Mard Geer's Demon Curse was very powerful.
This vine-summoning attack did not look especially impressive, but in reality, it was much stronger than what the previous demons had used.
These vines could easily bind the others from before, leaving the other demons unable to move.
The vines moved extremely fast, almost wrapping around Marco in the blink of an eye.
Buzz!
Marco's figure disappeared, avoiding the vines' restraint.
It was not because he was afraid. Even if he really were bound, he was confident he could break free easily.
He simply did not want to be tied up like that!
This King of the Underworld had some skill, but the way these vines bound people looked wrong to Marco at a glance. It did not look like ordinary binding
It looked more like a rope art.
Marco's figure vanished, and the vines all coiled together, twisting into a ball and making creaking sounds that did not sound like something "vines" should be able to make.
As expected of plants from the underworld.
Their strength was simply different, they looked like vines, but that was only what they looked like.
Buzz!!!
Marco's figure appeared directly in front of Mard Geer, causing the King of the Underworld, who had been gnashing his teeth moments ago, to widen his eyes instantly.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, Mard Geer was sent flying backward, shooting through the group of demons before any of them could even react.
Boom!!!
Mard Geer crashed into the ground.
At this moment, he had already lost that deliberately elegant appearance and had directly revealed his true demonic form, a very stereotypical image of a demon.
His enormous bat-like wings spread open, and his body was incredibly powerful, colored purple-black from head to toe.
If there was anything strange about him, it was the mask on his face, which looked as though he were about to attend a masquerade ball.
Looking at that mask, Marco honestly felt a little taken out of the moment.
A demon that had originally looked rather imposing suddenly seemed ridiculous.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!!!
Terrifying, sinister energy instantly erupted from Mard Geer's body, wrapping around him directly and turning him into an extremely evil black sphere of light.
Whoosh!
That sinister black sphere of light rushed toward Marco again.
Mard Geer was furious, feeling that he had utterly lost face. Among these demons, he had always been the absolute leader.
To embarrass himself so badly now made rage boil in his chest.
"You really don't know when to stop."
Marco shook his head at Mard Geer's swift counterattack.
That punch just now had not used much force at all. It had only been a casual punch, yet this King of the Underworld still failed to understand the situation.
"Then next, I'll let you try my serious punch."
Marco exhaled, and the aura around him surged upward all at once.
His Cosmo began to tremble, stimulating the infinite potential within his body.
"Die!"
Marco swung his fist directly toward Mard Geer, who was charging at him.
Boom!!!
A terrifying wave of energy came rushing forth.
Inside the massive black mass of evil energy, Mard Geer felt as though the star of death were flashing wildly above him.
Marco was merely throwing a simple punch, yet it had already filled his heart with boundless fear.
As Marco's fist grew larger and larger in Mard Geer's eyes, that word "death" seemed to grow larger with it.
Boom!!!
In the blink of an eye, the black sphere of sinister energy collided with Marco's fist, and a tremendous explosion rang out.
Buzz!!!
A massive energy shockwave spread in every direction. The demons around them struggled to keep their footing one after another.
Silver Fullbuster braced himself with difficulty, his heart filled with shock.
At the same time, a burst of joy rose from the depths of Silver Fullbuster's heart.
There was actually... actually someone who could defeat Mard Geer!
There was actually someone who could defeat Tartaros!
Only after the shockwave gradually dispersed and the light faded did Silver Fullbuster's vision slowly regain focus.
Sinister demonic energy drifted all over the sky, while Mard Geer, who had just charged forward with such overwhelming force and killing intent, had already disappeared.
Only Marco remained standing there in his golden armor, patting his hands as if brushing off something dirty.
"This... this, this, this..."
Silver Fullbuster was the first to realize what had happened.
Mard Geer... the King of the Underworld who ruled Tartaros, had actually been scattered directly in that clash!
"One hit... Just one punch?"
Even though his heart was already filled with overwhelming joy, Silver Fullbuster still found it absurd, almost dreamlike.
Had all of this really happened?
At this moment, Silver Fullbuster only feared that everything before him was his own delusion, something happening inside a dream.
Although he was already a living corpse who did not need sleep, rest, or food, at the very least, he still possessed the ability to imagine things.
"The King... Where is the King of the Underworld?"
Kyôka of the Star Chains Heaven asked blankly.
No one knew who she was asking.
Perhaps she was questioning the part of herself that refused to accept reality.
The other members of the Nine Demon Gates had the same expressions. Their faces were filled with confusion, helplessness, and disbelief.
"The King of the Underworld... has likely returned to Hell's Core..."
Only Keyes the Black Archbishop answered Kyôka.
