Each impact made the Second Upper tremble as a horrifying realization formed within him.
’What is this...?’
’Why... why does it feel like I’m being attacked by another version of myself?’
Every punch thrown by the golem carried the same King’s Durability.
Though that only applied to one of its arms.
The other...
Contained the power of the Duke of Hell, strengthened further by the dark flames of the Dark Soul.
Agares managed to wound the creature, but the monster possessed monstrous regeneration that restored its body within moments.
Unlike Agares, who endured every bit of damage in full.
Marvas descended immediately, attacking the creature from behind and burning it with all his strength.
The golem screamed louder in pain.
Its rage intensified.
Mutated crimson tendrils erupted from its body and shot toward the Fifth Upper.
Marvas released a beam of dark fire, burning through them instantly.
Yet the tendrils curved around him regardless.
Mouths split open across them, firing bombs of dark aura directly toward him.
In less than a second, the projectiles exploded in Marvas’ face.
The Fifth Upper defended himself with shields of black fire.
But the bombardment did not stop.
He soon found himself completely surrounded.
Agares tried to support him, but it was useless.
The golem had surpassed him in raw physical combat, pushing him backward more and more with every passing second.
From afar, the tall woman in flowing robes and blue eyes observed the battlefield with an utterly emotionless face.
"Make them understand, Relic of the Past."
"Make them understand the meaning of pain... and the meaning of fear."
"Make them pay for their sins."
"And purge the world of their evil."
Though she appeared devoid of emotion at first glance...
A profound hatred suddenly surfaced within her eyes when she looked at the demons.
As though she carried an ancient debt she wished to repay.
The golem had completely overturned the battle.
It utterly overwhelmed the Upper Demons, trapping them with powers stolen from themselves.
Meanwhile...
The battle between Crimson and the Great One of Krat remained the fiercest clash of all, causing the greatest destruction across the World of Doors.
The Great One continued bombarding Crimson with countless World-breaking abilities.
Yet from time to time, his gaze drifted toward the strange golem that had entered the battlefield.
’The Ancient Relic...’
’I never expected it to still be alive, much less appear here of all places.’
’It must be fate.’
The Ancient Relic...
Zahara.
A being no one had ever managed to understand.
No one knew where it came from.
Nor how it had been created.
The only thing known about it...
Was its terrifying ability to perfectly copy any attack or power used against it, alongside possessing monstrous regeneration and nearly endless vitality.
To the point that many believed it to be completely undefeatable.
Crimson’s eyes also drifted toward it from time to time.
That caused the Great One of Krat to laugh mockingly.
"Does it interest you, First Upper?"
He struck Crimson with a fist infused with several fused World-breaking abilities, colliding directly against Kingslayer.
"It’s only natural for you to feel that way."
"You and that monster are far more alike than you realize."
Their powers clashed violently while both continued struggling to force their domains over the other.
Crimson snarled in anger and impatience as his aura intensified.
"What exactly are you implying?"
The First Upper understood nothing.
The Great One kept speaking in riddles beyond his comprehension.
That only fueled Crimson’s anger further as he sought to force answers out of the Great One, even if it required violence.
"Perhaps you’re incapable of grasping the truth..."
"But you and that monster over there are incredibly similar."
The Great One of Krat continued speaking in cryptic half-truths, deliberately playing with the First Upper’s nerves.
He was not lying.
But neither was he revealing the full truth.
That part, he kept to himself.
’The First Author created demons within this world...’
’But that golem is another foreign existence entirely, created by a different Author.’
’That is what makes it so dangerous.’
The Great One of Krat would have immediately gone to deal with it himself had he not been occupied fighting Crimson.
Because the golem, Zahara, was no ordinary creature.
It resembled Maskith.
A being that had come from beyond the material world.
One could consider it a follower.
A servant that had lost its path long ago.
Zahara was a flawed creation.
A gigantic monster possessing overwhelming power...
But the mind of a child incapable of distinguishing right from left.
Controlling it was extraordinarily difficult.
Some even considered it impossible.
Only its master had ever succeeded in doing so.
But that master was nowhere nearby.
Which led the Great One of Krat to search for the person who had brought Zahara here.
And before long...
He found her.
’I see...’
’So it was that witch.’
The Great One of Krat understood most of what was happening now.
And he had already begun planning how to exploit the current situation to his advantage.
To succeed...
He needed only one thing.
To stop the First Upper...
And kill him inside the World of Doors, no matter the cost.
At the same time, the other demons were suffering immensely against the golem Zahara.
Agares endured with all his strength, yet his body had begun trembling under the overwhelming pressure...
Like a rusted shield slowly losing its durability.
Meanwhile, Marvas found himself trapped beneath an endless barrage of projectiles while sharp tendrils assaulted him from every direction.
Though he continued resisting...
He could not break free from the encirclement.
A serious expression spread across the Fifth Upper’s face as he prepared to unleash one of the strongest techniques of the Dark Soul in an attempt to overturn the battle.
He clasped both hands together.
The dark flames surged violently as he compressed them with immense force.
"Dark Soul: Ignition Bomb."
Marvas struck the ground beneath him, injecting his immense flames deep into the earth itself.
In the next instant, dark magma erupted all around him, forming a colossal tidal wave that swallowed the golem’s projectiles and dark tendrils whole.
The burning magma even tunneled forward and exploded through Zahara’s back entirely.
That single opening was enough.
Agares rushed through it instantly, striking the golem and sending it flying away as blood scattered through the air.
Afterward, the Fifth Upper dropped to one knee, struggling to catch his breath.
"This is bad..."
"We’ll need to destroy it with a single overwhelming attack if we want to win."
"And I don’t think my power is enough for that."
The old demon cursed beneath his breath before turning toward the Second Upper.
"Agares!! We need to—"
Marvas never finished his sentence.
Blood burst from his mouth as his eyes trembled violently.
Something sharp and dark had pierced straight through his back.
The Fifth Upper felt something filthy boiling inside his body...
As a vile creature crept up behind him.
"You’ve lived for countless years..."
"And yet you remain foolish enough to leave your back exposed."
The voice was horrifying.
Like the hiss of an ancient serpent.
A monster with no allies.
The Duke of Hell, Gael, had appeared behind Marvas and struck him with a fatal blow while the Fifth Upper’s attention was elsewhere.
"That golem isn’t your only enemy, Upper Demons."
"I’m still here."
Gael pulled his arm from Marvas’ body, leaving the old demon collapsing before him.
He had injected him with the corruption of the Abyss itself, destroying him from the inside out.
His chances of survival became nearly nonexistent.
Agares charged forward immediately, fury written clearly across his face.
He rained blows upon Gael with all his strength, attacking him like a madman while roaring in rage.
"Gael!!!"
"You damned coward!!"
In response, the Duke of Hell laughed.
A terrifying laugh that echoed throughout the battlefield.
"Coward?"
"Was I supposed to attack him honorably from the front, Second Upper?"
The two exchanged violent blows while Gael continued mocking him.
"Come then, little fool."
"Your death is merely a matter of time as well."
Meanwhile, Marvas lay amidst his own blood, groaning in agony.
The battle only grew more violent with Zahara’s return, turning everything into a three-sided slaughter where all sides beat each other toward death.
Gael.
Marvas.
Zahara.
It became a massacre of iron and flesh...
A war fought with nothing but bare fists, destroying everything in its path.