Reading settings
Chapter 278: Such Vicious Demons
A pitch-black dimension.
This was the world of demons. The sky seemed soaked in a thick, dark-red dye, as if diluted blood flowed across the night, plunging the endless land into a twisted gloom.
The ground was like wax scorched by a raging fire, twisted and boiling, constantly erupting with yellow bubbles. Each time a bubble burst, it released a suffocating stench. Flames raged in every corner, like hordes of ferocious demons dancing in a wild revelry. The firelight illuminated every inch of the dimension, and with it, the inescapable fear of any living creature. The crackling of burning flames and the whispers of demons were the eternal background noise of this world, like a terrifying, horrifying symphony.
Saraka opened its eyes, having returned to the world it called home.
The first thing it saw was Belial's somewhat punchable smiling face.
"Killed by Ultraman?" Belial asked with a smile.
Saraka glanced at Tisak beside it, whose expression was equally gloomy.
"Mhm," it grunted through its nose.
Belial's smile immediately brightened.
"See, I told you so. You guys called me a noob and said I was the one to blame. But you really can't blame me for this! I said he was an overpowered individual. I told you back then not to go feed, not to go feed, but you wouldn't listen to me. Now look what happened..."
"You still have the gall to complain?"
Tisak roared in anger, grabbing Belial and lifting it up.
Belial was shocked. "H-hey, we can talk this out, don't get physical! The one who killed you was that soldier of light, not me! Why are you taking it out on me?"
"If you hadn't refused to join the team fight and just hung back AFK, would we have lost so miserably?"
Belial's eyes widened. "That's not... You call that a team fight? There was clearly a Big Daddy right in front of you, and you insisted on feeding him. I couldn't stop you no matter how I tried. So it's my fault for not feeding along with you?"
Saraka, standing by, tried to interrupt, "Uh, guys?"
But no one paid it any mind; the other two were still arguing.
"You're still talking? Don't you have a clue who fed the most kills?"
"I... I..."
Saraka raised its voice. "Stop arguing for a moment. Don't you feel like something's wrong?"
The two demons looked over at it in unison.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't quite put my finger on it, but don't you think... there's a strange smell of light in here?"
As it spoke, the demon sniffed the air hard, its nose twitching a couple of times like a dog's.
The other two demons frowned, temporarily pausing their blame game to extend their senses and perceive their surroundings.
And they realized... it was actually true.
"Huh, you're right, how strange," Belial said. "Ha, don't laugh when I say this, but I feel like this aura is a bit familiar... a bit like that Ultraman from Earth. Isn't that hilarious..."
As it spoke, it looked around, and then the demon suddenly froze, its eyes widening in an instant.
It rubbed its eyes hard with its small claw, making sure it wasn't seeing things.
That red and silver silhouette, emitting a faint glow, hovered beneath the sunless sky, looking exceptionally dazzling.
"Hi," Orin Vale waved at Belial, giving a friendly greeting. "How come you didn't show up today?"
Belial's jaw dropped, its expression like it had just seen a ghost.
WTF!?
Wait, I stayed home and didn't cause any trouble today, right?
Chasing me all the way to my home base is going too far, isn't it??
In fact, compared to his last encounter with Belial, the current Orin Vale had undergone a complete transformation. The increase in his own light energy, advancements in his research, and his newfound connection to the Blue Lanterns of Hope had allowed him to undergo a qualitative transformation. With his energy level full, the functions of his Hyperspace Bracelet had naturally upgraded as well. He could now track a demon's clone all the way back to the dimension where its true form resided.
However, considering this was likely the dimension of Lord Trigon, out of respect for this multiverse-level demon's true form, Orin Vale had only sent a clone this time as a precaution. It was partly for pursuit and partly to take the opportunity to scout out the situation and test the waters.
From the demons' perspective, however, this was utterly terrifying.
They had been killed time and again before, but it had only ever been their clones. Camping their gate like this was just too arrogant, wasn't it?
Belial's first instinct was to run, but it was stopped by a sharp shout from Tisak.
"Hah, you've got some nerve." Tisak's confidence suddenly swelled. It snorted, "We might not have been able to do anything on your home turf. But to think you'd actually dare to chase us into our domain..."
Saraka was also jolted from its fear of being "double-killed by the light," suddenly realizing its teammate had a point.
