Page 261

"Hahaha! Red Dragon, I can feel it—the Abyss is watching me. My revenge is nearly complete!"

"Ascend, ascend to greatness!"

The fallen giant laughed maniacally, even though he looked utterly wretched at this moment.

His entire body trembled, dazzling yellow light bursting from his eyes and ears. The cracks on his skin grew wider, glowing with Abyssal light, black mist pouring forth.

A chaotic yet magnificent force destroyed his body, only to reshape it.

Finally, surrounded by black mist, the giant tore away his own skin and flesh, pulling out his organs, abandoning his former identity as a Frost Giant. He offered himself as nourishment for the Abyss and, in return, was reborn—a true demon.

It was now a pure demon.

The being that was once a giant spread fleshy wings from its back, horns sprouted atop its head.

His body turned blood red, as though flayed.

He casually swung his arm, pulling a massive whip of searing, chaotic fire from the void with his right hand, while his left hand drew a crackling storm blade from the chaos.

"Cassius, I will kill you."

The demon sneered, speaking each word with grim determination.

His face showed nothing but boundless hatred and fury.

Much like the famous "Ship of Theseus" paradox, having replaced all parts of his body with Abyssal elements, perhaps the Koman that once was had entirely disappeared. What remained now was a newborn demon, holding Koman’s memories.

[The Reborn Balor Demon - Koman]

Challenge Level: 18 (20,000 XP)

Cassius observed the newly reborn demon in front of him.

"A Balor Demon?"

Balor Demons—among the most powerful in the Abyss, barring the bizarre lords—were the fearsome leaders of demon armies, the pinnacle every lesser demon aspired to reach.

The energy coursing through this Balor Demon was extremely unstable, like a bomb on the verge of detonation, most likely a temporary form produced by sacrificing his life—it was not as strong as a true Balor from the Abyss.

Still, for Koman’s backer to grant him temporary Balor Demon power was no trivial feat.

It was highly probable that a demon lord was behind this.

This realization put Cassius on alert. While this newborn Balor Demon posed no threat to him, the demon lord orchestrating from behind—the so-called "Demon of Vengeance"—was a mysterious and exceedingly dangerous entity.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Red Dragon, are you afraid?"

The Balor Demon roared, swinging the fiery whip in an attempt to coil it around the red dragon’s neck.

Under normal circumstances, if the flaming whip struck, the demon could use its brute strength to drag its victim towards its blazing body and unleash a brutal assault.

Unfortunately, his foe was no mere mortal.

Cassius easily caught the flaming whip, his face showing mild curiosity.

"Has the Abyssal torrent fried your brain?

"Do you really think you can challenge a red dragon—with fire and strength?"

The Balor Demon clenched the whip tightly, trying to pull it free, but no matter how hard he struggled, the flaming whip wouldn’t budge.

The other end was held firmly in the red dragon’s giant claw.

The searing flames, deadly to mortals, meant nothing to Cassius. They weren’t even as hot as the embers during his sleep.

"Such a pathetic trick."

Instead, Cassius yanked hard.

The Balor Demon, caught off guard, was forcibly dragged towards the red dragon by an immense force.

"Cassius, you court death!"

The Balor Demon roared in anger, the storm blade in his left hand crackling with lightning as he swung it at the red dragon’s neck.

However, the lightning surrounding the storm blade was absorbed by the [Body of Storm’s Resonance], a defensive magic of the red dragon, further empowering Cassius’s thunderous retaliation.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt descended from the clear sky.

"Boom!"

The Balor Demon convulsed as he was struck, his body charred black.

Cassius gripped the flaming whip firmly, swinging the Balor Demon into the air before slamming him to the ground with all his might.

"Boom!"

"Is this what you call revenge?"

Cassius’s mouth twitched slightly. The Balor Demon wielded fire and lightning, powers similar to his own, but inferior in every way—he was nothing more than a tailor-made punching bag.

Though Cassius mocked him, his hands did not stop.

The red dragon’s muscles tensed, repeatedly slamming the Balor Demon into the earth, creating several humanoid craters.

"Enough!"

The Balor Demon finally unwrapped the whip from his arm, breaking free from the endless barrage.

He struggled to his feet, rage blazing in his eyes.

This was utter humiliation!

His nemesis, the red dragon, was treating him like a plaything!

As one of the highest-tier demons in the Abyss, the Balor Demon had far more power than this.

Koman instinctively wanted to utter Blasphemous Speech, but seeing that the red dragon was likely of chaotic evil alignment, he gritted his teeth, restraining himself—he would not be humiliated further.

"I shall grant you the madness of the Abyss!"

With that, the Balor Demon’s eyes gleamed with frenzied Abyssal light, invoking his innate spell-like ability.

[Soul Seize]

The spell was infused with Abyssal madness, and those struck by it would have their senses halved, with a high chance of descending into insanity. It was a power used only when facing an invincible foe.

However, before he could release his power, a glimmer of illusion already flashed in Cassius’s eyes.

[Tiamat’s Terrifying Illusion]

Suddenly, an enormous five-headed dragon of five colors appeared before the Balor Demon, roaring thunderously. The five heads spewed fire, frost, acid, and lightning in all directions.

"No, impossible."

"You can’t possibly summon a real deity!"

The Balor Demon gritted his teeth. Despite seeing through the illusion, the terrifying breaths had already materialized in his mind, leaving various wounds on his massive, twisted body.

The moment the illusion dissipated—

Cassius had already appeared before the Balor Demon.

The dragon crystal in his chest shone blindingly, vents releasing white smoke, as he unleashed a scorching, white-hot pillar of flame.

And this wasn’t the end—the red dragon’s jaw opened wider, with his neck and tail releasing two rows of brilliant flame tails. The dragon crystal in his chest was filled with fiery light, and the white-hot pillar of flame intensified, the outer edges turning slightly blue.

It was an empowered flame breath!

"Boom!"

Within mere breaths, the pillar of flame pierced the Balor Demon’s chest, vaporizing his dark, beating heart.

Though he also had a strong resistance to fire, the red dragon’s empowered breath far exceeded what he could endure.

The Balor Demon stared at the red dragon, unwillingness and hatred filling his eyes.

"No, no—"

"It wasn’t supposed to end like this."

His body swayed violently, his arm lifting slightly, trying to muster the last of his life force to drag down his foe, but his strength was already spent, his life nearly extinguished.

Cassius deftly stepped back, casting the draconic spell [Sheltering Egg], creating an extradimensional, egg-like refuge, disappearing from the Material Plane amidst the flickering spell lights.

"No—"

"My revenge isn’t over! Come back here!"

The Balor Demon let out a heart-wrenching roar, despair filling his eyes.

Light burst from his mouth, nose, and eyes, radiating from his entire body. His grotesque form became like a ticking bomb.

In the next instant, the Balor Demon’s death triggered an immense explosion.

"Boom!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, a terrifying heatwave obliterated everything nearby—demons, rocks, trees, all reduced to ash in the cataclysmic blast. Half the hillside was leveled, Abyssal flames blazing on the scorched earth.

The shockwave extended for miles, shaking the entire Anstica Mountain Range.

This was the [Inferno Burst], the grandest spectacle of a Balor Demon’s demise, a final firework ignited by the life of a great demon.

However, this grand firework was missing its most important spectator—the target of vengeance had wisely retreated into an unreachable extradimensional space long before.