The Demon King

The power of a B-rank like Angel was overwhelmed like he was nothing. The Demon was terrifyingly powerful and there was nothing that they could do.

"Keith." Johnny clenched his sword and stared above them. "Can we ever survive this?"

Keith had no answer. Just a few hours ago, he was still playing video games while his dog was laying its head on his lap. Now, he was going to die in the hands of the Demon. He didn't expect this to happen.

Some of the Hunters tried to break the dome that kept them. But even wiith their D-rank skills, the dome remain unscratched. They didn't even leave any mark or scratch on the dome.

There was no way out.

"It's a shame that I had to choose your group to be my first victims," Chiron said. "My powers transcends ordinary Demons. I can destroy everything in my path because I have ascended to the highest paths."

Chiron closed his palms close to his chest. He looked down and sighed. "I pray that your souls be condemned to your eternal hell where it belongs."

He opened his hands and raised them. "Light Magic—"

"No!" Keith launched himself from the ground and raised his sword. Chiron could not finish his cast because the man was already in front of him. He grit his teeth before receiving the blow from Keith with his own hands.

"What pathetic ant," Chiron laughed. "You think you can stand a chance against me?"

Keith knew that he was in no way near the power compared to Chiron. The gap between them was just too much that it was ridiculous for him to even think of attacking the Demon. Even Angel was no match for him, why would he think that he has any chance? All he did was play video games and laze his days away. He didn't even do much in Dungeon raids.

There was no way that he could defeat Chiron, but he wasn't going to die without fighting for his life. That's all he had in his mind.

Chiron gripped Keith's collar to raise him. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "You have despair and hopelessness in your eyes, but you still dare attack me."

"I have nothing to lose," Keith said. He slashed his sword forward, using all of his strength to try and injure Chiron even for a little.

Splat!

Tears fell from Keith's eyes as he saw his leg being held by a powerful force. The force twisted his leg along with the bones inside it. Blood splattered as if a rag was twisted to drain out its water. He coughed out blood as his tears flowed from his eyes like an endless river in pain.

"Poor boy," Chiron laughed. "Now for your other leg."

"Johnny, aren't you going to do anything about this?" A Hunter told Johnny, approaching the man who could only stare at the scene. "Keith will die."

"That kid brought it upon himself, Morris," Johnny replied. He looked away when Chiron flattened Keith's other leg. He heard the man growl in pain, but he never screamed. Keith held the screams together, tightly inside him.

"He's going to die," Morris held his breath when he saw Chiron about to hold Keith's face with his free hand.

"Fucking little brat!" Johnny cursed in anger. He gripped his sword and shield to rush toward Keith. He was a mere low class, yet he was here facing a Demon that can outmatch Hunters with higher caliber. Keith was an inspiration to them, even when he was literally doing something that only fools would do, he still tried..

"What are you doing here?" Keith asked when he saw Johnny approach. Tears were still dripping from his eyes, but he looked relieved when he saw Johnny. "He'll kill you."

"Ants," Chiron grit his teeth. "What an insult to be approached by another one. You think I'm enjoying fighting weaklings like you?!"

"I'm only rated as D-rank, but i have my own will to fight too!" a woman yelled. She spun her spear and launched herself from the ground to help.

Morris couldn't help but be persuaded by everyone's resolve. Keith's sacrifice boosted the morale they lost when Sean and his friends were killed. It was like Keith lit a fire inside them– one that would burn bright.

"Let's go!" Morris yelled. "We're Hunters and we should be the one doing the hunting, not the other way around!"

"Is that so?"

Morris froze from his spot when he heard Chiron speak behind him. Fear rushed through his veins as he felt the overwhelming presence of the Demon so close to him.

Splat!

With one swipe of his hand, Chiron blew Morris' head away. The boost in morale that everyone gained not long ago was flushed down the drain in an instant. They were pulled right into reality just like that.

Meanwhile, Keith fell to the ground before Johnny could catch him. When Chiron heard Morris' pep talk, he slammed Keith to the ground while he appeared behind Morris to kill him. Out of a sudden, his interest in Keith vanished and it was now time for him to annihilate the other Hunters.

