Intense sparks of lightning scattered around the demonic giant body of the monster. It was laughing and enjoying the surge of power it had just received.
Sylvester’s heart was beating fast and strong, for he knew the situation had turned from just bad to a calamity.
The Demon was flapping its tentacles all around in madness. What was it feeling, it was unknown. But it was laughing for sure. Its big red eyes also shone simultaneously, and its size seemed to increase. ．𝚌ｏ𝚖
“Wraaa… Cut it… Syl…”
Sylvester was alerted by that growl of the Demon. Was it addressing him and telling him to cut it?
At that, a hypothesis formed in his mind. “Is it possible that Lady Aurora’s soul is so strong that she is fighting to stay alive and killing it from inside? Then that would mean the Demon is not yet as strong as her! What a mad woman… Chonky! Give me all the Solarium-Light bombs.” He roared and started chanting.
The runes on his old and rusty armour were already activated to provide physical protection.
Boom!
The Demon threw its more enormous tentacles at him, slamming them onto the ground. But dodging them was not going to help as each strike also let out a giant shockwave of lightning–spreading all around.
“Fuck!” He jumped into the air and used the Light Step to stay above the ground.
“Lady Aurora! If you can hear me, then please keep the creature distracted! I will kill it!” He tried to communicate.
“Graaaaa!” Instantly, the Demon cried loudly as if it faced some sort of attack.
‘I hope it’s Lady Aurora’s doing.’
He looked back, picked up all the Solarium-Light bombs, and tied them around his body. “Miraj… Stay back. Feed me the crystals if I lose too much blood and energy.”
Miraj seriously nodded. “Got it, Maxy. Please don’t die!”
Sylvester smirked. “I never plan to die, Chonky.”
Of course, Sylvester had already devised a plan to beat the Demon. So even though he didn’t know why Lady Aurora was physically unsuccessful, all he could hope now was that his light would be adequate.
Thud!
Boom!
The tentacles kept on slamming down on Sylvester as the Demon tried to fight Lady Aurora internally and Sylvester physically.
‘Now!’
Sylvester found an opportunity and rushed forward. He jumped over various small craters and tentacles.
Bam!
“Gah! Fuck!” He cursed as a tentacle suddenly held his foot and swung him into the air.
Sylvester tried to free himself and used his spear to cut the tentacle apart. With his light magic easily imbued in it through the runes, he easily did it.
Thud!
He fell to the ground and, without waiting, again rushed towards the root. But, he noticed that even when the Demon was in agony, its focus was on him–trying to stop him at all costs.
Boom!
Once again, another tentacle got a hold of him, this time coming out of the ground and swinging him vigorously. It threw him away from itself instead of trying to harm him.
‘I need to take its ability to see.’ He decided on a whim and changed his direction of attack. Instead of rushing towards the root, he jumped from one tentacle to another, trying to reach the main body of the Demon.
Behind his head, a halo shined. On the one hand, the spear was aligned; on the other was a light magic rune appearing well-defined.
“Aaaargh!”
The demonic monster was screaming the whole time. It appeared that Lady Aurora was successfully hurting it. That also gave enough time to Sylvester.
He jumped and made his way all the way to the eyes. Once he reached closer, he launched his spear at full power, its tip burning with fire.
Boom!
The sound barrier was easily broken, as evident by the loud sonic boom. It travelled in a straight line and, with complete precision, plunged into the Demon’s left eye.
“Wraaaa…!”
Sylvester was not done. He knew the Demon would go mad now and focus on him entirely, even if Lady Aurora hurt it.
So, he decided to create a lot of decoys. In an instant, his body started shining with Light Magic, covering him from head to toe. He then proceeded to create light clones, the same thing he once used on Lady Aurora.
Soon, a dozen clones appeared, all made of pure light magic. They were so bright that the entire area illuminated and made the Demon cry in fear–enough that it started to retract its tentacles.
“I’ll take it!” Sylvester climbed closer to the face of the Demon and leapt across it, pulling back the spear and then landing on the ground. Though he wasted no time and focused back on the other eye.
He charged the spear with fire, so its tip was deadly, and at the same time, he used air runes imbued on the spear’s body to make it go at its maximum speed.
Boom!
Again, the spear plunged right into the other eye of the Demon, effectively blinding it.
“Graaaa… Filth! Leave me!”
Sylvester ignored the screams and rushed towards the root without wasting a moment. He tried to be in hate as he had no idea if the Demon could heal itself. Though it was still frantically slamming its tentacles around, but now they were predictable as they didn’t seem to react to his presence.
He reached his waist and started activating all the solarium-light bombs slowly. But he didn’t throw them away yet as he wished to protect Lady Aurora’s body first.
Shh…!
He slid below the Demon and eventually arrived near the root. The place was not surrounded by as many tentacles, but it had dust blowing around due to the frantic Demon.
