"Fuu...!"

Gray arrived at the scene just in time to see Lyra floating in mid-air, her golden hair blazing like a second sun.

Her sword was drawn, crackling with golden lightning that danced violently around her body.

Directly opposite her hovered the source of the catastrophe.

A massive four-winged demon with deep crimson skin, four horns, two curving forward like a bull’s and two sweeping backward like a crown of malice.

Its body was muscular and grotesque, radiating an overwhelming Intermediate Sovereign Realm aura that made the sky bleed dark red.

"Shit..." Gray muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"It really is Dullmanak."

[...There’s something wrong with him.]

"What do you mean?"

[...His body doesn’t exactly... have a soul?]

Jasmine spoke in a confused tone before adding:

[The other demons we encountered in the Nether Realm all had souls, no matter how twisted. But this one... it’s empty. Like a hollow shell.]

"Fuck..."

Gray gritted his teeth.

"He got damned possessed and eaten... probably by a Lower Noble demon. No wonder his power is so much greater than it was supposed to be."

[Do you know which demon is possessing his body then?]

"...I can check," Gray mumbled.

He quickly pulled out the Demon Hunting Book from his dimensional storage and quickly flipped through the pages.

He bypassed the lower sections and went straight to the middle part labeled "Noble Demons".

His eyes scanned the names rapidly until one entry suddenly began glowing with an ominous black light.

"Mephistopheles..."

Gray’s gaze snapped back up to the red-skinned demon hovering in the blood-red sky. The pieces clicked together instantly.

Mephistopheles, one of the more cunning and dangerous Lower Noble demons under the Sin of Wrath.

A specialist in possession and soul devouring.

If he had taken over Dullmanak’s body, that explained the unnatural jump in power.

CRACKLEE!

Above him, Lyra suddenly raised her sword, golden lightning crackling louder as she prepared to charge.

Gray’s heart jumped instantly.

"Lyra, wait!"

But it was already too late.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHH!!"

The possessed Dullmanak let out a thunderous roar that shook the mountains, its four wings spreading wide as dark red flames erupted around its body.

"You dare challenge me, little avatar? A mere child playing with borrowed divinity," he laughed.

Lyra didn’t waste words.

Golden lightning condensed into a massive bolt that she swung downward in a devastating arc.

CRACK-BOOOOOM!

A pillar of golden lightning thicker than a castle tower slammed toward the demon.

The possessed Dullmanak roared and countered by slamming its four wings forward. A wave of pitch-black demonic flames erupted, colliding with the lightning in mid-air.

KRRRRRRRRR!

The impact created a violent explosion of light and darkness.

The sky itself warped.

A long, jagged spatial crack tore open where the two forces met, a black void visible through the rift for a split second before the world forcefully stitched itself back together.

Gray’s heart clenched as he watched from afar.

’Too reckless...’

Then, Lyra flicked her wrist, and golden chains exploded out from golden portals that opened around her.

The chains, glowing with divine runes, shot forward like living serpents, aiming to bind the demon’s limbs.

"Bind!"

The chains wrapped around the demon’s arms and wings with incredible speed. For a moment, it looked like they would restrain it.

But the demon laughed again.

With a single flex of its massive muscles, dark red flames erupted along its body. The golden chains melted and shattered instantly, exploding into harmless sparks.

"You think these toys can hold me?!" it roared.

It retaliated instantly.

The demon opened its maw and unleashed a concentrated beam of crimson demonic energy straight at Lyra.

The beam was so dense it left a trail of burning air behind it.

CLAAAAAAAANG!

Lyra summoned a golden shield from another portal, but the beam smashed through it like paper.

She barely managed to dodge to the side, the edge of the attack grazing her left arm. The golden lightning armor around her flickered dangerously.

Still, she quickly spun in midair and summoned a barrage of golden weapons from dozens of portals that opened around her.

"Fall!"

The weapons rained down like a meteor shower, each one carrying enough force to level a mountain.

The demon laughed maniacally and met the attack head-on.

It swung its massive clawed hands, shattering golden weapons mid-air with raw physical strength. Every time a weapon broke, a shockwave rippled outward, cracking the ground far below.

But Lyra had anticipated that.

While the demon was distracted smashing the weapons, she appeared directly above it in a burst of golden light.

She brought her sword down in a powerful overhead strike infused with crackling lightning.

KABOOOOOOOM!

