Azazul was thrown through a tree.
'Damn it… this is bad.'
He had been so close to defeating his enemy, only to be stopped dead in his tracks when he realized the silver-core hunter he was facing wasn't a manipulator—but a magician.
Azazul staggered to his feet and dashed to the left just as a tree crashed down where he had stood a second earlier. He tried to steady himself, but two more trees came hurtling toward him. Luckily for Azazul, the mana trees provided an endless supply of mana, allowing him to keep the Eye of Darkness active.
He leapt onto one of the flying trees, using it as a platform to close the distance to his enemy.
But the moment he landed, the trees stopped moving forward. Instead, they were pulled toward each other, drawn together as if to crush him between them.
Azazul tried to escape—but he was too slow.
The two trees slammed together, trapping him in between.
The resilient bark did not shatter as one might expect.No… what shattered was Azazul's body.
His arms, legs, neck, skull, ribs, and spine were crushed. Yet with the endless mana feeding him, his healing factor surged—ten times faster than before. Even so, it wasn't enough. The moment his body hit the ground, he felt himself being pulled once more.
'Crap… here we go again.'
The purple-eyed deity had yet to reveal all of his elemental abilities, but one thing was clear—he possessed an affinity for gravity. It was a nightmare to fight against. Every time Azazul struck with his fists, his body became unnaturally heavy, making Azazul's movements sluggish and leaving him wide open for counterattacks.
If the deity had wielded a weapon from the start, Azazul would have died long ago.
Azazul saw only one way out.
He could summon his sword and end the fight by killing the deity—but he didn't want to kill again. Instead, he chose to rely on his fists.
Besides, he still had one trick left.
The mana trees were the perfect place to use it—even if it meant burning the entire courtyard to the ground.
It was either the trees or his life.
And Azazul wasn't ready to let go of life just yet.
As he closed in, the deity's fist slammed into his face. Azazul felt his facial bones crack, his nose bursting as blood poured freely. Under normal circumstances, the sheer force would have sent him flying—but gravity held him in place.
The deity continued punching him relentlessly.
Azazul's vision blurred. He felt his grasp on the Eye of Darkness slipping—but he tightened it, refusing to let it fade.
With no other option left, he commanded his shapeshifter to join the fight. Normally, he would be precise—choosing its form and target carefully. But there was no time.
His command was simple.
Kill him.
A thunderous crash echoed through the courtyard as something slammed into the trees. Azazul fell onto his back. The sound came from his left. When he looked, he saw the deity smashed against a tree, staring past him—his gaze locked onto something else.
Azazul followed his line of sight and froze.
Standing before him was a boy.
A familiar one.
Wait… is that me?
The shapeshifter had taken Azazul's human form, even wielding a tachi—or rather, a makeshift replica, since the real one was still in his room. But instead of Azazul's ivory skin and unique eyes, its entire body was pitch black.
Azazul tried to stand, but dizziness overwhelmed him. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself upright and raised his hand.
"Let's end this… shall we?"
The purple-eyed deity tilted his head, studying the shapeshifter, then stood and spoke arrogantly.
"Zero plus zero doesn't make one, you know… so you might as well yield."
Azazul smiled faintly.
"We'll see about that."
The trio lunged at each other.
The shapeshifter attacked first, unable to restrain its hunger for blood. Yet even with its speed, the deity halted it effortlessly. Azazul reached his opponent and threw a powerful right hook—but gravity weighed his arm down, slowing it mid-swing.
He followed with a dozen left-right combinations. Each strike made his body heavier.
Every punch missing their target.
The deity's blows, however, never failed to land.
Still, through the beating, Azazul noticed something crucial—whenever the deity increased gravity on him, the pressure on the shapeshifter weakened.
Before the shapeshifter could exploit the opening, Azazul was lifted off his feet and hurled straight into it. The shapeshifter staggered but managed to catch him.
'This is going to be a troublesome win… where the hell are Rin and Sylvia when I need them?!'
Azazul desperately searched for a way around the gravity ability. He didn't even want to imagine what other powers the deity possessed. At least the bastard was still toying with him.
'Do I look like a toy to them?'
'Why is everyone holding back… like I'm fragile?'
Then the deity summoned a blood-red axe.
He smiled.
"How about we end this, my prince?"
The deity raised his hand, and Azazul's body was dragged forward at terrifying speed.
"Crap!"
Azazul ordered his shapeshifter to intercept, but it was too slow. In an instant, he was within range—the axe descending toward his skull.
At the last moment, Azazul tilted his head and raised his left arm.
The blade severed it cleanly.
The axe crashed into his shoulder, nearly tearing the arm completely off, stopped only by the scaled armor he wore. Even with the high-grade armor gifted by the demons of darkness, the wound carved from his shoulder to his third rib was catastrophic.
If his opponent had been a silver-core manipulator, Azazul would have lost his entire left side.
He stumbled back. The deity didn't pursue—he simply smiled.
"My, oh my… forgive me, my prince. I intended to make your end swift and painless."
His grin widened.
"But then again… what is life without pain?"
They locked eyes.
"People say emotions are the spice of life," the deity continued. "I don't disagree—but pain and suffering are far better spices, don't you think?"
Azazul glanced down at his severed arm, lying inches from the deity's feet in a pool of blood.
He collapsed to one knee, agony finally crashing over him. The wound had been inflicted so quickly that the pain lagged behind—but now it screamed through his mind.
If he were wearing his mask, he would have cried.
But he wasn't.
So he held his tears back.
With one arm gone and his shoulder ruined, hopelessness crept in. He had been waiting for the perfect moment to use his trump card—but he hadn't created even the smallest opening.
Meanwhile, his enemy looked completely unfazed.
'Po....ser.'
Azazul wanted to summon his sword—but no. He had promised himself he would only kill the guardians themselves. This bastard had to live or it had to die not by his hand.
Still… he had a plan.
"Why…?" Azazul asked, his voice shaking.
The deity tilted his head.
"Why what?"
"Why do this?" Azazul asked again.
The deity chuckled. "Before this fight, you were so eager to die. Why ask now?"
Azazul met his gaze. "Because the guardians ordered you to? Or is this your own selfish desire?"
The deity walked toward him—fast, but unhurried. When he reached Azazul, he knelt.
"You have terrible manners, my prince," he said calmly. "Your senior asked you a question, and you ignored it. And now you expect answers."
He leaned closer.
"No. I'm not here on the guardians' orders. They can go to hell. Nor am I doing this for myself."
His eyes gleamed.
"I'm here for my clan. I've come to claim the creature you're hiding."
Azazul's voice trembled.
"R-Rin…?"
The deity placed the blood-red axe against Azazul's right shoulder, stopping just short of piercing the armor.
"If you refer to that freak by the name my mother gave it," the deity said calmly, "I won't hesitate to kill you."
"It only takes one motion....don't forget that."
As the deity spoke, Azazul let him believe the fight was over.
When victory seems assured, all it takes is a single moment of lost focus.
During the conversation, Azazul dismissed his shapeshifter. With the endless mana supplied by the trees, he could afford it—but this wasn't waste.
It was deception.
'That eye really turned me into a treacherous bastard… but as long as I live.'
The shapeshifter reappeared behind the kneeling deity.
With no mana and no soul, it was completely invisible to a deity's senses.
Behind the purple-eyed deity, a massive wyvern-like dragon raised its head and opened its enormous black maw.
"Don't forget that…"
Black flames poured forth, consuming the two deities kneeling before it.