"Is that really... the Demon King...?"
Nova Starlight whispered, his voice trembling.
The voice alone had shaken him to his core.
He tried to deny it.
But he knew—
This was the truth.
The elite students appeared across the battlefield as well ..
Fear evident on every face.
"That direction... that’s where Frey’s aura came from earlier..."
"Does that mean..."
"He’s standing against the Demon King right now?"
Seris glanced at Selina beside her.
Both understood.
Dawn was nearby.
So were Daemon and Phoenix—
Who had followed the human heroes and sect fighters.
All of them stood frozen.
Yet some ... Found the courage to move.
Abraham was one of them.
He surged forward immediately—
Rushing toward the source of that ominous aura.
Because he knew—
Frey was there.
Fulghor did the same—
Launching forward, wrapped in pure golden aura.
Snow Lionheart descended as well—
Leaving Maskith behind.
The old man didn’t even try to stop him.
He knew ... The Lord of Light wouldn’t change anything.
No one would.
Kalameet moved too.
All the strong chose to fight.
But despite their courage—
They all carried the same feeling within them.
Fear.
Mixed with deep Unavoidable despair.
Meanwhile—
Agaroth’s shadow completely enveloped Frey.
Forcing him to face reality.
Gripping his sword tightly , Frey pulled in every ounce of air around him.
A deep breath.
Then exhaled—
Hot vapor spilling from his mouth, spreading like mist.
"If this is my fate..."
"...then I’ll do what I’ve always done."
His aura exploded.
And he charged—
Straight at the Demon King.
"I’ll fight it."
"I’ll fight fate itself—"
"Until the very end!"
"That’s the spirit."
Agaroth responded with excitement ...Just as Frey’s blade came down upon him.
And so—
The world witnessed it.
The first clash , Between Frey Starlight...
And the Demon King, Agaroth.
The impact—
Came as a silent explosion.
No sound.
As if time itself had stopped.
Then—
Time surged back.
And the roar shook the entire world.
The earth shattered ... And Frey was sent flying with a single strike.
He flew ...
And flew ...
Crashing violently across the land.
His body slammed into the ocean ..
Then the ground ..
Then forests, mountains, rivers, plains, and plateaus—
The force hurled him across a distance his mind couldn’t even comprehend.
All Frey knew ... Was that he had been thrown impossibly far.
Until He found himself in a barren desert.
No life.
No sound.
Nothing—
Except Agaroth.
Already there.
Waiting.
"Don’t disappoint me, Frey..."
"Don’t disappoint the ungrateful son you created with your own hands."
Agaroth said mockingly—
As he grabbed Frey by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"You know I won’t kill you."
"So use that."
"Grow stronger."
"Time is limited—use it wisely."
"Use it."
"The Pursuer ability."
"Chase me... if you can."
Agaroth gently patted Frey’s head ...
Before slapping him away with overwhelming force.
This time—
Frey steadied himself.
He moved instantly .
Attacking without hesitation.
His eyes turned white.
His mind emptied.
He understood it now.
The only way to fight Agaroth ... Was to stop thinking.
To fight—
On instinct alone.
Because thinking Would only make him realize ...
The overwhelming gap between them.
From Frey’s body—
Black-hole aura erupted.
Soulfire followed.
The two forces fused ... Forming that ominous gray energy .
The same one he had used against Amon.
Agaroth’s eyes lit up when he saw it.
"Combining world-breaking abilities..."
"I’m pleased to see you’ve reached this level."
He laughed—
Then raised his hand toward Frey.
"But reaching this level..."
"...is as natural as breathing to me."
From his palm ...
Black flames of the Dark Soul fused with the abyssal shadows of the King’s Shadow ...
Giving birth to an entirely new form of aura.
Agaroth unleashed it.
The fused power collided head-on with Frey’s gray energy.
Their forces clashed ...
A collision of four world-breaking abilities.
Each of them wielded two.
But what Agaroth did next—
Went beyond all limits.
From nothing ... A crimson aura surged forth.
The power of the Blood Soul.
Alongside it ... A gray-black force emerged.
