"C'mon, Demon King," Kaien muttered, gripping Chronos tightly. "I'm just getting started." Kaien's voice echoed all over the ground hall.
The Demon King slowly rose from the ground, the force from Kaien's Heavenly Strike still echoing across the hall. He brushed off the debris, laughing, the sound reverberating like the clanging of iron chains.
"Hehe…ha…hahaha!" His laughter cut through the hall. "That kinda hurt… you managed to injure me but don't get too cocky.This… is gonna be fun. Alright, let's get this over with, mortal!"
With a sudden burst of speed, he lunged. Dark telekinetic energy radiated from his right hand, summoning a sword from nowhere. Kaien barely reacted in time. Their swords collided with a deafening clash, shockwaves rippling through the hall. Kaien was sent flying backward, Chronos stabbing into the ground just in time to halt his momentum, sparks scattering around him.
"Tch… Even at 9% output, I still can't handle the sword fully," Kaien muttered, wincing as he adjusted his stance.
He dashed forward again.
"Stealth Piercing Strike!"
His body vanished, reappearing behind the Demon King. The blade struck like lightning. Sparks erupted as metal screeched. The Demon King's armor cracked… just slightly.
Kaien gasped. "I hit him," he whispered.
Pain exploded across his ribs. An elbow slammed into him, folding his body inward, and he was sent skyward. The Demon King followed instantly, driving Kaien down with a devastating kick, smashing the hall floor into a crater.
[Critical condition detected.] Nyxara's calm voice echoed in his head.
The Demon King descended, boots touching the ground silently. "Your will is commendable," he said. "But will alone does not bridge eternity."
Kaien's limbs shook violently, his vision blurred, but he forced himself upright.
[Kaien.]
The feminine voice echoed again.
[It's impossible to defeat a Demon King with your current level.]
Kaien clenched his fists. "…Then help me survive."
[Alright. I will use a fragment of your restrained strength to boost your power.]
A pulse surged through him. His body felt lighter. Chronos's blade shimmered with a surge of golden fragments.
[The current strength lasts 1hr 20sec.]
"So I have to finish him within 1 hour? That's more than enough," Kaien muttered, rolling aside just as a dark spear pierced the space where his heart had been moments before.
He pushed himself up, blood dripping from his mouth. "You know," he said, voice raspy, "for a king… you talk too much."
The Demon King raised his hand. Darkness erupted outward, but Kaien deployed Absolute Defense, one of Chronos's abilities as black flames fell around him harmlessly, extinguished by the invisible divine shield.
The Demon King's brow furrowed beneath his mask in astonishment. He lunged forward, striking repeatedly, but each attack was deflected by the invisible barrier. Shocked,the Demon King tried again and again and was shot backward at the same time, slashes of invincible blades kept hitting him each time he stepped into the range of the absolute defense. Kaien just stood without flinching or moving a finger he just watched as if enjoying the demon king useless struggles. "You coward! Fight me like a warrior you're supposed to be!' said the demon king.
"Oh?" It's not that I won't fight I just enjoyed your pathetic struggles" replied Kaien. This got the demon king more angry and he didn't hold back all the aura he had been he holding and he unleashed all his aura at once, devastating the castle hall and pushing Kaien backward.
"Chronos, release 20% output. I can handle it with my current strength," Kaien commanded. Chronos obeyed.
The Demon King charged, their swords clashing with shockwaves that rattled the roof. Kaien's muscles burned, his body teetering on exhaustion, but he adapted mid-fight, reading the Demon King's sword patterns. He found a flaw, striking where the king's guard was weak. The Demon King's sword flew from his grasp, embedding into the floor.
Before Kaien could follow up, a devastating punch caught him square in the face. He tumbled, hitting a mound with a heavy thud.
"Tsk… he's skilled in martial arts too?" Kaien muttered, wiping blood from his lips.
The Demon King reappeared mid-air, delivering a kick Kaien barely blocked, crashing him from pillar to pillar. The battle raged for 56 minutes and 15 seconds, leaving Kaien exhausted, bruised, and battered. He slumped behind a wall, head down, barely able to move.
The Demon King approached slowly, stretching out his hands. The sword that had flown across the hall returned to him, hovering in the air as he prepared his final strike. "You were good, but still weak. Prepare to die. Any last words?"
Kaien looked up, smirking despite the pain. "Oh yeah… I have last words," he said.
"You should be the one to prepare to die."
Golden divine beams surged from Chronos, piercing the Demon King's dark cores, one through his heart. The king fell to his knees, stunned.
Kaien rose, a grin forming on his bloodied face.
Flashback...
"Chronos, release 20% output. I can handle it for now." Kaien had devised a plan: absorb one of the Demon King's blows while flinging Chronos to strike at the core detected by Nyxara—the being's weak point.
Back to present...
"Damn it you cheat!" You scheming wicked human…" the Demon King rasped before losing consciousness.
Immediately, Kaien felt a surge of power.
[Rank: B+ → SS+]
[Level: 14 → 25]
[Strength: 500 → 3,200]
[Speed: 600 → 2,450]
[Mana: 400 → 1,850]
[Spirit: 500 → 3,000]
[A new skill awakened: Fragment Absorption. ] "Any power I absorbed from defeated enemies will fuel my growth."Kaien said.Dark magic pulses, the Ruler's Hand skill enhanced into "Ruler's Supreme Grip", allowing him to summon Chronos across great distances. "My other basics skills also enhanced too." Nyxara displayed them like this:
[Daylight Strike → Solar Flare Daylight Strike
Enhancement: Combines light energy with explosive speed, creating a blinding shockwave that can cut through multiple opponents and reflect projectiles.]
[Stealth Piercing Strike → Phantom Void Piercing Strike
Enhancement: Kaien vanishes into a shadowy afterimage, reappearing behind his target with a strike that ignores physical defenses and cuts through spiritual barriers.]
[ Darknight Strike → Eternal Eclipse Strike
Enhancement: Channels pure darkness around the blade, expanding the strike's range while draining enemy stamina and temporarily corrupting their mana or spiritual energy.]
[God Speed Thousand Strikes → Divine Tempest Thousand Strikes
Enhancement: A godlike flurry of strikes so fast that each hit resonates as a shockwave; can hit intangible or phased enemies and briefly distort time perception for opponents.]
[Divine Canon Beams → Celestial Cataclysm Beams
Enhancement: Converts divine energy into massive, concentrated beams of destruction capable of annihilating large areas; can be focused into a single devastating strike or spread across multiple targets.]
Chronos stats also increased
Kaien tested his new skill on the fallen Demon King. Dark aura fragments surged into him, swelling his strength further. He flexed his fingers, smiling.
"Yes… with my newfound strength, I'm slowly becoming unstoppable," he whispered.
He collected the remaining spoils: dark armor, the hollow mask, and other relics, storing them in his spatial storage.
Kaien approached the exit as a portal back to the outside world shimmered into existence.
"Alright… let's get out of here," he said, stepping through with a mixture of triumph and exhaustion.