Ch 10

"Looks like I found myself a troublesome guy."

Areth commented as innumerable horde of demons marched from the horizon. There was also something flying towards his direction.

The evil gaze did not leave him and the air was saturated with thick bloodlust.

There was a whistling sound in the air. A black dot from far away was approaching his location with shocking speed.

"A human? To think a puny being like you could annihilate the troops stationed here. Very good."

A loud voice echoed.

The flying object was a a humanoid demon. Large muscular body and curled horns, it was different from the deformed demons he had seen a while ago.

The demon reached him in a less than a second, a massive fist was poised to strike, Areth could even see burning veins beneath the red skin as it flex.

"DIE!" With a roar like a thunderclap, the fist blurred and smashed. The demon held nothing back in this punch, giving its best shot.

As the fist clashed with Areth's barrier, there was no loud impact, as one might expect. There was a light noise, even the demon did not expect such outcome from his attack. His fist seemed to lost power, just like striking a soft object.

"Surprised?" Areth spoke with condescending tone. He could see the puzzled expression on the demon's face. "Brutes like you who could only rely on physical strength has no chance of defeating me."

As he finished speaking, a crack seem to sound from the demon's arm.

The barrier flashed, the demon was instantly blasted far away, faster than the speed he arrived. He crashed to the marching army and made a large impact, tumbling for several miles before stopping.

His body was bloodied, deformed and full of bruise. There was nothing but bafflement on his face, still struggling to comprehend how he lost.

While Areth was observing from afar, he noticed the back of his hand being covered in strange black markings, they were slowly climbing to his arms.

"Such a vile curse." He clenched his hand and the black marks shattered, escaping to the air. "Allow me to let you have a taste of your own medicine."

In the middle of the demon army, a group of peculiar demons were gathered. There were 4 of them and each of them was on a different class than the surrounding demons. They were clearly exceptional and more powerful.

One of them suddenly let out an agonized scream. The other three turned to their colleague only to find him rolling on the ground, his entire body was burning with golden radiance, smoke rising up from his orifices.

The other three stepped back and did nothing to help their fellow demon.

"Our enemy this time could not be taken lightly." One of them said in a hoarse voice.

"He took out Carnage and Grievance in just a matter of second, emerging unharmed all throughout."

Suddenly, one of them made a panicked expression. "Not good! Sorrow, get us out here!"

The one called Sorrow extended out tentacles which tapped the other three.

There was a bloody glow emerging in the midst of the demon horde, devouring the rest in a fiery flame and instantly turning them to ashes.

The explosion did not stop expanding, growing even brighter and hotter. The gloomy world was transformed into a world of light, as though a sun had descended upon the ground. A strong wind escaped from the epicenter, so powerful that nothing could resist it.

The demons who were fortunate to remain outside the range of the explosion were caught up by the hot air. The high temperature was sufficient to burn them alive.

The light lasted for more than ten seconds, and after it receded, there were no demons visible. Only in the outer part could one still see trace of corpses, some body parts were still moving, showing their resilience.

Meanwhile, somewhere far from the battlefield, hidden behind a sturdy rock, a group blankly stared towards the horizon. It was a binding flash of light that lasted for several breaths, as well a violent wind current smashing their faces. The mountain which they use as a base shook violently. They have never seen such power before.

They were not demons, but rather spies sent to this world. Five of them hid behind the rock and whispered in fear.

"D-did you see that?"

"We have eyes...I thought it was the end of the world."

The two ladies spoke, one of them had pointed, elongated ear, a female elf. The other wore a silver armor, with platinum hair.

The remaining three were men. One of them was middle aged, wearing only an old grey cloak, then a black haired young man with a sword, finally, a man carrying the most luggage, he was carrying a lot of scrolls in his arms.

Seemingly lost in thought, the middle aged man was not able to escape from his stupor. He spoke.

"The demons...they're all dead."

Even the most apathetic among them, the black haired swordsman could not help but double take. Indeed, the horrifying army that gathered just a moment ago were gone. Only flames could be seen raging on but no movements.

"The four demon generals... Did they escape?" The elf said.

The young man carrying the luggage shook his head.

"They have Sorrow in their ranks. It knows how to teleport. It would be a good news for us though if they get caught up in that explosion. Even if they are demon generals, it would be certain death if got swept up with that."

"But then, what caused that explosion?" The girl wearing the armor asked.

"Before this giant explosion, there has been two massive explosions with lesser magnitude and then the demons were mobilized. It seems like they are facing an enemy." The middle aged man said.

"It doesn't matter." Said the young man. "The enemy of our enemy is our friend."

The young man stared at the battlefield, and with some hesitation, spoke to the rest. "Shall we approach and observe?"

The group looked towards the middle aged man. He was the leader.

"It might get dangerous, but if we could seek help from this entity who could take on an army of demons at once, we would have an additional insurance for our motherland." The man said.

"We better approach carefully." The young man said and distributed scrolls to each of the members.

"Let's go [Levitate]." This respective scrolls shone and faint glow shrouded their body. Their feet left the ground and they set off flying towards the battlefield.

Areth looked at the four human like creatures surrounding him. Their general form resembles that of humans, but their features were distorted.

The demon Sorrow had the upper body of a human, however the legs were replaced by thick tentacles. It's face was also monstrous, no different from the demons Areth had seen.

