The
only thing left of the cave was the ground beneath them. The rest had
erupted in a sea of flames.
Stark
watched as a spherical barrier enclosed both him and Krul, shielding
them from the attacks. The slave mark on his chest still glowed.
Is
this the reason??!
he thought.
Smoke
filled the air. Krul’s
eyes scanned the surroundings, his expression tense.
Stark
gripped his sword, ready to fight.
“Don’t,”
Krul ordered. “Stay put.”
The
barrier remained intact as Krul assessed the situation.
Just
then, an armored woman emerged from the haze, a crazed smile on her
face.
“Oi,
you devil… Here’s a greeting from me.” Thalia smirked
She
swung her war hammer down onto the top of the barrier.
BOOM!
The
impact roared like a thunder strike, but the barrier held firm.
However,
the ground beneath them cracked and collapsed under the shock wave.
Thalia
used
the barrier as leverage, twisting midair before striking again.
This
time, the force sent them hurtling downward.
Krul’s
barrier held strong, keeping them unharmed. But Stark could see it in
his face—that the woman was strong as hell.
Krul
didn’t
speak. Instead, he summoned a sword from thin air with a spell.
The
smoke residue cleared, revealing their predicament.
They
were surrounded on three sides, their backs to the cliff’s
edge.
Stark’s
grip tightened on his sword as he scanned the enemy forces—each
armored warrior looked stronger than him.
The
war hammer-wielding woman walked towards her comrades with casual
confidence.
At
the front of the group, a petite woman stood with a commanding
presence. Beside her, stood Drek holding his peculiar weapon - it was
a double bladed staff, it’s
blades crooked upwards in one direction and downward in the other.
Krul
raised a brow, his voice cold.
“Who
are you?”
The
barrier remained intact, but the tension thickened.
The
petite woman smiled.
“I
am Vivy Kolbrone, heiress of the Kolbrone family. It is an honor to
meet a legendary figure such as the Devil of Kastar…” Her eyes
glinted with amusement. “Or perhaps, the Last of the Forsaken.”
Krul’s
gaze darkened.
“You…”
he spat
Krul
pointed his palm at the woman. The glyph on his palms pulsed.
Evil
Blade.
A
hole formed in the barrier, and a dark purple blade shot toward Vivy
instantly—no magic circle, no cast time.
Yet,
the attack passed straight through her, disintegrating everything in
its path.
Stark’s
eyes widened. He had seen her body severed—yet no blood was
spilled. The upper body simply floated in the air. The pieces melded
back together, as if the wound had never existed.
Vivy
smirked. “Your
attacks won’t work on me, Mr. Devil.
Krul’s
eyes narrowed.
“An
illusion, huh…”
He
used Expel.
A
burst of light cracked through the air, splitting the very sky like
shattered glass.
Stark
stared in disbelief as the world around him itself fractured,
revealing the true battlefield hidden beneath.
Vivy
chuckled. “Ho.
I didn’t expect you to break it so soon.”
Turns
out, they were nowhere near the cave. Instead, they stood in the
middle of a vast desert, surrounded by artificial buttes—narrow,
steep rock formations.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
On
them, stood few Cloaked men with a fierce expression.
“Devil…
why don’t you just surrender?” Wez sneered. “By the grace of
Lord Zaras’th, we shall grant you a quick death.”
Krul
scoffed. “Zaras’th’s
lapdogs, huh? No wonder you reek of delusion.”
Wez’s
replied in fury. “You arrogant devil… you are still bound by Lord
Zaras’th’s curse!”
The
Curse of Zaras’th.
A
shackle forged onto Krul in the Mythical Era, when the God himself
cursed the Ancient Devil—binding him to the sands of Kastar,
stripping him of the strength that he once possessed.
Emboldened
by his weakened state, followers of Zaras’th
had tried their best to kill him and yet—none had succeeded.
Priests,
Magus, and Knights…
That war-hammer woman and that spear-wielding knight look strong.
These aren’t your everyday fighters, Krul
thought, his eyes scanning the situation.
"You
bastards think bringing a few extra followers will give you an
advantage?"
Vivy
smiled. "So, we can conclude that you fail to comply and
surren—"
"Enough
chitchat! Kill this filth!" A voice from above interrupted Vivy.
"You’re
pretty impatient, old man Zarius," Vivy said, glancing up.
Krul's
gaze met a familiar face—one of the Three Grand Magus of Kastar,
Zarius. He was among those who had led an extermination raid against
Krul a decade ago.
Zarius
was an old Magus with extensive abilities, having risen to his
stature as one of the five survivors of the Raid. Krul had destroyed
both of Zarius’
eyes during that battle.
"Zarius…"
Krul looked up. "Still alive, huh? Did you come to die for real this
time?"
"You
filthy devil. I shall kill you and take my revenge!"
The
old Magus floated in the air, the pulsing glyphs on his boots keeping
him aloft.
Magic
items, huh?
Krul observed. Looks
similar to my engraved glyphs, but the functionality…
it’s much more versatile. Someone—perhaps a genius—is
responsible for it. Last time, they didn’t have it.
