Daniel’s gaze fell on the Crown Prince.
Their eyes met. Neither of them spoke right away. They first examined each other from head to toe, especially the Crown Prince. After all, this was the first time he was officially seeing Daniel.
His gaze was focused deeply on him, as if he were trying to uncover his entire existence. However, his efforts were pointless. It was as if a fog stood in the way, preventing him from seeing anything clearly.
Even stranger was the depth of this human’s aura. When he looked at him, it felt as if he were staring into an endless ocean.
"You’re a bit late," Daniel lowered his gaze and said mockingly.
"They’re all dead."
The valley was drowned in silence. Thousands of demon corpses, shattered ground, dried blood, and the fallen ones standing motionless.
Daniel raised his hand, and all the fallen ones vanished. All of these demons were meant to become nourishment for his Everlasting Physique.
He also planned to turn as many powerful demons as possible into fallen ones. By obtaining ten percent of their stats and devouring all these corpses, he might truly reach the threshold between S-rank power and a national-rank Awakened.
Azrael lowered his gaze.
A deep frown formed on his face. Just as he had expected, those idiots had truly failed and were unable to win against this human.
Even so, he had not expected them to lose so easily. In front of this man, they were nothing more than insects.
His gaze fell on two corpses.
Seralin.
Drayvux.
Rage surged across his face, but deep within his eyes... a cold calm was hidden. Even though these two were his siblings, they were also his rivals. And now, those rivals had been eliminated.
Even better, he could use this situation as an excuse.
Of course, one of his brothers was still alive. His gaze shifted to his brother, the one Daniel had knocked unconscious and thrown to the ground after his appearance.
He was badly injured, but still alive. However, only Azrael knew that this idiot was still alive... this was a perfect opportunity to eliminate him.
After all, casualties during battle were normal, right?
He stepped forward.
"Do you know the price of killing the children of the Demon King?"
"I don’t care," Daniel said without hesitation.
Azrael’s smile narrowed.
"Death."
"But I can show mercy. Hand over everything you obtained from the Pagoda, and in return, you live."
"Do you think I’m stupid?" Daniel laughed. A short, mocking laugh. He was familiar enough with demons to know that none of their words could be trusted.
In reality, they were nothing but selfish, bloodthirsty bastards who slaughtered without any mercy.
"If you want something, take it with your own strength. Of course... if you can."
A cold laugh escaped Azrael’s throat.
"You are a proud human." A three-pronged spear of darkness formed in his hand.
"Pride is always destructive."
He raised the spear.
"As the Crown Prince of demons, for the murder of the children of the Demon King and thousands of demons..."
His aura exploded.
"I sentence you to death."
The pressure of space shattered.
Azrael struck first.
[ Abyss Sovereign Spear ]
The spear fell like a meteor, the air collapsing along its path.
Daniel raised his fists. The aura of death and lightning wrapped around his arms.
The two sides collided, and then—
Boom!
An explosion erupted and engulfed the valley. The ground cracked dozens of meters away.
Daniel slid backward, his feet carving deep marks into the earth. Just as he expected, the Crown Prince was truly powerful. Still, not to a level that would cause him serious trouble.
Azrael vanished.
[ Demonic Phase Shift ]
In the next instant, he appeared behind Daniel. The spear came down.
Daniel turned.
[ Demonic Twilight Shield. ]
The strike landed, demonic energy was absorbed, and the shockwave was pushed back.
Azrael raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting. So this is the skill that allows you to use demonic energy."
Daniel said nothing and responded only by attacking.
[ Bloody Shadow Dance. ]
He leapt from shadow to shadow, closed the distance, and his lightning-covered fist came down.
Azrael spun his spear.
[ Hellion Parry Art ]
A direct clash. Black and blue sparks tore through the air. The two auras pressed against each other.
Yet neither side gained the advantage.
Azrael suddenly shouted.
[ Void Dominion – Infernal Authority ]
Invisible pressure fell upon Daniel, as if space itself was trying to crush him. Daniel clenched his teeth. Contrary to his expectations, he was actually taking damage.
This was not something he was willing to accept.
The energy of eternity flowed through his veins. The pressure shattered.
He drew his sword.
The Heaven’s Honor shone brightly.
[ Strike Of Destruction. ]
A direct slash.
Azrael raised his spear in a cross to block.
Explosion. Both of them were pushed back.
Blood dripped from the corner of Daniel’s mouth. Even so, mana began to circulate through his body, restoring all of his wounds.
"So their deaths weren’t without reason..." Azrael took a deep breath. His eyes narrowed.
He had expected this human to be powerful, but this level of strength shocked him deeply. Was this really a level of power that a human could reach?
The problem was that this human could even withstand the strikes of his three-pronged spear with ease.
His spear was not an ordinary weapon. It was a spear forged from the blood of an ancient dragon, a dragon that had been slain by the ancient generations of demons, whose body was used to create three weapons.
And out of those three weapons, one of them was in his hands. Even so, how could such a weapon fail to inflict any real damage on this human?
Had he really underestimated this human? ... No, he had never underestimated him.
Rather, he had overestimated himself. If he were in that position, could he have slaughtered all those demons so easily?
With his spear, yes, he could have. But without it, that would be extremely unlikely.
"You’re not disappointing either," Daniel said as he rested the sword on his shoulder.