The next demon named Grievance, was like an emancipated man, resembling a zombie. His skin was wrinkled, and the stomach area was slightly bloated. He stared at Areth with hatred.

The other demon had stone like skin and sharp claws. There was an air of savagery coming from its body.

The last was different from the rest. It was a lady with blood red wings. She possessed an alluring body, barely covered by her red crystal armor.

Their mere presence has tainted the air with thick miasma, normal humans would not be able to survive such environment, their mentality would collapse and they would go mad.

Areth merely gave them a glance.

"I presume that the dumb guy died from the explosion?" He was referring to the demon who attempted to take him on. Base on his estimate, the power of that guy was equal to these four.

"Let's not speak about him." The lady demon said. "I'm more curious about which world you have come from. Mind telling me little guy?"

Hearing this, Areth laughed and said in a mocking tone. "What is the use of you probing me? Did you really think you could leave here alive?"

"You!"

"Arrogant human, I'll tear you apart!"

Despite their angry screams, they did not dare to act.

'Four goons, I should be able to take care of them before lunch.' Areth thought.

"Truthfully, I am thankful that you chose to face me instead of escaping. It would save me time looking for you one by one."

With a wave of his hand, numerous light swords appeared in the air.

The four demons also prepared for battle. The demon Sorrow conjured dozens of doppelgänger, Grievance shrouded himself in darkness and formed a giant avatar, the stone skinned demon turned its skin into sturdy crystals covered in spikes, the succubus drew a whip made of flames.

Without any warning, the swords turned into rays and covered the sky with bright lines. Some of them reached the land and pierced through it for at least five meters deep before fading.

"ROOAR!" The crystal demon effortlessly deflected the light swords and scattered them across, some pierced through but it remained unharmed. Sharp swords formed on its limbs and they slashed at Areth.

Areth did not even glanced at the demon. When the attack connected to his barrier, the demon faced the same fate as its predecessor. It was knocked down to the ground.

Sorrow who was variously observing from afar could not contain his shock. Even now he was prepared to escape via teleport.

'Is this even within the realm of magic?' He thought.

He yelled to the others. "Physical attacks do not work against him."

Grievance unleashed a wave of black flames disregarding the swords that stabbed at his avatar, this condensed miasma was very dangerous for non-demons and it was mixed with vicious hexes.

The succubus also waved her whip and the sky was lit brightly by searing flames, blocking Areth's escape route.

Suddenly, their target disappeared.

Sorrow as the first to react when he noticed the ominous sparks dancing in the air.

Having marked his allies beforehand, he no longer need to come in contact with them as long as they are within acceptable range.

The three demons also vanished just before a tremendous explosion occurred.

The three reappeared below where the crystal demon fell, frowning at the explosion in the sky.

Sorrow felt a tinge of fear in his heart and wondered out loud. "Just how many times can he fire such attack? Moreover, he can also teleport instantaneously."

While they were distracted, they failed to notice a bright glare from the sky, as it was indistinguishable from the light from the explosion.

With his sharp intuition, Sorrow once again moved them out of the way. A pillar of light descended on their location, disintegrating everything it came contact to. The pillar of light was actually a giant sword, streaks of lightning could be seen running along its glowing blade.

Sorrow was already reaching the limits. Casting instantaneous teleportation had worn down his mind.

While the three were recovering, they heard the familiar voice of a boy behind them.

"Its time to quit running around like rats."

The succubus turned and slashed with the whip following her instinct. The ground beneath was immediately turned black as a large flame swept over towards the voice.

Sorrow looked around in horror. Before they even knew it, they have already been surrounded with light swords. Teleportation would no longer help in this matter, they would only be pursued and exhausted, unable to fight back.

The light swords rained down even as they attempt to protect themselves with magic barriers. They have no choice, the swords couldn't be dodged and even the crystal monster did not attempt to take on too many.

However, they soon realized how horrifying their enemy was, the swords kept producing themselves and did not stop even for a moment. Their flimsy barriers could has limits and they were slowly whittled down under the endless barrage.

These swords were no different than lasers, sharp, fast and precise. The only thing visible to the sight were lines of lights, constantly flashing like LED.

Sorrow realized that they could no longer remain passive. That damned human mage seem to have unending reserve of mana.

Driven by survival, his tentacles easily pierced the bodies of his fellows.

"W-what are you doing Sorrow?!"

"You bastard!"

"ROOAAR!"

Sorrow smiled viciously. "You might be powerful, that I acknowledge. But your powers are good only for killing cannon fodders."

"Since you all have become liabilities, I decided to sacrifice you, this human must be eliminated. Do not worry though, your contributions will reach our Lord, He had already authorized me to use your life as I see fit."

Cries of agony rang out inside the barrier. The three demons shriveled and aged rapidly. The crystal demon turned back into stone before crumbling to pieces. The other two were mummified.

Sorrow who had absorbed their powers howled in pleasure. It grew larger and dense fog of miasma leaked out from its pores. The tentacles turned into sharp claws, then they hardened into crystals. Blood escaped from his back and turned into bloody wings.

The monster revealed rows of sharp teeth, its lips reaching up to the corner of its eyes as it declared.

"HAHAHAHA! This power, can you feel it you puny human?! Once I'm done with you, I shall search which world you come from and destroy it!"

"Indeed, you look uglier now." Areth said. "I thought you would become an immortal and slay gods and buddhas. Did you really think you could win by growing extra hands and wings?"

"YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" The monster screamed.