His perception of life, and his perception of Curse energy, were extremely powerful.
As for Mard Geer, the King of the Underworld... he had now been smashed apart directly and had completely lost his body.
This was already an undeniable fact.
"Returned... to Hell's Core?"
Kyôka stared blankly at Keyes.
She seemed not to understand the meaning of those words, but in truth, she simply did not want to believe that the invincible King of the Underworld had lost so miserably.
Actually, this was normal.
Mard Geer's defeat right now was just as shocking as the death of the original leader of the Four Gods of Ishgar, one of the Spriggan 12, the "God" Serena.
Both were famous.
Both were arrogant beyond measure.
And both had been killed in a single strike.
The only difference was the one who killed them.
Serena died beneath a claw from the Black Dragon Acnologia, while Mard Geer died beneath Marco's fist.
In truth, the impact caused by Serena's death had been far greater than Marco killing Mard Geer.
That was the first time the world truly understood just how powerful and absurd the Black Dragon Acnologia was.
At this moment, however, Marco had only intimidated a handful of demons.
"The King of the Underworld did have something to him. His strength would be among the very top even among the Ten Wizard Saints."
Marco clapped his hands and evaluated Mard Geer's strength.
This demon known as the King of the Underworld truly did have some ability.
By comparison, his strength really could be mentioned in the same breath as Makarov and Gildarts.
At the very least, he would be positioned within the top four among the Ten Wizard Saints.
Unfortunately, that kind of strength clearly could not meet Zeref's requirements.
If that kind of strength encountered the Black Dragon, he would still be cannon fodder, trash that would be killed instantly in one move.
Zeref had clearly abandoned him for that reason.
"This guy... is actually that strong?!"
The shark-man Torafuzar looked at Marco with an expression of disbelief.
At this moment, the rumors that Marco had repelled the Black Dragon and Zeref seemed to have become real and believable.
There was no helping it.
No matter how unwilling these demons were to believe it, Marco's strength had already been laid bare before them.
Someone who could deal with Mard Geer so easily was probably limited to the Black Dragon, their creator Zeref, and, oh right, Mard Geer's old rival.
The Celestial Spirit King, who had never been able to truly display his full power in the human world, was also quite helpless.
If he had ever been able to display his true strength, he would not have become "rivals" with Mard Geer.
That was far too beneath his status.
If Mard Geer dared enter the Celestial Spirit World, the Celestial Spirit King could truly tear off Mard Geer's wings and turn them into grilled wings.
After truly realizing how terrifying Marco's strength was, the demons instantly began thinking of retreat.
They no longer had their earlier arrogance, nor the thought of killing Marco.
Many of them were demons who had already existed for hundreds of years.
Quite a few had lived through the era of the Black Dragon, and like their creator Zeref, they understood the terror of the Black Dragon.
But the fear Marco brought them was even greater than that of the Black Dragon.
After all, the Black Dragon's fist had only landed on dragons, while Marco's fist had landed solidly on them.
Those were two completely different concepts.
A fist only truly hurt when it struck your own body.
"Hell's Core? What is that?"
Hearing these demons say that Mard Geer had returned to Hell's Core, Marco became somewhat puzzled.
What was this Hell's Core supposed to be?
"Hell's Core is a special resurrection device belonging to Tartaros. If someone dies in battle or suffers severe injuries, they will be transferred into Hell's Core to regenerate, allowing their body to fully revive. In other words, Mard Geer is not completely dead yet."
Once again, it was Silver Fullbuster who took the initiative to answer.
At that moment, every demon turned their gaze toward Silver Fullbuster.
There was no helping it. Silver Fullbuster's answer revealed his stance far too clearly!
What did he mean, Mard Geer was "not completely dead yet"?
Why would he reveal such important information to the enemy before them?
"Keyes! Control your dog!"
Jackal immediately turned toward Keyes the Black Archbishop.
They all knew that Absolute Zero Silver had been created by Keyes's Curse.
"Don't make that kind of joke, Jackal. He belongs to the Nine Demon Gates just like us. Do you think he would still be qualified for that position if I could casually order him to die?"
Keyes the Black Archbishop looked toward the shouting Jackal.
No expression could be seen on his skeletal face, but he was clearly not pleased.
"Silver, are you trying to betray Tartaros?"
Kyôka's gaze locked fiercely onto Silver Fullbuster, as though she wanted to glare this traitor to death with her eyes alone.
"I said long ago that this man isn't even a demon! What right does he have to stand with us? This guy was bound to betray us!"
Franmalth roared loudly, trying to use it to dispel the fear in his heart.
They were demons.
They were the true beings who should make the world fear them.
So what did it mean for all of them to be frightened into stillness by one human?
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