"If only I knew that it was this easy to kill the Hunters, I would've come out sooner," Chiron laughed. He was surrounded by scared Hunters and was outnumbered heavily, yet he was still confident with his power. "I don't know if I should continue."

Splat! Splat! Splat!

Keith opened his eyes to find himself under a pile of rubble. Johnny was sitting beside him, eyes darkened with fear and hopelessness. He lost all will to even stand when he saw all of the other Hunters get killed.

"Is he still alive?" Keith muttered in a raspy voice. His throat was fine because Chiron held the collar of his shirt, but the impact from the fall made him lose his voice.

"We're the only ones left," Johnny said. "I don't even know what to do right now. Chiron is still busy taking the Cores from the Hunters. It won't be long before he finds us.

"Then let us make sure that we put up a fight," Keith said. He stood, even with his torn limbs. His legs were unsightly and his body was filled with cuts and bruises, but he still managed to stand up.

Johnny's eyes widened in shock. He pulled Keith back and told the danger that they were facing. "No, boy. You cannot go there. You'll only get killed."

"I don't want to hide," Keith said. "I am a Hunter and I'm here to hunt, not hide."

"Did you finish talking already?" Chiron spoke as he appeared behind Johnny. "I was getting bored just trying to the two of you argue. When will you two stop talking and try to kill me?"

"Don't underestimate me," Johnny growled and slammed his sword to the ground. Iron Magic: Piercing Thorns!"

Johnny's thrust his sword forward and it burst out with metal spikes. Chiron did not even flinch when the spikes appeared. He only yawned and pushed the sword to the side.

"Rose Gold Magic..." Angel stood slowly. He gathered up all of his strength and revived the vines that he summoned earlier. He lost an arm, but he didn't lost his will to fight just yet.

"Still alive, huh?" Chiron laughed. He crossed his arms and stared at Angel. "Show me your power!"

"Glittering Vines!" Angel yelled. The vines he summoned spun together and launched toward Chiron. The Demon did not even flinch when the giant vines toppled over him, burying him on the ground by all the amount of power.

"I'm not done yet." Angel panted and raised his sword with his remaining left arm. "Burst!"

The thorns of the vines spun and formed into roses. The roses glowed into a bright gold color before exploding into powerful bursts of energy. Keith felt relieved after seeing the amount of power that exploded right above Chiron.

This was Angel's real power. He showed his full potential, and how strong he actually was instead of the one he kept showing as his persona.

"Is it done?" Keith asked, trembling as he struggled to stand. He narrowed his eyes to try and see through the smoke from the explosion, only for his hope to shatter when he saw Chiron still standing.

"Oh, fuck," Angel chuckled sarcastically before falling back into the ground. "I thought I did it. I thought I fucking did it."

"You showed me a good fight," Chiron laughed. He was filled with cuts and burns all over his body, meaning Angel was able to inflict some damage to him. "But it wasn't that good for me to spare you."

Chiron walked toward Angel, standing right above the unconscious man. "Shame. Your power was rare, but it's still too raw."

"No," Keith whispered. "Stop."

Chiron raised his hand and a burst of dark green light lit aflame. Memories started flooding inside Keith's head. The scene from when he was little played like an old movie. Chiron's eyes burned with a dark purple color as he slammed his hand forward.

Splat!

"Blargh!"

Johnny dropped his weapons as he saw the scene in front of him. Chiron's hands shot past Keith's stomach. The flames erupted around Keith as it spun into a vortex. But it wasn't what made him nervous. It was the look on Chiron's face.

It was as if the Demon saw an unimaginable horror unleashing right before his very eyes. Chiron pulled his arm away and shook his head vigorously. "No, no, no. What have I done?"

Keith's body burned into a powerful burst of dark blue energy. His hair turned white with some strands turning to a blue color. His skin got lighter and his body grew exponentially, almost matching Chiron's height.

"Demon King!"