That's right! This is our home turf! We were only beaten before because those were our clones. This time, we're in our true forms!
With a home-field advantage, our true forms present, and a three-on-one fight... if we still get counter-killed, we might as well just give up, right?
Not to mention, in this domain, they still had "that move."
A finishing trump card.
Thus, Saraka's confidence also swelled in an instant. The corners of its mouth curled into a vicious grin. "Hah, that's right. To have the guts to chase us all the way here... do you really think the Sons of Trigon are pushovers?"
Only Belial kept its head down, whispering, "Brothers, this is an emergency... I think if we split up and run now, we might have a chance to survive..."
But after being shot a vicious glare by its two teammates, it quickly shut its mouth, not daring to say another word.
Belial gritted its teeth.
Fine, if we have to fight, we'll fight.
It was true. If they had to run even from their own home base, they had no business being demons.
"Set formation!"
The three demons flickered, each taking up a position. Although it was a simple movement, one could see that the base attributes of their true forms were more than a tier stronger than their clones.
Furthermore, the magic power they unleashed was also clearly more immense.
But this magic power was not released to attack Orin Vale. The three sources of power resonated with each other, linking together as if a trigger, activating something that had long been arranged in the surroundings.
On the jagged, sinister boulders and twisted, reddish-brown earth, transparent marks that previously seemed non-existent began to appear. They looked like ancient runes, inscribed for an unknown number of ages and now activated by the demons' combined effort.
Forming a massive barrier!
"This is a barrier from which nothing can escape!" Tisak shouted arrogantly. "Since you dared to intrude, prepare to die!"
Orin Vale was trapped in the center of the barrier, the entire space seemingly sealed off. He could feel everything within the barrier being rapidly dismantled. Even the energy within his body—be it his original light energy, the energy from the Lantern of Hope, or the spatial energy of the Speed Force—was being dissolved!
A magic barrier that drained and dissolved every form and attribute of energy. Truly terrifying.
Orin Vale made a quick calculation based on his current power level and the energy reserves within his clone.
At this rate, if he did nothing, the energy in this clone would be completely drained in about six hundred years.
Such vicious demons.
(end of chapter)
A pitch-black dimension.
This was the world of demons. The sky seemed soaked in a thick, dark-red dye, as if diluted blood flowed across the night, plunging the endless land into a twisted gloom.
The ground was like wax scorched by a raging fire, twisted and boiling, constantly erupting with yellow bubbles. Each time a bubble burst, it released a suffocating stench. Flames raged in every corner, like hordes of ferocious demons dancing in a wild revelry. The firelight illuminated every inch of the dimension, and with it, the inescapable fear of any living creature. The crackling of burning flames and the whispers of demons were the eternal background noise of this world, like a terrifying, horrifying symphony.
Saraka opened its eyes, having returned to the world it called home.
The first thing it saw was Belial's somewhat punchable smiling face.
"Killed by Ultraman?" Belial asked with a smile.
Saraka glanced at Tisak beside it, whose expression was equally gloomy.
"Mhm," it grunted through its nose.
Belial's smile immediately brightened.
"See, I told you so. You guys called me a noob and said I was the one to blame. But you really can't blame me for this! I said he was an overpowered individual. I told you back then not to go feed, not to go feed, but you wouldn't listen to me. Now look what happened..."
"You still have the gall to complain?"
Tisak roared in anger, grabbing Belial and lifting it up.
Belial was shocked. "H-hey, we can talk this out, don't get physical! The one who killed you was that soldier of light, not me! Why are you taking it out on me?"
"If you hadn't refused to join the team fight and just hung back AFK, would we have lost so miserably?"
Belial's eyes widened. "That's not... You call that a team fight? There was clearly a Big Daddy right in front of you, and you insisted on feeding him. I couldn't stop you no matter how I tried. So it's my fault for not feeding along with you?"
Saraka, standing by, tried to interrupt, "Uh, guys?"
But no one paid it any mind; the other two were still arguing.
"You're still talking? Don't you have a clue who fed the most kills?"
"I... I..."
Saraka raised its voice. "Stop arguing for a moment. Don't you feel like something's wrong?"
The two demons looked over at it in unison.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't quite put my finger on it, but don't you think... there's a strange smell of light in here?"
