughter.
The Black Hole slowly shrunk into an eerily glowing point.
“Does it go boom?” Joshua murmured.
Jerath jerked.
“You have good taste, don't you? Yes. It’s gonna go boom. An explosion that can even destroy a Superhuman like you. The explosion will occur when the space is too full; the power of the explosion depends on the size of the object that it ate.” His smile grew wider and more sinister. “Imagine, for instance: your mana!”
“Damn this…!”
Knight Commander Rod shut his eyes despairingly.
Just as Jerath said, black magic could suck in everything, not just the physical matter of a thing. That included air and even the target’s mana.
And it would explode. Jerath dek Orbis had the ability to focus his destructive power into a small space.
“Watch! It will get smaller and go boom!”
Jerath clenched his fist.
“You say you’re the best battle mage, but you haven’t changed.”
“Wha-What?”
Joshua’s monotone voice shook Jerath.
“Ah, useless Berber. I’m so upset that a guy like you could deal damage to me.”
Joshua’s spear shot forward. Even though the Black Hole was still in front of him, he seemed oddly unperturbed by it.
Jerath’s eyes popped.
“H-How are you still moving?”
“This thing you’re calling a ‘Black Hole’… do you know what came before it?”
Joshua waggled his spear teasingly and then whipped Lugia in a spin.
A pitch-black sphere came to being, completely void of light and much bigger and darker than Jerath’s Black Hole.
“This is the Annihilation Dark Sphere.”
Jerath's back was damp with cold sweat.
Whatever Joshua said next, he couldn’t hear because the enormous Black Sphere was looming ever closer to him.
This one had the power to destroy the world.
‘The sphere in arm with a will.
Friend with pride.
Consume the enemies before me.
Leave nothing but destruction.
Magic Spear Arts Level 6, Chapter of Void.
Annihilation Dark Sphere.’
“AHHHH…!”
Jerath’s cries of pain were quickly swallowed by the Dark Sphere.