He quickly used simple air elemental magic to blow away the dust and see everything carefully. “There she is!”
He rushed to Lady Aurora’s body as it rested on the ground without any visible wounds on her. “You owe me one again.”
Sylvester tried to pick her up and take her to safety. In that task, the clones were supposed to help by acting like a light shield. They were to keep the tentacles away from him as his speed would slow down significantly.
‘I hope she can return to the body after defeating the creature.’
“Ss-ave usss…”
“He-lp…”
But all of a sudden, he heard some voices from behind. He faintly recognised them from the first time he had entered the mist.
He turned around and noticed the large orbs that Miraj had talked about. Inside the orbs were various ghost-like figures of people. At the top, the front, was the figure of a tiger Beastkin, thumping his claws at its prison.
‘H-How deep does this root go for it to contain the souls of all the inquisitors as well?’
“Wraaaa!” The Demon raged continuously, and its shining bolts of lightning were ever-increasing, revealing it was growing stronger.
Sylvester looked at Lady Aurora’s body in his arms. “Forgive me, but I will have to throw you out.”
He swung himself in a circular motion and soon released Lady Aurora outside. Her body flew like a ragdoll and soon fell far away, where the Demon could not reach her.
“Now, it’s time to chop some roots.” He held the spear and started throwing around the Solarium-Light bombs. They were now like ticking time bombs as they shined brightly.
“Sss-ave Usss…”
“I am saving you! Shut up now!” He bellowed and continued to prepare for his major move.
Bam!
Bam!
“Fuck!” Sylvester cursed and hurried. The Demon was getting out of control, as evident by the lightning it was now aiming underneath itself on Sylvester.
Soon after, one of them struck Sylvester point blank, right on top of his back.
“Argh! Damn it! This is not good!” He cursed as he felt his clothes burning and his body suffering from a deep burning wound.
Boom!
Another strike fell on him, injuring him more. Though he quickly took out some Solarium crystals and ate them to keep his body in a good state in magical terms.
His goal was to place the Solarium Crystals around the whole root and then activate them simultaneously–so he could channel all that power into his spear’s strike.
It took him merely a few seconds, but they still felt like hours. But finally, he was done as he aimed his spear’s blade at the root.
“Here goes everything! Haaa!” He used all the physical and magical strength his body could muster.
The spear’s tip shined as three layers of bright white rune schemes appeared. At the bottom of the spear, two more layered runes appeared, pale white this time, blowing out air and trying to push the spear as strongly as possible.
Sylvester’s feet got locked on the ground as he used earth magic to dig himself in the dirt.
“Y-ou… can… dooo… it…”
“Yesss…”
The faint whispers of the souls resounded louder this time as they expectantly saw him try to defeat the Demon.
“Haaa!” As the lightning got stronger, he shouted in rage and pain.
Boom!
Just at that moment, all thirty Solarium-Light bombs exploded at the same time. The light they produced was blinding, to say the least. They were so bright and intense that every ounce of mist remaining in the entire village got washed away. They even burned all the garments Sylvester had on his body.
It was so bright that for miles and miles away, it was visible as a shining dot. For the free Inquisitors and villagers, the scene was that of God’s grace. They simply fell to their knees and prayed, for they could feel the warmth of it.
“Graaaa… Die! Die!” The Demon was in excruciating pain as it shook intensely from the burning light–its bane.
Sylvester’s focus, however, was on the root. His spear plunged into the root with full might and added weight from the bombs.
His hymns were muffled, but they echoed loudly.
a??For every poison, there is an antidote.
For your vile sins, face the smote.
Cry as my spear tears you apart.
Growl as your soul prepares to depart.a??
The Demon went berserk and screamed so loud that Sylvester couldn’t even feel himself singing. Its screams reached lands far and beyond easily. Spreading dread to all those who heard, for this was the strongest of all demons.
a??Begone, filth! For that is your destiny.
Hear my hymns and burn in their melody.
Face the consequences of making me an enemy.a??
Boom!
The spear pierced through the root and plunged deep into it. It tore everything apart and severed the connection between the souls and the Demon’s main body.
Thud!
Sylvester, however, fell to his knees as he lost all strength. The thunder had ceased to fall, but the damage on him was not small.
“Haaa!” Sylvester roared as he pushed his body for the last stab. And with that, like muscles, the roots got completely severed apart.
“Nooo…” The Demon’s roars first increased and then slowly diminished, for its end had come. Its own biology was its bane. In agony, it writhed profusely, but there was nowhere to flee.
But to Sylvester, his eyes, arms, and legs felt heavy. Too great was the pain as the wounds were many–too high was the price levied.
He hoped that if anything was left, Lady Aurora could solve, for he had done all he could, going beyond what his physique allowed. He now merely hoped to have some rest endowed.
“C-Chonky!” was the last call before his fall.
________________________
400 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.
1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.
APE TOGETHER STRONG!