Chapter 93: Between a Rod a Hard Pce

  To be frank, if this were a one-on-one fight, Bel wouldn’t fear Alex. This young man indeed had some peculiar abilities, and Bel could sense he had some tricks left up his sleeve. But so what? As a subordinate of a Demon Lord, Bel had seen tless demons and devils in the Abyss—each as ing and treacherous as the .

  But the issue here was that this wasn't a duel!

  Bel hadn’t fotten that Alex had ordered that little ao destroy the altar. And for Bel, this altar was absolutely critical. If the altar were destroyed, it would mean her entire pn would fail—again. While Bel had tasted failure before, this was her first pn since waking up, and she dearly wa to succeed.

  Initially, Bel thought she could easily kill this mere mortal and then hunt down the ahat angel was absurdly weak—so weak it exceeded Bel's expectations. Even though the angel had some strange abilities, in terms of raw bat power, she was utterly worthless in Bel's eyes. Taking her down would be child's py.

  However, Bel hadn’t anticipated that her hesitation would allow Alex to stall her!

  Now, the situation was difficult. Bel didn’t want to fight, but Alex wouldn’t let her leave. And since her strength had been limited to the Grandmaster level, the gap between her and Alex wasn't as rge as it should have been. But more important than the gap in power was the terrifyihly aura Bel felt from Alex!

  If it had been holy light or some strange bestial aura, Bel wouldn’t have cared. But that deathly aura was different. Bel had a strong premonition that if she were hit by it, she might truly die!

  It was important to hat Bel currently didn’t have a physical body. The body she was using was created through the sacrificial magic of a Destruage bined with her soul—it wasn’t just a mere avatar!

  In other words, if she died here, she would really die!

  This was the reason Bel hesitated before Alex. She had only just been resurrected, and she hadn’t e this far just to get killed again. But the situation wasn’t in her favor. The lesser demons were struggling to fend off the Pegasus Knights, and the cultists were barely holding off the meraries. If only Bel could act, she would immediately elimihe meraries. But for now, that was out of the question.

  "Useless fools!"

  Watg the cultists being blocked by the meraries, Bel gritted her teeth. If the cultists could break through and help her, even deying the meraries for just a few seds, it would be enough for her to escape. But instead, they were utterly useless!

  And where was that angel?!

  Bel warily sed the surroundings but saw no sign of Ikaros. If it were a normal angel, Bel could easily track her by sensing her holy energy. But Ikaros’s divine power was so faint that it was almost ent. Moreover, uhe angels Bel remembered, Ikaros wasn’t righteous or upfront at all—she was deceitful. The thought of Ikaros hiding, waiting to strike, made Bel even more frustrated.

  Who’s the real angel here, and who’s the demon?

  While Bel was growing increasingly anxious, Alex remained calm. To be ho, Alex still didn’t fully uand what Bel and that Destruage were trying to do with the altar. But it didn’t matter—his mission was clear: destroy the altar!

  When in doubt, smash things first!

  That’s why he had ordered Ikaros to destroy the altar while he kept Bel occupied. This was all Alex could do at the moment. The six-armed snake demon lord was a tough oppo, and without using his Soul Stohere was no way Alex could kill her. But uhe current circumstances, using the Soul Stone wasn’t an option.

  If he activated it, who knew if this snake demon would suddenly decide to switch allegiances?

  As a result, the situation at the altar had reached a strange equilibrium. The bance would only be broken if either the cultists broke through the meraries’ line, or the Pegasus Knights repelled the lesser demons.

  It all depended on which side’s reinforts came through first.

  Meanwhile, as Alex and Bel faced off, Ikaros had quietly reached the core area of the altar.

  As an omnipoteronic warfare angel, Ikaros excelled in seard reaissance. In fact, the moment she had infiltrated the statue earlier, she had quickly detected a rge hidden formatioh the altar, which seemed to be ected to the statue in some way.

  Unfortunately, before she could iigate further, the statue activated its defense meisms, f her to retreat.

  But now...

  "As expected, I ’t make sense of it."

  Looking at the strange symbols etched on the ground, Ikaros frowned. If the formation had been activated, she could have analyzed its energy fluctuations and spatial distortions to make a rough estimate of its fun. But sihe formation wasn’t active, and Ikaros had no knowledge of this world’s magic, she could only stare bnkly at the runes and symbols.

  But it didn’t matter. Ikaros’s mission wasn’t to figure it out; it was to destroy it!

  Although she didn’t know what the formation did, it didn’t stop her from log its core. After all, energy flow was universal, and finding the core of the energy flow wasn’t difficult.

  Is that it?

  Ikaros’s gaze settled on the massive stone pilr in the ter of the altar. She frowned slightly. Her bat abilities weren’t particurly strong. In fact, Ikaros only had one real attack move.

  But that one move was more than enough for destru!

  With that thought, Ikaros opened her small mouth, fog on the massive stone pilr in front of her, and took a deep breath.

  Boom!!

  Bdes cshed violently.

  Bel retreated silently, her six curved bdes still shimmering with a silver glow. In front of her, Alex rolled and scrambled to his feet, his once finely crafted attire now covered in dust.

  "How pitiful," Bel sneered, her voice dripping with mockery as she looked at Alex’s disheveled appearance.

  "Look at yourself, mortal. What’s the point of tinuing to resist? I se—you’re not like those brainwashed fools. There’s a darkness lurking within your power..."

  "If you say ‘I'm your father!’ right now, maybe I’d sider it..."

  Alex interrupted with a cold smirk before Bel could finish her taunt. He twirled his broken space sword, pointing it again at his foe.

  "Sorry, but the prophecy says I’m supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them. I’m here t bao the Forot fall into darkness."

  "Sith? Force?"

  Bel was momentarily stunned by Alex’s response, but in the instant, she fshed a triumphant smile.

  "I don’t know what you're talking about, but... it seems you’ve already lost."

  "Alex, we ’t hold them off any longer!"

  Behind Alex, a panicked voice from Fianna rang out. The cultists had finally broken through the meraries' defensive line and were advang toward Alex’s position!

  There was nothing that could be dohe meraries were limited in strength, and the sheer number of cultists was overwhelming. Holding them off for this long had already been a signifit achievement.

  "Now, do you have any st tricks?"

  Bel asked fidently as she g the sky, where the Pegasus Knights were still entangled with the lesser demons, uo assist. With the cultists approag, victory was within her grasp!

  However, what the six-armed demon lord didn’t expect was Alex's calm rea. He simply smiled and slowly pnted his sword into the ground.

  "Are you surrendering?"

  "No, I’m saying..."

  Alex g the grouh his feet.

  "It’s over."

  Boom!!!

  Before Alex even finished speaking, a thunderous explosion echoed through the air. Bel watched in shock as the altar beh her feet began to colpse, crumbling like a pile of broken bricks.

  (End of Chapter)

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