The power of the Death Soul.
Both fused seamlessly with the others.
In less than a second—
Agaroth combined four world-breaking abilities as if it were nothing.
And completely overwhelmed Frey ...
Swallowing him whole.
The Demon King looked exhilarated—
But stopped at the last moment.
He withdrew his power—
After slamming Frey into the ground and sending him flying once more.
"Damn it... I almost killed him."
Agaroth exhaled ... Then vanished ..
Chasing Frey again.
Frey crashed across the ground—
His body utterly destroyed.
Torn apart by wounds, blood, and aura alike.
Since his body had partially become aura ...
Thanks to the Absolute Manipulator ... While the rest remained flesh and blood .
Even his aura now leaked from his wounds.
Wounds that did not regenerate.
Did not heal.
Struck by a kind of power he had never experienced before.
Frey felt it.
The pain.
Clearly.
And with every passing second—
His despair deepened.
Yet—
He endured.
Forcing more aura out of his body ..
Trying to generate more and more of that gray energy.
Letting out a desperate war cry—
He lunged at Agaroth—
Striking with everything he had.
Agaroth blocked the attack with one arm . Then struck Frey with the other ..
Sending him flying yet again.
They appeared in an entirely different location on Earth ... But the battle never stopped.
Because Agaroth always arrived first.
Before Frey even could.
Frey unleashed the gray energy again ...
Stronger.
Greater.
As his body burned ... Driven madly by The Pursuer.
In response—
Agaroth formed a transparent barrier before him . Receiving the devastating attack.
The barrier glowed violently .Then reflected it back at Frey .
Crushing him once again.
The battlefield changed.
Again.
And again—
Agaroth was already there.
Waiting.
Frey attacked again.
And again.
And again.
And every time ... The same result.
In less than a second—
The King would send him flying.
Shifting the battlefield with each strike.
And wherever they went ... Every living being died instantly.
This was a battle On an entirely different scale.
A level beyond limits.
Frey was completely alone.
His allies ...
His father , Fulghor and the others ...
They couldn’t even reach him.
The speed at which he and Agaroth moved across the planet—
Made it impossible.
And worse ...
Agaroth deliberately struck them with fragments of his attacks .
Keeping them away.
With ease—
He isolated Frey.
Completely.
And that Pushed Frey to his absolute limit.
The Pursuer drove him forward at terrifying speed ... His strength increasing with every collision.
Agaroth deliberately avoided killing him in a single blow—
Instead forcing him—
To grow.
Faster.
Further.
It didn’t take long before a dark cocoon enveloped Frey’s body.
He forced a breakthrough In the middle of battle.
Right before the Demon KingcWho watched him with a smile.
Above—
Maskith observed everything.
Understanding exactly what Agaroth was doing.
"As expected of him..."
"He never wastes an opportunity."
Maskith closed his eyes—
As he slowly descended.
"He strengthens his opponent on purpose..."
"Enjoying the game..."
"While breaking his own restraints at the same time."
Frey was on the verge—
Of reaching the fourth phase of SSS.
And Agaroth intended to push him even further.
"Once most of his strength is restored..."
"Nameless’ influence will weaken enough..."
"For the King to break free..."
Maskith narrowed his thoughts.
"I wonder..."
"Was this his plan from the very beginning?"
"Is that why he sent Amon?"
He paused.
Trying to grasp the Demon King’s true intentions.
"...It doesn’t matter."
"At this rate..."
"Agaroth will be freed tonight."
"Today..."
"The shattering will begin."
And with it ... A new era would rise.
An era of horrors.
"Do not worry..."
"People of Earth..."
"Pathetic humans..."
"You will go extinct today."
"And the others will follow tomorrow."
"We have entered..."
"The final Chapters..."
"Of this miserable book."
The battle on Earth .
Had become the turning point.
Frey burst out of the cocoon—
Charging at Agaroth.
His power rising with every passing second.
The Earth collapsed at a terrifying rate.
Death followed wherever they went.
It was a brutal clash .
If it could even be called a battle.
And what was coming—
Was darker.
Far darker than darkness itself.