"Hm~"
"More are coming..."
Seeing the arrival of the mage, Belath wasn't surprised.
Mages had always boasted of being the guardians of Earth.
It would've been strange if they hadn't shown up.
"Where is the Ancient One?"
"Does she not care, so she sent you to die?"
Belath looked at Daniel Drumm with disdain.
Although he also bore the title of archmage, his power was far weaker than that once held by the Supreme Sorcerer.
To Belath, a warrior on the level of a deity, Daniel posed no threat.
"The Ancient One knows what you've done."
"You will face her very soon."
Daniel tried to act calm, as if to say:
"Wait, my big brother is almost here."
But deep inside, he was uncertain.
He had already tried to contact the Ancient One.
Her response was… unusual.
"That child caused a mess. Let him deal with the consequences himself."
Daniel didn't know who she meant.
He was only the guardian of the New York Temple.
He had no idea about a new student or about Aron.
So, with no other choice, he decided to face the threat alone.
---
"Enough with the act."
"If the Ancient One could really come, she'd already be here."
"She doesn't think I don't know, she lost control over the dark energy!"
Belath immediately saw through Daniel's bluff.
But… he wrongly assumed the reason for her absence.
He thought the Ancient One was no longer capable of wielding her power and thus hadn't appeared.
"Haha… she can barely defend herself now!"
Thinking of this, Belath laughed without restraint.
Until now, he had held back only because of his fear of her.
Otherwise, he would have destroyed all the Avengers long ago.
But now?
"Without her… the Earth is mine."
Freed from all restraint, Belath launched his attack.
His strike was a direct hit: Daniel Drumm.
---
Daniel gritted his teeth and countered:
[Shield of the Seraphim]
[Winds of Watoomb]
[Ancient Body of Hoggoth]
Spell after spell.
Powerful defensive techniques lit up the battlefield, but they were purely defensive.
And they were barely keeping up with the opponent.
---
"Is that all you've got?"
Belath grew increasingly aggressive.
His attacks became faster and more destructive.
Meanwhile, not far from the battlefield…
A young man of Asian descent approached while filming on his phone.
In complete contrast to the war around him, he acted like a tourist.
He took pictures of everything. Calmly. Indifferently.
"Hm?"
"This guy looks kind of familiar..."
Soon, some demons noticed him too.
"Mordo!"
"That's Mordo!!"
"We found him!!"
With their shouts, the atmosphere ignited like oil on a hot pan.
The demons went wild.
In an instant, every demon except Belath looked in the same direction, eyes filled with bloodlust and hatred.
Endless hatred.
They couldn't wait to tear the person before them to pieces.
"Emmm..."
"How are you?"
"Long time no see, same old same old?"
Seeing that the demons had recognized him, Aron smiled and casually waved.
He couldn't believe they had such good memory.
He had carefully avoided using demonic power.
And yet, they recognized him just by his face.
---
"AAAAA!!!"
"Mordo!!"
"Damn you!!"
Their roar shook the streets of New York.
Daniel Drumm, still under Belath's assault, glanced to the side.
"Mordo is here?"
"Wasn't he a student at Kamar-Taj…? What is he doing..."
Daniel's voice suddenly stopped.
Because the person in front of him wasn't Mordo.
It was a young man of Asian descent he had never seen before.
But all the demons were calling him Mordo.
"His name is… Mordo?"
Daniel asked himself, confused.
---
He didn't have time to clarify the mystery.
Belath seized the opportunity.
"You dare lose focus while fighting me!?"
Belath was insulted.
With one slash of his saber, he split Daniel's shield, and the sheer force pierced his left shoulder blade!
Had he not released a substitution spell in time, he would've been sliced in two.
"Tsss…"
Daniel groaned, struggling with the pain.
It no longer mattered if it was the real Mordo or not, he couldn't afford even a second of weakness.
---
On the other side…
Aron was feeling uneasy.
The demons who once knelt to him and made deals… now didn't even want to talk.
They wanted only one thing, to tear him apart.
"Fine."
"If you're not in the mood for reminiscing..."
"Then don't blame me for no longer being your guest."
Without further hesitation, Aron attacked first.
Even though he carried the exorcism scroll in his pocket, he didn't use it.
He chose to fight directly, head-to-head, tooth against claw.
"One man in one bite?"
"Let's see just how 'hellish' you really are!"
With those words, Aron fully unleashed the demonic power within him for the first time.
What followed… was terrifying.
His aura exploded.
Massive.
Dark.
Oppressive.
Full of violence and evil.
For a moment, his presence became the second strongest on the battlefield, just behind Belath.
All the demons fell silent.
Then… exploded with rage.
"That's OUR power!"
"Attack!!"
---
And as they charged at him, Aron transformed.
Full demonization.
His body grew nearly three meters tall.
His eyes turned blood-red.
His arms became draconic claws, and huge horns sprouted from his skull.
Black-red scales covered his body.
Lava oozed from cracks in his skin, dripping onto the ground like molten blood.
The sound of bubbling and dark energy suffocated the air around him.
At that moment, Aron was no longer human.
He was a hellish lord.
Every shadow pulled back.
Every demon froze.
Even Belath, who was fighting Daniel, paused, sensing the pressure.
"This kid is… truly terrifying."
He muttered to himself, teeth clenched.
Because now, more than any other demon on the battlefield, Aron looked like the embodiment of hell.
"Come on!"
"Fight to the end!"