As it spoke, the demon sniffed the air hard, its nose twitching a couple of times like a dog's.
The other two demons frowned, temporarily pausing their blame game to extend their senses and perceive their surroundings.
And they realized... it was actually true.
"Huh, you're right, how strange," Belial said. "Ha, don't laugh when I say this, but I feel like this aura is a bit familiar... a bit like that Ultraman from Earth. Isn't that hilarious..."
As it spoke, it looked around, and then the demon suddenly froze, its eyes widening in an instant.
It rubbed its eyes hard with its small claw, making sure it wasn't seeing things.
That red and silver silhouette, emitting a faint glow, hovered beneath the sunless sky, looking exceptionally dazzling.
"Hi," Orin Vale waved at Belial, giving a friendly greeting. "How come you didn't show up today?"
Belial's jaw dropped, its expression like it had just seen a ghost.
WTF!?
Wait, I stayed home and didn't cause any trouble today, right?
Chasing me all the way to my home base is going too far, isn't it??
In fact, compared to his last encounter with Belial, the current Orin Vale had undergone a complete transformation. The increase in his own light energy, advancements in his research, and his newfound connection to the Blue Lanterns of Hope had allowed him to undergo a qualitative transformation. With his energy level full, the functions of his Hyperspace Bracelet had naturally upgraded as well. He could now track a demon's clone all the way back to the dimension where its true form resided.
However, considering this was likely the dimension of Lord Trigon, out of respect for this multiverse-level demon's true form, Orin Vale had only sent a clone this time as a precaution. It was partly for pursuit and partly to take the opportunity to scout out the situation and test the waters.
From the demons' perspective, however, this was utterly terrifying.
They had been killed time and again before, but it had only ever been their clones. Camping their gate like this was just too arrogant, wasn't it?
Belial's first instinct was to run, but it was stopped by a sharp shout from Tisak.
"Hah, you've got some nerve." Tisak's confidence suddenly swelled. It snorted, "We might not have been able to do anything on your home turf. But to think you'd actually dare to chase us into our domain..."
Saraka was also jolted from its fear of being "double-killed by the light," suddenly realizing its teammate had a point.
That's right! This is our home turf! We were only beaten before because those were our clones. This time, we're in our true forms!
With a home-field advantage, our true forms present, and a three-on-one fight... if we still get counter-killed, we might as well just give up, right?
Not to mention, in this domain, they still had "that move."
A finishing trump card.
Thus, Saraka's confidence also swelled in an instant. The corners of its mouth curled into a vicious grin. "Hah, that's right. To have the guts to chase us all the way here... do you really think the Sons of Trigon are pushovers?"
Only Belial kept its head down, whispering, "Brothers, this is an emergency... I think if we split up and run now, we might have a chance to survive..."
But after being shot a vicious glare by its two teammates, it quickly shut its mouth, not daring to say another word.
Belial gritted its teeth.
Fine, if we have to fight, we'll fight.
It was true. If they had to run even from their own home base, they had no business being demons.
"Set formation!"
The three demons flickered, each taking up a position. Although it was a simple movement, one could see that the base attributes of their true forms were more than a tier stronger than their clones.
Furthermore, the magic power they unleashed was also clearly more immense.
But this magic power was not released to attack Orin Vale. The three sources of power resonated with each other, linking together as if a trigger, activating something that had long been arranged in the surroundings.
On the jagged, sinister boulders and twisted, reddish-brown earth, transparent marks that previously seemed non-existent began to appear. They looked like ancient runes, inscribed for an unknown number of ages and now activated by the demons' combined effort.
Forming a massive barrier!
"This is a barrier from which nothing can escape!" Tisak shouted arrogantly. "Since you dared to intrude, prepare to die!"
Orin Vale was trapped in the center of the barrier, the entire space seemingly sealed off. He could feel everything within the barrier being rapidly dismantled. Even the energy within his body—be it his original light energy, the energy from the Lantern of Hope, or the spatial energy of the Speed Force—was being dissolved!
A magic barrier that drained and dissolved every form and attribute of energy. Truly terrifying.
Orin Vale made a quick calculation based on his current power level and the energy reserves within his clone.
At this rate, if he did nothing, the energy in this clone would be completely drained in about six hundred years.
Such vicious demons.
(end of chapter)
