The shadows grew heavier. The space was no longer just dark; it became suffocating, as if death itself had decided that breathing was a privilege. Daniel’s aura slowly changed. It was no longer spread out and loose, it became focused.
Karnoz felt that change. For the first time since the start of the battle, he felt danger. He found that feeling absurd and couldn’t believe it.
He, a demon general, was actually feeling threatened by a human?
Ridiculous! Impossible! How could he feel danger because of a lowly human?!
"I’ll tear you apart with my own hands, human!"
"Why did he suddenly go crazy?" Daniel muttered in confusion. His gaze was on the base itself, and he didn’t notice the change in the demon’s mood.
Distant explosions, screams, chaos. The prisoners had been freed, and the structure of order was collapsing. Time was no longer on anyone’s side.
Chaos had engulfed the entire demon base. Even for them, suppressing this many freed prisoners would not be easy.
In this situation, they would probably have no choice but to kill most of the prisoners. Daniel suddenly wanted to see the face of that bastard Zalkareth.
He was probably really angry right now, wasn’t he?
"Better to finish this," Daniel said, then looked at the remaining demons with a cold smile.
And in that moment, the pressure of death multiplied.
Several demons who were closer didn’t even get a chance to react. Their bodies crumpled like paper, bones shattered, and they collapsed to the ground without even a single scream.
"Final attack!"
Karnoz shouted as he activated five of his skills in rapid succession.
His aura erupted, the ground cracked open, dense waves of demonic energy intertwined, and his massive mace came down with power that could destroy a fortress.
Four collective demon attacks activated at the same time. They understood that if they didn’t use all their power right now, they might truly be in danger.
But Daniel stepped forward. He didn’t defend, and he didn’t dodge.
With his fist.
His first strike split the air. Thunder and death combined, creating a straight line of destruction. The demons in its path, bodies, armor, auras, were all torn apart together.
The second blow shook the ground.
Karnoz brought his mace down, but Daniel caught it with one hand.
"Impossible—" Karnoz’s eyes widened in shock.
Daniel’s fist slammed into his face.
The demon general was sent flying like a meteor, smashing through several walls before crashing to the ground with a deafening sound. He was still alive, but his aura was cracked, and his breathing had grown heavy.
The remaining demons retreated.
Fear... real fear had taken hold of them. All of them could feel death.
The thought even crossed their minds to turn around and run with everything they had. Maybe that way they could survive.
Even they knew how blasphemous and ridiculous such thoughts were for demons, but survival came above everything else.
"Don’t move! Hold the encirclement!" one of the demons shouted at that moment.
Daniel didn’t care about their reactions.
With every step, a demon died.
Thunder burst from his body, shadows devoured everything, and layers of mana defense brushed aside desperate attacks like a joke. No one could even get close.
Karnoz tried to stand up again. Daniel stood in front of him and looked down.
"You fought well."
"But it ends here."
The final punch came down. Karnoz’s head was slammed into the ground, and his aura shattered like glass. His massive body went still.
Even in his final moments, disbelief still swirled in his eyes. In the end, he couldn’t understand how he had been defeated by a human and killed by his hands.
Silence filled the space. Daniel looked around. All the demons were completely dead. Not a single one remained.
He blocked Melia’s view, then activated Everlasting Physique.
The corpses, energies, and remnants of demonic auras were swallowed one by one.
[ Your physical power has increased significantly ]
When everything was over, the corridor was filled with ash. The shadow-like space disappeared.
"...Remind me to never stand against you," Kayn let out a sigh.
Melia said nothing. She just stared, with fear, respect, and a new understanding.
Daniel turned and looked toward the end of the hidden passage.
The exit was close.
"Let’s go."
The two of them followed him. The exit wasn’t very far, and they could reach it within a few minutes.
"They’re not coming after us anymore?" Melia was still a little worried. What if another group, even a stronger one, came after them again?
Still, when she looked at Daniel, she felt safe for some reason. This man gave off a strange sense of security, as if as long as they stayed by his side, it didn’t matter what happened, they would be fine.
"Even if they want to, they can’t," Daniel replied in a simple tone. The current state of the base had become extremely bad, and the demons were doing everything they could to regain control of the situation.
It seemed the strategist had ordered them to use whatever was necessary to suppress and control the chaos, which made Daniel laugh.
What he had done had completely disrupted many of the demons’ plans. Many of those prisoners were valuable hostages, and now they would either be killed or end up killing themselves.
It was not surprising. Many of them would rather commit suicide than be captured again and spend an unknown amount of time back in those prisons or under torture.
And these suicides could cause serious damage to the demons. Every prisoner they had kept alive was extremely valuable to them, and their deaths could inflict heavy losses.
And now, such a massive loss was going to be inflicted on them.
Before long, they finally reached the exit of the passage. They could see the light. Without even a moment of hesitation, they took the final step and walked out.
However, the scene that Kayn and Melia saw was not what they had expected.
Even Daniel was caught off guard to some extent.