The blade connected with the demon’s shoulder. Golden lightning exploded outward, carving a deep, sizzling wound across its crimson skin.

The demon roared in pain and rage.

"You insolent little—!"

It grabbed the sword with one clawed hand, ignoring the lightning searing its palm, and yanked Lyra downward.

With its other hand, it slammed a devastating punch into her stomach.

CRASH!

Lyra was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing through several mountain peaks before she managed to stabilize herself in the air.

"Ugh..."

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes burned with unwavering determination.

Seeing this from his side, Gray’s face dropped.

’....Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!’

’...I FUCKING CAN’T DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS!’ he shouted inwardly.

Lyra wiped the blood from her lips and charged again.

She summoned even more golden chains, this time thicker and reinforced with divine runes, and wrapped them around the demon’s torso while simultaneously calling forth a massive golden greatsword from a giant portal above.

"Divine Judgment!"

The greatsword descended like the hammer of the gods, aimed straight at the demon’s head.

The demon roared and unleashed a point-blank beam of demonic energy from its mouth, colliding with the falling sword.

KRRRRRRRRRR!

The two attacks met in a cataclysmic clash. The sky tore open once more as a massive spatial crack spread like spiderwebs across the heavens.

The shockwave alone flattened trees for kilometers.

Gray shielded his face with his arm, the wind nearly knocking him off his feet.

"...She’s going to lose..."

Seeing the remnants of the impact, Gray mumbled to himself.

Then, when the light and darkness finally cleared, both Lyra and the demon were still standing, though both were breathing heavily.

Lyra’s golden armor had several cracks. The demon’s left shoulder was badly burned, and one of its forward horns had been shattered.

But the demon was smiling.

"Oh... for a little avatar, you are quite strong... It’s such a pity that such a talented child like you is going to die so young, tsk, tsk, tsk!" He clicked his tongue multiple times, giving her a teasing look.

Lyra gripped her sword tighter, her golden lightning intensifying around her.

"We’ll see about that!"

At those words, the demon’s grin widened, revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs.

Then, without warning, it snapped its fingers.

CRACK!

A colossal, blood-red portal tore open in the sky behind it.

The air around it distorted violently, and the temperature dropped sharply as pure malice poured out.

From that giant portal, dozens of smaller ones began to manifest all across the battlefield.

And from those rifts... demons poured out.

Hundreds of them.

Low-tier demonic beasts, mid-tier horrors with twisted limbs, and even several high-tier demons with menacing auras.

They flooded the sky and the mountainside like a locust swarm, roaring and shrieking as they descended upon the town below.

Gray’s eyes widened as his Demon Hunting Book, still held in his hand, began glowing frenetically.

The pages flipped on their own, names and locations lighting up one after another like a mad countdown.

"...This?"

A dangerous, delighted glint flashed in his dull black eyes.

After all... he only needed a few more low-quality demons to finally unlock Jasmine’s Destruction Authority.

The timing was almost too perfect.

As for the possessed Dullmanak, it stretched its four massive wings wide, arms spread in a theatrical gesture as it laughed maniacally.

"So, what will you do, little avatar?!" it roared, its voice echoing across the mountains.

"Save the people? Or die trying?!"

Its laughter boomed like thunder, full of cruelty and delight at the chaos it had unleashed.

Below, the town had already fallen into pandemonium.

Screams echoed as civilians fled from the descending demon horde. Buildings cracked under the pressure of the demonic aura.

The sky had turned a deep, bloody crimson, blocking out the sun.

Lyra’s expression hardened.

She looked at the countless demons pouring out, then back at the main threat hovering before her.

Her golden lightning crackled louder.

She made her choice.

"I won’t let any of you harm them!" she shouted, her voice filled with a deadly killing intent.

She raised her sword high.

Golden portals began opening around her in rapid succession, dozens, then hundreds, each one summoning a different divine weapon: glowing spears, holy swords, radiant hammers, and chains of judgment.

But just before she could attack him...

BANG!

The possessed Dullmanak was directly slammed against the ground, causing a huge cloud of dust to rise into the sky.

Lyra was extremely confused, but as she waved her hand to clear the dust, her eyes widened as she noticed a familiar figure.

"...Headmistress Gloria?"

Stepping directly above the possessed Dullmanak’s head was none other than Gloria herself.

And her usually expressionless golden eyes...

They were burning with killing intent.