Krul
didn’t
make the first move.
"Enough…
Begin," Vivy ordered.
Immediately,
the cloaked figures on the butte began to chant.
"By
the grace of Lord Zaras’th,
we humbly ask you to grant us the strength to fight the devil."
The
golden shackles on Krul’s
wrists glowed and turned red, further restricting his power. The
cloaked figures were priests from the Temple of Zaras’th—high-ranking
ones at that.
Krul
winced as his barrier trembled.
For
the first time, Stark noticed the shackles on Krul’s
wrists and gasped. “What are those?”
In
an instant, Drek closed the distance, swinging his staff at the
barrier. Though weakened, it held against his attack—but cracks
began to form.
This
is not good. I need to find a way…
Krul
could sense an isolation barrier cast over a wide area, preventing
him from escaping.
Both
Drek and Thalia, along with several knights, charged at the barrier.
With each strike, the cracks widened, and Krul’s
mana drained rapidly as he struggled to maintain the defense.
From
the corner of his eye, he spotted Zarius.
Fire
Shot.
Just
like Krul, there was no magic circle—only a beam of flames shooting
straight at his barrier.
Reacting
instantly, Krul grabbed Stark and leaped back, forming a smaller new
barrier in front to protect them from the blast.
The
beam sliced through his previous barrier like a sharp knife,
exploding.
Krul’s
expression changed. He was in a dire predicament. He needed to
disrupt the priests’ formation to remove the divine intervention.
At the same time, he had to protect the human child—Stark wasn’t
capable of fighting against seasoned veterans who battled for their
lives every day.
"I
have to use it…."
Forsaken
Arts, 1st Form: Enlightened.
“DISTANCE!!
RETREAT!!” Vivy shouted.
Noticing
the glyphs, the knights—including Thalia and Drek—quickly stepped
back.
The
weakened devil’s
demeanor shifted instantly. The air thickened with bloodlust, sending
shivers down even the spines of veteran knights.
A
massive surge of purple aura engulfed Krul. His eyes glowed even
brighter.
“Barrier!
He’s assumed his 1st form!” Zarius commanded his own Magus unit
that he personally trained. “This is where the fight begins.”
Stark
could sense the overwhelming shift in power. Krul’s
carefree nature had vanished. His gaze was razor-sharp, scanning
every inch of the battlefield. Even from behind, Stark could feel
Krul’s eyes on him.
Then,
in a cold voice, Krul spoke.
“You
filth… begone.”
Evil
Blade.
Unlike
before, the purple blade shot forward at incomprehensible speed. It
was much larger than the previous one yet far more mana-efficient.
Erdwehr
the Magus unit casted.
The
earth beneath them twisted and rose, forming two massive hands.
Instead of facing the blade head-on, the rocky hands redirected the
magic, deflecting it away.
The
purple blade was successfully deflected, crashing into the sand and
leaving a massive, gaping hole. The sand quickly vaporized into
nothingness upon impact.
Krul
glanced back at Stark and cast a cubical barrier around him, sealing
him inside. Stark pressed his hands against the translucent wall, but
he couldn’t
step through.
“What
is this…?!” he demanded.
“For
protection,” Krul replied, drawing his sword.
Before
the enemy could resume their assault, Krul charged forward, gripping
his weapon tightly.
In
an Instant, he closed in at Thalia and swung his blade right at her
neck.
Drek
intercepted, his staff grazing Krul’s
blade and deflecting it to the side.
“THALIA,
FOCUS!” he shouted.
Krul
pivoted on his heel and drove a powerful kick toward Drek’s
gut. Drek barely managed to block with the metal shaft of his weapon,
but the sheer force still sent him flying away.
Thalia
snapped out of her daze and attacked with her war hammer at Krul’s
side.
The
devil intercepted the strike, hooking the hammer by its throat and
twisting it off-center. Then, with a swift motion, he grabbed Thalia
by her hair and hurled her like a projectile.
The
armored woman went flying face-first into a massive sand dune,
hundreds of feet away.
Krul
quickly shifted his gaze to the remaining knights, their faces frozen
in fear. Two of their best Knights had been handled with ease—their
confidence began to crumble.
Before
they could react, Krul lunged. His sword thrust clean through one
knight’s
helmet, piercing his skull in a single motion. Blood sprayed across
the sand.
At
the same time, with his other hand, he unleashed Zor
A
purple beam shot forward, tearing through the knight beside him. The
beam burned a circular hole straight through his chest, spilling his
organs onto the ground.
Both
bodies collapsed, lifeless.
Where
is that petite woman?
Krul's eyes darted across the battlefield.
Illusive Fog.
A
thick cloud of smoke surged across the battlefield—not ordinary
smoke, but something far more peculiar. Krul’s
detection spells failed, and his vision was completely gone.
What
is this spell? Krul
used Expel I can't expel it??
“EVERYONE
REGROUP.” Vivy commanded through the chaos. "We need to fight together."
Vivy couldn't allow Krul to gain momentum and change the tides in the battle.
